and from the cnn center, this is cnn saturday morning. it is saturday, january 14th. good morning, everybody. european vacation mediterranean nightmare. a massive cruise ship runs aground and lurches. we have the latest developments for you. ford recalls a half million minivans and suvs. the reason -- safety issue, power problems, possible fires. i'll tell you if your family's vehicle is on the list. and a mother is fed up with

her son's law breaking ways so she hands out some of her own justice mom style. not everyone is on board with her brand of tough love. at least three people confirmed dead, as many as 70 unaccounted after a cruise ship accident in italy. 4,000 people, passengers and crew, were on board. this italian-operated cruise liner when it scraped the sea floor and listed on to its side after dark last night. on the phone now from a port near the accident site is journalist barbie nadeau. barbie, first of all, update us on what you're seeing, who's there and what people are still missing. >> all right. right now we have got still between 50 and 70 people missing that were -- whose names were on the passenger manifest and who have not been accounted for. either coming through the port of porto santo stefano on the mainland where people have been processed by the italian authorities and the cruise ship company. what we don't know, though, is

whether or not those people belonged on the list or if they actually got on the ship or not. there have been reports in the last 20 to 30 minutes, though, that there has been potentially not -- this is not confirmed but some indication there are still bodies in the boat. this is coming from divers who are out in -- at the site. that is an unconfirmed report but there are people coming back to the shores here that are saying that there are some bodies left in the ship which, you know, i think everyone's expecting this death toll could rise with an accident like this and the sheer number of people, 4,434. the rescue effort in terms of the live passengers have gone fairly smoothly. all of those people dispersed to various ports in italy to be sent home or they'll continue their mediterranean vacation, i suppose. some people still will. what we don't know, though, is what caused this accident. all of the passengers that i spoke to this morning had the same story, that the electricity went off and felt a jolt and a

scraping sound and that was when this huge ship ran on to a sandbar that had rocks. one of the most curious things. i'm talking to people in the small fishing village and resort town and three or four cruise ships go on this -- in this lane between the island of giglio and the italian mainland every night. this is not a random off course. people would have known the sandbar existed. it's a very, very heavily trafficked area in terms of these cruise ships so all of this points, of course, the fact it could be an error in navigation system of the boat and with the reports of electricity off and the ship trying to turn before it ran aground, but yet, we don't have a confirmation of where those 70 missing people are and how many may or may not be trapped. >> this is interesting. >> in the hull of the boat. we don't know what the cause of this accident was. >> right. obviously, that's a grave concern is a number of people

trapped under the hull as you say. we spoke to a woman who was on the boat, on the ship, a short time ago. she said that passengers were actually told to return to their cabins. and it wasn't until what seemed about 45 moneys that they were given the order to abandon ship. were rescue crews able to get there quickly, especially since mayday wasn't issued until after the evacuation began? >> that's right. the italian coast guard confirmed they were not notified until the evacuation process began and one of the dreadful things about this accident is by maritime laws you do not have to have the safety procedure drills, within 24 hours of setting sail. this ship had not yet gone through the safety procedures so a lot of people who weren't accustomed to cruise ships wouldn't know known what to do. but they were not -- from the

passengers i talked to, they did not make the call to the muster stations as they're called where you're designated to go. that information would have been in the cabins, of course, of the -- the cruise and things. this ship wasn't under sail a lot time and people who knew what to do didn't know exactly in this particular ship where they were supposed to go. sounds like a lot of confusion and there were no -- go ahead. >> i was going to say, i think earlier you told us that, in fact, the captain was off the ship even before many of the passengers, passengers who were dangling in lifeboats over the side of that ship. a lot of confusion. a lot of panicking. crew apparently had no alternative but to jump in to the water as the ship began to sink. how common are these accidents in that area in the mediterrane mediterranean? >> very rare. i talked to the port authority here and there hasn't been an accident like this certainly in the last decade. in which a cruise ship has had

to evacuate or abandon ship and a cruise ship area. these are calm waters. they're very heavily trafficked waters. no unknown entities like i was saying the sandbar is not something to crop up they wouldn't have known. the seas are low this time of year but not -- you know, not an anomaly in terms of low seas. things like that. it was a clear night. the sea was very, very calm. according to the fishermen who were down at the port earlier. i was speaking to them of the weather and sea conditions. it was a perfect night for sailing according to one of the fishermen i talked to and there's really no reason other than some sort of obviously, nlg, traumatic failure on the part of the ship itself. because no other natural cause that would have contributed to this, certainly. but the divers are still out there right now. it's getting dark here in porto santo stefano and giglio and the

divers are finishing up and many, many, many boats around the perimeter of that sunken ship offering support to divers searching this massive structure for bodies at this point. >> all right. barbie nadeau, thank you so much for joining us and obviously one of the things authorities are focusing on, specifically, what caused this traumatic failure, whether an electrical problem triggered a reason for the boat, the ship to run aground, but also, why passengers were told to go to their cabin and not to prepare to evacuate and abandon that ship. for what seems to be about 45 minutes. we'll turn now to politics. former mississippi governor haley barbour, standing by the decision to pardon nearly 200 criminals. among them were several convicted murderers who were immediately released from prison. barbour pardoned them with no announcement at the time and no explanation. a judge put a malt on more prison releases and they're

considering changing the constitution to take the powers away from the governor. now, former governor barbour made the first public comments about the pardons a few hours ago. >> historic power of gubernatorial 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. but i am very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons including those at the mansion. >> now, when he says at the mansion, when he's talking about is prison trustees, people that worked at the official residence. four convicted murderers who worked at the mansion pardoned

including anthony mccray, convicted of killing his wife in 2001. >> everybody deserves a second chance in life. >> do you think people should be angry at governor barbour? >> no. no, sir. he treat us like we his children. >> judge mike smith presided over mccray's murder case. cnn's martin savage asked him how he feels that he was free. >> i was disappointed that he was pardoned. >> is there more to that or is that as much as we're going to say? >> i hope that the attorney general will be successful in having the pardon overturned. >> in all, barbour says he granted clemency to 215 people. 189 of them had already finished their sentences and they were out of prison.

13 of the remaining 26 inmates have chronic medical conditions. barbour says they were let go so the state wouldn't have to pay for their expensive medical care. coming up, he cheated on his wife while she was recovering from cancer. now sources say john edwards is so sick it's affecting his upcoming corruption trial. that next. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. 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, and i get to help science teachers.

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a federal judge's ruling just shrunk the list of names virginia republicans can pick for their presidential nominee. here's a preview of the march ballot. just mitt romney and ron paul.

that's because the judge says the other candidates, these candidates right there, failed to meet state requirements to get the names on the ballot. at stake, virginia's 49 delegates. focusing on the near future, one week from today, the candidates will face off in the south carolina primary. one hour from now, voters there will have a chance to see most of the candidates side by side at a forum. cnn political reporter pete hamby is live from greenville, south carolina. peter, first of all, which candidate is not attending this forum and why? >> yeah. as you said, all the candidates will be there except for ron paul. the texas congressman. been pretty absent from the south carolina campaign trail. he had a couple of down days in texas. i talked to his campaign manager this morning. they said they have a long-standed prior engagement they can't get out of. they won't be at the forum hosted by mike huckabee who was an antagonist to mitt romney,

the gop front-runner. romney will be there tonight -- excuse me in a little bit this afternoon in charleston answering questions about the race for undecided voters, deb. >> it's interesting. i read something that said that ron paul is a hero to many in south carolina but won't survive the mor realistic conservative voters in south carolina. let's twist over to rick santorum. this morning, he went on the attack against front-runner mitt romney but a superpac behind romney going after santorum. tell me about that. >> yeah. we have been talking about the negative tv ads here in south carolina from the superpacs and campaigns. we haven't talked about mail. it can have an impact. this is not affiliated with romney but attacking rick santorum over earmarks in the mail. this is the first sharply negative mail piece we have seen in the south carolina race. the superpac claiming that

santorum drove up deficits voting for earmarks in congress and he's hitting back really drilled mitt romney this morning at tommy's ham house in greenville. take a listen to what he had to say this morning, deb. >> we're looking for someone, we're looking for someone who can be the anti-establishment candidate. the establishment is trying to ram down the people of south carolina everybody else's throat, governor romney. as if he's the inevitable. >> that message right there that romney is the moderate establishment soft on conservative issues candidate, rick santorum and newt gingrich both hammering that message home. they're both vying for that conservative anti-romney vote an they're training the fire on romney trying to bring him down in the polls so possibly it becomes a three-way race, excuse me, and one of them can escape south carolina with a narrow victory but right now romney is still the front-runner, deb.

>> okay. peter, thanks so much. we'll be checking in with you later. hopefully a chance to speak with the voters and how they're feeling with the deluge of advertisements there in south carolina. thanks so much, peter. two days before the south carolina primary, see the gop contenders in what may be their last chance to change primary voters' minds. the presidential debate airs thursday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. a program note. join fredericka whitfield every sunday afternoon at 4:00 eastern for a special hour dedicated to the presidential contenders in the 2012 election. and what about the man all the gop contenders are trying to beat? president obama already has more than $100 million in the coffers for the re-election but one thing he won't have that he did the first time around, the official endorsement of oprah winfrey. why? we'll explain that.

>> i don't need to endorse him because i'm a 100% supporter of him and i've already endorsed him and i have already, you know, everybody always asks, are you going to do what you did in 2008. whatdy in 2008 i did because people didn't know really -- my own friends didn't know who he was at the time. do you think that guy's going to be president? i go, yeah, i really do. >> so you're not publicly endorsing him is not a sign of disappointment? >> oh, absolutely not. >> safe to say she remains a number one fan. winfrey did add she would do whatever the president asked her to do and to be, quote, of service. well, a court source telling cnn john edwards is a life threatening heart condition and surgery's scheduled sometime in february's forcing the delay of the ex-senator's corruption trial. now, the trial will start no earlier than march 26th. edwards is charged with multiple violations involving the 2008

presidential campaign and a mistress who's now the mother of his youngest child. next, plenty of european leaders not happy today at standard & poor's. the credit agency pushed down the credit ratings of nine countries. i've got reaction of europe and market impact. plus, the amount of money this woman saves using coupons, it will astonish you and encourage you to buy papers. now using talents to help others. ♪ baby, baby, come along ♪ baby, baby, come along with me ♪ [ air horn blows ] ♪ i love you and i need you ♪ just to hug and squeeze you ♪ baby, why can't you see? [ female announcer ] the space of a small suv. the fuel efficiency of a prius. ♪ well, baby, can't you see the all-new prius v from toyota. ♪ come along with me

nine year euro zone countries saw their credit rating downgraded by standard &

poor's. s&p warned 15 countries last month that rating cuts were probably coming. the french financial minister said that france is still a safe bet for investors. italy's downgrade to bbb status puts them close to the level of junk bonds. world markets dipped a bet yesterday after close. we'll see the real effects monday when the markets open. it's extreme couponing for good a. georgia woman using the talents to help other people fill their cupboards. natalie allen explains. >> reporter: 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 in to an opportunity to help people in her local georgia community. >> i was doing it for my family. i was amazed what you could get for free or almost free and god just really laid it on my heart, why not use the concept to help

meet the needs of others? >> reporter: she created save it forward, providing more than 60 families dwroes ris every month with extreme couponing. that means collecting every coupon she can find and using them to cut her grocery costs. school counselor jessica high is familiar with seeing many students who don't have enough to eat. >> i believe that the pantry program supports their families by making the parents feel secure knowing each month they receive groceries and food. >> reporter: like keith braswell whose wife had to stop working because of illness. >> by them providing the food for me and my family creates time for me to be able to really 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 saves. >> tell us. these are the bags that the family receives. >> yes. >> how do you determine what

goes in it? >> the thing i love is that we love on people extravagantly. what people receive in our bags is not the normal food pantry-type of food. we provide items name brand items like brownies and fruit snacks for kids. >> how much is saved with some of these receipts? >> on this particular receipt $3.69 and saved $63.36. >> reporter: volunteers help purchase groceries and stock the food pantry. >> it makes it supper easy with an envelope and put wit the grocery list in the purse and you're done. >> reporter: no matter how much food fills the pantry, rhonda is always looking for more coupons. >> in the economy we live in, we all are trying to stretch every dollar that we can. and this is -- we make it easy for people to give back to the community without a significant impact on their wallet. >> reporter: natalie allen, cnn,

atlanta. ford says about half million minivans and crossover suvs have flaws that may cause them to lose power or catch fire. they specifically mentioned the ford escape, the ford freestar and the mercury monterey. the company's recalling certain models of the vehicles to fix the problems. and super thin laptops were the buzz of the consumer electronics show. a look at ultrabooks and other high-tech highlights. it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

the world's biggest gadget convention is now history and in case you could not make it to

the awesome consumer electronics show mario armstrong has the highlights. >> reporter: i'm at the electronics show in viva las vegas. it's amazing what's happening. 1.7 million square feet of space. 30 football fields of technology. this is the premier conference where exhibiters, buyers, retailers come together to talk about what technology you will see in the stores. a couple of key categories that i'm seeing this year -- ultrabooks. very thin, lightweight laptops that power on quickly, have great battery life and are really lightweight, easy to carry. i'm seeing a lot of stuff in digital health and fitness. things to track calories, heart rate. all of these things. check your glucose from the wireless phone. exciting things happening in health. even car connectedness is happening here. vehicles being able to talk to each other through sensors in

the cars. preventing accidents, making confession go away. all kinds of cool stuff and connected home. having your appliances in your house be more intelligent, more smart. seeing washers and dryers to let you know when a load is done signaling you on the device. i grabbed a select few of a couple things happening here. number one, the power bag. i love this bagpack. this is cool stuff. what they thought of was the fact that they're going to put in a charging device, a battery, that goes in the backpack that enables you to carry and power up all of your devices while on the go. power mat is here. you may have heard of it before. take the receiver case from a phone, place it on a power mat and get charged or power mat devices like this. take it with you to give power to multiple devices at the same time. nokia is here with the luna 900. this is getting a lot of

attention with windows on the device. you can see the nice details. tiles. beautiful screen here. beautiful screen on this device. looks gorgeous. operates fast and i think a lot of people are going to like this when it hits the store shelves. last but not least, sony with a unique design of a portable tablet with two screens. pretty neat. utilize both for watching content, playing games, pulling up e-mail. pretty interesting design and unique device. the type of stuff you see here at the consumer electronics show. as you can tell, my voice is fading. the show is that exhausting. i'll have more when i get back at headquarters. all right? until then, i'll see you from the ces 2012 consumer electrons show. >> so many toys, so little time. thank you, mario. a tense situation in the straits of hormuz is getting worse. iranian speedboats buzzing u.s. navy and coast guard ships.

coming up, what's at stake.

at least three people are confirmed dead, dozens are still unaccounted for after a cruise ship accident in italy. 4,000 people, passengers and crew, were on board this italian operated cruise liner when it scraped the sea floor and listed on to its side. it happened after dark just at

about dinner time a. canadian passengers described for us what it was like when the ship ran aground and why they immediately knew it was serious. >> sitting watching the magic show and it'd just barely started, and all of a sudden the lights flashed and the -- we heard a -- the boat tipped like he was turning but it didn't return to level. and then, it -- we heard a scraping noise to the -- on the left side of the boat. the ship. and then my husband said, we're sliding off our seats. we were sitting on the opposite side. we were on the high side at that point. we're sliding off our seats. something's wrong. the magician disappeared. that was the funny part. but we had to get out of there. we knew it was something serious. by the time we got -- reran to our cabin to get the life

jackets. grabbed our coats. that was it. none of the valuables. none of the important papers. on the other side of the ship, the high side at this point, the lifeboats got stuck and there were people hanging -- well, you know, in the lifeboats safely but in midair for a long time and children crying and screaming and people actually jumping. we heard that passengers jumped, not passengers but crew members jumped at the end in to the water. >> well, the ship carried about 3,200 passengers and a thousand employees. witnesses say not only the lifeboats were usable because the ship was listing so hard on its side. the ship was on a tour of islands and european ports. most of the passengers were italian. things are getting increasingly tense in the strait of hormuz. take a look at this defense department video from last week. it shows iranian speedboats harassing u.s. ships coming dangerously close. worse, the crews seemed to be

holding ak-47s. this comes after iran threatened to close the strait, a vital oil shipping lane. >> the thinging is that the iranians were not looking for a shooting match. they were going to break off but causing heart-stopping action before they did that. one of the things here is, look, the iranians gained some intelligence 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. well, pardons this week in mississippi have legislators there and in other states considering major changes to state law. among those pardoned i is 26 current inmates and convicted killers. a judge halted the release but five inmates had already gotten out. the state found most of them. barbour said he has no regrets

and his grand kids helped him decide. >> i have absolute confidence, so much confidence that i've let my grandchildren play with these five men. i've let them ride their tricycles out on the driveway 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. >> mississippi's new governor says he would support a new law limiting his own power over pardons. 32 states give the governor full authority. in eight states the governor and an advisory board share it and then in ten states the governor has no hand in pardons. harry coats wants to limit the influence in the pardon process in his states. he talked to us about the resolution and barbour's pardons

a short time ago. >> that's what the resolution 46 would do, send it to the vote of the people as to whether or not they want the governor micromanaging the pardon and parole board. >> sir, what's interesting is that part of the governor's thinking was that these are men who have served their time, so if you give them a pardon, if you basically give them clemency, they have done their time and at least now they can go and apply for jobs and not have to put down, yes, i was a felon or, yes, i served time. is there logic to that thinking? >> well, i think there is a logic to it but that is the responsibility, i feel, of the pardon and parole board. the governor in oklahoma has -- still has tremendous ability to manage pardon and parole board in that the governor appoints three members, the supreme court chief justice appoints one and the court of criminal appeals appoints one and not that the

governor would be completely out of the process but it seems somewhat arrogant when a parole and pardon board recommends an inmate that the governor second guess the people they had appointed and it creates a huge bottleneck in the governor's office. >> you know, it's interesting because a number of people worked in the governor's mansion which means he got to know them personally. i'm sure that's a very plum assignment if you're working close to the governor because then at least if nothing else he can weigh in, say this is a good guy without necessarily knowing either the minute facts of the case or the facts of the law. is there a conflict in having folks work in the governor's mansion? >> well, i view it as a conflict in that the governor most likely doesn't know the background of these individuals. the pardon and parole board

does. they have all the time in the world to do research and recommend parole for worthy individuals and to have the governor step in and do a mass release as governor barbour did, just creates chaos and really doesn't allow the pardon and parole board to do their job. well, a georgia lawmaker says he and his colleagues should lead by example. if people looking for state aid have to take drug tests, so should lawmakers. he's going to explain why coming up after the break.

a bill just introduced in

georgia would require drug tests for state lawmakers to prove they're not legislating under the influence. georgia state representative scott holcum is the bill's sponsor, a response to a republican drug testing initiative he says singles out the working poor. he told me he believes lawmakers should lead by example. >> the reason i wanted to push back was because i'm certainly not a defender of anybody who misuses taxpayer money, whether that's the working poor, whether that's a corporation or whether that's a government worker who wastes time on the job. but it struck me as being really unfair that our state would single out a single group of citizens who receive taxpayer benefits, the working poor, but nobody else for drug testing. and so, i think leaders should lead by example and since state legislators receive benefits, we should abide by the same standard as we do for the working poor. >> do you see the measures, a

number proven unconstitutional. you can't mandate drug testing but do you see this as anti-poor, anti- -- what? >> i do see it as that. really what it is is the gop is out of ideas and so they're recycling ideas from 20 years ago which the welfare debate about 20 years ago and massive reforms and so they're using stale ideas because they can't come up with anything new to really recharge our economy and here in georgia what's even worse is not only does the gop not have any good ideas they steal bad ideas from other states. >> you feel passionate about this and i think one of the reasons is because, obviously, the people who are getting money, you've said you don't want the money to be spent on drugs. however, there are children that are being penalized for this. and you can't necessarily, you know, you may have a mom who's got an addiction problem but you have a kid who needs help. >> right. and that is what this program is

designed to do is to help the neediest of our needy families and to your point earlier about food is that's what this is about and those that oppose it, it's as many of them saying food is a luxury item and clearly it is not and the agency that runs this program in georgia, the example on the website is that this would be for working mother with two kids who makes about $784 a month. >> right. >> that's $26 a day. that's not $26 a day in spending money but $26 for housing, electricity, for water and for food for 2 children. these are the very poor people. and here in georgia, we've been underperforming for a decade where our unemployment rate averages a point higher than the nation. >> you're hurting them even more. >> hurting them even more. >> all right. >> where are the job opportunities? >> that was scott holcum there. now a quick check of the weather. there's a lot of it and cold, cold, cold. i thought i was in new york waking up this morning. >> cold and snow for a january

forecast, right? >> who knew? >> all right. well, we have some snow around. those lake-effect snow guns firing off as per usual. rochester, cleveland, as well. four to six around cleveland. and maybe those lake-prone areas, buffalo, syracuse, rochester, one to three and here in kentucky one to two to three inches potentially for you, as well. kind of a quick hitter, though. in earlier today and out by this evening. there's the snow around the great lakes. sunny and cold here in the southeast. about ten degrees below average. seattle and portland, early morning for you waking up. one to two inches of snow on the docket today and then that system that crosses the country, brings snow to the midwest and the northeast, as well next week. >> all right. alexandra, thanks so much. when it's winter, we should expect snow. >> absolutely. >> appreciate it. well, a mom dolls out a harsh lesson for her son. >> i decided he broke the law and they only gave him a few hours of community service. so i decided that we were going

to wear a sign since you look for attention, we'll get you attention. >> that 14-year-old looks really unhappy. she is making him wear a sign saying i lie, i steal, i sell drugs s. this tough love too tough? and the big old tree ♪ ♪ side by side, one, two, three ♪ ♪ count the birds in the big old tree ♪ ♪ la la la [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. ♪ ♪ you and me and the big old tree side by side ♪ but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the charming outfits. take away the sprites, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials...

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well, an indiana mother is just fed up with her son and the court system. she says authorities have not pushed him enough to change his

behavior. so she's making him wear a sign in public that says i lie, i steal, i sell drugs and i don't follow the law. elizabeth fields of wane says not everyone approves. >> sign around my son's neck because my son chooses to keep breaking the law. >> reporter: she says the list of her 14-year-old son's crimes is growing. she say it is punishments aren't enough to get him to stop so she's showing him tough love. >> decided he broke the love and they gave him a few hours of community service so i decided that we were going to wear a sign since you're looking for attention, we'll get you attention. what else more can i do? they gave him probation and quick to talk about the $300 to pay in fees but nobody's trying to help me fix my son. >> reporter: the teen son clearly states he doesn't follow the law but drivers passing by didn't think his mom was either and called police. officers say lax is completely within the rights to make her

son stand on the side of the street. it is unconventional but not illegal. >> i'm hoping it makes it sink in. it wasn't for it to be a joke or anything funny. he just had to stand out here two out here two hours. then again they have got their way and i've got mine. my object is to save my son. newsroom continues at the top of the hour with fredricka whitfield. what do you have coming up? >> we've got our legal guys who are always with us every noon eastern time and today we'll tackle something very interesting. so what would you do in the case of you get stopped for a speeding violation, you get a v citation. the police officer reaches out and leaves you a note on your car and says i want a date. >> this is a problem there. >> that is a case that our legal guys will delve into. she is suing. she says her right of privacy was violated, so we'll talk about that one. then we are already seeing that the presidential race, the race for the white house, is taking a whole new kind of shape

in large part because of super pacs. we're talking about supporters who can make very sizeable donations to the candidates of their choice. unlimited donations without the direct participation of the candidates. it's really changing the face of this race and it also is giving some candidates quite the upper hand. we'll talk about what super pacs are, how it works and where it's going from here. then also in the 3:00 eastern hour, consumer electronics show is under way and our gadgets guru, marc saltzman, will be along. he has five of his favorite picks from the show. he's going to be sharing them with us. and then 4:00 eastern time, you've heard a lot of people in the workforce who say i'm thinking about should i go back to school, vocational school, community college or maybe even university? will it help me get the upper hand at the place in which i work or help me get a better job? lifestyle guru valerie burton will be along to let us know how do you even consider that and can you afford it, not just

financially but timewise too. >> which is always the big thing. >> it really is. >> interesting lineup there. we'll definitely look forward to tuning in. >> and we're looking for people to send their tweets and comments to facebook as it pertains to whether you think it's a good idea or not to think about going back to school. you've been in the workforce for some time now. should you go back to recharge those batteries or revitalize your career? is it necessary? tweet me. i know it's rare to hear but i said it and t.j. is not even here to witness it, so this time it's you. >> on the record, on the record. that's right. i prefer a sabbatical. i'd take like a year off maybe. >> that's a nice option too. >> exactly. thanks so much, fred, appreciate it. well, call it iron chef inmate edition. these guys put their impressive skills to the test from their prison kitchen. the mouth-watering competition. ♪ ♪ do you know what you want? ♪ while beating up on yesterday ♪

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taking a look at stories making news across the country, we'll 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? the close a budget hole. >> we're not looking to go out and harass people, just to slow people down and help us out in the process. >> it costs $35,000 a month to run the police department, and the city plans to get half of that operating cost from speeders.

now take a look at this from rio vista, california. a gas pipeline ruptured causing these flames. that fire is shooting up as high as 100 feet. fire crews were able to put it out quickly. no one was injured. in plainville, connecticut, something to make you smile. marine corporal greg karen waited patiently to surprise his fellow soldiers who were coming home to their families. >> i'm very anxious to see the guys, especially the guys that i was with during the patrol. it will be my first time seeing them since the accident. >> just two months ago he lost both legs from an ied blast. he was told it would be months and months before he was standing up but look at this. he's standing on two prosthetic legs greeting his comrades one by one. >> it's just amazing how fast he's recovered. i didn't anticipate this. >> and now for our morning passport. okay, so you've seen the show probably "iron chef."

the food network tv series that you see here where chefs are pitted against each other in a cooking showdown. well, inmates in the largest prison in the philippines, convicted murderers and all, they eat up and the show has inspired a cook-off that's been dubbed iron bar chef. we'll explain the criminal and culinary competition. >> so what they have done in the prison and they did it last week in fact, the first ever iron bar chef, they had six teams of three inmates each. and they gave them exactly 60 minutes. in the 60 minutes they had to come up with a gourmet dish. some of them came up with may marina marinara, roast beef, some of them had squash croquettes and all kind of interesting things. what they proved is it was a great team building effort and boosted morale. >> what about the people who are watching? we see that there are men who were actually watching. again, they're under a lot of pressure. they actually had real judges.

but how was this received? >> it was received so well. people got into the spirit of it. they also enjoyed the delicious food. and one of the judges, who's an executive chef at an all seasons resort in australia, says he was so surprised by the caliber of the food because a lot of the inmates in fact had had jobs in kitchens before going to prison. so that was one of the things that he mentioned. but this is a broader program, as i mentioned. this particular prison has 17,000 inmates. 12,000 under maximum security. and they have really embarked on efforts like gardening and cooking and all kinds of hand crafts and playing tennis in order to really rehabilitate these inmates. this is one of the things that has just proved so helpful and so helpful for these inmates. >> one of the things, especially with inmates, is once they have a direction and once they get the things they need to go out and succeed, then their chances of going back to prison obviously are less.

>> exactly. and this is a skill. this is a life skill. so who knows, maybe we're looking at the next reality series, "iron bar chef" inmates doing a reality show and cooking. >> well, cnn newsroom continues now with fredricka whitfield. hey, this italian -- we were just talking about this crews ship and to see it on its side. it is so large, so immense like a village, it had to be so scary for the people on that knowing that it was going down. they described it as the titanic. >> yes, you can see the scrapings at the bottom of that hull. so clearly they ran into something a little more rigid than a sandbar. >> it was definitely not a sandbar, it had to be much bigger. >> the captain got off first, or not first but before all the passengers had gotten off. let's talk about that