jim sciutto, thanks very much for the reporting. jim will have a formal in-depth interview with chuck hagel tomorrow and you'll be able to see it exclusively right here on cnn. >>> other news, prince william and kate. they are in new york city for a quick visit. the prince made a side visit here to the white house in washington. there he is. he had a little chance to meet in the oval office with the president of the united states. we're going to update you. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping online is as easy as it gets. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. and i quit smoking with chantix. purgatory. . . ting smoking this time was different because . is proven to h

jim sciutto is our chief national correspondent traveling with hagel and he joins us from kuwait city. hello, jim. >> hi, don. something of a farewell tour for the defense secretary hagel. this coming just after the announcement of his departure but also a farewell for u.s. forces there as they draw down and transition from a combat role to an advise-and-assist role for afghan forces there. that said, there are going to be more u.s. troops in afghanistan as of 2015 then under the original plan. in fact, a thousand more troops. secretary hagel announced 10,800 instead of the 9,800 originally planned because, as secretary hagel told us as we spoke, afghanistan remains a very dangerous place. this is chuck hagel's fourth trip to afghanistan but his last as secretary of defense. we travelled with him to a tactical base in eastern afghanistan where he met with troops, sharing his own

jim sciutto, thank you so much. north korea has been committing controversial acts from day one as a country, so to better understand the situation, bill richardson, in addition to being a former secretary of energy, u.n. ambassador and new mexico governor, a high diplomatic troubleshooter on north korea and national security analyst and former bush homeland council, frances. and victor chou of georgetown university and the author of the impossible state north korea past and future. fran, you're here with me right now. i'll start with you. the white house has not called this an act of terror. there are people out there calling it a hack, you know,

jim sciutto is outfront. what do you know about the isis leaders, i assume al-baghdadi is not among them? >> he is not among them. this is a good one, one was a senior commander and another one was his commander, an isis strong hold in the north, taken from iraqi forces as isis forces swept into iraq. so it is a win. they weren't all in one struck. this is in several strikes going back to mid-november. but they've been able to confirm it now. >> i was going to ask you, were they altogether, because you are talking about geographically different individuals. how did the u.s. confirm these individuals tlx was the rumor aboutal bagdadi, so how did they know? >> they did this by intercepting isis communications on the ground. but on the front end, this is a sign of better u.s. intelligence on the ground, because if you can track these guys down and

jim sciutto breaks down the differences. >> reporter: they focus on attacking international security forces there including u.s. forces and driving them out of the country. the pakistani taliban focused on attacking the pakistani government. brings it down and establishing sharia law in the country. to that end they've been responsible for some of the most horrific terror attacks in pakistan, an thatting on a market in it 009 that killed more than 100 people and an attack on a protestant church and the assassination of the former prime minister benazir bhutto and shooting of the recent nobel prize winner, malala yousafzai. the pakistani taliban has attacked americans and american interests. in 2009 a suicide bombing that killed seven cia officers in eastern afghanistan. in 2010 the failed bombing inside times square in new york city traced back to the pakistani taliban. and following the killing of osama bin laden by u.s. forces in pakistan, the ttp leader, the

let me go to washington to jim sciutto, our cnn senior national security correspondent. know. >> this coming in moments ago. three senior leaders, these are people who are very high up in the isis organization. very close to the leader. one was his deputy in iraq. another was his military commander in iraq and mosul is key stronghold for isis fighters taken from iraqi forces earlier this year as iraqi forces melted away. i'm told these were the result of multiple air strikes going t

let's go to cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto.oining us right now -- you've been traveling with the defense secretary chuck hagel. you've had a chance to speak with him a while ago. you spoke with him in an exclusive interview. give us a sense of the reaction you're getting from the outgoing defense secretary about the release of the senate intelligence committee report. >> reporter: well, i'll tell you, wolf, when i asked him a question about that report, he said it was the president's decision to make this public and that his focus is very much on how u.s. troops are affected by this, both across the border here from kuwait in iraq where we visited today but also afghanistan where we visited with chuck hagel this weekend. he said he has put all combatant commanders on alert as a result of this report. here's how he described that threat to me earlier today. >> in light of the danger that it poses to the troops in the field, do you think it's a mistake to release that report? >> well, you know, the president has said we need to b

i think that's what jim sciutto was referring.nd but not in a way that provokes something that's not in the u.s. national security interest. so there's always this challenge when you find out who may have tried to access these systems. there's a number of countries who have varying levels of capabilities. >> we've heard various groups, adversaries of the united states, say the united states is responsible for these cyber attacks, because the u.s. and israel working together and destroy eed several key element of iran's nuclear program. >> what we're focused on is preventing malicious activities from statements or nonstates. >> you speak for the state department. has the u.s. government confirmed that cyber attack against iran? >> i know there are a range of reports out there about these kinds of activities. as you can imagine, we don't comment one way or the other. >> stand by, a lot more to discuss. other major issues on the agenda right now. not official yet, but cnn has confirmed north korea was responsible for that cyber attac

. >> jim sciutto spoke with hagel in afghanistan. he will bring you that interview live to "new day" later this morning. >>> six guantanamo bay prisoners are free this morning. they were transferred to uraguay. the move has been expected since the deal finalized last spring. >>> there are concerns this morning over the release of a top secret cia torture report. the potentially explosive report details what the cia did following the 9/11 terror attacks. now there are fears the release of the report could lead to violence against americans around the world. former president george w. bush challenging the conclusions of the report. >>> so it was just like the beatles with less singing and no actual beatles. it was the duke and duchess of cambridge. they arrived to the swarm of flash bulbs. later this morning, william heads to washington to meet with the president and vice president. the duchess will stay in new york. they may meet actual royalty. >> new yorkers met them with antagonism and enthusiasm. >>> cnn is honoring the top ten he

jim sciutto is here with what could be a treasure trove of information about the terrorist groups' innerorkings. jim? >> this woman was in fact a target of this raid. she's actually the former wife of the isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi but the mother of his child and lebanese officials say possibly with a significant role within the isis organization. together, those things make her potentially a valuable source of information, not just on the organization isis but its leadership and their whereabouts. >> reporter: she's a former wife of the feared isis leader abu bakr al baghdadi. lebanese sources tell cnn, the woman who has been identified and seen here during a prisoner exchange in march, had a potentially significant role in the terror group. >> we may get some information from her, some incite into al b baghdadi's whereabouts and his possible injuries. >> i'm not going to speak about a lebanese military operation. we've long said that he's the recognized leader of isil, commanding control of the organization which stems from leadership. that makes him valid in our minds, from the

. >> cnn's jim sciutto spoke with secretary hagel in afghanistan. he will have that story live on "new day" later this morning. >>> six guantanamo bay prisoners transferred to uruguay. president obama since he was running for office vowed to close the base. >>> a top secret cia report. the explosive report details what the cia did following the 9/11 terror attacks. now there are fears the release of that report could lead to violence against americans around the world. former president george w. bush is already challenging the conclusions of the report. bush told cnn that whatever the report says is way off base. >>> so it was just like the beatles, but with less singing and no beatles. the duke and duchess of cambridge arrived in new york to a swarm of flash bulbs. even shreking there. the duchess will stay in new york tonight. they will watch the brooklyn nets play the cavaliers and they may meet actual royalty. >> the spokesperson for the prince says it is not on the schedule. >> if they meet beyonce and jay-z. >> the new york times said they wer

jim sciutto, thanks very much. joining us, the chairman of the house committee on homeland security, republican congressman mike mccall of texas. thanks very much for joining us. do you know of any evidence that this particular hostage-holder, this man had been part of a broader plot? >> we have no evidence of that at this time. that is clearly what u.s. and australian law enforcement informations, homeland security are investigate right now. we know that he pledged allegiance to isis on his website and called the u.s., the uk and australia terrorists. so it's clear there's a radical islamist bent to this individual. whether he was directed by isis, we don't have evidence at this time. clearly he was inspired, though, by isis. i think that's very clear from his postings. >> is there any indication -- anything we know about the timing, why this occurred, the hostage-holding, right now? >> well, i think it's important to note that after the air strikes began in iraq and syria, isis began a very impressive social medi

cnn chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is now traveling with defense secretary chuck hagel. he's in kuwait city. jim, you're the only reporter to speak to hagel about this report. what did he have to say? >> reporter: jake, secretary hagel, supremingly focused on the safety of u.s. troops deployed to this region. keep in mind, 11,000 u.s. troops still in afghanistan through 2015. the president's authorized further 1,500, making 3,000 troops in iraq just across the border here, major navy base on the persian gulf in bahrain all exposed to potential retaliation and that's where secretary hagel is concerned. do you think it's a mistake to release the report? >> well, the president has said that we need to be honest and get this report out. we have had an opportunity to redact some of the most sensitive parts of that to protect our people. >> reporter: do you believe the military in the field is prepared for the fallout, even with the redactions? >> well, i've directed all our combatant commanders to have all their commands on alert. we've not detected anything specific anywher

i'm jim sciutto.e to set your dvr to record "outfront" so you can watch us any time. "ac 360" starts right now. >>> good evening. thanks for joining us. it is 8:00 eastern here in the united states, early morning in the waters off indonesia. there are late developments in the search for flight 8501. an airbus missing since sunday morning with 162 people on board. shortly before air time we did get word -- and this comes from local indonesian media -- that crews are investigating reports that smoke has been sighted on an island in the java sea. global help is on the way, the guided destroyer is expected to arrive later today. sadly, though it became almost certain today that this will be a recovery not a rescue mission. we have a panel of experts to make sense of it all, from what it will take

let's go to chief security national correspondent jim sciutto. does the white house plan to respond to what clearly seems to be cyberterrorism? >> the white house wants a proportional response but one that does not give in to any provocation. they are clearly working out how to achieve that balance but we know that several options are under discussion, including, as pamela said, tightening sanctions on the dirt poor north korean economy. with the administration close to publicly blaming north korea for the sony hack, meetings now under way at the white house to launch what it calls a, quote, proportional response. >> as the members of the national security team meet to discuss this matter, they are considering a range of options. >> reporter: the administration has several potentially powerful steps at its disposal. the u.s. could impose further economic sanctions on north korea, including stricter pyongyang restrictions to trade, the economic lifeline to fuel, food and crucially weapons. >> if we block them from the international financial commu

security correspondent jim sciutto has that. >> reporter: the blame has been doubt. the u.s.ng the rogue country in a sony hack. the fbi said, quote, the destructive nature of this attack coupled with its coercive nature sets it apart. >> we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the united states. >> reporter: the hackers sent investigators on a worldwide chase routing the attack through servers ranging from countries in asia, including china, then europe and latin america. some servers in the u.s. were even used. still, the nsa and fbi were able to track the attack back to north korea and its government. >> think of this as dirty tricks on a global scale. this has exceeded our expectations. they always make threats. most people shrug off the threats so threatening a cyber 9/11, the film is dead. they must be incredibly happy in pyongyang. >> reporter: now that the country behind those damaging keystrokes has been identified, the administration is looking at how to respond. >> they caused a lot of damage, and we will resp

cnn chief national correspondent jim sciutto has been being looking into the group and joins me live.rutal that the afghan taliban condemned it today. the pakistani taliban, otherwise known as the ttp, has been under intense pressure from the pakistani military and had been seeking a high-profile opportunity to retaliate. they found it today with the most defenseless of victims. [ sirens ] >> reporter: they were killed in their school uniforms taking exams in classrooms. a first aid course in the school auditorium. half a dozen terrorists carrying out a systematic massacre of children, brutal even by the standards of the pakistani taliban. >> translator: we were doing our schoolwork. suddenly we heard firing. >> reporter: the taliban called it revenge for pakistani military operations against them. we want them to feel our pain, said a taliban spokesman. the attackers had ammunition and supplies, says the pakistani military, to last for days. a u.s. counterterrorism official called the assault unprecedented saying it may signal an escalation in an already bloody war with the pakistani

jim sciutto reports these assaults are difficult to prevent because the terrorist may already be in theostage taking at a downtown sydney cafe ended with a risky police operation. and bloodshed. the assail and, man ha-ron monis believed to have carried out the attack on his own. such lone wolves are the terrorists most likely to strike on u.s. soil. >> the new phenomenon that i'm very concerned about is somebody who's never met another member of that terrorist organization, never trained at one of the camps, who is simply inspired by the social media, the literature, the propaganda, the message to commit an act of violence in this country. ? i would say the most likely type of attack is one of these home-grown, violent extremist or lone offenders in the united states. and the rise of isis and the number of people going to syria, when they're fighting with isis or fighting just in the conflict there against assad, the likely hood does go up. >> reporter: the threat grew more grave with an islamic declaration, he called for lone wolf attacks against all members of the anti-isis coalition

not even as good as iran, but very dangerous. >> that was cnn's jim sciutto reporting. now the shelved release of "the interview" is believed to have triggered this cyberattack. but it's not the first time sony has been victimized by hackers. that's a very important point as we bring in our will ripley who is tracking all of this for us from tokyo. and sony pictures, that's just a small fraction of the overall sony empire. but this is a company that has been hacked on a regular basis. won't there be increasing blame now pointed toward the company, saying that the company should have known better and done more to prevent this in the first place? >> reporter: yeah, this really is quite sounding an alarm. not only for sony's parent company in tokyo, sony pictures in the united states, but a bunch of corporations that are now reexamining their cybersecurity. you may be going into work tomorrow morning and find that your password doesn't work because system-wide your employer may say everybody needs to change their password. and those are probably going to be happening, the

. >> let's turn to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in washington. jim, it's interesting. we understand we're living in a digital era, cyber attacks are not uncommon. but a target of a movie studio, people are trying tound stand how that can happen and also what the government may be doing to fix it. >> starting with how it can happen, to be clear, people shouldn't have any doubts about this. these kinds of attacks have been going on for years, not from north korea but from china, against u.s. government departments, military contractors, private companies, stealing business information, stealing high security information on weapon systems, et cetera, with a great deal of success. it took the u.s. government really a number of years to confront china directly and publicly with that information and in part with what evan mentioned there, with this identification of a particular military unit outside of shanghai that was responsible for this attack. in effect showing and saying to china we know you're doing this. now we have north korea. until this poin

j jim sciutto is with me now from washington. i'm curious, first of all, what kind of postings by troops, jim, might being getting the attention by isis. why this social media focus? >> reporter: it's in two directions. social media of u.s. military personnel, so that they don't make themselves targets in effect. don't advertise so it makes it easy for isis and its supporters to identify you as a potential target. that's part of this bulletin. there are other bulletins from the fbi warning about this attack before. what's particular about this one and new they have information saying that members of isis are in the words of bulletin spotting and assessing individuals in the u.s. to find like-minded individuals who might carry out attacks in the u.s. including against u.s. military personnel. so it's going in both directions here. they are saying the u.s. military personnel be careful what you post so you're not easily a target and they are observing this is new members of isis searching via the internet for potential recruits to c

. >> cnn jim sciutto is live in afghanistan at the very latest. jim what are you hearing this hour. >> reporter: just very sad news, secretary of defense chuck hagel confirming that an attempt was made this on friday to rescue notnot just luke somers, a host, an aide worker who was held with him as well. during the course of the operation their captors with al qaeda, aqap, with attempted rescue by u.s. special operations forces their captors killed both mr. somers and the south african hostage as well. why this rescue operation now. secretary of defense hagel said that there were compelling reasons to believe that mr. somers life was in danger. president obama released a statement a short time ago saying not only was this based on the fact that captors in that video you mentioned saying he would be killed within 72 hours if the demands were not met. the president ordered this operation. unfortunately, during the course of it, both of the hostages murdereded by heir captors. remember, this is the second attempt to rescue luke somers. it was only on

with more on this, i want to bring in jim sciutto. tell me more about these three leaders. >> we've just been learning this a short time ago. the leaders are described as two top level leader and one mid level. one you mentioned was the deputy in iraq of the leader of isis and the military commander in iraq. he was also killed and in addition to that isis emir for the city of mosul which is the city they took over from iraqi coal a few months ago as they swept through the country. this took place in multiple air strikes over recent weeks but it's only now that they were able to confirm conclusively including by monetary communications among isis fighters that these three are now indeed dead. something of a victory for the air campaign. we know they have been targeting command and control and this is described to me by senior military official as having an effect on command and control but they do know that effect can be short lived. commanders when they are killed, they are replaced. they would expect the same to happen here. >> just

let's bring in cnn chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto.ence does the u.s. have, evidence? >> this was a cyber sleuthing investigation that was as unprecedent unprecedented. investigators working around the clock tracking the hackers around the world, from asia, including china, to europe, latin america, even servers here in the u.s. and as they went, they were eliminating other potential suspects, including china, iran, russia, but ultimately leading right back to north korea. the blame has been dealt. the u.s. now calling out north korea, naming the rogue nation publicly as responsible for the sony hack. in a statement today, the fbi said, quote, the destructive nature of this attack coupled with its coercive nature sets it apart. >> we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the united states. >> reporter: the hackers sent investigators on a worldwide chase, routing the attack through servers ranging from countries in asia including china, then europe and latin america. some servers in

i'm jim sciutto in new york. there was another flight scare involving an airasia aircraft and an airbus 320. this time flown by their partner airasia west. traveling from manila and carrying 139 passengers and crew members, skidded and overshot the runaway at calibbo in the central philippines. you can see here the emergency slides were deployed and a passenger telling nbc news, it was an uneventful flight until the turbulence nearing descend. fortunately nobody was hurt. at the time the region was being slammed by a tropical storm bringing flash floods and killing on the ground more than 30 people. cnn aviation analyst miles o'brien is outfront. so not only the pilots were dealing with bad weather, but tell us about the airport and the conditions there when the other accident happened? >> well without getting too deep into aviation jim, this particular approach is called a nonprecision approach meaning it is not the precise tunnel in the sky that the instrument landing system is. and as a result they had to fly

and their finances have been strained. >> jim sciutto, cnn, washington. >>> now back to one of our topes. in new york, a grand jury has decided not to indict a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man. 43-year-old eric garner died after being put in a chokehold back in july and all of this was caught on video. cnn's randi kaye has more on how the case unfolded on staten island. >> reporter: the video begins with eric garner already on the defensive. >> i didn't sell anything. i did nothing. you standing here the whole time, i have business. >> reporter: this is not the first time the 350-pound father of six has been accused of illegally selling cigarettes on the streets of staten island but it will be his last. 43 seconds into the video recorded by a bystander, garner is increasingly upset. but police don't back down. about 20 seconds later, garner is still trying to explain he had done nothing wrong. >> i'm minding my business, please just leave me alone, i told you the last time please just leave me alone. >> reporter: within seconds with garner's hands in the air, p

jim sciutto has more. >> reporter: an attacker shoots a xhaden citizen dead in ottawa. another runs over two soldiers with his car, killing one. both attackers inspired by isis allegedly. now a new fbi bulletin warns isis members are spotting and assessing like-minded individuals in the u.s. who would carry out attacks on the american military on u.s. soil. the first time an fbi bulletin has included such a warning and cites attacks s is in canada. >> all commanders are concerned about it, reminding them on a daily basis to be careful of their familiar surroundings. >> reporter: they're reminding the military to be aware of and review their online social media postings, as well. goal, to make themselves less of a target to a terror group with an unrivaled and aggressive information. bulletin obtained by cnn advising them "to use caution and practice operational security when posting." one grave concern of u.s. counter terror officials so-called lone wolf attacks require very little planning and little, if any, direct contact with isis commanders abroad. >> the new pheno

our chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto, cnn global affairs analyst, the managi, bobby gersch. you're getting more information, jim. what are you learning? >> it's a sickening time for sure. new information from pakistani military officials the attack could have been worse. the military believes these tackers had ammunition and supplies, food and water to last days. the pakistani military believes had those commandos not killed the attackers that the siege of the school would have lasted much longer. the military says this was certainly a suicide operation, that the attackers came to kill and to die themselves and also the latest death toll, 132 children, nine teachers, including the school's principal. 141 total. puts it in a special category in pakistan where you already have attacks with the death tolls 80, 100 more in recent years. >> special because they're going after little schoolkids, not adults. bobby, tell us more about this pakistani taliban known as the t.t.r. how powerful are they? why do they do these things? >> they've been around in different guises for

jim sciutto is "outfront" tonight and many people around the world remembering that horrible night inghazi. you were in iraq and now in kuwait, how is the military actually preparing for possible threats because of this report? >> well, inform in the part by the experience in benghazi, they have mobilized quick marine bases, one in middle east and in africa to respond quickly to an attack that might result from anger, retaliation at the release of this report and in addition to that secretary hagel telling us this morning as we sat down with him in iraq he's told his combatant commanders in afghanistan, in iraq, to be prepared to boost their force protection for attacks they might see and they'll have to defend against. >> and jim, what did the defense secretary say about the specific safety of the troops because there are some in the u.s. saying american lives and troops now are at direct risk because of this report? >> reporter: well what he told me this morning, he said, listen, they don't have specific information about a specific threat to troop as rising from the release of the

know what's inside of t mind of every al qaeda or isis sympathizer, sadly, until they strike. >> jim sciuttoent says it will start cracking down on protesters who turn on its officers. the flash point came during this protest on the brooklyn bridge against the death of eric garner and michael brown. demonstrators wrestled with two police lieutenants as they tried to stop a man from throwing a trash can on to the street below. both officers wound up in the hospital. police later found a bag containing three hammers and a mask. several officers say before this happened at another garner protest an officer was punched in the head. you can see this from this youtube video, here it is in slow motion. there you see it. police commissioner william bratton put it bluntly "we do not take attacks on our police officers lightly, never have, never will." police arrested one man for assault. they're looking for a ms. m as six other protesters involved in these scuffles. on "new day" deputy police commissioner john miller said diffusing tense situations takes better training. >> you look at the number of

jim sciutto, thank you so much. top three leaders killed in iraq. i want to turn to the story we've been following for you. this cyberattack on sony over the seth rogen james franco comedy, "the interview." the united states blaming hackers working directly for north korea. an official announcement could come as early as today on that. sony is under fire for pulling the movie about the assassination of the north korean leader before it hit theaters christmas day. that shutdown followed an online threat of a 9/11-style attack saying remember 9/11 at these movie theaters showing this film which then prompted the biggest theater chains to yank it deciding not to show the film. you check twitter and you saw actor rob lowe had a part of the interview declaring hackers won in utter and complete victory. people in hollywood aren't just mad. comedian chris rock says they are scared. >> this whole thing is just scary, man. e-mails and it's your private stuff and i don't know. the whole town is scared. everybody has to be scared. >> nobody knows what to do. >

jim sciutto, thank you so much.comes with significant, some would even say detestable strings attached as jim mentioned. the members of the so-called cuban five were not just secret agents. one of them was convicted of conspiracy linked to commit murder. i'm joined by the mother and daughter of two men who were killed in that attack. miriam de la pena is the mother of mario de la pena who was killed in the attack and adriana is the daughter of hando. thanks so much for joining me. marlene, let me start with you. did anyone from the obama administration reach out to you warning you that the prisoner convicted of murdering your husband was to be released. >> it wasn't my husband and it was my father. >> i meant for miriam, what about you? >> for me, it was my son mario who was 21 years of age and no, no one notified us. absolutely no one. >> what would you want to say to them if they had or if they're watching right now? i would like to say that this is a slap in our faces. it is very sad that an innocent man like ala

jim sciutto is traveling with the secretary. he just sat down for an interview. they talked about the release of this so-called torture report. listen. >> this is one of the places where they're concerned about possible retaliation for that terror report. i asked secretary hagel about this. he said he has put all his combat-and-commands on the alert with the release of this report today. he says some of the redactions of the report have helped a bit. they're taking every precaution. a lot of commanders we've spoken to in iraq as well as afghanistan over the weekend concerned about the repercussions of this and secretary hagel told me he wants to be prepared to doing everything they can. >> jim sciutto traveling with the secretary of defense. thank you jim reporting from baghdad. let's talk more about how dangerous this may be to the united states. is it dangerous at all, this so-called torture report? thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me on the program. >> bob baer, former cia operative told us last hour he thinks the fallout from thi

pretty strong, jim sciutto, statement from marco rubio.heard how angry he is about this decision that president obama made to improve relations with fidel castro -- heard a statement from raul castro, the president of cuba, also welcoming this u.s./cuban relationship. he threatened as a member of the senate foreign relations committee he will vote against confirming anyone to become a united states ambassador to havana and will oppose any funding for a u.s. embassy in havana. >> it's not confined to the republican party. democratic senators are opposed to this as well. robert menendez, et cetera. americans may not realize this, through already a great number of american diplomats in cuba right now. there's an american intercept there right now, a u.s. embassy on the coast surrounded with bullhorns and flags, you can see it very clearly when you visit. you have a presence there that you could begin this reengagement even if you don't have approval from a republican-led congress. that's something to keep in mind. but this is a dramatic risk

our chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto, is getting some new information on this u.s. lligence asset that has been freed, 20 years in captivity for spying on behalf of the united states inside cuba. what are you learning, jim? >> reporter: that's right. until now we just knew it was an intelligence asset. but coming from the director of national intelligence, we're learning the united states secured the release of a cuban individual from a cuban prison who the director of national intelligence says provided critical assistance to the united states. it goes on to list a number of the cases that this intelligence asset provided information on, that includes the prosecution of a former defense intelligence agency analyst, a former department of state official. you may remember this case, wolf, walter kendall miles and his wife, gwendolyn myers, helped lead to their capture based on information that this intelligence asset provided as well as members of the so-called w.a.s.p. network of spies here in the u.s. this intelligence asset released today as part of this exchange f

. >> cnn's jim sciutto is here with more. just refresh our memories.d the qatar justice system think that this couple, this american couple, starved their child. >> well, it's truly a bizarre case, carol. it was the opinion of the prosecutor that this family adopted this child from africa cheaply, bought the child, in effect, and then produced evidence or said that they had evidence that they had denied the child care. including proper food, et cetera. now, it was the contention of the huang's and their defense team that that was a fabricated case. they presented evidence from their own forensic pathologist who said there was no evidence the prosecutor even took tissue samples, for instance, from their daughter. the prosecutor is claiming those tissue samples showed she'd been deprived of food and the defense saying there was no evidence they even took the samples. so you had real questions about this prosecution from the very beginning and then beyond the evidence of the case, it was how the couple was treated outside of the courtroom. for instance, t

joining me to talk about that are cnn's chief national security jim sciutto and cnn national securitywnsend. i think we are all seemingly migrating from this word hacking to a far more serious word and that is cyber terror. cyber attack or cyber terror. it seems to me that officials may be headed there too. is this way too late? >> well, look, i do think that you're going to see more discussion of cyber -- this was an act of cyber terrorism. why? you've seen an affirmative offensive act been undertaken in an attempt to influence a political or policy outcome on the part of sony. by the way, it was successful. look, this is dealing with a bully. you've got, you deal with a bully punch him in the nose, not cave under your desk which what is sony has done. there's reason to be concerned about the way sony has handled this. sony is acting, let's be clear, in their own self-interests. they hated the leaks. they were embarrassing to them. i think they worry about a legal liability issue different when you talked about in the last segment. they have stars, employees, all sorts of people whos

so whe >> cnn's chief national correspondent jim sciutto has a look at where we may go from here. >> reporter: with the administration close to publicly blaming north korea for the sony hack, meetings now under way at the white house to launch what it calls a "proportional response." >> as the members of the national security team meet to discuss this matter they are considering a range of options. >> the administration has several potentially powerful steps at its disposal. the u.s. could impose further economic sanctions on north korea, including applying even stricter restrictions on pyongyang's access to dollar denominated trade. the desperately poor communist country's economic lifeline to fuel, food, and crucially weapons. this is a tactic the administration has applied with great effect against iran regarding its nuclear program. and more recently against russia following its invasion of crimea and eastern ukraine. naming and shaming north korea publicly is another step, a move the u.s. took years to make with beijing despite its multiple and systematic cyber attacks against u

jim sciutto, cnn's chief national correspondent, joins us now from washington and there n london charlie winter is an expert on radical islam he's with a think tank focussed on counterterrorism. first you. tell us about this group and how it's been targeting the united states successfully as far as we know. >> well, ttp is the acronym for its pakistani name. but the pakistani taliban, principle -- its principle target is the pakistani government but it has gone after the u.s. most common way across the border in afghanistan against u.s. forces in afghanistan. that's been a target. but they carried their attacks in that attempt in 2010 radicalizing this attacker with the failed bomb attack in times square and they've made other threats. after the raid that killed osama bin laden in 2011 they called for retaliation against the u.s., including on u.s. soil. in 2012 again they called on followers to carry out operations overseas not just against the u.s. but against european partners. now intelligence officials i talked to say that their principal focus is the pakistani government, the pakis

you can imagine a similar influx when some of the trade restrictions are lifted. >> jim sciutto reportingthanks so much. >>> while the gross family is thanking the obama administration this morning, other families are outraged. the cuban five, that cuban spy ring was convicted of murder. in 1996 they shot down two cessna planes flown by a group called brothers to the rescue. that group had been dropping antigovernment leaflets over havana. news of the cuban five's release sparked outrage from some of the families of the men who were killed when that plane went down. two of them talked with cnn yesterday. they shared a harsh message for president obama. >> this is a slap in our faces. it is very sad that an innocent man like alan gross is going to be exchanged for a criminal, somebody that wanted to do so much harm to the united states of america like gerardo hernandez because he's not only tied to the shoot-down and murder of my son, marlene's dad, and two other americans. he's tied to espionage and wanting to do harm to the united states of america. >> he has completely disrespected and

jim sciutto, thank you very much. let's go to congressman peter king of new york. he's on the homeland security and intelligence committees. this pakistan taliban group, the ttp, did this attack on school kids. how concerned are you that if they are willing to kill pakistani children, muslims, how concerned are you about what they might be willing to do to nonmuslims, whether they are americans or others? >> it was the ttp which back in 2009 attacked times square with the car bomb attacks. fortunately it was not successful but it shows that they are willing to attack us here and if they would kill children, murder -- intentionally murder children in cold blood, they are capable of anything and if they are desperate to get attention, they want to show viability, we have to be very, very concerned. it just adds to this list of al qaeda affiliates, islamist organizations that are focused on attacking westerners, attacking europeans and the u.s. certainly by the ttp, what they did yesterday just shows that they are absolute animals. >> yeah. they basically said, if you

our own jim sciutto is traveling with the secretary of defense. stand by. lots of breaking news happening today right here in "the situation room." and cialis for daily useor you. helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet t

i want to bring in cnn investigator chris frates and jim sciutto. jim, tell me about the statement you received from the justice department. >> it says "we follow the facts and evidence wherever they lead to allow the key boards that threaten our people." "we will continue to protect and defend our nation from the asymmetric threats posed through cyberspac cyberspace cyberspace." that's really an important response. the real question here is how do american companies, like sony and others, protect themselves against attacks like this going forward and arguably, more importantly, what does the u.s. government and intelligent agencies do to help companies protect themselves? that's one point. just another point, we don't have to do a lot of imagining as to the danger of what happens next if north korea or other hackers attack other american companies or institutions because it's already happening. it's happened for a number of years. >> absolutely. >> most of those attacks emanating from china. hundreds of american companies affected by this. many hund

cnn chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is in afghanistan with the defense secretary, chuckw from raleigh, north carolina. jim, the secretary, secretary hagel, is saying that there is no other resource but to take measures like this when an american life, you know, is in jeopardy. is this an issue of the timing? there was no better time in which for american commandos to do this? >> this is a risky mission, no matter how you slice it. and jim reece, his former delta force commander, will know it well. and speaking to military officials, including defense secretary hagel, you get a sense of just how close this was to being a successful operation. they got new, reliable intelligence in the last 24 to 48 hours, which helped them pinpoint the location of luke somers. that's one reason that they went now. the second reason is that they had reason to believe that his life was in imminent danger. and that's because his captors had said that they were going to kill him within 72 hours, if their demands weren't met. and that time was up on saturday, today. but when you hear more deta

we're joined by jim sciutto who is bringing us up to date.ring us up to date about the operation to really free luke somers. >> reporter: well, again, secretary of state chuck hagel who we're traveling with in kabul, afghanistan, confirming this operation took place yesterday, friday, yemen time. the reason it was conducted is it was belief that luke somers life was in jeopardy. somers was killed by his captives in addition to another non-u.s. captive held with him. we don't have this nash untilty of the non-u.s. person killed. the second attempt to rescue luke somers. but somers had apparently been moved before the operation took place. so now the second attempt -- remember, these operations are not done lightly. they're dangerous. they involve a tremendous amount of resources. it's a dangerous operation for the u.s. special forces that are involved. and two conducted in a short time frame to attempt this rescue. of course the very sad news that it failed and that somers was killed by his captors during the course of it. >> jim, earlier this

first, let's get the latest from our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. jim?reporter: wolf, this was an investigation as unprecedented as the attack in many ways, both in its speed and scope. investigators from the fbi, nsa and other intelligence agencies working around the clock tracking the hackers around the world, from asia, including china to europe, latin america, even servers here in the u.s. they were eliminating other potential suspects as they went, including actors in china, iran, russia. ultimately the trail led back to north korea. the blame has been dealt. the u.s. now calling out north korea, naming the rogue nation publicly as responsible for the sony hack. in a statement today, the fbi said "the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with it s coerceive naver, sets it apart." >> we cannot have them posing censorship here in the united states. >> reporter: routing the attack from servers from asia, including china, then europe and latin america. some servers in the u.s. were even used. still, the nsa and fbi were able to track the attack ba

jim sciutto, thank you so much. north korea has been committing controversial acts from day one as a country, so to better understand the situation, bill richardson, in addition to being a former secretary of energy, u.n. ambassador and new mexico governor, a high diplomatic troubleshooter on north korea and national security analyst and former bush homeland council, frances. and victor chou of georgetown university and the author of the impossible state north korea past and future. fran, you're here with me right now. i'll start with you. the white house has not called this an act of terror. there are people out there calling it a hack, you know, cyber espionage, but is this an act of terror? whoever did this forced an american company to pull a picture, basically and not only that, they threatened violence. >> but often, john, a state will act against a civilian target or civilian population in order to change behavior, have a political outcome. it meets the definition here. there's no question now. i think the wh