star-studded shows. you can look back at some of the best moments of the first year on cnn. it's on the ipad, one of these it's on the ipad, one of these beautiful things. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com from cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it's january 14th. good morning, everyone. speaking out on controversial pardons that have the country talking. barbour defends his decision to pardon nearly 200 prisoners. one prisoner is speaking out saying he deserves to be free. a judge speaks out abtd four people trying to get on the virginia ballot. what's next for them. a mother fed up with her

son's run-ins with the law forces him to wear this sign. did she go too far? we give you a chance to weigh in this morning. we start with former mississippi governor, barbour, defending his decision to pardon 200 people. among the myrrherered set to release from prison. a judge put a halt on prison releases. the legislature is considering changing the constitution to take pardon powers away from the governor. what is barbour saying now? in his first public comments since issuing the pardons. listen. >> the power of gubernatorial to pardon felons is rooted in the

christian idea of giving second chances. i'm not saying i'll be perfect that nobody who received clemency will ever do nothing wrong. i'm not in fallible and nobody else is. i am very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons, including those at the mansion. >> you heard him mention the mansion at the end. he's talking ability prison trustees who worked at the governor's mansion. four convicted murders who worked there were pardons including one who was convicted of killing his wife in 2001. >> everybody deserves a second chance in life. >> you think people should be angry at governor barbour? >> no, sir. >> judge mike smith previded over the murder case. we asked him about the pardon.

>> i was disappointed that he was pardoned. >> is there more to that or is that as much as we are going to say? >> i hope that the attorney general will be successful in having the pardon overturned. >> here is more of what barbour had to say about letting those convicted murderers go free. >> i have absolute confidence, so much confidence that i let my grandchildren play with these fine men. i let them ride their tricycles in the drive way with them watching out for them. i have no question in my mind they are not a threat to society. but, you know, people like you can say what if, what if, what

if until the moon goes down. >> barbour says he granted cl clemency to 250 people. 189 of them finished their sentences. they were out of prison. 13 of the remaining 26 have chronic medical conditions. they were let go so the state would not have to pay for their expensive medical care. four of the republican presidential candidates lost their bid to get on the ballot in virginia. a judge ruled they waited too long to file claims to get their names add the to the supertuesday primary. virginia can choose mitt romney or ron paul. virginia is six weeks away. south carolina is the next contest one week from today. where do the candidates stand? here is paul. >> good morning. one week to go until the south

carolina presidential primary. >> we are going to win in south carolina. >> south carolina can completely change this group. >> a new survey suggests romney and gingrich are battling for the top spot with ron paul in third place. expect more polls and different numbers over the next week. one thing is for sure. winning helps. romney is two for two. almost lapping the field tuesday in the new hampshire primary. the back-to-back primaries propelled him back to the top spot in the national poll. far ahead of the other republican candidates. following a jam packed weekend, the candidates tee off in a presidential debate monday in myrtle beach. thursday, they face-off in charleston. deb? >> you can see the debate live here on cnn thursday night, 8:00

eastern. as paul said, the republican presidential candidates are all over south carolina this weekend. the action starts with rick santorum's faith, family and freedom town hall in greenville. romney, gingrich, perry and huntsman have several events today. ron paul is not on the ground in south carolina but the campaign is hoping to launch a fund raising effort this weekend. this month's trial of former presidential candidate john edwards has been put on hold until late march. a judge revealed he has a serious heart problem. he's going to have surgery next month. he's accused of conspiracy and violating campaign contribution laws during his 2008 presidential bid. he denies the charges. nine years france and austria lost their aaa status

like the united states did last summer. as for italy, the downgrade to bbb puts them close to the level of junk bonds. it could make it harder to borrow money to fix their financial problems. we'll see the effects of this when the markets open at the beginning of the week. at least three people were killed when an italian cruise sh ship. 4,000 people were on board. some of the passengers fell into freezing waters. the ship hit a sandbar off italy's western coast. following the progress of a fuel tanker and ice breaker making their way through the frozen north to nome, alaska. it is the first ever attempt to supply fuel to a western alaska town through an icy sea. they were getting close to running out of fuel after bad

weather canceled a delivery there last fall. meteorologist alexandra steele is in for reynolds wolf. it's a little cold out there. not what i was expecting. >> did you see the flurries yesterday in atlanta? finally, it's winter in chicago, clevela cleveland, buffalo and new york city. a few reasons why it's happening. i'll talk about why it's happening, how low it's going to go. how late is it? a full forecast in a few moments. >> thanks. changing the meal in your kids happy meal. some mcdonald's are getting rid of the toy for something better. we'll tell you what that is, coming up next. also, it's a scene that you think of from an action movie. what you are looking at there is a real iran yan navy boat going

toward a military ship. what happened, coming up next.

well, check out this cool time lapse video taken from an i-reporter. west mosley from byron, illinois shot this from his kitchen window. this was the first accumulating snowfall of the season. this time lapse contained 2900

individual photos taken over a ten-hour period. it's been a mild winter for most of the country. winter finally arrived in the midwest. not the kind of thing you want to see there, that truck. we are keeping an eye on all this. we got a break for the most part this winter, i think. >> absolutely. places like chicago usually december 9 see their first two-inch snowfall. haven't seen it at all. finally, 4.6 inches of snow yesterday. temperatures have been mild. records across the board day in and day out. we are ready for winter, right? >> we need to break out the new sleds. >> right. i'll show you what's cooking. here is the radar picture. what's cool is this is lake-effect snow, lake ontario and lake erie. lake erie is the shallowest of the great lakes. really, the only one to freeze. has not frozen yet. normally water temperature 33 degrees.

40 degree water temperatures. if the water is frozen, there's ice. that means it's not open. it won't allow for lake-effect snow. the differential coming over the warm water that is open is allowing the lake-effect snow. there we go. lake-effect snow coming in. you can see where we're getting it now. we are also going to see snow farther east. here is the big picture in terms of where the snow is falling. it's moving this way. the fetch from west to east, dropping. actually, a lot of areas in the plateau. the ski resorts in western new york. they are getting it and boy do they need it. lake ontario picking up one to three. rochester, syracuse, buffalo picking up a few inches. temperature wise, definitely feeling like winter. it's been so warm. breaking records week in and week out. not so now. 22. these are the temperatures currently. 27 in province, 28 in new york.

west, chicago at 15. minneapolis at six. part and parcel to the cold air, we have strong winds blowing as well. it may feel like these numbers. it's going to feel colder with the winds kicking in 20 to 30 miles per hour. lake-effect is a major scenario. winds in the midwest and northeast. yesterday, very windy in new york city. trouble around queens blowing over structures because of the strong winds. gusting 20 to 30, sustained between ten and 20. new york, boston, philadelphia, cleveland all seeing troubles at the airports due to the strong gusty winds. >> i left and hour early yesterday because i knew the winds would be bad. >> look at you. a seasoned traveler. >> we'll check in with you in a bit. forget the plastic toys, you know the ones your kids really, really want? how about a book with your happy meal?

it's what's happening in the united kingdom. mcdonald's is expected to give away 9 million books when you buy a burger and fries. it's by the same guy who did "war horse." a president is giving knives to rapists and murderers. they say it's a good thing. more on that in a minute. also, take a look at that. iranian boats go kang rousely close to u.s. ships. the details in 60 seconds. see you in a minute. 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. ♪ baby, baby, come along ♪ baby, baby, come along with me ♪ [ air horn blows ] ♪ i love you and i need you

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♪ taking a look there of new york city. sun still waiting to come on up there. cold day. it is 17 minutes past the hour this saturday morning. welcome back. this morning, the department of defense released a video that shows iranian boats speeding straight to u.s. military and coast guard ships on two events the same day. the close encounters took place last friday one in the strait of

hormuz. you have to look closely. what you are looking at are iranian navy speedboats. an official tells cnn they suddenly spun close to "uss new orleans" without any response. a coast guard ship was also harassed near kuwait city. the iranians appeared to be holding ak-47 rifles. this comes as iran threatens to close the strait of hormuz, the only outlet from the persian gulf. >> they were not looking for a shooting match. they were going to break off but cause heart-stopping action before they did that. the iranians gained intelligence by getting so close to u.s. navy ships. they were able to gauge the u.s. military response as they came at those ships. that gives them valuable information if the next time

it's not just a cat and mouse game. >> word of the aggressive encounters comes as the united states conducted two rescues of iranians at sea. time for the morning passport. you have seen the show "iron chef," one of my favorite shows. the series you see here, chefs pitted against each other in a cooking showdown. it's inspired the largest person in the philippines to let their inmates, convicted murderers dubbed iron bar chef. nadia bilchik joins me. this sounds bizarre, dangerous. the inmates take this seriously. >> they do. it's part of a broader rehabilitation program. what they have done in the prison, they did it last week. the first ever iron bar chef. they had six teams of three inmates each. they gave them 60 minutes.

in 60 minutes, they had to come up with a gourmet dish. some of them came up with marinara roast beef, some came up with squash kro kets. they proved it was a great team building effort and boosted moral. >> what about the people watching. there are men watching. they are under pressure. they had real judges. how was this received? >> it was received so well. people got into the spurt of it. they enjoyed the delicious food. they wanted the judges, who is an executive sheff at an all seasons resort in australia, he was surprised by the caliber of the food. some of the inmates had jobs in kitchens before going to prison. that was something he mentioned. this particular prison has 17,000 inmates. 12,000 under maximum security.

they have embarked on efforts like gardening, cooking, hand crafts, playing tennis in order to rehabilitate the inmates. this is one thing that's proved so helpful and therapeutic for the inmates. >> once they have a direction, once they get the things they need to go out and succeed, their chances of going back into prison are less. >> this is a skill. this is a life skill. who knows, maybe we are looking at the next reality series, iron bar chef inmates. we are all intrigued by catching people cut and chop. >> it's rivet iing. you want to know what they are coming up with. you want to taste it and you can't. thank you so much. we appreciate it. we are going check back with you later in the show. thank you. as a mom doles out tough love for her son. listen.

>> i decided he broke the law. a few hours of community service. i decided we were going to wear a sign. you looking for attention? you're going to get attention. he's wearing a sign that says i lie, i steal, i deal drugs. is this too tough? it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel.

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let's take a look at what's happening across country. we are going to start in illinois. speeders better learn to slow down in johnson city, illinois. this week, police started handing out more tickets along the interstate that cuts through town. the reason? to close a budget hole. >> we are looking to slow people down and help us out in the process. >> reporter: it costs $35,000 to run the police department. the city plans to get half that from speeders. now, take a look at this from rio vista, california. a gas pipeline ruptured causing these flames. that fire is shooting up 100 feet. fire crews were able to put it out quickly. no one was injured. in plainville, pennsylvania. something to make you smile.

this marine corporal waited to surprise fellow soldiers coming home to families. >> i'm anxious to see the guys i was with during the patrol. it will be the first time i have seen them since the accident. >> he lost both legs from an ied blast in afghanistan. he was told it would take months and months to stand. look at this. he's standing to greet his comrades one by one. >> it's fast how he recovered. i didn't anticipate this. an indiana mother is fed up with her son and the court system. she says authorities haven't punished him enough to change his behavior. she's making him wear a sign in public. the sign says i lie. i steal. i sell drugs. i don't follow the law. our cnn affiliate says not everyone approves. >> the sign hanging around his neck is because he constantly

chooses to break the law. >> reporter: the list of her 14-year-old son's crimes is growing. the punishments aren't tough enough to get him to stop. she's showing him tough love. >> he broke the law. a few hours of community service. i decided we were going to wear a sign. you looking for attention, we going to get you attention. he did probation. they talk about the fees you have to pay. nobody is trying to help me fix my son. >> it states he doesn't follow the law. drivers passing by didn't think his mom was either and called the police. she's completely within her rights to make him stand on the streets. it's unconventional, but not illegal. >> it's not to be a joke or anything funny. he has to stand out here two hours. they got their way of parenting and i got mine.

i want to save my son. >> what do you think? did the mom go too far? would you do the same thing? i'm on twitter at deb feyerickcnn. share your thoughts. i'm going to read some of them on the air. >> moving up to the white house, it's the goal of the republican presidential candidates. what are they hoping to leave behind? we'll check out the old addresses. the queen of talk. oprah win free and obama re-election campaign. she doesn't exactly endorse the president. you'll hear from the queen herself. can spark romance anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment's right, even if it's not every day. [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications

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it is 6:30. welcome back. i'm deb feyerick. thanks for starting your day with us. let's check the top stories. joran van der sloot is sentenced 28 years for killing a woman. the court ordered him to pay $75,000 to stephany flores' family. he's a prime suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway in aruba. she's never been found. ford is recalling 450,000 suv and minivans.

if you drive a ford escape 2001 and 2002, they are also part of the recall. ford needs to fix defect that is can cause fires or loss of power. former penn state football coach joe paterno has been hospitalized. he's suffering from a treatable form of lung cancer. his 46 year career at penn state ended after the jerry sandusky child sex abuse scandal. will mitt romney keep his winning streak alive in south carolina or will negative ads slow his momentum? his record of cutting jobs as ceo of bing capital. >> a story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck.

a group of corporate raiders led by mitt romney more ruthless than wall street. for tens of thousands of americans, the suffering began when mitt romney came to town. >> mitt romney fired back promoting his business achievements. >> this is a business mitt romney helped start. and this one. and this steel mill. mitt romney helped create and ran a company that invested in struggling businesses, grew new ones and rebuilt old ones, creating thousands of jobs. those are the facts. we expected the obama administration to put free markets on trial. mr. romney's gop opponents are embarrassing themselves by taking the obama line. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> to talk about the ad wars and how it's playing out, matt, a

former campaign adviser to newt gingrich and lee. first of all, matt, we are going to virginia. since we just heard the ad that was played about it being embarrassing. are the republicans simply destroying themselves? they are going after themselves in a way that the obama administration would be going after them. >> there's two ways to look at it. i have been saying they have been destroying themselves from the beginning. it's an all-out war. at the same time, there's another argument to be said. mitt romney is being tested. if he is the nominee, which some are saying now, he's giving a test and taste for what he'll have for barack obama. barack obama will come after him strong including this. they have made it clear with a release they put out today or last evening about his involvement in the corporate world. >> he'll have to come off as a

stronger candidate. at the same time, you can weaken it so there's no coming back. i want to talk about virginia. this is big. four candidates will not be on the ballot. gingrich, huntsman, perry and santorum. they failed to qualify on the ballot. how do you think that is going to hurt them, ultimately, going into supertuesday? >> it's going to hurt them. really, it's a matter of time. mitt romney is the presumtive nominee. he's really the nominee by default. he has the money. he has the organization. he still has 60% to 75% of the republicans not wanting him. he's not an overwhelming majority in terms of this election. but he still has to be able to answer the critical questions regarding his history at bain capital. his opponents are painting him as a gordon gekko figure on wall

street. it's not going to hurt him as much in the primary. he's the nominee. i think it's killing him in terms of the general election. i think president obama is going to take advantage of that. >> matt, it's interesting. you talk about it in a blog you had posted. south carolina is an interesting state. it's not a done deal. you do have different parts of the south. now, there's a -- there's an evangelical conference going on. there's a conservative conference going on. they are trying to see if mitt has the juice they need to go for it. >> in south carolina you have three places. three nations of south carolina. in the northwestern section of the state, it's heavy evangelical vote. it's where huckabee did well last time. the low country, charlotte, charlesston and those areas, they vote on military issues. they are retirees from the

midwest. no one has a lock on this. what will happen from the evangelist meeting, we don't know. this is going to be the tightest race. gingrich said himself, if this doesn't win it, it's everything in south carolina. >> it's interesting. you mention in your column it's the guy who wants it most. gingrich does seem to want it most. i'm left with the voters at the end of the day. the voters are watching all this. they are the ones to decide, has this negativity sunk in so deeply it's going to lose with women and latinos and lose with fundamental group that is mitt will need to get? >> i don't think so. this is nothing new to politics. in south carolina, it's overwhelmingly negative. republicans like to fight each other. they will move on. the problem is this, going into the election.

president obama facing the unemployment number. look at south carolina, florida, high unemployment. >> that's going to be the key. it's very interesting. obviously, we watch it state by state by state. gentlemen, we could go in so many directions but we have to wrap it. thank you for joining us this morning. thank you. the six republican candidates are looking to upgrade their address to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. it's not like they are giving up one bedroom apartments where they are now. >> i don't think president obama understands america. >> reporter: candidates often talk about their roots saying where they came from tells you a lot about who they are. >> grew up in a house that had no indoor plumbing. i didn't know about what i didn't have. i did know what i had. >> reporter: while they try to relate to the common man on the

campaign trail, what they go home to may not seem so common. multimillionaire mitt romney owns several properties including this beach front home in la jolla, california. they value it at just under $10 million. jon huntsman purchased his townhouse for $3.5 million while he was living in beijing. >> everything i have is paid off. my home, my cars, everything. >> reporter: that everything for former speaker newt gingrich include this is four bedroom pad in virginia valued at $1.3 million, 30% above purchase price. >> we have one rental house in wisconsin. a very modest mortgage. >> sharing a virginia address, santorum purchased this home in greek falls, virginia for $2 million back in 2007. >> i tell people, i am an

original conservationist. we didn't waste too much water. >> reporter: rick perry hangs his hat in austin right now while the texas governor's mansion is undergoing $20 million in republican novations. >> a very different set up for congressman ron paul in texas. he's selling his four bedroom house for $325,000. zillow values it $60,000 less. you can find out more about the homes behind the presidential candidates at cnnmoney.com. we don't want to leave president obama out. they purchased their home in chicago for $1.6 million. it's estimated to be worth $1.3 million now. coming up, perspective employees at many companies must get drug tests before they are hired. will georgia lawmakers be next. [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't

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why? lake-effect snow. lake ontario and lake erie. lake erie is the shallowest of all the lakes and the only one to freeze. this year, temperatures 40 degrees. usually, it's 30 degrees. the lake is open for business, as we say. thus, we are getting lake-effect snow. buffalo, cleveland, all the snow belts on the lee side of the lake. look at the snow coating all the states. chicago, even. certainly late, but picked up 4.6 inches of snow. northern indiana, nine inches. places around the great lakes between four and six inches. here is a look at what we saw. syracuse picked up eight. freeville, new york. buffalo, binghampton. the balance of the greatest amount of snow is done. still a few more one to three inches today in rochester,

syracuse, buffalo and cleveland as well. ski resorts picking up beneficial snow. the winds have been a huge factor. new york city, very strong winds gusting. today, too. windy conditions blowing. it will make temperatures in northern new england feel 20 to 30 degrees below zero with very cold air. arctic air in place. 25 right now in albany new york. 28 in philly. colder temperatures than we have seen, that e's for sure. winter making its appearance. what we have, this is the jet stream. what the jet stream is, is a gate. it barricades the cold air. the jet stream, air can't go anywhere. it prevents it. 56 degrees. 13 degrees above average. certainly a big-time differential. temperatures cold in the northeast. temperature 60 degrees in

midland, texas where they had a foot of snow a week ago. >> not good news for those who want to go skiing in denver. if you want to go sledding you can do that. thanks so much, alexandra. bitter cold interrupted a texas pastor's mission to get his church to have more sex. he and his wife snuggled up in a bed on their church. they stayed there to encourage other married couples to be more intimate. it would be wrapping up now but the cold and health concerns got them off the rooftop more than anticipated. they have wrote the book "sexperiment." >> far too long, the church kicked the bed out and god out of the bed. >> we want to say look, there's a way to do it, a way to do it right and successfully. >> what god created a never

x-rated. >> while on the rooftop they spent the time tweeting and chatting via skype with other pastors and couples. it was fun to watch what they were talking about. a georgia state lawmaker wants colleagues to undergo mandatory drug testing. he says everyone should support this legislation. we're going to talk to him straight ahead. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that.

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a bill just introduced in georgia would require the state legislature to take mandatory drug tests. lawmakers would have to prove they are not legislating under the influence. the representative is the bill's sponsor and joining me this morning. you said the pushback is on the wave of republican bills to drug test the poor and jobless. why did you decide to push back? >> it is, in fact, in response to that. the reason i wanted to push back is i'm not a defender of anybody who misuses taxpayer money, whether the working, poor, a corporation, a government worker who wastes time on the job. but, it struck me as being unfair that our state would allow a single group of taxpayers but nobody else for drug testing. i think leaders should lead by example. so, since state legislatures

receive benefits we should also abide by the same standard, if that's what we are going to do for the working poor. >> do you see the measures -- a number of them proven unconstitutional. do you see it as anti-poor, anti -- >> i do. i do see it as that. really, i think what it is, in a bigger sense, the gop is out of ideas. so, they are recycling ideas from 20 years ago, which the welfare debate was done 20 years ago. they are using stale ideas because they can't come up with anything new. here in georgia, what's worse, not only does the gop not have good ideas, they steal bad ideas from other states. >> you feel passionate about this. one of the reasons is the people are getting money. you don't want the money spent on drugs, however, there are

children that are being penalized for this. you can't necessarily, you know, you have a mom with an addiction problem, but you have a kid who needs help. >> that is what this program is designed to do. it's the help the neediest of our needy families. to the point about food, that's what this is about. those that oppose it, it's almost as if they are saying food is a luxury item. clearly, it's not. the agency that runs this program in georgia, the example they give on their website is this is for a working mother with two kids who makes $784 a month. that's $26 a day. it's not spending money. it's $26 a day for housing, electricity, water and food for two children. these are the very poor people. here in georgia, we have been underperforming for the last decade. our unemployment rate averages a point higher than the nation. >> you are hurting more. >> where are the job opportunities. >> scott, thank you so much.

we appreciate it. thumbs up or thumbs down, do you think it will pass? >> it will pass if they move the other one forward. >> it's making a point. thanks so much. we appreciate this. appreciate you coming in early this morning. >> my pleasure. >> we are going inside a syrian city many say the regime cannot afford to lose. they visited the city of hama. it's been a place of protests and clashes. we saw a different scene when we were there. we'll show you that, next. we told you about this story earlier in the show. we are talking an indiana mom forcing her son to wear this sign as punishment. is it going too far? we want to hear what you think. share your thoughts on twitter at debfeyerickcnn.

there's a new twist for egypted presidential elections. he is withdrawaling his candidacy for president. he says there's no real democracy in the country. it's been nearly a year since egypt's spring revolution ousted mu baric. he's on trial for killing protesters. syria is bracing for more unrest. demonstrators rallied across the country yesterday. an opposition group says 16 people, including three children were killed in clashes with security forces. in what may be a significant shift, an opposition group says it's coordinating with the

syrian military. also the syrian government is allowing foreign journalists in the the country. the city of hama has been it. we go inside hama. >> reporter: friday, close to noon, driving into hama, streets desserted, check points manned, reinforcements. one of syria's oldest cities braces for what's become the weekly day of rage against the government. the streets almost desserted. a few people wandering around. all the stores shut. as you drive into the city, you get a sense there's very little traffic on the roads. army check points along the highway. it feels tense. look down here.

see the police. army. lined up at the end of the street. a two and a half hour drive from the capital, it's the city the president cannot afford to lose. 30 years ago, his father killed 30,000 people here putting down an islamist revolt. writing on the wall tells you today's opposition is not far away. in the center where monitors live, soldiers seem keen to show they have riot gear rather than rifles. it's syrian repression. the soldiers say on a normal wednesday, all these stores would be open. as we drove into the city, the city is shut and closed. these cars and truck, some of the only vehicles we have seen on the streets. it's friday. this is the day where there are normally big riots.

the soldiers are on the streets. they have wooden sticks, batons, shields. water cannons have been placed out. another one back here. under government pressure, we leave without finding out what happens next. within hours, these soldiers are accused of firing tear gas and live rounds, killing one protester. we weren't there to see. nic robertson, cnn, hama, syria. usually long lines for apple products are peaceful. that wasn't the case at one store. >> we are running down. the mob continue iing to follow them. >> we are inside the crowd as it turns violent all over the new iphone 4 s.

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earlier we told you about an indiana mom who says the court system was too easy on her son. she's taking matters into her own hands. >> he broke the law. they only gave him a few hours of community service. i decided we were going to wear a sign saying you looking for attention, we're going to get you attention. the sign says i lie, i steal, i sell drugs and i don't follow the law. we asked you if you think this mom is going too far. here are some of your comments. mom of the year! it's about time parents stop e pretending their kids can do no lo long. hopefully he learned his lesson. i don't think putting a sign on your son like that will work unless he has to wear it at school in front of peers. this mother deserves applause. this is a clear call for juvenile court reform.

he makes a valid point. keep the tweets coming. message me at deb feyerickcnn. we will keep the conversation going. from cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it is one minute past 7:00. good morning, i'm deborah feyerick. we are hearing from haley barbour who is defending his decision to pardon 200 prisoners. one prisoner is speaking out saying he deserves to be free. two ships off the coast of nome, alaska bringing fuel to a cut off town. actor gene hackman is recovering after being struck by a car riding a bicycle.

>> we start with haley barbour defending his decision to pardon 200 people. among them, several murderers. a judge put a halt on prison releases and the legislature is considering changing the constitution to take pardon powers away from the governor. what is barbour saying now? in his first public comments, take a listen. >> historic power of the gubernatorial clemency, by the governor to pardon felons is rooted in the christian idea of giving second chances. i'm not saying i'll be perfect, that nobody who received clemency will ever do nothing wrong. i'm not infallible and nobody else is. i am very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons, including those at the

mansion. >> you heard him mention the mansion at the end. what he's talking about are prison trustees who worked at the the governor's mansion. four convicted murderers who worked at the mansion were pardons including a man convicted of killing his wife in 2001. >> i deserve a second chance in life. >> do you think people should be angry at governor barbour? >> no, sir. he treat us like -- >> judge mike smith presided over the murder case. martin savidge asked him about the pardon. >> i was disappointed he was pardoned. >> is there more to that or is that as much as we are going to say? >> i hope that the attorney general will be successful in having the pardon overturned.

>> here is more of what barbour had to say about letting the convicted murderers go free. >> i have absolute confidence, so much confidence i have let my grandchildren play with these fine men. i have let them ride their tricycles out and on the drive way with them watching out for them. i have no question in my mind that these five guys are not a threat to society. but, you know, people like you can say what if, what if, what if until the moon goes down. >> well, in all, barbour says he granted clemency to 215 people. 189 of them already finished their sentences and were out of prison. 13 of the remaining 26 inmates have chronic medical conditions. ba barbour says they were let go so the state would not have to pay for their medical care.

four of the republican presidential candidates lost their bid to get on the ballot in virginia. a judge ruled they waited too long to file claims to get their names added to the supertuesday primary. that means virginia can only choose mitt romney or ron paul. south carolina is the next contest for the candidates. exactly one week from today. where do the candidates stand? here is paul steinhauser. >> good morning, deb. one week to go until the south carolina primary. >> what a welcome, thank you. >> we are going to win in south carolina. >> south carolina can completely change this whole thing. >> a new survey suggests romney and gingrich are battling for the top spot with ron paul in third place. expect more polls and different numbers over the next week. one thing is for sure.

winning helps. romney has gone two for two edging rick santorum on top in the iowa caucuses. those back-to-back victories propelled romney back to the top spot in our cnn national poll, far ahead of the other republican presidential candidates. following a jam packed weekend on the campaign trail, the candidates tee off in a presidential debate monday in myrtle beach. thursday, they face-off at a cnn debate in charleston. deb? >> paul steinhauser there. you can see the charleston debate here on cnn thursday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. as paul said, the republican presidential candidates are all over south carolina this weekend. the action starts with rick santorum's faith, family and freedom town hall at 8:30 eastern. romney, gingrich, perry and huntsman all have several events. ron paul is not on the ground in

south carolina but they are hoping to launch a fund raising effort this weekend. this month's scheduled felony trial of former presidential candidate john edwards has been put on hold until late march. a federal judge revealed he has a serious heart problem. he'll have surgery next month. edwards is accused of conspiracy and violatiing campaign laws. he denies the charges. thousands of passengers and crew have been plucked off a crew ship. the relieved passengers are back in port. rescuers aren't done yet. they are trying to clear the ship. 4,000 people were on board when it hit a sandbar. here it is, the cruise ship is just sitting on its side. look at that. some passengers fell off the deck into freezing waters when the ship starting tipping over. at least three people are dead. as crews work to clear the ship,

they fear the death toll could rise. we'll have a live report coming up in the next hour. we have been following the progress of a fuel tanker and ice breaker making their way through the frozen north of nome, alaska. they are almost there. the ships are just outside the harbor in nome now. it's the first ever attempt to supply fuel to a western alaska town through an icy sea. nome is getting dangerously close to running out of fuel after bad weather canceled a delivery there last fall. the warm weather is, well, you could say history. snow, wind, freezing cold temperatures. alexandra steel is going to have the forecast, just ahead. the first lady shows off her dancing moves. she's going to appear on one of her kids favorite shows. we'll tell you why.

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it's ten minutes past the hour. we are another check of the forecast. it was so warm at the start of the week, but now it's very cold. >> that's what happens. for a couple different reasons. we didn't have a lot of storm systems crossing the country or cold air. now we have both and it's a recipe for dick cheney. >> winter. >> and snow. you got it. we have snow. it's lake-effect snow. you know, it's a little bit of an oddity in a few respects. this is lake ontario on top.

this is lake erie. lake erie is the most shallow. right now, it's 40 degrees. usually, it's at 33. so, the lake isn't closed, it's open. we have water. it's not fully exposed with ice. it allows for the cold, arctic air to roll over and create the lake-effect snow. we have it in the usual spots. great for these guys. so much of their livelihood depends on it. the ski resorts picking up snow. rochester, syracuse, good morning to you. one to three inches. four to six around cleveland. the wind is a huge factor. they have been incredibly strong. the wind is imparting and bringing in the cold, arctic air. month pill yar feels like 12 degrees. the temperatures will warm up. the strong and cold wind will make the windchills feel colder than the actual air temperature, which isn't that high anyway.

24 in albany, 19 in syracuse. if you are going to watch the game or go to the game, detroit, san diego, kick off temperatures 36. it will feel colder than that. in fox borrow, by kick off, temperatures will feel about teens or single digits by the end of the game. in terms of the big picture, the cold air, the jet stream is dropping down. very warm to the south and west. denver, 56 today. warmer than that tomorrow. the heat is on in some areas. 15 degrees above average. the dichotomy between 15 degrees above average and 15 degrees below is what we have seen this season. the global climate change extremes. itis what we have. >> thank you so much. i know a lot of kids are going to be happy for the long weekend. president obama has no shortage of star power behind his

re-election campaign. he's getting the endorsement, sort of, from oprah win free. she said this in south africa. >> i don't need to endorse mim. i am a 100% supporter of im. i have already endorsed him. everybody says are you going to do what you did in 2008? what i did in 2008 is because people didn't know who he was. who is this guy? you think he's going to be president? i said yeah, i really do. >> your not publicly endorsing him is not a sign of disappointment? >> absolutely not. >> oprah isn't officially endorsing the president, she is his number one fan. she calls him a masterful leader. if his office called her, she would do whatever to be of service. first lady michelle obama has got some moves. >> come on, get up out of your

seats. >> she showed off her random dancing moves in the i carley pass at a virginia school. she'll appear on an upcoming episode. her daughters are huge fans. the episodes highlight her campaign to support military families. >> you can do it, you guys can do it. apple probably only expected iphones to be flying off the shelves, not eggs off the windows. it turns violent. it was man versus machine during a philharmonic performance. >> this ring tone was going on and on and on. it was actually the loudest thing in the hall. >> a prestigious symphony was no match for a cell phone. find out who won the showdown, after the break.

we're used to seeing the long lines of devoted apple fans waiting outside stores for the ipad, ipod or iphone. watch this. stan was right in the middle of the chaos outside a beijing store. >> reporter: security is running down here. the mob is continuing to follow them. >> violent when one store did not open its doors yesterday. dozens of police and guards

pushed people out of the perimeter dragging away those who resisted. apple is saying they didn't open the store because there was a concern about safety with the large crowd. with ae have an been annoye that person whose cell phone rings at the worst time possible. the offender was sitting right smack dag in the front row. what did the conductor do? well, he called out the cell phone owner. we have more. >> this ring tone was going on and on and on. it was the laudest thing in the hall. >> reporter: it was the iphone interruption he'll always remember. >> there was tension and a stunned feeling for everybody in the room. certainly the musician. >> reporter: tuesday night at lincoln center as he led the philharmonic in the final movement of the symphony -- an

iphone started ringing in the front row. and it just kept ringing. wall street journal reporter was seated nearby. >> audience members started shaking their heads. craning their necks to see who it is. it keeps going and going and going. >> that is the iphone marimba tone. it got to the point where he couldn't ignore it. >> something had to be done. we had to stop the music. you lose your bearings and have to orient yourself. that's how it felt to me. it's like okay, what do we do. we have to finish this piece somehow. >> meanwhile, the audience was going nuts. they were shouting and saying throw him out. the audience was really angry. >> reporter: finally, the guy switched off the phone and

gilbert got back to the music. >> we usually grin and bear it. it's the price of living in the cell phone age. there was no way we could go on. >> reporter: he can only hope this musical interlude never makes an encore. unconfirmed reports say the offender slinked out of lincoln center after they turned the phone off. saving money and saving people. one woman is helping neighbors one coupon at a time. we are going to show you how she does it. you have been weighing in all morning that begs the question, would you force your kid to read a sign that says i lie, i steal, i sell drugs, i don't follow the law. would you do it as punishment? we are getting insight from you. keep tweeting me with your reaction at debfeyerickcnn.

we'll let you know what this mom did in a few minutes. the firstt in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check.

the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability. 'cause these guys aren't just hitting "print." they're hitting "dream." so that's what i do. i print dreams, baby. [whispering] big dreams.

normally, at this time in the show, you know we sit down with clyde anderson but he was

out on the road instead talking to a woman who is using her talents of saving money. gnat li allen has that story. >> reporter: expenses for girts and holiday meals can strain a family's budget. for many people, the costs of basic things like groceries can be overwhelming this time of year. one woman has taken the couponing craze and turned it into an opportunity to help people in her local georgia community. >> i was doing it for my family. i was amazed at what you could get for free or almost free. god just laid it on my heart, why not use the same concept to help meet the needs of others. >> she created save it forward providing groceries for families using extreme couponing.

using every coupon she can find to to cut costs. >> i believe the pantry program supports their families by making the parents feel secure knowing each month they are going to receive groceries and food. >> reporter: keith's wife had to stop working because of illness. >> by them providing food for me and my family, it creates time for me to be with them and do the things i need to do for them as a caregiver. >> reporter: financial analyst clyde anderson sat down with rhonda to find out how it works. >> these are the bags the families receive. >> yes. >> how do you determine what goes into the basket? >> it allows us to love on people extravagantly. what they receive is not the normal food pantry type of food. we provide name brand items like

brownies and fruit snacks with kids. >> how much have you saved? >> on this receipt, we spent $3.69. we actually saved $63.36. >> reporter: volunteers help purchase groceries and stock the food pantry. >> it's super easy. you go to the store. put it in your purse and you are done. >> no matter how much fills the pantry, rhonda is always looking for more coupons. >> in the economy we all live in, we are trying to stretch every dollar we can. this is -- we make it easy for people to give back to the community without a significant impact on their wallet. >> natalie allen, cnn. >> remarkable. how far would you go to punish your kid? would you do this? an indiana mom says it court system was too easy on her mom.

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checking some of our top stories this morning. 81-year-old gene hackman is home recovering after being struck by a pick-up truck. a driver his his rear tire. his publicist says he's fine, just a few bumps and bruises.

the martin luther king memorial on the national mall is about to get a make over. they ordered a correction of a quote inscribed in the granite. it reads i was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness. critics say it makes the civil rights leader appear arrogant and wasn't the exact quote. well, we have been telling you about the story all morning. we have been asking for your feedback. we have been getting lots of great answers. an indiana mom forcing her son to read a sign that says i lie, i steal, i sell drugs, i don't follow the law. she says it's his punishment since the court system was too easy on him. it begs the question, is the mom going too far? or would you do the same? here is what some of you said. amber tweeted, at least sign mom is trying to help her son. more parents need to step up and not be a friend or scared. good for her.