of important developments in the middle east and north africa. most of them troubling. the brutal regime in syria declared general amnesty today but human rights groups and the obama administration are quick to label it a sham. designed they say to distract attention from a bloody crackdown. in yemen, civil strife spread after a cease fire agreement between the government and opposition forces in the capital city collapsed. the regime of moammar gadhafi in libya defiantly today again vowed to hold power, rejecting the latest effort to broker a diplomatic solution to the civil war there. the united states' top human rights officer in bahrain was recalled to washington after coming under attacks in media accounts that u.s. officials believe were orchestrated by hard line government officials. bahrain, remember, is supposed to be a top u.s. ally in the region. a lot of ground to cover. let's focus first on syria. the amnesty offer was for all crimes committed against the government prior to today. now, remember this. what we're about to show you is a crime in syria. people marching in the streets simply to demand more rights. this rallying cry is worth noting. at this protest today faithful brothers do not forget that your sons could become the syrian teenager whose body was returned to his family mutilated, covered with cigarette burns 12 weeks into anti-government protests in syria the death of this boy and his apparent torture at the hands of the regime is a new rallying cry. these children in darya are marching in memory of hamza and we have photos of a funeral march in da ra a flash point of anti-government protests recently. we do not have our own reporters on the ground in syria because the government won't allow us in but cnn is well sourced in that country and working her sources tonight from beirut. >> reporter: john, we first have to warn our viewers that the images in this report are quite disturbing. but it is also exactly why activists say that they believe, firmly believe that the regime is incapable of reforming itself and must be removed from power. on april 29th, anti-government protesters tried to break the syrian army siege on the city of dawra. eyewitnesses described at the time how security forces opened fire on them. dozens were killed and wounded. countless others detained. among them say his family was 13-year-old hamza, separated from his father in the chaos. a month later, the family received their son's body. hamza's face was bloated, purple. this video posted to youtube catalogs each of his wounds. much of it too graphic to broadcast. the narrator points out multiple gunshots before moving to his head. even more shocking? his genitals were mutilated. cnn cannot independently verify what happened to hamza or the authenticity of this video. after it was initially broadcast, hamza's family was threatened. now they are too petrified to talk, even to close friends. a prominent syrian activist we reached via skype says she has no doubt it's real and that the regime had a message in releasing the boy's body. >> they wanted people to see this. they wanted people to get scared. they wanted people to know that there is no -- everything, no matter how awful, could happen to their family members if they continue to participate in this revolution. >> reporter: but far from cowing people the video has only made them bolder. demonstrations to protest come as death erupted. even children took to the streets risking a similar fate, vowing that his blood was not spilled in vain. activists say they are not surprised that the regime could have committed such cruelty and claim it's not the first time a child has been targeted. this 11-year-old boy was allegedly shot in his home. this video shows the body of a child lying in the street amid intense gun fire as others try to recover his body. and here children lie wounded in hospital after security forces allegedly fired at their school bus. hamza's death has prompted international outrage, a facebook page calling itself we are all the martyr the child hamza had 60,000 followers by tuesday. the face of this 13-year-old from a village in southern syria. now the symbol of an uprising. cnn has made repeated attempts to reach the syrian government without success but on tuesday the ministry of interior did announce that there would be an investigation into hamza's case and a medical examiner told syrian television that there was no evidence that the boy had been tortured. he claimed the condition of the corpse was due to decomposition. john? >> early on as the anti-government protests scored victories in tunisia and egypt we locked on to the term arab spring to describe the remarkable upheaval across the region known for its strong arm dictatorship but does that label still fit given the bloody uncertainty in syria, yemen, and libya? let's get perspective from our national security contributor and our guest. doctor, i want to begin with you on that point. when you watch those disturbing images should we all take the term arab spring and set it aside because of the urgent brutality we're seeing in syria and the major problems we see elsewhere? >> john, that is a very good question. i still remain hopeful that, in fact, the arab world was living in a terrible nightmare and that we have seen the truth of the regime whether it's the regime in egypt, tunisia, libya, syria, or yemen. and the people have risen. it hasn't been pretty. it was much easier in both tunisia and egypt and we have now come to this terrible place where libya and syria are horrible monstrous regimes, the one in yemen somewhere in between, bahrain is complicated. we're seeing the great agony if you will of the arab world and the fight between hope and fear. >> and, doctor, do you believe it was the fruit vendor in tunisia? >> yes. >> who set himself on fire and became the symbol? >> absolutely. >> in syria now, a horrible thing to say but i guess the adults are used to this, being oppressed and denied rights. if you're 40 or 50 or 60 years old in syria you have lived for decades in this. now that we see children, do you think that will be jagr enourri enough to maybe get some adults in syria who aren't sure if they should risk defying the government will that spark them? >> i think the mask has fallen in syria. we now see what the regime is all about. remember, john, he was the hope that he came to power 11 years ago. he lived in london. he liked the music of phil collins. people went to damascus and told us that there is a damascus spring if you will to use that term and this young man is better than his father. 11 years later we now see the truth. so hamza, a 13-year-old boy being killed and tortured, and displayed to the world, in fact, this is the emblem of this new fight in syria between the regime and the population. >> fran townsend, i don't think there is anybody left that thinks he is going to somehow be this reformer everybody dreamed and hoped that he might be and that he has perhaps occasionally teased the world that he might be. but the question is what now? some tough words tonight from secretary of state clinton. she said that every day he makes his choices. by default he is not stepping in to do more. the secretary of the united states has not gone further and said he has to go. they said mubarak had to go. they said gadhafi must go. explain why any u.s. administration would be reluctant, there's the israel complication, the chess in the region, but when you see these pictures why can't the united states of america say enough? the line has been crossed? >> well, john, i think they are now in a near impossible situation. they've tried this sort of minimalist approach. first sanctions. now you've seen secretary clinton come out and make the strongest statement yet, a very strong statement by the administration expressing concern over the torture of this young boy. look, they have been reluctant to go further. i think you mentioned the complication with israel. but really the big worry here is syria is a base for hezbollah, the shiite terrorist group. they are to the shiites what al qaeda is to sunni extremism and they are the most militarily capable, the most well armed, best deployed around the world. prior to 9/11 hezbollah killed more americans than any other terrorist group including being responsible for the beirut barracks bombing in lebanon in the '80s. and so what you're afraid of is hezbollah is largely bank rolled while they're in syria by iran. and what the united states is not wanting to do is get dragged into a proxy war with iran in syria. i think hasad has left them little choice. they have to now say this is unacceptable. and i expect what we'll see as much as we did with libya they'll try to put together an arab coalition that comes together so it's not just the united states saying he's got to go but what they're looking for is an arab statement from the gulf corporation counsel to say he must go. >> on that point, professor, the united states can only do so much in this region. >> sure. >> but it could if it had the help from others in the region and yet what we see happening is the saudis working behind the scenes to try to block further regime change. the bahraini government complicit, the state department would say, in accounts in the news media smearing the top human rights official at the u.s. embassy in bahrain. >> sure. >> so do you see any effort in the region to push asadd aside or in this one oddly are the saudis and iranians allied in thinking we don't want meddling and we don't want more regimes changed? >> john, actually on syria, the assad regime has successfully sold us the idea it is either the assad regime or sunni fundamentalism. the muslim brothers in syria. this is the major fear in the region. this is how the assad regime worked its kind of side of the argument. so it's not really about what the saudis think the syrians are doing. i don't think the arab regimes as a whole are going to single out the syrian regime for condemnation the way they broke with the gadhafi regime. it tells you the difference between the skill of the syrian regime, ability to play the game of nations as opposed to the lunacy of moammar gadhafi. i'm afraid the syrian people are alone in the way the libyan people are not alone. we have gone to intervene in libya but did not do the same and are not likely to in syria. it's really, you know, for the syrian people it's the bleak conclusion. they fight this regime alone. >> i want to ask you each in closing, fran to you first then to the doctor. most of these regimes are 70-year-old men, 75-year-old men. >> right. >> maybe in their 60s. assad would be one of the younger leaders in the region right now. i want the control room to show the pictures of the young children marching again and tell me what you think, fran, if you are one of these regimes that has been in power for decades handing off from old man to old man denying people their rights when you see the pictures of these young children risking their lives in the streets. i believe that is more powerful than any words secretary clinton or president obama could speak. >> i absolutely agree. i think the picture of these children carrying placards and marching for freedom has got to be the most frightening picture that any of the regimes in the region can see. remember, the vast majority of all the populations in the arab world are under the age of 25. the majority of people are young people. they're children. they've got to contend with this. they've tried. they've talked education reform, health care reform, they've talked democratic freedoms to vote for business councils and that sort of thing. that doesn't get to the heart of this issue and i think, john, the point has to be you're going to have to deal with these children. they will not be what their parents were and that is go silently. >> we appreciate your insights tonight. we'll stay on top of this story and those pictures, they're moving but the reason those children are in the street is quite sad and disturbing. appreciate you helping out tonight. still ahead we head to space and the final journey of the shuttle "endeavour" and the congressman who says his twitter account was hacked now uses the word "prank" and says he can't dwell on who sent a lewd picture to a college student under his name but why won't he call in the police? that's next. 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[ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu. congressman anthony weiner is anything but shy. he loves combative television appearances, uses a sharp wit in writing style in his social media postings and makes no secret of the fact he would like to be new york city's next mayor. but the democratic congressman is speaking with a different tone these days trying to move past what is either a crime or an egregious mistake. someone sent a lewd photograph from the congressman's official twitter account to a college coed in seattle. the congressman says his account was hacked. he also at times has used the word "prank" and he says he wants to move on. >> reporter: you say you were hacked which is potentially a crime. why haven't you asked the capitol police or any law enforcement to investigate? >> look, this was a prank that i've been talking about now for a couple days. i'm not going to allow it to decide what i talk about for the next week or the next two weeks. so i'm not going to be giving anything more about that today. i think i've been pretty responsive in the past. >> reporter: but you're here, which we appreciate, but you're not answering the questions. can you just say why you haven't asked law enforcement to investigate what you are alleging is a crime? >> you know dana if i was giving a speech to 45,000 people, and someone in the back of the room threw a pie or yelled out an insult, would i spend the next two hours responding to that? no. i would get back -- >> this is not that situation. >> i would get back -- you want to do the briefing? do you want to do the briefing, sir? >> you said from your twitter account a lewd photograph was sent to a college student. >> sir. >> answer the question. was it from you or not? >> sir. permit me -- do you guys want me to finish my answer? >> reporter: yes. this answer. did you send it or not? >> if i were giving a speech to 45,000 people, and someone in the back threw a pie or yelled out an insult i would not spend the next two hours of my speech responding to that pie or insult. i would return to the things that i want to talk about to the audience that i wanted to talk to. >> all you have to do is say no to the question. >> let me try this question. the woman who allegedly got this tweet or it was directed to, the 21-year-old college student in seattle, she released a statement to "the new york daily news" yesterday saying you follow her on twitter. is that true? did you follow her on twitter? if so, how did you find her? what was the reason? >> you know, i have i think said this a couple ways and i'll say it again. i am not going to permit myself to be distracted by this issue any longer. >> all you have to do is say no to that question. >> you are very good at -- why don't you let me do the answers and you do the questions? >> as soon as you answer the question asked you sir we will. >> i'm with you, buddy. >> you follow an awful lot of women on twitter. is there a reason you have so many ladies that you're following? >> by the way, in related news, i have the famous hash tag scrappy chasing crazy. i passed michele bachmann today in the number of twitter followers. i will give you that additional fact. >> is that a result of this? >> unfortunately it probably is. >> congressman, you understand what's going on here, the frustration. we appreciate you coming out and talking to us. you're smiling. you're cooperating. and that gives good -- you're not answering the question. can you answer the basic zbhe did you send it -- >> this is now day three. you have statements my office has put out. >> reporter: but they don't answer the questions that we have. >> and there are going to be people who -- look. this is the tactic. the guy in the back of the room who is throwing the pie or yelling out the insult wants that to be the conversation. >> reporter: you are the one who said you were hacked. that is a criminal, potential crime. >> dana, i have to ask that we follow some rules here. one is you ask questions i give the answers. >> reporter: i'd love to get an answer. >> that would be reasonable you do the questions and i do the answers and this jack ass interrupts me. how about that as the new rule of the game? >> congressman -- >> let me just give the answer. the objective of the person who is doing the mischief is to try to distract me from what i'm doing so for the last couple of days that has happened. i made a decision. i'm not going to let it happen today. i'm not going to let it happen tomorrow. you're doing your job. i understand it. just go ahead and do it but you're going to have to do it without me. >> that's about 2/3 of the feisty seven-minute exchange there with reporters. one thing the congressman has not done and would not talk about there is asked the capitol police or the fbi to investigate. should he? would that clear all this up? our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin is with us as is former federal prosecutor mark grass an expert at cyber crimes and dana bash who you saw trying to get some answers from the congressman. let me start there. he clearly wanted to come out and talk to reporters to show i'm not hiding and yet he would not answer the most basic, simple, not controversial questions about how do you know this woman? what did you, by any chance, send this photo? why won't you call the police? what's he doing? >> reporter: we don't know the answer to that. you saw me and our congressional producer ted barret really pressing him. it was fascinating. this is the second time he came out today to talk to us. we were outside his office waiting to talk to him. he came back. he went into his office. he said hold on. i have to get a tie on. he understands as i said in the questions and answers the optics of not wanting to run away and he comes and says the same thing over and over again. to me i think one of the basic questions is why if you say that you were hacked haven't you asked the police to investigate? that's what i asked over and over. you saw he didn't answer. >> let's bring in the lawyers on this. mark, i'll go to you first because i've worked with you on cases in the past where you deal with these kinds of issues. why? if you're a politician especially a politician with huge ambitions,