tonight on "nightline" -- how old is too old? her provocative "time" magazine cover is igniting passion, anger and a heated debate, showing her breastfeeding her nearly 4-year-old son. but she is not alone. tonight she answers the critics and makes the case for nursing her preschooler. no way out. an american man living a nightmare, jailed without charges in a south american prison that's one of the toughest and strangest on earth. as his wife pleads for his freedom, we get a rare look inside the place that's become his personal hell. >> when you leave, i'm left with my flag.

and i love the flag. plus, hot sauce. a boozy boom is back from distilleries making designer gin. tonight, meet the guys reviving james bond's staple swill. >> once you've tasted it, it's all you'll want to drink. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," may 11, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, a new controversy has reignited that american obsession. which way is the right way to parent? with mother's day approaching, something called attachment parenting is causing a major uproar, as "time" magazine releases a cover showing a young mother breastfeeding her nearly 4-year-old son. so is there really anything wrong with this? or are these people on to something? abc's juju chang met with "time's" cover model to see what all the fuss is about. >> reporter: it's the "time"

magazine cover that has everyone talking. >> that boy is like 32 years old. he's in college. >> it is pretty hard to miss the cover of "time" magazine right now. >> he says sometimes i want that boobie. >> reporter: jamie grumet is the 26-year-old cover girl, shown nursing her son. it begs the question -- how old is too old to nurse? what do you call nursing? >> nursing. >> reporter: there are a lot of people who say, if a kid can ask for milk, he's too old. >> i know. that's a cultural thing. i don't know who came up with that, but it has no biological reasoning behind it at all. >> reporter: you said people have threatened to call child protective services, they call it sexual molestation. >> i think it's a lot of ignorance and so it's really hard to get mad at that. they're mammary glands, and this is what they were designed for. there's nothing sexual any more than any other part of the body.

>> reporter: grumet is a stay at home mom in l.a. her older son was adopted as a toddler, and she nursed him, too. when do you like to nurse? >> when it's nap time and bedtime. >> reporter: attachment parents believe in sharing a family bed, being hyperattentive to their baby's cries and nursing on command until kids wean themselves. she herself nursed until the age of 6. what memories do you have of it? >> i just remember sitting on a couch with my mom breastfeeding, and it feels like the most safe and nurturing place, and you feel completely loved. and that's the kind of feeling i remember from it. it's like a full comfort. >> reporter: and since you weaned at 6, for you 4 is perfectly normal. >> exactly. it's certainly normal. i was on the older age of what's considered normal human weaning, but, you know, i felt so confident and my mom let me do what was right for me. >> reporter: 36-year-old jessica carey from brooklyn also took part in the photo shoot,

breastfeeding her daughter, olive, who turns 3 next month. >> i think it's really kind of confusing to me about the reaction to this cover. take a look at any entertainment or celebrity magazine. there's definitely a lot more cleavage. >> reporter: carey has no plans to wean anytime soon. >> i breastfeed her in the park, i breastfeed her on airplanes and in airports, on trains. >> you want to have a little bit? >> reporter: though rates are growing, less than 24% of moms nurse their 1-year-olds, something the american academy of pediatrics recommends. the world health organization extends that to 2 years and beyond. but most pediatricians see little nutritional value beyond that and question the emotional value of it. >> if i see a child who's still breastfeeding at age 3, i want to know why. are they doing it for the child or are they doing it for the mom? >> reporter: abc's dr. richard besser is a pediatrician by training who believes

breastfeeding for years upon years could hamper a child's development. >> you can see sometimes over-attachment from a mother and a child and an unwillingness to let that child separate and become their own person. >> reporter: how long do you plan on nursing? >> i'm hoping -- he's already starting to self-wean so i'm going to guess sometime into his 4s. >> reporter: i love your six-inch heels. >> oh, thank you. well, i'm normal. we do shave our armpits. you know, the attachment parenting people. we're not that crazy as we seen. >> reporter: but with the headline that reads "are you mom enough," the story seems to be pitting moms who are able to breastfeed and attach themselves to their kids around the clock against those who can't. i think a lot of the attacks are like, well, it's easy for you to say, you're a stay-at-home mom, i have to work, or, i'm a single mom, and i don't have that option of doing it the way you do. >> right, right, and so i'm never saying this is for everybody. but it should be something

that's accepted by everyone, and i really think we need to be encouraging to one another, and, you know, if a mom can't do that, we need to support her for doing what she is doing right for her own family. >> reporter: so why go on the cover of a national magazine like this? >> the statement i wanted to make was that, you know, this is a normal option for your child, and it should not be stigmatized. >> "time" magazine's controversial toddler breastfeeding cover -- >> reporter: kate picker wrote the cover story. >> we knew this was going to spark a debate, and on our website we have all kinds of people weighing in, from feminists to people studying attachment parenting, to dads talking about the issue. >> reporter: each of the women profiled considered the fallout of these images. the other tenor of the reaction that i've seen is, you know, you're screwing up your kid, like, what's he going to do when he's older and he sees this image? >> for me, i understand where they're coming from, but for us,

we're a bit of an unconventional family in all aspects. i want my children to have what my parents gave me, and that's kind of a global perspective. so they understand why we did this and really to teach them that they need to stick up for what's right even if it's hard. >> reporter: i'm juju chang for "nightline" in new york. >> the controversy continues. to all moms out there, happy mother's day. thanks to juju. up next, an american trapped in a south american jail and his family's determination to bring him home. >> announcer: abc news "nightline" brought to you by 1-800-flowers.com. [ female announcer ] think it's impossible to reduce the look of wrinkles

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> tonight, we bring you the story of an american man caught in a worst-case scenario far

from home. he's spent nearly a year imprisoned in a notorious jail. he's never been charged with any crime, with a family desperate to find a way to bring him home. we travel to south america to investigate and bring you this rare glimpse of a man living a real life kafka-esque nightmare. these are the walls of the sprawl i sprawling palma jail in bolivia, the strangest and touchest prisons in the world in bolivia. a forbidding place. and here, among the murderers and rapists and petty drug criminals, an american languishes. no charges, no evidence against him. >> it's an absolute nightmare. i feel all alone. i am begging the american people to try to help me. >> reporter: jacob is one of 3,500 prisoners in this sprawling facility. look around. there are no guards in here. the inmates run the show. murders are common here.

so is prostitution. and so are drugs, right out in the open. it's like "lord of the flies" bolivia style. >> i don't think i will ever recuperate from what has been happening to me. >> reporter: jacob is from brooklyn. in 2008, as construction in the u.s. collapsed, he invested family savings in a rice-growing venture here in bolivia. it was a good business. 40 million pounds of rice the first year, 200 bolivian employees. last june, bolivian authorities arrested jacob, accusing him of money laundering. have you ever been involved in drugs or money laundering? >> absolutely not. never. >> reporter: so why are you here in this prison? >> that is my question. >> reporter: steve moore is a retired fbi agent.

he advocated for the release of amanda knox. and he's investigated jacob's case for free. >> here we are in front of the is this a place of hope for jacob? >> no. no. the palace of justice is a misnomer. there should be an atm in the lobby. >> reporter: what's really happening, according to moore and others on jacob's defense team, is an old-fashioned shakedown. bolivian officials are demanding money. >> here's a guy they see coming in from new york who's got probably a lot of liquid cash and they saw an opportunity. >> reporter: back in brooklyn, jacob's wife myriam packs for bolivia to visit her husband once again. it's passover and they are orthodox jewish and keeping kosher in prison is not easy. so she's packing a lot of food and worrying. >> the way things are there, the justice system, the corruption -- i don't think i should talk about that there. it doesn't look like they're going to release him anytime

soon. >> reporter: they have five children and 11 grandchildren. and the little ones don't understand. >> hello, grandpa. how are you? i miss you so much. i'm scared that something happened to you. send me back a picture of you so that i shouldn't forget what you look like. >> reporter: for myriam, the 4,000-mile trip from new york to bolivia has become a grim routine. but when she arrives at palmasola -- >> i have to give you -- >> i know. >> -- a big hug and a kiss. >> reporter: for just a moment, they are an ordinary american couple again. >> i usually eat on plastic and paper. she brought me real dishes. >> reporter: in a dining area of jacob's myriad of cells, myriam sets out the passover meal. >> my family keeps me going, because there's nothing else here. i'm the only american in 3,500

prisoners. most of the time, i stay in my cell, 21, 22 hours a day. >> reporter: home sweet home, huh? >> not home and not sweet. >> reporter: he showed us his cell. he's got a key for it and paid for it. >> i own real estate in palmasola. >> reporter: if you can't afford to buy or rent a cell, this is where you sleep. myriam and jacob are an unusual couple in this prison, but they are not alone. whole families live in here, everywhere. there are children because many of the wives have no way to support themselves outside. they live here with their men. prison authorities provide food, greasy gruel. is it good? not so good? no, not so good. >> reporter: for all the squalor, danger and corruption here, it offers prisoners something different. >> everything we do by ourselves, you know? >> reporter: charlie, a convicted murderer who helps the elected inmate regime run the prison, showed us around from the hospital -- >> the prisoners here learn how to take care of the sick.

>> reporter: -- to the carpentry workshop. is it better that you can run it yourselves? >> i think it's more human, you know? >> reporter: we got a sense of that human touch playing foosball with the kids. hey! so maybe it's not so bad here. >> there's stores open, there's restaurants, families. but you don't feel safe? >> no, because you walked around with security. >> reporter: jacob has been in palmasola just short of a year now. he says he would do almost anything to get out. almost. >> if they would make me sign a document that i have done something wrong, i will never do that. >> reporter: you will not do that? >> i will not. >> reporter: he's lost 40 pounds in prison and as she leaves, myriam is worrying her husband is nearing a mental breakdown. when you leave this prison, what does it feel like? >> oh, torture. the pain of watching him watch me leave, he stands behind the gate and he sees my anguish and he runs in to make it easier for me to leave and he's thinking of

me and he's the one suffering. and it doesn't get any easier, no matter how long i've been doing this. >> reporter: the state department says it is monitoring jacob's case closely. the prosecutor refused to comment. bolivian law allows for people to be incarcerated without charge for up to 18 months. so here jacob remains, no charges, no evidence brought against him. his fellow prisoners threw a 4th of july party for him last year and they painted an american flag on the wall in his honor. so when you look at this flag, what does it mean to you? >> i never stop looking at the flag. i could stand here for an hour looking at this flag and cry. when you leave, myriam leaves, i'm left with my flag. and i love this flag. >> it's a lifeline to a home he wonders if he'll ever see again. i called jacob tonight.

he told me he's gone on hunger strike, but he's determined to come out of that prison vertical, not horizontal. right now he says his only hope is the action of the american people, you, watching tonight. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the jeep grand cherokee has won more than just respect. ♪ oooh, what's her secret? [ male announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty. improves the look and feel of hands in just five uses. [ sponge ] soft, smooth... fabulous! [ male announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore.

when a lot of people think about gin, they think grandpa sweaters. not me, but a lot of people. abc's nick watt found the boozy classic is getting a modern day makeover. and that's tonight's "sign of the times." >> reporter: gin martini. the king of cocktails, stirred, never shaken, preferably by a handsome frenchman wearing a necktie. two olives.

a relic from a bygone era? not anymore. >> we're serving more gin mar tee knees than i've ever seen ever. >> reporter: gin, the somewhat forgotten staple of prohibition era speak easies -- >> violence and murder. >> reporter: dthis taste of the roaring '20s are coming back. discerning thirst is quenched and encouraged by a new breed of professional bartender. >> we have professionals. we use gin. >> reporter: because gin is complex, sophisticated and there is also tradition. >> a lot of the classics are based on gin. vodka didn't really come into the equation until the 1950s. >> vodka on the rocks with a squeeze of lime. >> reporter: vodka became the bartender staple and by the '80s we hit a cocktail nadeer.

>> juice of love. >> reporter: well, these days, our cocktails are less brian flanagan and more james bond. >> you know, i think i call that a ves pa. once you've tasted it, it's the one you want to drink. >> reporter: and this street in london is the epicenter of the juniper revolution. and here it is, the sip smith distillery. come on in. prudence, that's her name, is the first copper still built in lon door for 176 years. she blends juniper with citrus zest, angelica root and a whole lot more to produce high quality sip smith gin. >> gin should be made in a residential street in london. this is exactly how it would have been made. >> reporter: at tony's bar, they pour it old style. two parts gin, four parts tonic, lemon, never lime. old style is how sip smith sam