mistakes made in the pardon process were in so many words, no big deal. harmless error is salegal term. but for the families of the men's victims, and these are the four convicted killers, the words harmless error, may seem like a slap in the face. all four of these pardoned murders worked in the mansion before getting they're release. the governor says they committed crimes of passion, that's what he calls them, making them highly unlikely, he says nchg to reoffend. experts say that's simply not true. and in any events, these were no crimes of passion in some cases. one killer stuck up a convenient store, shooting the clerk dead as he begged for mercy. another stalked then murdered his wife, shooting her while she held their baby in her arms. he also badly wounded her friend. although claims he was holding the gun in his hand when it went off accidentally. he went out earlier, got the gun, and shot a woman in the back. another man got a pardon for his third dui, and while he was accused of a fourth dui, that's when it came through. he was sitting in jail when he got pardoned. his fourth dui, he allegedly was involved in a wreck that killed charity smith. she was only 18 years old. bostick was sitting in jail, as i said, after the deadly crash, when the governor signed his pardon on the previous dui and he walked out of jail. that seemed to be a case of the governor not knowing about the fourth arrest and the corrections department not notifying him. he's also under fire for not notifying the families of the pardons. but jim hood's claim that governor barbour violated a provision in mississippi's constitution, section 124, that requires criminals to give notice in local papers for 30 days prior to their release. attorney general hood said in 22 cases, that rule was not followed. governor barbour's lawyer defended the pardon by saying that it may have been violated, but legally, it didn't really matter. >> if there is no substantive right that has been violated, no prejudice that results from an arguably, either failure to comply or partial failure to comply with a provision, then there has been no damage, there has been no harm, no suffering that would require redress. >> we'll talk to jeffrey toobin on what the words no harm mean from a legal standpoint. what no harm and no suffering means to people who lost love ones, though. that's a different story. tiffany ellis brewer lost her sister. betty ellis lost a daughter. >> he's in jail for 18 years. she was 20 years old when she died. and had her child laying in her arms when he shot her in her head. and he's pardoned. >> governor barbour going to pardon us for our aches and pains and the heartheadache we have to offsuffer? is he going to pardon a child that has to grow up without a mother? >> then randy walker who was shot and nearly killed in that attack. he lived in fear that the killer may come after him. also the sister of joseph osment's victim and charity smith's parents all suffering tonight. governor barbour will not come on the program. we have tried multiple, multiple times, the law office sent us a message saying, quote, the schedule won't accommodate an appearance. let's check in with ed lavandera in jackson, mississippi. take us through what happened in court today. >> well, it was a proceeding that lasted about three hours, and the attorneys for the various convicts that have been pardoned and all of this centers around 10 people in particular. there 500 who are still holding pardon papers but who are still in jail, they weren't released in time, and then the five inmates who were the trustees working at the governor's mansioni mansion, the four who were murderers, a lot riding, especially the ten people, on what the supreme court justices will decide, weighs heavily on them. will they remain in prison. will they have to round up the people who have been released and send them back to prison. the justices peppered the attorneys for three hours, questions about the law and about how all of this will work out. governor barbour's side essentially arguing that the court doesn't have any right in m meddling in the governor's right to issue pardons. and attorney general jim hood in mississippi arguing just the opposite, that what might be seen as a technicality on barbour's side is more important than that. they have to follow the notifications, the 30 days of notices, and that's what all of this is riding on. >> the lawyers of barbour argue that the governor can issue hundreds of pardons without issuing a notice at all. how is that possible? >> it's up to the governor to decide whether or not the law has been -- or the notifications have been followed properly. it's up to him, and they say if it's 28 days instead of 30, that it would be the governor's right to say, you know what, that's good enough. nothing will change in the next two days that will change my decision. and they say that that is solely the governor's decision. obviously, the attorney general and victims' families strongly disagree with it. >> i love it that everybody who loves the constitution and says we should abide by the constitution unless they don't, and then it doesn't seem to matter. so he's essentially arguing what is in the state constitution, the actual words in the constitution, don't matter. >> and section 124, you don't have to be a lawyer to understand what it says. it's very simple. and one reason why i think this harmless error argument is so weak here is because what harmless error means is it's just a technicality. it has no substantive significance. >> that's not true. >> that's not true in this case. in this case, the reason for putting an ad in the newspaper is to notify victims, to notify prosecutors, to notify people affected by the crime so that they can go to the governor and say, look, don't pardon this guy. look at all of the stuff you don't know about the crime. >> that's precisely what a lot of the victims and families are saying, they didn't have an opportunity to do. randy walker said he never had a chance to plead his case. >> exactly, which team seems to me the exact opposite of harmless error. harmless error is you got a war want, a search warrant, and the wrong date was stamped on it. that's a technicality. here, the fact that these people didn't know that these murderers were up for pardons is a substantive problem with how the process worked, and i would find it hard to believe that the judges would read that part out of the constitution. >> i want to bring in some victims' family. tiffany, your sister was killed. when you hear barbour's lawyer saying there's been, quote, no harm, and quote, no suffering, which would require re-dress, what do you say to that? >> well, you know, i would wonder, you know, does he have children? or brothers or sisters that had been through this? you know, and what harm and suffering really is, because apparently, he has no idea. and you know, you say that the 30-day notice, you know, we should have been notified, but haley barbour should have taken it upon himself to open those files and to look at those files and see what happened, what really happened. and then -- i mean, this man, you know, there's no harm done? i mean, we have a family member that, you know, we won't see until we get to heaven. and there's no harm done? i'm cesorry. i don't agree with that at all. >> and betty el, your daughter who was murdered while -- when you heard governor barbour's lawyer making the argument today, what does that make you think? >> well, i guess it just goes to say what no harm means to him doesn't mean the same thing that it means to us. we certainly have suffered a lot since tammy was murdered in '93, and to us, harm has been done to us because we wasn't given the opportunity to speak and to present our case and our thoughts to him. he didn't even consider us as being in the picture when he made the decision to pardon these people. he didn't apparently think about any of the victims' families. it's like the victim was never there. he was just -- just a pardon that he was going to do because he could do it, and that's what he did. >> and had they put notices in the paper and given 30 days, would you have had least liked to have had the opportunity to speak to the governor, someone in his office, and explain why you wouldn't want your child's killer out free? >> yes, we definitely would have liked to speak to the governor. we tried to speak to the governor, and he never returned phone calls or made any attempt to grant us the time to speak to him. the parole board is supposed to aprieve these pardons as well, and we've missed parole hearings because they didn't notify us when the parole hearing was going to be. so we really have not been given a chance in this all through the process. >> tiffany, i heard you say that this is like having your sister die twice. what did you mean? >> yes. well, you know, when it first happened, i mean, it's a different feeling definitely. when it first happened, it was unreal. it's surreal. you hardly can't believe it, but then when a person is sentenced to life plus 30 years and you think, okay, i don't have to worry about this guy coming out, getting out, coming after my family anymore. you know, the justice system has taken care of him. when he was pardoned, my sist sister -- it brought back every feeling that we ever had the day that she died. i can remember the exact time i got the phone call, everything. i remember the look on my mother's face when i walked in the door. i remember everything. and it goes over and over and over. and it has for the last month. it's like my mama has said, it's all you think about. it doesn't matter what you're doing. it's in the back of your mind. >> of course, and it never goes away. and i guess in many cases, it never really gets better. betty, the fact that you daughter's killer is out there, has this pardon, his slate has been wiped clean, your family is hoping that the law is going to change, right? >> yes, we're hoping that the law is going to change. we're trying to get the legislatures to put some bills through that would stop some of this from happening. if the people that were murde r murderers had not been allowed to be trustees at the mansion, then this wouldn't have happened, maybe. that was supposedly, that is in the prisoner's handbook, that a murderer is not supposed to be allowed to serve as a trustee. if that had taken place and whoever was responsible for seeing that that didn't happen, then we wouldn't be here tonight. >> you know, it is incredible, jeff, when you thing, this man, this man who murdered her child, and tiffany's sister, got life plus 30 years, that sounds like life in prison. that sound like you're going to be away for a long time, and he wasn't. >> he wasn't. >> just because he was able to get a job, and it sound like he never even really did a lot of time behind bars. he was always in some sort of a trustee position, always ing some sort of a special program. >> the pardon power is one of the legal ideas that comes to the united states from the power of kings. it's one of the few absolute powers that a king had in england, or that chief executives had, and it's one of the last vestiges of a president can pardon someone, and presidents have gotten in trouble for dumb pardons, and governors in most cases, can pardon people, and there's usually no recourse to the courts. the only reason they're in court, and they have a shot at getting these pardons overturned is because of this peculiar section 124. >> you think we might get a ruling? >> the chief justice said today, definitely not today, and they're going to write something. i would expect a week or two weeks at the earliest. >> betty and tiffany, i'm so sorry for your loss and i'm sorry that you yet again have to stand up and speak on behalf of those who are not here to speak, and i appreciate you doing that tonight for us, and we'll continue to check in with you. thank you so much. jeff toobin as well. >> thank you for having us. >> let us know what you think, facebook, google plus. what do you think? does it make sense to you. let me know at twitter, anderson cooper. i'll be reading your tweets. >> up next, as the killing in syria escalates, we'll show you the difference between how the syrian media is spinning the story and what the reality is. we're keeping them honest with the syrians living through a war their government is waging on them. >> also, is the obama campaign changing its stance on the people he once called fat cats because he needs their campaign donations. >> anderson, she's 7 years old, but she's a tough little girl. the man who grabbed her at walmart found out. we'll show you how she got away and tell you how the story ended when "360" continues. ♪ give your customers the added feeling of security a printed statement or receipt provides... ...with mail. it's good for your business. ♪ and even better for your customers. ♪ for safe and secure ways to stay connected, visit usps.com/mail whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! whwheeee! ! whwheeee!! whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ahah h heaeadsds u up. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! evevererytythihingng y youou l , nonow w momobibilele.. dodownwnloloadad t thehe n nep totodaday.y. keeping them honest now on the killing in syria. the regime assault on major cities and the devastation of entire neighborhoods, activists say at least 137 people were killed today, mostly in the city of homs. parts of which seem to be attempted to be levelled to the ground. this video was by someone who found himself right in the middle of the shelling. take a look. [ speaking foreign language ] >> yelling god is great. this is daily life and death in homs. almost constant shelling, mortar and rocket fire. going on for six days in the particular bombardment. people trapped in apartments because snipers target them on the streets. they're huddled inside living on bread and water waiting in the words of one local resident for death. it is not just homs. there are tanks on the highway and on the roads. take a look. not jeeps or armored personnel carriers. heavy battle tanks with guns that can bring down a building. in a town which was leveled to to the ground in 1982, killing thousands and thousands of people, someone caught this video of a sniper's nest and the sniper who mans it. they're in the all besieged cities taking aim at people taking step outside the homes. they're pinned down, men, women, children. an activist we're calling danny documenting the reality in homs. here's one of his dispatches from today. >> this is one of the houses. look at these children. this is the assad regime treats our children. now you see what assad regime is killing children. what's the u.n. going to do about this? what is the u.n. going to do about this? nothing. they're going to sit and discuss and see what they're going to do this peacefully. they want to solve it peacefully with this. after what they did to these children. they have been hitting us from 6:00 a.m. until it's 2:00 p.m. now. we have over 100 bodies, over 200 underneath the construction. we don't know who they are. >> remember, the assad regime denies almost all of this is happening. i want to show you syrian state media's website from earlier this evening. the lead story is president assad declares a decree on cyber crime and then support of the russian and chinese support for the regime and reports of terrorist attacks in hrk oms and elsewhere. then a report and pictures of a memorial service for seven security force members, victims they say of the conspiracy. no doubt security forces are being killed. wouldn't be worth mentioning except this kind of funeral in broad daylight is rare in places like homs where the mere act of burying a dead loved one can get you killed. remember that picture? the funeral for security forces, officers dressed in nice uniforms. formal presentation out in the daylight. bbc reporter paul wood found out what it's like for civilians in homs after they die and he was snuck in to the city. take a look. >> like all the dead here, she must be buried in darkness. daytime is too dangerous. there is no family, no prayers. and little dignity. they have to hurry. even now, they are attacked. there will be many more such det prt and lonely burials. >> people risking their own lives to bury the bodies of children they don't even know until the cover of darkness because it's too dangerous to do it during the day. the bbc's paul wood reporting there. snuck in and made it out again. others are there for the duration. last night we spoke to a man under an alias. when we reached him today, he was on his way back to homs on foot from another town carrying medical supplies. how difficult is it to get supplies in homs right now? >> well, it's impossible to get supplies to homs right now. the city is entirely isolated, surrounded with all types of tankers, machine guns and snipers all around. and in the city. the people, they can't move inside the city and they can't go out or get in. at the same time, nothing can go out or in to the city and the hunger is started to spread around and i think in one week it will be a total catastrophe because people will start dying, will start dying at hunger besides shelling and rockets. >> and the shellings continue? >> of course. shelling never stops since friday. >> we saw -- i saw video yesterday on the bbc of people being buried at night. is that the only time you can bury people? >> well, it's the only time we can bury people if we got lucky and the shelling like got a little bit less for some time. and sometimes we can't bury. we can't bury bodies. we just collect them in apartments and we wait till getting some chance to bury them. sometimes we bury them inside houses. in house gardens. >> there are reports as many as 131 people including children were killed today by the regime. what do you want the assad regime to know? >> we just want the assad regime to know that this criminality will not solve the problem. this criminality that he is doing, it takes the country in to hell. he's killing entire cities. he's trying to banish these cities and to destroy it into the ground. i mean, we don't know why we're civilians here. we're civilians here. he's not also killing the people and shelling with all types of weapons, he's also isolating the city, isolating this city from all sides so if people will not die from rocket shelling and machine guns and snipers, they will die from hunger. that's the situation in homs. everybody is sitting at home waiting for their death. >> everybody's sitting at home waiting their death? >> yes. exactly. >> what do you hope from the u.n. from the united states, from the arab league? do you have hope that anyone will start to intervene in any way? >> we have been calling the arab community and the international community. please help stop killing people. i mean, this regime is going to kill everyone and just stay at this country with their supporters. they are torturing people to death. they're killing children. and even animals can't do that. we really wonder which mentally are they working with? >> appreciate you talking to us. thank you. >> thank you. >> sneaking supplies back in to homs. coming up, the house passes a bill on insider trading by members of congress. we have been following that for a while but critics say the way it got passed is more insider dealing. the raw politics. also ahead, last time around president obama said he didn't run for office to help out what he called fat cat bankers on wall street but is he changing the tune for the new campaign? two sides square off. we're keeping them honest. >> and emotional moment, congresswoman gabby giffords announced she was stepping down. now the man running for her seat and the connection to the day she was shot. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our fa