michelle gillett reports his life came to a screeching halt when he turned his attention to cuba and inadvertently helped change history and how he sees his life. >> reporter: here we are in front of the white house. did you ever have moments of thinking you would never be back on us soil? >> no. i always knew i would come back. always. >> reporter: 66-year-old alan gross says he recklessly clung to that hope for five years. as he sat for days and nights for nearly a year in total darkness. incarcerated in a cuban jail cell. >> reporter: the first time i heard the clanking of the door >> reporter: within hours of his arrest he was interrogated by cuban police for allegedly being an american spy. what would they say? >> they threaten to hang me. they threatened to pull out my fingernails. this i would never see the light of day. i do not see the light of day for more than 20 minutes the first year. >> reporter: us government contractor he was sought out and hired. he said to set up internet connections in cuba. in what turned out to be a pilot project for the jewish community. >> the