a few. >> if they invite you to play, you'll go along? >> completely. >> you're our senior golf analyst. >>ly be tomorrow. >> at least tomorrow. thank you very much, good luck. that's it for me. thank you very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." for our international viewers, "world report" is next. tonight is the sixth month marking what we have come to call the arab spring and the images emerging from libya tell us the push for change is alive and well. sadly, those same reports also tell us the dictators are so determined to hold power they will kill their own people. nato air strikes caused a string of fresh explosions in tripoli tonight. but colonel moammar gadhafi struck a defiant tone. in an audio address played to a

pro government crowd, gadhafi vowed to defeat nato and the libyan rebels challenging his regime. >> translator: this is the first time they are facing an armed nation of a million. they will be defeated. the alliance will be defeated. >> david, a defiant message against colonel gadhafi, essentially telling nato you keep bombing and i'm still here. >> reporter: that's right, john. there's only defiance coming from the libyan government. i was asked that, really the heart of tripoli and really the symbolic heart of the gadhafi regime. several thousand people showed up at the rally. there were many rifles and handguns, many, women and children at that rally. very much an aggressive atmosphere towards journalists, towards international press, towards nato, towards president

obama. there's a feeling that it's the world against them and they aren't going anywhere. four months to the day into this uprising. >> so david, defiant rhetoric, those pictures designed by the regime to say we still have support, we're still in power. but gadhafi asking for an urgent meeting at the united nations, some could read that as a sign of weakness, that he's getting nervous and trying to find some help. >> reporter: well, gadhafi himself never asks for any help. his role in this entire process has been get on the airwaves, get on the television and tell everyone that he's in charge and everyone else can basically take a hike to put it bluntly. but his prime minister and other officials are saying that more conciliatory notes mixed in with that more direct rhetoric.

i just finished a press conference with the prime minister here at our location. he said he's been talking to the secretary-general of the united nations, that he's having a conversation with him tonight, even though we are late into the tonight here in tripoli. he says they're asking for that extraordinary session on the security council, even for the general assembly to meet. our u.n. correspondents tell us they've asked for this before, but it does indicate they are trying to open up some kind of dialogue. they reduce to say whether they are talking with the rebels in the eastern part of the country, though a russian envoy said they were. certainly they're wanting to talk with someone. but they say the precondition for any of this is nato to stop its campaign. they say it's killing civilians. nato says her trying to help civilians and stop moammar gadhafi's regime. >> david mckenzie live in tripoli tonight, four months now since that uprising began.

it is worth remembering the event setting this off. a fruit vendor in tunisia. frustrated at his government, set himself on fire. then egypt, and elsewhere the spring has been more of a struggle. with regimes doing what they can to push back. libya we just mentioned. syria another. thousands again took to the streets after friday prayers there today with images emerging in several major cities. leave, they chanted south of damascus. another chant, the people want the fall of the regime. cnn's arwa damon is tracking the protests in turkey. >> reporter: according to what we heard from activists and what we saw on videos, it most certainly would seem as if the

demonstrations once again taking place throughout the country. and these demonstrations apparently are even taking place in areas that are under the control of the military. people literally going out and risking their lives. we have, however, heard that on a number of occasions, the syrian security forces, according to activists, used lethal force and that people were killed, mainly in the central city and in the eastern part of the country. alongside all of this, that intense military crackdown taking place in the northwest is still ongoing, with an activist who is based right along the syrian-turkish border saying he heard gunfire overnight and their spotters have been reporting back that the syrian military appears to be inching closer to the turkish border. >> and you describe there the situation near the turkish border. explain why the lebanese government decided to activate

some troops today. >> the flashpoint that happened today was in the northern city of tripoli. there are two neighborhoods there that have clashed, and it doesn't seem as if -- the lebanese military was dispatched. the lebanese are most certainly watching what is happening in syria very closely and very concerned about each more spillover. >> arwa damon reporting from turkey. arwa, thank you. the number of refugees fleeing syria into turkey is close to the 10,000 mark. those camps off limits to the media for the most part. awe actress angelina jolie visited in her role as the united nations good will ambassador. nicholas burns is the former undersecretary state and former ambassador to nato. six months ago tonight, the

beginning of the arab spring. you look at syria and libya, it's hard to use the term arab spring there. let's tart in libya. can one make the case now that the nato mission is not effective, that gadhafi is still there and still be so defiant? >> john, i don't think so. what you find now in libya is a stalemate. gadhafi has survived despite the efforts of nato. but i think gadhafi is on the ropes. he's much weaker than four months ago today, three months ago today. you've seen defections of leading military officers, moussa koussa defected. he less of an ability to use the economic resources from is oil industry. i think it's a matter of time and ultimately, if we're patient, the nato mission is going to succeed. >> i just want to remind our viewers as i bring up the map of libya how this has played out. here's the start of the air

strikes. gadhafi controlled much of the country. then the opposition peaked right in here. you see they started to gain control. here's about where we are now, nick. you say stalemate. the opposition still controls over here in the east, in misurata. gadhafi controlling tripoli. at this point you say stalemate. should nato change its tactics? should nato do more on the ground or do they continue with the air strikes? >> i think nato's problem at the beginning of this, john, the military of a military operation was the insufficient use of force and intensity of the use of force. you've seen nato change tactics. they've significantly weakened his military machine. so despite the that's correct that you have to describe it as a stalemate, i think he is losing influence and power. it's only a matter of time before someone brings him down

from within, or his regime collapses because of popular protest. i think in that sense, it would be a great, great disadvantage to the united states to leave the field right now. there's this debate about the war powers act in the congress. we've seen republicans and democrats argue both sides of that issue. the u.s. needles to stay the course, in my judgment, and support the nato effort and lead toilet a victory against gadhafi. >> let's turn our attention to syria. i want to close this map down and bring up syria. these cities here is where we had violence today. the assad regime cracking down against its own people. judge the administration's response to this one, this is the president about a month ago. he's not spoken out much of late as the crackdown in syria. here's what the president said a month ago. >> the syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy. president assad now has a choice, he can lead that

transition or get out of the way. >> a month later, assad has shown the word, nick, what his choice is. what put pressure, what further screws does the administration have, if any? >> there's no military option in syria. we don't have the arab league with us. the u.n. security council. it would be follow for the united states to intervene in a fourth country in the middle east. but what the u.s. can do is further increase the economic sanctions and convince other significant countries, particularly other members of the security council, to be as tough minded on sanctions as we have been. we've seen that assad right now is his own worst enemy. everything he's tried has backfired. the picture of those tens of thousands of refugees in turkey, it's going to reduce his support internationally. he's shown himself to be barbaric in the way he's treated his people.

i think again as in libya, the united states and the europeans need to stay the course and be patie patient. it's difficult to do that in this political environment that we find ourselves in, in the united states. but the patience of the obama administration has been impressive. and if we see that patience continue, and see the sanctions continue, i think there's a fair chance that the assad regime will fall in syria over time. >> ambassador nick burns, appreciate your insights tonight. still ahead, a new effort to draft conservative senator jim demint in the presidential race. and a blunt message to top white house aides. the left isn't happy with a lot of what it sees from president obama. this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve.

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get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. the pocus today was not the republican agenda. it was the obama white house and what many on the left say is a long list of broken promises from closing guantanamo bay and launching military action in libya to repealing the bush tax cuts and moving slowly to repeal don't ask, don't tell.

>> sometimes when our friends attack us, we get frustrated. we want you to push us, we absolutely do. the people who you care about most attack you and you get frustrated. >> we understand how that feels. >> the stakes here are enormous. the economy guaranties a competitive presidential race and the president needs to reinvigorate his grassroots support. but listen here as kailee joy, suggests the president may suffer a liberal enthuse am gap. >> we're all democrats and we understand the importance of making sure democrats are in power. but some people are saying i'll show up on election day but i'm not going to make phone calls or donate money. so do you need us? >> absolutely.

>> and what are you going to do for us? what's in it for us in a second term? >> how raw are these wounds and can team obama heal them? amy goodman is the anchor of the democracy now program and cornell belcher is a pollster who works for the obama campaign. amy, there's a lot of venting in life and politics. are these folks just venting at the white house or is this talk, i won't call it a threat, but is this talk of we won't volunteer, we won't knock on doors, and maybe some of us won't even vote. is that real? >> first, i just want to say it was wonderful coming to cnn tonight, john, because there is a rainbow over new york in all of the rain. as for what's happening right now with people across the country, and i think it is bipartisan, a bipartisan frustration. it is, where is president obama on the issues he campaigned on? we're talking about war, the longest war in history. we're talking about wall street.

protecting wall street at the expense of taxpayers. they're bailing out wall street and wall street is walking out on them. talking about five shooting wars right now. the economy. where is president obama? i think he's what you said, he's on the road to 2012, about to raise a billion dollars, not going to turn his back on the very small elite that is supporting him. but what about the majority of the people in this country? >> cornell? >> look, a closed mouth doesn't get fed, so the left is doing what they should be doing, rallying for their cause and putting pressure on the white house. but i think the president is going to have a good story to tell. when you look at us drawing down from iraq and in a year or so, we'll be drawing down from afghanistan. wall street, we're going to hold banks accountable. consumer reform -- >> does he have a choice there? >> i think he does have a choice. when you look at the consumer protection, when you look at for

the first time, don't ask, don't tell, he's got a good story to tell progressives. >> let's listen to one more ex-change. the president said he opposed same-sex marriage. but there was a mixup when some aide filled out a brochure. listen to this. >> is the president going to evolve back and get back to supporting civil rights on gay marriage? [ applause ] >> a couple things on that. the president has -- i think the best way to do this would be to -- i'll try to paraphrase an answer the president gave. >> i've got his exact answer right here. i favor legalizing same-sex marriages and would fight efforts to prohibit it. >> that question there was actually filled out by someone else, not the president. there was a long debate about this. >> so it's a fake questionnaire? >> you know, amy, i know dan,

and dan is trying to do the best job he can there. he drew the short straw today. but the frustration, you feel it. where is it going? >> i think the operative words that cornell was saying, he's going to do this, we think he's going to do this. he's had a number of years to fulfill his promises and these are dire years. you have wall street being bailed out. the banks making out more and better than they ever have before. and yet what, they hold a million mortgages? you have the energy companies getting tax subsidies, the wealthiest corporations on earth. where are the subsidies for alternative energy, which would mean millions of green jobs in this country. the jobs that stay here. where is president obama fulfilling all of the promises he made? everything from ensuring that the internet remains open and free, to ending war?

i just want to say one thing, hillary clinton, only at the very end when she was running against obama, did she finally admit she made a mistake in supporting the war in iraq. president obama should take that as a warning. >> cornell, amy has that long list there. you hear the frustration, it is real, and the president is about to cut a deal on this debt ceiling, which he's going to agree to even more spending cuts. he's going to get deeper into this frustration, is he not? >> here's the problem. i'm a progressive, as well. but nowhere is there a magical want for the president. so unless we have a filibuster senate, he can't magically wave a want and make this go away. given his hand, he's played a pretty good game. >> we'll continue this conversation heading into the campaign. amy, good to see you again. cornell, thanks for coming in tonight. a leading conservative warns of a third party if republicans fail a big upcoming test.

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welcome back. here's the latest news you need to know. congresswoman gabrielle giffords' staff confirms she'll be in tucson over the weekend. and both the dow as well as the s&p 500 finally broke out of six-week losing streaks. the market ended up on an up

note. there was an unusual protest in saudi arabia today. women drove cars. it's a challenge to the country's status quo where religious edicts bar women from a number of activities, including driving. up next, a republican who carries an important endorsement, who will he give it to? or can he be persuaded to run for president himself? we'll ask him, next. [ man ] ♪ trouble ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance.

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tonight in new orleans, the republicans who would be president are trying to impress conservatives, gathering at the republican leadership conference. michele bachmann took issue with president obama's economic stewardship. >> we know what works, it's cutting spending, growing the economy. it's doing what free markets do and what economic superpowers do. and mr. president, you're no economic superpower. >> congressman ron paul argues presidents of both parties ignore the constitution in starting wars. >> how long are we going to allow our presidents to go to war in an improper manner? if we have to go to war, debate the issue, declare war and win it and get it over with. [ applause ] >> and former pennsylvania

senator rick santorum shared a lesson. >> but i learned from my 2006 election, which i lost, that losing isn't the worst thing that can happen. not standing up for your principles is the worst thing that can happen. >> also there was jim demint, a man many on the right wish would join the presidential race. he's with us now. senator, you've heard some of the grumbling, you're hearing it in new orleans, you've heard it from your friends in the conservative movement. they look at this field and say could be better. in your hometown tomorrow, greenville, south carolina, there will be a draft jim demint rally. will you run for president? >> no. have no plans to run for president. frankly, the more i see of the republican field, the better i feel about it. i think it takes a while for candidates to develop and get their footing and we may have some new folks join the race, too. so it's too early to say it's a

weak field. i think we'll end up with a good candidate and any of them would be better than what we've got in the white house right now. >> is your no a shermanesque no? you said you'll listen to these people out of common courtesy. is it emphatic, pour the cement no? >> well, i have no plans to run for president. i'm never going to rule anything out in life, because most of what i'm doing now i never intended to do. but i don't plan to run for president and have made no arrangements to do that. so it's getting a little late to jump in, if you haven't made plans. i'm looking forward to another candidate. hopefully they'll take strong stands on passing a balanced budget amendment. by the fall or later in the year, we'll know which one has the courage to be the next president. >> you were with governor romney in 2008. is the fact that you're still shopping in this cycle a sign that you would not endorse him, that you've moved away from him?

>> i'm completely open at this point. i haven't ruled anyone out or anyone in. >> we had a big debate on monday night up in new hampshire. someone who impressed a lot of people was congresswoman michele bachmann. i want you to listen, michele bachmann is a favorite of the tea party movement. listen to this from the debate. >> the tea party is really made up of disaffected democrats, independents, people who have never been political a day in their life, libertarians, republicans. it's a wide swath of america coming together. i think that's why the left fears it so much, because they're people who want to take the country back. they want the country to work again. >> when you look at michele bachmann, do you see someone who represents the tea party but maybe has a ceiling, can only win a slice of the republican party or do you see a potential president? >> she understands the tea party movement, because what she just

said is exactly true. i've been in a lot of tea party rallies and these folks don't care anything about republicans or democrats. they want to save their country. they're afraid about this debt and spending and intrusion by the government. so what's happening is the country is uniting around the issues dividing washington. >> what about congressman michelle balkman specifically? dennis kucinich was an anti-war candidate last time. nobody viewed him as a potential nominee. do you view her as a potential nominee and a potential president? >> she's certainly a potential nominee. i don't think anyone should rule her out. she's a very smart person, demonstrated a lot of courage, so i haven't ruled her out or in. but she's a great addition to the field, and i think one way or the other, she's going to move the field in the right direction for our party.

because she understands that grassroots movement that i think is going to make the difference in the next election. the indiana governor decided not to run for president. he talked about a truce on social issues saying those fiscal issues were so important, republicans should put emphasis on issues like abortion on the back burner. haley barbour, listen to what he said. >> don't get hung up on purity. in politics, purity is a loser. as i say, our candidate won't be perfect. but in this business, it is unity that wins elections. >> i know him, one of the things he's worried about is if the tea party activists don't get everything they want. if the social issues are not talked about in the primary

campaign because people are focusing on the economy, that some tea party activist also sit on their hands and stay home. is the governor right? >> well, there's no purity in politics, so i don't think you have to worry about that. i hope he's not talking about principle. unless we have principles, americans are not going to trust us as republicans. so i think what you're going to see is that the fiscal issues are bringing people together at tea party rallies and grassroots rallies across the country. there are people who feel strongly about some of the social issues. there are some who don't. >> you laid down a strong marker in your speech. i want you to listen here to where you essentially warn the party if it doesn't hold firm. let's listen. >> if you want to lose those people who elected us last november, if you want to deflate that new base that believes that they have the power to change

things, if you want to destroy the conservative movement in america and push a third party candidacy at all levels, then fold on this one. >> you're talking about the debt ceiling there. what must you get? >> three things. there's a pledge on the internet, there are going to be millions of grassroots folks behind it. the website is cutcapbalancepledge.com. what we're demanding is to cut spending immediately, cap spending over the long haul that takes us toward a balanced budget and we pass a balanced budget. that needs to be the demands of the republican party. we should not allow that debt ceiling increase. >> and if the vote is not part of the package, would you tell people vote for a third party or

help organize a third party? >> no, i'm not interested in a third party, but i think it's a danger if we fold on something that 70% of americans think we need to do. and they believe we need to balance the budget. that's not a republican or conservative issue, that's an american issue. more than anything, it's a common sense issue. >> senator jim demint, appreciate your time tonight, sire. >> thank you. >> thank you. still ahead, the brave young activists who beginning six months ago stirred what we call the arab spring. and next, tim pawlenty tries to recover from a stumble. and mitt romney takes aim at president obama, but does it pass the fact check test?

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some mistakes in politics are quickly forgotten. others become defining moments. tim pawlenty is this week's test case. last sunday, he took sharp aim at mitt myth and the health care plan enacted when romney was governor of massachusetts. >> president obama said that he designed obama care after romney care, and made it obamny care. >> but monday night, pawlenty, much more timid. >> why would you choose those words? your rival is standing right there.

if it was obanmcare on sunday, why not now? >> president obama is the person who i quoted in saying he looked to massachusetts for designing his program. he's the one who said it's a blue print and he merged the two programs, so using that term was a reflection of the president's comments that he designed obama care on the massachusetts health care plan. >> the post debate analysis is tim pawlenty blinked or worse. >> what was pawlenty thinking? he looked frozen and terrified and lousy. >> he wimped out. >> he made a tactical mistake. he came across as weak or pathetic. >> we have an official term for that in politics, it's called weak sauce. >> on twitter, he conceded it was a mistake to back off and last night he tried to get back on offense. >> i don't think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of obama care and continues to

defend it. that was the question. i should have answered it directly. instead i stayed focused on obama. but the question related to governor romney. >> so will this be soon forgotten? or is there lasting damage? karen, to you first. did he cheap it up last night by going on "hannity" or there is a perception that he has some explaining to do? >> i don't think he's cheleanedt up and more's why. the most damaging mistakes in politics are the ones that speak to the concerns that voters already have about you. in the case of the republican base, the concern about tim pawlenty is whether he's tough enough to take the fight to obama and sort of see him come up with a good attack line, then do a do-over, then do a do-over

of his do-over only has increased doubts about whether this is the guy the party wants to sort of carry them into the fight with barack obama in the fall of 2012. >> i like that. a do-over of his do-over. jeff, what happened? obviously, a candidate sets the tone of his campaign, but he has a staff, they go through these meetings. they made a decision to do obamnycare. they had to know that would be a question in the debate. >> it's really mystifying, john. even more mystifying, a few hours before the debate around noon on monday, he stopped for a slice of pizza and a reporter asked him if he was going to use that word at the debate? and he was like, no, perhaps not. he signaled he wasn't going to use it. i think everyone who heard him say that thought surely he is going to do it. he's been getting a lot of

advice recently. some of his long-time supporters have made private concerns that they don't recognize who he is. perhaps he was calibrating the other way, i'm not sure. i think how he responds to this, how he gets out of this is the real test for him. there are going to be a lot of debates, a lot of appearances and forums going forward. i'm not sure that we're going to be talking about this months down the road. the bigger problem is fund-raising. he's in a critical two-week period here and his supporters were looking for a strong guy that night. and as karen said, he didn't show up. >> i was about to make the point we could go back to the videotape and i can show you candidate barack obama in some early debates, not so great. candidate george w. bush, not so great in early debates. the list goes on and on.

candidates learn, but on the fund-raising question and the buzz that's important right now, what's happening with tim pawlenty? >> this is june of the odd number year, we have to keep that in mind. it's a lot louder to us than the broader electorate. tim pawlenty has had kind of a perch in this race as the person who seems like the potential last man standing against romney, that he would be the one who would be there, perhaps able to bridge the cultural and economic divides in the party and he has to prove that in practice. what hurts him in this debate is it kind of suggests -- it raises the doubt about whether he can fill the role others can cast him in. the other thing is that tim pawlenty's misstep here does not eliminate the potential vulnerability for romney on this issue. this is still going to be a big challenge for him. >> an interesting week for the republican party.

we wanted to know who was paying attention, and this is in the state of new hampshire. likely new hampshire primary voters, 54% watched the debate. 46% said no. 54% said they were watching the debate and who won? 39% said governor romney, 28% michele bachmann, 8% ron paul and down you go from there. the interest level quite high. ron, you write an interesting column saying these guys agreed on a lot, but you think they're moving so far right that you have a sharp contrast in the general no matter who wins. >> right. and tim pawlenty ultimately to emerge in this race has to consolidate the portions of the party that are going to be most tube use of romney, particularly evangelical christians. you saw at the debate, not only

did he perform badly, but michele bachmann performed well. but yeah, i think one way the biggest point of this debate was missed was the extent to which the party all of these candidates have converged around an agenda on rolling back the size of government that goes beyond what republicans have proposed. that means less of an idealogical contrast. the debate in the primary will be about who has the electability to deliver the message the party has settled on. but it does widen the distance between the nominee and president obama, which is something he prefers probably, because a referendum on performance might be tougher for him than a choice election, looking forward on two different paths. >> we lost our signal with new orleans. but ron, help me understand what's fair and not here. this is from governor romney trying to take advantage of something the president said.

first, let's listen to this. >> i'm an american. >> i'm an american. >> i'm an american. >> i'm an american. >> i'm an american. >> i'm an american. >> so that's video for mitt romney. now i want you to listen to what the president said. governor romney has used this term, bump in the road. now let's listen to the president. >> there's still some head winds that are coming at us. lately it's been high gas prices that have caused a lot of hardship for a lot of working families. then you have the economic disruptions following the tragedy in japan. you've got the instability in the middle east, which makes folks uncertain. there's always going to be bumps on the road to recover. >> so fair or not, let's start with ron and we got those guys back.

fair or not, the president was saying circumstances, the middle east, japan, not people. >> the president opens himself up to that. >> that's the way it goes in politics. you guys down in new orleans, each of you take 10 or 15 seconds. is all this talk about how wit you feeling it there at that meeting? >> well, what we're feeling at this meeting is a lot of very fired up republicans who are very anxious. they are pivoting to who of these candidates that we have is most likely to beat the president. >> i think karen is right. they are eager to hear governor rick perry tomorrow. he's speaking from texas. he's probably the last person that might jump in. of course with respect to sarah palin who knows what she's going to do. people here think that president obama has done such a poor job that anyone can beat him. >> appreciate your help. appreciate you dealing through

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it's been exactly six months since a single event set in motion what we call the arab

spring. one man's event captured on video and spread on the internet and generated the wave of protests and change still sweeping across north africa and the middle east. this weekend in a cnn presents special called i revolution, our correspondents introduce us to the people who made this revolution possible starting what happened that day in tunisia. listen here. >> reporter: to protest government corruption, a 26 year old fruit vendor set himself on fire in a rural town. the images of his burned body were posted online and instantaneously available worldwide through the internet. the offline battle began. a 27-year-old teaching assistant was one of the foot soldiers who would spread the flames. armed with only a computer and her camera she drove to the center of the protests in world

tunisia. what inspired you to get in the car and drive there? >> the fact that the media wasn't doing their job. they were either hiding reality or telling lies. >> reporter: the reality was shocking. she said she learned that the government was opening fire on the protesters. >> when i went to the first house, i started crying and my hands starting shaking. the corpse of a young man of 20 or so, his family, his mom who was crying. >> reporter: within days, thousands of blogs, tweets and retweets turned into hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. but the mainstream media never picked up on the story. >> amber joins us now. i want to start with the

bravery. sometimes especially in the united states people forget when the young blogger there criticizes traditional media in this country that means us but in most of those countries it means state controlled and state run media and to defy the state is to risk death. >> exactly. and it's also to risk detainment, to risk having family members detained and to risk your own safety and you saw in that story the woman who is just 27 years old. she's an incredibly brave woman who went just to take pictures of these bodies and post them on facebook. here in the west we do that all the time. post pictures all the time and don't have to worry about our safety. in her case because she did that, she was being followed by secret police and her security was constantly being threatened. john? >> and that was tunisia. you also went to egypt and bahrain. what are the common threads when you meet these young activists who have been part of what's a

dramatic revolution. >> they all want democracy. regardless of whether the government run media is painting them to be terrorists or trouble makers, really at the root of the cause here is the desire for freedom and for human rights and for democracy and for the first time all of these activists are able to get out their side of the story through twitter, facebook, and all types of social media and to them that's very empowering and giving them an outlet to push for change. >> and what is the sense of as this is expanded we've watched and we see in syria and watched in egypt, governments try from time to time to turn off the internet and limit access to the internet, how creative and clever are these young activists in getting around the government blockad blockades? >> for them it's a constant game of cat and mouse. you have the activists and we've seen these activists in all of

the countries we visited working together to teach each other how to avoid government censorship. they use various tools to keep the government from being able to logon and steal their pass codes and figure out who they are. and they are really uniting in all of these countries to train each other on how to continue to push this battle forward online avoiding any type of censorship from the government. we get into that in detail in our documentary. it's kind of a how to start an online revolution 101. >> and the obama administration was behind the change advocates in tunisia and egypt but more muted when it comes to bahrain where the united states has an alliance and key military base. do the young people there see a double standard? >> they do see a double standard. i've become active in following tweets f