haley barbour said some of them, he allowed them to play with his grandchildren and so forth. what do you think of his response? >> the trustee program in mississippi and the instance we've seen pardons have a path that come through the trustee program, through the governor's mansion, that's why some of the legislation we are pushing makes sure that when a governor looks at a pardon, that he has to notify the district attorney that prosecuted the case. especially in cases of murder. he can call a public hearing. he can get input from the families. that's one thing here. the families didn't know this was going to happen. the families of the victims didn't know this was going to happen. they are certainly not comfortable tonight, i can tell you that, after speaking with them. >> mississippi state house member bobby moak, thank you. appreciate your time. >>> on to politics now. religious conservatives decided to throw their support to republican presidential candidate rick santorum. they heard pitches from surrogates for the gop candidates. santorum was chosen after three rounds

haley barbour issued a temporary injunction wednesday night. for a recap of this sherrie johnson joins us with more. this is something a lot of viewers have been talking about, not just in mississippi but in maryland. >> reporter: we also hear from a lot of victims in mississippi. they are very concerned. a mississippi judge is putting his foot down this. comes after outgoing governor haley barbour approved full pardons for 199 people with crimes that range from shoplifting to rape to murder. four men convicted of murder are out of jail. haley barbour approved full pardons for the men who were serving life sentences. one released is david gatlin. in 1993 he walked into the home of his estranged wife tammy and shot her in the head killing her. gatlin also shot her friend randy walker, he survived the gunshot wound to the head, walker says he will now live in fear now that gatlin is has been released. >> i feel like my safety is in jeopardy. tammy's family, i feel they are all in jeopardy. i feel fear for the safety of my family. it's an issue. a

haley barbour more than 200. is what it's like to be haley barbour today. >> outraged family members and victims are denouncing the pardons of four murder ares by haley barbour. >> families are outraged. >> there is outrage across the state. >> a lot of people angry. >> mississippi governor's final act in office ignited outrage. >> they have been convicted of burglary, rape and in some cases murder. >> i think -- the governor should have to look me and the family in the eye and say hey i'll let this guy go. >> a clear signal he probably is planning to be finished with electoral politics. >> mississippi judge actual hi temporarily blocked the release of some of the prisoners who governor barbour pardoned or released. but while the state of mississippi fumes over and fights against haley barbour's pardons out of office, he's on his way out of office. one day out of the governor's office it has been announced he is going back to being a high dollar lobbyist. given what he did on his last day in office, not only is h

thanks very much. >>> and why would haley barbour release convicted murerers?nough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for hear

he was one of four convicted murderers pardoned and released by governor haley barbour. >> he owed us some kind of explanation as to why he was letting this malicious killer just go. >> reporter: on his last day in office, barbour pardoned 203 criminals. some convicted of rape, manslaughter, and armed robbery. reached by phone, barbour told cbs news 189 of those pardoned were already out of prison. some he said for years and years. barbour also explained 13 pardons were for sick inmatesmas who cost the mississippi prison system thousands of dollars for health care. he told us "we let them out because they're so expensive." jim hood is the mississippi attorney general and a political opponent of barbour. >> you know, he needs to answer the people in the state of mississippi wile he's gone out and created chaos by releasing all these... and pardoning violent offenders like this. >> reporter: hood says in at least some of the cases barbour did not follow a state law that requires 30 day's notice to a crime victim when a pardon is considered. and the attorney general says he does not know

by outgoing governor haley barbour.ood has vowed to conduct a man hunt if they can't be found. >> i'm encouraging those out there, if you're a family member of one of these five that we're looking for, call our office. the attorney general's office in mississippi and advise them they need to come turn themselves in. >> the republican governor granted clemency or full pardons to more than 200 convicted criminals. >> he said 90% were recommended by the parole board. many were already free. we spoke to the parole board, and they did not get back to us to confirm this, but he granted eight years. in the past two weeks, he granted 214. 16 to convicted murders. the judge granted a temporary injunction stopping the release, but all those people are out the door. mary mcabee's brother was killed by one of the released murderers, and she's joining us tonight. also paul cowin. i know this has got to be a difficult and shocking time for you. the man convicted of killing your brother has been pardoned and released. how do you feel

if that's the case, and if it was the a.g., jim hood, who took, as you call it, a shot against haley barbourepublican, it sounds like the shots are coming right back at the a.g. because there are accusations that it was the a.g.'s responsibility to actually post those warnings in the paper, those notices in the paper. and that the a.g. slipped up, screwed up, didn't do the posting. is that what i'm hearing now the issue is, that perhaps it's republican lawmakers backing their former governor saying it's the democrat a.g.'s fault? >> i don't think it's just republican lawmakers. i think you look at the constitution and understand exactly who was supposed to send out the notice. today the judge will make a rule to determine that was not correct or not. >> what do you think the judge should do in these cases? >> well, again, if the letter of the law is followed, the judge obviously is going to make her ruling based on that. i think some of these folks, the question comes down to at this level of the newspaper, something just printed once a week, you know, the question is, well, they printed eve

by outgoing governor haley barbour.im hood has vowed to conduct a man hunt if they can't be found. >> i'm encouraging those out there, if you're a family member of one of these five that we're looking for, call our office. the attorney general's office in mississippi and advise them they need to come turn themselves in. >> the republican governor granted clemency or full pardons to more than 200 convicted criminals. >> he said 90% were recommended by the parole board. many were already free. we spoke to the parole board, and they did not get back to us to confirm this, but he granted eight years. in the past two weeks, he granted 214. 16 to convicted murders. the judge granted a temporary injunction stopping the release, but all those people are out the door. mary mcabee's brother was killed by one of the released murderers, and she's joining us tonight. also paul cowin. i know this has got to be a difficult and shocking time for you. the man convicted of killing your brother has been pardoned and released. how do you f

this comes after outgoing governor haley barbour approved full pardons for 199 people. this includes 14 convicted murderers, five convicts were released sunday. the law requires pardon requests be published 30 days in advance, that didn't happen for some of the people. the state's attorney general says haley barbour often acted as if he were above the law. >> he ran the state and governor's office, didn't follow the law. this is a very simple constitutional provision. the governor just didn't even follow it. it was clear he had to have this information and didn't obtain it before signing the pardons. that caused a public safety issue. these families are afraid out here and these victims have been through a terrible amount, it's a slap in the face to all the law enforcement in the state of mississippi. >> reporter: barbour released a statement explaining 90% of the individuals were nolonger in custody and a majority of them had been out for years. a court hearing on the matter is set for january 23rd. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. >>> shocking images now making their way a

>> no, haley barbour? >> i mean, he's certainly, you know, one of the great wheeler-dealers. >> actually, let me play a little chunk of that. this is jim hood, the attorney general was furious and i think the reference was to say, you're making us look like a back water. you're going to release these people. very few people standing up and saying, yes, this is brilliant. release murderers and make sure they can have guns later for the people who are afraid of them returning. let me play a little bit of what he said yesterday with anderson. >> former governor barbour. i mean, he didn't follow the law. this is a very simple constitutional provision and governor barbour didn't follow it. very clear he had to have this information, he didn't obtain it before he signed these pardons and that has caused public safety issue. >> so, the injunction is in place. >> does it make me a bad person that i don't know who boss hog is? >> oh, my -- >> about five blocks from here. >> boss hog was the big bad sheriff in stars

but haley barbour -- >> you don't see any female murderers working in the governor's mansion there.here's a different standard. >> we have no idea how these people were picked. what makes this so agonizing, this story, there are undoubtedly lots of people in the mississippi prison system who should get pardons. pardons are not a bad thing but because of this sort of futile -- feudal system where the king, the governor, taps a few people on the shouldner a seemingly irrational way, it's discredited the whole policy and a lot of people who probably should get pardons, nonviolent people, will wind up not getting them. >> do you agree the whole notion of crime of passion is an antiquated sexist notion? >> absolutely. murder is murder. it doesn't matter what your motive is. if you killed someone, you killed someone. people like to cling to the idea that in passion, you're not thinking, you're not considering their consequences, but it's still so antiquated. >>> this does kind of taint the whole pardon system. >> it does. we have almost 2 million people in prison in the united states. the

just a short time ago, haley barbour spoke to fox news. talked a lot about forgiveness and faith. here he is. >> i have no doubt in my mind that these men have repented, have been redeemed, have come back hard working to prepare themselves to go out into the world. i have no question in my life. >> you hear him? he says it's a christian thing to do to forgive. io heard one of the convicted murders saying he's changed, read the bible, and found god. what's your reaction? >> i do not believe there's no way in reasonable logic haley barbour can say he can believe that 2ten people that he's pardoned, that all of them have found god and they have been redeemed, one, he hasn't talked to them. there's been no background investigation. he doesn't know if all of them read the bible or whatever. and i know criminals read the bible. all kind of people read the bible, but that does not realize or say that these people are ready to be returned into our society here within mississippi. >> and obviously, he's made the point that 90% of the people he pardoned were recommended by the parole board

just a short time ago, haley barbour spoke to fox news. talked a lot about forgiveness and faith.he is. >> i have no doubt in my mind that these men have repented, have been redeemed, have come back hard working to prepare themselves to go out into the world. i have no question in my life. >> you hear him? he says it's a christian thing to do to forgive. io heard one of the convicted murders saying he's changed, read the bible, and found god. what's your reaction? >> i do not believe there's no way in reasonable logic haley barbour can say he can believe that 2ten people that he's pardoned, that all of them have found god and they have been redeemed, one, he hasn't talked to them. there's been no background investigation. he doesn't know if all of them read the bible or whatever. and i know criminals read the bible. all kind of people read the bible, but that does not realize or say that these people are ready to be returned into our society here within mississippi. >> and obviously, he's made the point that 90% of the people he pardoned were recommended by the parole board to be

. >>> former mississippi governor haley barbour has created an uproar. he's defending his decision to pardon several convicted murderers. for a limited time, passages malibu will be giving away free copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. >>> former mississippi governor haley barbour says he's at peace to pardon several convicted murderers but it's hard to find anyone that agrees with him. cnn's martin savidge has more. >>> more than a week after he pardoned so many in this state, there's still a lot of anger. but nobody is more upset than the families of the victims. when ronald bonds wants to see his sister, jennifer, this is the only way. a photo album. >> that's jennifer, yeah. >> reporter: jennifer was murdered in 2001 by a man ronald knew, her husband. >> we grew up together. good friends. that was my friend. we were good friends. >> reporter: anthony shot his wife in the back, in front of a room full of witnesses in this after-hours spot on the outskirts of town. >> he would have stood right here, and h

the decision by mississippi governor haley barbour to pardon more than 200 prisoners, including four murderers. barbour is defending his decision telling reporters he is, quote, very comfortable with it. martin savidge joins us live from jackson, mississippi. martin, the governor's response -- former governor's response comes day after the pardon. why respond now? >> reporter: well, it's been almost a week now since governor haley barbour made those controversial pardons. despite the passage of time, the controversy and the anger in this state and across the nation has not really subsided that much so he felt he had to go on the air waves and try to defend his position. here's what he said on fox. >> over at the governor's mansion, we trust them to play with and to be looked out for by these people. if i trust them to be around my grandchildren, i think that makes a pretty plain statement. >> reporter: there's some -- a couple of remarkable statements in that very short clip. number one, he apparently is saying murderers are much more trustworthy than your average common criminals be

we're talking about mississippi and haley barbour's decision to pardon more than 300 criminals. and four convicted killers, all worked at the governor's mansion as part of a long standing program now suspended along with the pardons. before the court put the pardons on hold, those four killers walked away. three since checked in as required by the judge and expected to show up at a hearing this friday. last night, mississippi authorities tracked down this man, joseph ozment and served him with papers ordering him to be in court as well. they found him in laramie, wyoming and tried to flee. he tried to get away in his girlfriend and they served them with a sympathy. the pair were planning to get married and invitations gone out. there were hints of thinking of living on the land and not settling down. and there were hints they might have a small private ceremony to take place at an undisclosed time, date and location. in a moment, mississippi attorney general jim lahood is joining us and no love lost between him and haley barbour. and calls it politically motivated and blamed the

batt but should people be angry at governor haley barbour? treated us like we have matured >> haley barbour act not sit well with some people predicted of the eight families of the killers' victims governor haley barbour issued 199 pardons before leaving office. rose to the bank's chief of detectives that the chicago police superintendent today released from custody after completing a 12 year prison sentence as a jewel thief. 83 years old. pleading guilty to thousand want to run and eight ring style and content to stop jewelry salesmen across the country and still more than $5 million of diamonds and jabs over two decades. serve the bulk of top federal prison indiana and went to a halfway house. try to resurrect an abandoned church and fallen community the mission to restore our lady of angels parish decades after tragic fire in united states history and relied on kindness of strangers family pulls together to help others after health scare the took a loved one's life. tonight's medical watch sometimes all you need to save a life is kindness

most of them had already served their time, but haley barbour also set free murderers who were behind bars. anna werner is in jackson tonight. >> i wanted to think that, you know, maybe haley barbour didn't know all the facts of the case, you know? the more i've learned, i don't think he cared. >> reporter: in 1993, tiffany brewer's sister tammy was shot in the face by her estranged husband, david gatlin. he was one of four convicted murderers pardoned and released by governor haley barbour. >> he owed us some kind of explanation as to why he was letting this malicious killer just go. >> reporter: on his last day in office, barbour pardoned 203 criminals. some convicted of rape, manslaughter, and armed robbery. reached by phone, barbour told cbs news 189 of those pardoned were already out of prison. some he said for years and years. barbour also explained 13 pardons were for sick inmatesmas who cost the mississippi prison system thousands of dollars for health care. he told us "we let them out because they're so expensive." jim hood is the mississippi attorney general and a political

and what was behind mississippi governor now former governor haley barbour spree of pardons before leaving office? among them 21 convicted murderers. now a judge has issued an injunction. we'll go live to mississippi. it's thursday, january 12th, 2012, how about that? this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. a rare appearance here in our home studio in washington, d.c. get right to my first reads of the morning. south carolina has the reputation for being the brutal state of politics but get ready for a lively ten days. the barrage of criticism about romney's record at bain not letting up. governor romney is trying to show he relates to economic pain in state where unemployment is above the national average sitting near 10%. >> a lot of people in south carolina who are hurting tonight. there are people who a few years ago were thinking about where they might send their kid to college. now they're wondering whether they can put a meal on the table. these are tough times for americans across this country. it's a tragedy. it's a real tragedy in the wealthiest nation in the world. >> the poi

this is all in a response to a move by haley barbour to just let these folks go. sign the pardons and off you go. 199 of them, convicted criminals from somewhat serious to extraordinarily serious. the a.g. absolutely slammed the governor saying he took the law into his own hands. on "ac 360" he compared him to the greedy and corrupt commissioner in "the dukes of hazzard." listen. >> he ran the government in the state like boss hogg. he didn't follow the law. governor barbour didn't follow it. it was clear he had to have that information. he didn't obtain it before he signed the pardons. that's cause a public safety issue. these families are afraid out here. these victims have been through a terrible amount. >> while that is fascinating, we also need to know the a.g. is elected. he's a democrat and was considering at one point running for government. there could be political animosity at play as well as the legal issues they're chewing on in that state. it doesn't matter what politics say when you come to the victims and family members. >> oh, my gosh and the folk

is haley barbour giving any explanation? i know you tried to talk to him at the beginning of the week and you couldn't get anything. >> yeah, in fact, we just tried to talk to him again. we put another request in to his officials. once again, flatly turned down. let me point out what the mississippi constitution says when it comes to the issues of pardons, especially pardons granted as a result of the governor. it says in writing in that constitution that there has to be a formal 30-day notification published in the newspaper in the county where the offense for the criminal took place. it must be in that newspaper for 30 days. the question is, did that actually take place for all of these pardons, for all of these criminals that have been set free as a result of the governor -- former governor's actions? that's what they're investigating. they're especially wondering was it done with those four murderers, the ones set free on sunday. as for any response coming from the former governor, haley barbour, let me read you somethin

. >>> former mississippi governor haley barbour created an outroar in the last week. coming up, he's defending his decision to pardon several convicted murderers. ♪[music plays] when you're responsible for this much of the team... you need a car you can count on. ♪[music plays] çtooowill be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. >>> former mississippi governor haley barbour says he's at peace with his decision to pardon several convicted murderers, but it's hard to find anyone that agrees with him. cnn's martin savidge has more tonight from jackson. >> reporter: nearly a week after he pardoned so many in this state, there is still a lot of anger. nobody is more upset than the families of the victims. when ronald bonds wants to see his sister, jennifer, this is the only way. a photo album. >> that's jennifer, yeah. >> jennifer mcrae was murdered in 2001 by a man ronald knew, her husband. >> he they lived together. good friends. we were good friends. >> anthony mcrae shot his wife in the back in front

former governor haley barbour reported last week.hey were supposed to report back regardless of whether there was going to be some sort of stay on this, correct? >> that's right. a judge said that after they were already released. >>> so their defense could be we didn't know that, that wasn't something they were told upon their release, that was something that was adjudicated later. according to the local newspaper, a one line reference in the pape, they can't find them yet. we have called the attorney general's office to see how many people are out there and what's going on and we'll get back to you when we know. what we do know is that there's an effort in south carolina to prevent what has happened here. there's a great sense in this state that mississippi has been given a black eye publicly because of what has happened, because of these pardoning and the outrage over it ch because of these pardons in the state capitol, there are a couple of efforts. the democrats are urging that there's a constitutional amendment that the governo

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about haley barbour with the pardons. i think what you said to one of our producers he done gone and lost his --? >> he done gone and lost his mind. he is one of the most savvy political prognosticators there is of this time. and i want to know what is going through his head to put 200 people back on to the street without really a credible explanation and so he didn't bring in the families. these people didn't put forth the -- there was supposed to be a newspaper article -- >> 30 days. >> that didn't happen. and so i'm really, really concerned when you have 200 people not one or two as the past governors of mississippi put out but 200 people put out without explanation. there is a reason we took that right away from the governor. there is a parole board. i suspect that will happen in mississippi. >> always speak your meend. >> absolutely. >> and we love it. >> thank you for having me. >> see you tomorrow. >>> up next, religious conservatives meet in texas to throw their support behind one of the republican candidates for