he was 24 years old when he died and shot apparently by a sniper. as it was so many times the cameras were taping at the time-death, and his own death at this time. we will not show that he had no blood or fight for life. this is how people die. [ gun fire ] >> if you have not been for war and know that death is for movies, you think that death is more dramatic than it is. in syria people die everyday shot in their homes, shot on th street, and killed in detention. people die and the world does not stop. some may mourn, but the world keeps spinning. he died as he lived with the camera in his hand, and like so many of his other videos, this, too, was posted on youtube. that is him in the body bag, and the family and the friends mourning him. in a country where the truth is as ugly as these pictures and silence is enforced under penalty of death. the only answer dangerous as it can obviously be is showing the pictures and breaking the silence and trying to tell the truth. he lived and died trying to do that. he was murdered in a city that the assad regime prolsed to pull the troops out, but instead has put snipers on the rooftops and kept the tanks in the streets. this is how it looked today as seen by one of his fellow journalists and posted on youtube. [ gunshots and yelling ] >> opposition members say at least 35 people lost their lives today in demonstrations across syria. the rallies are being called a crawl to freedom square because of all the sniper fire. this is what happened to protesters in a town farther to the east. [ gunfire ] this is all taking place with 75 arab league observers on the ground. sometimes as it did today, shooting breaks out moments after they leave. [ gunfire ] >> sometimes the shooting takes place right in front of the observers. one of them, by the way, has come to focus on the protest. he is the former head of sudan's military service and is accused of atrocities back home. the observers you will recall were sent in to monitor promises by the assad regime to pull forces out of populated areas, release political prisoners. instead as we all saw the delegation arrived and the military stepped up its assault on places and now opposition members tell "the new york times" that the regime has started dressing troops as policemen to give the appearance of keeping its word while continuing to target ordinary syrians for extraordinary brutality. this is new video of security forces roughing up a woman in the down of dara, syria taking a page from egypt where even women are targeted. children are targeted as well. we've known that, we've seen that for months, taken an tortured. that's how this all started in dara ten months ago. people from all walks of life can be rounded up for any reason at any moment and simply made to vanish. whether it is the trunk of the car or the back of the van, it does not matter to the regime, they do it and lie about it. but thanks to the people like the late bazil al saeed, their lives don't always go unanswered. the videos come with the disclaimer we can't independently verify the stories because the regime won't let us in for ourselves. that said we obtained exclusive video from a foreign journalist who managed to sneak in and spent days there. for his protection, we're keeping his identity a secret. what he's capturing is how brutality actually works day to day as the regime tries to make life impossible in homes right down to getting a carton of cigarettes or a loaf of bread. >> i am almost like a sports challenge to get the cigarette bags out from the sniper range. they have been happy when they could and they started to throw it from one car to the other and they started to throw the bread because they were not able to cross, so everything they needed on the other side, they throw it over the streets. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: we need to cross the street to buy bread and other food but the snipers have surrounded this area. it's a huge danger. >> that's a portion. yesterday he looked at the armed resistance, including defectors from the army. >> they smuggle fighters in and out of the neighborhood they control, evading government checkpoints. at night they search everyone entering and leaving the area to stop government death squads, from getting in. >> translator: the street you see over there is controlled by the shabia. they are known to kidnap our women and children. we try to prevent this. when strangers come here, we stop and search them. >> the people of this part of homs are not afraid to take to the streets. there are rogue you -- there are regular nighttime rallies, but after months of casualties, they have long lost their faith in nonviolent protests. many believe that real change in syria will only come from the barrel of a gun. >> the battle for the future of homs remains overwhelmingly one-sided. as you'll see in this latest report treatment for the wounded often comes down to two choices, none or slim. >> amid the destruction in this neighborhoods, there is a little medical care for the victims of snipers or indiscriminate shelling. people who could be saved with the right treatment are dying of their injuries. this is a makeshift hospital in a secret location. when i arrived, the doctor, who did not want to be recognized, was treating two casualties. >> translator: we can only treat the wounded in our homes and we can only do basic first aid here. the government hospitals are infiltrated by militias who would harm the patients. >> while this is fairly well stocked the setup is rudimentary. no x-ray machine, no life support machines. and the blood banks, it's in the refrigerator next to the groceries. >> primitive conditions. the wounded are either unable because of snipers or terrified of going to city hospitals which are en filtrated by members of the secret police. this goes against every principle of medicine, but it's not doctors who are in charge. the dictator whose medically trained hands are strangling cities like homs. i spoke with an opposition member who's there. despite the violence, many, many people still came out in syria today. why are people so determined to have their voices heard today? >> well, we don't have other choice. we have already passed the unreturn point. we gave a lot of blood. and we can't -- our brothers and friends who were killed from the beginning of the revolution. >> at this point do you feel that there is no going back? >> we don't have other choice. the first phase of the revolution we were able to accept a kind of settlement with this regime. with real reforms. but by continuing killing people, innocent civilians, women, killing kids and the brutal torturing of the activists, so the regime -- we have to continue, we sacrificed a lot. we are not sure that all of us will feel freedom, but we are sure that our kids have the right to live in a free country. >> do you have any confidence in these arab league monitors? >> well, we don't have other choice. we can't -- we can't be so optimistic. we can't expect that much from them because we know that by the end, the arab league cannot impose anything on the ground, and to allow international media to enter the syrian territory. but nothing, nothing has happened. why cnn is not now inside syria. we want cnn to come and enter homs city to see the catastrophe here. >> and i hope you know we want to be there too. as you know the syrian regime continues to refuse to allow us to be there. what do you want the world to know right now? >> i want the world to know that we are just innocent people fighting for their basic human rights. we want freedom and we want peace for us and for all the people around us. we want to live in dignity. now we don't have food, electricity is cut off from most of our areas. we just want the ability to take our wounded civilians to the hospitals. we can't take them to the public hospitals because security forces are there. they kidnap them and torture them. >> abo, fares, you are taking a great risk in talking to us, and thank you very much. we will continue to talk with you in the days ahead. as i mentioned, he would like nothing more than a chance to see what's happening in syria. sadly, our repeated requests have been denied. joining us a senior fellow at stanford university's hoover institution. we've seen some of the biggest turnout today of protests. obviously it's friday, a day of prayer where people traditionally gather and protest afterward. what does it say that -- i mean are they trying to make the most of the fact that this delegation is on the ground and get their voices heard? >> just as i said, for the syrian people there is really no return. they have broken with the past and i think the interview tells it for what it is. look at it this way, anderson. his father was hafas. there is a dine dynastic ambition there. there's a tyranny that's 40 years old and the people have broken with it but tragically they can't yet overthrow it. here you have 250,000 people turn out in the city, 70,000 people turn out on the outskirts of the town of duma. they don't have much faith in the monitors but are still giving it a try. >> in terms of what -- there was a report that the u.s. is at least starting to look at options for dealing with the syrian opposition. what are the options out there? it doesn't seem like there's any good options. >> i don't think there are any good options and i think the syrian people know this. again, the syrian people keep thinking of libya. just as the libyan people were rescued, they hope they too may be rescued but the geography is different, the issues are different and the resources of the tyranny of this regime are much, much better. but still, we can't accept the spectacle, the slaughter. there are things that can be done. the french are talking about humanitarian corridors, supplying the cities and giving them a lifeline, if you will. there's a possibility of setting up maybe even a no-fly zone. the no-fly zone would make a tremendous amount of difference. it would encourage army defections and tell the detech fo -- defectors they are not alone. we may begin to think about recognizing the syrian national council. >> there's also, obviously, given what people are now seeing in egypt of all the troubles going on in egypt, the rise of the muslim brotherhood and other groups, there's a lot of skepticism about what lies ahead for syria even if the regime is overthrown. >> absolutely, because in fact bashar has succeeded in doing one thing. he has made the argument, either this tyranny or possibly -- what he ends up saying is the opposition to this is all muslim brotherhood. but the opposition is much wider than that. but there is this argument out there that it's either the dictatorship or the deluge after assad. and it is the argument that has to be defeated, it's the argument that has to be challenged. there is something we have to admit. there are -- the minorities in syria are still on the side of this regime. the christians are on the side of this regime. the community is on the side of this regime. so you're right the prospects for deliverance for the syrian people from the outside don't look good. >> and it's not like libya. i mean because with all the countries that surround this country, if there is a civil war, there's all these outside countries and groups which would be more than happy to spend money and arms to support their proxy groups inside syria. >> absolutely. in fact if you take a look at the geography, we did it yesterday, it's a tinderbox. and as one gulf diplomat said to me, he said, listen, you can't even throw a firecracker into that tinderbox. look at the geography of syria. i think these things work to the advantage of the regime. >> to you see it then just devolving into civil war? >> well, i don't know what we name it. sometimes the famous question of shakespeare, what's in a name. there is already a civil war in syria. there is a fight between the regime and the people. there is also -- we can't really dodge this. there is the sectarian fault line between a principally sunni opposition and a minority regime. and i think for the syrian people we can say one thing here as americans, there is no taste in this country, there is no ground swell for intervention in syria. president obama, the biggest applause line he's going to get in charlotte, north carolina, when he's renominated, is that he ended the iraq war. he is not going to go into another campaign, so in fact when you look at the libyans, it was a solar lunar eclipse. they were lucky. sarkozy worked for them and they were delivered. >> thanks for being on. let us know what you think. we're on facebook, google plus. add to us the circles and follow us on twitter. i've been tweeting already tonight. up next, why newt gingrich got misty-eyed on the campaign trail today. and we have new numbers on polling from iowa. we'll talk to people on the ground there and our political panel with the caucuses just days away. later, a case of the -- well, we'll preview tomorrow night's show in times square, ringing in the new year with kathy griffin. kathy will be here. how worried should i be for tomorrow night? >> you should be very worried. in "raw politics" just four days from now until the iowa caucuses. mitt romney and ron paul are basically tied for the lead according to a new poll which echos what our poll showed two days ago. romney and paul are just two points apart at 21 and 23%. rick santorum third at 15%. rick perry is fourth at 14%. newt gingrich now at 13. michele bachmann at 6. former house speaker gingrich kind of teared up at a campaign event today, not over his poll numbers, as he was talking about his mom who died of bipolar disorder and depression. she died in 2003. here's what he said. >> and my whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing -- see how -- from dealing with the real problems of real people in my family. so it's not a theory, it's in fact my mother. >> newt gingrich today. when asked yesterday if he would stay in the race if he finished fourth on tuesday, he said he would. let's bring in our political panel. chief political correspondent candy crowley, and hillary rosen and sherry jacobus. candy, you were on the ground. were you surprised to see newt gingrich getting emotional like that? >> i think reporters were. but we do tend to see this sort of thing. it's a combination, it's holiday season, a tough campaign and really long hours. they tend to get tired. i don't know if you remember when hillary clinton sort of had to take a beat when she started to choke up in new hampshire. it's just been tough. we have seen newt gingrich's fortunes rise. now they're falling. lots of long hours. and he's talking about his deceased mother to a roomful of moms. and it was just -- you know, it all sort of came into that perfect storm where you see a candidate kind of show that human moment. >> sherri, you spent time with newt gingrich over the years. were you surprised to see this? >> yes, i was. you don't see newt gingrich showing that kind of emotion very often. he can be very fiery and passionate and sometimes you'll see a flash of anger and he can be very jovial as well. but this was a very personal moment. while, yes, he is tired and they're at that point in the campaign, i think that's important about this is that he wasn't tearing up because he's losing or thinks he's losing, which was the case with hillary. this had to do with his family, something everybody can empathize with and it was a genuine moment. even the most cynical among us can read this than anything other than genuine. this wasn't an 11th hour hat trick or anything like that. and it was good to see this in him even if he's a little embarrassed by it. >> hillary, those new nbc maris numbers out today are very similar to our poll earlier this week. it looks like a battle for first, another battle for third place. both of those are basically neck-in-neck. were you surprised that ron paul was leaving this weekend and going back to texas? >> well, i think that ron paul probably has had the longest stay in iowa with the most organized ground operation and almost never left since 2008. he's got his diehards and whether they show or not is probably not going to matter much whether he's there or not. but also, i think you have to take those polls and almost take ron paul out of it and say, wow, there really is a race for maybe it's first, maybe it's second, maybe it's third. who are going to be the candidates who are still standing after iowa. >> why do you say take ron paul out of it? >> because i just don't think that outside of iowa he's really a serious candidate anywhere else in the country. nationally his poll numbers are way below that number. you know, 2, 3, 4% he maxes out at. iowa he does well because he's got such an organization there. but his views are so far out of even the republican mainstream that i just don't think he's serious. so you look at people like rick perry, newt gingrich and rick santorum, that's really the battle here. we know mitt romney is going to be in this for the next several states. we think -- i personally think he's going all the way, but who are going to be the people who challenge romney for this nomination after iowa. that's what everyone is really paying attention to. >> sherri, do you discount ron paul in that way too? >> yeah. actually hillary took the words right out of my mouth. i would have to take him out of the mix. you have to look at it this way aside from the one person from bachmann's campaign who went to ron paul, you don't see the voters or the supporters from candidates as a second choice with ron paul and you don't see ron paul's supporters with a second choice and literally anybody else in the caucus or the primary and they have a second choice, so he is an appendage that the party doesn't know what to do with. i would be surprised if newt gingrich didn't have a bit of a surge over the weekend. i think there's a good chance that he can move ahead of perry. again, you would have the romney, santorum, gingrich as our three and i think those could be our top three heading out of iowa. >> candy, i think a gingrich spokesman the other day said that they'd be fine with a fifth place showing in iowa, that they're really looking more to south carolina and florida. is that true do you think? i think someone -- >> i think that would be fine. i don't think they'd really be fine with it but what are you going to do? he's running about fourth or fifth now. you know, it's not that you can't carry on if you want to, the problem is that donors look and now donors want to sign up with a winner. they don't want to just fuel a campaign that's going know where -- nowhere, so iowa begins to dry up money for people. newt gingrich had a great three or four weeks, but if he can't show, you know, some power here, that money is going to dry up. sure, you can fly yourself somewhere but i think he would tell you right now that part of the reason he fell so quickly within a three-week span, 19 points, is that others had the money to put ads up against him. so it's very difficult to run, even if you say i'm going to go on and be happy with a fourth or a fifth. i don't think they will be. >> hillary, about half the ads were against gingrich in this past month. he's clearly been targeted by a lot of the other candidates. what about romney, he didn't enter into iowa in huge numbers with staff the way he could have earlier, but he always had a ground force there, didn't he? >> well, you know, from the democratic perspective, you look at romney's campaign, it's the best organized, it's the best managed. they have the ability and the strategy to move resources in and out of different states. they move the candidate around much better and more efficiently than other campaigns