-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hundreds of documents are set to be released any minute now in the bridge gate scandal. could they actually reveal how much new jersey governor chris christie now about a political vendetta that left a new jersey town in terrible traffic for days. and this, as basketball buddies, they're headed back to the united states. but dennis rodman staying behind in north korea for now. hear what his friends say they accomplished in the secretive north korean state. and a teenage boy tackles a suicide bomber to save his classmates in pakistan. well, he paid the ultimate price. now he's being honored for his bravery on social media. welcome to "around the world," i'm suzanne malveaux. not the greatest news for the economy. the sky rocket growth we saw most of last year, no sign of it

in the december jobs report that came out this morning. want to bring in alison kosik in new york to talk about it. alison, what happened? we were feeling so good about everything. >> reporter: you know what's interesting, some analysts believe it or not, suzanne, are blaming the weather which held back hiring, they say, or they blame the holidays for this lackluster showing. just 74,000 jobs added in december. this was really a big miss. because estimates are for 193,000 jobs have been added. this winds up being the weakest month since january of 2011. labor department says the weather is partially to blame. sectors like construction saw a drop in employment, and some analysts also saying this report is a fluke. and will most likely be revised higher when the next month's numbers come out. then you look at the unemployment rate. it dropped from 7% to 6.7%. >> right. >> but not for the right reasons. it's mostly because, suzanne, a lot of people dropped out of the labor force, just to give you an idea. 347,000 people dropped out of the labor force.

it's the lowest level we have seen in 36 years. so this is a stunning piece of this puzzle that just -- this big chunk of people are just stopping to look for work. they're sort of disappearing. >> they're just giving up. i mean, it has been so frustrating, the last year or so. how are investors reacting to this? people were making a lot of money when it came to the 401(k)s. does it look like that's being impacted? >> no sell off. stocks are lower. this report came as a big surprise to many investors. because the expectation was so high. and we did see investors trying to make sense of it when the opening bell rang. we did see stocks start higher. now a bit lower. the way some traders are thinking about this report is that it is just the fluke. that it's really not a sign of the broader -- of broad other weakness going on in the economy, because they're citing numbers like gdp for the third quarter, 4.1%, that those weekly jobless claims numbers, they have been falling for many, many weeks now.

so many are saying, look, this could be just sort of one of those one-hit wonders. and then next month, we'll see a difference. >> alison, thanks. appreciate it, as always. want to bring in this breaking news here. we are now learning the justice department has just announced the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages that were performed just a short time in utah. that decision is going to affect more than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples. want to bring in our jim acosta joining us from the white house from washington. and jim, first of all, jeffrey toobin and i were talking about this a couple days ago, how ridiculous it is in this country that you can be a married couple one month, and then the next month have it be completely annulled, have your marriage be illegal. i mean, it seems as if the justice department is listening to that argument, and saying, look, we've got to make this right. >> reporter: right. and because of that conflicting situation out in utah, department of justice has decided to weigh in here, and in the last several minutes, department of justice has

released a statement from eric holder, the attorney general. there's actually a video message from eric holder, and we hope to bring you that as soon as we can here on cnn. so sort of a remarkable thing that eric holder would do this. but basically, what department of justice is saying is that the federal government will recognize those roughly 1,300 same-sex marriages performed in utah when they had this period essentially when a federal judge last month decided that the utah ban on same-sex marriages was not valid. same-sex marriages started to occur in that state and so you have roughly about 1,300 couples who were in this period of uncertainty right now, where they were married, but their own state is not recognizing those marriages. in part because the state said no, we're going to appeal this. and then the supreme court issued a stay, essentially siding with the state of utah and putting those marriages on hold. and so what the federal government is saying at this point, no, we are siding with these same-sex couples, and we're going to recognize them from a federal standpoint until

all of this is resolved at the supreme court. so another round being fired off in this battle over same-sex marriage. department of justice, eric holder, and the obama administration coming down very decisively on the side of same-sex marriages. >> and i want to bring in our joe johns here, who also is a legal analyst and understands these matters very well. and joe, talk about why is this such a problem in this country? because you've got a patchwork, almost like a quilt, if you will, in this country where in some states, if you're a gay couple, you can get married, it's legal. and other states you can't. and then you have this situation in utah where one day it's possible, the other day it is not. i mean, doesn't this ultimately create a problem in our country that you have this inconsistency? >> well, absolutely. it's a huge problem, and it creates even more chaos, if you will, this decision by the justice department to go ahead and recognize those marriages. because on the one hand, you have utah saying let's put everything on hold, let's wait

for another supreme court decision. and the attorney general of the united states is saying, no, we've got a decision from the united states supreme court. it's the windsor decision. says we can recognize these marriages for purposes of federal benefits, and that's what we're going to do. so it doesn't decrease the chaos. it actually adds to it. and most importantly, i think, it puts the united states government squarely back in the fight over an issue that has almost entirely been the province of the states. that's regulation of marriage. now the united states is right back in the game, just like they were before the windsor decision, suzanne. >> and i want to bring jim back in to talk more about the white house perspective, because it made a huge difference, jim, when we actually saw the president of the united states come out for same-sex marriage, approving this. it really made -- it was a cultural shift, if you will, in terms of providing some cover for people who were afraid to actually say, you know, what i

agree. i approve of this. what do you make of the president and the administration's influence when it comes to this highly sensitive cultural issue? >> well, i think that things have very much changed inside the democratic party. barack obama ran for president, as you know, suzanne, back in 2008. opposing same-sex marriage, essentially, and he evolved on this issue. you'll recall joe biden sort of took the lead, essentially, you know, said let the cat out of the bag and said this administration is starting to move in this direction. and the president announced he was evolving on this position. and now i think -- hillary clinton has basically said the same herself. and so now you sigh the democratic party basically saying we are essentially for same-sex marriage. and you're starting to serum bellings of that inside the republican party. and that will be something to watch over the next few years. but want to take you back to this justice department move and what eric holder announced at the top of the hour. because i think it's very important. so important to the justice department that eric holder recorded a video message on the

subject and let's -- i think we have a sample of it. let play some of that message. >> last june, the supreme court issued a landmark decision, united states versus windsor, holding that americans in same-sex marriages are entitled to equal protection and equal treatment under the law. this ruling market a historic step towards equality for all-american families. and since the date was handed town, the department of justice has been working tirelessly to implement it in both letter and in spirit. moving to extend federal benefits to married same-sex couples as swiftly and smoothly as possible. recently, an administrative step by the court has cast doubt on same-sex marriages that have been performed in the state of utah. and the governor has announced that the state will not residence these marriages pending additional court action. in the meantime, i am confirming today that for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as law of and

considered eligible for all federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages. these families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their status as the litigation unfolds. in days ahead, we will continue to coordinate across the federal government to ensure the timely provision of every federal benefit to which utah couples and couples throughout the country are entitled. regardless of whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages. and we will continue to provide additional information as soon as -- so a very interesting statement there from eric holder. and suzanne and joe, it basically puts the federal government in a position right now where it is willing to recognize these same-sex marriages in utah. while utah may be fighting against that recognition. we'll be -- will be fighting that recognition to when the supreme court is expected to hear this case.

so a very interesting development that department of justice is coming down so forcefully on the side of same-sex marriage here. >> and joe, i want you to wrap this, if you will. i had an opportunity back when that ruling happened at the supreme court to actually interview edith windsor. it was such an emotional moment for her to be recognized, and her widow, as well. their marriage, their union, their partnership there. what is the next step? what does this mean in real practical terms for gay married couples? >> well, i think the one thing that's very clear is that if the federal government had done anything but this, it would have been a real difficult situation for same-sex couples all over the united states. because when you think about it, they got the windsor decision, which said for tax purposes, for all the other reasons that the federal government has to marriage, it's okay to recognize same-sex marriage. now if the government had done anything but what they have drop

now -- >> right. >> utah would have been sort of standing out there as the one state where the -- all of these things didn't apply. so the government almost had to move in the direction they did, i think, suzanne. >> all right. joe, stay with us. jim, stay with us, as well. want to talk more about governor chris christie spending nearly two hours yesterday telling all of us here in no uncertain terms that his aides went rogue on him. that he didn't know he might have created this traffic nightmare to punish a mayor who didn't support him. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue. there's no way that anybody would think that i know about everything that's going on. i don't know what else to say, except to tell them that i had no knowledge of this. all i know is, i don't know. i am humiliated by the fact that i did not know this. the answer as of right now is i don't know. >> a lot of don't knows there.

joe, the dam about to break, potenti potential potentially, because the new jersey state assembly is releasing more than 900 pages of documents related to this. and might back up what christie said or might back him into a corner. so do we have these documents in hand? what do we expect from -- to learn from this? >> i haven't seen them yet. still waiting to see those documents. more than 900 pages that at best could shed some light on all of the information that we have seen over the past few days regarding this bridge situation there in new jersey. we don't know what is in these documents. we have been led to believe that there will be nothing dramatic, no smoking gun as it were. but let's just wait and see. i expect to go through them, and try to figure out if there's anymore information to be gleaned about what happened and why. >> joe, you're the lucky guy, right, who has got to go through the 900 pages of documents. >> i think we have a whole team of producers planning on doing

that. i'm going to do my part. >> all right. i've got to ask another question here. there is a class action lawsuit against christie that is brewing from people whose lives were completely disrupted by the traffic jam and all of that. could it actually be that state/federal laws were broken because of this? >> reporter: well, that's the million-dollar question, if you will. what state and federal laws, if any, had been broken. the lawsuit is very interesting, suzanne. i've got to say. they're trying to get class action certification. it has a bunch of different things in there. it claims official misconduct, it claims conspiracy. and it's also largely a negligence lawsuit. so all of these things stemming from people who say they were inconvenienced and they lost money, they lost time, what have you. >> sure. >> but the larger question about the federal government, there is an investigation at least starting preliminarily. that's the fbi, department of justice. and they're going to take a look to see if any federal corruption

laws were broken. >> right, right. >> reporter: a lot of people say that might be a stretch. >> i want to bring in gloria borger, political analyst, to talk about this. gloria, what is your perspective on this? it was two hours we were listening to governor christie explain and explain, he didn't know, but he apologized. he seemed very forceful about all of this. was it potentially a little bit overdone, protestses too much here, two hours, to go through this? what do you make of that? >> there is no way to deliver a perfect apology press conference, right? and what i think he wanted to do, and there's some precedent to this, you know, is to take every single reporter's question and answer it. what he tried to do is say, look, i am not just another politician. i found out what the people who were doing some things that were clearly wrong and i fired them. but tried to distance himself

from it, saying at the same time, i didn't know, i can't figure it out. he called their moves callous and stupid. so the wide question out there. i'm presuming his lawyers were walling him off from talking to people he fired directly. but we still don't know why they decided that it would be a really great idea, and that it would probably make the governor happy, because that's what staffses do. why would it make the governor happy to tie up traffic on the georgia washington bridge. >> yeah. there's still a lot of stuff we don't understand. we don't know potentially the investigation of the documents will show something else. but there was so much speculation, and even polls that were showing that if you put him up against hillary clinton 2016, it would have been a dead heat here. do we think -- is there any possible way of even know that might slip at all because of the moment that he's going through right now? >> sure. look, this is a problem for him.

you know, the american people have started the discovery process, right? with their 2016 presidential candidates. and they all know that chris christie positions himself as a different kind of politician. right? and it's okay if you have a guy who is strong and tough, when he's fighting for you. right? but the problem is, in this particular case, that his people were strong and tough and bullying when they were tying up traffic. that -- rjt yeah. >> that worked against the people of the state of new jersey, and also people of the state of new york. obviously. so if you're going to be a bully, they want you on their side, not on somebody else's side. the problem for him as a presidential candidate, quite frankly, is that now is the time when you line up your big money, you line up your visible supporters. and you know, this could hurt him along those lines. i think people are kind of hanging back, and they're just

waiting to see how this plays out. >> all right. there's still time, there's still a lot of time left in 2016. >> oh, yeah. >> gloria, thank you. appreciate your perspective, as always. >> sure. here's more of "around the world," a rare event in cuba. fidel castro out in public for the first time in months. plus, a teenager's heroic decision to take on a suicide bomber. the 14-year-old gives his life to save a school yard full of students in pakistan. ♪ [ male announcer ] why do these guys shave with one of the world's best razors, when they wear helmets for a living? ♪ because the best... eventually take 'em off. the gillette fusion proglide. precision equipment with less tug, less pull for unrivaled comfort even on sensitive skin. so you can go get it. gillette -- the best a man can get.

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seeing fidel castro nowadays, a pretty rare event. cuba's former leader, 87 years old, kept a low profile since he got sick and handed his power over to his brother back in 2006. earlier this week, there he was, at the opening of an art studio in havana. castro, you can see in there, hunched over, walking with a cane, every once in a while would lean on his assistant. i want to bring in nick parker to talk about, first of all, why haven't we seen him in public? why is this such a big deal now that he's emerged?

>> well, suzanne, as you say, a rare glimpse indeed of fidel castro. i think the reason why this does generate so many headlines is that since handing over tower in 2006, he's really been keeping a very, very low profile. making very few public appearances. largely, in fact, due to start with, health issues. the 50th anniversary of the revolution in 2009, without seeing fidel castro, obviously a very significant event. every time he does present himself in public, people always leap on these kind of appearances for whatever they can. as you say, he was visiting an art studio in havana, dressed in a black coat and green scarf. he was accompanied by the artist, alexis leyvao, who is said to be one of castro's favorite artisted. he appeared engaged, talking to people, examining works of art. so little is known about his current state of health. but i think this is important evidence that the former leader

is at least still active, suzanne. >> and nick, what do you make of this? here is a man who has seen many rivals in the u.s., u.s. presidents come and go, all the way back to president eisenhower, ten presidents or so, that he's still standing. >> reporter: he's still standing, yeah. he's really one of the great survivors of modern history n a way. he was ruling cuba for almost five decades. u.s. congress found that the cia had planned something like eight assassination attempts on him. he was able to repel the bay of pigs invasion. and certainly when he handed over power in 2006, many people thought the intestinal problem that he had really signaled the end of certainty of his political career. and that he was indeed gravely ill. but we're looking now at sort of almost eight years on. and he looks like he's certainly still active, suzanne. >> yeah, nick. certainly is a very powerful, symbolic picture, if you will, a

symbol to see him still up and around. we saw all those pictures of the former u.s. presidents that he has outlasted, and certainly something that people are going to be watching and seeing if he has any influence at all through his brother. but thank you so much. we appreciate it, nick. this story, sad, tragic, hero heroic, this is a 14-year-old we're talking about. this boy was killed stopping a suicide bomber. it happened at the entrance of a school in pakistan. this teenager, of course, being hailed a hero, because he saved a whole schoolyard full of children. we're in islamabad with how this happened. >> reporter: he was on his way to school when he died, stopping a suicide bomber to save the lives of his school friends. more than 1,000 school children are believed to have been gathered for morning assembly at the high school in northwest pakistan, bordering pakistan's tribal areas. when the bomber, dressed in school uniform, approached his

friends asking for directions to the school. this raised suspicions amongst them, and it was he who moved forward and started throwing stones, according to witnesses, to stop the bomber. when this didn't stop hip in his tracks, as he approached the main gate, he tackled him. when the bomber detonated his explosives, killing himself and the ninth grader instantly. people across pakistan have been paying tribute to the bravery of this young hero. on social media, on twitter, people have been using the hash tags, 1millionetisar, comparing him to malala.

to save the lives of so many more. sama mow sin, cnn, pakistan. >> brave young man. the government of india now wants an apology from the united states. that is after an indian diplomat is hold to go back home. and indian officials are saying no fair. this is testing the two countries' relationship. we'll be live from new dehli, up next. so ally bank has a raise your rate cd that won't trap me in a rate. that's correct. cause i'm really nervous about getting trapped. why's that? uh, mark? go get help! i have my reasons. look, you don't have to feel trapped with our raise your rate cd. if our rate on this cd goes up, yours can too. oh that sounds nice. don't feel trapped with the ally raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

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the relationship between the united states and india being put to a test today. this all started with this. this is a woman, a diplomat from india, arrested last month outside her daughter's school in new york city. she was later strip searched. well, she was sent home today, back to india, despite the fact that federal prosecutors charged her with lying on some visa paperwork. well now the indian government wants an american diplomat removed from the embassy in new dehli, someone equal in rank. the diplomat's father talked to cnn in india.

>> they have not met any -- she was innocent. the case is false. and in that light, who cares. >> serena is with us live from new dehli. this seems like a tit for tat, one country feels offended at the way their diplomat was treat and had now trying to oust the american diplomat. where are we with this? >> reporter: officials in both countries have maintained that this relationship between india and the u.s. is very, very important that we're talking about two largest democracies in the world oh. we're talking about bilateral trade of $100 billion. so this minor hiccup. that's what the indian prime minister called it. this minor hiccup, is not going to affect the larger relationship between the two countries, but a lot of damage done. as we saw soon after that

diplomat was arrested in the u.s., india ordered a lot of the barricades around the u.s. embassy here in new dehli to be removed. then they asked u.s. embassy officials to declare how much they were paying their own nannies, their own housekeepers here in india. and then just yesterday, india asked the u.s. embassy here to shut down a very popular american club, which is inside the u.s. embassy. really a haven for a lot of the ex papatriates here, a popular restaurant bar, bowling alley. and they said that a lot of -- known diplomats were also using this, and this was illegal. so india really signalling to the u.s., if the u.s. is going to be so strict about following their own rule book as far as this indian diplomat is concerned, then india too is going to be strict about following its own rule book. and that's, of course, as viviany just arrived. her airplane landed 13 minutes ago in india.

suzanne? >> i guess it's a way of, you know, annoying people, you know -- close the club in the bowling alley. but it seems rather petty on both sides here. is there a moment when you get over this stuff? you move on and you say, you know, we're going to cut out the tit for tat here on the ground and work on the real deal of relationships. >> reporter:el well, that is certainly the hope. and the indian government has continued to say that this is not really a tit for tat. that when it comes to relationships between two countries, a diplomatic relationship between any two countries, it really comes down to reciprocity. so an indian diplomat living in the u.s. should be treated the same way a u.s. diplomat would be expected to be treated in india. it really just comes down to reciprocity. so that's why the indian government has been cracking down here, suzanne. >> all right.

thank you very much. appreciate it. less than a month until the winter olympic games opening in sochi, russia, and the man with a lot riding on olympic success, of course, president vladimir putin. he says that russia is ready. not everybody so confident. we're live, next, from moscow. [ bottle ] okay, listen up! i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies -- you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! 'cause i'm re-workin' the menu, keeping her healthy and you on your toes. [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh! [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day.

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russia preparing to host the world for the olympics. of course, the black sea resort town of sochi on super high alert, in light of the terror threat to the games. even as our fbi sends agents to help keep safe. since october, there have been three suicide bombings, just 100 miles away in vogue grad. >> reporter: in the wake of twin terror bombings in sochi's nearest hub, volograd, he says he is convinced they are got their olympic security formula right. >> it didn't change at all. our initial olympic mode in

terms of screening, and in terms of the security. >> reporter: the sochi security systems got a test from the top-down a year ago here, he insists. president putin oversaw rehearsa rehearsals. >> it's number one in our country and under permanent control of president putin himself. >> reporter: but on wednesday and thursday this week, barely 170 miles, 240 kilometers away from the newly constructed olympic village, six bodies were found in four vehicles. some rigged to explosives. one detonating as police approached. new vehicle security checks just enforced in an exclusion zone around sochi are designed to keep just such threats at bay. officials here are holding their nerve. >> we hosted incredible amount of international. world cup, world championship, was a great test for security.

>> reporter: but it's not enough for everyone. fbi director says u.s. law enforcement and federal officials are already here in russia, ready to assist american athletes in what he describes as a particularly challenging safety environment in sochi. u.s. athletes can also count on security help from global rescue. a medical and security contractor that's no stranger to danger. airlifting americans from egypt during the arab spring in 2011. russian officials remain convinced they are ready, even though the latest shootings leave many more questions than answers. nick roberson, cnn, moscow. >> people wonder if sochi is ready for the games and also talking about the russian president, vladimir putin, upset a lot of folks when he put the hammer down on political protests in sochi and over his

official position on gay rights and gay athletes who will compete in sochi. but vladimir putin has declared that the city is ready for the games. no better person to talk about all of this than our own jill dougherty, former moscow bureau chief and one of the networks most experienced people when it comes to all things putin, all things russia, as well. and jill, it's really fascinating. we get a chance to talk to you about this. i know you're doing a doc on putin himself, before the olympic games. there's a lot to learn, and there's a lot to glean from this man, many different characteristics. had a chance when i was in moscow to actually see him and obama face-to-face. this is a guy who hunts on his property, he loves to be bare-chested. a lot of match ease mow behind him. give us a sense of what you have learned in the years and years you have covered him, that perhaps we don't know or don't understand. what is behind this? >> you know, what we try to do in this documentary, and it's still being edited right now. but we went to russia, we went to -- back to where he came

from. when he was a little kid. so we went to the home that he grew up in, which is a communal. i was really pretty shocked. graffiti all over the place. you're in st. petersburg, at that point leningrad, the street where he lives is very modest. the area down below where he used to play had cats. and at that point he said rats. he used to literally beat them off with a stick. very limited circumstances. you know, and the other thing about him was he was kind of a tough guy as a little kid. he was always getting into fights. he was always late for school. and the thing that saved him was judo. and i think when you look at those pictures -- >> yes. >> and see him as a sports person, that is really a very important part of his life. because if he hadn't gotten into the discipline of judo, he might never have become the person that he is. >> and what do you make -- you were in the press conference just three weeks ago, that

four-hour extravaganza there. and what do you think of what he's doing now, preparing for the olympics? because you see he released -- one instance, he says, okay, i'm not for gay rights. but then he seems to back off that a little bit. >> everyone is welcome. >> yes. and then busy riot, arrests them and has them released. what do you make of his behavior now? >> i think what he's doing, you have to stand back and say what are these olympics about. and these olympics are a symbol of russia. russia, putin would say, is back on the stage, forget the weekdays after the end of the soviet union. we're back. we're, you know, kicking. and we want to show we're one of the important countries of the world. so the olympics to him are not just the olympic games. it's a symbol of russia as a big nation, can he pull this off. it's an interesting place to do it. because this used to be the old -- i guess you would call it

kind of miami beach of the soviet union. it's closer he to the middle east than it is to moscow. >> wow. >> so the symbolism, multiethnic, multireligion, et cetera, all meant as a symbol of russia. >> do you think that he believes that he still has some influence and some power? do you think what he's doing is because he doesn't believe it? >> i think he feels that in his own country, he's basically written off the big cities. st. petersburg, moscow, they're liberal. forget it. he's not going to convince them to like him. but out in the hinterland, he still does have some support. and i think he's playing on that. but he also feels that he has gotten the act together, russia's act together. he feels they're influential. remember the proposal syrian chemical weapons. that was the first instance. and i think you're going to see more and more of putin really

showing that he can be a leader on par of other world leaders. >> and jill, before you go, i have to congratulate you. i know you're moving on after the documentary to bigger and better things, think tanks and russia, the whole bit. you and i met in 1997. and this was former hillary clinton's -- former first lady, hillary clinton's trip, and such a small group of us. i think there were ten of us on that plane. and i think we have some pictures, as well. there you are! 17 years ago. there you are, right there, on the right. and it was an extraordinary trip. but we went all over the place, russia, uzbekistan, kazakhstan, uzbekistan, you name it. and you are amazing, took me under your wing and i really appreciate everything you did. it was 30 degrees below zero when we were out there doing live shots. >> yes. >> and it still is. >> i wish you the very best, jill. >> thank you. >> all right. thanks again. we'll have you on, as always, as the russian expert.

>> perfect. love it. >> all right. thanks. and an oscar nominated film maker fined for more than $1 million for having too many children. we're going to take a look at why. up next. [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect.

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this is an incredible story. a high-profile film director in china now slapped with a huge

fine for violating the country's one-child policy. he was recognized around the world. you might know him for his film, "raise the red lantern." what's surprising about this, china recently relaxed their one-child law. our anna corin is in beijing with the details. >> reporter: despite the softening of china's one-child policy, the government here has decided to make an example of one of the country's most acclaimed film directors, fining him $1.2 million for violating the law. jong yemo and his wife have since apologized saying they are sorry for having, quote, excessive children, and accept their punishment. the one-child policy was introduced here back in the late 1970s to help curb the surging population. of china is, of course, the most populist nation in the world, with 1.3 billion people.

late last year, the family planning law was eased. where couples are now allowed to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. but this new law is not going to help zhang. the director of opening and closing ceremonies of the beijing olympics has until the end of the month to pay the hefty fine. anna coren, cnn, beijing. gaenafghanistan, about to release a lot of people from prison. u.s. officials have a big problem with that. they say some of these men have links to terrorists and have american blood on their hands. details up next.

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and that makes a difference in my breathing. today we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. the state department says that dangerous criminals involved in killing dozens of u.s. and afghan troops are about to be released from an afghan prison. hamid karzai authorized the release of the 72 inmates after an afghan spy agency said there was no evidence against them. well, the state department says there is strong evidence linking the prisoners to terror-related crimes, and they're a security threat to the united states. a warning today from u.s. intelligence officials over a new terror threat. the "new york times" says there are growing fears that islamic extremists in syria are trying to recruit americans who have traveled to syria to carry out terror attacks here at home.

the recruitment efforts are said to be in the early stages. fbi director, james comey, says that tracking americans who have returned from syria have become a top priority. a minnesota man who spent nine months in an abu dhabi prison is now back home. but still angry at the united arab emirates. authorities claim that shez shezan kassim broke laws with his video. will ferrell was behind him calling for his release. he was sentenced to a year in prison and got out early for spending good time and behavior and says for months he wasn't told why he was locked up and the judge hadn't even watched the video. >> i think there's a -- there's a misconception that i broke a law. but i want to say that i did nothing wrong. there was nothing illegal about the video, even under uea law.

i was tried in a textbook kangaroo court and convicted without any evidence. >> kassim says the facility was bare bones, didn't have tv or access to any information. but he says that the guards did treat him well. a new memorial in tel aviv. it's the first of its kind in israel. it honors gay and lesbian victims of a holocaust. the monument shows a pink triangle, which was the symbol that nazis forced them to wear in concentration camps. it is believed up to 15,000 people were killed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. this is the first holocaust memorial in israel, dedicated to both jewish and nonjewish victims. and the fight against elephant poachers in africa leads our arwa damon into the forest. hear why she says many are forced to kill elephants in the form of a modern-day slavery.

up next.

it's hard to believe that more than 10,000 people in colombia have been killed or injured by land mines since 1990. that is more than any other country, except afghanistan. well now there's a design firm that has come up with an

electronic device that fits inside a shoe to detect mines. so if an explosive device is within a few feet, sends a warning signal to a wristband, telling the person to change direction. the firm is now looking for funding to get this device on the market. all this week, cnn has been reporting, this is a horrible situation. this is a killing of thousands of elephants every year. problem is so bad, central africa has now lost almost two-thirds of its elephants. arre arwa damon has been going along on the hunt for poachers in the congo and found people known as pigmies often bullied into killing the elephants just to survive. >> reporter: gunfire rings out. we try to keep up at the eco-guard unit charges after elephant poachers. he returns and describes how he

wrestled a gun away from the suspected poacher. today he's a hero. growing up, he was anything but. he was a poacher. he used his knowledge of the forest to kill elephants for their tusks. as a pigmy, he had grown up in the forest and knew its ways. but he also knew that he was born into a long-suffering minority. smaller in stature, because of centuries of adaptation to life in the forests. when they were forced to emerge, pigmies found themselves routinely abused by the majority. yes, they used to hit me a lot. they even picked people violently, he tells us. he learned to hunt with his father, who was dispatched into the forest by his masters. he was never paid. he wasn't even able to show anything for his job. my father died not even leaving us with anything.

he says he had no choice but to follow his father's footsteps. i had to go to the forest and kill the elephants. there was no work, he explains. he began exploiting the very forest that gave birth to the pigmy culture of harmonious existence with nature. he isn't alone. >> they're being abused. they're the only one that know the forest well enough to go into these remote areas and stand up to an elephant and pull the trigger. they come out with the ivory and give the ivory to somebody else. and they're either not compensated, so they just got a little bit of meat, or maybe they're just given $100 at the most, and that's it. >> reporter: the majority of indigenous people here still don't have access to education, medical care, or even proper birth certificates. would you call it a form of modern-day slavery? >> definitely. definitely. >> reporter: unicef sets, while the governor has taken notice,

the initiatives in the capital have been slow to reach the remote forests that still cover most of this country. at stake, a culture that is fast 'tis appearing and along with it, the elephants, and an unrival's knowledge of the forest that both poachers and protectors want to exploit. >> they need education. they have the right to education. they have the right to everything that everyone does. the but they learn that phd in forestology from the age they're starting to crawl and they're in the forest every day. and that's how you learn it. and when you take these kids out of the forest and put them in school, they lose their captuul, their capacity to live in the forest. they lose their cultural identity. >> reporter: he is still using the skills learned as a young boy, but his choice now is to protect the forest. as an eco-guard. he takes his to meet his mother. i am proud. my son stopped poaching, she

tells us. i am now proud of him. in a community pushed to the edge, his is a story of redemption. arwa damon, cnn, republic of congo. >> excellent reporting. thanks for watching "around the world." "cnn newsroom" starts right now. have a great weekend. right now, we are waiting for a big document-drop in new jersey. the state assembly there is ready to release hundreds of pages of documents on the georgia washington bridge traffic tie-up, the scandal that threatens governor chris christie's political future. and right now about 300,000 virginians don't have access to safe tap water. their supply has been contaminated by a chemical leak. we'll tell you what happened and what the white house is doing to help protect the people there. and right now, wall street isn't quite sure how to react after a surprisingly dismal jobs report. the numbers and why they fell so short of