2014 news

Sunday, 7 December 2014

Obama tells BET: 'Things are better'

President Barack Obama discusses race relations in an interview with BET set to air on Monday

President Barack Obama tells BET racial tension "isn't something that is going to be solved overnight"

Obama has at times been reluctant to lead a national conversation on race

Washington (CNN) -- After weeks of racial protests across the country, President Barack Obama is taking the time to deliver encouraging words about the future of race relations in America to a network that reaches a predominately young African-American audience.

"What I told the young people who I met with -- we're going to have more conversations over the coming months -- is, 'This isn't something that is going to be solved overnight,' Obama says in an interview with BET that will air Monday. "'This is something that is deeply rooted in our society. It's deeply rooted in our history.'"

Once criticized for shying away from the topic of race early on in his presidency, Obama has more recently been forced to lead a discussion on the issue.

In his interview, the President says African-American youth need to be both persistent and patient in order to make progress on the issue of racial tensions in America.

"It's important to recognize as painful as these incidents are, we can't equate what is happening now to what happened fifty years ago," the President said in the interview. "If you talk to your parents, grandparents, uncles, they'll tell you that things are better -- not good, in some cases, but better."

"The reason it's important for us to understand that progress has been made is that then gives us hope that we can make even more progress," he said.

The President also urged persistence in the effort to solve racial tensions, reminding the audience that typically progress occurs in "steps" and "increments."

"You know, when you're dealing with something that's as deeply rooted as racism or bias in any society, you've got to have vigilance but you have to recognize that it's going to take some time and you just have to be steady so that you don't give up when we don't get all the way there," he said.

In light of two recent back-to-back grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men, the President has vowed to take action.

Obama announced last week that he and outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder are "not going to let up" in the effort to ease racial tensions that exists between law enforcement officers and minorities in communities nationwide.

Is this the end for Southern Democrats?

Southern Democrats who lost key races this election cycle

Once the South's dominant party, Democrats suffered devastating losses in 2014

One longtime observer says he can't remember it being any gloomier for Southern Dems

"The party has been demonized by Republicans. It's very bleak," says Curtis Wilkie

Now, Democrats are looking everywhere for solutions for their Southern problem

New Orleans (CNN) -- The 2014 elections seemed like the final reckoning for Southern Democrats, the culmination of a political metamorphosis that began in the Civil Rights era and concluded under the nation's first black President.

Wiped out in governors' races, clobbered in Senate contests, irrelevant in many House districts and boxed out of state legislatures, Democrats in the South today look like a rump party consigned to a lifetime of indignity.

"I can't remember it being any gloomier for Democrats in the South than it is today," said Curtis Wilkie, the longtime journalist and observer of Southern life who lectures at the University of Mississippi. "The party has been demonized by Republicans. It's very bleak. I just don't see anything good for them on the horizon."

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Democrats are looking everywhere for solutions to their Southern problem. They hope population changes will make states such as Georgia and North Carolina more hospitable. They want more financial help from the national party. Some are even clinging to the dim hope that Hillary Clinton might help make inroads with white working class voters in Arkansas in 2016.

Success here is crucial for the party. There's virtually no way for Democrats to win back a majority in the Senate -- much less the House -- without finding a way to compete more effectively in the South. But the truth is there are no easy answers for a party so deep in the hole.

White voters have abandoned Democrats for decades, and the flight has only hastened under President Barack Obama. The migration has created a troublesome math problem: Democrats across the region now depend on African-American voters and not much else.

It's a disastrous formula in low-turnout midterms dominated by white voters. In Louisiana on Saturday, deep south Democrats bid farewell to their last remaining Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, who won the African-American vote but failed to secure enough white support in her race against Republican Bill Cassidy. Landrieu won just 18 percent of white voters on Election Day in November, and she failed to expand that margin in the runoff, resulting in another knife-twisting loss for Democrats hoping to put the devastating 2014 midterms behind them.

With Landrieu's loss, there are now just two Democrats senators hailing from the Old Confederacy: Mark Warner in Virginia and Bill Nelson in Florida. But both of those states have diverse populations and thriving economies that have pushed them away, culturally and politically, from their southern neighbors.

READ: Landrieu, Cassidy spar in final Senate debate

"Lyndon Johnson made it very clear when he signed the Civil Rights Act back in 1964 what the impact was going to be on his party, the Democrats, and their relationship with southern white voters," said South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the House's highest-ranking African-American and the only Democrat from his state in Congress.

Lost for a generation

After signing the Civil Rights Act, Johnson is reputed to have said that Democrats have lost the South for a generation. Whether Johnson actually uttered those words is in question — but the Democratic Party's fading fortunes are not.

In South Carolina, Democrats lost every race for statewide office and won only a single House seat — the reliably-blue, majority-African-American district represented by Clyburn. In Georgia, even with Peach State brand names like Nunn and Carter on the ballot, Democrats only mustered support from a quarter of white voters in the contested Senate and governor's races. In Arkansas, Republicans gained total control of the governor's mansion and the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.

Sorting through the post-election wreckage, Democratic leaders across the region are pessimistic about the party ever re-claiming its status as the majority party. The challenge of reclaiming state legislatures, race-by-race, is a particularly daunting one.

But Democrats also dismiss the funereal commentary about their party, often pegged to the 10-point loss of Georgia's resilient, gun-brandishing John Barrow, the last remaining white Democrat from the deep South in the House.

"I don't think you can make generalizations," said Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, who was thumped by nearly 20 points despite his two-terms in the Senate, deep roots in the state and the Bible he wielded in a campaign ad. "Every state is different."

READ: Schumer on 2016: 'Democrats must embrace government'

In states with changing demographics and thriving urban centers like Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, Democrats are optimistic the states will grow ever friendlier by the next election cycle. South Carolina and Tennessee are more difficult hills to climb, but both states are seeing urban population growth and a continual influx of out-of-staters seeking warmer climates and friendlier tax rates. The forecast is grimmer in more rural, conservative states — like Mississippi and Alabama — with negligible growth rates.

Wherever they stood, 2014 was a uniquely bad cycle for Southern Democrats.

A stew of toxic factors wreaked havoc on the party's candidates: narrowly-focused campaign messages that did little to address economic anxieties, historic voter apathy, the cyclical second-term drag of a party in power, and an unpopular President who not only struggled to sell his economic achievements but has proven singularly incapable of connecting with white Southerners.

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Obama

"Obama was a huge drag on the party, not just in the South, but across much of the country," said William Winter, the former Democratic governor of Mississippi. "He was not articulating a message that I think people respond to. He was well-meaning in his efforts, but he is not in touch with people in the country, and especially in the South."

Winter, a moderate whose 1980 election is still remembered fondly by Mississippi Democrats who were struggling to move past their party's ugly racial history, said Obama's skin color is "unfortunately" a driver of his unpopularity in the South. But he said the national party's dismal standing had more to do with a message that focused on small-bore issues like contraception or minimum wage increases rather than a unifying, big-picture theme that focuses on middle-class economics.

Democrats should embrace a pro-business mentality, Winter said, singling out "the ideas that Bill Clinton was selling." He bristled at the Elizabeth Warren-style confrontational populism that's taken hold among Democrats elsewhere in the country.

"I don't think we can win on that," Winter said. "If we are not perceived as too far to the left, we can win. I think the South wants to be a part of mainstream America, politically and in every every other way. I think we play on that and let common sense dictate our positions. And it has to be done in concert with the business community. We have alienated a lot of the business community. The business community has a huge stake in maintaining a stable economic and social and educational environment."

READ: 2016 is everywhere this week. Here's why.

The clash between the center and the left mirrors a larger national debate within the Democratic Party — and it also reflects a schism among Democrats in different parts of Dixie.

In the deeper South, it's impossible for Democrats to win without persuading a respectable slice of moderate or conservative white voters. The challenge there is more existential.

"We have to find a way to re-connect"

Clarke Tucker, a newly-elected Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Represenatives,

"We have to find a way to reconnect," said Clarke Tucker, a newly-elected Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. "A lot of the policies that we are pushing help everyone, including the white population."

In his Little Rock district, the 33-year old Tucker said he campaigned on "the issues that are going to move us forward as Democrats in the South, and those are growing the economy, creating jobs and improving education."

Louisiana Senate race will go to a runoff

His Republican opponent, he said with a hint of relief, did not try to tie him to Obama.

North Carolina

It's a different story in North Carolina, where Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan was defeated despite running a near-perfect campaign and driving up turnout among non-white voters. Her Republican opponent Thom Tillis relentlessly linked Hagan with Obama, whose job approval in North Carolina exit polls was 43 percent — better than in other Southern states, but still ugly.

Democrats in North Carolina are grumpy about the outcome -- but they aren't writing their obituaries yet.

Both the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham areas continue to grow at a rapid clip, attracting affluent, educated voters from other parts of the country who aren't beholden to the state's conservative traditions. In just four years, the Research Triangle hub of Wake County has added almost 100,000 new residents and now has a population of over 1 million people.

That makes for an electorate closely resembling the national Democratic coalition under Obama in 2008 and 2012, made up of urbanized young professionals, including unmarried women, as well as African-Americans and Hispanics. In higher-turnout presidential years, North Carolina is just as winnable for Democrats as it was when Obama won the state's 15 electoral votes in 2008 — even as rural whites flee the party.

Midterms, though, remain a challenge.

"The landscape has shifted dramatically over the last six years for Democrats in the South," said Morgan Jackson, a Raleigh-based Democratic strategist. "Since the 1960s, Democrats ran for cover during presidential election years and used the midterm elections to reclaim seats and expand the majorities. The new math is that Southern Democrats fully embrace the expanded presidential election turnout in order to win races. In the midterms, the goal is survival, period."

GOP state house dominance

After the Republican wave of 2010, the GOP gained a chokehold on state houses that gave them the power to shape state legislative and congressional districts in their favor, drawing advantageous lines for Republican incumbents and jamming Democrats into heavily African-American districts, drastically reducing the number of competitive seats in state and federal races.

Their strength grew in 2014: The GOP now has total control of both legislative chambers in every state in the South, with the exception of the border state of Kentucky. Republicans also have veto-proof supermajorities in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee — putting added pressure on Democrats to fight for seats at the local level before the next round of redistricting in 2020.

"We have got to have a 2020 plan going forward, and that 2020 plan must start in 2015," Clyburn said. "This country is moving to the right and it's going to keep moving to the right unless the voters intervene."

Republican dominance at the state level has raised questions about whether Democrats will be able to groom candidates for higher office in the future. While it's true that their farm team has been drastically reduced over the last four years, a younger generation of Democrats say the worries are overblown.

"I think candidates can emerge from all sorts of places," said Tucker, the Arkansas state legislator. He pointed to Dale Bumpers, the former Arkansas governor and senator who was an unknown lawyer before he came out of nowhere to win the governorship in 1970. Arkansas, Tucker said, has a populist streak that rewards big personalities no matter where they come from.

In Louisiana, Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Carter Peterson pointed to a roster of successful mayors in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and other cities as possible future statewide candidates.

"These are strong Democratic mayors who have been re-elected without problems," Peterson said. "We feel like that is a strong bench for us moving forward to change the tide of the state."

Some Democrats are calling on the national party structure to pay more attention to the South — and spend more money on party staffers and developing down-ballot talent.

Several longingly invoked former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy," a program that placed Democratic staffers in even the reddest of states with the goal of re-building the party after the 2004 election. It paid off in the 2006 midterms, when Democrats in traditionally Republican states including Kansas and Montana rode a national wave into office.

South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers, who faltered in his bid for lieutenant governor this year, pointedly criticized the DNC for leaving candidates in his state adrift this year "without a raft or a lifeboat, expecting us to swim." He said the Republican National Committee has "done a diligent job with fund-raising, candidate cultivation, helping people with consultants and building a bench for the future."

Sellers said he received more help from political groups associated with Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley, two potential presidential candidates, than from the DNC.

"For many of us who were running statewide and have been plowing the soil of the South, we feel like the national party didn't do much to help us at all," Sellers said. "We oftentimes try to push and promote the policies of the White House and the national Democrats, but there is no reciprocation. There is a still great deal of hope that's associated with the president of the United States. But people aren't sure what Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC stand for. That was apparent on Nov. 4."

Michael Czin, a spokesman for the DNC, disputed the characterization, saying that state party leaders are "critical partners."

"For a decade, the DNC has invested in all of our state parties year in, and year out, including those in the South," he said. "Whether it's working with state parties to build our voter file, investing in our State Party Partnership which funds staff on the ground, or our voter expansion and protection programs, the DNC is there to support state parties across the South. We have a lot of work to do, but we are proud of our investments in southern states over the last decade."

Last white Democrat from Deep South loses Congressional seat

The Hillary question

And there is the Hillary question. If Clinton runs for the White House, some hopeful Democrats wonder if working-class whites might be more willing to return to the party once Obama is out of the picture.

Winter believes Clinton would help Democrats down the ballot even if she doesn't win any Southern states. "Bill and Hillary Clinton are part of the South," he said. "They understand the South and they understand the use of political strategies that will bring people in. They are moderate people, and most people in the South are moderate."

Some Clinton supporters have speculated that she might even put her former home state of Arkansas in play come November 2016. The possibility was floated earlier this month by Mitch Stewart, a numbers-crunching former Obama strategist who advises the Ready For Hillary super PAC.

Stewart said Clinton could favorably alter the post-Obama presidential map by making Arkansas, Missouri and Indiana competitive in 2016.

"Where I think Secretary Clinton has more appeal than any other Democrat looking at running is that with white working-class voters, she does have a connection," Stewart told Talking Points Memo. "I think she's best positioned to open those states."

The idea seems plausible enough in Missouri and Indiana, two states with large urban centers, but less so in Arkansas. The Clintons' travel schedule in 2014 spoke volumes: Bill campaigned relentlessly in the state this year for Pryor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross — but the more polarizing Hillary was kept at a safe distance. She never set foot in Arkansas in 2014, opting instead to raise money for Pryor from a safe distance, at a fundraiser in Manhattan.

READ: Is the Clinton magic gone in Arkansas

What seems more likely is that North Carolina and perhaps Georgia, with their ever-mutating demographics, would be on the early map should Clinton decide to run for the White House.

Clyburn, though, waved off the Clinton-specific theories, saying that southern Democrats will get a built-in turnout boost no matter who is on the White House ticket, given the turnout spike that usually occurs in presidential years.

"Would be Hillary be helpful? Yes she would," Clyburn said. "But she is not the only one who would help. There are a lot of Democrats at the top of the ticket who would be helpful. Would Elizabeth Warren be helpful. Yes she would. Would Joe Biden be helpful? Yes he would. I don't agree with this whole notion that it has to Hillary Clinton or it won't be a positive. I don't think that's the case at all. A presidential year is going to be helpful for us."

To others, that all seems like happy talk.

Wilkie, speaking over the phone from his office at Ole Miss, was less charitable than Clyburn.

"Good luck finding a silver lining in your story," he said in his honeyed drawl. "I'm not sure you'll be able to."

This story has been update to reflect the results of Saturday's Louisiana runoff election

6 Gitmo detainees sent to Uruguay

Prisoners are transferred in the middle of the night, then taken to hospitals

Uruguay's president calls it "hospitality for humans suffering a heinous kidnapping"

The U.S. expresses gratitude to Uruguay for supporting efforts to close Guantanamo Bay

136 detainees remain at Guantanamo, the lowest number since 2002

(CNN) -- A half-dozen men considered prisoners in the U.S. war on terror until yesterday now have a new designation -- refugees -- and a new temporary home: Uruguay.

A U.S. medical aircraft carrying the six former Guantanamo Bay detainees landed at a military base in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, in the middle of the night, CNN affiliate Canal 10 Uruguay reported on Sunday.

Within a few hours, a caravan of 15 to 20 vehicles, including ambulances, drove the newly freed men to hospitals.

The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the transfer Sunday and said it coordinated with the government of Uruguay to make sure the transfers took place with adequate security and with humane treatment.

"The United States is grateful to the Government of Uruguay for its willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility," the department said.

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"We have offered our hospitality for humans suffering a heinous kidnapping in Guantanamo," Uruguayan President Jose Mujica wrote on his presidential website on Friday. "The unavoidable reason is humanitarian."

Four of the former detainees -- Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Ali Hussain Shaabaan, Omar Mahmoud Faraj, and Jihad Diyab -- are Syrian nationals, while Abdul Bin Mohammed Abis Ourgy is Tunisian, and Mohammed Tahanmatan is Palestinian, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Sunday.

Canal 10 reported that the United Nations refugee agency will be responsible for returning the released prisoners to their homes.

Their transfers to Uruguay were unanimously approved by the United States' Guantanamo Review Task Force, which represents six departments and agencies.

The review was prompted by an executive order issued by President Barack Obama shortly after his inauguration in January 2009.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed Congress of the intent to transfer the six men, the Defense Department said.

Saturday's transfers leave only 136 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, out of more than 750.

That's the lowest number of inmates at the base in Cuba since detainees started arriving in 2002.

What happens when detainees leave Guantanamo Bay?

At least seven detainees have died in custody over the years.

In Mujica's open letter, he also called for the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba and release some Cubans and Puerto Ricans he called political prisoners.

CNN's Edwin Mesa contributed this report.

Tiger vomits on course, shoots 69

Tiger Woods was visibly suffering with bouts of sickness during his third round in Florida.

Tiger Woods hit by vomiting fever at Florida comeback

"I've been throwing up for hours," explained the 14-time major winner

Despite illness, Woods cards his best score of 69 at his comeback event

American Jordan Spieth holds seven-shot lead in Hero Challenge going into final day

Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook

(CNN) -- Tiger Woods' return to golf went from a stinker to a sickener, Saturday.

The 14-time major winner was seen doubled over and heaving into a towel at regular intervals during the third round of his comeback event, the Hero World Challenge.

"I've been throwing up for hours," Woods told reporters at Florida's Isleworth Golf and Country Club.

"I wasn't doing too good at the beginning but I thought I could hang in there. The fever just broke. As the round went on I was feeling better."

Despite his feverish play, Woods carded his best score of the event so far, firing a three-under-par 69 compared to 77 and 70 in his previous rounds.

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"I didn't have nausea and vomiting before," Woods said, explaining his poor form in the opening rounds.

"I just didn't have the explosiveness. I was pretty slow."

Despite carding six birdies during the third round, Woods remains last in the 18-player event going into the final day.

At the top of the leaderboard, American Jordan Spieth shot a nine-under-par 63 to race into a seven-shot lead over compatriot Keegan Bradley.

Woods, who has struggled with a back injury for much of the year, is making his first competitive outing since missing the cut at the U.S.PGA Championship in August.

The attention surrounding Woods' return has been heightened after he announced at the end of last month that he had hired Chris Como as his new swing "consultant."

Como replaces coach Sean Foley, who parted ways with Woods in August after a four-year partnership that yielded eight victories but crucially no major titles.

Read: Tiger Woods "an inspiration"

Read: Jordan Spieth: Major champion in waiting?

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U.S. rescue fails; hostages killed

State Department didn't know other hostage was South African, official tells CNN

Luke Somers "was really dedicated to Yemen," acquaintance tells CNN

Somers, a photojournalist, was captured in September last year

South African hostage Pierre Korkie was to be released on Sunday

(CNN) -- The element of surprise was lost in a failed U.S. military raid to rescue two hostages being held by al Qaeda militants in Yemen, a senior Defense Department official said Saturday.

American photojournalist Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie, a "respected teacher" who was to be released on Sunday, were fatally shot in the compound by a terrorist as the secret mission unfolded, a U.S. official said.

The relief group Gift of the Givers, which was helping secure Korkie's release, had recently informed his wife that "the waiting is almost over."

"Three days ago, we told her 'Pierre will be home for Christmas,'" said the group, which identified the South African hostage as Korkie. "We certainly did not mean it in the manner it has unfolded."

He was an "innocent man, a respected teacher," Korkie's wife, Yolande, said in a video made before his death.

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered Friday's mission because "there were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers' life was in imminent danger," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

American hostage pleads for his life

Somers' professor: 'Proud' of Luke

A video of Somers pleading for his life was released earlier this week by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. AQAP gave the U.S. three days to comply with unspecified demands. Time was running out.

Luke Somers, a photojournalist being held captive by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was shown begging for his life in a video released by the terror group. Somers was killed by AQAP militants during a raid conducted by U.S. forces on Friday, December 5. A U.S. official said that during the raid, one of the terrorists ran inside the compound and shot Somers and South African hostage, Pierre Korkie.

Kenneth Bae is one of two American detainees released from North Korea in November. Bae had been held since late 2012, and in April 2013 was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified "hostile acts" against the North Korean government. North Korea claimed Bae was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime.

Matthew Todd Miller also was allowed to leave North Korea with Kenneth Bae in November. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, he was convicted in September of committing "acts hostile" to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor. He had traveled to North Korea after arranging a private tour through the U.S.-based company Uri Tours, which takes tourists into North Korea. He and Bae were released after U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went to Pyongyang as an envoy of President Barack Obama, a senior State Department official told CNN.

Stacey Addison was detained on drug charges by police in East Timor in September during a taxi ride. Addison says she was sharing a taxi from near the Indonesian border to Dili, the capital of East Timor, when another passenger asked to stop and pick up a package at a DHL office. The package allegedly contained methamphetamine.

Washington Post Tehran Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian remains behind bars after being detained in Iran with his wife, Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi, in July under unclear circumstances. Salehi was released on bail in late October, according to The Post.

Jeffrey Edward Fowle was released from North Korea and returned home Wednesday, October 22, 2014. Fowle was accused of leaving a Bible in a restaurant. North Korea announced Fowle's detention in June, saying he had violated the law by acting "contrary to the purpose of tourism." Fowle told CNN: "I've admitted my guilt to the government and signed a statement to that effect and requested forgiveness from the people and the government of the DPRK."

American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers on August 24 after nearly two years in captivity. He is believed to have been captured in October 2012 and held by the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.

Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, when he was jailed while working as a subcontractor. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf, but they were unable to secure his release.

An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on April 11. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.

This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on May 31. Bergdahl was released in exchange for five senior Taliban members held by the U.S. military.

Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority.

Warren Weinstein, a contractor held by al Qaeda militants, is a U.S. citizen who has been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011.

U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport on December 7 after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained in October 2013 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman said the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.

Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, in May 2013, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released a few days later and is now back in the United States.

Saeed Abedini, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013. He was accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches.

North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her right, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.

Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.

Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month after he was detained in April 2011. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.

Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010 without any apparent U.S. intervention. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.

Josh Fattal, center, Sarah Shourd, left, and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.

Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was detained at Iran's Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.

Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial.

Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April 2013 on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June 2013.

Americans detained abroad

Photos: Americans detained abroad

Arrangements for Korkie's release may have been missed by the White House.

The Obama administration assessed that there were two individuals at the location but did not know one was South African or that negotiations were under way for his release, a senior State Department official told CNN.

Korkie and his wife were abducted in May of last year, but AQAP subsequently let his wife go. On Friday, a team of local leaders was finalizing arrangements to reunite Korkie with his wife and children, the relief group said in a statement.

Obama's decision

The President condemned AQAP's killing of the two hostages and explained his decision to authorize the rescue attempt.

"Earlier this week, a video released by his terrorist captors announced that Luke would be killed within 72 hours," Obama said in a statement. "I also authorized the rescue of any other hostages held in the same location as Luke."

Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that the President had received a recommendation to authorize the operation.

Obama offered his condolences to Somers' family.

"I also offer my thoughts and prayers to the family of a non-U.S. citizen hostage who was also murdered by these terrorists during the rescue operation," the statement read. "Their despair and sorrow at this time are beyond words."

South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation expressed its "deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr Korkie for their loss. Condolences are also conveyed to the family and loved ones of the deceased American hostage."

'They lost the element of surprise'

The operation took place Friday at 5 p.m. ET, a U.S. official told CNN.

On Thursday, the Defense Department became aware of enough new intelligence about the location of the hostages to stage a rescue mission, the official said. A senior Defense Department official traveling with Hagel in Afghanistan said that the operation was accelerated because there was intelligence that Somers would be killed on Saturday morning, Eastern time.

Obama and Hagel were briefed the next day.

Two Osprey aircraft transported a team of about three dozen U.S. Navy SEALs, mainly from SEAL Team 6, and a combat medical team near the captives' location. There were no Yemeni forces with the U.S. commandos.

The official traveling with Hagel said that once the Ospreys landed, the team had to trek about 10 kilometers (6 miles) to the compound.

They were discovered about 100 meters from the location where Korkie and Somers were being held, according to that official. The main part of the assault lasted five to 10 minutes.

"They lost the element of surprise at the last minute as they approached the compound," the official said.

It was not clear where the kidnappers were when the firefight started, but the official said that the U.S. is certain that someone ran back inside the compound and shot Korkie and Somers after the battle broke out. The official would not specify how it could be certain of that detail.

Difficult, 'precision' mission

U.S. forces were on the ground for about 30 minutes, an official told CNN. They stayed for that length of time because the combat medical team was trying to stabilize the two wounded hostages.

According to another official, the hostages were loaded onto a plane and flown to a nearby U.S. ship.

One of the hostages died before reaching the ship. The other died afterward.

Drones and fighter jets patrolled overhead during the mission.

The U.S. forces that carried out the mission are safe, a U.S. defense official said. Both the President and Kerry praised their valor.

The hostages were being kept at a location close to one where U.S. and Yemeni forces had carried out a previous raid.

This rescue mission was particularly difficult, due in part to Yemen's sparse population, retired Lt. Col. James Reese, global affairs analyst for CNN, said Saturday.

Reese noted that it would have been difficult for the military to travel a significant distance by air and still maintain the element of surprise in a rescue operation.

"It has to take precision," he said. "This is like brain surgery."

A previous attempt

It was the second such attempt by U.S. forces in two weeks.

In the first attempt, in November, U.S. and Yemeni special forces outfitted with night visors embarked on the mission about a few miles from a cave where AQAP was holding hostages.

A gunbattle ensued, and the special forces killed all seven abductors and freed eight hostages. But the militants had separated Somers and four more hostages from the group and moved them to another location two days before the raid.

This week, AQAP released a video threatening to kill Somers and showing the American photojournalist pleading for his life.

A spokesman read a statement saying Somers would be killed if Washington did not meet the terror group's demands. The spokesman did not name the demands but said the U.S. government knew what they were.

Pleading for his life

Somers' brother and mother posted a response video to YouTube in which they pleaded with the militants to spare him.

"He is not responsible for any actions that the U.S. government has taken. Please understand that we had no prior knowledge of the rescue attempt for Luke, and we mean no harm to anyone," Jordan Somers said.

Paula Somers thanked his captors for taking good care of him, but also asked her son be returned to her alive.

"Please show mercy and give us an opportunity to see our Luke again. He is all that we have," she said.

Tik Root, a former freelance journalist, met Luke Somers when they were both in Yemen.

"Of all the people I met in Yemen, Luke is certainly not the person that should have happened to," Root told CNN. "He was passionate about the country, its people, and he was just a very thoughtful, quirky guy."

Root is now a desk assistant for PBS NewsHour, and he wrote about Somers on Saturday morning on NewsHour's website.

"I didn't know him particularly well but we did cross paths about a dozen times," Root said. "He was really dedicated to Yemen."