>>> as we mentioned, george clooney had a full week. wednesday he testified before congress, then attended a state dinner at the white house. thursday he met with the president again. today he got arrested at the embassy of sudan during a planned protest against the conflict in darfur. nbc's andrea mitchell covered the protest and has never really believed in covering a story at arm's distance. today she got a whole lot closer than that. as she reports tonight, it's all an effort to do exactly what it did, focus attention on atrocities taking place overseas.
>> reporter: he is using his celebrity to sound the alarm, trying to arouse the world to stop atrocities by the leader of sudan.
>> we are not talking about military intervention. not talking about money. we are talking about political wills. work on the sanctions, freeze this man's money so he can't buy weapons.
>> reporter: time is short. in weeks the rains will start. urgently needed aid won't get to a half million starving people. desperate times call for desperate measures. today the actor and his father nick clooney, along with civil rights leaders and four members of congress, deliberately stepped on to the walkway in front of sudan's embassy and were immediately arrested.
>> andrea, it's actually a humiliating thing to be arrested, but i'm proud to be standing with my father.
>> very odd place to be for a newsman. now i'm an advocate.
>> what my father and his team experienced.
>> reporter: clooney is best known in the world of red carpets and paparazzi, but equally at home in darfur. first bringing his father in 2006. traveling with ann curry two years ago. hoping to dramatize a crisis a world away from hollywood. as he told brian williams on "rock center."
>> i'd like indicted war criminals to enjoy the same level of celebrity as me. that seems fair.
>> reporter: using his access to the powerful to stop a murderous regime to the white house to the calls of congress.
>> she's are war crimes.
>> reporter: george:00ly arrived in washington by train with a police escort and ended in handcuffs.
>> not allowed to hang out at the sudanese embassy.
>> i didn't know that, did you?
>> reporter: a man with a light touch and serious purpose.
>> it's worth a criminal record. it is.
>> reporter: tonight, sudan's government said clooney put on a show that could earn him another golden globe. the actor did what he set out to do. got us talking about the horrors of sudan. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington.
