Nigeria. As the u. S. And Great Britain are beginning to mobilize an International Rescue effort. Congress paused tuesday for a moment of silence in honor of nigerias stolen girls. In the end, this is an act of barbarity, and a test of our world and a test of our country. And we stand tonight in solidarity to find these girls. Minnesota senator now joins me from capitol hill. Senator, it has taken a long time to get the u. S. To respond. The explanation seems to be that nigeria was reluctant, cultural pride, and reluctance to have the u. S. Come to the rescue, but couldnt we have been more forceful . Well, obviously this is no time for cultural pride, with the president of nigeria, president jonathan, in my mind waiting too long to ask for international help. But its my understanding, according to secretary kerry, our embassy was working with our government. And right now im focused, andrea, on finding these girls. 276 girls kidnapped at gun point. Their school had been closed down because of boko harams actions, where theyve shut down 200 schools, hacked boys to death. Their name means western education is sinful. To think that they took thels girls, and all those parents could do is go into the forest on motorcycles with bows and arrows. Thats what they did for weeks. Finally this has come to the attention of the world. Im glad that president obama has ordered surveillance, u. S. Help in terms of hostage negotiators. We dont quite know what they will need. But the fact that were even talking now about surveillance drones, i think, is very positive. Because we have the equipment to help. And so do other countries in the world. As you know, the 20 women senators came together across party lines to call on the u. N. To declare boko haram as a terrorist organization. Something our country has already done. We have that letter from the senators. What will that what will that do . I know that the u. S. , the state department has declared boko haram for years now a terror group. What difference will it make if the United Nations joins the United States in this . This is the will of the world. This isnt just happening in nigeria. Were seeing all over the world that girls disappear, that girls are brought into sex trafficking, millions of girls working in brothels. I believe this should be a major part of our Foreign Policy. Because if we can elevate and lift up these girls and women from these lives of being basically sold for sex, in this case the guy in charge of boko haram, saying he will sell them off for 12, we know that the country that lifts up girls and women that brings them into their democracy, that brings them into their economy, always does better. I see this as an act of pure terrorism. As an act of barbarity. But also as something we need to make much more a focus of our own Foreign Policy in working with other countries. I just led a trip to mexico with cindy mccain, john mccains wife on this. Shes been an advocate on this. Senator highcamp was also with us. We talked to the mexican authorities, attorney general and federal police, and theyre really trying to get a handle on their problem and work with our country who has its own problems of sex trafficking rings. There are victims in our own country. The president was asked about this by al roker at the white house climate conference. This is what he had to say. Were going to do everything we can to provide assistance to them. The shortterm goal is to help the International Community and Nigerian Government as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies. Now, were told that the fbi will eventually be sending hostage negotiators. Africa is tasked to send in whatever is needed, whatever is requested. But its still located in europe. We still have a lot of time, a lot of delay, its been three weeks that these girls have been missing. The longer that time goes on, its harder to find these girls. There are reports that we have not confirmed that some of these girls have been brought into other countries, cameroon. We need the countries on the borders to join with us. If the world cant stand up against taking 276 school girls out of their school when they were simply trying to get an education, do their final exams, i dont know what the u. N. Means anymore. And i dont know what International Law means anymore. So i view this as really a moral test, not only of our own government, but of how the world works together to condemn this kind of evil. Senator, it seems to me the world mobilized an International Media in particular, some more than others, mobilized when the people were missing on the malaysian airliner. That was a tragedy. But it was clear after several weeks that the airliner and people were not going to be recovered alive. These are children who were taken from their school, studying for a physics exam. The best and brightest in their region of nigeria. The future leaders of their country. And it took us and the rest of the world this long to get involved . I mean, we were involved, i know, at the embassy level, but there were diplomatic nice tis, im suggesting, that were observed for far too long. I think this is just one example, andrea, as horrible as it is, of things that we are seeing all across the world. The New York Times had an article based on a chinese proverb that women hold up half the sky. There are millions of girls that go missing. And it is time that the world reacts to this in a different way. And not just say, well, we dont know what happened. Their parents sold them off. Their parents, they had no money so they sold them off. Senator mccain said that half of the women werent there, the young girls werent there. He asked why the officials why that was so. They said they were sold off to traffickers. These are things that were seeing. I think this is even a bigger discussion than what were seeing in nigeria. Clearly we have the immediate need of helping them to find these girls. These are 15 to 18yearold girls. And they are somewhere in that country, or somewhere near the border. And the world just has to bring together its resources and the u. N. Has to condemn this action through the Security Council and declare boko haram as a terrorist organization. Thank you so much for your leadership on this. Thank you, andrea. More on the missing girls in nigeria. The uncle of one of the victims described his nieces ordeal as she escaped. She spent time in the region and talked to one of the girls and her family. And has written about it for the new yorker. And joins me now via skype. Tell me what you learned by talking to this young woman, this student who escaped from the kidnappers. Yes. Well, i was able to learn from her, and also from another girl that i interviewed yesterday, about how exactly this kidnapping managed to happen. What boko haram did is dress themselves in military uniforms, which theyve done before, and attacked the town. And then they go to the school it was at night, so they took them from their beds and put them in several trucks and took them to the forest. One of the girls i spoke to yesterday was able to jump off the truck quite early and was able to make her way home. The other girl stayed in the truck until it reached one of boko harams hideouts in the forest. From there she could begin to see what was beginning to happen between the girls and militants. The militants were forcing the girls to do things like cook and get water and clean and get firewood. And she was able to escape a few hours later. Tell me, when she escaped, how did she describe the escape and what happened next to her . She described basically being in the camp for about two hours. And then pulling her friends close, and saying, lets just make a run for it. They began to run into the woods. She even noticed that one of the militants saw them running, but luckily they didnt come after her. And they reached a herdsmans camp in the woods and he allowed them to spend the night. The next day they were able to get in touch with their families and make it back home. Alexis, you know a lot about boko haram, youve been in the region. Describe this group. Because its very hard for some americans to understand these terrorists who are so militant against the idea of western education. Right. Well, the group began over a decade ago by a radical islamist preach preacher named mohammed yusuf. His solution was to start or to rally, or to campaign for islamic state. And so he gained followers. And they began robbing banks, and attacking policemen, and becoming increasingly more militant as the years increased. And then after a security crackdown by the government, where the founder was killed, the group basically declared open jihad. And for over five years has been joining thousands of northern nigerians. Why do you think its taken so long for the nigerian leader, the president , and the rest of the government to respond . This is a wealthy country. Its an oilrich country. They welcome foreign investment. Theyve got the World Economic forum in their capital today. Why did it take so long to get to this region and find the girls . I think that the government looks the other way for a long time. I think its then acknowledged the gravity and scale of the insurgency. Thats why its only been able to increase in size, and impact. And i think even with this mass school kidnapping, at first there was no urgency to rescue these girls. In fact, it seems as if the Nigerian Government has really been in denial about how serious this war is. If it really is a war, and its not winning the war. What do you think that the u. S. Can do . Were told were not sending in helicopters, not actually doing a rescue mission, but were sending in advisers, and it will take time for them to get there. Surveillance drones, perhaps other kinds of intelligence assistance. Will that help . Well, the u. S. Has been providing money to the Nigerian Government for security a sis tabs for quite some time, 20 million as of last year. Its really going to depend on how the Nigerian Government takes this assistance and then uses it and translates it into conducting wise military operations to find these girls. The Nigerian Government has a huge military budget. But its not translating to effective operations on the ground. Its important for the Nigerian Government to figure out why and do something about it. Were there reports that you heard from villagers that there had been some warning before this attack . Yes. I spoke to quite a few residents of the town of chibak that they heard up to two hours before the attack that boko haram was coming. And they alerted the military, and the military showed up several years after the objection. Well, that raises other questions about the Nigerian Government. We understand that president Goodluck Jonathan has also talked to David Cameron today and has accepted british help. Now the brits, the french and the u. S. Are all offering help. The question is, how its going to be utilized, as you point out, knowing the region so well. Thank you very much alexis. Appreciate your experience there. Thank you. And in ukraine, is there a crack in putins armor today . The russian president has now announced hes pulling back the 40,000 troops assembled near ukraines border. It remains to be seen whether that actually happens. Putin called for prorussian separatists to delay their vote on some sort of independence in Eastern Ukraine. The vote was planned for sunday. We have further details from donetsk. Reporter hey there, andrea. Not for the first time president putin appears to be surprising the world now. There was a referendum planned for Eastern Ukraine here for some kind of independence. The president of russia is now calling for that to be delayed. Multiple sources are telling us that here in the region, they will consider that request. Meanwhile, russian News Agencies are reporting saying that Russian Troops have been withdrawn from the border, though rather cryptically saying they will carry on conducting drills. There are other reports, too, that russia could support an election in ukraine. Perhaps if the fighting stops. So we wait to see how much of this turns out to be based in reality, really substantial. But it appears a substantial change by russia. Andrea . Thanks to you in donetsk. Coming up next, barbara lee just back from havana, where she met with contractor alan gross. 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Gross was sentenced to 15 years after being charged with crimes against the cuban state, for bringing in communication equipment, to deliver to jewish groups as part of a contract. Congresswoman lee joins us. Thank you for keeping a spotlight on this. I think you were with alan gross during the week when he was turning 63, if im correct, his birthd birthday, another birthday in prison. Maybe i have the year wrong. But he was very morose, according to his statements communicated through his attorneys. Thank you, andrea, for your voice, and keeping this in the public viewpoint. This is a very point case. I visited alan gross three times over the last four and a half years. And i can tell you one thing, a couple of things. First of all, alan has lost a lot of weight. But secondly, hes desperate. And he cant hang on much longer, in terms of his emotional state. He did turn 65. And he has said, and statements have been made that hes going home either alive or in a body bag. And i think whats important to recognize, that he was doing work for the United States, the usa, our country, and our country has a responsibility to bring him home. Having said that, we have to move forward and insist that there be negotiations with no preconditions. We met with our officials prior to leaving. We also met with cuban officials to make sure that we heard both sides correctly. And that is, they want to negotiate. Theyve been in conversations. But i dont believe theyve been negotiating. The cuban government committed and said to us that they want to talk. They want negotiations with no preconditions. And that is so critical in terms of gaining alans release. So were communicating that back, once again, to our own country, that we want to see these negotiations with no preconditions. Because the time is now to do this. Andrea, we were there and im very proud and pleased that congressman sam park from california, and congressman gregory minks from new york, all visited allen and concluded the same thing, that we had to get this on track. That we need to be the facilitators so we can move forward. Make sure that all of those issues that are of concern to cuba and to the United States are put op the table. Now, when you say no preconditions, you mean that you dont want the cubans to be demanding the release of some of their prisoners here . And you dont want the u. S. To demand any change in their policy . You want this to be negotiated as a standalone question . Absolutely. Thats the only way we can resolve this. Thats the only way we can move the ball forward. Hopefully the United States understands with four members of congress, once again