The complete interview with Marc and Debra Tice can be out there Friday morning on "The Takeout" podcast and can air on CBS Information at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET Friday night.
The mother and father of Austin Tice, an American journalist detained in Syria for almost a decade, are "100% sure" their son is alive. Marc and Debra Tice met with President Biden final week on the White Home.
In an interview with CBS Information Tuesday, Marc Tice mentioned there are "indicators" and "discussions" that give him and his spouse Debra assurances Austin stays alive in captivity. They've additionally obtained "no phrase on the contrary by any means," Marc mentioned.
Freelance journalist Austin Tice, now 40, was detained in August 2012 throughout the civil struggle in Syria. His work has appeared within the The Washington Submit, McClatchy and on CBS Information. On the time of his disappearance, few western journalists reported from Syria due to the hazards of the struggle and brutality of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Debra Tice attended the White Home Correspondents' Affiliation dinner on Saturday, April 29. After being acknowledged by the affiliation's president (and CBS Information journalist) Steven Portnoy, President Biden invited the Tices to satisfy with him. By Monday, Debra and Marc Tice have been sitting within the Oval Workplace.
"It was an uplifting, informative and really collaborative form of assembly," Mark Tice mentioned. "We did not meet the president, we met with the president and a few of his prime advisers. And so there was actually a dialogue."
The Tices praised Mr. Biden for his engagement on and information of their son's circumstances.
Referring to herself within the third particular person, Debra Tice mentioned, "The president could be very plain-speaking. Austin's mother could be very plain-speaking. And so, we plainly spoke to one another."
In late April, American Trevor Reed was freed from Russia in a prisoner trade. That such a swap may very well be executed throughout a low level in U.S.-Russia relations gave Marc and Debra Tice hope, regardless that the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Damascus in early 2012.
"What the Syrians have been asking for since 2014 is the one factor we have requested for, which is that direct engagement," Debra Tice mentioned.
They be aware the circumstances of Reed's captivity have been completely different from their son's. Nonetheless, the Tices imagine a prisoner trade with Syria — although diplomatically thorny — is the quickest option to get Austin dwelling.
Earlier than he turned a journalist, Austin Tice served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an officer within the Marines. He graduated from Georgetown College.
After almost a decade with out their son, Marc Tice mentioned he feels responsible having fun with life's pleasures whereas Debra feels obligated to take pleasure in them doubly to account for "Austin's pleasure."
"There's at all times a gap within the material of our household," Marc mentioned.