it started at midnight. mississippi governor, he pardoned four convicted killers on his way out from office. they were all serving life sentences in murder cases. all of them had also worked in a special program at the governor's mansion. >> and i'm not sure if you saw these pictures, but awesome. check this out. this is a tanker with ice cutters trying to plow through the alaskan ice because it's got a critical shipment of fuel. and it's headed towards an alaskan city that really, really needs that fuel and could run out if they can't cut the ice in time. >> things we take for granted. >> i know. and a bama blowout, crimson tide wins the national title. tweet revenge against lsu. >> i have no idea what she is talking about. i don't know anything about football. >> i follow this one. >> did you? >> yeah. well, i'm lying. >> spl say it was boring. was it boring? >> it wasn't boring. >> i guess it depends on where you're from and what you think. first up, the new hampshire primary is finally officially under way which is weird, right? normally you wouldn't expect those ballot boxes to be open until 7:00 p.m. but not in new hampshire. no way. every time they have the distinction of opening up the ballot boxes at midnight. you are ready for the number of voters that turned out? nine. nine people. but those are nine very special americans because they respect their right to vote so much they will get up at midnight and go in. >> can you believe that? >> i love it. and they get all the media attention. what may be most fascinating is just how the numbers shook out. >> yeah. so on the republican side, john huntsman and mitt romney with two votes each. ron paul and newt gingrich with one vote each. shannon travis is live with us. an indication of things to come today? >> reporter: well, you know what? this could be a real gri time for john huntsman. i mean he'll probably get a really big headline out of this. because one really big thing about this is that the winner of this vote for the republicans since they've been doing this vote since 1960 has gone on to win the republican nomination consistently since 1968. so, because i wasn't really a clear winner, it was tied between mitt romney and john huntsman, again, everybody is expecting mitt romney to do well. but this bodes very well for john huntsman. >> there was a clear winner if you count actual votes. there were three votes for president obama. so he actually had the highest talley. but historically, dixville notch is not so good at picking the democratic candidate. this year i think they're right, aren't they? >> that's right. they had been very good at picking the eventual republican nominee. but they haven't been so good at picking the democratic nominee. or even for that matter the person to win the new hampshire primary or even the white house. so it's kind of like a time honored tradition they started in 1960, primarily because there's no place around here really to vote. one really wealthy man took it upon himself to say i'm going to incorporate this town just for the purpose of voting. and he's been doing that and having this midnight voting ever since 1960. >> well, it's nice you have there to wrap it all up for us, shannon travis live in dixville notch, thank you. you can keep it on cnn now through november for the best political coverage on television. newt gingrich live on "starting point" at 7:30 eastern. >> we've been doing a lot of coverage on what's going on in syria. it is not pretty. in fact, the president of that country has finally decided to do something he rarely does, speak publicly. and this is him live at the mike. he's actually been that mike for about an hour now addressing the national television audience there. but also a group of somewhat supportive folks. he breaks every so often for rousing applause. essentially what he's been saying is what's going on in syria, the violence against protesters there has made his heart cry. he's called it events not violence. but does he say it's part of an external conspiracy and that the mask has fallen off these faces. all very sort of unusual you've mystic descriptions for what has been the most bloody crackdown of many of the spring uprisings in the arab nations. >> we have new video from youtube. it appears to show protesters being shot at as arab league observers watch. cnn has been shutout of the country for months. nick robertson is on the phone from damascus. he spoke about foreign parties trying to destabilize syria. what do you think he meant fwha? and, you know, part of the reason that we don't see you is because your equipment was confiscated when you arrived, is that right? >> reporter: we're banned from having any live broadcast equipment. the country he's referring to and won't say his name is kata. kata is playing a big role in the arab league. kata is widely regarded to be behind the violence that's going on in the country. but the president's speech that's been going on for an hour now, the most important thing is he hasn't said anything that i've heard that would convince the opposition that he really means to actually build a government of national unity which is what -- which is what he's been talking about. there's a no mention of that. he's appealing here to a hard core supporters and to some people in the middle ground who want reforms on, for example, corruption in the government. so he is not reaching ais kro the divide here at the moment. >> it's so bizarre to hear that kind of a speech come willing from a president when it sounds like sort of de facto policy as opposed to brutal violence and bloodshed. i think we got elections coming up in february in that nation. do we have any idea at this point if monitors are going to stay until elections and if these elections mean anything anyway given the fact that we've got government payment going to thugs to kill and brutalize people in the streets protesting? >> reporter: there's no indication that the monitors will stay past nine days. they are increasing their numbers. we were with the monitors this morning. they were having a briefing from the sued knees generdanese gene charge of them. there were gun shots fired around the vehicle that he was in. he refused to say anything about it. very, very sensitive subject for the monitors. they feel they're in between two groups of people, pro and anti-government supporters that trusted by no one. so it's not clear that their mission will go on. however, the president's speech just got another round of applause here. i can see a lot of people here are paying a lot of attention to it. but it doesn't appear that it's going to bring any change. but he does seem to be preparing the people for the fact that arab league monitors may stay longer. so i think perhaps indications are that although nothing firm that they will be here for some time to come. if they get shot at again as appears to be the case yesterday or shot by a neighbor, it's all in question. >> i have to ask you, we are real down on our reporting a lot of what is going on in syria because we don't get access there. we can't get the other side very often. one thing i was fascinated to hear about your movements is that so far you really have not been completely restricted. when i was in syria, i was completely restricted in where i can go. i would have expected particularly now that you would have been. but you're able to move with those monitors freely? >> reporter: you know, you're so right. normally the government here is incredibly strict and tight. even a local producer here said that government officials have been more helpful. the government admits that it is letting journalists in for the first time. i don't think we're going to get to see everything that's going on. we're not giving permission to go with the monitors yesterday. we did go to a very strong anti-government demonstration where they were burying a young 32-year-old man who was killed the day before by government forces. lots of people showed bullet wounds and injuries they say were inflicted by government security forces. i think we're getting some of the picture. but i think it's far from a sea change for this government. they just want to bow to a little bit of pressure from the arab league. >> we're running out of time here. be safe as you continue your travels through syria. thank you for joining us this morning. >> it is nine minutes past the hour. we give you an early start to your day alerting you to the news that is happening and the stories developing just now. so here we go. humanitiment we'll find out whether it's closer to total destruction today. scientists decide whether to nudge the doomsday clock closer to midnight. the clock now sits at six minutes to midnightment. >> i have no idea what any of that means. i honestly don't know what any of it means. i'm feeling a little more scared today than i did yesterday. let's talk about this. the indecency police facing the supreme court todayment they're decided to set if the fcc policies towards language and nudity broadcast on your tv violates free speech. >> treasury secretary timothy geithner is heading to china to try to convince that country it needs to turn up the pressure on iran by squeezing its oil revenues. >> and we have a bit of a shake-up in president obama's inner circle. who is expecting this one? bill daley trodditting out withe president telling everybody he is stepping down. he said he wants to spend more time with his family in chicago. he just wants to go back to chicago. he must just love it, right? that's what we understand. i don't believe it. >> i don't either. i remember i think wolf blitzer saying yesterday that's code. when you say you want to spend more time with your family, it's code for something else is going on. by the way, the president is saying without question daily's absence will be felt. >> there is no question that i'm going to deeply miss having bill by my side here at the white house. but as he will soon find out, chicago is only a phone call away and i'm going to be using that phone number quite a bit. >> so the man has a house there. >> there is that, too. the man on his left though if you were looking at that picture standing beside the microphone was jack lu. if you don't know who he is. he is important. he was the white house budget director until yesterday. he's now the new white house chief of staff. our brianna keeler does this for a living. she watches the whole white house business going on. i'm glad you got up early. when wolf said that yesterday, i think you were on air with him yesterday when he mentioned that. that it's code for something else going on. are we any closer to finding out what else is going on and -- or will we know? >> good morning, ash . i think we are. that claim i'm going to back to chicago in january. i'm a little dubious. but in all seriousness, when it comes to having the president's ear, there is only so much oxygen in the room. and bill daley very accomplished in his own right, part of that big heavy hitting chicago political family, he was competing for that oxygen with top aides like valerie jarrod, david cluf, david axelrod and perhaps lacking influence. he wasn't able to have the chance, the backing of the president to make some of the staff changes he want. and then there is another element to this and it has to do with congress. this is an administration that you guys are aware has had issues with congress. you talk to sources on the hill, not just republicans, democrats, too, and they say the relationship with the white house leaves something to be strived for. daily was at the helm when the grand bargain fell apart with speaker boehner but more significant snafus. >> i'm sure in the coming days we'll hear more and more about this. remember whether rahm emanuel departed. a lot of bickering behind that as well. we appreciate it. >> what happened to no drama obama? i thought that was supposed to be the mantra of this white house? you know who knows a lot about this? john podesta. he is going to talk to soledad o'brien at 8:00 a.m. that is a really tough job, folks. make no mistakes. if you don't know what the white house chief of staff does, he is gatekeeper or she is gatekeeper and it is not fun. lots of room for, you know, angst. >> yeah. a lot of times not the popular person in the room. it is 13 minutes past the hour. u.s. markets closed higher yesterday. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq were up just a bit. closing almost flat. >> hi there. >> it's interesting that a budget guy taking over. it shows you how money is the thing the economy is the thing that is so front and center. so chief of staff, former budget guy. >> i tend to think that is not a job that a lot of people want either. >> or they do because it's a certain -- it's a real -- serbly in an election year, too. talking about stocks this morning, stock futures rup. oil is up as well. weeping watching to see how the meetings with afrpg la america will and nicholas sarkozy are going on the debt crisis. so we're still an eye to europe and also looking at home. the new numbers from the fed that shows the consumer borrowing is up. consumer borrowing is up by the big nest one month since november 2001. remember what was happening then? we were recovering from the terrorist attacks of 2001 and people were rushing out and using more credit. you can see the two shaded parts. this is federal reserve data. the two shaded parts are' sessions. you can see during recessions, especially most recent, people railroad deleveraging. people were like wait a minute. i don't have enough money in the bank. i have too much debt. so they were cutting debt. they were putting money in the bank. >> you mean they were being smart. >> now what are they doing? they're taking on debt and not putting more money in the bank. 3.5% is now the savings rate. i don't that i is good enough or responsible. >> i don't get how you can have a job situation in this country where it is and a spending situation that seems to reflect the opposite. >> a couple things happening. you saw auto loans and student loans that, is part of the step number, they're going up. student loans, that's an a necessity for a lot of people. so student loan dead is growing. now it's the credit card debt we're seeing growing. people are more confident and that's good for the economy. they're more confident saying in my job situation i'm secure. i'm going to put more money on a credit card. or they have very short memories. and they're putting more -- they're putting more debt on the credit cards because they have to. >> how about they're desperate? >> perhaps they're not as scared as they used to be, either. >> time makes -- i don't know, that recession was bad. that financial crisis was bad. my advice to people is let someone else hold up the economy. you need to save more money. that's what i would say. >> government is not going to want to hear you say that. >> that's the truth. that's the truth. it may be good for the economy, but worry about your economy. >> thank you. >> it is 16 minutes past the hour which is 5:00 if you're really an early riser in the east. time to check top stories. one precinct reporting, mitt romney and john huntsman dead heat, a tie. two votes apiece. nine residents turned out in the tiny town of dixville knox for the midnight madness. newt gingrich and ron paul, one vote apiece. for what that's worth. president obama is losing his right-hand man, we just talked about this. the white house chief of staff bill daley who took over for ram he manu sell stepping down. he'll be replaced by the current white house budget director jack lu. >> okay. i'm going to have to go with what my friends who work with me told me on this one. for the second time in three years, alabama is the bcs national champs. they shutout lsu 20-0 to win the title avenging their only regular season loss this year. how about that? i'm sorry. i don't know anything about football. >> still ahead, families are outraged after a governor lets four convicted killers off the hook. >> bizarre. absolutely bizarre story. and also, talk about an ice breaker. literally an ice breaker. this is a big old tanker full of fuel and it is trying to get to a place that really, really needs it and it ain't easy. it is going to make it? we'll take a look at that. good morning to you, tampa bay. right now 57 degrees. guess what? later it's going to be sunny and 79 degrees. count your blessings. in the east, it's pretty cold. the temperatures are dipping. it is 21 minutes past the hour. and we're getting an early read on your local newsmaking national headlines. this morning, we have papers from tampa, florida and dayton ohio. wondering why we're showing you the temperatures there? this is from the tampa tribune. a local muslim man is arrested for plotting to obtain guns and explosives to blow up clubs, bars, and a law enforcement agency. the suspect is 25-year-old sammy osmakak. he has extreme views. the local muslim community really concerned that he was a ticking time bomb. the feds say that it was the muslim community that actually provided the information that led to his arrest. >> which is critical. they oftentimes get a bad rap for protecting their own. so that's huge. let's go to the colder climate. dayton, ohio. daily news there reporting, are you ready for this, if you want to go to the emergency room, make an pintment. i am not kidding. >> that makes sense, right? you need emergency services. make an appointment. >> they truly are saying make an appointment. and, of course, this is for people who have things like migraines and sprained ankles, things that are not as serious. those that have to get there by ambulance are going to get treated. apparently at least in this community, 70% of the e.r. patients are coming in with things like they can take care of themselves. so if it's that simple, let's alleviate all the congestion. it ain't fun to sit in the waiting room anyway. so make an piappointment for th er. >> i think more hospitals will adopt that. a lot of people are sitting there with supposed nonemergencies. >> at least they're not hanging up on you. >> so this next story is kind of an outrageous one. families of victims in total disbelief and shock this morning after mississippi's governor pardons four convicted killers. all of them were serving life sentences in murder cases. >> you heard right. >> unbelievable. >> it is such a bizarre story. we had to ask if it was a mistake or something was misprinted or recinded story in a local paper. parentally these four guys all got a chance to sort of get out of the jail and work in a program in the governor's mansion. that is a gateway, too, to be able to get a pardon. one of these guys was just denied parole. >> is governor going to pardon us for our aches and pains and heartache that we have to suffer? is it going to pardon a child that had to grow up without a mother? is he going to pardon me for never being able to feel her arms around my neck again? >> that is the victim's mother there that we're listening to. martin savage is joining us again. our mouths wide open. how does this happen? what's going on? >> well, first, let me begin by saying good morning, ladies. welcome to both of you. wonderful to see you again. >> thank you, marty. the first time i haven't seen you in a war zone. pleasant to see you in a suit. >> great to see you here. >> listen, that mother's daughter was 20 years old. was holding her 2-month-old baby when her estranged guy walks in and blows her away. and then shoots the guy with her who survives. these are not run of the mill killers. >> no, this was outrageous crime that took place. let me bring a little context here. i covered the south for a long time. i've been in mississippi. great state, fine people. haley bar bore enjoys something that many