i am so glad and so thankful. >> lisa ling and euna lee had been detained in north korea for. they were working for al gore. and they were there for a several months that they were arrested and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country. korea along with al gore. >> he had some signal from the north koreans in advance that the trip would be successful. >> they met with the leader in north korea. there are tensions over the country's nuclear program. this could provide an opening to improve conditions. >> the future of our relationships with the north korea are up to them. >> the talks were ride whinging an exhaustive. it did not include anything beyond the release of the women. this was strictly a private humanitarian mission. wbal tv 11 news. >> let's get a check under morning commute dealing with problems along eastbound i 70. an accident still cling on the ramp. police vehicles are they're trying to clear the accident. it may be a little while. but for delays in developing their. let's check on what else is going on. still dealing with the water

lisa ling tries to get a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana. will it work? in an area where are -- where there are more places selling pot than starbucks coffee what do you think? >>> and like a virgin, and miley cyrus and the jonas brothers, all squaring off. how come chastity is once again a sign of the times and what happens to the celebrities who embraced abstinence the last time around? captions paid for by abc, inc. >>> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin with the state of the economy. it's been suffering from major mood swings of date. the dow took a beating today, dropping over 180 points. we have heard the rumblings that the recession is over, that the bottom has been reached. yet the foreclosure rate remains high, people are still losing their jobs and those back to school sales are attracting few shoppers. what's the disconnect? is as president obama says the worst really behind us? john donvan reports on what you and your family need to know about the road to recovery. >> we all know where we want to be as a nation, as an economy, after

our anks to lisa ling. we'll be right bac

the two sat down with "nightline" contributor lisa ling for this interview. >> some answers came today about the couple who allegedly abducted jaycee dugard. >> at this point in time, i order mr. garrido to be held without bail. >> phil garrido and his wife nancy pled not guilty to 29 felony counts, including forcible abduction, rape and imprisonment. they say grabbed jaycee dugard from the street outside her home. >> my daughter was just kidnapped. >> they brought her here to their house in antioch, california where she lived in tents hidden in the backyard, and this is where jaycee allegedly lived for 18 years. >> it was all furnished with electrical cords, there was a rudiment outhouse and shower as if you were camping. >> during her 18 years in captivity, jaycee gave birth to two daughters now 11 and 15. both fathered by her alleged kidnapper. it seems that neither jaycee or her children had ever seen a doctor. during that time, no one stopped phillip garrido until he walked into lisa campbell's office on the berkeley campus. i assume monday started as typical monday? >> nothing un

we thought we would show you a few of those moments starting with lisa ling's observation that just 30 hours earlier, she and euna were prisoners. >> we feared that at any moment, we could be sent to a hard labor camp. and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting . we were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. shepard: ling says when they saw him, they immediately knew their north korean nightmare was ending. >> to our loved ones, friends, colleagues, and to the complete strangers with the kindest of hearts who showed us so much love and sent us so many positive thoughts and energy, we thank you. we could feel your love all the way in north korea. it is what kept us going in the darkest of hours. it is what sustained our faith that we would come home. >> it speaks well of our country that when two american citizens are in harm's way, that so many people would just put things aside and just go to work to make sure that this has had a happy ending. shepard: we're starting to hear a few details about t

that contributing correspondent lisa ling spent the year inside the school.ing their progress. >> and ms. alexander -- >> rachelle alexander, one of the new principals, leads the team that has been knocking on doors inviting students and their parents to get involved. >> good morning. >> but in this community, parents get nervous when seone shows up at their door. >> the services -- >> exactly where we are -- i came here with cops once. this is -- this is notorious -- >> absolutely. we have no weapons. but anything -- >> it's paall part of a strateg to build trust and at locke this will be the biggest trust. why did you want to take on the school that is considered to be one of the toughest in l.a.? >> you can go into one of the toughest schools and make a turn around. what it will do, i think it will crea a political tipping pint in this city for all people in this city. >> these are the two schools that i am hiring -- >> back on campus, teachers are getting ready for day one. in a controversial move, green dot fired all of the original teachers and made the

official -- >> i want to interrupt you for a moment because lisa ling, laura ling's sister is now going on board the plane. there are two gentlemen behind her and i'm not able to identify them. are you, ann? >> no but i think the second man looked a lot like laura ling's husband. so the first man could well be. but we don't know who they are. we can, as meredith just said, identify positively lisa ling, the sister who spoke so outspokenly on behalf of -- >> really the key spokesperson for both families during all of this. >> exactly right. so you can only imagine what may be happening right at this very moment inside that plane. a reunion after four months of waiting. after a great fear that she  would not see her sister for 12 years. you can imagine just now. >> and chris jansing is back on the ground right there in california. chris, can you add anything to this at this point? do you know if that was, indeed, laura's husband? >> i can certainly -- we haven't able to see in here, unfortunately, meredith. but we were told that the husbands would be able to see the two released women,

>> yes, yes, i spoke to lisa ling who i'd been in regular contact. and she was just ecstatic because it's been nearly five months, the contact has been limited. but our sense was that the north koreans were feeding them, treating them properly, they were in a guest house, but what was the most damaging was the sense of isolation that they were going to be sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, not knowing what was going to happen, limited telephone contact, but lisa and her family, obviously, are ecstatic, and they've done so much to raise awareness of this issue, and be diplomatic, i know they've been on your show several times and i think their behavior is a model of how when you are dealing with these very, very negative hostage situations how families can be diplomatic yet strong and raise consciousness of the plight of their own relatives. >> larry: this being a pardon, governor, was it important kind of both sides admit they made a mistake? the girls made a mistake? >> yes, yes. i think it was important after the trial that the fact that they wer

i just want to quote from lisa ling, who you saw go on to the plane. she said to us, a couple of months ago in an interview. she said, my sister is my best friend on earth. we travel all over the world. there isn't a single day we haven't spoken. i can be in the himalayas, she can be in the ukraine, we'll get a phone call to each other. it's been painful to each other. >> want to point out that roger band, the university of pennsylvania emergency physician, traveled with former president clinton. they did have a physician onboard, all the way back. they were taking that precaution. kate, can i ask you to tell everyone, again, about the plane? because it's one of those interesting, 21st century convergence of politics, entertainment and public life. >> reporter: right. if you live in l.a., you've probably heard the name steve bing. he's well-known here. he's a multimillionaire. he owns the hangar i'm standing inside of. he owns the airplane, the 737 they have flown on. he loaned it to bill clinton. he's been a long-time supporter, politicly and as a fri

. >> these were the first pictures in months of the journalists lisa ling and euna lee free at last. they boarded a private jet with former president bill clinton bound for california and a family reunion. >> i am all excited. i am looking forward to this. we have waited for five months now. >> just a glimpse of the women was good for the families. >> it was good to see her up walking, and smiling. it was good enough for me. >> they said they knew more good news was coming when former president bill clinton went to north korea and met and dined with the ailing dictator. north korea wanted the former president as a special envoy. the obama white house was able to watch over this until the end. >> we want to ensure the safety of the journalists. >> recent weapons test has been going on in north korea. perhaps clinton discussed that with them. >> he needs to solidify himself internationally and nationally by having the photograph and visit by former president clinton. >> the women were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor well they illegally entered north korea while reporting on some st

our exclusive interview continues with lisa ling. re the break she told us her sister, laura and euna lee did briefly touch north korean soil before their arrest. lisa is back with us now in an exclusive interview tonight. that's really, i think, unless i'm wrong here, it's the first time we've heard that or it sounds like they've come forward or had the chance to say that. talk to me more, if you could, about what laura told you about those moments? >> that's really it. it was something that, you know, they were never planning to do originally. i mean, i said this before, when they left u.s. soil they never intended to cross into north korea. and, you know, they -- i mean she said it was maybe 30 seconds. and then, you know, everything just sort of got chaotic. again, it's a very powerful story. and she does want to share it. but i just really want to let her do that. >> right. which is understandable. i have to ask you, what was going through your mind as you saw your sister walk down the steps of that plane yesterday morning? >> yo

government of north korea and we are so happy to be home. >> reporter: we talked a little bit to lisa ling, the sister of laura ling and asked did she think what her sister did was very smart and she wouldn't say yes or no about that. she said she thinks her sister will have more to say in the coming days about the circumstances of this case and about how they wound up in north korea. lisa says they didn't intend to go to north korea in the beginning. >> george, thank you. let me bring in jonathan alter. what's your sense of how much was accomplished in terms of the statesm statesmanship, the negotiation that happened before bill clinton even headed to north korea? >> there was little movement in terms of diplomatic rels with north korea. things were moving in the opposite direction, insulting hillary clinton. but what this visit does besides freeing these two journalists, it gives us the firsthand account of what the north korean leader looks like, whether he seemed healthy. remember, this has all been the subject of very, very distant intelligence analysis. we haven't had anybody there s

it was lisa ling who kind of gave us a glimpse of how hard it was for her sister, just the exhaustion. they were able to get meals regularly unlike many others in north korea, but it was a very difficult time for these young women. >> reporter: they said they lost weight, the rice had stones in it. they still had a lot of deprivation. they had been sentenced in june to 12 years of hard labor and thought that any moment, they would be hauled off, then all of a sudden, president clinton shows up. >> george, thank you very much. and david, that is, when you listen to the press conference with laura ling, to imagine walking in the room, someone say you've got a visitor, and it's bill clinton, you imagine the emotions, the fear. >> and especially when you think about they had no idea what was going on. they were shut off from any news. to not know if you're being moved, then you see the former president. also, hearing the sobs of that family when they're reunited, it's hard to sort of keep your own emotions together when you see the raw emotions pouring out this morning. >> and that beauti

. -- lisa ling and euna lee will be arriving with former president bill clinton from north korea. nikole killion has more on this story. >> all the journalists are very excited to come home. with bags in hand, they boarded a private jet with former president bill clinton to make a flight back to los angeles where they are anxious to reunite with their family. >> i knew something positive was going to happen. it happened. i am so glad and so thankful. >> lisa ling and euna lee had been detained in north korea for several months that they were arrested and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country. the families asked former president clinton to go to north korea along with al gore. >> he had some signal from the north koreans in advance that the trip would be successful. >> they met with the leader in north korea. there are tensions over the country's nuclear program. this could provide an opening to improve conditions. >the number three and state meda says the talks were wide ranging and exhaustive. -- the north korean state media said the talks were wi

tonight we are in santa monica, outside the apartment building of lisa ling. she is the sister of laura ling. we are not sure if this is where the family will be reunited. the women were arrested in march. sentenced to june to 12 years of hard labor. the family hoping this day would come but never knowing for sure if it actually would. the women are on the plane heading back here to california with former president bill clinton. they should be landing sometime tomorrow morning. they have to refuel on the way. the family, of course, has been waiting 140 days. laura ling's father spoke to reporters today. he said he learned the news that his daughter had been pardoned and she would be freed on cnn. he was watching cnn and the breaking news came across and he was ecstatic. here is a little more of what he had to say to reporters today. >> of course, i'm elated. this is one of the happiest days of my life so i'm going to go down there and see my little girl. i knew something positive was going to happen. and it happened. and i'm so glad and so thankful for all the

ling and euna lee. >>> the >> the north koreans were dema demanding two things to free the journalists. onalpology from the u.s. and a personal visit from a high-profile representative. >> now, laura's sister, lisa li ing, says the family are on pins and needles. ea lingier in their captivity, ling spoke poke to our bob woodruff about what what the cust ordeal was like for the two women. for the two women. >> these are good girls. they're not spies. it's my baby sister, you know? nd euna has this beautiful 4-year-old daughter, hannah. >> reporter: a 4-year-old yeah.ter. know h. he reporter: does she know young going on? >> i think she's just young nough that she can't fully comprehend what's happening. but she's gotten a sense. it's been almost three months. >> reporter: what's been really eemarkable, too, is what american people -- actually, verynd the world, hear this news. they're very deeply moved by it. > it's been so amazing to us, her face extrfacebook has been rootsrdinary. this grass roots movement has been born. e lateorn. i've been at home, like late at night. and just feeling emotional. nd i'll post something so inte intensity personal on facebook. so so random. i' i'll just type, i

she told her sister lisa ling, a contributor to "nightline," that there were rocks in the rice they were given, but at least they had food. the past couple of weeks were the hardest. >> we hadn't spoken with her in more than two weeks. and the swedish ambassador had not seen laura and euna for well over a month. so we had absolutely no idea of their physical condition or their mental condition really. so to actually see them in person descending from those steps was just the most incredible feeling we have ever experienced. >> lisa ling had been the public face 06 -- of the campaign to release them since march while a delicate negotiation played out between washington and pyongyang. the two women were accused of crossing the border while filming a piece about the defectors in china for al gore's tv. >> they never intended to cross the border. you know, as journalists, when you're in the field, you know, you never know what is going to arise and things can be unpredictable. >> north korea sentenced them to 12 years of hard labor. in july, laura called her family to deliver a message from

. >>> also ahead this morning, we'll be speaking with lisa ling, whose sister laura was released from captivity in north korea earlier this week along with fellow journalist euna lee. lisa will give us some insight into her sister's five-month long ordeal and tell us how she's doing now. >>> first, experts say it may take three shots to get vaccinated for the flu this year. as millions of children head back to school the next couple of weeks, concerns over the h1n1 virus are ramping up. our dr. jennifer ashton here with more. >> good morning, harry. >>> today health officials will lay out major guidelines for schools on how to manage and prevent any flu outbreaks. >> the h1n1 virus has been smoldering this summer among children largely in summer camps. so it's ready to we're afraid explode once schools reconvene. >> reporter: in the summer hemisphere where it's winter h1n1 has become the dominant strain of the flu infecting thousands. the death toll over 500. a grim warning for the u.s. the centers for disease control present one model predicting 40% of the country, or 140 million ame

lisa ling there with her husband paul. and right in front of lisa is, of course, doug ling, the father of both of the women. >> we just caught a glimpse of the husband of laura. we got a different shot. that i believe is aian right there. he's obscured by some photographers taking pictures. you can see the elation on o his face, he has his hands clasped in front of him. you have a lot of mixed feelings, too. you're so thrilled to see your loved ones, at the same time a highly, highly public reunion taking place. >> kiran, that's the most intriguing thing about this. we have thought that perhaps they would have some private time, that this reunion would be private, it would happen prior to those doors opening. and then the public relations person told us, no, that's not going to happen. we're going to bring them off the plane and they will be re-united right here on the floor. you can see the first person -- >> that looks like hannah. she's almost jumping out of her dad's arms. >> can't imagine what it must be like for them

but, lisa ling, who is laura ling's sister, lisa the well-known journalist, said the family is beyondor them yesterday, both of the extended families were here together in the los angeles area. they were constantly on the phone with the state department, waiting and hoping for the word that finally came that a pardon had come through. of course, laura ling and euna lee had been arrested on the north korea/china border 4 1/2 months ago. they were convicted of illegally entering north korea and sentenced to 12 years hard labor. now they never went to those gulag-like camps but were held in a house there while this intense behind-the-scenes negotiation was going on. a number of names have surfaced to do this trip. but eventually, as you said, it was bill clinton who agreed when requested by both former vice president al gore, and the families of the two women to come here. now lisa ling says it has bn the most unpredictable and challenging 4 1/2 months of her family's life. what will they do once they get here? right now there are no plans beyond this news conference, which we expect any

hearing from lisa ling, the sister of laura ling, one of the two journalists held there.like for the family imagined four months in isolation. and then you come back home. she's going to tell us a little bit about what the girls are going through right now, both of the young women and one of the daughter, euna lee's little girl, hannah, what that's been like as well. >> an amazing story of waiting for mommy to come home. >> she doesn't want to leave her side. >> it's a movie. >> all about it from lisa coming up. racheting up slowly ) ( whooshing, riders cheering ) ♪ every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end ♪ >>> 50 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. this could be a make or break month for the president and his push for health care reform. he has two big goals. he wants to cut costs and improve quality so there's more money to ensure to everyone. but there's a major gap in washington's plan that's not getting enough attention. allan chernoff is digging in to it for you this morning. good morning. good to see you. what is t

lisa ling speaking about her sister's time in captivity.ails. steve: forget the heels, ladies, women forced to wear flats to work because, get, this they are sexist and a safety hazard. find out all about this and why some women are outraged at this new plan. our slogan this hour comes from terry in north carolina. 18 wheels and xm radio, "fox & friends" is the way i roll. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- steve: welcome aboard, folks. it is friday, thank goodness. gretchen: yea! steve: peter is in for brian who is on vacation. peter: hi. steve: he will be back on monday. let's talk about a story that captivated the tri-state area. this is daniel schueler. yesterday he had a press conference. it was quite emotional. he was talking about the last kiss that he had with his wife diane who, about a week ago, set off on a trip home from a campground. and never made it home. in fact, that's her suv. in the process, eight people were killed, including her. most of his f

laura ling embracing her sister lisa ling. i have to be honest with you, regardless of how you feel about this situation politically, it was a tear jerker. i admit it, i have had tears in my eyes. >> absolutely, especially when you saw the daughter of euna lee run up to her mother as she walked down the stairs at the airplane. it was a very emotional reunion for these two american jou journalists, these women who were held by north korea for about five months. after five long months t two just journalists detained in north korea are safely back on u.s. soil. >> it is what kept us going in the darkest of hours, it is what sustained our faith that we would come home. >> reporter: former president bill clinton met with leader kim jong-il tuesday and secured the release of laura ling and euna lee on humanitarian reunion tha seen on television is a source of happiness not only for the families but for the entire country. >> reporter: the two women were arrested four months ago while working tween north korea and china. the journali

. >> we're in santa monica, just outside the apartment building of lisa ling. we're not sure if this is where the family is going to be reunited. we came here just in case. they were sentenced in june and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a prison camp. the family hoping this day would come but never knowing for sure if it actually would. they're headed on the plane, back here to california. they should be landing sometime tomorrow morning. they have to refuel on the way. but the family has been waiting about 140 days. lau laura's father said he learned his daughter had been pardoned and would be freed on cnn. he said the breaking news came across and he was ecstatic. here's more of what he had to say to reporters stud. >> i'm elated. i'm going to go down there and see my little girl. i knew something positive was going to happen and it happened. i'm so glad and thankful for all the people for prayers and thoughts. i'm very thankful to the state department and for the government for doing all they can to gain the release. >> of course, this is a tough time

governor, i understand you talked with lisa ling, laura lick's sister, this afternoon. can you tell us briefly about that conversation? >> yes, i did talk to lisa. she was ecstatic that the two women were coming home, one of them her sister, because they have been... five months, this the longest captivity of an american by the north koreans. there was a lot of mental anguish. there was concern that the two women were going to go to a forced labor camp. but it seems that the north koreans were treating them well, they were in a guest house, they allowed access, phone calls to the families. they also allowed the swedish ambassador to visit. but the families are ecstatic, it's like a long nightmare is over. i've been in touch with them continuously for the last five months and it's finally going to end and hopefully the reunion will happen very, very soon. >> couric: and, governor, why do you think kim jong il returned these two journalists at this moment in time? >> because first of all i think he is right now domestically trying to get support. he has right now a succes

lisa ling saying that the food quality was poor. that laura really looking forward to good food and fresh fruit. other thing i want to tell you about, larry, that beautiful private plane that you saw that white unmarked 737 airplane that's owned by stephen bing, a hollywood heavyweight, big democratic donor. we're told that he donated the plane for this humanitarian mission. the price to north korea and back to the united states, $200,000. all picked up by stephen bing. dow chemical company also paying for some of the transportation costs. mr. clinton today seen leaving burbank on a plane, the gulfstream jet, owned by dow chemical and the company tonight releasing a statement saying that they were happy to contribute to this mission, larry. back to you. >> larry: thanks very much, dan simon, as always, on the scene, this time in san francisco. let's welcome a panel, all of whom were held in captivity. in ottawa, ontario, scott taylor, a journalist. he was held in iraq in 2004. he was tortured, ready for execution on several occasion

lisa ling says her sister told her they did touch north korean territory very briefly.her sister will share the full story with the public. but for now, obviously these women are just trying to readjust to their lives back in the u.s. and spend as much time as possible with their families. >> my sister is so, so happy to be home. she's still quite weak. and exhausted. and incredibly emotional. you know, she's been in relative isolation for months and months. and, you know, she doesn't even like to be alone. yesterday she was so exhausted. and she wanted to take a quick nap. and she kept asking me, are you going to be here when i come back? are you going to be here when i come back? today we took her to the doctor's office, and, you know, i wasn't planning on going to the doctor with her. my mom was going to take her. and she said, will you please come with me. she hasn't wanted to be alone. and i hear from euna's husband, michael, that hannah, their 4-year-old daughter, has not wanted her mother to leave her sight. she just keeps following her around from room to room.

now, we have lisa ling, laura ling's sister on the phone this morning. lisa, e you there? >> i'm here, chris. how are you? >> great to hear your voice. your sister, their well-being, her health, the paramount concern. how is everybody doing? >> well, both euna and laura are elated to be home. and i have to say the past couple of days have just been so extraordinary. they both went to the doctor yesterday. and for the most part, they are doing very well. my sister still has her ulcers. and the doctors said they endured just a tremendous amount of stress. and wants them to just continue to rest as much as possible. but it's been incredible. >> obviously, such an emotional toll. it will take time to play out. they need time to process it. also, what are you learning? four calls home in 4 1/2 months. there's a lot of spaces for you to fill in. what have you learned in these last couple of days? >> well, we haven't really talked too much about what -- you know, what it was like. the ordeal was very, very challenging. and, frankly, difficult for my sister to talk about. and she

lisa ling says euna ling's 4- year-old daughter has been following her mother around the house from room to room since she returned home. >>> this is the scene at a home in northwest over a week ago. a raging fire engulfing the home of peggy cooper cafritz, the former d.c. school board president. her mansion burned to the ground. at the time firefighters said putting out the flames was tough because of low water pressure from several hydrants. that's a problem that has plagued other high profile fires in the city. today the mayor, the fire department and wasa talked about it. >> i think it was significantly off of what we needed, but it's important to remember again as the mayor said, the home was 15,000 square feet, which is a very big house, and the house was significantly involved. so it was probably 800 to 1,000 gallons or more short of what we needed to contain the fire. >> if there is ever another fire in this area that it come through with the water supply trucks, water supply engines and that would make a tremendous difference were there to be another fires. so th residents of ca

entering north korea and engaging in hostile acts, one of them the sister of the well known journalist, lisa ling. lisa and others back in the united states could only hold vigils and worry. >> what makes it scary is that i can't really picture or imagine what is happening for her, and it's that sort of unknown which makes it all the more scary. >> but knowing their fate did not make it better. both women were sentenced to 12 years hard labor. it was a punishment few predicted would actually be carried out. but even before the sentence came down, the secretary of state, hillary clinton, made a comment that would seem to foreshadow today's developments. >> we have explored other approaches, including the use of special representatives. >> it is not clear whether her husband was among the "special representatives" then under consideration. but hours ago the 43rd president of the united states descended the steps of a plane in the capital, pyongyang, and just a short time later he was face-to-face with the leader kim jong il and working on the release of two women who worked for a man who once wark

but we also remember, lisa ling, of course, the sister of laura ling, talking about the medical problemster has. and so, there is some thought that, of course, going to have some testing before they go home wi their families. and just check out to make sure that they're all right. but as diane said earlier, all indications are they were receiving the best of care, while they were there in north korea. >> they were at least kept safe and being fed well. and we should say, emerging from the plane, too. former clinton administration officials who traveled with the former president there. want to remind everybody, that euna lee has a 4-year-old daughter. we don't know if she's there or not. she had been told, as you said earlier, robin, that her momas at work. and every day, she would look for her to come home. this is the day she will come home. >> she will come home. and there are just so many tense moments, since they were sentenced. again, to 12 years, back in june, for what the north koreans said, for sneaking into the country illegally. and engaging in hostile acts. >> want to go to ma

laura ling is also married and the younger sister of lisa ling.r cnn's anderson cooper. >> all we can say is they are journalists and they were doing their job. my sister has been a journalist for years. that's really all we can say. we weren't in the courtroom. we don't know any sort of specifics other than what was released. we just hope, given the nakt we know the girls have apologized profusely, that they will let the girls come home to us. it's been three months and that's been too long for us. >> in our talk, what might both sides of the negotiating table have given up? let's bring in jack pritchard, president of the korean institution, a special envoy in george w. bush's administration and an adviser regarding the kl korean inform mags. >> in all of these pictures we have seen, the north korean president looks like a happy man here. why is he so happy? >> he is happy because he is standing right next to bill clinton. he has wanted to have bill clinton there for a number of years. that's the happiest i have ever seen him. >> why was bill cli

beheading and laurel lane -- euna lee and lisa ling leaving with former president bill clinton headed back home to california airport. they were being held in north korea. >> i am going to go down there and see my little girl. >> the former president had a secret meeting and had the blessing of the secretary of state in president obama who demanded their release. al gore who employed the journalists helped arrange their release before bill clinton went. the dictator came out to bask in the world spotlight. >> which allows them to solidified himself both internationally and nationally by having this photograph in meeting and a visit by former president bill clinton. >> he urged them to end their nuclear program. bill clinton is bringing home the details along with two freed americans. wbal-tv. >> secretary of state hillary clinton is in kenya. it is the first stop on her african nation tour. she will attend a trade meeting while there in efforts to boost u.s. trade and investment opportunities in africa. the u.s. is ready to help address their food supply problem. america is prepared t

it, actually, this soon, but we are nonetheless just absolutely thrilled. >> all right, that is lisa lingre standing outside the family's california home and also iaian clayton who is laura ling's husband, lisa ling's brother-in-law. pardon me, before i went there, i said they were held inside iran, but i meant north korea. again, they are home safe. and there are lots of questions of why former president clinton was the person to get them out. but we'll talk about it all on cnn. but certainly it is good they are home. >>> you heard the president talking moments ago in indiana, about the economy, about health care. we have some new poll numbers about president obama's health care plan, and our senior political analyst, mr. bill schneider, will join us to talk about that. iain clayton. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. >>> well, despite weeks of street protests, iran's mahmoud

doug lee, the father of lisa ling and laura ling spoke outside of the house saying this is going to be the happiest day of his life. he said it's the worst time he had gone through but he never gave up faith. >> did you know president clinton was going? >> i had a good idea he was going. >> describe your journey today here? >> i'm more excited. more excited and i'm looking forward to seeing her. been waiting for five months now. >> what are you going to tell your daughter when you see her? >> i love you. give her a big hug. >>> now, euna lee's husband, her 4-year-old daughter, hannah are expected to be here along with laura ling's husband of 12 years. ian clayton all will be here all for this very joyous occasion. you will see it all live right here this morning. kiran, back to you. >> thelma gutierrez for us. thanks so much. >>> coming up, we're going to be speaking to cnn's chief correspondent, christiane amanpour. she was granted access to north korea's nuclear facility. she's going to wait on what the fallout is for the two girls, the prisoners, and how it can affect long-term nego

today we're asking what life was like in north korea and an emotional reaction from sister lisa ling. how much did president clinton's rescue mission cost and are taxpayers picking up the tab? we have answers on that as well. the president is approaching a big milestone, 200 days on the job. here at cnn, we're bringing home the political team to take a look at how the president and the country are doing. we asked you to grade the performance zeroing in on the top priorities, health care, foreign policy, but first, the economy. there's a brand new cnn research opinion poll that came out seconds ago showing 44% of you think that the president's policies have made the economy better. 51% say no, they have not. where is he scoring and where is he stumbling? talk to noted economists as well as "business week's" diane brady with us in a few moments. and we have here on set, christine romans and suzanne malveaux. we start with suzanne. clearly a lot of challenges. when he gets it grade, from our polling, people are saying there's still work to be done on the economy. >> the one thing you hea

lisa ling is saying her sister and euna lee only briefly touched north korean soil before they were capturedey then spent more than five months in isolation. >> she read a lot. we were able to send her books. for exercise, as she walked around her room sometimes for hours in the day. they think was a little difficult. they did not have hot water. the water was sporadic. >> the pair arrived in the u.s. on wednesday. they had a visit from bill clinton. >>> 6:44. >> new unemployment numbers are set to be released this morning. experts are saying those numbers will be good. heard you're getting free nights from hotels.com. how? well, funny you should ask. you see, after i book 10 nights, i get a free one. say i spend 2 nights at a big name tel, 3 at a boutique, and 5 at a beach resort... and boom! free night. ( dings, monkey chatters ) ( in a baby voice ) aren't you a smart one? ( monkey laughs ) accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. >> you are watching abc 7's "good morning washington," with doug mckelway, alison starling, meteorologist bria

there is lisa ling, the sister of laura ling, and she, too, is a reporter.he does some reporting for the cnn network as well as national geographic, if i'm remembering correctly here, so the families are just jumping out of their skin because this cannot happen fast enough. they have had to wait for so long, and you know what? yeah. let's watch here. i don't want you to miss anything. you will not miss anything. there are so many different cameras here and dignitaries. i'm going to ask our producers what they want to do because this could take a couple minutes here. let's keep our picture up there, the live picture, and at the same time on the right-hand side -- oh, wait, wait. just wait a second. i'm not sure if these folks -- one of them is a family member. one of them is a husband, i believe, of euna lee. i'm not sure if he's going to the plane or if he's going to the microphone. i'm told the door is opening, and at long last, probably a moment that these families thought would never happen. let's listen in. if these pictures do not move you to tears, gos

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