. we were having a debate as to who loves each other more. i love you more, i love you more. at times i still go to sleep and i say, mom, i love you more. that's the kind of thing a kid never forgets. >> narrator: she was the single mom who kept him safe, she was also keeping a secret. an under cover job handling classified documents. but the real intrigue started when she went missing. >> i knew there was something wrong. i didn't want to believe this was actually a reality. >> there was a concern there was

miss missing claszified information. >> what we got was information that would break this case wide open. >> the case of a cia mom. could a clue from her son help solve this mystery? >> i'm never going to give up. never going to give up on anything. >> i'm lester holt and this is date line. >> narrator: secrets, we all have them. some are small. some large. some professional. others very, very personal. this is a story about secrets. about a woman who was very good at keeping them.

and about what happened when that woman suddenly disappeared. >> she was beautiful. my mom was really beautiful. a great person, a nice person. >> as a little boy, marcus singleton couldn't possibly foresee the loss he would suffer. or the terrible choice he would one day have to make. all he knew back then, was his mother's love. >> i mean she helped people. you know, if there was a kid in the street who needed something, she would pull over and see if they were okay. she was that type of person that taught me to basically put others before myself first. >> marie was single when she had marcus. he was the center of her world. kelly clayton was marie's hairdresser and good friends. >> she would talk to me a lot about what he was doing at school. she would get really excited

about marcus. >> narrator: marie's friends and co-workers ginger and jean. >> he was the apple of her eye. she just sparkled whenever he was around. >> she was a doting mom or a strict mom? >> he was just loving. >> narrator: marie worked for the federal government in los angeles. but friends say she was driven and ambitious in other areas too. >> she was an entrepreneur. that's what i know most about her, because she talked about owning her own business. >> narrator: but marie wanted more than work and success. >> i know that she wanted to have somebody in her life. >> what kind of guy was she looking for? >> someone that will take care of her, love her. protect her. >> i guess that's any woman's dream to have the whole package. that was kind of missing. she didn't have that guy figure, the father figure for marcus.

>> narrator: then one day, marie told her friends -- >> i met this guy, then they had a lunch date and he was cute and just, you know, the excitement of meeting somebody new. >> his name was andre jackson, a handsome single father of two. sparks flew immediately. >> i mean she would just light up every time she talked about him. oh, the glow. >> uh-huh. >> he was her everything. >> narrator: the methodical business like marie seemed to change overnight. >> were you privy to the court ship? >> the whirlwind court ship? that's the way we would put it. because one day she was smitten. the next day she was in love. >> then she was pregnant and having a wedding and no one knew about it. >> marcus knew about it.

he was there. your mom was happy? >> yeah. >> we all were happy. >> at age 8, marcus found himself welcoming a little brother named marcquis. >> i realized that it wasn't just the two of us anymore, but we were actually starting to become a family. >> and there were two other step siblings in the mix, andre junior and andrea. >> you got along with them? >> yes, it was pretty great. i had a brother and a sister at home. it was a pretty cool experience. >> narrator: another cool experience, for the first time, having a dad. >> he taught me how to swim, he taught me how to throw a football. it was good to have a male figure in the house that i could do stuff with. >> so andre was living up to his job as your father? >> yes, he was.

>> for marcus a and his mom, everything seemed just perfect. >> honestly it was like a complete family. i felt like i finally had a complete family. it was the best feeling in the world. like the ultimate high. and then suddenly, the ultimate low. >> narrator: the ultimate low because on november 11, 1994, marie singleton, rock solid, wife mother, businesswoman, vanished. the local police investigated of course. but so did an fbi agent. named rick haydel. >> we had concerned that there may be missing classified information, u.s. government information. >> narrator: classified information? yes, as we said before, everyone has secrets. a and marie had a big one. one she had told very few people. fi

officially, marie singleton worked for the department of defense? >> that was publicly disseminated yes. >> but she was working for the cia? >> yes. a clandestine job with the cia? when we come back, could marie singleton be hiding othsecrets? >> the mystery was just beginning.

>> narrator: the day that changed marcus singleton's life

began like any other, except that he had the day off from school. it was friday, november 11, 1994. marcus, then 8 years old was glued to the tv in his family's living room. >> i was watching a cartoon movie, a buggs bunny movie. my mom comes up the stairs, she says something to me, i'm thinking she's going somewhere, i'm like okay, yada, yada yada, i'm watching television splchlt so you were zoned out. >> suddenly i fell asleep. >> marcus woke up later that evening to the sound of his baby brother crying. >> i was like why is this little kid crying? where is everybody at? >> my stepfather calls me and says hey, is your mom home yet in i said where the heck are you guys? marquis won't stop crying.

>> andre said that he had last seen marie about 5:00 p.m., just as he left for his son andre's football game. now when he returned, marie and his car were gone. he made a round of calls to her friends, nobody knew where marie was. he then took all the kids to his mother's house and dropped them off. >> i remember somebody asked him where are you going? he said he was going to go check with my mom's girlfriends to find out where she's at. >> andre's first stop was the home of marie's friend. >> first he called and i didn't really think anything of it because i was like she'll be back. when he showed up is when i got worried. like she's still not back? >> i paged her because i knew if i paged, she would immediately call me back. >> narrator: but marie did not call back, the next morning,

andre knocked on the door of another friend. jean jones. >> he said they had an argument. but the second he told me that he had the baby, i knew something was wrong. >> and so you paged her how many times? >> i couldn't count how many times i paged here. >> no answer? >> no answer. >> by now it was saturday, 10:20 a.m. marie had been missing for almost 18 hours. andre called the inglewood police. >> i would like to file a missing person's report. >> okay. who's missing? >> my wife marie jackson. >> an officer came out to the house and met with andre. >> i saw andre talking to the cops and i didn't see any mom anywhere. that's when i found out that my mom still had. come home yet, i had no idea where she was at. >> police start interviewing

neighbors, searching the neighborhood. but the days passed with no sign of marie. that's when the phone rang on the desk of cia agent rick haydel. >> she was missing, she didn't report for work. >> and that was unlike her? >> absolutely. >> it's unusual for the bureau to get involved in a missing person's case, but it turned out that marie singleton was no ordinary missing person. not with her job. >> they called up the department of defense, they didn't call the cia. but she was working for the u.s. government, for the agency working on communications for them. >> unbeknownst to just about everyone in her life, marie singleton was a code clerk for the central intelligence agency. she wasn't a spy, but she did handle classified communications from agents overseas. information that might be very interesting. to enemies of the united states.

>> part of what the fbi does is investigate things like this, if a cia employee goes missing? >> right, exactly. >> remember, this was 1994, memories of the cold war were still esh. >> it could have turned into an espionage information if you have missing classified informs and somebody is going over to russia, the chinese, something like that, it could theoretically become that kind of a case. >> now there were parallel investigations, the fbi looked for an intelligence worker who might have been kidnapped or changed sides. marie's family meanwhile just wanted her back. >> they started making flyers for my mom. >> you remember the flyers? >> yep, definitely remember the flyers. >> soon a number of marie's co-workers and friends are posting flyers on telephone and light poles, store fronts and

shopping centers. kelly clayton remembers how she and a friend asked andre what they could do to help. >> he asked us to pass them out by the beach. at this time i asked him why would we pass them out at the beach? >> he said that's okay, you don't have to pass them out at the beach. >> did he mention a specific beach or anywhere in southern california. >> back waller beach is about eight miles from andre and marie's home. near los angeles international airport where flights leave daily for moscow and beijing. on tuesday, november 15, four days after marie disappeared, andre himself went there to post flyers. he had an encounter with a perfect stranger a and asked for help. and that's when this story took another strange turn. >> coming up-- >> i couldn't believe that i was seeing the car that this man was just looking for.

>> a huge break in the case. and a heart breaking moment at home. >> we walk in the room and everybody's in there crying. everyone in

>> narrator: tuesday november 15, 1994. marie singleton, wife, mother, and secret cia employee had been missing for four days. police were looking for her, so was the fbi. she might have been a run away, a crime victim. or a double agent. but tim kaniff didn't know any of that when he stopped by dock wiler beach near l.a.x. to take a short walk and unwind after work. >> i saw a man posting flyers for a missing person. >> the man was andre jackson. >> he actually mentioned that he was doing this because it was his wife and that she had last been seen on friday. and he seemed very concerned and obviously worried about her. he asked me then if i would take

one of his flyers. so i said, sure. >> narrator: the flier had a picture of marie, a description of her car and the car's license number. kaniff studied it and put it in his pocket. a short time later, he finished his walk, got into his car and started to drive home. >> i was parked on vista del mar facing south. i got in my car and made a u turn to head north. as i started heading north, i saw the gray saab was parked here on the side of the road. >> narrator: there was something oddly familiar about that car. >> i made another u turn, pulled up behind it and saw that the license plate on the car was the license plate on the flyer. >> narrator: a perfect match. what were the odds? >> i couldn't believe that i was seeing the car that this man was just looking for. >> narrator: kaniff called police. the next day, november 16, the gray saab was towed to the

inglewood pd impound lot. police looked it over very carefully. there were several parking tickets under the windshield wipers, it had been there for a while. the battery had been removed. the drivers seat had been tilted forward, and a cell phone, unusual at the time was left in plain sight. after inspecting the interior, investigators opened the trunk and made a ghastly discovery. marie singleton was missing no longer. she had been beaten and strangled to death. marie's son marcus, then just 8 years old new something was wrong when he came home from school and saw that all the neighborhood, his mom's missing flyers, had been taken down. >> you walk in the room and everybody's in there crying. >> everyone in tears? >> everyone in tears. finally i say what's going on? what's going on? and my grand mom is just, she's just crying.

and my stepfather's crying too, but he grabs me and pulls me and he hugs me. and he tells me straight up, he said they found your mom's body in the trunk of her car and she's dead. >> narrator: marie's sister elaine roundtree had just arrived from philadelphia. like the rest of the family, she was devastated. elaine was one of the few people who knew marie worked for the cia. but even she didn't know exactly what marie did. >> we loved her as a sister, we respected her as a sister and with her job, she traveled a lot. we knew she worked for the government, for the cia and that was it. >> and you never asked what she did? >> never asked. >> narrator: but now elaine had a lot of questions. starting with, what could possibly have induced marie to leave 8-year-old marcus and

infanlt marquis home alone. >> that was impossible, that would have never happened. >> so irene started asking questions. >> they were telling me different incidents and different things that they had had with andre. >> andre, marie's husband, things he was saying and doing didn't add up. first there was jean's story about that saturday morning when andre showed up at her home looking for marie. >> he had a bruise on his lip. >> andre had a bruise on his lip? >> he did. he said oh, i bruised it playing football with andre jr. i said really? it's kind of fresh. >> narrator: then there was kelly clayton who spent the better part of the saturday calling andre's house hoping marie would show up. andre seemed to have a new developing story. first it was this. she had drank a little and she

wanted to go to her son's football game. he told her that he did not want her to go. and they had an argument and she stormed out. >> narrator: but during the next phone call, andre said -- >> one of her old boyfriends was in town and she was with him. >> narrator: and then finally -- >> he let me know that when she does show up, i'll have her call you, letting me know, don't call no more. >> narrator: the next day when marie's friends went to help andre pass out flyers, jean noticed something in andre's bedroom. >> there was a big hole in the wall. that was a reality check for me. it wasn't where the doorknob was, like above it. like someone had put their fist through it. it was like a ahead because it went straight through. >> elaine contacted inglewood police, and found out they were way ahead of her. >> i had spoke with one

detective over the telephone and he said that andre was a system. i was also told that this would probably be resolved because they may arrest him at the funeral. >> you thought andre was going to be arrested? >> yes. >> pretty quickly? >> yes. >> but andre wasn't arrested at marie's funeral or the next day or the day after that. after the service, elaine and her relatives flew back to philadelphia. a few weeks later, marcus joined them. marie's relatives still expected an arrest any day. but days turn into weeks and then months. until a whole year had passed. and that's when a mysterious letter arrived for the singleton family. anonymous letter that set this investigation in a whole new direction. >> coming up -- >> we didn't know where the letter came from because she worked for the cia, it opened up that door of suspicion. >> was her death related to her

job? the questions start all over again. >> you didn't want to give up? >> i couldn't give up. it was my sister.

she was a mom with a closely guarded secret. now marie singleton has been found murdered. did her classified work with the cia have anything to do with her death? police seem to be focusing on her husband as a suspect. but a mysterious letter is about to launch a whole new round of questions. here again, john mit had been a

year since marie singleton's body had been found in the trunk of her car at a los angeles beach. her son marcus, 8 years old at the time of her murder, was being raised by an aunt in philadelphia. his mother was never far from his mind. >> we used to have a debate about who loved each other more, you know, i love you more, no, i love you more, no, i love you more. and sometimes i even go to sleep, i even still say it, like mom, i love you more. that's the kind of stuff a kid never forgets. ever. >> he also stayed in touch with marie's husband, andre jackson. >> you still felt a connection to him? >> yes. he was my dad. you know, that was the only father i had had. and i missed him. >> meanwhile the rest of maries family wochbndered if andre kne more about her death than he was saying. the police had those same questions, but andre had never

been a arrested. then came that letter which changed everything. >> handwritten or typed? >> it was typed. >> the unsigned letter read in part, it is very unlikely that the individual or individuals responsible for her death will be brought to justice. although you may be receiving lip service from her former office, believe me when i tell you that the agency has literally placed her death on the back burner. the agency, of course, meant marie's secret employer, the central intelligence agency. >> she worked for them, and they never offered a reward for her, any information regarding her case or anything. >> the letter continued. her former colleagues at work had been placed under a gag order by their office. they have ordered these people to cease all contact with you and marie's family in pennsylvania. someone in your family needs to stir the pot. >> we didn't know where the

letter came from because of course it was anonymous and of course she worked for the cia, so it appeared up that door of suspicion that maybe they had something to do with it as well. >> remember, when marie first disappeared, the fbi investigated, on the theory it might have been espionage. but the family didn't know the results of that investigation. and didn't know why police hadn't moved against andre. >> and since we didn't have the answers, it was always a wonderment to us on why it was taking so long. maybe they all were working in cahoots with each other. >> despite their dark suspicions, the family turned the letter over to inglewood police, but still, no answers. not for years. >> i constantly called california to find out what was being done and what was happening with the case. >> you didn't want to give up? >> i couldn't give up, it was my

sister. >> the family didn't know it, but there was someone else who refused to give up. fbi agent rick haydel. he had never found any evidence of espionage in marie's murder. but he also had not forgotten about her. >> i'm the squad supervise now, i'm the guy that assigns the cases instead of investigating them. i assigned an agent, i said how about reopening this case as an assault on a federal officer case? >> all because you never stopped thinking about it? >> exactly. i didn't like the fact that you've got a woman who has given her life dedicated to the government murdered and just lying out there because nobody cares. and so i thought, well, let's give it another shot. >> so eight years after the murder, fbi agent tony vasley called inglewood pd and met russ anderton. they started combing over the

old files and were assisted by a new inglewood detectives, steve sighler. >> technology advances so quickly that in 2002, i said to tony, maybe there's fingernail scrapings, maybe there's something of that nature. >> in fact there were fingernail scrapings in this case. there was also a drop of blood on marie's saab. but at the time of the murder, dna analysis was still in its infancy. those samples had never been tested. in 2004, john sigher called john lewen, an sergeant in the unsolved crimes division. >> they had collected originally the fingernail scrapings, they collected the blood and the detective had been unable to get the lab to test it. when i first got on the case, i started trying to cash in favors at the crime lab to get it done. >> but a 10-year-old cold case was not a priority. three more years passed before

those samples were tested. finally, in november 2007, the fbi crime lab came through. >> what we got was the information that would break this case wide open. >> coming up -- a bold move from the cold case prosecutor. >> it was very hard, i would have marcus arrested. >> marcus, marie's own son, under arrest? what was that about? when "dateline" continues. you got the bargain kind?

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. after years of murky speculation that marie singleton was targeted for her work with the cia, the case suddenly came into sharp focus. first, that mysterious letter suggesting marie's death was related to her top secret job. that turned out to be a dead end, written by a co-worker who just wanted to encourage police to work harder. next there was the dna, more than a decade after marie's murder. >> they tested both the blood stain on the car and the scrapings under the fingernails. >> the dna found under marie's nails and the blood found on the hood of her car, were from the same person, a man. and police thought they knew who that man was.

marie's husband andre. but andre had moved out of california. >> we did not have his blood to test. >> how did you get a match? >> what we did was, we tried to find him. and we couldn't locate him. we were finally able to track down his son, andre jackson jr. and to get his dna. when we got his dna, we got what you would characterize as a near miss, a familial hit. >> a near miss, but still enough to get an arrest warrant. the fbi's fugitive task force caught up with andre in tempe, arizona. >> he wasn't expecting it? >> no, he was not expecting it. >> andre also said he didn't do it. didn't kill his wife. but he couldn't make bail, so he sat in a jail cell. even though prosecutor lewen knew the evidence was not as strong as it might be. although andre's inconsistent statements, the bruise on his

face, his appearance at the very beach where marie's car was later found, all seemed suspicious, they might not be enough for a jury. >> we have to be able to say is a jury going to be able to look at the evidence we have and prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. do we take this risk or not. >> even the dna was not absolute proof. after all, andre and marie were husband and wife. to find his dna on her car or even under her fingernails was not necessarily evidence of murder. after andre had been in jail for nearly four years, lewen decided to offer a deal. >> we offered him voluntary manslaughter, he would have had to serve roughly another year and he didn't want it. his attitude was, you don't have any evidence. >> so the case was going to trial. lewen knew he needed more evidence to make the jury believe his theory of the crime.

>> i believe that they had probably some kind of argument, i believe that marie said that she was leaving. i believe that an argument turned violent and i believe that at some point during the argument, andre hit her and then he made the decision, you know what? i can't let her walk out of here. >> what lewen needed most was a witness. and no one had seen anything on the day of the murder. >> lewen found there was a secret, buried in the memory of a grown man, who was all of 8 years old when a murder was being committed. marie's son, marcus singleton. >> we interviewed marcus in 2004. really the first in depth interview that had ever been done. >> marcus was deeply conflicted, between his feelings for his mom and the love he still felt for his stepfather andre. and at first, he had no intention of talking with

investigators. but finally, he broke down and told the story of what an 8-year-old marcus had seen on october 1, 1994, six weeks before the murder. it's a story he also told to us. >> i remember hearing them screaming and go into the bedroom, them arguing and her telling me to call the police, call the cops. >> what was happening? >> i had no idea. none. and i froze because my stepdad told me not to. and that's when she said, you hit me, and then he said, well you hit me first. and she looked at him like he was crazy. she screamed call the cops. and then she moved towards the bed and he grabs her, tries to put his hands over her mouth. one hand over her mouth, one hand over her throat and they fell on the bed. >> young marcus then ran for the phone in the hallway. >> at this point, now i'm

leafing to go call the police. i'm guessing maybe he got off of her to come stop me or whatever. because now my mom, she must have gotten free somehow, some way, she runs past me to the kitchen phone. now my stepsister is leaving her room coming out of the hallway, i'm like what the heck is going on. then we heard the clatter like some silver falling on the floor. i go downstairs t draw is out, there's a whole bunch of silve silverware on the floor. then he kicks the door in, he puts the door frame back on the door and he closes the door and it's just quiet for a while after that. >> somehow, during the struggle, marie managed to call 911. but the call was cut short. >> hello? >> and after a few minutes, the cops come. you know, i guess my mom told them everything was okay.

they left. then six weeks later. >> six weeks later, his mother was dead. >> i hate the fact that i didn't go and call the cops myself. you know, so the cops could have talked to me instead of her. >> add to that, the guilt he feels about the day she disappeared. >> i hate the fact that i can remember that it was a buggs bunny movie on the television, but i can't remember the last words that my mom said to me. >> you were what, 8 years old? >> i hate that, yeah. >> because why? you think this is your fault? you've got to know intellectuality that this had nothing to do with you. >> i felt like i could have done something to protect my mom. i could have changed one thing. >> and yet even now, marcus still couldn't accept the idea that the man he once considered

his father had killed his mother. marcus didn't want to testify against andre. lewen had to serve him with a subpoena for a pretrial hearing, marcus ignored it. >> i got subpoenaed to go to court, i said no, i'm not going. i ripped it up, threw it away. >> lewen had to do something he had never done before -- >> i had to have marcus arrested. it was very hard. i have got to have him arrested when he's a victim. >> unpleasant? >> very unpleasant. >> lewen the prosecutor and marcus the witness were at odds and if the prosecutor's star witness didn't show up for trial, a andre could easily walk free. >> coming up -- >> did you kill your wife? >> no, i did not. >> the case heads into court. and andre jackson heads to the stand. at last, he tells his own story. >> i approached her in the

bedroom and embraced her and kissed her. >> will a jury believe him?

february 17, 2012, nearly 18 years after marie singleton's body was discovered, her husband andre went on trial for her murder. >> it might be hard to accept, but that man murdered his wife. and he needs to be held accountable. >> in the weeks leading up to trial, prosecutor john lewen wondered if his star witness would show up. >> he wouldn't even come out here. >> marcus was terribly conflicted over the guilt he felt at not speaking up sooner and the love he still felt for his stepfather andre. >> he didn't like the idea of testifying against andre. >> no, he did not. >> but a day before opening statements, much to lewen's

relief, marcus did show up for trial. but he was to say the least, a reluctant witness. >> in the beginning when i first came to speak with mr. lewen, i defended andre on my family's side. and i didn't want to believe that he did it. then i found out that i'm probably going to have to accept the truth, a truth that i really don't want to have to accept even today, to be honest. >> marcus told the jury of the harrowing story of the fight he witnessed between hiss mom and his stepdad just six weeks before her murder. >> they were frantic, and my mom was, like she was distraught, i guess is the best word. she was screaming. she was call the police, call the police. >> compelling. damming. but it turned out the defense had a star witness too. did you think andre was going to take the stand? >> i was very surprised, i would say shocked. >> andre's defense attorney got right to the point.

with his first question to his client. >> did you kill your wife, marie jackson? >> no, i did not. >> do you have any idea who did? >> no, i do not. >> then andre gave his innocent account of the day his wife disappeared. he said though he and his wife argued six weeks earlier, they didn't fight the day he she vanished. >> when you got home, did you greet marie? >> yes, i did. >> how did that go? >> approached her in the bedroom and embraced her and kissed her. >> then he said he left marie at home and drove to his son's football game. as for witnesses who said he had a bruised lip that day, andre said it happened at the game, where he and his son accidentally collided. >> as i approached him, he was jumping around and he wasn't aware that i was near him and he jumped and his helmet hit me on

my mouth. >> andre told the court he didn't know marie was missing until he returned home after the game. >> did you try to page her or call her? >> i did. >> as for his decision to post flyer at the very beach where marie's car was later found? >> i was in the area, picked up some lunch and went down to sit down by the beach and p just pray and try to figure out, put things together about what was going at the time. >> did you see marie's saab? >> no, i did not. >> did you know that marie's saab was at or near dock wiler's beach? >> on cross-examination, he pointed out that when andre left the beach, he had to drive right past marie's car. >> is it fair to say that as you're driving, mr. jackson, the main thing on your mind is looking for that car?

where could that saab be? is that fair to say? >> not in that moment where i was driving on the scenic route at the beach. >> a scenic route? >> yes. >> you concerned with scenic routes when the her of your son is missing? >> are you aware as you sit here any motive that he might have for trying to say that you're responsible for his mom's death? >> yes. >> you are aware? and what is that? >> the influence by many who pretty much tended him in telling him negative things about me over the years from hiss relatives to the law enforcement people who interviewed him. >> finally, lewen asked a question that seemed to get under andre's skin. >> is it true, mr. jackson, that marie told you that she was leaving you? >> absolutely not.

>> november 11th? >> absolutely not. >> after three months in court, and 18 years after marie's death, co-prosecutor pat kerry put on the prosecution's closing argument. >> only one person in this case who six weeks prior to this case -- there's only one person in this case that drove past marie's car when they were looking for it. there's only one person who left a fresh drop of blood on marie's car. there's only one person that murdered what are lee jackson. and he's sitting right there. >> but the defense attorney -- >> the actual evidence does not support the allegation that andre killed marie. but certainly doesn't support it beyond or doesn't prove it

beyond a reasonable doubt. why? because of a simple answer, andre didn't kill marie. >> nearly two decades after marie's murder, the case was finally before a jury and just 2 1/2 hours later, there was a verdict. >> we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant andre jackson guilty of the crime of first-degree murder. >> andre jackson was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. >> for marcus singleton, this victory was bittersweet. he still wants to hear the truth from andre himself. he knows, he says, that that may never come. but he hopes his mother would be proud. that he finally spoke up. >> i try to live my life to make her proud of me. i am never going to give up, never going to give up on anything that i feel is important. a and -- >> and that's true. >> that's living for her.

that's honoring her and honoring her name. >> that's all for now, i'm lester holt, thank you for joining us. breaking news, a report in the "new york times" could change deathe debate overe deadly attack on benghazi in 2012, one of the hot political topics of this year. from nbc news in washington, the world's longest running television program, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. and good sunday morning. happy holidays. the "new york times" concludes there was no involvement by al qaeda in the attack that killed four americans, including u.s. ambassador christopher stephens. they also said the attack was in part fueled by anger over an american-made video critical of islam.

so does this bolster the obama administration's initial response to the attack and undermine its critic? coming up, i'll have exclusive interviews with the journalists who broke the interviews in the times and one of the republicans in congress who claimed there was indeed a cover-up. also, some of the key questions in 2014. will obama care survive in its present form? and how much does the u.s. have influence around the globe? and how much in exile for edward snowden? first the developments in the benghazi story. joining me here in washington on our set is nbc chief news foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. and from vermont, "new york times" cairo bureau chief. david, thank you for being here. it changes the narrative, it changes the report on benghazi,

and let me lay out the context of what you conclude. months of investigation, you write, by the "new york times" centered on extensive interviews with libyans in benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that al qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. the attack was led instead by fighters who had benefited directly from nato's air power and logistics support during the uprising against colonel ka gaud i. and contrary to claims by some members of congress, it was fueled by islam. two key points. how do you know it wasn't al qaeda? >> well, i don't think i'm out on a limb there. i think honestly if you asked anybody in the u.s. intelligence business, they would tell you the same thing. i've talked to some of the people who i believe were lead