>> reporter: jake, the plan was for contractors working for usaid to recruit cubans for missions fortural initiatives but really use these as a way to build their own profile and descent as the government, the idea that was to infiltrate the underground hip-hop scene and use it it as a kernel, if you will, to start a mass opposition to the government. jake? >> i believe this is not the first time that the u67y have t to infiltrate the government and what's the agency's response to this? >> reporter: well, just earlier this year the press revealed an extensive program organized through a usaid contract and absolutely no irony at all in that title which received millions of dollars and had two main programs. one was an attempt to set up a cuban version of twit tore evade what the u.s. calls an information blockade inside this carribean nation. that was not a success. the second, however, was a little more troubling which involved third-party nationals from latin america who were encouraged in their meetings with cuban students while attending meetings at cuban universities. now, the us

alan gross was a usaid employee. he was sent down with satellite increment. -- increment.imes other people were sent. the equipment was used to allow people on the island to directly cumin a kit with the united states so that the cuban security networks work cuban internet lines would not pick it up. was supported because he was jewish by jewish groups he originally claimed he was down a working on behalf of jewish groups to spread information to other jewish groups in miami. he ultimately admitted that wasn't true. he ultimately sued the american government percent in him down without warning him specifically about what was going to happen to him. very little question any longer that he was sent by the government. he said he was sent by the government and the government admitted it. asamerica he is per trade something other than that -- portrayed as something other than that. >> you met with alan gross in cuba, is that right? yes, i'm that with alan gross twice over a one-year period for a total of seven hours. , awas in a military hospital wing of a military hospital tha

it began usaid has assistance and response teams in each of those countries and as of today they have not requested that support. >> general rodrigues how you adjusted your mission out. given the fact that rates are coming down? how has it changed and what lessons learned if he had to do this again and sierra leone what would you do differently and finally to think u.s. personnel still need to be quarantined when they leave? >> i think as we look forward to another country and sierra leone those four things are what the committee believes are the things that are making a difference. outreach to people in the education and training of the people and the health care workers as well as the lab so those are the things that are the most important. of course the challenge to find and understand where there's a hotspot and move the resources there quickly will be part of that solution. for people we are still collecting data. as you know we have had several people go through the 21 day controlled monitoring and we will continue to watch that through the next 30 days and then we will take a l

the other data point i can provide to you is that the usaid programs that have been in place and that have drawn the criticism of the cuban regime will continue even after dr. shaw transitions out of his current job. >> thank you. >> reporter: josh, does the president envision a visit to havana? >> there's nothing on the schedule right now. the president did hint that there will be senior government officials who will carry out the kind of work that's indicative of two nations seeking to normalize their relations. so, i certainly wouldn't rule out a presidential visit but i don't have anything to announce at this point. >> reporter: but he would like to go, though? he would like to go? >> i assume, like many americans, he has -- he has seen that the -- that cuba is a place where they have a beautiful climate and a lot of fun things to do, so there's an opportunity for the president to visit, i'm sure he wouldn't turn it down. how about that? >> reporter: one of the points senator rubio made -- >> josh earnest giving the daily briefing. >>> the release of alan gross as well as an ameri

usaid has disaster assistance response teams in each of those countries. as of today they have not requested that support. >> how have you adjust your mission in liberia given the fact that rates are coming down, will you not be building as many hospitals? how does it change what lessons learned if you had to do this again in sierra leone, what would you do differently and do you think u.s. personnel still need to be quarantined? >> we look forward to doing something in another country and like sierra leone, those four things are what the international community believes are the things that make a difference between the our reach to the people and education and training of the people and the health care workers as well as the last so those are the things that are most important and of course the challenge to find and understand where there is on hot spot and move the resources quickly will be part of that solution. for our people, we are still collecting data. we have several people go through the 21 day control monitoring and we will continue to watch tha

as you know, my employer has been running a series of stories about usaid. public attempts -- i don't know what you would call it. to influence or give the cuban people let's say, a voice, are those kinds of things going to continue now since this announcement? two, did the departure of the usaid chief this morning play into this at all? >> sure, there is absolutely no relationship between the departure of the head of usaid, the rest of the president for six years now, five years, thank you. i think everybody would agree and had made the determination some time ago, separate from this announcement that he would be leaving around this time. as you know, there has been a review of many of our programs and have been changes that usaid has announced. however, we continue to believe that access for civil society, democracy programs are positive and something we will continue to fund in supporting cuba. >> ok. the same kinds of one's. the things with rappers. >> there are a number of programs that may not continue to run. i when i can into the specifics of that. t

citizen and usaid sub-contractor alan gross for five years. over many months, my administration has held discussions with the cuban government about alan's case, and other aspects of our relationship. his holiness pope francis issued a personal appeal to me, and to cuba's president raul castro, urging us to resolve alan's case, and to address cuba's interest in the release of three cuban agents who have been jailed in the united states for over 15 years. today, alan returned home -- reunited with his family at long last. alan was released by the cuban government on humanitarian grounds. separately, in exchange for the three cuban agents, cuba today released one of the most important intelligence agents that the united states has ever had in cuba, and who has been imprisoned for nearly two decades. this man, whose sacrifice has been known to only a few, provided america with the information that allowed us to arrest the network of cuban agents that included the men transferred to cuba today, as well as other spies in the united states. this man

but the ayersts that usaid was focusing on were called los aldeanos, and they had a song called "rap is war." >> sreenivasan: how did this go wrong? >> the people that were part of the program kept getting detained by the cuban officials who would go through their computers and thumb drives and constant trying to figure out what was going on. the u.s.a.i.d. contractors continued to go through customs with their computers and they were detained so many times, that the cubans ultimately figured it out. >> sreenivasan: so what happened as a result, say, to the band members? >> well, one of the key things that happened is that there was an independent music concert festival in cuba at the time. and at the concert in 2010, the los aldeanos performed before a crowd of 15, 000, the biggest crowd ever, but afterwards the cubans figured out it was funded by u.s.a.i.d., so they took it over and that ended the big independent music festival that was on the island at the time. >> sreenivasan: mawn manare going to wonder what does u.s.a.i.d. have to do with this. when we think of u.s.a.i.d., we t

thatm@'qu really not only expos contractors to risk, but cheapen usaid's mission around the rest of the world. so i hope that we'll continue to work on the travel issue. it goes without saying that we need to pivot away from that quasi-covert programs like i mentioned, cuba twitter, this debacle gives the u.s. a black eye, all around the world. not just in cuba or the western hemisphere. i have always felt that we shouldn't let cuba write our foreign policy. we have had an issue with both republicans and democrats in the white house where we'll take the position that we will take measures like further lifting of the travel ban or loosening the economic embargo, when cuba takes certain measures. i think that's the wrong calculus, that is based on the a1u6 assumption that the cuban government wants that to happen. i have never been convinced, at times they want it, at times they don't. and they seem to get spooked when we do make some changes to better relationships with cuban people and with the government. and so we shouldn't base our policy based on what we think the cubans want or

it was paid for by the development agency known as usaid and farmed out to contractors for millions of dollars. it's said to have been inspired by serbian concerts, it may have put some artists in danger. one of the biggest criticisms in all this, they were recruited with clear political goals in mind. it's alleged they were not told this that. >> u.s. aid told al jazeera the program was never a street, but part of an effort to strengthen cuban society. the state department said that safety of those involved was a responsibility of contractors. >> we recognize that order cubans run the risk of upsetting authorities by participating initiatives, and for that reason these programs are managed with appropriate discretion. so it was the responsibility of the grantee. >> but this is not the first time that usaid has been accused of undermining cuba's government. a twitter account was also paid for by agency. and programs like it are welcomed. >> i believe firmly anything that can be done along those lines perhaps not through usaid, so as not to create problems for other programs that they h

the usaid programs that have drawn the criticism of the cuban regime will continue even after dr. shaw transitions out of his current job. president envision a visit to havana? >> the president did hint there would be senior government officials who would carry out the kind of work that is indicative of two nations seeking to normalize relations. i would not rule out a presidential visit. >> he would like to go? ask i assume, like many cuba is a he has seen place with a beautiful climate and they have lots of things to do. there is a lot of opportunity for him to visit and i'm sure he would not turn that down. next one of the points senator the white is that house has conceded everything but gained very little. what has the white house gained from this deal? >> that is something we have long sought. he was held unjustifiably by the cubans for more than five years. his release is long overdue and the cubanssed to see have granted him his humanitarian release will stop the second thing is, we have secured an agreement to essentially swap spies and we recovered a highly valued intell

as part of the program, usaid hired creative associates international, a firm that also played a key role in the "cuban twitter" program a fake social media program launched in another bid to undermine the cuban government. in the hip-hop case, creative associates was directed to recruit young rap artists looking to make "social change." but the program ended up endangering some of the artists, spiking their careers and forcing some, like rodriguez's son, to move to florida. the vatican has praised the role of nuns in the united states following a controversial years-long probe into their adherence to catholic doctrine. the report marks a shift in tone from a 2012 vatican reprimand which resulted in an all-male takeover of the largest group of u.s. nuns. the nuns were accused of promoting "radical feminist" ideas and challenging teachings on homosexuality and the all-male priesthood. at a news conference tuesday, sister sharon holland, president of the leadership conference of women religious, praised the latest vatican findings. >> as the reexport -- as the report itself acknowledge

he was there as part of usaid. this just coming in. jeb bush has a statement on this as the former governor of florida. he says it's quote spectacular news but he shouldn't have been there in the first place. he missed his mother's funeral. his older daughter's wedding. a lot has gone on with his family. bill: it will be interesting to get the reaction from south florida if there was some quid pro quo that suggests three cubans were released in exchange for him. but it's very intriguing that at noon eastern time the president speaks at the same time raoul castro speaks in havana. what will the president say. 5, 6 years in his presidency he has tried to make headway in iran. that has been met with one can argue various degreets of success and perhaps this is another attempt to normalize relations with a country that has been at odd with the united states for the last 50 years. from the cabinet room today he will make the comments. when you get him like that it's not off the cuff but not as prepared as when he comes to the press room to

and i heard somebody like hillary clinton might make usaid part of the state department. i wonder what your thoughts are on the future of development? >> the problem with a id from is that it was in the 1960's with a certain philosophy of what economic development is supposed to be about. it was very much motivated by humanitarian interests and nationbuilding. that's a pretty much outdated economic philosophy these days. they have the struggle for an identity. they mix a lot of their concerns about humanitarian policies. withimes it gets combined values like democracy. it hardly ever gets straightened out. aid should be a part. certainly not a cabinet position. you have a policy that is more a more and you have serious discussion about what that is. because of the way it is actually constructed. that people in the embassies that have their own independence , they have been this way for many years. it insident to put the state department. maybe anr try to have elimination where you have some kind of a strategic thinking of the policies being recommended with what the rest

white house insisted today the release of allan gross was not part of a prisoner shop and that the usaidwho they say was not a spy was released on humanitarian grounds. in exchange for 53 political prisoners and a second american, a u.s. intelligence asset held by cuba for nearly 20 years. >> we have clearly seen that this is a swap and that is a bad precedent, eric. in terms of that sends the message to other regimes, take american prisoners because you might get an embassy. >> defenders of the ex -- u.s. pows, which led to questions about whether such prisoner swaps encouraged the kidnapping of more americans, governor bill richardson tried to negotiate gross's release in 2007. >> americans are always going to be bargaining chips, getting an american is kind of a prize, that 's terrible. but that is a reality. but in this case, i think allan gross for three cubans is fair and proportional. >> reporter: today's swap is reminisce sent of -- president ronald reagan authorized numerous exchanges. a year later, soviet jewish distent was exchanged for nine russian spies. four years ago, the

but you cannot do that because the way usaid is constructed. they have had their own independence from what the ambassador wants. it has been this way for many years. but i do not want to put it inside the state departments are just become so agency that point of view inside of state bureaucracy, rather try to have a a eakdown and, perhaps, even breakdown of usaid three have strategic thinking of the policies they recommend. >> any comments? okay, yes, sir. over to the side. >> i am aaron -- know who you are. >> i'm a graduate student at american university, and i'm running my thesis on millennial foreign-policy. as cold warriors retire and the millennial sort of step into these policymaking are going to -- i consider myself a millennial, right? how will the u.s. foreign policy system work with our style of who we are and how we see the world? issues rhaps, what key -- what kind of issues will motivate us? >> all right. >> i don't know, but i would urge you to -- to not assume that you all are going to have same point of view, and the way that

nih, cdc, department of defense, usaid -- multiple key industrial sk, johnson &om g johnson and merck represented here today. ambitions became important players. bill and melinda gates foundation, hewlett foundation, international organizations. the vaccine alliance, just pat thursday. the board of gaby committed to up to $300 million for purchase of the vaccine once approved along with $90 million in rollout and support and strengthening the main of immunization programs. side, a standout true hero of the response over the notse of 2014 and the saga, surprisingly have jumped forward to assist with trials of and possibly a vaccine later in the 2015. this mobilization has been remarkable in several ways. and theusual speed flexibility and cooperation that we will hear more about that we will hear more out across the different institutions. there was a pivotal meeting october 23 posted by who which , industryd donors revised upwards projected manufacturing capacities, a certain pragmatism and debate opening about whether it is possible to adhere to classic randomized control trials vers

hunger by authorizing and strengthening the existing national food security program coordinated by usaid commonly known as feed the future. this program strengthening nutrition, especially for children -- strengthens nutrition, especially for children during the critical first 1,000 day window from conception to the child's second birthday it. also teaches small scale farmers, in particular women, the requisite techniques and best practices to increase agricultural yield, thereby helping nations achieve food security. something that is first and foremost humane, but also in the national security interests of the united states as well. this program is self-sufficient and host governments have committed to investing in local agricultural government and undertaken reforms to allow the economy to flourish. local capacity and sustainability is one of the hallmarks and linking them and boosting transparency and accountability. the end result of this can be seen in lives saved and lives enriched. in the past year, the program has helped seven million farmers across the globe to increase harvest

howard, a former usaid. i am wondering how you do your partnerships in the community. i'm really wondering about what executive you're talking about. to what extent you, first of all, bring in families and center some of your work in the schools. and in another aspect of it, it seems to me, is not just with the muslim kids, with a non-muslim kids because the worst thing is when the muslim kids feel totally excluded and isolated and harassed. >> sorry that i did not go into that in great detail. i think have a lot of people have furred my explanation of that model -- heard my explanation of that model. what we are famous for is the that it is not egocentric. it is a community model system. we are not trying to stigmatize the muslim community. a lot have grown up in a house have not practiced islam, and they are radicalizing and 3 to 6 month intervals in some cases. so it is not much of a debate about islam at all. about having a l community that understands what the risk factors are, and as i mentioned, the multitude of risk factors. and then deciding how they going to

. >> reporter: but this is not the first time that usaid have been accused of undermining cuban government. the pro-democracy faked twitter account was made by the agency. and for many programs like it are welcome. >> i believe anything that can be done along those lines perhaps not to create problems for other programs, but anything that could be done is a good thing. >> the critics say that u.s. efforts to undermine the cuban government are simply counterproductive. >> all it does is bring out the worst for the cuban regime. a government that was very repressive, but through acts like this, all it does is create more paranoia and mistrust, and incentivizing them to crackdown on all sectors of society. >> reporter: the program which ran for two years is now closed down. those critical of it will for now only listen to cuba's real musicians. >> pope francis apparently believes that all dogs go to heaven. the pontiff was overheard consoling a boy whose pet had died. the pontiff reportedly told him, quote, one day we'll see all of our animals again in the eternity of christ. the pope's words

in addition to the spy exchange, an american subcontractor who had worked for usaid, alan gross, who been held in a cuban prison for the last five year, alan gross was also flown home today. this was officially announced as a release on humanitarian grounds. indeed mr. gross was thought to be in worrying decline in terms of his health although he was elated to be released today and returned to his family. the cuban government also today agreed to release 53 other prisoners, 53 other prisoners who cuba calls run of the mill prisoners but who the united states considered to be political prisoners. that big trading of the spies and all those prisoner releases, those were the transactional details today. the u.s. cut off diplomatic relations with cuba in 1961. today our diplomatic relations were restored by order of the president of the united states. the united states will now move to open an embassy in cuba for the first time since the eisenhower administration, cuba will open an embassy here. travel restrictions will be somewhat relaxed. cuban americans will be able to send more money

the first was the cuba released alan gross, the 65-year-old contractor for usaid who had been imprisoneda administration said that was done as a humanitarian gesture. and the second part of this was a prisoner swap of which gross was not a part. the u.s. released three cuban natives who had served as spice for cuba who had been in prison over 15 years here in the united states in exchange for cuba releasing one american who had been a spy for us and imprisoned in cuba. the third and central part was president obama's announcement of dramatic changes to policy change towards cuba, much of which has been in place since the era of jfk. the bottom line here, bill, yes, the u.s. is moving towards normalization of relations with cuba, complete with an american embassy in havana at some point and will reevaluate whether cuba should remain on the list of nations that sponsor terrorism. but if you look at the state department's 2013 annual report country by country on human rights, this remains an authoritarian country that practices just about every abuse you can think of on its citizens. >> and

. >> a major obstacle stood in our way, the wrongful imprisonment of a usaid subcontractor for five years. >> reporter: last march he found a pivotal player to help broker the deal, pope francis. they discussed cuba at the vatican, something mr. obama did not disclose when asked by cnn. >> what were his concerns? >> in terms of the meeting with his holiness pope francis, we had a wide-ranging discussion. >> reporter: earlier the pope kept the conversation going this year sending letters to president obama and raul castro then in october the vatican welcomed officials to push the talks forward. >> translator: i want to thank and recognize the support of the vatican. >> reporter: he flew to cuba to bring him home. >> i'm not sure everybody is happy. there's no doubt about that. we've already seen that and yet he says it's always better to be talking than not talking and that is really what this was about. >> reporter: a senior administration official says cuba's former leader fidel castro was not involved. as for a presidential trip to cuba. white house is not ruling one out noting mr. obam

prisoners, including usaid contractor alan gross.d his wife, adriana perez, are now expecting a baby girl. senator leahy appeared on "today" to discuss what happened. >> ok, we will do this if you do that. we just didn't as a human -- as humans. ofto improve the conditions alan gross's prison cell. the major medic improvements. didn't release him, but major medic improvements. letter froma cursing she was pregnant and -- and we got a letter from her sexual pregnant and thanking us. i felt like a godfather or something. the joy on his face, especially the joy on hers, and they're going to have a little girl. >> senator leahy questioned yes longtime aide facilitated this. for more we're joined by martin garbus, who played a key role in this amazing story. he is a member of the cuban five legal team. "time magazine" calls martin garbus one of the best trial lawyers in the country, while the national law journal has named him one of the country's top ten litigators. were you there when the transfer of sperm was made? >> i was not. i thin

and so i appreciate usaid and state department in working with me on this legislation, and i'm very glad it's included in these provisions. these are just a few of the positive examples of the importance of this defense authorization bill. there are many, many other important provisions in this bill. and that's why it's important that we get this done today or tomorrow. there are two areas of issues that i want to address briefly that i am a little concerned about on this bill. as a member of the senate armed services committee -- and i've also, i'm married to a veteran. i plan to vote for this bill because of the positive components of it. but one area that i'm concerned with is that we're again looking at the compensation and we're looking at the housing allowances of our men and women in uniform, and it reminds me a little bit -- it's not an exact analogy -- of when we had the budget agreement over a year ago, there was an adjustment made to the cost of living increases, and it was a cut really in the military retirement of some of those who have served our country. and i was someone

prisoners, including usaid contractor alan gross. and gerardo hernandez and his wife, adriana perez, are now expecting a baby girl. and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron mate. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. calls are increasing for the obama administration to prosecute bush administration officials connected to the cia torture program. on monday, the american civil liberties union and human rights watch sent a letter to attorney general eric holder urging him to appoint a special prosecutor to probe the crimes detailed in the senate intelligence committee's report on the cia's torture program. also on monday, the "new york times" editorial board called for a full and independent criminal investigation. meanwhile, physicians for human rights is calling for a federal commission to investigate, document, and hold accountable all health professionals who took part in the cia torture . >> l

gross, an american usaid worker imprisoned, reunited with his life this morning, flown back to the united states after the pilot announced that they had left cuban airspace, gross stood. he took a deep breath and then he telephoned his two daughters. i'm free, he told them. and on this, the first day of hanukkah, gross celebrated by having potato pancakes or latkas and a corned beef on mustard. elise abbott, bringing alan gross home obviously central to today's news, but what else pushed president obama to act? >> well, you know, jake, that president obama took office looking to engage cuba. he felt this was the moment now because of some modest changes that are happening on the island and also because it was hurting u.s. policy in the region. now secretary of state john kerry of thes to be the first secretary to go to cuba in more than 50 years. u.s. contractor alan gross on american soil with his release, a historic opening of u.s. relations with cuba after five decades of confrontation. seeing the american flag for the first time in five years, a frail gross was overcome. his toothless

assaulted into the stretch of irrigated canal land actually ironic twist of history, been built by usaid projects in the 1950's and 1960's as part of the cold war rival with the soviet. they built the stone west of helmand that brought -- zone west of helmand that brought irrigation to the desert. that turned into poppy cultivation. a bash and of the taliban, by the mid to thousands. the marines air assaulted in. there was a very televised battle. they threw the taliban out. for a few years, the area was poppy-free. since then, as the marines have left in the afghan government has become very distracted by the elections farmers had taken to poppy cultivation again. it was a general trend that was small gains had been made were being reversed. they had largely been driven by short-term incentives. i went to marja and hung out with these farmers and saw the opium harvest and it was really remarkable because i was sitting in living rooms with this kind of brings out of basketball sized lump of opium. i asked him how much was thinking he would sell this for. he said, he hoped to sell it for

finally, the deal about swapping the spies and freeing alan gross, this usaid guy. the final deal an the spy swap and prisoner releases happened at the vatican just two months ago. it happened in october. they had one more logistics meeting thereafter in canada to plan the nitty-gritty, including the flight schedules and choreograph the handoff of the spies. once the deal was settled on and arranged it was two days after the midterms when president obama convened a national security council meeting at the white house so the national security council could get briefed an the deal and sign off on it. that was november 6th when the national security council got briefed on what was about to happen with cuba. honestly given washington, one of the most amazing parts is the national security council knew about all of this as of november 6th and here it is december whatever and none of it leaked. none of it leaked over the next six weeks. it didn't leak, and it worked. and so here are the three cuban spies who we traded to them meet with raul castro. and somewhere in americ

to normalize diplomatic relations with cuba and ease economic restrictions coming as cuba released usaidactor allen gross after holding him in prison for five years. you can watch the president's announcement along with congressional reaction and the statement beginning tonight at 8:00 o'clock eastern. >> the tenth anniversary of our sunday primetime program featuring an encore presentation of one q&a from each year. from 2,005 guinness fienberg , from 2006 the six the importance of the african american experience, from 2,007 robert novak, from 2,008 the value of higher education,, and from 2,009 conservative commentator. a decade of compelling conversations. december 22 through the 26th at seven pm eastern. >> eastern. >> this year's nobel peace prize was awarded. 17-year-old pakistani activist for the struggles against the suppression of young people and for the right of all children to education. the ceremony includes musical performances and speeches by both laureates. this is two hours. >> welcomes guests to the annual nobel peace prize ceremony. december 10 is the day on which bell

citizen and usaid subcontractor, alan gross, for five years. over many months, my administration has held discussions with the cuban government about alan's case and other aspects of our relationship. his holiness, pope francis, issued a personal appeal to me and to cuba's president, raul castro, urging us to resolve alan's case and to address cuba's interest in the release of three cuban agents who have been jailed in the united states for over 15 years. today alan returned home, reunited with his family at long last. alan was released by the cuban government on humanitarian grounds. separately, in exchange for the three cuban agents, cuba today released one of the most important intelligence agents that the united states has ever had in cuba and who has been in prison for nearly two decades. this man whose sacrifice known to only a few provided america with the information that allowed uses to arrest the network of cuban agents that included the men transferred to cuba today as well as other spies in the united states. this man is now safely

curtis -- kurdish refugees with the usaid logo on them. we become the good guys again.we save the refugees ultimately. we have an opportunity to feel good about ourselves. we are defining ourselves in positive ways. if we start at this moment and look at the literature coming out of the united nations -- boutros boutros-ghali, agenda for peace. eventually candidate, then president bill clinton talking , talking about using the united nations in different ways. some type of rapid reaction force. the secretary-general calling for a standing army. maybe this can be replicated. maybe we are not damned ultimately to have these humanitarian interventions. maybe there's something we can learn about ourselves. the conflicts are continuing. interstate conflict begins to die off. notice the red here. diminishes, diminishes. 1991 to the end of the cold war. intrastate conflict is going up and up and up. we increasingly get ourselves challenged. civil war wars throughout africa challenging us and challenging this purpose. we start feeling a little guilty. here i'm going to personal

it has been five years now, also, since usaid subcontractor alan gross was taken into custody in cuba. today the white house put out a statement on his imprisonment saying, in part, we remain deeply concerned for alan's health and reiterate our call for his release. for alan's wife judy, that is not enough. judy gross saying enough is enough, my husband has paid a terrible price for serving his country and community. adding, it is time for president obama to bring alan back to the united states now, otherwise it will be too late. gross was detained in 2009 for bringing in satellite equipment to cuba in violation of cuban law. he was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. it's about getting to the finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that

but i found we also strayed into areas that were better done by usaid. and that we sometimes didn't lack the oversight for running projects in the field from washington. so i think there are pluses to that kind of an office but there are warnings, as well. >> why don't we shift to you and get some reaction to the report and a little bit of your experience on how we might carry it out. >> sure. first of all, this is a very important report. and i want to commend them giving us something to work with that's now organized and very well structured. it raises the issues that need to be thought about, and in a sense can provide a guide path for an administration thinking about deploying an envoy. what it also needs to do, however, is to stimulate case studies. what we've had today, even, are two examples of successful envoys. but they're successful in part, i would think, because of both of these gentlemen came up through the system. they were both experts before being appointed envoys. they were experts in the fields that they were asked to focus on. they had