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Fidel Castro Resigns; Can Clinton Break Obama's Eight-State Winning Streak?; New Security at Amtrak

Aired February 19, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks, guys. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm the T.J. she was mentioning. T.J. Holmes that would you...
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Betty. Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: Betty, yes.

NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. Thanks for being with us. Tony and Heidi are off. You can watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this February 19th. Here's what's on the rundown.

HOLMES: Yes, first, Fidel Castro resigns. This is the end of the revolution or more of the same for Cuba? Live from Havana and Miami.

NGUYEN: Wisconsin, the big cheese in politics today. Can Clinton break Obama's eight-state winning streak?

HOLMES: And random passenger searches, armed officers on trains. New security at Amtrak to tell you about. What took so long? Find out in the NEWSROOM.

Well, Cuba's Fidel Castro. He's pestered and provoked 10 U.S. presidents and nourished communism a mere 90 miles from America's coast. Well, today, he's stepping down. And the world is wondering, what now? We're covering all the developments.

Susan Candiotti has reaction from Cuban exiles in South Florida. But we'll begin in Cuba. CNN Havana bureau chief Morgan Neill joins us on the phone.

Morgan, everybody is wondering, what now? So tell us first, why now?

MORGAN NEILL, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Well, T.J., probably the most likely explanation is that this Sunday, the National Assembly, the newly -- (INAUDIBLE) in National Assembly will meet to decide on a new council of state and the new president of the council of state. So this announcement comes just before that meeting. There will be the remainder of this week in which there undoubtedly will be a great deal of uncertainty over the next president, although analysts say it seems to look at Raul Castro as the most likely choice.

Now in this letter we saw today, Castro wrote that he won't aspire or accept the post of president or commander in chief. But now as to why he's resigning, Castro says, "It would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept the responsibility acquiring more daily (INAUDIBLE) than I'm physically able to offer.

So in the meantime, does this necessarily mean the end of his influence? Absolutely not. After some 49 years after Fidel Castro led a revolution that has governed this country ever since, there's nobody that has his kind of influence here. So he says he'll keep on writing but then add at the bottom of today's article, "This is not my farewell." -- T.J?

HOLMES: All right. And you mentioned his brother Raul. You said the likely choice, I guess, as you see him. But, tell us, everybody is talking about it. We're not going to have Fidel in power anymore. But still are we going to see any significant change in policies coming out of Cuba? Are we going to see any difference in the relationship between Cuba and the United States even now or is Raul just pretty much Fidel light?

NEILL: Well, in terms of differences, we've had essentially a year and a half now to look at what Cuba under Raul Castro essentially looks like. Now we have seen a man who is much more open to talking about the problems in Cuba. He said, for example, it's not always enough for people to get by on. In some stretches truly mad breaking in the country.

We haven't seen the sort of big story changes that a lot of Cubans would like to see, improvements in the economy, more freedom to travel, access to the Internet like they see in the rest of the world. Those things are kind of things we haven't seen. And yet we don't know if that was just because until he was acting as a provisional president, and thinking that his brother would return, and that somehow -- now that we know that's not the case, could he change? Could he rule from a different mantel? That's what remains to be seen -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Havana bureau chief Morgan Neill on the line for us. Morgan, we appreciate you.

NGUYEN: Now let's turn to Miami and CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's in an area known as Little Havana.

And Susan, the big question is, what are people there saying about this resignation?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, most people here we've spoken with this morning are very skeptical that anything substantive is going to happen in Cuba now that Fidel Castro has formally ceded power. And everyone fully expects, as you've already been hearing, that Fidel's brother Raul would be the next one in line. And if that happens, they say, as they like to put it, the only thing that changes is the name of the duck, as they like to say it. So no change whatsoever.

But you have to understand here that for the past 19 months or so, ever since a couple of summers ago, that Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother, that people here in the exile community had the chance to let -- absorb that information. And many observers say it is time for the people here, Cuban exiles in particular, to be patient about what is going to happen next on the island, that any change that happens would likely be very slow in happening.

Two summers ago, when the initial announcement was made that Fidel Castro was very sick, people here took to the streets in celebration for at least a day or two. And then calmer heads prevailed. Everyone went home and went on with their life because they realized that nothing was going to happen immediately. And I think that's the same sense that you get from people here.

Others say there's this fully anticipated with the elections coming up in Cuba on Sunday and that Fidel Castro simply wanted to have everything in place so he would cede power and someone else would formally take over for him this coming weekend. So for now, people are having their sips of coffee, and it is certainly the number one topic of discussion this morning here in Little Havana. Back to you, Betty.

NGUYEN: But no dancing in the streets and no celebrations this time around. All right. CNN's Susan Candiotti joining us live from Miami. Thank you, Susan.

HOLMES: And President Bush half a world away still closely monitoring the end of an era. The president, traveling in Africa, and he says the change in Cuba could signal a transition to democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The question really should be: what does this mean for the people in Cuba? They are the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro. They are the ones who are put in prison because of their beliefs. They are the ones who have been denied their right to live in a free society. So I view this as a period of transition that -- and it should be the beginning of the democratic transition for the people in Cuba.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Except for monarchs, Fidel Castro is the world's longest ruling head of state.

NGUYEN: Well, presidential candidate Barack Obama has issued a statement in reaction to Fidel Castro's resignation. Part of it reads, "Today should mark the end of a dark era in Cuba's history. Fidel Castro's stepping down is an essential first step but it is sadly insufficient in bringing freedom to Cuba."

He goes on to say, "If the Cuban leadership begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change, the United States must be prepared to begin taking steps to normalize relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades. The freedom of the Cuban people is a cause that should bring the Americans together." This statement coming again from presidential candidate Barack Obama who is campaigning in Texas today ahead of the March 4th primary there. Well, let's take a closer look at Fidel Castro. In 1953, he began assembling a group of fighters to oust pro-U.S. leader Fulgencio Batista. Well, Fidel Castro overthrew that government in 1959. And as president, he rules with an iron hand imprisoning political opponents and those who dared criticize his government. Washington's economic sanctions failed to oust him. And in July of 2006, the Cuban leader temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul. Since then, though, Fidel Castro has been seen only in photos and videotape.

Well, he did rule a small country, but Fidel Castro cast a large shadow on U.S. politics. So what now? Well, we're going to dig deeper into this question with someone who has studied the issue. That's in 20 minutes.

HOLMES: It's Tuesday. So that means somebody has got to be voting somewhere. Today, we have primaries in Wisconsin and Washington, also Hawaii holding Democratic caucuses. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been in Wisconsin the past few days. Obama is looking to add to a streak of eight primary and caucus wins in a row.

Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton is stumping for her mother in Hawaii. Thanks, mom. But that may be an uphill battle for her mother since Barack Obama was born there and spent most of his childhood in Hawaii.

And we turn to Washington state now where only the Republicans have delegates on the line. It's actually the second half of the contests there. John McCain won the Washington state caucuses 10 days ago.

NGUYEN: Well, John McCain is looking past today's contest to another primary state. It's one that figures to be an important battleground in November. CNN's Dana Bash is in Columbus, Ohio this morning.

And I understand, Dana, that Senator John McCain is planning an election night party tonight?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is. He's going to come here to the state of Ohio for his election night party instead of staying in Wisconsin. You're right. That's because he is intent and his campaign is intent on looking ahead.

And despite the fact that there are votes today going on, as you just mentioned, in Washington state and Wisconsin, but the McCain campaign is hoping, since they do still have very much have a rival in this race, the Republican race, that is preventing him from officially becoming the nominee, they are looking ahead to the states where they think they can actually get the actual number of delegates to formally be the Republican nominee, and this state of Ohio, which votes on March 4th, is one.

Another big, big state is Texas. That will also vote on March 4th. So that's a part of the reason John McCain will be here tonight instead of Wisconsin. But he is spending most of the day in Wisconsin. In fact, he was there last night for a Republican dinner and he was encouraging people to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously, a big day tomorrow and a cold day tomorrow. We know that. And we know that I think our job is to get out our votes. And I hope that you will do everything you can to get out our vote tomorrow. Obviously, I want your vote.

But I also think it's important that we have people exercise their most precious right that a lot of places in the world don't have. And sometimes we have a tendency to forget that. And that is to choose our leaders. And I hope that everybody tomorrow will get out to vote and in the words of the late Mayor Daley of Chicago, vote early and vote often. But I don't think that that is certainly not a Wisconsin tradition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Betty, you might be saying, well, that's a candidate running for president asking people to get out for vote. Not exactly a news flash there but it is very telling as to where John McCain stands right now in a very kind of odd situation in that his campaign, you saw yesterday, with the endorsement of former President Bush, is they are trying to continue to make the case.

This Republican race is over. But at the same time, McCain advisers worry that while they are saying that, they're maybe sending a signal to supporters that they don't have to get out and vote. So they are worried that in some of these votes they could, you know, the voters could basically stay home.

That is why you saw Senator McCain there pleading, pleading with his supporters in the state of Wisconsin to actually go out and vote because if they don't, there could be an embarrassment that the McCain campaign certainly can't afford and would not welcome at all in any of these contests, whether it's Wisconsin or Washington state or here in Ohio on March 4th -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Got it. All right. Thank you, Dana Bash, joining us live.

And we do invite you to stay with CNN because we have much more on the candidates as they crisscross the country. You can watch the CNN "Ballot Bowl" today at noon Eastern and, remember, CNN equals politics.

HOLMES: All right. Still on politics, they're going to be voting in Wisconsin today and Hawaii, two very different climates for the voters. Rob Marciano keeping an eye on things for us today.

Good morning to you, sir.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Talking Amtrak getting on track with security. Bomb- sniffing dogs, passenger screenings, keeping you safe on the train. The report ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Taking aim at an out-of-control satellite. Is the U.S. spending too much to shoot it down?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Amtrak is unveiling new security measures today. And CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us from Washington's Union Station.

Good morning to you. Why are they deciding to do this now?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, they think it's the prudent thing to do. We checked with federal authorities to see if there was any new threat information that related to mass transit. We were told nothing new but it's been an ongoing concern especially because of the train bombings in Madrid and also of transit attacks in London. And it's one of those very difficult sorts of -- things to get ahold of because there's so many entry and exit points on to a mass transit system like Amtrak.

Here's what they're talking about. They're talking about putting more guards on the trains and on the platforms that would be carrying automatic weapons. There will be more bomb-sniffing dogs. And they are talking about doing random searches of carry-on bags. They' would set up checkpoints in front of a boarding gate, randomly choose passengers, swab their bags for explosives.

If those come back positive, then they would do a more thorough bag check. If you say no, you don't want that done, well, then you won't get on the train. You will instead get a refund for your ticket -- T.J.?

HOLMES: Well, that's pretty good incentive to cooperate, I guess. Jeanne Meserve for us at Union Station. Thank you so much.

MESERVE: You bet.

NGUYEN: A satellite's falling to earth. Even the experts say it's not much of a threat. So is it worth, maybe, I don't know, what, $60 million to shoot it down?

Well, CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the target, an experimental spy satellite that failed upon launch over a year ago. And this is what will try to take it down -- a Navy standard missile. Price tag for the missile alone is $10 million. Figure at least $40 million for the whole shebang. So why not just let the satellite fall? Chances are it won't hit anyone. But if it does, its full tank of hydrazine fuel could be a deadly hazard.

GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS VICE CHAIRMAN: So the regret factor of not acting clearly outweighed the regret factors of acting.

MCINTYRE: There's not much real downside of a miss except the cost, which could go from $40 to $60 million if the Navy has to fire a second $10 million missile. There's no rainy day fund for falling satellites so the money will come out of the general Pentagon budget.

The only other risk is of embarrassment. America's $100 billion missile shield can't hit a satellite the size of a bus. Still, the smart money is on a direct hit.

JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: The interceptors they've tested a number of times before generally have been successful. They've been testing them against much smaller targets than this large satellite. I think the odds of success are pretty good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And Jamie McIntyre is at the Pentagon this morning and joins us live.

So, Jamie, what is going to happen here? I mean do we know exactly when and where the areas affected are?

MCINTYRE: Well, we have a pretty good idea now because the U.S. government has put out what they call a NOTAM or "Notice to Airmen" for planes and ships to avoid a wide area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii. That notice begins at 2:30 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. These are giving a Greenwich Time on Thursday morning. That would be 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and about 4:30 in the afternoon Hawaii Time.

You can see the large area there. That's where they anticipate debris would fall because the whole idea is to hit this satellite when it's very close to crashing to the earth so that all of the debris falls to -- into the ocean and doesn't stay up in space. So it does look like Wednesday night, Wednesday afternoon, Hawaii Time, will be the time that they'll take the first shot at this satellite.

NGUYEN: All right. So they're waiting for it to get close to earth before they shoot it down. That leaves a little room for error there. And is there any chance that we're going to see anything here on earth? This was a spy satellite. I mean don't see any secret things come from all the debris?

MCINTYRE: Well, no. I mean, even if they don't hit the satellite, most of it is going to burn up on re-entry. It's a question of where it would land and where the fuel tank would land. And that may survive re-entry and create a hazard. But -- and you won't see anything unless you are sitting on the "USS Lake Erie" in the Pacific Ocean. And even then it'll be kind of hard because it will be daylight, 4:30 in the afternoon. So we'll be waiting for the Missile Defense Agency to give us a readout whether they think they hit the satellite, release some imagery, and if they didn't hit it, they'll be recalculating as the satellite orbits around the earth a few times to see if they can take a second shot.

NGUYEN: That's a lot of money. Hopefully they hit their target. Jamie McIntyre joins us live. Thank you, Jamie.

HOLMES: Well, merger mania in the air. Why consolidation among the airlines could be taking off. And what it means for you and me. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Delta and Northwest, two airline giants very close to agreeing on a merger now. Ali V., "Minding Your Business."

Ali Velshi, it's been awhile. I hadn't seen you. How you doing?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a pleasure to see you, T.J. and I think this is a topic we'll probably going to talk about a few times over the course of the next while. We've kind of heard it before but we seem to think we're close to a deal between Delta and Northwest which would create certainly the country's biggest airline, if not the biggest airline in the world, by at least some measures including traffic.

Now take a look, T.J. at where these -- the hubs are for these two major airlines. And that will tell you some of the story. Delta hubs, which are in blue, are at New York's Kennedy Airport, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Northwest hubs are Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis. So you see they start to cover a much bigger swathe of the country. And the reports that we get of this say that the hubs would stay in place.

Now what would happen under this new merger? Here's what we're kind of hearing. These are all reports. We know that there are meetings at Delta and Northwest today. So we might hear news of this by later today or tomorrow. But the new airline would be called Delta. It would headquartered in Atlanta where Delta is now headquartered. And the new chief would be the CEO of delta.

Air France and KLM, which own a piece of Northwest right now, would own a piece of the new airline and the new airline would stay a part of the Skyteam alliance. And as I said, by at least one measure, and that is traffic, this would be the biggest airline in the world.

Now it's not a done deal, T.J. These airline mergers are complicated deals, even if these two boards decide they want to do that. But that's -- this is kind of what we're looking at.

HOLMES: What would we be looking at in terms of a possibility of a merger like this with flights being affected as far as adding more flights or flights actually being cut? And also jobs. What happens to these people that work for Northwest and Delta? Are we going to see job cuts?

VELSHI: Well, this will be part of the trying to get this thing approved. Right now the rumor is they are talking about not having many job cuts, if any at all. And that's why we're sort of counting on hearing from the unions about how they feel about these deals.

Now in terms of flights and fares, we've seen fares increasing over the course of the last year. Part of that is fuel surcharges. But part of that is because airlines, in order to make money, have cut back on flights. They are flying smaller planes. You're probably going to see more of that. So in major routes that are covered by these two airlines you probably won't see much change because there's competition.

But in areas and routes where either of these airlines are dominant, yes, you know that's what happens when we eliminate some competition. You are probably going to see some of those fares go up. But the trend over the last year has been toward fares going up with or without consolidation and consolidation in the airline industry is something we're going to expect.

In fact, if this deal does get announced, we're ready to hear a deal that involves Continental and United as well. So I think you're going to end up at the end of the year with fewer airlines than you have right now in the United States.

HOLMES: But again, listen to the part about the fares and all of this. It's happening with this merger. It doesn't sound like much is going to happen to really affect the consumer.

VELSHI: Not too much at the moment. As I say, the trend has been upward on fares. You're probably not going to see a break in fares. You're certainly not going to get lower fares. It remains to be seen whether those fares will be higher.

But we do know that these airlines have been in trouble for the last number of years. So the reality is we do have too many. They're going to be eliminated. You know, we're going to be looking into exactly what routes they say they would keep and what they'd give up to determine what effect it's going to have on fares.

HOLMES: All right. Ali Velshi for us. Always a pleasure, kind, sir. Thank you.

VELSHI: Good to see you.

NGUYEN: Cuban leader Fidel Castro stepping down because of his health?

Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta drops by the NEWSROOM with that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And there you have it, the opening bell today at the New York Stock Exchange being brought in by a congressman there from New York actually. We're expecting possibility of an upbeat start really to the trading day. Everybody had the day off yesterday with President's Day, a three-day weekend, so maybe investors, feeling pretty good, well rested.

But they're coming in, everybody expecting really to have their eye on earnings reports today from Wal-Mart. You may have heard of that company. The big dog everybody has their eyes on; expecting a boost in revenue. So that's maybe part of the rosy start today. But we'll be following it all day here.

NGUYEN: Good morning. Hopefully you're having a good Tuesday so far.

I'm Betty Ngyuen.

HOLMES: You threw that hopefully in there.

NGUYEN: Especially after a holiday weekend. It's kind of tough.

HOLMES: Hello, I'm T.J. Holmes.

NGUYEN: Voters in three states are making presidential choices today. There are primaries in Wisconsin and Washington State; plus, democratic caucuses in Hawaii. Barack Obama is looking to stay undefeated since Super Tuesday. And in Washington State, only the republicans have delegates at stake. The mostly by mail primary follows caucuses there ten days ago, won by John McCain and Barack Obama.

HOLMES: Just democrats in Hawaii today, that state drawing a lot of interest from both campaigns. No playground but a battleground for the candidates' family members. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the frantic race for the democratic nomination, where every delegate counts, Hawaii matters. This is Senator Barack Obama's home turf. He was born in Honolulu and spent much of his childhood here. His secret weapon on the campaign trail, his younger sister Maya Soetero-Ng. Maya lives in Honolulu where politicking nearly 5,000 miles away from Washington has a different feel.

MAYA SOETERO-NG, BARACK OBAMA'S SISTER: I'd like people to understand that he is, without a doubt, precisely what he says he is. He really has the power to do this.

MALVEAUX: But lest you think Hillary Clinton is giving up on Obama's backyard, think again. Daughter Chelsea was dispatched for three days to campaign across the island. While she refuses to talk to reporters, she spends hours greeting and answering supporters' questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's going to do for us women what nobody could.

MALVEAUX: For many Hawaiian voters, this election is giving them a real role in the politics of the mainland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm for Hillary. I believe she has the experience and all the things that are needed to be a president. I just -- I am so inspired by all of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he represents kind of like an image of my family because he -- I see my kids' future in his eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have something here called the aloha spirit. And I really think that Obama embodied the aloha spirit.

MALVEAUX: Do you think that Senator Clinton has the same aloha spirit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And that was Suzanne Malveaux reporting there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Of course, Fidel Castro hasn't been seen in public since 2006; rumors of cancer and then a botched surgery but Cuba's government isn't talking. What do we know about his health?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, what's wrong with this guy? We know he's not well but exactly what's wrong with him?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well he may be better than people thought because remember T.J., people had sort of written him off as dying, having cancer, all that. He's 81 years old. We know that. There are some pictures of him from about a month ago when he was with the Brazilian President Lula. You can make whatever speculation you want about those pictures. He looks frail there, obviously. He's sitting down.

But this is about a month ago. This all started, T.J., this most recent crisis in July 2006. We're now pretty sure he had something known as diverticulitis, basically an inflammation of the large intestine. That required surgery. The surgery didn't go so well. The connection between one part of the intestine to the other broke down. He had to have another operation and then he had a third operation after that.

I will tell you, T.J., for anybody, of any age, that's a big deal. For someone in their late 70s, early 80s, much bigger deal. I think that's why people were so worried at that point that he may not survive all of that. Doesn't sound like he had cancer, though, at the time.

HOLMES: OK. Now that -- is he past that, if you will? You said that's serious for anybody. But after a couple of surgeries, was that problem corrected and he goes through a recovery time?

GUPTA: It sounds like it. We're talking about 19 months ago. So it's been some time. And usually if it was going to be more problems, they probably would have already happened by now. We know that he had problems with his gallbladder as well. He had to have a stint placed in his gallbladder as well. It's one of those things, T.J., where I think he's past this episode. But that has a significant impact on the body and his digestion and his ability to maintain and gain weight, which is probably why he looks so frail.

HOLMES: And his brother as well, that we're talking about has a good chance from reports that his brother will be the one who steps into place. His brother is 76. No spring chicken. What kind of shape is he in?

GUPTA: It's interesting T.J. as a reporter, these are difficult stories, all the stories out of Cuba because we know very little about Raul. You can see the images there. He looks fairly vibrant. Ronald Reagan was 78 when he left office, the oldest U.S. president. He's 76, as you point out. So hard to say. You do have age-related diseases; diabetes, heart disease. Those things are greater risk as you get older. But he looks fairly good. I can only say that I know as much as you do and I've only seen these images.

HOLMES: Wow. You don't know much.

GUPTA: We tried to find out but you know it's interesting. At some point, CNN viewers probably know more about the health of Castro than residents of Cuba just because of the lack of information.

HOLMES: We were talking about that earlier. The announcements going out on the Internet and people don't even have the Internet there. All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we appreciate you.

NGUYEN: Much more on Fidel Castro stepping down, that's ahead. So what is this going to mean for Cuba? Veronica De La Cruz has reaction online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fidel Castro, a thorn in the side of the white house for almost a half century. For ONE frightening moment, he was at the center of a nuclear showdown between the U.S. and Soviet Union. What happens now?

Well, Peter Kornbluh is a senior analyst for the national security archive.

Peter, I know that you've met with Fidel Castro several occasions. Why is he resigning now? Is it just his ailing health or something much more?

PETER KORNBLUH, NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE: It's an amazing situation. Most leaders of his kind don't leave office except in a coffin or during a military coup. He is now going out on his own terms, securing a smooth transition to his brother and to a younger generation of leadership in Cuba. He is going from being commander in chief to commentator in chief in that he's going to continue to write an opinion column for the communist party newspaper. So while he's resigning from office, he certainly is not resigning from being a participant in Cuba's future.

NGUYEN: That's what I wanted to get to. In transitioning to his brother, are Cubans going to see any change because as Fidel Castro wrote in that letter to the communist paper he says, quote, I was only defied as a soldier of ideas. Perhaps my voice will be heard. He ended the article saying this is not my farewell. It sounds like he is on course to rule from behind the curtain if you will.

KORNBLUH: I don't think he's going to be ruling. I think he's saying quite clearly that he won't be ruling and that he is now clearing the way for not only his brother to rule without interference but also --

NGUYEN: Do you really think his brother will rule without interference from Fidel Castro?

KORNBLUH: I do. I think that a younger generation of leadership which Fidel has talked about repeatedly, including in his spoken autobiography that's just come out in English called "Fidel Castro My Life" where he spends a whole chapter talking about passing power to the next generation, he says explicitly that Raul is only a few years younger than him and that the generation that led the Cuban revolution 50 years ago is basically coming to an end.

And on Sunday, when the national assembly meets in Cuba, I think you're going to see the positioning of new leaders in their 40s and 50s. People like Carlos Lahe and Felipe Perez Roque who was Fidel's aid to comp and is now foreign minister. Those people are going to step up.

And I think Cuba -- Cubans expect change in the future. Raul Castro said there's going to be changes in the economic factors of their daily life, housing, transportation, jobs, wages. And that is a debate going on now in Cuba that's going to accelerate with Fidel formally stepping aside.

NGUYEN: If you believe there is truly going to be change with Raul in power, what does this mean for the U.S.? Is this an opportunity for the U.S. to step in and improve relationships there?

KORNBLUH: This is an extraordinary opportunity for the United States. As the Cuban revolution comes to its 50th anniversary at the end of this year, and a new president is appointed in the United States of America, you have an opportunity to end the perpetual antagonism in U.S. policy toward Cuba over these past five decades and adopt a modern 21st century policy, a policy of relatively normal relations with Cuban government that is basically a fay de complete (ph).

NGUYEN: And you know what does this mean for the U.S. policy because as we look at that for the past 50 years, the United States has really worked to prevent what is about to happen.

KORNBLUH: That is exactly true. The Bush administration had an explicit plan to prevent Fidel Castro from passing power to Raul Castro. And that plan has failed, as has every single effort of the United States. Paramilitary intervention, CIA assassination plots, economic embargoes, you name it. Those have failed. Other countries have adopted a much more rational approach to Cuba. And they have more influence in Cuba. And I think the next president of the United States is going to be pushed in the direction of a far more pragmatic policy of normal relations with Cuba.

NGUYEN: Let's look ahead just for a second; Raul, 76-year-old. So when we think about who is going to follow him, who could be in line for that?

KORNBLUH: The names that you hear are the ones I mentioned, Carlos Laje, who's kind of the economic czar and a vice president in Cuba. He is named often. Fernando Ramirez who is very high up in the Cuban communist party and was Cuba's ambassador to Washington for a number of years. Felipe Perez Roque who was Fidel's hand-picked foreign minister. Ricardo Al Arcon is the number three man in Cuba right now. It's unclear whether he'll move upwards or not. But I think you'll see a younger leadership in the future and a leadership that is I think, ready to have better relations with the United States of America.

NGUYEN: All right. Peter Kornbluh who does expect some real change in light of this resignation; Peter, a senior analyst with the national security archive, spent a lot of time with Fidel Castro. Thank you for your insight today.

KORNBLUH: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Well, the heavyweights got knocked out. The headline sums Pakistan's parliamentary elections which dealt a major blow to President Pervez Musharraf. The results not final yet but early number released by the election commission showed big wins for the opposition parties of two former prime ministers.

The ruling party today conceded defeat. Opposition supporters took to the streets in celebration. President Musharraf says he will accept the outcome of the election and he's promising to work with the new government. Musharraf, of course, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror but that alliance has angered many Pakistanis.

NGUYEN: All right. We've all been out to dinner, ordered something. You get your bill. How about a whopper of a bill? Get this. The $2,200 Burger King order? Yes, a customer gets flame broiled in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Fidel Castro announcing his resignation earlier this morning after nearly a half century of rule. Word first came online and CNN's Veronica De La Cruz joins us with what she's seeing about the Castro news.

A lot of people in Cuba don't even have Internet service.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are right about that. Good morning to you. We're going to show you how the world first heard about the news. In an online letter to state-run newspaper, "Granma," it was posted in the middle of the night on the web, Betty, like you were just saying. You can find this at granma.cu. It's posted in a couple of different languages; Spanish, English, French, Italian.

In the letter, Castro blames his health for his resignation. He also says I will not aspire to nor will I accept the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief. I wish only to fight as a soldier of ideas. Perhaps my voice will be heard.

NGUYEN: What are Cubans saying as they hear the news trickling in. As we mentioned, many of them don't have online service there but they are getting word by word of mouth. What are they saying about it?

DE LA CRUZ: They are getting word by word of mouth. People are on their cell phones. We've been looking online this morning. It's finally starting to come in.

A French newspaper reached out to a blogger in Havana. She didn't know about the news. It wasn't being reported on Cuban radio at first. She was listening to the radio. They were talking about the president of Ghana visiting Cuba. They weren't talking about Fidel.

Like you said, most people don't have Internet access there. The blogger thinks it was pretty interesting that Castro's letter was posted online. She thinks it was so foreign media would have access to the news first. She's a woman in her 30s who does a blog called Generation Y.

Asked how she personally feels about it, she had this to say about it. For me and the young generation the news comes as a great relief. We've never had another president and we saw him as an obstruction to our country's development. I'm not saying that's what everyone thinks. For some, this will be a huge shock.

Other reaction online this morning, Betty, Lewis M. Garcia from the blog Child of the Revolution, "I wish I could share their excitement at the news, but like all Cubans inside and outside of the island, I know that when it comes to Castro, nothing is ever what it seems."

That's reaction online this morning. I want to show you, you can find at CNN.com, more coverage on the story. You'll find interactives. You will also find explainers. And you can find out more about the life of Fidel Castro, more about Cuba itself. There's also a section, Betty, where you can sound off online. You can join in on the conversation there. We're looking at some of the reaction that's been coming in. CNN.com is the place.

NGUYEN: And I'm sure as the day goes forward, we're going to see a lot more reaction. Thank you, Veronica De La Cruz, joining us live.

DE LA CRUZ: Of course.

HOLMES: We are talking to JFK assassination next. New evidence raising new questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: At the top of the hour, Wisconsin votes, Clinton and Obama feud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a difference between speeches and solutions.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I notice Senator Clinton on occasion has used words of mine as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: So did someone plagiarize? As the word turns in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Minding his manners while he steals from a store. Surveillance video in an Akron, Ohio convenience store shows a man go in, go to the counter and quite nicely come away with much more than what was on the shelves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. RICK EDWARDS, AKRON, OHIO POLICE: The clerk said that the suspect in the store got some beer, came up to the counter, was real friendly. Put his items on the counter then told the clerk, hey, I'm sorry I have to do this, I want the money out of the register. The clerk obliged and out the door he went.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: He took the beer? He said beer, didn't he?

Police say the polite guy did not show a weapon. So we will see what happens when he's caught. Maybe the officers will be as courteous when they catch the crook.

NGUYEN: Not so sure about that one.

Have you ever had sticker shock at a fast-food restaurant? Yes, didn't think so. But it happened at this Burger King in Idaho. Instead of $22 for dinner, one family was charged, get this, 2,200 bucks. That overcharge now leading to more problems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN SAMPSON, OVERCHARGED BY $2,200: My bank account now is overdrawn $473. So anything that might come through tonight at midnight is going to be charged $35 fee. And I know there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven charges already that they are going to charge me already for. At 35 bucks a pop.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Brian Sampson says he'll try to sort it all out today with both the bank and Burger King.

HOLMES: Hope he savored that meal. Those Whoppers are good, though.

Well, a secret stash of evidence now revealed. Items from the JFK assassination reviving old conspiracy arguments. CNN's Susan Roesgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Jack Ruby shot and killed JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Ruby said he did it to avenge the president's assassination. But conspiracy theorists who believe Oswald and Ruby were part of a larger plot, claim Ruby shot Oswald to keep him from talking. Now a transcript hidden in a secret safe and released for the first time in more than 40 years is the conspiracy theorist's Holy Grail, an alleged conversation between Ruby and Oswald just weeks before JFK was shot.

In the transcript, Oswald says to Ruby that the boys in Chicago want to get rid of the attorney general. Meaning the mafia wanted to get rid of Robert Kennedy. Ruby replies that it can't be done. It would get the feds into everything. But Oswald says, there is a way to get rid of him without killing him. I can shoot his brother. Today, a clearly skeptical Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins calls the transcript an alleged conversation.

CRAIG WATKINS, DALLAS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Now we don't know if this is an actual conversation or not. But what we do know is that as a result of this find, it will open up the debate as to whether or not there was a conspiracy.

ROESGEN: Why is the D.A. so skeptical? Well, also in that safe was a contract for a movie deal signed by the D.A. who prosecuted the Ruby case back in the 1960s. Did that D.A. invent the conversation between Ruby and Oswald to make a Hollywood script? Inquiring minds still want to know.

A well respected JFK historian, Gary Mack in Dallas, says that the FBI did investigate the report of that alleged conversation and concluded that there was no proof that it ever took place and the Warren Commission concluded that there was no conspiracy.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're sitting in today for Tony and Heidi. Stay informed right here all day in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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