back then, they weren't calling for the overthrow of the regime, but days later, the government began the bloody crackdown. for 12 months now, assad's regime has lied about killing it is own people. night after night we called them out on their lies but we haven't been able to say what the dictate of syria and his wife have been thinking, what they have been worrying about. now, we can. in an e-mail on august 4th, assad's wife ordered jewelry from a cousin's boutique in paris. she writes, sorry i took so long to reply but i've only just got back the final request. one, turquoise with yellow gold diamonds and small pave on side. i don't know what a pave is. one cornaline with one pave on the side is black onyx. with yellow gold diamonds. one amethyst with white gold diamonds. let me know how to proceed. around that same time of the e-mail exchange with a friend. the daughter of the amir patar. her friend writes, from what i see, there's so many innocent lives being lost. i think with the introduction of new legislation, it's a natural time to address the nation with the intention of stepping down. she writes back, there's perception and there's reality. her friend responds, isn't perception what determines reality? in august, while mrs. assad was worrying about jewelry and having that communication in the city of homa, the reality was citizens were being fired upon, shot dead in the street. on august 22nd, the u.n. said that more than 2200 syrians had been killed. on november 20est, just days after the erairab league had suspended their membership they called on assad to resign, assad's wife e-mailed a friend apparently to visit. are you coming around the 2nd or before, she wrote in if so, please, can you bring the harry potter deathly hallows part 2. released on 2nd december. thousands of civilians are dying, others are calling on her husband to step down and syria's first lady is tracking down the latest installment of harry potter. on december 29th, bashar al asead using the e-mail e-mailed one of his aides. right now. it mocked the regime that they had hidden from tanks. and here is what is happening in homs add that time while they were on their mission. civilians took a monitor in an orange vest to see the dead body of a small child. also in homs at that time, indiscriminate shelling was reduced to rubble. a month later, what was asma assad focused on them? fondue. she sent a link to a set and said, please, can we get one? same day, she was talking about fondue, this is what was happening in homs, her home town. street to street gun battles, civilians versus the military and plain clothed thugs who worked for the regime. on february 5th, assad's e-mail, e-mailing the lyrics to a blake shelton song. the person who have been lately ain't who i want to be, but your stay right here beside me, watch as the storm goes through, and i need you. while he was sending the lyrics to his wife, in homs, a man you see here held the body of a dead child, a girl he said was killed by assad's regime. can spoke with paul conroy who was wounded in the assault on homs, escaped with his life and with a senior fellow at stanford's hoover institute. the level of nonchalance in the e-mails is just -- i guess i shouldn't be stunned by it, but i am. i mean, you talk about fiddling while rome is burning. >> exactly right. there is nothing really unusual about it. many years ago, a great philosopher gave us a wonderful book. she went to jerusalem to watch the trial of adolph aikman and she wrote this incredible book. she discovered how small was aikman for all of the great crimes he committed. and there is bashar al assad. and they're trading the e-mails. she's worried about shopping. he's downloading music. and meanwhile, syria is on fire and a great crime, even in the city of homs, which is the answer for the city of his wife, are being killed and massacred. >> the e-mails from mrs. assad who in years past was viewed as this cosmopolitan woman welcomed in the west and written about in fashion magazines, it's sickening reading her e-mails talking about fondue sets and jewelry. and homs is where her family is from. >> remember, this is the woman assad, who was born in london, by the way, and she worked for jp morgan. she was the one who was dubbed rose in the desert. she's the partner of bashar. he basically put her out, if you will, for the world to see that this is his modern wife and this is a modern couple. now you see that these people are while their followers, while their people are using pinchers to skin people alive, they are trading these silly e-mails and are worried about shopping and as you said about fondue sets and shoes and the like. >> paul, you call assad the calmest killer of the century. >> absolutely. and you know, the image that we see of this man when he talks the nonsense when he comes on and says nobody is dying in syria, when i hear of these e-mails, it doesn't surprise me. i think as time has gone on, we look at this man who presents this image of outer calm and respectability, yet the so ca call called fallty that he's overseaioversea seeing, i think i have seen too much of this man, and yes, probably the calmest killer of the century. >> he's downloading music from itunes. passing around clips from "america's got talent" and in the next breath, he's slaughtering his own people and trying to kill people using the same internet to try to upload videos of the slaughter that he and his forces are putting upon them. >> absolutely. he exists in a parallel universe. i think he seems to have lost any connection with humanity. he's -- the world should actually stop listening. and act and forget any -- doing any pacts with this man. >> and the u.n., you know, is waiting for a study to be done by the syrians to assess the humanitarian need. when we know what the humanitarian needs are. we have seen the videos of kids who haven't had food in weeks or eating crusts of bread. the e-mails won't come as a surprise in syria. >> no, they know all about him. the one thing if they see them, read them, and given the problems they endure giving the hell they're living through, they may not have access to them, but when you read his wife is getting a discount at harrods for some of the things she's buying, when you read these things, you understand what the regime is all about. it's about terror and repression for the people of syria and privilege for the ruler of syria. >> it's also sickening, i mean, you know, shame on any department store that gives her a discount. shame on any designer that swaddles her in clothing. shame on anybody outside who, you know, who continues to kind of treat them as if they have a place in the civilized world. >> shame on the advertising here and one of the advertising agencies, who is exchanging e-mails with one of the sick ofants of bashar, and he's worried how are they holding up? what are they going through? this is the democracy, the west always does this, and in particular, if you blame someone in the islamic world and say they're modern, they know fashion, they dress well, what they do to the people is hardly of any consequence. >> paul, you witnessed this in homs with your own eyes and your colleague marie was killed by the regime's forces. you know, while assad presents this western front, explain just a little bit maybe to people who haven't been following this what you saw with your own eyes happening in terms of the needs of people to get medicine, to get food, and to stay alive. >> i mean, simple survival in homs was virtually impossible. people were under constant artillery bombardment. heavy artillery that should be used against armies fired into civilian neighborhoods. this caused people to have to flee buildings that were dest y destroyed. food supplies became nonexistent. i know people who rifrked their lives to carry loads, packages of bread through the city and army lines. water became a commodity. medicine was nonexistent. these were all of the basics of human existence denied to the people. >> we appreciate it. paul conroy, i appreciate you, interrupting your treatment to talk to us to continue to talk to us. >> thank you. >> anytime. >> let us know what you think about it, e-mail us, google plus, follow me on twitter. let's have a conversation. >> raw politics. controversy over contraception. what access should women have to birth control? romney and santorum say it's an issue of religious freedom. mary matalin and hillary rosen join us. >> and haley barbour continuing to revuz to answer questions about pardoning criminals, a few in particularly who got new cars when they were released. we were told he wasn't available all month, which doesn't appear to be true. >> breaking news, a tornado touches down in southeastern michigan. we'll have the latest on the damage. that and much more when 360 continues. [ male announcer ] the game of life with the prius c! ♪ oh, my maltipoo's depressed. but my affordable prius c means i can pay for his acupuncture. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ from toyota. we want to protect the house. right. but... home security systems can be really expensive. to save money, we actually just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! raw politics tonight. if you listen to democrats in the last few weeks, it's no doubt you heard them there's a war on women in the race for the white house. controversy over contraception is nothing new, but the profile was raised in part because rick santorum is a front runner for the republican nomination and because of an effort by the obama administration to make sure that insurance offered by religious institutions are covered by contraception. things got hotter when one of santorum's biggest don anothers said this. >> this contraception thing, my god, it's so expensive. back in my day, they used bair aspirin for contraception. the gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly. >> santorum called that a stupid joke and everything his supporters say isn't a reflection on him. here's what santorum said about the issue. >> it's the church's money and forcing them to do something that they think is a grievous, moral wrong, how can that be a right of a woman? that has nothing to do with the right of a woman. this has to do with the right of a church not to have to spend the resources in a way that is inconsistent with their faith. >> this is a coercion that we can expect. it's not about contraception. it's about economic liberty. i do have concerns about women in front line combat. i think it could be a very compromising situation. >> mitt romney said a couple days ago he would get rid of federal funding for planned parenthood. he and santorum say that it's about religious freedom, not contraception. making employers cover it on their insurance plans violates religious freedom. in a new poll, more than 60% say it's a health care issue, not a religious one and more than 75% said it shouldn't be part of a political debate. that hasn't stopped the democrats from pouncing on the issue. accusing republicans of declaring war on women. on the campaign trail, there is a lot of talk about women. >> women are going to make up their own mind in this election. >> women deserve an equal day's pay. >> because of this law, preventive care is covered and, yes, that includes preventive care for women, checkups, mammograms, birth control. >> joining me now is republican strategist mary matalin and democratic strategist hilary rosen. mary, you saw the poll number. six in ten americans are saying it's not about religious freedom. is this a losing issue for republicans? >> absolutely unequivocally not. that was one poll and it depends how you ask it. in the new york times poll and cbs poll, in myriad other polls when majorities of americans including women oppose the government, the full force of the government, to intrude on first amendment rights, first amendments guarantee of religious rights. i'm saying, women, when it's posed that way and that's how the regulation is written and that's what not just catholics but it's multidenominational have made an argument not as forcefully as the obama people have to switch it, to frame it up, when they say what it actually is, people oppose it. but equally important, probably more important, is what you led with. three-quarters of americans, including women, do not even think that this is a political issue. equal numbers, three-quarters of americans, including women, think the top political issue is the economy. it's not an issue. they don't want the government to be dealing with birth control. so i've strategically, the president has made a grievous political error, i believe. >> do you see it as an error? democrats are saying they're seeing appeals from them and a lot of talk on women on the campaign trail from the obama administration. >> well, first of all, the president tried to issue a regulation to implement a law that congress passed and the republicans went out and starting opposing it. it is the republicans who are opposing reauthorizing the violence against women act. today in the united states senate, it's mitt romney on the campaign trail saying, let's get rid of planned parenthood. these are not democrats going out there. to the extent that democrats are actually telling voters what it is that the republicans are saying, you bet we are. and here's a key issue, which is, you know, when men have medical issues, they are medical. when women have medical issues, they seem to be political. and i think what women are sick and tired of is having their health issues politicized and framing this as a religious liberty issue is equally infuriating. why isn't the catholic church out there ranting and raving about not serving pork in on fridays in their cafeterias. the only thing they want to seem to take to the streets on is something that discriminates against women who don't agree with the men in the church. >> oh, hilary, please, the catholic bishops and cardinal dolan have tried to work with the white house. they sat there for a week waiting for an accommodation -- >> let her finish what she's saying. >> please. >> this is a 2,000-year-old catholic belief that the natural order of things is love, marriage, sex, procreation. so the overwhelming majority of american people including women do not want their religious liberties invaded. all we're asking is this, in this very narrow issue, exempt religious institutions and those that are affiliated with religious institutions, and this would go away. but it hasn't gone away because the president has invented this war on women. s if we're against incentivizing using taxpayer dollars for sexual sorts of drugs, we're waging a bigger war on men because we don't want the taxpayers subsidizing erectile drugs and arguably, i think that's the much bigger issue for men. i'm not a scientist, but it's a bigger issue for men than birth control is for women. >> but the catholic church isn't going after men's health issues. it's only about women. and here's the issue i think that we have to focus on, which is, you know, women are going -- are watching now. you know, this is going to be an issue that is waking up women. the gender gap in 2008 for the election was, you know, over ten points, the difference between senator -- then senator obama and john mccain. in 2010, it evened out. this is going to widen that gender gap. women are sick of having our reproductive health and health issues be politicized and used on the campaign trail. >> mary, couldn't you argue that both sides are using this as a political issue? the republicans raised the stakes on this issue between rush limbaugh's comments, rick santorum's comments on the trail, they saw it as a religious liberty issue and something that would mobilize people to come out and vote and on the democratic side they see it as a women's health issue and that is something that is going to mobilize women's voter who they believe are going to side with the rnen party. >> right. the president specifically turned it into a women's health issue, a war on women because, let me translate for you, anderson, because women are dropping him like a bad first date. he had a nine point gender advantage last time. he's done to less than half that. mitt romney's not even on the field yet and he's only down by four points. mitt romney has no gender gap. i think this is insulting to women. they do not think this is a birth control problem. they do believe, as all americans do, that it's the a government out of control problem. so what is happening here, all of his enthusiasm, intensity and support among all of his demographics starting with women who the president is right, are going to make the difference in this election, are leaving the president because they're ins t insulted by making them focus on this. any woman who is jazzed up on this is not someone who would romney and a man to go with it. >> my friend mary is engaging in wishful thinking here. she may be right that this is not an issue that is important, but it is her candidates, rick santorum and mitt romney who are retu running around the country, trying to get elected on this. by saying they are going to get rid of planned parenthood, by saying that there's a war on religious liberty using what was regulatory issue to be a political issue. you know, it is the republicans ginning up this issue. it's the republicans refusing to reauthorize a statute that has been on the books for years. >> both sides are using the issue. aren't both sides using the issue? they both see it as an opportunity in different ways. >> i think democrats started out here playing defense and you bet we're going on offense because it became clear that this is not just a political gain. it became clear that literally our rights are threatened and that is going to be the case if you have a mitt romney president and a republican senate. because they've laid out their agenda. that's it. they've been very clear. >> hilary, appreciate your perspective. mary matalin as well. coming up, keeping them honest. for months haley barbour has refused to talk to us. about his pardons of hundreds of criminals. fine. the victims families want answers about why the killers got preferential treatment, even new cars in some cases, new cars for killers. also ahead, the murder of another u.s. border agent in mexico. is it another fast and furious move in the works? some republicans think so. drew griffin investigates coming up. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and