hours of monday morning. iran's authorities hanged a man. according to news agencies, he was convicted of waging war against god, the accusation against him is that he killed, stabbed to death, two members of iran's security forces and wounded several others. but the devil is in the details here. the allegation is that this incident took place on november 17th, meaning he went from being an accused man to being a hanged man in under a month. that's why activists and rights groups are saying he is victim to a sham trial. and that really the only purpose behind his execution is to intimidate, is to scare other protesters and provide iran with yet another tool of repression. and there is concern more executions could be coming. he could the second protester killed since the start of this popular uprising in september.

>> salma abdelaziz reporting for us. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. putin's guy, one of the world's most notorious weapons dealers leaving no doubts about his loyalty to putin and his war tonight as new video into "outfront" shows a russian combat training instructor complaining of no equipment, no protection and one tourniquet to stem the bleeding. dr. anthony fauci spobds to elon musk's call for fauci to be prosecuted. a nuclear fusion could be a game changer. one of america's top physicists will be my guest this hour. let's go "outfront." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, putin's man, viktor bout, freed in a prisoner swab with the wnba star brittney

griner making public his loyalty lies with vladimir putin. today joining the pro-putin ultra nationalist party after proclaiming his full support for putin's war in ukraine. this is just the latest in what has become a public victory lap for the so-called merchant of death. a victory lap that putin has gladly broadcast all across russian state media. it's been only four days since o invade ukraine. >> translator: like any russian person, i honestly didn't understand why we didn't do it sooner. i am entirely in support of it. if i had an opportunity and necessary skills, i would definitely go in as a volunteer. >> he would have done it sooner. he's got skills. and now he's got the opportunity, and he's willing to volunteer, he says, which is what putin needs more than anything right now in ukraine. in fact, the woman who spent her career tracking bout for the

united states government, along with a russian investigative reporter, both have told me that bout has the goods that putin needs to fight the war. >> he will be ready for putin to deploy him especially in ukraine and africa and other war zones. >> but also his contacts, especially in places like africa. these contacts and these kinds of experiences might be extremely helpful. >> well, here is why africa is key. we know putin has long been courting african countries to stand with him in this war. we know that the wagner group, putin's brutal private army, growing an influence in ukraine and has been setting its recruitment sites on africa. so many russians dying in this war, they need people to fight, and they're finding them in africa. over the weekend, a 23-year-old from zambia was flown home after being killed on the front lines in ukraine.

yevgeny prigozhin aired video of a farewell ceremony for him. what you're looking at here is what's known as the wagner chapel. they have their own chapel. and this chapel is inside a secretive location connected to the wagner group. in fact, cnn attempted to gain access to this chap y el in 2019 but was denied entry because it was so secretive. as for bout, he isn't just joining putin's party tonight and offering to help him with ukraine publicly. he is also parroting putin on another topic that putin obsesses about so much so that he included it in his speech this fall. >> translator: can you imagine that in american schools they're now teaching first graders, 6 and 7-year-olds, that there are

72 genders, not just gays or whatever, which is fine, but 72. if the western elites believe that they can have their people and their societies embrace what i believe are strange and trendy ideas like dozens of genders or gay pride parades, so be it, let them do as they please. >> bout is putin's man from start till now. will ripley is "outfront" live in kyiv tonight to begin our coverage. viktor bout could certainly be a part of putin's plans in ukraine, right? >> well, absolutely when it comes to procuring weapons. he is someone who hates the west, who has called lgbtq issues the death and the suicide of civilization. he kept a portrait of putin in his prison cell, and he has connections all over the world. this is the guy who was convicted of arming rebels in

some of the world's bloodiest conflicts. and if you talk about combining bout with the wagner group, which have committed alleged war crimes around the world, they have been conducting russia's dirty work, kind of a mercenary group doing the things that russia doesn't want to be officially tied to, and yet they're doing it with russian weapons and russian money, that is certainly a cause for growing concern here in kyiv and across ukraine where russian weapons are inflicting real suffering for millions of people plunged into darkness by blackouts and relentless russian attacks. >> just days before the official start of winter, ukraine's military prepares for the deep freeze. plunging temperatures won't stop front line fighting, says the defense minister. >> and it's important not only for ukraine, it's important for europe, it's important for civilized world. >> reporter: ukraine's goal, reclaim all russian-held territory including crimea.

illegally annexed by russia nearly nine years ago in 2014. the defense minister tells cnn, ukraine urgently needs more weapons from the u.s. and nato. >> are you getting the weapons that you need right now in time? >> uh, you know, that when you have a war, you will not have enough. we need certainly more, especially air defense systems is priority number one for us. >> have you been given an explanation why the patriot missile defense systems have not arrived yet? >> it's a long discussion because it's very expensive and complicated systems. >> reporter: that next stage includes protecting the power grid from russia's ongoing assault on ukraine's energy infrastructure. russia fired hundreds of missiles just in the last two months. regular russian airstrikes with explosive drones made in iran,

drone attacks plunged 1.5 million people into darkness over the weekend. >> what's your best strategy to defend against these kamikaze drone attacks from russia? >> every day we're trying to find the best solutions. >> are drones priority for you for developing -- >> certainly we need drones for reconnaissance, we need drones for striking, we needn't drones systems. so electronic warfare, it's a very important issue for us. >> reporter: the defense minister won't confirm or deny ukraine carried out drone strikes close to the russian capital last week. these attacks inside russia including 500 miles from moscow. ukrainian drones is what russia is claiming, is that what happened? >> it's very important. don't smoke in dangerous places. >> reporter: in other words, be careful what you start. ukrainian officials gave the same coded answer after the bombing of the crimean bridge in october. ukraine never officially claimed

responsibility. >> they are targeting our infrastructure because they cannot have success against armed forces of ukraine. >> reporter: he says russia started this war, and ukraine won't stop until they finish it. and tonight, there is some breaking news out of the city in a russian occupied luhansk region. according to ukrainian authorities there, a huge number of wagner group operatives who were sleeping apparently in a hotel were killed in a ukrainian missile strike. that, ukrainians say, is proof that u.s.-made weapons are crucial if they're going to gain the upper hand in this war, which is now dragging on ever closer to that dreaded year mark. >> all right, thank you very much will ripley from kyiv. i want to talk more about that strike on the wagner group. i want to go out now to john sullivan, who was the u.s. ambassador to russia.

and the army commanding general for europe and the 7th army. i appreciate both of you being with me so much. ambassador sullivan, i just want to start with you. you heard will ripley's reporting. and now we're learning putin alone hold his end-of-year press conference, which is an annual thing he has done. it is the first time since 2013 that he isn't going to do this, so in almost ten years. we're just looking at a few of them on the screen here. it is an annual tradition. ambassador, what is the significance of putin skipping it this year? >> well, thanks, erin. it's very good to be with you. i think it's a sign of concern about his domestic support. he'd rather wheel out viktor bout and have bout recite the script. if you think those words were his words originally, you're sadly mistaken. that's the kremlin speaking through bout. he's useful to them as a mouthpiece. putin doesn't want to go out and spend hours before journalists.

even state media, and risk getting asked difficult and embarrassing questions. >> which we saw for the first time some in state media asking him about the shortages on the front lines, who do we believe, them or you? and he says you don't believe anybody but me. and to that point about bout being the mouthpiece, i want to show you video of what appears to be a russian combat training instructor for the 247th regimen in stravapol pleading for more equipment and supplies. let me play it. >> translator: your fighters that you sent to us here are almost completely naked. they have no medical kits, and they have just one tourniquet. any one of you come over here. as you can see, they have almost no protection, and just two plates. they don't have any thermal underwear. the boys are freezing. >> general, we can't

authenticate this video. but i just will be clear. it is in line with previous reports, videos, phone calls of russian troops complaining about unbelievably inadequate and unacceptable supplies for modern military. so, is this part of what we're seeing right now? is there any way for russian forces to succeed on the ground with the conditions that we just heard outlined there? >> short answer, erin, no, absolutely not. here's what you have to consider. those new trainees that are coming in after being mobilized are prepared to be trained. they're also prepared to be equipped. that's individual training. they teach them things like rifle marksmanship and first aid and how to move in small units and things like that. but that's just the first step, and that takes weeks. after that it takes months to have them learn what's called combined arms operations, tanks working with infantry, working with armor, working with engineers. it literally takes months of training. there was a nato report

submitted today that said the earliest, if everything goes right that, russia can get mobilized troops on the front lines is may. that's months away, and that's considering that they had everything they need. the fact that those soldiers don't even have tourniquets, band-aids. i mean, you showed a neurosurgeon in ukraine operating on a brain the other night in a combat support hospital. these guys don't even have tourniquets to wear on their uniforms. so that means they probably don't have medics, they don't have first aid stations, they don't have support hospitals. all of those things contribute to making a modern army, and russia continues to fail miserably. >> i'm actually having a flashback to about a year ago when we started reporting for the first time on how they were accumulating blood supplies on the front lines. they may have done that, but they didn't do anything else. there has been so much speculation about putin's health. it's impossible to confirm it. but you've been in the room with

him as recently as last year, more recently than pretty much anyone. so, what, if any, changes do you see in him since then and over the time you knew him? when you look at all these reports and you see him out there, what do you see? >> well, thanks, erin. first of all, when i've been with him in person, he has looked the picture of health. and that's certainly the assessment -- there is no assessment by the u.s. government that he has serious health problems. you've heard my former colleague cia director bill burns say the problem with putin's health is that it's too good. what i've witnessed, however, in moscow over the last, since this so-called special military operation began, is that putin does look stressed, puffy, overtired, sort of the way i look now after having been through a war myself there behind enemy lines in moscow. i get it. it's a lot of stress, and i think that's what he's feeling. we don't believe -- the united

states doesn't believe, as director burns said, that he's got some serious medical issue that is going to take him out of the picture. >> no, no, certainly not. but i do find it interesting what you're saying. you're not buying into any of those theories, and i don't want to repeat them all. but, to you, it does seem fair that he does look tired, and the word puffy. because it does feel accurate. some of those picture where's people go into other theories, he seems puffy. >> absolutely. there are times where i think his rhetoric gets ahead of him. and i think that's a sign of fatigue. he really wants to be a person who is in control, very carefully modulated. and there have been occasions when his rhetoric has gotten a little out in front. and i think that's just a sign of fatigue, which is understandable given the stress that the man is under with the catastrophic blunder he made by

starting this war on the european continent. >> and, general hertling, in that war, he has become increasingly reliant on people like mr. prigozhin, the wagner group. and you heard will's reporting on that. that of course is the brutal mercenary group considered, you know, putin's sort of off-the-book troops. and i want to talk about that explosion will mentioned. the aftermath of an explosion at what ukraine says is the group's headquarters in the occupied city of luhansk that we understand the reporting is that there could be huge losses there. what are you hearing, and how significant of a strike is this, general? >> my contacts in ukraine, erin, are telling me that it was a good strike. it's also a precision strike. and a lot goes into that, not only the strike itself but the intelligence behind, finding out where these soldiers are baracked, where they're living, where the headquarters are, where the ammunition dumps are. and ukraine has been very effective with the precision

weapons the u.s. and the western forces have given him, what's striking those forces. remember, too, erin, the so-called wagner group is the same group in 2018 that lost 300 soldiers in syria when they tried to attack u.s. forces. it was a massacre. these guys are mercenaries. they are individual soldiers who are more like criminals than they are like soldiers. and they don't know how to operations. they certainly know how to shoot weapons and commit war crimes, but they're not very good soldiers. so they will continue to blunder through some things, and that creates the kind of catastrophe where a couple of hundred of them are killed in a hotel in the luhansk province. >> and of course as we know, more and more of them are being recruited directly from provisprisons in russia and elsewhere. thank you both so much. and, next, the doj special counsel ramping up its criminal

investigation into january 6th. to notice, a subpoena coming out, and we'll tell you what it's about. plus, dr. anthony fauci takes on elon musk after musk came out and called for fauci to be prosecuted, blaming him for, quote, millions of deaths. >> i have to be honest, that cesspool of interaction, there's no value added to that. and an american college student studying abroad in france vanished. why his family tonight says they fear the worst. eks. uhhhh... here, i'll take that. [woo hoo!] ensure max protein, with 30 grams of protein, one gram of susugar and nutrients for immune health. ugh, this rental car is so boring to drive. let's be honest. the rent-a-car industry is the definition of boring. and the reas can be found in the name itself. rent - a - car?

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that's it at carvana tonight, subpoenaed. the doj special counsel has subpoenaed the georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger in its january 6th investigation. sources telling cnn tonight that the criminal probe under the special counsel jack smith is focusing on trump's state of mind after the 2020 election, which of course is when trump said this in that infamous call with raffensperger. >> all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. >> evan perez is "outfront." brad raffensperger, who just won re-election easily, has written

a book about that call. he's put the transcript of that call out. he's testified to the january 6th committee. he has been very open in sharing what he knows. so what is the special counsel asking him for turn over now? >> well, this is the first time it appears that the justice department, criminal investigation that the justice department has been doing now for some time is actually going directly to raffensperger to ask him for documents. he's being ordered to turn over documents by december 29th in lieu of any testimony. what we've seen, erin, in these cases, is that in addition to documents, often the prosecutors will come back and ask for testimony to the grand jury. that hasn't happened yet. but we know that obviously that part of the call that you just played is a key part of what the justice department and what the special counsel is investigating, which is this effort by the former president to enlist a number of people to find a way for him to remain in office and to prevent the

transfer of power to the winner of the 2020 election, which was joe biden. and one of the things that you see in the copy of the subpoena that "the washington post" posted in their website, they're asking for communications with people like john eastman, rudy giuliani, sidney powell. but more importantly, they're asking for communications directly with the former president. and that tells you a lot about what the focus of this investigation is. >> all right, evan, thank you very much. so now let's go to ryan goodman, the co-editor in chief of the just security legal blog, and of course, as you know, the former special counsel at the defense department. so, ryan, raffensperger, of course, is a key witness when you look at this. trump directly asked him to overturn the 2020 election results in georgia. but, as i said, he's been very open about everything he knows. he wrote a book about it. he's been willing to talk. so when you look at this, what do you think the doj wants in their criminal investigation to

get from him now? >> so, i think the doj probably wants a couple things. first, it's true that he puts it in his book. but they would also want to know from him basically what he would tell to a grand jury, what he might tell to a jury, if this is ever indicted. and the book is very devastating. he actually annotates the phone call at the back end of the book. and in it he says he felt directly pressured by trump, both in terms of his own physical safety and also a threat of criminal coercion, criminal punishment. and then subpoenaing him for all his conditions with or about trump could also be very important because it would be contemporaneous communications probably between himself and other state officials that phone call, about the call with lindsey graham as well, in which raffensperger told cnn that he felt that graham was essentially saying to him look hard and see how many ballots you can throw

out. that's the kind of information and evidence that the special counsel wants to hear about. >> and obviously it shows that jack smith is -- well, he's buttoning things up, he's leaving nothing on the table. and since thanksgiving, the special counsel, that of course is jack smith, he's gotten testimony, so since thanksgiving. so we're talking about in the past couple weeks from two former trump white house lawyers, trump's former speech writer, and stephen miller. as well as three of trump's closest aides in. but despite this, sources tell cnn that some of trump's lawyers think that he is still unlikely to be indicted. what does all of this tell you? >> it tells me that that's maybe wishful thinking on their part, that's their genuine thought. if inanything, it looks like th thing is ramping up very

steadily and at great pace compared to what was happening before jack smith stepped into that position. the raffensperger subpoena, it's been over 700 days since "the washington post" published the full hour audio of that phone call, highly incriminating phone call, 700 days for the doj to finally get around to subpoena him. when does it happen? under jack smith. so i think they are pointing down the wrong way, if jack smith follows the right facts, might very well end up with an indictment pretty soon. >> thank you very much, ryan. and, next, first "outfront," we have new audio tonight of dr. fauci responding to elon musk's attacks on twitter. >> and if i get drawn into that -- and i have to be honest -- that cesspool of interaction. >> cesspool of interaction.

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first on "outfront," dr. anthony fauci responding tonight to elon musk after musk tweeted, and i quote, my pronouns are prosecute fauci. fauci spoke to our david axelrod in a podcast that's out on thursday. here is a first on "outfront" preview. >> i don't respond to him. i don't pay any attention to him because that's merely a distraction. and if you get drawn into that, and i have to be honest, that cesspool of interaction, there's no value added to that, david. it doesn't help anything. >> it comes as musk received

boos as well as some cheers last night at a dave chappelle show in san francisco, showing what a total lightning rod musk has become. watch this. >> elon. >> hey, dave. [ crowd reacts ] >> i think it's generous to say there were some cheers. but there was pretty overwhelming booing, and it seemed to take musk a bit aback. out front now, david axelrod, also former senior adviser to president obama and our senior political commentator. david, when you talk to dr. fauci and he talks about that cesspool of interaction, pretty remarkable comment referring to twitter, what else

did fauci tell you in response to musk? >> well, he clearly was eager, as he said, not to engage with musk directly. but he did say, erin, and it was really interesting, reflecting on his over half century of work that this has been a half century of extraordinary pr progress in science, in public health. but when it came to the political discourse, he said there's been an erosion, and he lays a lot of it on social media. and of course he's been in the middle of this. he was targeted all throughout the pandemic for the decisions that he advised and the advice he was giving to policymakers about how he should proceed to deal with that pandemic. to the point where he had significant security threats that required round-the-clock security, which he says in his podcast that is going to have to

continue after he leaves his post at the end of this month. so he has pretty strong feelings about the erosion of our public discourse and the role social media has played in it. >> and musk did something else, which it sort of took me aback on twitter, even amidst all of this. he was challenged, musk was, on twitter by the former nasa astronaut scott kelly. musk had brought up the concept of gain of function research, which is basically scientific research that causes a disease pathogen to be more infectious and potentially lethal. and he suggested that dr. fauci was responsible for the deaths of, quote, millions of people. the quote is he lied to congress and funded gain of research function that killed millions of people. for musk to suggest that fauci caused millions of deaths, what do you say to that? >> he did address this issue. and it has to do with a lab in

wuhan and the research that was funded by the nih that he argues, i think pretty persuasively, actually helped detect what was going on. and there have been several studies released this summer, independent studies that supported fauci's theory that this came from a wet market in china. but, listen, this is a guy who, through his work on aids, as well as this pandemic and others, has arguably saved tens of millions of lives. so, i think he is, as much as anything, bewildered by this. i did push him a little because he likes to use words like that. and he's mostly outraged about the impact it's had on his family. and he made that very, very clear and their personal safety and their comfort. but he is very comfortable with the contributions and the

decisions he made. he said he's ready to testify before congress. the republicans said they're going to call him before congress. he said that gets the brooklyn up in him, and he's looking forward to cooperating in any way. and he hopes that it's a constructive review and not just a political exercise. >> well, we'll see about that. but it's going to be interesting to see. and he's willing to testify. well, david, thank you very much. and you can hear the full podcast. they are always worth listening to every word, and that is on thursday. >> thanks, erin. >> thank you. in more breaking news, the king of crypto arrested sam bankman-fried -- excuse me -- the disgraced founder of the $32 billion crypto exchange ftx, which collapsed last month. was just taken into custody in the bahamas. that arrest coming after prosecutors in the u.s. filed criminal charges. bankman-fried has been under investigation by the justice

department ever since ftx collapsed on november 11th. and he was expected to testify before the house financial services committee tomorrow. we will see, but that arrest obviously is significant, and the first move by regulators to hold anyone accountable for the collapse of ftx. "outfront" next, the wnba star brittney griner back on the court after being freed. does her release give the family of mark fogel, who is also being held in russia, hope? his sister is next. and a major milestone in the quest for power. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infectis or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,

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tonight, high priority. national security adviser jake sullivan says he is meeting with russian officials this week about bringing american paul whelan home because it's, quote, as high a priority as the president has. it comes as wnba all-star brittney griner remains in an army medical facility night. she is already back on the court just two days after returning of nearly ten months of imprisonment in russia. griner was released on thursday as part of a prisoner exchange, of course, for the notorious arms dealer viktor bout. but there is another american being held in russia whose situation is strikingly similar

to griner's. he was arrested with half an ounce of marijuana found in his luggage, and he even had a prescription for chronic pain. he has been served to 14 months in prison and is now serving time in a penal colony. his sister is "outfront" tonight. i'm glad to speak with you. i'm sorry it's under the circumstances of he's not home yet, but i'm glad to have the chance for you to tell everyone your story because we've been talking for months the last time you and i spoke, mark was being transferred to a penal colony. he didn't have any idea where he was in transit. what is the latest that you know about mark tonight? >> mark -- thanks for having me as well -- mark is in a town hauled erbinsk, which is north of moscow. he's not where the other two were. not sure why that is.

but that's the case. and he is allowed to make phone calls now. so we're in regular contact with him, which makes all the difference in the world. well, almost. >> i mean, almost, and it's a big almost. and when you see these images of brittney being released, does this give you more hope? and have you had a chance to talk to him about that? >> um, i did talk to mark about it. he's wrestling with the conflicting emotions of what that might mean. of course, everyone is happy that brittney griner's home. she did not deserve to be there. we hope that her star power will continue to shed light on mark, who is still not been designated as wrongfully detained, which is incredibly frustrated thing for our family. >> and the special presidential

envoy for hostage affairs is a man named roger car stens. he led the swap that happened for griner's release. and he told my friend dana bash that he spoke with paul whelan the day after the swap. here he is. >> i said, paul, you have the commitment of this president, the president's focus, the secretary of state's focus. i'm certainly focused. and we're going to bring you home. and i said, keep the faith, we're coming to get you. >> now, the troubling part about that for you, i know, is that your brother was not mentioned. do you think the government is doing all it can to get mark back? >> i certainly hope so. we expect so. i'm disappointed. i can't hide that. i'm disappointed that they don't say his name. they haven't said his name yet.

it is especially difficult for my mother who, um, is 93 years old and needs to be -- needs to hear her son's name mentioned. it's very difficult. >> i can only imagine. and what do you want the world to know about marc? >> i guess i want the world to know that marc is, like, this incredible human being, that his students all know that he is, but the broader community doesn't know. today is the seventh anniversary of the death of my husband, which is a very sad occasion, but i'm also remembering my brother in the situation and the fact that he flew halfway around the world to be with my kids when my husband and i were in

houston. and that's the kind of person that he is. he steps up, he does what he can. and he gives himself over. the bias sister that i am, he is a remarkable human being, and his friends know that, and his students know that, and his family knows that. so -- >> well, i hope -- i don't know if everyone watching -- i hope they will. i hope they hear you. and thank you so much, anne, for coming on and talking about macr. i really appreciate it. >> thank you. i really appreciate it, too. and, next, a major breakthrough tonight on fusion energy. could this one day break the world's dependency on fossil fuels? one of america's top physicists

is my guest. plus, an american student studying abroad in france has now been missing for over a week, and his family is now fearing the worst. you'll hear his story. and the reason can be founund in the name itself. rent - a - car? you u don't want a friend. you want the friend. you don't want a job. you want the job. the is always over a. that's why we don't offer a car. we offer the car. ( ♪ ) sixt. rent the car.

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power and that could lead to a new and infinite source of clean energy. an incredible thing to even consider. "outfront" now, the professor of theoretical physics in new york and author of the god equation. professor, i really appreciate your time. so just i guess to put this in english, how much of it game changer and we all like to use that word, it's quick shorthand, but how real is that word in this case? >> well, the holy grail of energy research is to put the sun in a bottle and that's apparently what they kdid in california. they took 200 laser beams -- bb heated it to the temperature of the core of the sun, releasing energy in the process.

so who knows. perhaps by mid century, there could be a fusion reactor in your neighborhood. clean, efficient. fusion is the energy of mother nature. mother nature does not create nuclear waste. meltdowns like we had with uranium. so this is really a cosmic game changer. >> it's incredible when you say mother nature doesn't create all the waste and fallout and t toxicity that we do, but how far away are we? you say mid century. so obviously 2050-ish. is that when this is in every day life? like it's taking over the power scene or is that the next step? how far away is this from real widespread use? >> well, step one is to hit break even. that's what was done in california. extracting as much energy out as you put -- first time in history in california. that's step one.

step two is to skcale it up so e have enough energy to power up an entire city. can't do that yet. then stage three is to commercialize it so there's one in your neighborhood. commercialize it around the entire planet. and just remember that the fuel for a fusion reactor is sea water. hydrogen from sea water is the basic fuel for a fusion reactor. so what's there not to love? clean, efficient, no meltdowns. we're talking about using sea water as a basic fuel. no nuclear waste to speak of. this is clean, efficient. this is mother nature's way of generating energy throughout the universe. >> it's nice to just feel enthusiastic and excited about something. so that's good to hear. doctor, thaunk you so much. i appreciate your time. >> my pleasure.

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into a missing american college student. 22-year-old kenny deland is studying in france and he's missing. tonight, his family says, in their words, fear the worst. melissa bell is "outfront." >> he was looking forward to coming home for christmas. >> kenny deland jr., a college s senior from upstate new york who's studying abroad in france, hasn't been heard from in two weeks. >> we're worried. we don't know where he is. >> this is deland. caught on a store security camera december 3rd in the last known footage of him.

a missing persons report was filed getting local police involved when he didn't return to his host family or show up for classes. >> i haven't heard anything from him. >> that store deland was seen at is about an hour's train ride south of the university where he was studying. a prosecutor confirmed to cnn that deland appeared to leave school of his own accord, adding the young man told several people he arrived in france underprepared and he was having difficulty making friends. he also mentioned he wanted to go to mercai before leaving to go to the united states. >> i feel like i'm not really receiving any information. it's been very difficult. really someone else has been stuck in the middle to do the speaking for us. >> deland's school back in the

u.s. released statement saying the college will continue to do all it can to assist in the investigation to find kenneth deland. but now, the 22-year-old's family is asking for the community's help. >> we just shake our heads. we don't understand why he's not reaching out to us. >> his parents say they last heard from him on november 27th and his mother's worried he could be in danger. >> when you don't know, you just don't know. we haven't heard from him. >> they set up findkendeland.com, asking the public if they've seen him, stating we fear the worst and want him to be located. >> kenny, real good kid. >> the state department told cnn it is aware of reports of a u.s. citizen missing in france. we stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to u.s. citizens in need and to their families. but deland's parents message for their son is -- >> we love you and we hope you can -- >> we're waiting to hear from you and we're waiting for you to

come home. >> yeah. exactly. >> erin, for now, the french authority's statements focusing on the possibility that deland may have gone voluntarily, pointing for instance out to that photograph taken on december 3rd in that store where he appears to be well and under no particular duress and yet his family saying they don't buy it at all. you need to look at what he left behind as his host family's house. things like his computer, train pass, phone charger. the kind of things you take with you even if you've planning a short trip and they say it's totally out of character. they spoke, say his dad, every other day and that painful wait gets worse every day. he was due home on thursday. >> melissa, thank you very much. live from paris tonight. and thanks to all of you for being with us. "ac 360" begin