hello, everyone. i'm don lemon. thank you for joining us in the cnn newsroom. the attorney for robert baels bales has arrived. he's accused of -- he's now in kansas and could be charge cannin connection with those deaths this week. let's start with his attorney. did he have anything to say upon

his arrival? >> reporter: he was surrounded by a gaggle of cameras, as you would expect. he is no stranger to high profile cases. this is a lawyer who represented serial killer ted bundy as well as the barefoot bandit here in washington. i want you to take a look at what he said to reporters as soon as he arrived. >> it was a shock. more of a shock perhaps to them and the neighbors. everybody thinks he's a very nice person and a great person. >> reporter: well, we are continuing to try to talk to people here in the seattle area, who knew robert bales. we spoke to a former neighbor. bales lived in a condo with his wife for awhile. then they moved to another house. they were using it as a rental property and it went into

foreclosure. this neighbor tells us that bales was a great guy. he put it in no uncertain terms he was a great guy. he doesn't understand how this happened. that said, it appears that he was under great financial stress. also some emotional strain and physical strain as well. he was injured in iraqi a couple times. this neighbor told us that his foot was badly injuried and he went to rehabilitation a couple times a week. when he saw robert bales, he said he was determined to get back into a war zone. that's how passionate he was about serving his country. don, we have been up here for the last couple days now, and it's a real mystery what happened here. it's clear that the portrait emerge i emerging is this is somebody who was under financial stress and physical and emotional strain as well. back to you. >> the stress of being in a war zone, thank you. we appreciate your report. the relations between u.s. and afghanistan were rocky before the massacre. the afghan president hasn't been

shy in his criticism of the u.s., but the ambassador to washington told candy crowley that he trusts the united states. >> we're working as a partner to resolve all the issues. we should coordinate and cooperate with all these issues, like as i described. and the bigger picture is very important. we are in the right direction, but down the road, things are happening we should manage it in a way that should not deter us from our main objectives. >> that was the afghan ambassador to the u.s. the u.s. embassy is working to confirm reports that a american has been killed in yemen. two officials say it help ed in taiz province. the american was a missionary

who was trying to spread christianity. province is head of security said he was working for two years at a swedish-run language center. an american who was held hostage in iraq is resting after his release. randy michael holts was turned over the to u.n. he was a private citizen who didn't work for the government and was in iraq for private business, but it was unclear why he was in iraq or why no one knew he was missing. breaking news into cnn on the republican race for the white house. cnn projects mitt romney as the winner of today's puerto rico presidential primary. want to take a look now at the results. mitt romney is the winner and he appears to have won by 82%. it was a really easy victory.

83%. it's gone up since the last check. an easy victory for romney. 20 sdel gaits are at stake in this primary. it's not a lot of delegates, but as this drags on and on, each one counts. here we go. 1,144 is the magic number. 1:39 for gingrich. 69 for paul. romney was endorsed by puerto rico's governor. all eyes now turn to illinois, which holds its primary on tuesday. we'll carry it here live on cnn. protesters who launched the occupy wall street movement returned to the spot where it all began, but police were ready arresting 74 and refusing to let them take over zuccotti park again. the overnight demonstration came six months after the movement began. some of the protesters accused

police of abuse. no response from the department. a late winter snowstorm cripples travel along a major rutd. jackie will tell us when the roads might reopen. and cnn takes you to a place where slavery still exists. you heard that right. slavery in 2012. hear from former slaves and even slave owners coming up. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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when you need him? this is what's facing people in flagstaff, arizona. snow is still coming down now. another foot could hit the area by tomorrow. rescue workers are maxed out responding to the accidents. good news. people say they need the snow to hold off arizona's fire season. so there's some good news in all this. other parts of the country may get some rough weather over the next few days. jacqui jeras joins us now. what's in store this week. we're getting back to work on monday. we want to know what's up. >> the same system bringing snow to the west is a slow mover. it's going to be kicking up severe weather. we were dealing with a couple tornado warnings into parts of texas. we have an effect in western parts of oklahoma. so this is going to be ongoing through 10:00 tonight in an area we'll be watching.

as we head into tomorrow, that severe weather threat a little more widespread. we'll be looking at places in houston, dallas, oklahoma city, kansas city, and even des moines could see severe thunderstorms. we could be active into the west. but by tuesday, you'll be done with the snow. temperature wise, we have been talking about how crazy it is. it's just been the flip-flop weather going on. look at this. albuquerque at 40 degrees. minneapolis looking for 76 degrees tomorrow. there have been a plethora of highs going on there. it hit 80 in seven out of the last nine days. that's like may or june weather. >> can you slide to the left? i can see the temperatures. 87. 85. >> talk about great for florida spring breakers though. >> look at minneapolis. it's beautiful. >> it's my hometown. i never got 80 in march when i was there. >> thank you, jacqui jeras. a very serious subject.

if you think slavery ended generations ago, you probably never heard of march tan ya. slavery is still existing there in 2012. very much a part of life. cnn goes in depth talking to slaves and abolitionists risking their lives. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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whatever you're doing, take a seat. pay attention. slavery, forced labor, and the abuse that comes with it is something america hasn't experience experienced in 150 years since the end of the civil war and the adoption of the 13th amendment. for most of us, slavery is something we only learned about history class or stories from generation ago. while it may exist on a small scale throughout the world, in one place, it's still alive. mauritania is probably as little known as a secret world within it. in the next 45 minutes, we are going to hear from former and current slaves and ab listgsist. they have gone on record with cnn to reveal the truth about

modern day slavery and bring justice to the masses. listen. >> translator: chains are for the slave who has just become a slave. but the multigenerational slave, he is a slave even in his own head. he is totally sub misive and it's this type of slavery we have today. the type of slavery plantation owners dreamed of. >> there's one place in the world where slavery is still in the world. mauritania in 1981 became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. there was no punishment for slave owners until 2007. the u.n. says 10 to 20% of

mauritaniaens live in slavery today. we travel to the country to see for ourselves. we would meet people who never knew freedom. people who escaped to find their lives hadn't changed. and abolitionists who have been fighting slavery for years with minimal results. we weren't allowed to be reporting on slavery. it's a practice the government tries to hide from outsiders, but as we would find, slavery is everywhere in mauritania if you know where to look. >> translator: no, we cannot go to her house. it's not possible. also it wouldn't be very smart because one time we took journalists there and the police came and took their cameras. >> we asked the head of an abolitionist group to people who had recently escaped from slavery. one woman is trying to bring her case to court. the government is keeping a

close eye on her to stop her from telling her story.

>> while sos slaves was able to reunite her with her children, others are forced to leave them behind. >> translator: personally, i was always thinking of a safe way to run forever. then one day i met a military unit. i spoke to the military men saying, i am going with you because i trust you. if you are going to hand me over to these masters, i prefer you shoot me.

i think about slavery, yes. i think about it because i can't forget it at all. because my brothers and sisters are still there. so i can't forget about it. also a person like me will never forget about the torture he has suffered. i will not forget it. >> cnn was not allowed to enter mauritania to report on slavery, so it took some strategy to make it happen. next the words of those they spoke to who are still enslaved today and the slave owners who believe there is nothing wrong with the way of life there. i think the volt is an awesome car. and i really do love how... how unique it is. my friends say that it's like i'm driving a spaceship. the body style and the interior design... everything is really cool,

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welcome back to our special look inside slavery's last stronghold. one in five people in mauritania live in slavery today. so far we have heard from former slaves about the widespread abuse that they faced. in a few minutes, i'm going to speak with two cnn producers who risked their own lives to bring you their stories. but first, here's more of their journey and the surprises they encountered on the western fringe of the sahara. >> these abolitionists are trying to prove that slavery still exist here. that's one reason s.o.s. slaves helped us. their stories are evidence that brutal forms of slavery are still very real.

since slavery became a crime, only one slave owner has been successfully prosecuted. the government still denies the practice exists. >> translator: but i must tell you that in mauritania, there is total freedom. freedom of thought, equality between all the ethnicities, all the men and women of mauritania, equality between the genders. there's a phenomenon to which you are alluding. i will be direct with you. that has exist ed in mauritania. that has existed in other countries, which is slavery. and in all of the communities, it has been abolished. and it is criminal liezed today by our government. so there is absolutely no more problem with that in mauritania. in all cases, that has been the

way of the government for a long time. >> translator: the mauritania's government stances that there's no slavery, particularly in front of cameras or foreigners. yet we can find a number of people who do admit they are slaves, but you have to go out and find them. >> we traveled into the sahara to see slavery firsthand. it was a mission hindered by government minders who were assigned to follow us into the desert to make sure we didn't talk about this topic. in the interior region, we slowed down and stopped unexpectedly hoping we'd have a few moments before the minders noticed. the first people we spoke with told us in plain terms that they were living in slavery. but when the government minders realized what we were up to, our guide had to try to distract them while we continued the conversation.

a short distance away, we spotted a group of lighter-skinned people who we thought might be their slave masters. most families consistent of d k darker-skinned people whose ancestors were captured by arabs centuries ago. many of those ties remain in tact. it was possible for us to discuss the matter openly, but he didn't pay the workers and their situation seemed obvious. >> the minders warned us not to

stop unexpectedly again. we left wishing we had more time to talk. many people in mor tan ya exist somewhere on the spectrum between slavery and freedom. we set out on a second journey, this time hoping to find people in slaved villages. >> translator: in fact, it's a village made up of slaves and former slaves who live and work there in that village. >> in the southern deserts, we e found people who no longer live with their masters but remain in a form of slavery. food and water are scarce and people here live in extreme p r poverty.

their masters allow them to live on their own and sometimes keep part of the harvest. but the masters also can come back to demand work without pay. >> translator: they are emancipated slaves, or people who aren't living as slaves, but their state is that of a slave. >> when a slave is granted this kind of partial freedom, their masters make them feel indebted. in a way this pulls them further into slavery.

at first this man denied having contact with his master, but when we jumped in with a car with him to talk privately, he explains his master still demands work and slaves here are seen as inferior. after the sunset, we drove several miles to visit a final village. we found people who were grateful that we had stopped to talk with them and to acknowledge their existence. that's not something normally happens here.

>> fascinating. joining me now is edith macnamy and john pseudoer, who brought us this look at mauritania. what was going through your mind when you went there to do this and you started uncovering this story? >> i think when we first got there, we knew some abolitionists we wanted to talk to. that's where we started. part of what they are trying to do is prove that slavery doesn't exist. so the abolitionists started by introducing us to some people that they have helped escape from slavery so by telling their stories to us sort of prove that

there is still this form of slavery. >> afraid for your lives? >> not afraid for our lives. i think the consequences that we were facing were more along the lines of being expelled from the country. i can't say i was truly afraid for my life. more for the journalist part of it. >> you're not afraid for some reason. you're just wanting to get back to the united states to tell these peoples' story. what i thought was interesting, john, is even everyone in the story by american standards were black. yet still, they still used black and white. it's kind of interesting, and interesting to the viewer, to see we're not talking about european. still white and black, but there's a difference there. >> they make big distixs, but it's difficult to tell being an outsider. there's different languages spoken. they are used to tell which of

these groups these people come from. they are both arabic-speaking groups. historically, the whites have enslaved the blacks. a lot of the ties between families go back centuries or at least decades. the practice is old and one thing that makes mauritania unique is how long it's continued. cnn has been doing freedom project stories, but a lot of that is about trafficking. >> you guys stick around. but we are not done with this. this is a very intriguing story. you can check out our website here. you'll find pictures and stories of abuse and freedom for slaves. you can find out how to be part of the solution by donating to the training solution. it's all an our website at cnn.com/slavery.

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welcome back, everyone. this is a fascinating special. a special look inside slavery's last stronghold. as many as 20% of the people in the african nation of mauritania are living in slavery. slavery is against the law, but its abusers largely go unpunished. in ending their it widespread practice is freeing the slaves of their mental shackles. here's more of our in-depth investigation. >> translator: that's the problem here. that's why slavery persists because people don't need to exercise physical force, but their symbolic balance and that is misery.

>> perhaps the most surprising thing about slavery in mauritania is this. some who are born into slavery don't even realize they are being exploited. back in the capital, we spoke secretly with a former slave. he was liberated years ago, but told us he never understood the freedom he was granted. we reunited him with his former owner who has been living abroad and hadn't seen in years. their relationship isn't what you'd expect. we were surprised by their interactions.

>> but there's a twist to his story. the slave master would go on to become one of mauritania's most prominent abolitionists.

>> as you just heard, a one-time slavery owner is leading the fight to end slavery. step one. proving slavery even exists. there are patients who will question,

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they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. welcome back, everyone, to our special investigation into the secret world of slavery in mauritania. without the government's help in ending slavery, it's largely resting on the shoulders of

abolitionists. one is a former slave master who team itted up to rescue slaves, many of them children. >> in 1995 the reformed master teamed up with another man. together they started the group called s.o.s. slaves. >> translator: i can still tell you i'm the son of a slave. my mother was never freed. and i also have never been freed. but i was lucky not to be in direct contact with the master.

>> translator: without awareness, you can do nothing. so we have to find the ones who have opened their eyes. >> activists are trying to make the courts enforce the law, but the government has been cracking down on their efforts. members of another antislavery group called ira mauritania have been imprisoned for speak out.

>> he took us to a safe house that's run by his organization. the group gives shelter to slaves to escape their masters. if he's martin luther king, then his partner is malcolm x.

>> abolitionists are trying to pressure the government to treat slavery as a crime, but they are also working to help those who have escaped slavery and have nowhere to go. without marketable skills, it's difficult to survive. some people actually return to their masters for regular food and shelter. up next, keeping slaves from returning to a life of servitude. a school that is teaching real life lessons. this is delicious okay...

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tonight we are devoting a majority of this hour to the secret life of slavery in mauritania. while it is problemed by law, as many as one in five people are

enslaved there today. they have rescued dozens of slaves and are now teaching them to survive on their own. >> we visited a school for escaped slaves in the skills th can use to keep themselves out of slavery, selling cooking and dying fabric. >> sos opened the school last

year. it serves only 30 women, of the hundreds of thousands of people who are enslaved in this country. funding is tight and it's unclear how long the school will be able to continue. >> the u.n. says more programs like this are desperately needed for mauritania to break the centuries-old cycle of slavery. this is only one school, fighting against the system that refuses to acknowledge these women were ever enslaved. saleka, who is only 18, and who we met at the beginning of our journey, has not been able to get justice for the baby she says her master killed. still, she finds an unexpected peace when she's learning to sew at the center. she's able to forget the horrors she endured as a slave, if only briefly.

abolitionists are trying to break the multi-generational cycle of slavery. >> and that dignity is exactly what lohair and saleka are beginning feel.

>> some smiles, finally. smiles. i want to bring back now our cnn.com producers who brought us this incredible look at slavery in mauritania, edith and john. so regaining dignity. and i heard her say in the story, there's no sense of justice so far. she hasn't been able to get justice over her baby. is that going to be the beginning? is it justice, or is it really bringing back dignity? >> i think, you know, bringing back that dignity will take generations. you heard abolitionists talking about this being a multi-generational process that's been going on for centuries. but there are these sort of small reasons for hope. one is that 2007 law that made slavery a crime. before that, it wasn't illegal. there's been one prosecution against slavery owner that was successful. activists say there should have been many more and they're trying to bring dozens of cases

into court. there are those small reasons. that school that we just saw only opened last year. and before, i say five years ago, something like that wouldn't have been possible. it would have been shut down. so i think there are these small reasons to see that they're moving forward very as low asly. >> do you get the sense that people want to stay? you said one woman escaped all the way here to cincinnati. are they escaping to other places, or do you get the sense that they'd rather stay there and have that dignity of where they were born? >> i think it depends on the person. the person we spoke with in cincinnati said she did feel like she had to escape that far to get truly free. and even then, we asked that we not use her name, because last time she went to west africa, she received threats from the government for speaking out. >> and it's interesting that it's so pervasive and it takes over -- because they're still enslaved in their minds, even though they're set free. that says a lot about not only mauritania, but just about every single country and every single individual. >> and there's a strong sense of

racism there. the woman who chose to stay in the country, who you saw just now in the video, just because she's free doesn't mean that life is going to be good, and there's still a strong sense of racism for her, because she is an escaped black moor. >> there's a lot that you can do to help, and we're going to tell them how. for more on this intriguing story, go to cnn.com/slavery. and you'll find pictures of stories of freedom from mauritania's slaves and you can find out how you can be part of the solution by donating to a training center that's run by sos slaves. you can also send a message of hope to the women at the school in mauritania that we just featured there. go to our ireport page and you can leave a message or a video there. go to ireport, ireport.com or cnn.com/ireport. thank you very much, edy the. thank you very much, john. we appreciate and it will be right back here on cnn

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i want to check your headlines right now. the attorney for army staff sergeant robert bales has arrived in kansas. he's the soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians last week. he is now at ft. leavenworth, kansas. he could be charged in connection with those deaths as soon as this week. breaking news in the republican race for the white house. cnn projects mitt romney is the winner of today's puerto rico presidential primary with 21% of

the vote in. mitt romney is rolling. he's currently at 83% of the vote. cnn also projects that romney will get all 20 of puerto rico's delegates. now all eyes turn to illinois, which holds its primary tuesday. full coverage right here on cnn, of course. canadian police say they expect more arrests following rioting overnight in london, ontario. police say a st. patrick's day celebration turned into a drunken mob of about a thousand people. people set fire, pelted police with rocks and bottles, and caused about $100,000 worth of damage. most of it took place in a college neighborhood. a dozen venezuelan police officers are under investigation after the fatal shooting of the daughter of a chilean diplomat. the 19-year-old was shot and killed when the car her brother was driving failed to stop at a checkpoint in maracaba. her father calls the the shooting irresponsible and the sign of disrespect for human life in venezuela. the country's interior minister condemned the shootan