more boots on the group. the u.s. prepares to double the number of troops in iraq. fears of a massacre in mexico. the gruesome discovery that may explain the fate of those 43 missing students. and one year after the strongest storm in modern history, recovery in the philippines is far from over. welcome to the viewers in the united states and around the world. glad to have you with me for another our, i'm zane asher. straight to the top stories. the united states is stepping up the battle against isis by increasing the military presence in iraq. the white house is sending up to 1500 more troops in the next

several weeks to serve in non-combat roles. u.s. president barack obama is requesting more money to fund the mission. jim shuto has details. >> reporter: iraqi portions in battle against isis. encouraged by recent iraqi successes against the group, including the retaking of a k key border crossing, they are recommending to double the u.s. forces on the ground. and the orders will put them closer to the front lines. two operation centers in volatile centers beyond baghdad and erbil. and in several more sites to train iraqi and kurdish brigades. their role is not changing, advise, assist and train, but it is a major expansion of u.s. boots on the ground. >> there's no intent to put the trainers out in the field with

these units once they're trained. >> reporter: to finance the expansion, the president is asking congress for $6 billion to support the fight against isis. including $1.5 billion to train kurdish forces. he was briefed ahead of his meeting today with congressional leaders. >> we have to make sure our efforts against isil are funded. and that's an opportunity for secretary of defense hagel to brief us. >> reporter: today the air campaign has already totalled more than $700 million. the price tag of more than 800 air strikes and 2,000 bombs and rockets. republicans not ready to sign a check sight unseen. >> they were going to make a proposal. we will have proportions look at it and present to members. >> tim reporting there. training for a major offensive

against isis in the spring. senior administration officials won't say if this is the final deployment. but there are no current plans to extend the commitment beyond 3,000 troops. the press secretary spoke to cnn about how deeply the u.s. is getting involved in iraq again. >> it's not mission creep at all. it changes or morphs into something it didn't start out to be. this is very much in keeping with the missions we have been keeping in iraq since june. security assistance for our people and facilities. advising, assisting capability for the iraqi security forces to get better in the battle field and battle space. and supporting humanitarian missions. they are doing exactly the same thing the advising teams are doing right now. they're doing it in different places. >> yeah. admiral john kirby reporting there. the administration won't say if this is the final deployment of

u.s. forces to the area, but there are no current plans to extend the commitment beyond 3,000 troops. mexican officials say a gang burned and killed 43 students who disappeared in september. searchers may have found their charred remains in a river. the students were betrayed by the people who should have protected them. rafael romo is in mexico city with more. >> reporter: badly burnt human remains, teeth and bone fragments. a gruesome discovery in a river in southern mexico. the mexican attorney general said authorities are dealing with a massive homicide. the victims, he said, could be 43 students who disappeared in late september. the students from a rural teachers college are in their late teens or early 20s. an order of the city's mayor, the top officials said friday, police abducted the students and turned them over to a gang.

the gang, which allegedly has deep ties to the mayor reportedly killed the students and burnt the bodies before throwing them in the river. identifying the bodies will be a huge challenge. he said the remains are so badly burnt that obtaining reliable dna samples to identify the victims will be extremely difficult. as a result, he said, officials have not been able to determine for certain that those are the students' remains. the mexican attorney general said so far 74 suspects have been arrested and police are looking for at least ten more. this investigation, he said, it's still wide open and no effort will be spared to punish those responsible. among those arrested are the mayor and his wife. authorities suspected they ordered it stopped because they would disrupt an event for his wife. the president promised swift justice.

>> translator: the findings presented outrage and offend all of mexican society. with full cooperation, the government will bring them to account. we will arrest everyone who participated in these crimes. >> reporter: but they don't trust the government's investigation. to publish that kind of news without any scientific proof is highly irresponsible, the parents said by phone. the mexican government said dna samples will be sent to a university in austria in an effort to identify the remains. rafael romo, mexico city. >> protests ever since the students went missing six weeks ago. nato is looking into reports that are russian tanks have crossed into eastern ukraine. and raising new fears about what may happen next. matthew chance reports from moscow. >> reporter: concerns are

growing that the conflict in ukraine may resume in earnest. with reports from the country's defense ministry that dozens of tanks and military vehicles have crossed from russia into ukrainian territory controlled by separatist rebels. 32 tanks and 30 trucks have crossed carrying mercenaries from russia and arms and ammunition. there's no independent confirmati confirmation. and the kremlin has yet to comment. but the nato military alliance said if it's true, it's further evidence of russia's support for the separatists. the fragile troops in t s of th conflict that's cost more than 4,000 lives has been in force since september. the truce. the latest blood-letting has been taking the lives of several people, including two teenage boys in donetsk, killed by

shelling playing football at their school. fears were raised after rebels staged a leadership election last weekend. the vote has been welcomed by moscow but condemned by kiev and its western supporters. matthew chance, cnn, moscow. and the u.s. implemented a number of sanctions against russia since it an exed crimea in march. they worry it's not influencing putin's behavior. iran is not fully cooperating with its nuclear program. the international atomic energy agency says it's particularly concerned about whether iran is trying to develop a nuclear payload for a missile. it wants to provide access to all of its nuclear sites. it comes as the u.s. ask trying to open channels of communication with iran regarding the fight against isis. israeli authorities are on

alert after a week of violent protests in jerusalem and the west bank. they say at least 30 people are wounded after the latest street battles with israeli security forces on friday. nic robertson has details. >> reporter: clashes continuing after night fall. this one in east jerusalem. palestinians burning tires, throwing fire crackers at israeli police. earlier, riots reverberating through the neighborhood, a palestinian refugee camp. according to palestinian medical sources, at least 30 people were hit by israeli police rubber bullets. this neighborhood, home to a member of hamas, the man who's actions this week helped spike tensions when he drove his van into israeli border guards at a

tram spot. he was shot and killed wednesday when he attacked police with an iron bar. friday, a second person dying of injuries sustained in that attack. a 17-year-old religion student. security tight all day. much focusing on the lightning rod of the current violence. the mosque and the noble sanctuary revered by jews as the temple mount. pushing rights for jews to pray there, the man now reported to be regaining consciousness and communicating with them. across the west bank, protests rumbled on. repercussions of the rabbi's shooting. and the van attack. each event fueling the next. apparently unconnected to that chain of discontent, disorder among leading palestinian

political factions. ten homes of party officials destroyed by bombs in gaza where hamas is dominant. so far unexplained. nic robertson, cnn, jerusalem. and with the violence clashes, people believe this could be the beginning of another intifada. and a former navy s.e.a.l. says he killed osama bin laden. why he said he died afraid. that's coming up. plus, going live to germany's capital. now celebrating 25 years without the berlin wall. you can see live pictures right there. look back at cnn's coverage of the fall of the fall as it happened back in 1989. that's coming up.

a very special weekend is under way in germany. the 25th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. now, fred joins us in berlin. it's 11:15 in the morning. fred, i know that a lot of celebrations are taking place. i know that angela merkel gave an emotional speech, gorbachev was there. and take us back in time to 1989, november. what was it like when that wall came down? >> oh, it was an absolutely special moment. i was 13 when the berlin wall came down. it was a big moment for me as

well. because i lived behind the berlin wall for five years. the interesting thing was people couldn't believe it when the wall was open. a lot of people were coming over. a lot of people thought it might be open for a couple of days and things would go back to normal. no one could fathom that something that was so big and dangerous like are the berlin wall could go away that quickly. one of the channels many people were watching was cnn. it had major coverage of the event. let's look back at what the coverage was like on november 9th, 1989. ♪ [ applause ] it was the largest demonstration in east german history. the main square was carpeted with a half million people. the city virtually came to a

standstill. >> our top story, the iron curtain between east germany and west berlin has come tumbling down. east germany is opening the borders, allowing the citizens to go anywhere they wish. the future of the berlin wall is now up in the air. >> east germany's communist leaders have take a symbolic sledge hammer to the wall. it's conceivable that real sledge hammers will be brought out. there's no point of it being there. prospect that no one could have predicted a year or a month ago. >> this has been a city physically divided for 28 years, now coing together, east and west, in a spontaneous outburst of emotion. >> reporter: this could be the first move to dismantling the berlin wall that has stood as the most painful symbol of a divided germany since it was built in 1961. >> one after another, drivers and passengers alike plan to

spend their new freedom to spend a weekend in west germany to take a look at how the other half lives. >> every east german coming to the west receive 100 marks, about $50. any west german businesses are giving them a chance to spend their money and pick up goods to take home. around the clock. >> hundreds of thousz swarm eed streets of west berlin. >> a new hole, yesterday, it was the bridge that opened up to many of us, these are just place names. but what signal do these places send to the german people? >> it was the times square of berlin before the war. i was there yesterday, i have never seen more grown men with tears in their eyes than on that bridge. >> east germans don't want to leave jobs, homes and families to go to the west. it's wetted the appetite for not just a little more change, but a

lot. they hope that by dismantling those things that have become symbols of their past, they can encourage the return of the doctors, scientists and engineers needed to rebuild the country's future. >> reporter: so as you can see, zane, there was a lot of hope, but a lot of uncertainty as to what all of this actually meant. a lot of people thought what was going to happen is the german democratic problem, or east germany, as it was known in the west, would become a different state. but still around. no one imagined a unified germany, and less than a year after the berlin wall came down. that's why we have the big celebrations 25 years after the fact. one of the cool things i have seen around here, not only people around back then, but younger people who weren't around when the wall informs place celebrating the moment and grasp what that moment means nor

us and our freedom today. >> what i found interesting watching that piece was there were a lot of people in east berlin who didn't want to leave to the west. to me, that's remarkable. but let's talk about this weekend. celebrations, 25 years since the end of the iron curtain. what celebrations do they have with former president gorbachev and angela merkel? >> merkel gave a speech yesterday in parliament. gorbachev is popular here. he's one of the most popular here. many in the east and the west know it was his policies and the fact that the soviet union troops, there were over 100,000 here, they didn't intervene back then and stop that peaceful revolution from happening. what's going on is one of the things you see behind me, the lights you see here. which is the light border that's set up across where the berlin wall used to be, at least across

a stretch of it. they are illuminated in the night and released into the sky at precisely 7:20 p.m. local time tomorrow. which is exactly the moment that the announcement was made that the berlin wall would be open. there's a big fest cival at the brandenburg gate. the symbol of german unity. a festival and bands. and the mayor of berlin, possibly with angela merkel is going to start in motion the balloons being released. that's the big moment when germany celebrates 25 years since the fall of the berlin wall that led to german unity and where we are today. >> very exciting and emotional thinking about all those people who tried to cross from east berlin to the west and didn't make it. fred, for us there in east berlin. it's just gone 11:20 in the morning. thank you. appreciate it.

and lone wolf attacks, and they're happening more frequently. everywhere from israel to canada. what law enforcement authorities think is behind the trend. and one year ago today, supertyphoon haiyan slammed into the philippines. one survivor's heartbreaking story. that's coming up. great rates and safety working in harmony. open an optimizer +plus account from synchrony bank. visit myoptimizerplus.com to open an account. service. security. savings. synchrony bank engage with us.

all around the world the dedicated people of united airlines ♪ are there to support you. ♪ that's got your back friendly. ♪ i'm spending too much time hiring and not enough time in my kitchen. [ female announcer ] need to hire fast? go to ziprecruiter.com and post your job to over 30 of the web's leading job boards with a single click; then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. makes my job a lot easier. [ female announcer ] over 100,000 businesses have already used zip recruiter and now you can use zip recruiter for free at a special site for tv viewers; go to ziprecruiter.com/offer5. welcome back, everyone. it's been one year since supertyphoon haiyan swept through the philippines, killing more than 6,000 people.

survivors are trying to rebuild today. only 250 people have been relocated to permanent housing. more than 70,000 still life in danger zones fearing what could happen next. one film maker takes a look back at the dreaded days when haiyan hit and when his life was changed forever. >> the storm came too early. it came at around quarter to 6:00. when originally it was expected to make land fall around 12:00 noon. so everybody was caught offguard, including the international media who were here to cover the event. all of us were trapped inside -- inside our buildings and hotels. and nobody was able to -- to go out and actually cover what was going on. as the water came in, immediately, and nobody could move. i was with my mom on the phone when the water hit. she said we're okay.

we're safe. the last thing she said, she could hear people banging, banging at the door. i know now they were not people. it was the water rushing in. the phone was cut. that was the last time i heard from my mom. when the phone went off, the water rose. i couldn't find the bodies of my parents. i ended up trying to validate everything that happened to us. we were all in shock. when we got out, the devastation that was just too much for all of us. we didn't know where to begin. it was the -- it was also the first time we saw bodies out in the streets. it was -- it was a very difficult day to shoot. in tragedies of this scale, something kicks in. human nature takes over. i could see thousands of people

walking in both directions. stunned. not knowing where to go. and i could -- i could see it in -- in their eyes that they were all dazed. we were all basically trying to stay alive, look for water, for food. for our families, for our children. we simply have no time to grieve in the first ten days. i decided i am going home. i am holding a memorial not only for my parents, but for all of us who lost families and relatives to this storm. i designed the candlelight memorial to allow everybody to do it on the same day at the same time. it's not every day that we lose family members all at the same time. the documentaries that we did were -- were a commitment to the community. despite everything we had to go out and document our people.

we had a shared experience. and the collective experience we had galvanized -- galvanized our community, galvanized our people. >> yeah, heartbreaking how many people lost their entire families. that typhoon really catching a lot of people offguard. time for a check of the global weather forecast. derrick vann dam is in the weather. and there's flooding in venice, right? >> yeah, but interestingly enough, this flooding in venice is not a direct cause of heavy rain. i'll explain in just a moment. venice, also known as the noting city, or the city of water or even the queen of the adriatic, saw this, this is st. mark's square under water on friday. making the best of what's available, interesting gum boots, made out of trash bags.

basically what happened here, a high tide was coupled with a phenomenon of local winds. it's a dry wind off of the sahara desert, the northeastern sections of africa. as a low pressure system like this ones moves across the mediterranean, we get a compounding effect on the adriatic, including the venice area, allowing for the flooding that took place there on friday. this is the storm system responsible for hefty weather across italy, sicily, wind gusts. and 135 kilometer per hour wind gusts in italy. and rome saw 85 millimeters of rainfall in a six hour people on friday morning. you'll get a break, but picking up into sunday right through wednesday. i want to show you what is called a visible satellite imagery. this is clouds from space. if you ask me, this storm has

similar characteristics to a hurricane. this is the mediterranean. we wouldn't see that feature here normally. but this is a tropical-like feature. usually this is a dry climate. but we have had 99 of these recorded tropical-like systems in the area from 1948 to 2011. look at the wind gusts, 104 kilometers per hour. and document another rainmaker that's bringing upwards of 300 millimeters to an already saturated environment across the northern portions of italy. look for flooding early next week. >> flooding in venice, somalia, polar vortex in the united states. i'm going to stay in the house. >> good idea. >> we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. ahead on cnn, new terror arrests in the uk. why london is on heightened alert.

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i'm zane asher. it's 5:30 in the morning in atlanta. here's an update on the top stories we're following at this hour. mexico's attorney general says that three gang member haves confessed to killing 43 missing college students. investigators found human remains in a river. you can see right there. and are hoping dna tests will confirm their identities. the student were on their way to a protest when police allegedly kidnapped them on orders from their very own mayor. a fourth teenager wounded in

last month's school shooting in washington state has now died. hospital officials in seattle said that 15-year-old andrew fryberg passed away, he was the cousin of the shooter who then shot himself. and the united states is sending up to 1500 more troops to iraq to serve in non-combat roles in the fight against isis. that's double the number of u.s. advisers already there. u.s. president barack is also asking an additional $5.6 billion to fund the mission. well, we go now to the uk where investigators say they've made four new arrests in an effort to prevent islamist-related terrorism. we have that that and more on britain's program to this wart ongoing attack attacks. >> reporter: the four men were arrested on suspicion of

terrorist attacks. it was in west london. they were all between the ages of 19 and 27. a number of homes and vehicles were also searched. the metropolitan police made a point to say they were working in connection not only with the counterterror unit, but mi-5, the intelligence-gathering unit here in the uk. it's the latest round of arrests. previous arrests are have been resulted in several young men being charged with obtaining a firearm with the purpose of having a terror attack. those cases are also ongoing. one of the biggest concerns in london, but also across europe is the possibility of the attack inspired by islamic militants in syria. attack in canada has put london and others in europe on heightened alert. now from attacks in the uk to the united states. there are no indications that

recent terror attacks like those in canada and israel may be tied to the war on isis. the incidents come just weeks after an isis leader called for supporters to use their vehicles as weapons. brian todd reports from washington. >> reporter: a van slams into pedestrians at a rail station in jerusalem. a deadly attack praised by hamas. it's one of three recent vehicle attacks in israel. at the canadian parliament, a gunman wielding a long rifle kills a guard, exchanges fire inside the chambers. and a radicalized muslim convert wounds two new york police officers with an axe. the threat of lone wolf attacks appears to be growing. and it's now a top concern of police officials from l.a. to london to new york. >> the threat's growing. they are real. and we are going to have to redouble our efforts to ensure that the worst of times do not occur with such frequency that they create an undue fear.

>> reporter: but the fear is out there. because it's almost impossible to stop someone planning an attack where the blue prints are only in their mind. >> if they don't put it out there publicly that that's their intent, there's no way to know until they do it. >> reporter: another concern, these are attacks that don't require a lot of surveillance or specialized training beforehand. >> an individual can become a jihadist without learning how to shoot a gun or make a bomb or do anything along those lines. they can drive their car and kill civilians walking down the sidewalk or eating at an outdoor restaurant. >> reporter: they tell cnn that the war on isis has been a driving force for lone wolves. sympathizers could launch attacks with no warning. heightened before the recent terror strikes when an isis spokesman said to kill non-believers by whatever means

possible, a knife, gun, poison or run them over with your car. how can they prevent the attacks? keep tabs on people showing changes in behavior, especially online and in social media. and get to those closest to them. >> one of the recourses police have is talking to family members. sometimes tips have come from people close to an individual who is radicalized. >> reporter: with isis losing momentum on the battle fields of iraq and syria, we may see fewer people inspired by isis to launch lone wolf attacks. his concern is westerners currently fighting with isis may abandon isis and return to the west to launch those attacks. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> frightening. and they are incredibly hard to keep track of. the former navy s.e.a.l. who claims he fired the shot who killed osama bin laden said the al qaeda leader died afraid. robert o'neill publicly

identified himself as the shooter this week. he previously released details of the mission to "esquire" magazine and to a journalist over the last year and a half. he says he was prepared to die on that mission. >> reporter: how do you feel about 9/11 today? >> i feel good on 9/11. i woke up early which was 8:00 eastern time. so the first plane hit at 8:50 -- 8:48? 8:47? and the other one, 9:03. >> yeah. >> i woke up before and i was able to see them start reading the names. even on the helicopter ride in when we knew we were going to die, we didn't do it for us, we did it for the people who didn't to want die. but they chose to. >> did you have that going through your head. >> yeah, we talked about it. the three days before -- the

three days between the time we were given the green light and launched, those two and a half days we talked about it. we knew we weren't coming back. maybe not die right away. but end up in prison and die soon after. we talked about that. it was a group of guys who knew their timen earth was up. and we accepted it and nobody was afraid. it was really cool. >> mindfully you all talked about 9/11. >> we talked about -- the way we put it was the single mom who went to work on a tuesday morning and later -- a few minutes later decided to jump instead of burning to death at her last gesture of human dignity was straightening out her shirt. and then she jumped. you know, that's why we went. for her. and, you know, for the -- all the people -- for the brady who was on a golf trip and his

entire office was lost and his brother was killed. >> but was all of this mindfully talked about? >> just like we're talking about now. you have to pump yourself up to go die. we would talk about this. >> to get your guys heads in the right place? >> we didn't need the right place. we needed rejustification that this was it. we're going to die when the house blows up. that -- >> so anyway, going around your answer, yeah, 9/11 was very significant. it was the whole reason we were there. >> you sound like a very happy person. >> i'm very happy. >> why are you so happy? >> i was missed when the "est inquire" came out. >> just because it was something in your life? >> shooting osama bin laden, three weeks later getting passed over for a promotion. and just getting blackballed for doing something that everyone was so close to doing.

and even now, there are guys saying that i'm [ bleep ]. you only know what you're told unless you're in the room. there were two people in the room, one is dead, it's osama bin laden. >> getting back to helping vets and public with closure. it's a cliche term. >> i don't think vets need closure. i think the people not prepared to fight need closure. i will be honest. you can quote me on that bull [ bleep ]. i have to be careful until i'm outed. when i'm speaking, i never mention the bin laden mission, my brother died at the -- or my mom, whatever. one thing i tell them, osama bin laden died like a [ bleep ]. that's all i'm telling you. he died afraid. and he knew it. and that's a closure. vets don't need closure. vets need to sack up. we will bash each other for no [ bleep ] reason. every marine that gets out,

ranger that gets out, army guy that writes a book. you do it as a s.e.a.l., and you're a villain. >> well, you guys are -- >> no, we're not. we're not quiet. delta force, like, we don't say anything. you know why? we don't [ bleep ] do anything. sorry that we did everything. why did they send s.e.a.l. team 6? >> that's the interservice rivalry. >> why did they send s.e.a.l. team 6 and not delta force. you know the answer? >> no, tell me. >> because they wanted him dead. capture him, great job. if delta was given the mission, they would have done exactly what we did. we're better. but they would have. the most important thing i have learned in the last two years, to me it doesn't matter anymore if i am the shooter. the team got him. it was a successful mission. regardless of the negativity. i don't give a [ bleep ].

we got him. we got him out and we lived. i don't care if i'm the shooter. and people think i'm not. so whatever. >> pretty interesting look inside the lives of navy s.e.a.l.s there. o'neill had been a navy s.e.a.l. for 15 years at the time of that raid. he believes some details of the mission were no longer classified because they had been leaked in the aftermath by high-level officials. on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall, the key question is what about the next 25 years? put that question to the german post-generation of the fall of the berlin wall. that's straight ahead. hey set, hike! go wide! (cheering) yeah!! touchdown! nice catch! who's ready for half time? yes! ok i'm going to draw something up new...

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get the future of phone and the phones are free. comcast business. built for business. well, over the past 25 years an entire generation of young germans have grown up with no memory of a berlin separated by that wall. so what could the wall possibly mean to them? jim clancy takes a look. >> reporter: every strike that brought down this wall was a blow to the soviet system that had entrapped east berlin and the people who live there. it limited their movements. and their dreams. covering this congressmen ration, we naturally spent a lot of time looking at the history. the past. but i want to pause for a moment and take a look at the future. the future of the post-wall generation. i found them here in the

european school of management and technology. where berlin's next-generation of entrepreneurs is learning in the very building which used to house the east berlin government. it still has the remnants of the communist dream. now a building nurturing capitalism. does it feel like this post-wall generation is doing better or has better opportunities? >> i would say that we have better opportunities right now. of course. i mean, i don't want to be fenced. and i'm glad that i have the opportunity to live wherever i want to live. >> reporter: is this post-wall generation, they have a different concept of failure, or stuck in the past? they need to get over that. >> i employed once a guy who grew up in east europe. east germany. and the discussion about sal ray. i said what's the salary you're expecting. what do you mean? we're not earning the same? he has this kind of mind set.

it still takes another 25 years to have overcome all of this from west -- from east germany and have a more western kind of thinking. >> reporter: what does berlin, this city, offer to entrepreneurs that they can't get someplace else? >> i always say that berlin is a little bit of africa in germany. things work like they do in the rest of germany, but it's so much more free to do things and explore things than what the rest of germany is. >> reporter: this generation has a better opportunity in your view? >> i truly believe so. i actually was born in berlin. i was born in east berlin. i was 9 years old when the wall came down. but then at the very right time for me, when i was old enough to basically think what i can do with my life, i had the opportunity to go and, for example, go on an exchange to the u.s. and travel and understand the world with the freedom i had been at the time. >> it's a generation that

doesn't, you know, that is aware of the past. and you can't escape the past here. it's on every street corner. it's amazing. it's fun. it gives the place such vibrancy. but the past is past. and the new generations, you know, they're completely focused on the future. >> reporter: the utopian dreams of east germany's communists fell along with the wall. a new generation is poised to succeed by building a future they can call their own. jim clancy, cnn, berlin. for more, we're bringing you an entire weekend of special coverage on cnn. join us. for our international viewers, fred, jim clancy and hala will be at the brandenburg gate later today. 7:00 in london. and for the viewers in the united states and around the world, join us at 10:00 a.m. in berlin, 5:00 a.m. eastern time

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service. security. savings. synchrony bank engage with us. ♪ [ male announcer ] united is rolling out global, satellite-fed wi-fi to connect you even 35,000 feet over the ocean. ♪ that's...wifi friendly. ♪ well, an american imprisoned in cuba as an accused spy is said to be in extremely poor health. his family and attorneys say that allen gross may not have much longer to live. as patrick reports, they're pleading with u.s. and cuban governments to work out a deal

that would set him free. >> reporter: five years in cuban prison have taken their toll on allen gross. the u.s. government subcontractor lost more than a hundred pounds, nearly blind in one eye and can hardly walk according to his wife. his appearance today is much worse than the most recent photo released by cuban authorities taken last year. judy gross said when she saw her husband in june, he told her he preferred death to serving the remaining ten years of his sentence and said good-bye to his family. >> he says he's going to do something drastic, and i worry about that. that's how down he is right now. >> reporter: allen gross came to cuba posing as a tourist. he was actually fulfilling a $600,000 contract to smuggle communications equipment and set up surreptitious internet hot spots as part of a program for the u.s. government's agency for international development trying

to promote democracy here. gross insists he didn't know he was doing anything illegal. one of the cubans he approached was the head of cuba's free masons. the centuries-old organization, it's had influence on the island. but he didn't know he was a member of the secret police and tracking the american's every move. he agreed to meet us at this havana park to talk about the case. he said he was so unprepared, he didn't speak the language. allen gross as a person was nice. very friendly, he says. we had to communicate by making hand jgestures because his spanish was limited. his case is a major sticking point to improved cuba/u.s. relations. havana won't release him unless he's exchanged for three cuban intelligence agents serving

lengthy sentences in the u.s. the u.s. said he isn't a spy and should be returned immediately. something cuba is unlikely to do. we're driving past the military hospital where he's being held. he's cuba's most high-profile prisoner, and guarded by the black ber rays, special force. in the past we have been detained immediately when trying to film here. if a swap can be worked out, it needs to happen now, when any political backlash would have less sting for a lame duck president. his wife was heart,ed by the exchange with prisoners for bo bergdahl. >> they can do something that complicated, surely they can get him home. >> reporter: but any deal with the cuban government would have to overcome decades of cold war-era mistrust.

and his time may be running out. >> yeah, allen gross has been in cuban prison since december 2009. international troops are pulling out of afghanistan next month. and some activists are afraid female oppression could return. however, there are some signs women may be able to hold on to the freedoms they have won since the taliban fell. anna has more. >> reporter: gray skies over kabul as winter fast approaches. the change in season mashing the end of the year and the end of america's war in afghanistan. by the 31st of december, all u.s. and nato troops will have withdrawn, except for a residual force of less than 10,000 who will stay on to advise and assist until the end of 2016. a decision that has many people concerned, especially the women of afghanistan. >> i think if the war continued to expand, women and girls might

be the main victim. not only they would be deprived of their basic rights, but they would be a victim in the way of taliban interpretation of islam. >> reporter: since the fall of the taliban in 2001, women's rights have dramatically improved. millions of girls go to school. thousands attend university. and the country has female members of parliament. but despite these gains, women and girls face human rights violations on a daily basis. with domestic and sexual violence is an epidemic. but there are positive signs afghan society is refusing to go back to the days of the taliban. last month sentenced to 20 years for raining a 10-year-old girl. >> the mullah red from the koran, he's a single guy, the koran says 100 lashes and let him marry her.

the judge said, no, she's a child. you're getting 20 years in prison. not what the koran says. that was the most significant. >> reporter: and bringing home, a strong supporter of women's rights, his wife is breaking by tradition, appearing by her husband's side in public and giving interviews. >> i'm very happy that his wife is so vocal and wants to be involved in aspects of afghan life. i think it's a very positive step. we afghan women need a role model like that, you know, so visible. >> reporter: already, it seems, women are feeling empowered. like this join film maker driving a car. a taboo in afghanistan where normally only men are behind the wheel. >> for a woman living in afghanistan, not easy. but i believe that if we, like me, we start to be part of the big changes, so it will be good.

so maybe for next-generation. >> reporter: shared hopes and aspirations of so many afghan women desperate for a brighter future. anna koran, cnn. >> yeah, a lot of hope resting on the afghanny first lady to be a champion of women's rights in that country. thank you for joining us, i'm zane asher. for our viewers in the united states, "new day" is just ahead. for everyone else, we'll get to the headlines in just a moment. q.

the u.s. is about to double the number of troops in iraq. 1500 is the magic number. they're headed there. but is this a mission sweep? then -- >> you only know what you're told in the room. fortunately, there's two in the room and one of us is dead. a navy seal says he's the one who shot osama bin laden but not everybody believes his story. plus, students riding a bus in mexico are abducted. the gang members are claiming that they did it, but you will not believe the mastermind