a pentagon spokeswoman says the u.s. wants to reassure the people and government of turkey that america is committed to protecting our nato allies. nearly 250 people are missing and feared dead after two recent shipwrecks in the mediterranean sea. a rubber dinghy bound for italy sa sank, 82 people feared dead or missile. a woman and six men were rescued off a boat. the un believes more than 1300 people have died or disappeared trying to cross from north africa to italy. chelsea manning, sentenced to prison for leaking classified documents to wikileaks is set to be released after serving seven years. manning, now a transgender woman released a statement saying, quote, for the first time i can see a future for myself as chelsea. president obama commuted all but four months of his sentence just
hundreds of thousands have made it to the greek island of lesbos. the vast majority on dangerous vessels like this rubber dinghy. desperate people often running from terrible atrocities with no other options. cnn, lesbos, greece. back now to the united states and the u.s. president barack obama. he made some unplanned remarks after meeting with survivors of the san bernardino terror attack. he stopped in san bernardino just a couple of hours ago before leaving for hawaii for christmas break. the president and first lady met privately with victims families and with first responders. as difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they re representative of the strength and the unity and love that exists in this community and in this country. and as we go to the holiday
keep coming. but fear is also rising, as new details about the path of the ring leader of the paris attackers and two others mimic that of the refugees. greek media, a lot of coverage that one bomber from paris, he passed from the greek islands. so i think all of this thing give support to the right wing parties, the rising in europe. reporter: jason from athens is here to temper the fear, showing support for the refugees. jobless in the stagnant greek economy he spends days rescuing those worse off. hundreds of thousands have made it to the greek island of lesbos, vast majority on dangerous vessels like this rubber dinghy. desperate people often running from terrible atrocities with no other options. of course, security is a concern with a number of refugees who are coming and whether or not the government can handle
pakistani migrants were forced to do. many others drown, plunged into the sea. some without life jackets, unable to swim. undeterred, 60 more migrants and refugees pile into a rubber dinghy to try to get across. that was such an example of the sheer determination some of these migrants have to reach greek shores. they refuse to be intimidated by the turkish coast guard and have managed to push so far back from the shores that we can barely see them. they re eventually caught, forced to drop their motor. the coast guard towed them as far as they could. dejection and tragedy shows in their faces. the promises of a new life continue to lure them to these
syrian border into turkey. then the most expensive part is to cross on a rubber dinghy from the turkish coast to greece, to the greek islands. and they are spending up to $1,000 each just to make that journey. and usually families will send one or two people. so the families will get together in syria. they ll pick one member. they ll round up money and take loans and sell what they can so they can get together $3,000, $4,000 to make this journey with the hope that if one relative makes his way toermany he can bring the rest of the family with him. absolutely amazing. your reporting is amazing. richard engel, thank you, sir. appreciate it. back here at home, it s the unofficial last day you have summer. it is estimated more than 35 million americans are get away over the holiday weekend. but before you pack up the beach towels and break out the hotdogs, we want to check in with the weather forecast.