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American Morning

40 Members of Congress Call For Lifting of Cuba Embargo

Aired May 16, 2002 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a two-for for you this morning. In our "Under the Dome" segment this morning, we're actually going to go under two domes. That's because former President Carter's trip to Cuba has cast a spotlight on America's trade embargo against Cuba.

Now just yesterday, 40 members of Congress joined Carter in calling for an end to the embargo. But President Bush, in a speech early next week, actually plans to toughen restrictions. So under our two domes, Jonathan Karl, where he normally is in Washington -- oh a glorious day indeed there. And equally beautiful shot out of Havana this morning with Kate Snow who is at the Capitol in Havana -- good morning to the two of you.

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

KATE SNOW: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: It is striking how similar those two shots are on television. Kate, let's start with you, and tell us about your view from Cuba this morning.

SNOW: Yes. Well I'm standing in front of what they call the Capitolio, the Capitol Building here. I was talking to kids a little while ago, some school children on their way to school, and I asked them, "What is this building?" And they said it's a museum. I said, "Well, what was it before?" And they said it's always been a museum.

So that's a little bit telling, Paula, because it hasn't, of course, always been a museum. It actually was a functioning legislature before the Cuban revolution here. It's a lot younger building, built in 1929, much younger than the U.S. Capitol. But there are a lot of similarities, architecturally and otherwise, John, between these two buildings.

KARL: All right. Well, Kate, it looks like a skinny version of the U.S. Capitol building. Have you been inside?

SNOW: Yes, I have been inside. We took a great tour yesterday, we had a wonderful guide. We show you inside. The dome from the outside is based on St. Peters in Rome, the Basilica. But on the inside, it looks a lot like the U.S. Capitol. That's not how they describe it, but that's what it looks like to me, anyway. It's actually a lot taller, or at least a little taller than the U.S. dome. It's the third tallest in the world. As you mentioned, John, it looks more narrow, and that's true. It's not as wide.

Now going down the hallway, we saw some lights, some lamp posts that look very much like the lamp posts you see right outside the United States Capitol. Our guide said to us, you know, when this was built in '29, there was a huge North American cultural influence here, so that's why you see so many similarities.

Now let me take you now in to the chamber. This is where the lower house or the house of representatives used to meet here in Cuba, and it's absolutely breath-taking in there. Beautiful mahogany wood everywhere you look. In 1929, there were 54 representatives. That had tripled by the time Castro took over in 1958. But on December 31, 1958 is when the building effectively was shut down; the chambers were shut down, anyway. They have been empty ever since because of course they don't have what we would consider a functioning legislature.

Now Castro did create a national assembly that meets twice a year usually and just for two or three days. Just quickly, there was a TV movie in the United States, I'm told, about Elian Gonzalez fairly recently, where they showed Castro walking up the steps of this building as if he works inside the capitol. Well that couldn't be further from the truth.

Fidel Castro, he likes the building, John, but he doesn't want his legislature or his government associated with it. He sees it as a symbol of what he would call imperialism -- John.

KARL: All right. Well, Kate, while you have been down there and, of course, Jimmy Carter has been talking about lifting the embargo on Cuba, that has gotten a very receptive audience up here on Capitol Hill. As you mentioned, Paula, 40 members of Congress came out yesterday to call for easing that embargo, lifting the travel ban on Cuba. What's interesting about that group of 40 lawmakers, these aren't 40 democrats siding with Carter on this issue. In point of fact, this is a lot of conservative Republicans joining with some of the most liberal Democrats, a broad spectrum of the Congress with people from as far away as California and Massachusetts in favor of lifting this embargo, at least easing the embargo.

And if you took a vote in the House or Senate right now on a straight up or down vote on easing that embargo on Cuba, it would almost certainly pass here, Paula, even as the president is talking about tightening the embargo.

ZAHN: Yes. Well, Kate, let's talk about the Cuban reaction to that. They know the president is supposed to, as Jonathan just said, tighten some restrictions. And they'll lay it out in a speech next week. How do they feel about this embargo that's basically been in place since the '60s?

SNOW: Yes, well, they don't like it very much, as you might expect. What's interesting down here, Paula, is the government blames that U.S. embargo for all of their problem. They say it's the U.S. embargo that causes economic problems here, and I think a lot of people believe that. They think if the embargo were lifted that would solve all their problems.

Carter said the other night, look, you can't look at it that way. You can't say that would solve everything nor can you say, as many in the U.S. do, that simply getting rid of Castro could solve everything. He said you've got to look down the middle. President Carter, though, believing lifting the embargo is a good idea.

ZAHN: Kate, ten seconds left. Tell us very quickly about the controversy over what Jimmy Carter said about Cuba's ability to manufacture biogerms and potential weapons down the road.

SNOW: Biological weapons, yes. Well Carter weighed it into it on Monday, Paula. He was at a biotechnology center, and he said in all his briefings that he got from the State Department and others, U.S. officials, before he came to Cuba, he said, "I asked repeatedly. Nobody ever mentioned to me that there was this link between Cuba and biological terrorism and the possibility of exporting terrorism.

But I think John has some reaction from the U.S. Capitol to those statements.

KARL: Yes, I'll tell you. Republican George Allen came on the floor of the U.S. Senate and accused Carter of a breach of trust, saying he was getting top secret briefings from the U.S. government and then going and spilling the beans in Cuba. He said that this was a breach of trust, and it was violating a trust given primarily to former presidents of the United States who can get these top secret classified briefings. And Allen was saying you simply cannot go out and give that information out publicly, especially when you're in Cuba -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right. Jonathan Karl, I've got to move on here. Kate Snow, thank you both. I wish you could see how stunning those twin shots look on our split screens. Go off and have a good day.

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