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Fidel Castro Resigns; Navy Prepares to Shoot Down Satellite
Aired February 19, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Revolutionary dictator, enemy of ten U.S. presidents. Fidel Castro ends nearly half a century of rule in Cuba, announcing his resignation in a letter.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The cigar-chomping, fatigue-wearing dictator once spoke for hours on end to massive crowds. Well, he quit smoking, shed his khakis and grew more quiet over the years but remains an anti-American icon.
LEMON: We'll have you -- we'll take you to Havana, Little Havana and also beyond that, many places beyond that, getting reaction from this story.
Good afternoon, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Shouts of "Free Cuba" tempered by cautious optimism. That's the scene right now on the streets of Miami's Little Havana, the heart of the Cuban exile community. They've waited decades for change, and many say they are still waiting. Our Susan Candiotti is there for us.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don, there is no other American city better known for the Cuban exile population, of course, than Miami. And we're in the heart of it, Miami's Little Havana, where we always come when anything of importance happens in Cuba.
And here you see the crowds of people here, although I must say it's probably equal part journalists and equal part Cuban exiles, as well. For the most part these are people who came here in the 1960s or their children. It is a mostly older crowd, however. And you see people here holding signs across the street, the Cuban flag strung from a couple of, appropriately, palm trees.
And walking down here just a little bit you can hear, of course, people honking their horns occasionally, truck drivers, people driving their cars. And over my shoulder, across the street is a cabaret, a nightclub.
And the sign on it reads in Spanish "Fidel, (SPEAKING SPANISH)," which means, "Fidel, don't resign, die already." That's literally the translation here. The question, of course, is with what is happening in Cuba what does this mean? There's a lot of skepticism here as to whether -- whether with Fidel Castro giving up his official titles and if his brother, Raul, takes over power, as expected, will there be any real change? Many people here doubt it.
We also spoke with an anti-Castro Cuban radio host. Her name is Ninoska Perez. Here are some of her thoughts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NINOSKA PEREZ, ANTI-CASTRO RADIO HOST: The happy moment will be when he doesn't write the story and somebody else writes his obituary. And this is not the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now I want to bring you another look right over here as we kind of squeeze through a couple of cars here. You see a lot of people being interviewed here. And just around the corner here, I'll show you the front of this Cafe Versailles, where you have a lot of people gathered over here at the coffee shop, where they're having a little cafe con leche and talking, of course, politics.
Above all, you have a Cuban congressman saying that Fidel's absolute power is not based on titles. What we need to concentrate on, he says, is a transition to democracy in Cuba. But is this the time? No one here knows. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: Susan, great job out there showing us what's going on. I have a question for you. But real quickly, can you get your photographer just to turn around and show us more of that scene? Because this is really the best stuff that we've shot all day.
And talk to us about what's going -- you said people are being interviewed. I see them taking pictures. Who are these folks being interviewed? Are these local politicians or people who have some expertise on Cuban-American relations?
CANDIOTTI: Oh, yes, there are all kinds of interviews going on right now. And they're talking about, if I heard you correct -- because quite frankly, it's so loud -- transition, what does the transition mean?
As I said, if Raul takes over, they don't think there will be much change at all. And this really is a place for people to vent their feelings. Probably they'll stay here through the night. We will see tomorrow. And I can tell you, Don, that a couple of summers ago when we first heard that Fidel was in such poor health, that is when a number of people came out here. I would say there were probably more people than there are now.
Perhaps that's because you had roughly 19 months for people to take in what was happening here and to watch to see whether Raul, who temporarily had power, would make any changes. He has not. So that might be why you have fewer people out here, at least at this hour in the middle of the day. I suspect it will pick up at night. We'll see how -- what changes tomorrow, for example.
LEMON: Yes. Susan, we're going to check back with you standing in front of Cafe Versailles. Great live shot, Susan. We really love the flavor that you're bringing us. If you find any more information or get to any more places like this, check back with us, OK?
CANDIOTTI: We will.
LEMON: Thank you, Susan.
KEILAR: From Little Havana to Havana now. CNN the only U.S. network with a correspondent based in the Cuban capital. So let's go straight to Havana bureau chief Morgan Neill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN NEILL, HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: This morning in Cuba's official state media the remarkable announcement Cuban leader Fidel Castro is stepping down. In a letter addressed to the country, Fidel Castro says that he's resigning, because he is no longer physically capable of doing the job that he has done for so long.
Fidel Castro writes he will not aspire to, nor accept the post of president of the council of state, nor that of commander in chief when the country's national assembly meets this coming Sunday. That means the national assembly will have to name a new president.
The most likely candidate appears to be Raul Castro, who's led the country for the last year and a half since illness forced Fidel Castro to transfer power to his brother.
Now what to expect from Raul Castro? Well, in the year and a half we've had to study him, he is a leader more apt to recognize some of the Cuban -- the problems that Cuba has. For example, he's said state salaries are simply insufficient to meet people's needs, and that certain structures need to lead to lawbreaking within Cuba.
Nevertheless, he's not been able to fulfill that big changes that a lot of Cubans say that they would like to see, things like an end to the double currency in the country, whereby Cubans are paid in one currency but have to buy many of their goods in another one worth 25 times less. Prohibitions against free travel, the inability of Cubans to get access to the Internet like they see others in the world getting. So far we have not seen those kinds of changes.
Now, although Fidel Castro is resigning his political position, this won't be an end to his influence. He says he will continue writing these articles as he has up to this point in the last year and a half and that this is not his farewell.
Morgan Neill, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Fidel Castro has been a thorn in the side of ten U.S. administrations, including that of President Bush, who is hoping for even bigger changes in Cuba. He spoke in Rwanda on his continuing African tour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that the change from Fidel Castro ought to begin a period of a democratic transition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And if you'd like to read Fidel Castro's full resignation letter, you can check it out at CNN.com. You can also view an interactive time line of his life and his rule or share your thoughts in an I-Report. All of that at CNN.com.
LEMON: Get out of the way. That is the warning to ships and planes as the U.S. Navy gets ready to try to shoot down a faulty satellite sooner than they had planned. Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, is following all the latest for us.
Jamie, I thought they only had, like, one shot at it. Why did they decide to move it up?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're -- the -- what they're trying to do is take that shot as soon as they can, so if it doesn't work they have a couple of chances to do it again.
Right now we have an official notification from the U.S. government that their first window of opportunity will be Wednesday night, late Wednesday afternoon, Hawaii Time, when the satellite will be passing over the Pacific Ocean, and the U.S. Navy will take a shot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (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 million 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, if 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, been successful. They've tested them against much smaller targets. And this large satellite, I think the odds of success are pretty good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So this official notice to airmen that the U.S. government has put out identifying a large patch of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii as the potential zone where the debris could come down.
Don't be surprised, by the way, if you see another one of those issued tomorrow for Thursday night, even before the first shot takes place, because they have to put these out at least 24 hours ahead of time, and the U.S. is going to want to keep preserving its options of taking additional shots if that first one doesn't work.
LEMON: OK. So that sort of answers the question here. If you can answer question yes or no for me. Will they try again? Yes, if they can, right?
MCINTYRE: Well, you know, it's actually a complicated calculation. Because what will happen is the satellite will go by. They'll fire a missile. They'll either hit it or graze it or perhaps miss it entirely.
Then they'll go back to their calculations while the satellite continues to orbit to try to figure out if they have another shot where they can bring it down over water. The last thing they want to do is bring it down over land. If they don't feel like they have a good shot, they'll just let it come down naturally. But if they do have a good second shot, they'll try it again.
LEMON: And I've got to ask you something. Complete transparency here. I have Miles O'Brien's old office and extension here. And I got a call from a viewer. He said, "I was trying to get Miles, but I'll ask you. What happens if they miss? What happens to the missile that they're sending there, because that missile has an explosive head on it?"
So people are wondering, well, is the missile going to be more dangerous than the actual satellite that's coming down? What happens?
MCINTYRE: Well, first of all, the missile does not have an explosive head.
LEMON: OK.
MCINTYRE: It has what's called a kinetic kill vehicle. It actually smashes the satellite from impact.
LEMON: Got it.
MCINTYRE: They'll try to hit it head-on. The other thing is there is a self-destruct mechanism on the missile if it were to malfunction before it got into space. But no, it will not -- it will not pose a hazard once it's up in space.
LEMON: There you go, you answered the question. Thank you very much for that. Senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.
And next hour we could hear more about what the Pentagon is planning. Press secretary Jeff Morrell will be talking with reporters at 2:30 Eastern. And we'll bring you those comments here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And topping our political ticker, three more states are holding contests today in the race for the White House. Democrats are concentrating on the Wisconsin primary and caucuses in Hawaii. For the Republicans, there are primaries in Wisconsin and Washington state.
Senator Barack Obama is hoping to build on his recent momentum, but the Democratic candidate is also looking ahead. He's campaigning today in Texas, which holds its primary on March 4th.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton hopes to swing the momentum to her side today, but she, too, is looking ahead to the big March 4th primaries in Texas and Ohio. On her schedule today, a rally in Youngstown, Ohio.
KEILAR: It's also a busy day on the campaign trail for Republican frontrunner John McCain. He held a rally this morning in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and then he headed to Columbus, Ohio, where he will meet with the media and also attend an election-night party this evening.
Mike Huckabee is hoping to pull some surprises in today's Republican primaries in Wisconsin and Washington. After a campaign swing through Wisconsin, the former Arkansas governor is not on the trail today. He's actually at home in Little Rock.
LEMON: The delegate count in the Democratic race for president will climb by 94 after today's contests in Wisconsin and Hawaii. Either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will have to get 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.
According to the latest CNN estimate, here's the Democrat delegate total right now. Obama has 46 percent, Clinton has 12. Or was that 42? Can we back that up real quick? Because this is coming in live. Just complete transparency. All of this is happening live. It's fed down. Clinton 42, Obama 46. Now we can move on from there.
On the Republican side, there are 45 delegates for John McCain, 875 total, I should say. Two hundred and twenty-one total for Huckabee. Ron Paul has 16. And then uncommitted, nine are uncommitted. A total count of delegates on the Republican side right there.
Right now you can be part of the best political team. If you're in Wisconsin, Hawaii or Washington state, we want your I-Reports. Send video and pictures of your experience, and we'll feature some of them in our election coverage. Just go to CNN.com/IReport. KEILAR: Nearly half a century of often-bitter relations. There have been a lot of angry words between Washington and Havana since Fidel Castro's rise to power. We're going to hear from our senior political analyst, David Gergen.
LEMON: Flu season, it's hitting hard across most of the U.S. And now another concern to go along with that. Guess what it is? It's pneumonia. We'll tell you what you need to know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It is 1:17 in the east, and here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Nearly a half century of rule coming to an end now. Fidel Castro has announced his resignation as Cuba's leader. His brother, Raul, is expected to succeed him. Castro came to power in a revolution that he led, and he went on to provoke and pester ten U.S. presidents.
Princess Diana's former butler now under investigation. The judge at Diana's inquest is looking into whether Paul Burrell lied on the stand. Britain "Sun" newspaper said it got a secret recording of Burrell saying he, quote, "didn't tell the whole truth."
The Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a group of Hurricane Katrina victims. They wanted their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their houses and businesses, but a lower court ruled their policies didn't cover damage from floods.
LEMON: We've been following developing news on Fidel Castro, and we want to talk now to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She is the first Cuban- American elected to the U.S. Congress. She came to Florida as a child and expected to go back home when Castro's revolution -- well, when it fizzled. She joins me now on the phone.
You said you expected to go back home, and it fizzled. Do you think this is fizzling now? And do you plan on going back home, Ileana?
REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R), FLORIDA: Well, you know, that's -- that's a great question. We bought a round-trip ticket with Pan Am thinking that it would be days or weeks, and then it became months, years and decades. And here we are still waiting. I still have my round-trip ticket. And...
LEMON: You've done so -- you've done so well here, as well as many Cuban-Americans. You've done so well, made so much progress, as well as many Cuban-Americans. Do you think that that applies? You said you, you know, had planned to go back home when it fizzled, but does that apply? Some people may not want to go back home even if Fidel Castro and Raul Castro are out of power.
ROS-LEHTINEN: ... decision. And I think every Cuban-American family will sit down and decide as a family unit, just as they would decide all the major changes in their life. But the focus now must remain on the Cuban people continuing to build a civil society, emphasizing diplomatically that there should be the ability of the Cuban people to lead their own lives, to have free elections.
LEMON: Right.
ROS-LEHTINEN: Sincere, free elections. (INAUDIBLE) people that under Fidel, Raul or any other (INAUDIBLE) leader is not possible.
LEMON: So Ileana, I have to tell our viewers, you obviously are on a cell phone. Correct?
ROS-LEHTINEN: Right, right. The connection.
LEMON: All right. So the connection is a little iffy there so, you know, we may to have cut...
ROS-LEHTINEN: OK. I'm going outside now.
LEMON: Oh, good. Thank you for doing that. Here's what I want to ask you, though. I asked you about people going back, Cuban- Americans going back to Cuba. What about the other way around? Do you think this -- there may be some sort of exodus, people coming to Cuba from America with these developments?
ROS-LEHTINEN: Well, our message is very clear to the Cuban people, as well as to the people in the Cuban-American exile, and that is that there will not be illegal immigration. People will not be allowed to get on their boats and go to Cuba, pick up their relatives and come back. That was -- that was during Mariel (ph). That happened once. Been there, done that. That will not happen again.
The U.S. Coast Guard, as well as all of the local elected officials, were all on board saying that that will not happen again.
LEMON: Yes.
ROS-LEHTINEN: So whether it's Fidel turning over power to his brother, when his brother passes away -- because he is no spring chicken -- that's going to happen soon. And we don't want those flotillas to be out there going to Cuba, grabbing relatives, or the other way around.
LEMON: OK. I got to ask you this. I got to ask you this, Ileana. You're a Republican, and as I said in the lead-in to you, first Cuban-American elected to the U.S. Congress. Now I have to ask you about -- because I have a response -- we have a response from all the presidential candidates.
But Mike Huckabee is saying -- let me get his quote here -- he said, "Raul Castro has proven that he is as much a tyrant and dictator as his brother, Fidel. So simply by providing power -- simply by providing more power to another dictator does nothing to promote freedom and democracy to the Cuban people." Do you agree with that? ROS-LEHTINEN: I think -- I think every freedom-loving person would agree. And I'm with John McCain, but this is not a political issue about presidential candidates.
But what we want is a true transition to democracy. And I hope it will be nothing more of the same. I mean (INAUDIBLE) the same. And anyone who's in power now will be a problem, as well, because the problem is the communist regime. Any time that the people have the opportunity to express through (ph) the ballot box, they reject communism and they embrace democracy.
So Raul is just more of the same. The cancer is communism, and there's no Band-Aid to that.
LEMON: Ileana, I mean, you are such a prominent Cuban-American here, as I said, the first Cuban-American elected to the U.S. Congress. If you can do us a favor, because I'm sure we would like to get you on our platforms, our Susan Candiotti is standing out in front -- are you in Florida right now? Correct?
ROS-LEHTINEN: Yes, I am.
LEMON: She's standing out in front of Cafe Versailles. And if you can get to that CNN camera, we'd love to get you on CNN's domestic, and international and also our espanol platform. So...
ROS-LEHTINEN: I'll try my best.
LEMON: All right.
ROS-LEHTINEN: Thank you.
LEMON: It's a pleasure to have you on. And thank you very much for responding to us.
KEILAR: Why are so many Pakistanis happy about yesterday's elections? We've got a little hint for you. And that's that the Pakistani president is not celebrating.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Cuba on the campaign trail. The presidential contenders are weighing in on the upcoming change of power in Havana and are looking ahead.
Democratic Senator Barack Obama says Fidel Castro stepping down is an essential first step, but it is sadly insufficient in bringing freedom to Cuba.
Obama's Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, is a bit more optimistic, though. Here's what she had to say during an economic roundtable in Parma, Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm hoping that the new leadership will take steps to move Cuba towards democracy, relieve political prisoners, lift a lot of the oppressive burdens that have prevented the Cuban people from really having the kind of future that they deserve to have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: On the Republican side, Senator John McCain says Castro's resignation is nearly half a century overdue. Here's what he told a campaign rally in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Fidel Castro announced that he was going to turn over government -- the government most likely to his brother. This is a great opportunity for Cuba to make a transition to a democracy, to empty their political prisons, to invite human rights organizations into the country, and begin the transition to a free and open society and allow the people of Cuba the same opportunity that people all over the world deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: McCain's GOP rival doesn't have much faith in the man who's expected to succeed Fidel Castro. Mike Huckabee says, "Until Fidel Castro is dead, there can be no significant movement towards reform in Cuba. Raul Castro has proven that he's as much a tyrant and dictator as his brother, Fidel." He goes on to say, "Simply providing more power to another dictator does nothing to promote freedom and democracy to the Cuban people."
The United States and Cuba are separated by only 90 miles of ocean, if you can believe that. But with Fidel Castro in power, their political relationship has been marked by a huge gulf. So joining us now from Boston, we want to bring in CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen. He has dealt with the Cuba issue under four U.S. administrations.
Thanks for being with us, David.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: And first I want to ask you about these responses that we're seeing from the campaign trail. Obviously, an event like this gives these candidates really a chance to kind of look presidential, to flex that foreign relations muscle. We saw them do it in December when their responses that came out right away when Benazir Bhutto was killed.
So let's talk not just about this response about Castro but just in general. Who has a strong foreign relations muscle?
GERGEN: Well, I think the candidates today sounded pretty much alike. They all called upon Raul Castro or whatever the successor government -- it looks like Raul -- to free the political prisoners, the ones who have been put in jail for their beliefs. But my sense is this is likely to develop into a campaign issue here in the United States, in which the Republican Party will maintain that the hard line that has been taken by the Bush administration and by preceding administrations, of maintaining stiff economic sanctions, trade embargo against Cuba and demanding that Cuba do all sorts of things before we move toward a normalization or toward -- and lifting that trade embargo.
I would imagine the Democratic candidate, whether it's Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, will both be more leaning toward is there a way we can work this out and not demand a lot of preconditions on the part of Cuba, that they will be more forward leaning?
They would argue that there's been a real contradiction in American policy toward Cuba versus other communist nations like China. We trade openly with China. We don't -- you know, we haven't slapped all these sanctions on. We've encouraged China to become more democratic by working with them and by opening up trade and investment.
With Cuba we've done it just the other way around. We've tried to isolate them economically. And I think there are a lot of Democrats that feel that hasn't really work very well. Whereas a Republican feels you got to keep pressure on. So I think it's going to be -- likely to be a sharp campaign issue.
KEILAR: So President Bush today in Rwanda said that he's hoping this will move Cuba towards free and fair elections, but we've heard a lot of people saying it's not really going to make a difference. Raul Castro will be in power, and it's just not going to make a difference.
I mean, what is the likelihood, really, of talking about free and fair elections? Is this just a drop in the bucket?
GERGEN: No, I think this is an important transition. I mean, after all, Fidel Castro has held almost dictatorial power for nearly half a century. He's been an inspirational figure in places like Venezuela and Bolivia and Brazil where we have these leftist regimes now, these populist regimes.
Raul Castro is 76. He has nowhere near the popular inspirational quality that Fidel does. And he's going to be a transition figure. He's going to be a figurehead.
KEILAR: But I want to ask you...
GERGEN: Sure.
KEILAR: ... because obviously Fidel is not stepping down as the head of the party, so you could say that he's still going to have a lot of input, still be very inspirational. Does it -- does it really make a difference in that light?
GERGEN: Well, I think the pictures you've been showing here on CNN indicate that he's quite frail now. He will be in the background. He will be sort of lurking in the shadows, if you'd like, helping to make decisions.
But I don't think this is going to be a light switch kind of thing. We're not going to go from Fidel to democracy overnight. But there's no question that an era is ending. It is going to be extended a little bit by Raul, but a new era is coming.
And the question is can -- can the United States, can others do something to hasten it a day when democracy comes, and what sort of approach we should take to encourage that. Should we be very tough or should we be encouraging? I think that's one of the things you're going to find the parties differing on.
KEILAR: And a very good question there. Thank you very much, senior political analyst David Gergen.
GERGEN: Brianna, thank you. All right, bye.
LEMON: A new day for Cuba or more of the same? The blogs are buzzing with people trying to answer that question, and CNN's international desk is monitoring them. We'll take you there. We'll check in with our Isha Sesay in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Stick a fork in it. Two of TV's best known food authorities have a done deal. I'm trying to figure out some food or cooking analogy to put in there.
Susan Lisovicz joins us from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, back open since yesterday's holiday. First, we're going to check on stocks though, right?
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
LEMON: I love you, Susan Lisovicz. You give the best segways and ...
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The puns, I mean, I know ...
LEMON: Puns, yes.
LISOVICZ: ...they're a little bit over the top. You know, we will be talking Cuba.
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: I know you've been talking a lot about it. We're going to talk about the economy in the next hour because you know, a lot of the changes that are happening, people are asking what will happen to the people there and the economy there which has been off- limits for 50 years. So, we'll see if -- we'll examine that issue in the next hour, Don.
LEMON: Yes, that's very interesting. Hey, it doesn't look like much is happening around you. Usually, like people are scurrying about. Is it just a lull or what? LISOVICZ: It is quiet. I think that some people are extending their vacation.
LEMON: Oh yes.
LISOVICZ: Lot of kids are out of school. And then, I mean, something we've talked about a lot is that, you know, there's more automated trading which makes it a lonelier job down here.
LEMON: Oh, I'll have to come keep you company. All right.
LISOVICZ: Oh, you know, Don.
LEMON: Thanks, Susan Lisovicz. We'll check back.
KEILAR: We are following a monumental change in the government of Cuba that may not change much of anything. As you know if you've been watching CNN, Fidel Castro is giving up the presidency of the island nation that he's dominated since the Communist Revolution of 1959.
His middle of the night announcement is the talk of Miami's Little Havana, but it's a far cry from 2006 when Castro underwent surgery and temporarily turned over power to his younger brother, Raul. Then, Cuban-Americans celebrated. Today almost feels anti- climactic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fidel Castro is dead already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We as Cuban-Americans don't call him president. We call him dictator, what he really is. But it does show that he will no longer be in command and he will no longer be the leading force, which he has been for so many years. And I think that that in itself is a positive thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, certainly happiness. I've been waiting 47 years for this. We don't know whether it's a trick from them, whether it's reality. Hopefully, if it is true, then we'll see a change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Fidel Castro hasn't been seen in public since his health crisis 19 months ago. Raul Castro is almost certain to be named president when Cuba's National Assembly meets on Sunday.
And stories like this, of course, have our International Desk buzzing, along with the blogs. So, for a bit of both, let's go to CNN International's Isha Sesay.
Hi, Isha.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi there, Brianna. Indeed, these are the days that have everyone on the International Desk working at full tilt. You know, the bottom line is, February the 19th, 2008 will be remembered as a momentous day in history, the day when Cuba's "El Commandante," you know, brought to the close almost 50 years as their leader.
We've been scouring the Internet to get some of that reaction, and we want to share some of that with you, give you a little taste. This is what Fred Stopski (ph) posted on the impudentobserver.com. He says "The nomination of brother Raul merely keeps a group of old men chugging along with their old ideas and their old fears. Cuba has become an old folks home led by men who live in the past and will not allow their people to take a step into the 21st century."
On guanabe.com (ph), we found this, "No one's really sure what it means that Fidel Castro officially resigned from the office of president of Cuba this morning. It's a little underwhelming because he's been out of commission for the most part since July of 2006."
And this from jasonpoblete.com, this reaction we want to share with you, they say "Fidel Castro's announcement should change nothing with regards to U.S. policy toward Cuba and we can expect more of the same from Cuba's ruling elite."
I think the thing to underscore when you look at some of these reactions is that it is somewhat underwhelming. And that's probably because people really don't know what the future holds for this Communist island nation. And I think that is translated into that somewhat muted reaction that we have come across.
Now, of course, we are monitoring Cuban state TV, we've been keeping an eye on it. And you know, they're showing the odd soap opera, they've had even the odd singing group, you know, on. So, nothing to indicate that a massive shift is taking place.
Also monitoring other Latin networks, Venezuela's state TV, Univision and Chilean TV, and of course, we'll continue to bring you more online reaction because we've got it all covered right here on the International Desk -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right, CNN International, Isha Sesay. Thanks, Isha.
LEMON: Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, yes, it's that time of year, and this flu season seems to be getting a little worse. A live update straight ahead.
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LEMON: Cuba is not the only country in flux. This is Pakistan hours after the party of President Pervez Musharraf took a beating in parliamentary elections. It won far fewer seats than the parties led by Musharraf's biggest political enemies.
CNN's Reza Sayah checks in from his lollabi (ph) to tell us what it all means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was jubilation in the streets of Pakistan. Early election results showed convincing wins for Pakistan's opposition parties. Not celebrating today, President Pervez Musharraf. Results show the party that backs him took a beating.
TALAT MASOOD, ANALYST: The election results were even beyond our expectations.
SAYAH: Political analyst Talat Masood believes Musharraf's days are numbered.
MASOOD: I think his future is very, very uncertain and in all probability, he may not be able to hold on to his office.
SAYAH: The future of Musharraf is in the hands of the two opposition parties that dominated the elections. The parties of former prime ministers, the late Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Both parties have discussed the coalition government with enough seats in parliament to impeach the president.
NISAR MEMON, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MINISTER: Whoever wins, absolutely makes no difference to him ...
SAYAH: Speaking for the president, Pakistan's Minister of Information tells CNN Musharraf accepts the results and is willing to work with the winners.
MEMON: He has a field (ph) to bring down the emotion, go for reconciliation, that is what he is looking for because the acrimony of the election must die out.
SAYAH: But Talat Masood says giving up power won't be easy for Musharraf.
MASOOD: He may be very conciliatory today, but as you know, he has been very rude and very harsh with all these forces in the last few months at least, if not few years.
SAYAH: Masood, a retired general who served 39 years in Pakistan's army, says extremism was also a big loser on election day. Militant groups failed to disrupt the vote with violence as many feared they would. And in the ballot box, it was moderate parties who dominated.
MASOOD: It's a defeat of the extremists, the religious myoptic leaders.
SAYAH: Musharraf has been criticized for not doing enough to crack down on extremism within his own country. Masood says on election day, Pakistanis sent a clear message to the West: Musharraf shouldn't be your only ally. The people of Pakistan have had enough of extremism, too.
MASOOD: Never before in the history it is so clear what we have been seeing that the people of Pakistan are moderate, they are not extremists.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAYAH: In the days and weeks to come, we will find out if President Musharraf will have a weaker presidency or if the opposition parties will simply push him out. Either way, the U.S. and its allies in the so-called War on Terror will have to reach out to these opposition parties because their old partner President Pervez Musharraf has been soundly rejected by voters based on these results -- Don?
LEMON: Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan for us. Thank you, Reza.
Not everyone in Kosovo is happy about its split from Serbia. Ethnic Serbs who live there have been setting off small bombs and attacking border checkpoints to protest Kosovo's independence. So far, no one's been reported hurt. The United States, Britain and France have indicated they'll recognize an independent Kosovo. Russia and China oppose it. Serbia has said that it would take diplomatic action against countries that recognize Kosovo.
KEILAR: Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching. You know it, it's that time of year and this flu season seems to be getting a little worse. A live update straight ahead.
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KEILAR: You've noticed lots of sick-outs at work or school lately? Well, you're not alone. The flu season is getting worse, that's according to health officials. They say nearly every state is reporting widespread outbreaks, and in the most severe cases, flu can actually lead to pneumonia.
Let's bring in CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, now. And, I mean, does it just seem like there are more -- there really are more cases?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There really are more cases. I mean, if you look at the graph on the CDC's Web site, the numbers of flu and pneumonia are going up, up, up, have been for the past couple of weeks, and they just keep going up. We probably haven't seen the height of it quite yet, and we're ...
KEILAR: Oh wow.
COHEN: ...talking about flu and pneumonia. Because a lot of -- we talk about flu season all the time and what we don't always talk about is that flu can lead to pneumonia, making a bad situation that much worse. And that's because when flu attacks your body, the virus kind of -- it really challenges your immune system, leaving you vulnerable for pneumonia to come in and hang out in your body as well.
So, you have to be vigilant to see if you've got pneumonia on top of your flu because the doctor's going to want to see you again because pneumonia has different treatments than flu does often. Let's take a look at the signs of pneumonia that you want to watch out for. Yellow or green guck, just ...
KEILAR: I like that stuff.
COHEN: ...guck, that's just what it is. Coming out of your nose, coughing it up, that is a finding that you might possibly have pneumonia. Also, fever with chills, if you're shaking, that's another sign. Sharp pain in your chest and rapid and shallow breathing. Something else to look out for. It is especially important to be vigilant for these symptoms if you already have some kind of health problem, like heart disease, or if somebody's old and frail.
KEILAR: So, if you have pneumonia what should you do?
COHEN: You want to go back to the doctor -- let's say you already saw your doctor because you have the flu. You want to go back to the doctor, because if it is bacterial pneumonia, which is often is, your doctor will want to put you on antibiotics.
They don't give you antibiotics for the flu, but they will for bacterial pneumonia. Let's talk about other treatments that you give for pneumonia. Lots of fluids. That's crucial. Lots of rest. And drugs for fever, drugs like Advil and Tylenol, drugs like that. It can take weeks to get over pneumonia. This isn't just some little infection that goes away. It can take a long time to recuperate.
KEILAR: I would assume that the flu shot doesn't aid preventing against preventing pneumonia, is that right?
COHEN: You know, it does indirectly.
KEILAR: It does. OK.
COHEN: You're right. It doesn't attack the pneumonia because one is viral and one is bacterial. But, the pneumonia often comes because of the flu. The flu kind of invited it in, as it were. So, getting that flu shot is going to, in many cases, keep you from getting pneumonia. So get a flu shot. CDC says it every year, and lots of years, well people don't always listen.
KEILAR: All right. Well, great information. I hope the folks in the newsroom behind us are listening. I hear a lot of sneezing and tissues and --
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. People being out sick, absolutely. My kids' school was -- just crazy. You? OK, well stay away.
KEILAR: We're washing our hands here on the set. All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
LEMON: All right.
Ten American president couldn't force him from office. Fidel Castro's resignation. Now what? A Whopper of a bill. We'll tell you about a $2,200 Burger King order -- what was it, like four you or five people? Not a lot of people. That's a lot of Burger King. That's a lot of Whoopers.
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KEILAR: Sticker shock at a fast food restaurant. It happened at this Burger King in Boise, Idaho. Instead of $22 for dinner, one family was charged $2,200. 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 a $35 fee. Then I know there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven charges already they're going to charge me for. At $35 a pop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Brian Sampson says he's going to try to sort it all out today with both the bank and Burger King.
LEMON: What happened to have it your way?
KEILAR: Sometimes I feel like I would pay $500 for a burger though. There are some days like that. You want one that badly.
LEMON: I'll tell you a story off camera about me and my love affair with the Whopper.
Time now to check what's clicking on CNN.com. Some of our most viewed video today. Mysterious creatures of the deep. Researchers find giant sea spiders and worms chilling in the waters off Antarctica. Beautiful pictures there.
Hopefully, Lindsay Lohan didn't catch a chill when she posed for these nude pictures. The actress recreating posses for a Marilyn Monroe -- by Marilyn Monroe I should say, with the same photographer who shot the screen legend.
And, a return home for the shuttle Atlantis crew. They have to land, so the Navy can take aim at the faulty spy satellite plummeting towards earth. You can link to all of our top ten lists from the front page of CNN.com. We're going to check in with Chad Myers at the weather center in just a few moments to see what the forecast holds for tomorrow's landing -- Brianna.
KEILAR: We want to take you now to San Antonio, Texas, where Barack Obama is holding a campaign event. He's actually talking about the housing crisis. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: CEO of the largest subprime lender was promised $100 million severance package at a time with over two million Americans were facing foreclosure, including nearly 14,000 right here in San Antonio, and that's an outrage. It's time we had a president who knows that it is an outrage.
Senator Clinton and I agree that this is a major problem, although we don't totally agree on how to solve the problem. She's proposed that we freeze the monthly rate on existing adjustable rate mortgages for at least five years. I disagree with that approach, although I'm sure it is well-intentioned, and here's why.
It will reward people who made this problem worse, it will also reward people who are wealthy and don't need it. It won't just target the struggling homeowners who need help the most. And, on top of that, a blanket freeze, as she's proposed, will drive rates through the roof on people who are trying to get new mortgages to buy or refinance a home.
Experts say the value of homes will fall even more and even more families could face foreclosure. That's why one economic analyst calls her plan disastrous. We shouldn't be doing things that hurt honest, hard working folks who are trying to get a new mortgage. We should crackdown on banks that engage in --
LEMON: Senator Barack Obama holding a town hall meeting there in San Antonio. We're going to continue to follow this, and also more political news coming up here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Also, let's talk about the President. Continuing his Africa travels, President Bush sees Democratic change on the horizon for many. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Fidel Castro says he's wanted to be Cuba's president," to my last breath." But old age and ill health intervene.
KEILAR: Will the retirement of the world's longest-serving government leader mean the end of the Cuban revolution, or just a different President Castro?
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