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The Situation Room

Kansas Caucuses Today in Kansas; Mississippi and Alabama Primaries will be on Tuesday; A Valedictorian Graduate Gave a Two-Year extension by the U.S. Immigration; CNN Projects Santorum Wins Kansas; Romney Has Big Delegate Lead; Report: Syrian Forces Target Funeral Procession; Endless Shelling, On The Brink Of Death; "It Was A Nightmare, Still A Nightmare"; Violent Warlord Video Goes Viral; Ann Romney Targets Women; "Big Rock Ahead"

Aired March 10, 2012 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: You're in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

The Republican race for the White House moves to the deep south, posing new challenges for Mitt Romney.

Also a raw look at the horror unfolding in Syria. We previewed the upcoming CNN documentary "72 hours under fire."

Plus, an African warlord accused of unspeakable atrocities. Now, there's a viral video calling for his capture, tens of millions of people have already watched it.

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

All that coming up, but let's go to the CNN center for a quick update now and some of the other headlines including the latest on the Kansas Republican caucuses.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Don Lemon at the CNN newsroom. Kansas takes the spotlight in the Republican race today. CNN is projecting that Rick Santorum has won the Kansas caucuses. Here's the totals here, check them out with nearly all the caucus votes counted, Santorum, as you can see, won very easily there. He has 51 percent. Romney has a distant second at 21 percent.

Kansas is a conservative state with a strong evangelical vote, both playing to Santorum's strengths. I want to bring now our chief political correspondent, Ms. Candy Crowley. Candy joining us live from Washington now.

So, Candy. Big picture here, Romney and Gingrich pretty much let Santorum have Kansas so his luck holds here. Is this an important win?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I hate to sound like everybody else but the fact of the matter is they're all important wins at this point. This is probably important for Santorum. He does pick up, we think he'll pick up the bulk of the delegate here. And if the numbers you just showed hold, Romney will be the only other one in the bunch if he stays 20 percent or above he'll be the only one on the bunch that gets any delegates out of Kansas.

But what this does is it sets Rick Santorum up for what he wants to do Tuesday, and that is win Alabama and Mississippi.

LEMON: Yes, let's talk about the delegates at this point. Where do they stack up, Candy?

CROWLEY: Well, at the moment, when you ad in what we think is going to happen, you see that Mitt Romney at 454. Remember you need 1,144 to win. Mitt Romney 454, Rick Santorum 203, Newt Gingrich 118 and Ron Paul with 67. So, nobody's not even quite yet half there, but it is -- the Romney campaign all week, Don, as you know, has been pushing the notion that it is improbable that anyone else can win but him.

Now, they're not buying that but it still a very - I mean, if Rick Santorum wins Kansas, which he will, as we've projected that he will, and then he goes on to win both southern states and that's not at all a certainty. He will be kind of on another little mini roll but it still isn't going to be enough to get him to overtake Mitt Romney at this point. Then you got a look at those big states. You got to being to look at Illinois. I think Illinois in the end, if this turns out to be a Santorum versus Mitt Romney race, I think we will all watch Illinois which has a large cache of delegates and see what happens there.

LEMON: Candy Crowley, thank you very much. We appreciate it, and we're going to move on now and go to CNN's Shannon Travis, he is standing by now.

Shannon, you've been standing by. You have been talking to the people on the ground. What are they saying to you?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, a number of them obviously, remember this is a Republican only caucus here today, Don. A number of them, their number one priority is getting President Obama out of office. So that was the number one concern.

They also talked about government intrusion and private lives. But a few people that I spoke with, you might be surprised at this late stage in the game are still undecided about who they should caucus for.

One woman summed up her angst in deciding between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, saying that Rick Santorum she thought spoke with passion but didn't necessarily in her eyes have the experience that she was looking for in handling the economy, and a flip for Mitt Romney, excuse me, that he has the experience that she was looking for, but not necessarily the passion that she feels that she wants to see in a potential presidential candidate.

So, those were some of the issues emblematic of a lot of voters that I spoke with here in Kansas today at a caucus earlier. I also, Don, caught up with presidential candidate Ron Paul. He was the only candidate to actually be on the ground here today in Kansas. Take a listen at what he said. He hasn't won a rice yet but listen to what he talked about in terms of amassing delegates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's everybody's race to win. I'm sure even though Romney is not here he's hoping, you know, always for the best. I think we all do that, so. But I never think it is do or die for anything. Everybody's still in the race. There's no declared winner. So, I think we'll all keep doing what we're doing, is maximizing our chances to get more delegates and we feel good about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS: Yes. He feels good about that, as the other candidates do. Obviously, as Candy was just talking about, the next races that are going to be really big to us Tuesday, Mississippi and Alabama - Don.

LEMON: I only have just a few seconds here left, Shannon. Where did the economy come into play?

TRAVIS: Yes, a lot of the -- it's interesting you asked that question. A lot of the voters here didn't talk as much about the economy at least at the caucus site that I was at.

LEMON: All right, Shannon.

TRAVIS: They talked more about social issues but the economy is going to be key.

LEMON: That's going to have to be it. Thank you very much. We'll have more on the caucuses on the half hour. Back now to Wolf Blitzer in "the situation room."

BLITZER: Thanks very much.

More politics right now. It has the look and feel of a Hollywood blockbuster but it's actually a campaign film for President Obama. It's called "the road we've traveled," a 17-minute look at the president's first term accomplishments. The film is directed by Oscar winner, Davis Guggenheim and the trailer narrated by Tom Hanks. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM HANKS, ACTOR (voice-over): How do we understand this president and his time in office? Do we look at the day's headlines or do we remember what we as a country have been through in?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: The president-elect is here in Chicago and he's named the members of the economic team and they all fly in for the first big briefing on the economy.

DAVID AXELROD, BARACK OBAMA'S SENIOR CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST; What was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond anything anybody had imagined.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and butting off unpleasant decisions, that time has surely passed.

HANKS: His advisers would ask where to begin, which urgent need would he put first.

MAYOR ROHM EMANUEL, FORMER CHIEF OF STATE: Which is one, which is two, which is three, which is four, which is five. Where do you start?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't do this now, we'll be a generation before 30 million people have health insurance.

ELIZABETH WARREN, SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU: If the auto industry goes down, what happens to America's manufacturing base? What happens to jobs in America? What happens to the whole Midwest?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire national security apparatus was in that room, and now we had to make a decision. Go or not go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As he walked out the room, it dawned on me, he's all alone. This is his decision and nobody is standing there with him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let's discuss what's going on with our White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar.

Brianna, what jumps out at me in this trailer is the opening line by Tom Hanks, "do we look at the day's headlines or do we remember what we as a country have been through?" Here's the question, is the campaign, the Obama campaign worried that the day-to-day headlines might be dragging them down?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No doubt, Wolf. I think it's very clear the campaign does not want that to be the metric by which voters measure President Obama and what they're really trying to do with this movie is build energy, build some excitement, which polls show is really lacking, compared to 2008.

I actually asked White House press secretary Jay Carney about whether or not this day-to-day strategy of making the president's case is perhaps not working and he laughed off the suggestion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: -- narrated by Tom Hanks, an Oscar winning director. Is the everyday defense of the president's record not getting through?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Are you suggesting that I'm no Tom Hanks?

(LAUGHTER)

CARNEY: I would refer you to the campaign. I think as a matter of broad principle, as someone in the communications business, as you are, that we take advantage of every opportunity we can to explain the president's policies, explain his positions, describe his vision for the country moving forward, and that would apply both as I discussed those matters of policy from here. And I'm sure, not speaking for the campaign, but I'm just taking a wild guess here that I'm sure that's the approach they take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So he joked about this, Wolf, but there are a lot of Republicans who are not joking about it. And RNC spokeswoman saying voters don't need a movie trailer or a documentary by which to measure the president's record, blaming him for the unemployment rate, for the national debt, and for high gas prices - Wolf.

BLITZER: Brianna, this is also a major effort to target the base, the people that supported the president in the past and get them back on board energized.

KEILAR: That's exactly right and campaign officials, Wolf, say that this is a movie, the 17-minute movie is something that will be played for instance at house parties and at events across the country, once it is released next Thursday. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see it online as well.

But obviously the idea is to increase the excitement as this White House deals with some pretty tough headlines, high gas prices, concerns over Iran. They are trying to refocus some of that energy on some of the iconic and really historic moments of the Obama presidency, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and some of the tough decisions that President Obama has had to make, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Brianna, thank you.

The Republican battle for the south, primaries this coming Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi. Mitt Romney says it's an away game for him. Also, her case is drawing national attention, a decision about a high school valedictorian facing deportation.

Plus, a photojournalist recounts his escape from a nightmare unfolding in Syria. "Time" magazine's William Daniels shares his amazing journey out of the killing fields.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The Republican race for the White House has moved south to Alabama and Mississippi, holding their primaries this coming Tuesday.

Let's go inside the battle with our chief political analyst Gloria Borger and senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.

Here's Mitt Romney the other day in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm learning to say you all and I like grits and things are -- strange things are happening to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He also says Alabama and Mississippi are away games for him. What do you make of what's going to happen? Let's look ahead to Tuesday.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think just watching Mitt Romney there, you understand that he knows that he's not going to do well in those states, that he's saying it's an away game as in OK, Newt Gingrich from Georgia, not so much in a way -- he's got the home field advantage.

But it's very clear, lowering expectations, trying to warm up the crowd saying I'm becoming one of you, but. You know, these two states coming right now are a bit of an issue for him particularly if Newt Gingrich does well and resurrects himself and puts himself right back in the middle of the race.

BLITZER: If it's do or die for Newt Gingrich, I'd spare the same. He did really in South Carolina and his home state of Georgia, but got to do well in the two states.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. And in fact, if Newt Gingrich resurrects himself, I'm not sure if that's bad for Romney. He'd probably prefer Gingrich to be alive and dividing the conservative vote.

BLITZER: -- just Romney versus Santorum.

BROWNSTEIN: Santorum, it will be a little more problematic. But the fact is that this is more likely to reaffirm the divide in the Republican race than change the dynamic of the race. I use a different sports analogy.

For Gingrich and Santorum, this is just holding serve. Gingrich would winning in a place where he's supposed to win, until either them proved they can beat Romney some place where the electorate is not dominated by evangelicals and is very conservative, the basic dynamic remains in place that Romney still has narrowly an upper hand.

BLITZER: Gloria, are you convinced if Gingrich doesn't do well, let's say and were to drops out, most of the supporters would go to Santorum?

BORGER: Well, there are questions about that but I believe when you look at the vote that Santorum and Gingrich have been splitting, it's the blue collar vote, it's strongly tea party, very conservative evangelicals. And so, I would have to presume that it would go to Santorum. This is not to say that Romney couldn't peel off some of that. I mean, for example, Romney has been doing well with catholic voters, which is kind of surprising. BROWNSTEIN: The important thing I think, Wolf, even if most of it did go to Santorum, which probably would not all but most, that by itself, is not going to be enough for Santorum. There is no state yet in which Rick Santorum has won more than 31 percent of voters who do not consider themselves evangelicals. So, when you get to the coastal states coming up in April, when you get to a New York or a Connecticut, much less California, New Jersey, down the road, he is ultimately appealing to two narrow a band width right now to win even without Gingrich out of the race. He can give Romney some black eyes and Gingrich can as well. But overcoming him, they really have to expand their appeal to do that.

BORGER: Well, it just highlights the problem Romney has with his own party, which is that he doesn't attract the core of the Republican Party but I call the base of the base.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Right.

BORGER: And so, it looks like he has he may win the math but he has this kind of psychological hole right in the middle of the Republican party saying, you know what, we don't like you.

BLITZER: After Tuesday, March 20th, is Illinois, and that Illinois is a big state, a major state. What happens there?

BROWNSTEIN: Romney would be favored. Only 41 percent in 2008 of the vote was evangelical. That right now is probably been the strongest. Mitt Romney has won voters who are not evangelical in every states so far, except for Oklahoma.

So, you know, Romney's hold is pretty good on the more upscale, affluent, secular side of the party. This other half of the party consistently resisting is really beginning to look like 2008 between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama where you basically have very deeply cut grooves and as you go from state to state, the issue isn't how the groups divide, it's how many people are there in the first place.

BORGER: You know, and the question is whether when it's over, whether the party will unite as it did behind Barack Obama, after Hillary dropped out, whether they will hold their nose and unite behind Mitt Romney and be enthusiastic.

BLITZER: Bitter words have been said.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. And not only bitter words but as we say, sharp divisions. And this goes back to 2008, Mitt Romney struggled with evangelical voters especially in the south, where there are theological differences that reinforce the policy differences, that is real. He has difficulties connecting with blue collar voters even within a Republican primary context, that is real.

In the end Republicans are hoping look, the desire to beat Barack Obama is enough to bring everybody together, but you know sometimes you need a little more fuel than that and Romney isn't providing it yet. BLITZER: Gloria, four years ago I moderated four democratic debates and the words exchanged between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I don't remember the two of them ever exchanging angry words like some of these Republican candidates have done.

BORGER: Well, it was interesting, because there were policy differences. They disagreed on health care mandates for example, if you want to go back to that. There were a couple of times I remember one debate in particular where Barack Obama said about Hillary, you're likeable enough. Remember that.

BROWNSTEIN: Cost him the state, cost him New Hampshire.

BORGER: Probably cost him New Hampshire. But these people are --

BLITZER: The attack ads I don't remember negative super pack attack ads.

BROWNSTEIN: There was the 3:00 a.m. ad famously before Ohio and Texas when she had her back against the wall. But, yes. you're right. I mean, this does have a tone, in the end parties usually do come together.

I think what's probably more revealing or more concerning for Republicans is that in the course of trying to short circuit these opponents on the right, Romney has taken some positions that could be a problem in November particularly with Latinos. I mean, the polling in the last ten days about Hispanic preferences in this election after the positions Romney has taken, I think that has a lot of Republicans concerns.

BORGER: Well, and Santorum's major argument is, how can you run -- have Mitt Romney run against Barack Obama when Barack Obama's health care plan is essentially based on Mitt Romney's health care plan and that has been central to the tea party movement.

BLITZER: Romney argument against Santorum is, how can you have a guy who can't get on the Virginia ballot run against Barack Obama in November?

BORGER: A little disorganized.

BLITZER: We will be able to see it on elections that are on Tuesday nights and we will see what happens in Alabama and Mississippi.

Guys thanks very much.

Her story highlights the plight of undocumented students in the United States. Now, this high school valedictorian is learning her fate.

Plus, the controversy over a viral video about an African warlord, tens of millions of people around the world are watching it. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: A major new development this week in the case of a high school valedictorian who was facing deportation to a country she left as a 4-year-old.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester has been following story for us and there has been a major developments. Tell us, what is going on?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Wolf. You know, Daniela Pelaez is making her first trip to Washington, D.C., and her day included high level meetings with U.S. senators and congressional representatives.

The valedictorian's case has made national headlines after an immigration judge said she had to leave the country by March 28th, missing her own graduation. But now things have turned around for her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER (voice-over): Daniela Pelaez is valedictorian of her north Miami high school. But instead of getting her diploma, she was on the verge of getting a deportation order. She's in the United States illegally. But a last minute reprieve from immigration and customs enforcement will allow now her and her sister, Diana, to stay for the time being.

DANIELA PELAEZ, GRANTED TEMPORARY STAY: Fabulous news, my attorney, Nera Shefer, was able to get a two-year deferred action and they have waived deportation for two more years.

SYLVESTER: Why do you want to stay here in the United States?

PELAEZ: Well, I've lived here since I was 4-years-old and I consider myself American. And I just want to live the American dream like everybody else.

SYLVESTER: Her high school rallied by her side, 2500 students and teachers holding a protest last week. Members of Congress including senator Bill Nelson appealed to immigration authorities to give Palaez a chance to stay.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Until we can pass the dream act.

SYLVESTER: Pelaez is in Washington, D.C., the new face in the fight for the dream act that would put undocumented students on a path to citizenship. But Palaez' own future is far from settled. Yes, she can stay for two more years but what happens after that? She has applied to several ivy league colleges and hopes to go on to medical school.

NERA SHEFER, ATTORNEY: We need to fix the problem. We need to somehow get a green card for them and for thousands of young people like them, that would like to stay here and give back to the community.

SYLVESTER: Palaez' case highlights the limbo of kids like her, who were brought to the United States illegally. They were caught between their birth country that they don't know and the United States, where they're not allowed to stay.

PELAEZ: I just want to get that message across, kids like me with grades just as good as mine with families serving in the military like my brother, et cetera, and, you know, just to show them we're good citizens just like anybody else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: Immigration and customs enforcement in a statement said it exercises prosecutorial discretion on a case by case basis. The agency says it is focusing its efforts on deporting criminal aliens. And the next two years will buy Daniela and her sister a little more time. Their attorney will appeal the immigration judge's ruling and then apply for green cards for them -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sounds like a terrific young lady.

SYLVESTER: She has a promising future ahead of her and should find out April 1st what colleges she's gotten into.

BLITZER: I hope she gets into all of them. Thanks very much.

Targeting women, Mitt Romney puts his wife front and center, but is she connecting with female voters?

And "72 hours under fire." CNN reporters including our own Arwa Damon, they take an extraordinary look at the devastation on the ground in Syria.

And millions of news online. A video about an African warlord goes viral. We'll tell you the story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.

Rick Santorum pulled off a much-needed win in the Kansas caucuses today. Let's check the numbers for you right now with nearly all the caucus votes counted.

Rick Santorum has 51 percent. Romney was a distant second 21 percent. I want to bring in our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley from Washington.

So Candy, Santorum has a win under his belt, but Tuesday's contests in Alabama and Mississippi really looming large, aren't they?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. Now look, this could be a springboard. I mean, we've seen that there's been momentum in some of these races, but if you look back, lots of times we saw big wins.

I'm thinking Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, went to South Carolina, and got pummelled by Newt Gingrich and Newt Gingrich won and he went to Florida and got pummelled. So momentum hasn't always come through for these candidates.

But listen, if you look at Alabama and you look at Mississippi, there's two states that are ahead on Tuesday. You pretty much do see territory fought over by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

The south has not been friendly to Mitt Romney. He still expects to pick up delegates there, and there are some places in Alabama where it looks as though Mitt Romney might make a run for it.

The fact of the matter is that this is Rick Santorum's time, if you will, to get rid of Newt Gingrich. If Rick Santorum can win both states next Tuesday, it's going to be hard for Newt Gingrich to justify staying in.

But we have to say that he has said listen, I am in this until Tampa. So at this moment, we have to take him at his word, but it's going to be really hard for him to continue to have any kind of traction in the media, if he loses both of the southern primaries.

So I think this might settle the number two question coming up, or maybe they'll split, one will take Mississippi and one will take Alabama and be back here next week.

LEMON: So does Newt Gingrich have the most to lose here in this? I guess it's Mitt Romney? I don't know who would have the most win? You set me straight the last time, you said, listen, they're all important wins or losses.

CROWLEY: Yes, I mean, because now we're down to the delegate vote. I mean, you and I and everyone else pay a lot of attention to who wins the state, but the delegates matter.

What matters more to Rick Santorum is not that he won Kansas, it's a great headline, but the math is all about the delegates and he won the large portion of the 40 delegates that are at stake in Kansas.

You can take that to the bank. The other is the headline, the delegates are the bank. So what Romney hopes to do is continue to pick up since most of these going forward are apportioned states, not that many winner-take all states up.

So Romney hopes to just take delegates from the south and then move into places where it's friendlier territory for him.

LEMON: As you saw 1,144 votes there, and they're not even close so it's still not over. Candy, thank you very much. We appreciate it. I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here at the top of the hour. Let's go back to Wolf Blitzer.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much. Other news we're following.

This is video we're getting from Syria, purportedly showing dozens carrying the coffin of a trooper who refused to shoot peaceful demonstrators. The procession was later attacked by security forces loyal to the government.

Dozens were arrested, just another story of the endless brutality we see every single day. CNN is taking an extraordinary closer look at the devastation, our own reporters have seen there in a new documentary called "72 Hours Under Fire."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN's Arwa Damon, Neil Hallsworth and Tim Crockette are in Baba Amir, a neighborhood that's endured constant shelling, where civilians are killed and wounded every day, where a makeshift clinic tries to help.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here with Dr. Muhammad who has actually been on numerous YouTube videos of the uprising and now we're actually getting a firsthand look of exactly what he and his team are up against. A 30-year-old man lies on the brink of death after shrapnel hit him in the head. He will die if he doesn't get out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Muhammad is one of only two doctors in the clinic. The other is actually a dentist.

DAMON: Dr. Muhammad, he is not some sort of frontline trained in emergency surgery combat medic. He's an internal medicine specialist.

And now, I mean, look at what he's dealing with, look at the casualties he's dealing with, the kind of casualties he's dealing with. The way he's had to cope and the fact that it's day in and day out for him. It's relentless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And Arwa is joining us now from Beirut. Arwa, an amazing documentary. Our viewers are going to be anxious to see it tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

But other journalists as we know, photographers who made the same trek as you did, courageously into Syria, they didn't come back alive. Was there ever a moment you really feared for your life or some of our other colleagues' lives?

DAMON: You know when you're in those situations, Wolf, the mind has what can only be described as an amazing way of trying to protect itself. You really only become fully aware of the danger to a certain degree once you've extracted yourself from that situation.

That's not to say that one isn't aware of the danger when they're actually on the ground, but you cannot let yourself be dominated by that fear. It has to be controlled. It has to be channelled to become a heightened sense of awareness.

A respect for the dangers that are around you, but most certainly, yes, it does exist, but what is important to remember is that we were able to leave. Others were not. And for those residents, those civilians we met. Those civilians you saw in the clip that nightmare continues for them every single day. BLITZER: When you see the horrible injuries especially to young children, Arwa, how do you deal with it on a personal level? I know it must be so difficult and painful.

DAMON: It is, but at the end of the day, the pain that you go through as a journalist doesn't compare to what they are going through. It doesn't compare to what their families are going through.

And it doesn't compare with and I go back to this point again the fact that we as journalists are there by choice, and we leave and that is a choice that is a luxury that we have. These people do not have those choices.

They do not have any way of saving themselves or the people they love from this life that they are currently being subjected to, and I think that knowledge puts one's own pain into perspective, because it doesn't compare to all of the pain that others around you are experiencing.

BLITZER: What do you hope viewers of this new documentary, "72 Hours Under Fire" what do you hope they gain from this when they watch tomorrow night?

DAMON: I think a level of understanding for what the Syrian population is going through, a level of appreciation for the scope of the challenges that the activists, the opposition, the doctors, the volunteers are all facing.

A level of appreciation for -- I mean the situation that these people are living under is just so difficult, and I say this over and over again, it's very hard to find words to describe it.

To describe what it is that they are going through, so hopefully in watching this, they will be able to gain at least a fraction of a sense of again what it is that the people are Syria are going through in this one neighborhood.

BLITZER: Well, Arwa, thanks very much for doing it. Thanks for your courage, our colleagues' courage. We're looking forward to watching tomorrow night.

Arwa Damon joining us, a remarkable reporter. And please be sure to tune in for the documentary "72 Hours Under Fire" tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

Thousands of people have died in Syria, among them some of the most courageous journalists in the world. "Time" photographer William Daniels was one of the lucky ones. He's now telling his story in the latest issue of "Time" magazine "Escape From Syria: One Man's Journey Out of The Killing Fields."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We know you were with Marie Colvin when she was killed and the photographer, your friend, Remy when he was killed. Tell us a little about Remy because you have a very dramatic photograph of him that I want to show our viewers.

WILLIAM DANIELS, PHOTOGRAPHER, "TIME": Remy was a great photographer, won the World Press two or three weeks ago. He was 28, he was very young but very promising photographer, and he was a great guy, too. He was my friend, and we are so, so shocked by his death.

BLITZER: This is the picture of the street in Baba Amir, the house where you and other journalists were holed up for days with the building under fire.

DANIELS: Yes, as you can see most of it by bomb. They were like this, and even crossing such streets in the day was very, very dangerous, and at night, it was less dangerous, but you still have some snipers in some streets. So while the security level is so, so, so low in Baba Amir.

BLITZER: A very, very sad moment. There's another -- really heart wrenching picture of a little baby who was hit by shrapnel in the clinic in Baba Amir and you've got the picture of the baby holding a little bottle of milk. It's a heartbreaking picture. Do you know what happened to the baby? Is the baby OK?

DANIELS: He's fine now, yes, he's fine. It's actually a rocket hit his house and the shrapnel went directly in his face, but he's fine. Looks very bad, but it's not a very, very big injury compared to many others. So this baby could be operated quite quickly. Such injuries they can treat them in this hospital, but they can't treat bigger injuries.

BLITZER: Excellent pictures, the cover story in "Time" magazine "Escape From Syria." We're happy, William, that you managed to escape from Syria. Thank you for sharing your experience and our deepest condolences for the loss of your friends. Thank you very much.

DANIELS: Thank you to you.

BLITZER: She's one of the Romney campaign's most valuable assets. But can Ann Romney help seal the deal when it comes to winning women voters?

And it's one of the hottest videos online right now. Why a documentary going viral could help nab a notorious warlord on the run?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: An online video about a violent warlord has gone viral with millions of views on YouTube. Isn't flattering, but people are watching it and getting a sense of what's going on.

Our own Brian Todd has been taking a closer look at the video and the group behind it. Brian, tell us a little bit about the man at the center of this video.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've really got two central characters here, Wolf. You have the filmmaker of this, who has gotten more attention for this video than anything we've seen on YouTube recently, but who's now drawing fire for being misleading, and you've got the subject of the video, a violent warlord who many in the west had never heard of until now. We have to warn viewers this story contains images some might find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): He's a warlord who experts say is responsible for the kidnapping of up to 70,000 people, many of them children, operating first, in Uganda, now in three other African countries.

He and his militants have killed and disfigured tens of thousands of villagers, forced young boys to become child soldiers, forced girls into sexual slavery.

Joseph Kony and his so-called "Lords Resistance Army" have been doing for a quarter century trying to overthrow the Ugandan government in favor of a regime based on the 10 commandments.

He's on the run from African forces and their American advisers. But Joseph Kony is getting more attention now than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the rebel group, the LRA and their leader Joseph Kony.

TODD: That's thanks to a new video called "Kony 2012" a half hour long it's gone viral, tens of millions of views on YouTube in just a few days. The filmmakers used the hactivist group, "Anonymous" and others to blast it out over the internet.

They sent tweets to celebrities like George Clooney, Rihanna and to American lawmakers. The film highlights Kony's atrocities partly through the eyes of a former child soldier who according to the video saw his brother murdered.

The video is produced by a non-profit activist group called "Invisible Children." Filmmaker, Jason Russell's goal is to gather momentum for Kony to be captured and brought to justice at the International Criminal Court.

JASON RUSSELL, FILMMAKER, "KONY 2012": He's been getting away with murder and what he does is he brain washes them, makes them kill their parents, slaughter people, cut off people's faces.

TODD: But some say this popular crusade is misleading.

(on camera): Critics say the film manipulates the facts, ignoring the Ugandan military's human rights abuses and its was with the LRA, ignoring the fact that Joseph Kony and his the forces have been significantly reduced in number in recent months and have committed far fewer attacks.

(voice-over): The head of "Invisible Children" responds.

BEN KEESEY, CEO, INVISIBLE CHILDREN: The scale of LRA violence has decreased, which is a good thing and it's a result of this effort.

TODD: Analyst Richard Downie applauds the group's effort to call attention to Kony, but --

RICHARD DOWNIE, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENT: I take issue with their approach very much focussed on the white westerner's ability to parachute in and resolve a problem that Africans are unable to deal with themselves.

I think by portraying westerners as the only people who can crack this problem of Joseph Kony is simplistic, naive and it's a little bit condescending as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: "Invisible Children" issued a statement saying they're not naive, never claimed a desire to save Africa. They just want young people in the west to do more than just watch -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And they also want people to go out on the streets pretty soon.

TODD: That's right. They have a visual and physical aid here that they want to you use. A kit that they're offering online called Joseph Kony 2012."

It's almost like a campaign thing. In it, you get a Joseph Kony 2012 t-shirt and what they want people to do on April 20th of this year is to go out on the streets overnight on that night and put up posters like this on the street corners all over the country.

They really want to do that and have people wake up on April 21st to see these all over your city, so that there's more awareness of it, so they're keeping up the campaign, criticism or no criticism.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. Brian Todd reporting.

Ann Romney takes center stage. Is she a secret weapon to lure more women to the Republican Party?

And a rock star that's actually a rock. Jeanne Moos on how to move a 340-ton boulder to California.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Campaign moment all this week. Mitt Romney is zeroing on one critical voting block, women and he's relying on one of his most valuable assets to do it, his wife, Ann. Let's go to CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: I have something to say about some of the women that I'm hearing from.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a telling sign. Ann Romney was on stage to introduce her husband. She led with the message targeted to women.

ROMNEY: Women care about the economy. They care about their children and they care about their debt and they are angry and furious about the entitlement debt we are leaving our children.

SNOW: Translation, change the conversation away from social issues, namely birth control.

MELINDA HENNEBERGER, WASHINGTON POST POLITICAL WRITER: I think it was very telling. I mean, Ann Romney has a very appealing press. I think that she's a really asset to Governor Romney on the campaign trail.

But I think it really says that the frontrunner for the Republican nomination certainly knows that he has some fences to mend with women voters.

SNOW: But Melinda Henneberger of the "Washington Post's She the People Blog" says the candidate should be making his own case. It all comes in the wake of the Rush Limbaugh flap. Just latest in the string of missteps where Republicans have faced questions over their position on contraception coverage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are the women?

SNOW: Democrats are pushing the notion of a GOP war on women. But Karin Agness, a conservative blogger says, that's wrong, the real issue, she say, is not birth control, rather religious liberty.

And while she admits that Republicans may need to hone their message, she thinks it's smart for the Romney campaign to put Ann Romney front and center.

KARIN AGNESS, PRESIDENT, NETWORK OF ENLIGHTENED WOMEN: A few months ago there was a big issue of trying -- of the need to create a more human Mitt Romney.

She came out and gave some speeches and was able to have some success with that. Now the last few weeks we have seen her try to get involved in what the main issue of the campaign is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: In the close race in Ohio where Romney scored a key victory, he got help from women who favored him over Rick Santorum. But can he win enough of their vote in November? For now the flap over birth control as energized many women on the Democratic side. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

BLITZER: A giant rock makes a slow, very, very slow journey to a Los Angeles museum. Jeanne Moos is tracking the trip.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: So what's 340 tons and has its own Twitter account? A giant boulder making a slow move to a Los Angeles museum. Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Move over the rock. The real rock is coming through.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's like billions of pounds.

MOOS: It's 340 tons actually, it dwarves mere man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't it big?

MOOS: She still hasn't seen it. It is covered in shrink wrap. They're calling it the biggest mega move since the pyramids. The rock came from this quarry in Riverside California where its unlucky relatives are turned into gravel, but not his --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The piece is actually levitated mass.

MOOS: It is destined to become part of an art work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, but first it has to get there. It only moves at night when roads can be closed and traffic signals temporarily removed. Fans come out the shoot video of it even at 2:00 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here comes the rock making the turn.

UNIDENTIFIELD FEMALE: There is a lot of truck and engineering nerds.

MOOS: They want to know that 196 wheels are helping to carry the load. Usually there is one truck pulling from the front and two pushing from the back. The speed ranges from 5 to 8 miles per hour. The whole trip of 105 miles is supposed to take 11 days. When it stopped in Long Beach it was an excuse for partying and puns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are playing music and the songs rocking it I guess, right?

MOOS: People pose in front of it and paint it. This security guard made a that's a big rock sign to deter people who kept asking what is it? But Sarah Cowen was inviting questions with an "Ask Me" t-shirt. She is from the museum where the rock was headed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was trouble making the turn. So we stopped here instead.

MOOS: Which is ironic because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's parked in front of the church called the Roca De Salvacion.

MOOS: The Roca De Salvacion Church with its own rock that must be a little jealous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had someone ask me if it will be earthquake safe.

MOOS: Actually it will be because the museum goers will be walking underneath. A rock this big can make a kid's imagination run wild.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I imagine, like, it's going to knock all the houses down.

MOOS: No houses. But just moments later -- there was a rubber necking rear-ender chalk it up to the rock. A rock star queen would appreciate. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: That does it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Be sure to join us every weekday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN and at this time every day on CNN International. The news continues next on CNN.