>> jill dougherty with that back ground. thanks, jill, very much. joining us is judy gross, the wife of alan gross. judy, thanks very much for coming. >> thanks for having any. >> four years. how emotional is this for you? four years, your husband being held in cuba. >> it's emotional. it's very -- causes me a lot of anger i would have to say right now. i'm angry at the u.s. government. i'm angry at the cuban government. totally frustrated for this lack of action that alan is still in the same situation he was for four years. >> i understand your anger at the cubans. why are you angry at the u.s. government? you just heard john kerry, secretary of state, say they're doing whatever they can to get your husband out of there. >> this is something that i've heard for four years. it hasn't changed. i don't know what that means. doing something. we have not been told what they're doing. so at this point, we feel that we have to step it up a notch and we are asking president obama to get personally involved in the situation and do what needs to be done to

cnn's jill dougherty with more. jill?rter: well, kyra, republicans are firing back at that "new york times" report continuing to claim that the obama administration lied to the american people. the "new york times" investigation calls into question claims made by both republicans and the white house about what happened in libya on september 11 a year ago. the newspaper finds fault with the republican case saying there's no evidence that al qaeda had any role. that the local militias and looters were to blame. that an anti-muslim video did play a role motivating the attackers at least in part. and that the attack was not meticulously planned but neither was it spontaneous nor without warning signs. a top republican insists the intelligence shows al qaeda was involved. >> there was aspiration to conduct an attack by al qaeda and their affiliates in libya. we know that. the individuals on the ground talked about a planned, tactical movement on the compound. >> reporter: the top democrat on the house intelligence committee ag

jill dougherty, thanks. >> good to see you. raordinary event, too, think about hundreds of reporters for four, five hours, very different than our own system. jill, you know, endured that to get a question in. >> she loved it. >> makes you appreciate our system. >>> focus on extraordinary people. all a part of a cnn special report tonight. hln's robin meade's going to join us straight ahead. side-by-side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. that's one smart board -- what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] split atoms? [ flo chuckles ] [ whirring ] hey, how's that atom-splitting thing going? oh! a smarter way to shop around -- now that's progressive. call or click today. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure

. >> jill dougherty is joining us live from moscow. good to see you. this does seem to be on many fronts an in your face move by the obama administration. are the russians responding at all? are they reacting to this? do they get it? >> well, they're not responding at least so far. but you could go back to what president putin already said which is that u.s. athletes or gay athletes of any stripe who come to the olympics should not worry. they won't be discriminated against. but i think it is definitely sending a message, but it's almost -- it's a strong but subtle message at the same time because after all, there are some people among gay activist who's said why don't we boycott what the u.s. should not even go to the olympics? the u.s. is going to the olympics but by sending these prominent athletes who happen to be gay is sending this signal as president obama himself said, represents diversity, determination and teamwork. that word diversity of course, is often used in the context of gay rights in the united states. so it is a message these are res

our jill dougherty has details on the investigative report and also, what is is the government saying? >> the "new york times" investigation calls into question claims made by both republicans and the white house about what happened. libya on september 11th a year ago. the newspaper finds fault with the republican case saying there's no evidence that al qaeda had any role. that local militias and looters were to blame, that ta anti-muslim video did play a role motivating the attackers at least in part. and that the attack was not meticulously planned but neither was it spontaneous nor without warning signs. a top republican insists the intelligence shows al qaeda was involved. >> there was aspiration to conduct an attack by al qaeda and fair affiliates in libya. we know that. the individuals on the ground talked about a planned tactical movement on the compound. >> reporter: the top democrat on the house intelligence committee committee agrees but says it's a complex picture. >> the intelligence indicates that al qaeda was involved but there were also plenty of people and militias tha

let's bring in jill dougherty.lking whether this forgiveness of those who is opposed him is i don't know, sort of air brushing rush yag before the olympics. what's the sense in russia? >> you know, i think partially that is what it is. there's no denying that all of these three events, you know, greenpeace, pussy riot, khodorkovsky, all of them are happening just a month or so before the olympics. that could be one factor. you know, i think it's too simplistic to just say that vladimir putin wants to brush off the reputation of russia or himself. there are other things at play. i think in each case, each of those three, he is sending a message. let's begin with the pussy riot girls. they are unrepentant. let's listen to them first. >> translator: the political situation is sadat the moment, really sad. and the political regime in russia is leading the country to i collapse. so of course, if the western countries would show the strong political ethical position they will need to boycott the games. >> okay so she wan

our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is here. we are hearing angry push-back against this "new york times" report that really started as soon as that report came out. >> it did. you know, it's the same repeat of the same debate that's been going on for more than a year over al qaeda and that anti-muslim video. top republican lawmakers insist al qaeda was behind the benghazi attack. >> there was aspiration to conduct an attack by al qaeda and their affiliates in libya. we know that. >> al qaeda is not decimated and there was a group there that was involved that is linked to al qaeda. >> reporter: but the "new york times" investigation shoots down the republican case, saying there is no evidence that al qaeda had any role in the attack on the american diplomatic compound in benghazi in which the ambassador chris stevens and three other americans died. instead, the "times" says local militias and looters were to blame and the state department monday agreed. >> at this point, we have no indications that core al qaeda which i think is

. >> let's bring in our jill dougherty. so many more to come. >> there are. sorry? >> go ahead, jill. >> there are 91 of them. as we're looking at this, it reminds, i think, us of the power of moral force and people come into history at a particular point who are the turning point. nelson mandela just pointed out he did not destroy. in almost like a gorbachev or a nelson mandela at another where they were able to turn, but they do not destroy, they do not -- later if nelson mandela had gone in a different direction, it might have led to a horrible, horrible bloody conflict that would have consumed that entire area. but he didn't. that is the power of one individual in the moral force that i think people even if they are the powerful as you see them walking in here, they are all moved by this one man who, from a prison cell, was able to change things and the power of his ideas that really informed people and informed president barack obama what mandela wrote and thought about what mandela wrote and many, many other people. >> jill, thanks. >> we saw ellen johnson-sirl

. >> i want to bring in jill dougherty who has been monitoring the comings and goings of various world leaders. the logistical operation here and the diplomatic protocol has got to be -- an incredibly difficult thing for organizers here to try to coordinate. >> it is because each individual country has to do its own coordination, its own security, and then when they all gather together, it's really quite a mixture. you have everybody from raul castro to president barack obama and many other world leaders. so politically, they collide and in many different ways, historically, they collide. when you get to the united nations, they can kind of -- they can kind of choreograph it so that somebody will, if they want to, say inadvert lenient meet somebody in a hallway or avoid somebody that they don't want to meet. here it's much more kind of a big jumble with all of these 91 heads of state. presidents of six nations, et cetera. it's pretty, pretty difficult. in a way, i think that does symbolize nelson mandela because he brought together not only, let's say, western, european, capitalist cou

putin. >> jill dougherty thanks to you.illion americans will lose their unemployment benefits this weekend. the program that gives emergency help to people out of work a long time could have continued but congress couldn't agree on a deal in time and white house warns it could make unemployment worse. alison kosik joins us from new york to talk about this. >> reporter: the job market is getting better but the problem is not where it should be. what the white house is saying is that with these jobless benefits expiring that could hurt the recovery. now what's happening is 1.3 million americans are expected to lose their extended jobless benefits on saturday because what happened was congress didn't renew the emergency program and what the white house is saying is if these benefits aren't renewed that people are going to have less money to spend, that will hurt demand and ultimately according to the white house that would cost 240,000 jobs next year. democrats, they really want the benefits extended so we could see a vote for

jim acosta, jill dougherty, thanks so much for the insight this morning. >>> still to come in the "newsroomn, kenneth bay? i'll speak with kenneth bay's sister, next. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. where does the united states get most of its energy? is it africa? the middle east? canada? or the u.s.? the answer is... the u.s. ♪ most of america's energy comes from right here at home. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if

jill dougherty is working her sources at the state department and throughout the administration and joinsh the latest. >> so jill, the state department says they're trying to authenticate this tape now but it looks like him, sounds like him. what's can they glean from this video? >> reporter: they can find out exactly when it was made. there may be other signs. you know, he looks different. there have actually been three videotapes that have been made by al qaeda of him. and in each one he looks slightly different. so there are various points of information that they can glean from that. but yes, you'd have to say that probably that definitely is mr. weinstein. >> which must provide some bit of comfort for his wife, his daughters, his grandchildren. he talks about them in the letter he wrote as well. cold comfort, though, the hell they've been through for the last couple of years must just be heart breaking. >> reporter: it is. and he refers to that every single minute that he is in captivity he thinks of them. but bill it's a very difficult situation. because what he is saying in this vi

here's cnn's jill dougherty. >> wolf, president obama will not be going to the sochi olympics himselfial u.s. delegation will include two prominent gay athletes. the first is billie jean king, the tennis star well-known in the united states and around the world. and the second is caitlin cahow. she is a hockey player and also a medalist. this decision by president obama comes after russia passed what's known as the gay propaganda bill. that now is a law. it's not clear exactly how it will be enforced at the olympics. but president putin has said gay athletes will not be disdiscriminated against at the olympics. also on the delegation, janet napolitano. she is a former homeland security secretary. and the athlete, the figure skater brian boitano. wolf? >> jill, thank you. dennis rodman meanwhile is raising eyebrows once again. the retired nba star is going back to north korea tomorrow to train the country's basketball team, despite the political tension there since the execution of the leader kim jong-un's uncle. here is cnn's anna coren. >> the 52-year-old is currently in beijing and

our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is here. ll, russia is promising a pretty tough response here. >> oh, they definitely are. in fact, the russian police are carrying out a massive anti-terror operation in volgograd with 5,000 officers. they have already questioned 1,000 people. but will that prevent future possible attacks in other locations? a suicide bomber detonates himself at a russian train station. a security camera capturing the seconds before the explosion. russia is reeling after two terrorist attacks in volgograd killed 32 people and injured 72. president vladimir putin in his new year's address rallying his fellow russians. >> translator: we will fiercely and consistently continue the fight against terrorists until their complete annihilation. >> reporter: with his $50 billion olympics in sochi, southern russia a little over a month away, he pledged to hold the games at a very high level. but this man, doku umarov, who some called russia's osama bin laden, plans to destroy those olympics, calling them satanic dances

our foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty is here.e are hearing angry push-back against this "new york times" report that really started as soon as that report came out. >> it

let's bring in cnn foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty, to talk about this. this is very disturbing. >> reporter: it is, and when you see that video, it's really two videos, it was really a vicious attack. the first video shows her, she's driving to her home outside of kiev. she's chased down and a car begins to ram her. it goes on for quite a long time. then finally, they pretty much crash into her. she jumps out of the car and then these men, armed, go after her with some type of, you know, sticks or something and beat her severely. then the aftermath, you just saw the pictures. she is bloodied and in really bad shape, taken to the hospital. so why did this happen? well, it's not clear totally, but just hours before she was attacked, she posted a blog post and in that, she talked about a kind of country manor that was being built for the interior minister, but let's listen to what she says about this attack. >> translator: i'm a person with a long list of enemies. many people are trying to get me. it was not a provocation against somebody else. i'm sure abo

jill dougherty, thank you so much. >>> controversial ex-nba star dennis rodman has left north korea withoutng his pal leading kim jong-un. he's been training players for a a basketball exhibition, and says he'll be back. >> probably back in -- no worry about t. i'll see him again. sorry, guys. >> did you see your -- >> it was awesome, man. >> so much interest. just fascinating anna coren is with us live. this is being called basketball diplomacy. it's really the only kind of diplomacy we've seen. what exactly is he doing? >> what is he doing? wouldn't we all like to know? as you heard from the man himself, his trip was awesome. though he didn't meet with the leader kim jong-un. he was there to train the national basketball team in preparation of the exhibition game to be held in honor of kim jong-un's birthday. we believe he would be turning 31. the two men did not meet. this was rod man's third trip. they had formed a rather close friendship. why they didn't meet, we don't know. rodman said he doesn't have to meet him on every trip. we also need to take into account there's a great deal of

jill dougherty, many thanks.n college basketball. >> my wife, my wife can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because i know my wife will at least shut the -- one time. >> following the coach, andy? >> carol, you know, this is one for the archives. we'll have much more from the epic rant next in your bleacher report. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. [ male announcer ] if we could see energy... what would we see? ♪ the billions of gallons of fuel that get us to work. ♪ we'd see all the electricity flowing through the devices that connect us and teach us. ♪ we'd see that almost 100% of medical plastic