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Interview With Sister of Fidel Castro; GOP Wins Virginia, New Jersey Governor's Races
Aired November 04, 2009 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Coming at you right now: Fidel Castro's sister reveals her dealings with her brother and the CIA. She joins us live.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have confirmation of one additional body, with up to three more additional bodies that could be buried in the house.
The body count inside this house is up to 10. But how were all these women lured there? A new eyewitness account.
Big wins for the GOP in Virginia and New Jersey, but this conservative candidate in New York...
DOUG HOFFMAN, NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, every single person out there that joined my team and fought back for America.
SANCHEZ: ... supported by him and him and him and her loses. What's it mean, Tony Blankley and Donna Brazile? They join me live.
And they're at it again in Iran, defiance on display. We have the video.
Your national conversation for Wednesday, November 4, 2009, starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news.
Teleprompter, you going to help me today? You going to move? All right. Let me look down. We like to put that stuff up, so I can look at you.
Let's start with this, the latest on the suspected serial killer in Cleveland -- 10 decaying bodies have now been found in and around his house. Can you imagine what that smelled like? Guess what? There's a sausage factory next door to his house. Not making this up, folks. This is amazing.
And even the factory owner thought it was his fault, the guy who owned the sausage factory, so he dug out his sewer line and his grease traps. But it didn't stop the smell, because the smell wasn't coming from the sausage factory.
There's more. Two weeks ago, a naked woman was seen falling from the second story of this house. It makes you wonder why it took so long to nail this guy.
I have got two things I want to share with you.
First, I want you to watch Susan Candiotti's piece on this convicted rapist who was living with decaying bodies. And then I want you to hear a woman describe how he lured her in.
First, let's watch Susan's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As if the scene weren't gruesome enough, it appears at least one victim was decapitated.
MICHAEL MCGRATH, CLEVELAND POLICE CHIEF: The skull was discovered wrapped in a paper bag in a bucket in the basement.
CANDIOTTI: And in the backyard, investigators dug up the remains of four more people, bringing the total now to 10. Six of them are described as African-American women and at least five of them appear to have been strangled. They were all found in and around the house of convicted rapist, 50-year-old Anthony Sowell.
MCGRATH: It appears that this man had an insatiable appetite that he had to fill.
CANDIOTTI: Police went to the house last week to arrest Sowell on new rape charges. He wasn't there, but they found the first bodies. A week earlier, neighbors reported seeing a naked woman fall from the second floor, but no charges were filed. The sheriff also made at least one surprise visit to check up on Sowell who's a registered sex offender. By law, police aren't allowed to go in the house, but neighbors said you didn't have to go inside to know something was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could smell it. I come around the corner and I smell it. You could smell the dead bodies. So, you're going to tell me people in the neighborhood didn't smell that?
CANDIOTTI: Some thought the smell came from Ray's Sausage, which sits right next to Sowell's house. It got so bad the owner of Ray's replaced a sewer line and grease traps, thinking they were the source of the odor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to think that it was coming from out of Ray's Sausage, but you smell these smells - and I live right there. I used to be in the house, like, oh! We used to come out here and like, the smell is horrible.
FRANK JACKSON, MAYOR OF CLEVELAND: And I can imagine how the families feel who have reported a missing person and the anxiety that they're going through. And we want to assure them as soon as we know something, they will be the first to know.
CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Ten bodies now being found around that house. And here's what's interesting. How could he have lured so many of those women into that house? Sowell's past arrest show a pattern, striking up conversations with women, and then he talks them into somehow coming over to his house to have a drink.
Well, for the first time, we're going to be hearing now from a woman. It's short, but I want you to listen to what she says. She's going to explain how at one point he tried to lure her in as well, but she didn't bite.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't feel safe. There was something telling me, don't go in this house. How he was in love with me, how he wanted me to go up to his house and drink with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, Sowell won't be meeting anyone, not any time soon.
This morning, a judge labeled him an extremely dangerous threat, not that he could -- anybody was expecting that he was going to be out on bond any time soon. But he's a dangerous threat, according to this judge, and that means no bond whatsoever for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: You have given me the title of governor of Virginia.
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT: We're going to take back New Jersey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The GOP wins the two governorships, and the Dems win two more House seats. Who's the real winner, though? Is it the GOP or the Dems? Donna Brazile and Tony Blankley, they are going to join me in just a minute with their perspectives from the left and from the right when we come back.
Also, there's a live interview I want you to watch that I'm going to be doing in just a little bit with the sister of Fidel Castro. Did the CIA involve her in their plan to try and kill her brother? There is new information. Juanita Castro makes a rare network television appearance, and it's coming up right here.
Oh, and we have just learned that former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are going to square off in a debate at Radio City Music Hall. I know you're going to want the details on this one, because it could get real good, right?
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Kudos going out today to Michael Steele, The much maligned chairman of the national Republican Party is a on roll. The GOP, under his leadership, won two big elections last night. Here's the chairman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: My responsibility is to be the chairman that I was elected to be, to move this party out of the ash heap of losses on to the solid, strong round of winning elections. And I think we had a good start last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The Republicans last night seized the governorship of Virginia, pulled the same thing off in a Democratic-friendly New Jersey. That's important.
And that's where you know who campaigned Sunday for the guy who lost. If you're President Obama, you know this has to smart.
But back to Michael Steele. His party lost a congressional seat last night that they have held since -- Are you ready for this? -- since Ulysses S. Grant was having a couple of cocktails, was drinking.
That may not be very fair, given the fact that many historians say that is not true about him. Regardless, that's the last time that there was a Democrat in that office. And they may have lost it because of a giant wrench thrown in by the GOP's Palin-Beck-Limbaugh wing.
Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman got more national publicity, most of it on right-wing talk shows, than any candidate in the country during this election. And, yet, somehow he tanked.
What does that mean?
I got two of the best to talk about this, friend of the show Tony Blankley, former press secretary to Newt Gingrich, and Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor Donna Brazile.
Donna, starting with you, your Democrats lost two governorships, New Jersey and Virginia. I want you to listen once again to Chairman Steele, and then I'm going to get your response on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEELE: You have no job, you have no health care, and you have got a government that's not doing anything about either. That's the question. And that was answered last night by the people in New Jersey and Virginia. They said, get on the job and get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is that what it's really all about? Is he right? And how do you argue with that, Donna?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, if that is what voters said to the candidates in those two states, then Chairman Steele better get up to Capitol Hill real quick and come up with a health care plan that will deliver results for the American people.
Look, it was a mixed bag last night. No question Democrats are disappointed. And our failure to win the impossible, that is, to try to break the historic tide and win in races in New Jersey and Virginia.
As you know, there are jinx involved. And, Rick, quite honestly, the political environment, history, the economic conditions, of course, determined the outcome in those two states. We're gratified by the victory up in Upstate New York, as well as out in California. We picked up two congressional seats.
And, of course, we picked up mayoral seats. I think we need to look at 2010. Independents are becoming restless. They're larger. But Democrats must also go out there and really push the base, the surge voters, the voters who gave Obama his historic victory, push them out and get them excited about voting in 2010.
SANCHEZ: Well, it doesn't seem like they were very excited either in New Jersey or in Virginia.
Let me bring Tony into this.
Tony, how are you?
TONY BLANKLEY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, hi.
SANCHEZ: Always good to see you. You're looking as handsome as ever.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question about the right wing of the party. You knew who were going to get this, I'm sure. Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, they get into state politics in New York, some would argue overthrowing a local Republican candidate, which, by the way, Newt Gingrich was arguing with all these guys on the right, saying, leave her alone; she gives us the best chance of winning there.
But they said, no, we're going to put this other guy Hoffman in there.
And you lose a congressional seat that Republicans have held since -- since Ulysses S. Grant, as I mentioned just a little while ago. What do you make of that? BLANKLEY: Well, first of all, I got to defend Ulysses S. Grant.
(LAUGHTER)
BLANKLEY: He only drank when he was bored. When there was a battle going, he kept off the stuff.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
BLANKLEY: So, we should honor that approach to drinking.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: In honor of Ulysses.
BLANKLEY: Look, in the aftermath of elections, in the preludes to romance, there's an awful lot of nonsense said. And we're getting a fair amount of it from all sides.
What I think is happening...
SANCHEZ: But let me be real specific with you on this.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: Yes, I will.
SANCHEZ: What are these people doing? And are they going to take out Charlie Crist in Florida and 11 other guys who apparently are going to be targeted?
BLANKLEY: I want to go to that, because I wrote my column last week on, I think both political parties are going to be in for some turmoil this year, because I think that the electorates, both the left of the Democratic Party and the right of the Republican, are not particularly loyal to their parties, but they're feeling very strong about the issues they feel strong about.
And, as a result, I think both parties are in danger of not being able to get their normal supporters to support things that -- because, I will tell you, myself, I have been a Republican since the Goldwater election of '64, worked on that campaign. I want to elect Republicans who are going to reverse some of the terrible big-government programs that are coming on. I don't want a Congress full of Arlen Specters. He's a nice man, but -- some people say, but that's not the Congress an awful lot of conservatives want.
On the other side, there are an awful lot of liberals who say, look, we voted for Obama for change; now is the time to do the change; don't go catering to the center.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: But you know what? But let me stop you real quick.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And, Donna, you can jump in this.
But you also don't want to stop Republicans who have no nuance...
BRAZILE: That's right.
SANCHEZ: ... Republicans like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: ... who basically just come out and say, God bless America, we're all great, and if anybody who disagrees with that is not a patriot.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: I disagree with you about both Glenn Beck and Sarah and Rush.
I think that Sarah Palin is going to be an extraordinary force in American politics. I don't know where it's going to go, but I have been saying that for a year now.
SANCHEZ: Right.
BLANKLEY: But, look, aside from talking about other commentators, which I'm about to do, but I think the fact is that, if the Republican Party pays no attention to this passion that exists, not just on the right, but in the center and amongst independents, regarding the fear of what's going on in the size of government, I don't they're going to reap the advantage of that opposition.
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: But one of the things that, Rick, the Republicans...
SANCHEZ: Close us out, Brazile.
BRAZILE: ... must -- must come to grips with is the deficit -- $5 trillion of the $10.67 trillion that George Bush handed to Obama when he left the Oval Office is because of the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.
That's $4 trillion in the next fiscal 10 years, plus the prescription drug benefit. So, I think the president must be very careful not to put more burdens on the American people in terms of the deficit. But we need to come to grips with just how big this debt is and the factors that led us to get to this point over the last eight years.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But you hit it right on the head, Donna. If it appears that the president is compiling what George Bush did, even Democrats are going to start to walk on him.
Do you guys not both agree?
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: Well, independents will walk. Independents are...
SANCHEZ: Right.
BRAZILE: They are restless.
Look, but we also need to understand that the country really wants change.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: Let me get a quick thought in.
BRAZILE: That's what they voted for last fall. They don't care who delivers it, but they want change.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: Quick point.
SANCHEZ: Take us out, Tony.
BLANKLEY: Donna is right. The deficit is a huge issue. Jobs are also a huge issue. I think the president is going to be conflicted, because to increase jobs, you've got increase the deficit. And to decrease the deficit, you're going to contract the economy. He's kind of cross-pressured.
SANCHEZ: Yes, I agree with that as well.
BRAZILE: It's time to end those tax cuts, Tony, to the wealthy. Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
BLANKLEY: You want to raise taxes during a recession?
SANCHEZ: And then there's Afghanistan.
BRAZILE: I want people to pay their fair share, so that we can provide jobs and keep our country secure. That's what I would do.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, I don't even know why I'm here. You guys are fantastic.
My thanks to both of you.
BRAZILE: Hey, I was with this guy at 7:00 in the morning, so I know what he looked like earlier.
SANCHEZ: You knew where she was going.
Tony Blankley, my thanks to you as well.
BLANKLEY: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Interesting, fun conversation. And nuanced.
Let's talk about Fidel Castro. He hasn't spoken to his sister in nearly half a century, but now we're learning that she did speak to the CIA. Did they clue her in on their plans to try to kill her brother?
I'm going to ask Juanita Castro about this in a rare television news appearance.
Also, what was supposed to be Iran's big protest anniversary against America turned into a huge protest against the Iranian government. That's right. And y9ou've got to see some of the videos that we've got coming in. In fact, I'm going to share a bunch of them with you.
Stay right there. I'm going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Boy, this is a story I have been wanting to tell all day today.
This is the day when Iranians were supposed to chew us up. Chew us, the United States, up. They were supposed to have protests against the United States in their country today.
Oh, there was a protest, all right, but it wasn't against the United States government. It was against the Iranian government, and it's all about the "Fotos."
I'm going to take you through a series of these. Stay with me here.
Tehran: protests against the government. They're massing in the streets, and instead of the usual annual American hostage anniversary demonstrations, look at this. The militia, called the Basij, they try and break up some of these rallies, they arrest people.
You know what? Watch this. I've got one where you see them really roughing up a woman. Let's turn to that now.
Go.
All right, there it is. All right. Watch that door right there, that yellow door, like a garage door. Look what they're doing to this woman right there. She's really just a girl. And she was part of the movement. But they knock her down. As she falls down, a young man comes over and tries to help her.
Look what the Basij does to him. Takes him by the hair and pulls him away from there as best he can.
Then they go back over to the woman. You know, scenes like this repeating themselves throughout Iran today as these Basij continue to -- here's another one.
Take a look at this woman right here. They're holding her up against the thing, against her will. Now he starts to hit her. I mean, this is a young girl, and he chases her away.
This is happening throughout the day today in Tehran. We could have picked another 10 other videos, by the way. These are just the ones we wanted to show you.
They're being posted on sites like YouTube, often just minutes after they happen. Protesters promise to continue marching and battling riot police and militia throughout the night. And you know what? As long as these videos continue to come in, we're going to keep collecting them, choosing the best ones, and then putting them on the air so you can see them right here. If we don't do it today, we'll continue to do it tomorrow.
Those really are the best pictures of the day, the best pictures of the day probably in the entire world.
You know who's going to join me coming up here next? The sister of Fidel Castro.
Juanita Castro has always been very apolitical. But there's ties not only to her brother, but to the CIA, that are coming out. There she is right now. Juanita como estas?
CASTRO: Muy bien, Ricky. Tu como estas?
SANCHEZ: Muy bien. Un momentico y vamos a estar hablando. She's going to join me in just a moment, we'll have this conversation, stay there. It will be a rare moment on network television. So this is cool, stay there and we'll do it for you. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is pretty cool, what we're about to do for you.
The next Castro family reunion, a bit awkward. Why? Something Fidel said again? No. Something Juanita said? That's his sister.
This is no secret. In fact, a family insider is now speaking up about things that she did to try and perhaps bring down Fidel Castro?
It's our "Conexion" segment. The lady says that she's not spoken to either of her older brothers since 1964. Her two brothers are Fidel and Raul Castro, Cuba's strongmen/dictators.
In the late 1950s and early '60s, it was La Revolucion that brought me and hundreds of thousands of other here. Fidel Castro solidified his power during the Bay of Pigs invasion and his hookup with the Yankee-hating Soviets.
I love looking at some of these black-and-white pictures from his time.
But his sister didn't buy it. Juanita Castro initially stood by Fidel when he overthrew Fulgencio Batista. But eventually, she left the country. She was generally apolitical, but now we're learning that during the early 1960s, she was approached and may have cooperated with the CIA against her brother. No one has ever known this.
And there she is. That's my guest. She's not just any famous woman, but the sister of the two Castro brothers.
Let me start.
Juanita, muchas gracias por estar con nosotros. Thank you very much for being with us.
CASTRO: Gracias por invitarme.
SANCHEZ: Dejame hacerte una pregunta. Que conversacion tuviste con la Casa Blanca? Perdon, con la...
CASTRO: Yo nunca he hablado...
SANCHEZ: No, perdon, con la organizacion de la CIA, la CIA. Did you talk to the CIA in the early 1960s?
CASTRO: Yes. Si yo hable con el CIA en Mexico. Yo sale a Mexico.
SANCHEZ: In Mexico?
CASTRO: Si.
SANCHEZ: Pero, las conversaciones con la CIA -- the conversations that you had with the CIA, did they take place after you left Cuba or while you were still in Cuba? Tuviste conversaciones con ellos desde que estabas en Cuba todavea, antes de salir de la isla?
CASTRO: Si, yo tuve conversaciones con ellos, por supuesto. Yo estaba trabajando con ellos, cooperando con ellos, en planes humanitarios, tratando de proteger a los agentes que ellos tenean infiltrados alla en Cuba.
SANCHEZ: So, you were -- this is amazing. Let me tell folks what you just told us. While you were still in Cuba and your brother was beginning a Marxist revolution, you were not only cooperating with the CIA, but you were protecting CIA agents who were inside Cuba at the time.
What did your brother say about this? Did he know? And how did he treat you? Y Fidel sabia de esto?, y que te dijo, no protesto?
Didn't he protest?
CASTRO: Bueno, el regimen por supuesto que no sabea nada de lo que yo estaba haciendo...
SANCHEZ: He didn't know? Your brother did not know?
CASTRO: He didn't know.
SANCHEZ: He didn't know?
CASTRO: No. No, no, no.
SANCHEZ: How did you hide people? Were you hiding them in your house?
Tu estabas protegiendo estos agentes en tu casa?
CASTRO: Bueno, muchos de ellos los tenia en mi casa mientras le resolvia el problema de un asilo en alguna embajada latinoamericana, inclusive algunas embajadas europeas, como fue la de Francia, como fue la de Suiza, tambien me dieron la mano para esconder a muchos cubanos.
SANCHEZ: So you were working with other embassies from around the world, the Swiss Embassy and others, European embassies, to try and work against your own brother.
Y el nunca te castigo?
Your brother never punished you for this? Did he not know? Was he not wise to it?
CASTRO: Bueno, el no me castigo a mi sola, el ha castigado al pueblo cubano completo cuando ha traicionado la revolucion cubana, una revolucion que supuestamente era democratica, era una revolucion...
SANCHEZ: You say he didn't only punish you, he punished all the Cuban people because of what he did. But I'm wondering -- I'm more interested in the personal story between you and your brother. Did he -- when was the last time you talked to him?
Cuando fue la ultima vez que hablaste con el?
CASTRO: La ultima vez que hable con el fue el siete de agosto de 1963, despues de la muerte de mi madre...
SANCHEZ: 1963?
CASTRO: ...esa fue la ultima vez que lo vi personalmente.
SANCHEZ: Tu lo viste en Cuba, In Cuba? You saw him in Cuba?
CASTRO: In Cuba, si. Yes.
SANCHEZ: But in 1963, you were already living in Miami, weren't you? En 1963 ya tu estabas viviendo en Miami, no?
CASTRO: No senor, yo vive en Miami -yo sale de Cuba en junio de 1964, el 19 de junio de 1964 yo sale de Cuba para Mexico.
SANCHEZ: Oh. You came to Cuba...
CASTRO: Y fue ya mi ultimo viaje.
SANCHEZ: Your last trip, you left Cuba in -- let me just let the viewers know what you told me. You left Cuba in 1964, so in 1963 was the last time you met with him. That's when your mother -- and your mother was Lena, right?
CASTRO: Lena Ruz.
SANCHEZ: Lena Ruz was your mother. And the last time you saw her was when you went for her funeral. And you met with Fidel Castro.
Was that angry? Was there any angry exchanged between you and your brother?
Tuviste problemas con tu hermano cuando te reuniste con el durante el velorio de tu mamo?
CASTRO: Bueno, durante -el dea que murio, que fue en mi casa donde muere ella a las cinco de la tarde, de ese dea, seis de agosto de 1963...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
CASTRO: Cuando el llega yo tuve una discusion con el...
SANCHEZ: When he arrived, you said you had a discussion with him, an argument?
CASTRO: Bueno, se produjo la discusion por mi hermana, que vivea en Mexico -o que vive en Mexico, siempre ha vivido en Mexico, y es porque ella me estaba pidiendo que por favor hicieramos algo para que ella pudiera salir a Cuba...
SANCHEZ: So you went there to try to -- you went there to negotiate for your sister who were living in Mexico at the time to -- what did she want? Que es lo que ella querea?
CASTRO: Bueno, ella querea ir a Cuba, como era logico.
SANCHEZ: She wanted to go back to Cuba. And he didn't let her. Y Fidel no la dejo.
CASTRO: Bueno, Fidel no es que no la haya dejado, es que no le consiguio los medios, ella no podea -no habea viajes, en aquella epoca estaban muy limitados los viajes y ese dea no habea viaje de ninguna clase. Yo le pede a el que buscara la forma, algun amigo, alguna amistad que pudiera traerla. El dijo que no.
SANCHEZ: You asked him to try and find a way and he said he would not, is what I'm hearing you say.
Let me change the topic here real quick, because we have to move on and I don't want to lose a lot of time.
Did you know in the early 1960s that the CIA wanted to kill your brother?
Tu sabias que en los 1.960, al principio de los 1.960 la CIA querea matar a tu hermano, asesinarlo?
CASTRO: Bueno, yo no tenia contacto, yo no sabia los planes de la CIA, no me lo contaban a mi, ni me lo contaba nadie. Totalmente...
SANCHEZ: They didn't tell you that? Ellos nunca te dijeron a ti queremos que tu nos ayudes a asesinar a tu hermano. They never said to you, we want your help in taking out your brother?
CASTRO: No.
SANCHEZ: No?
CASTRO: Ellos jamas me pidieron eso, jamas. Ni yo hubiera aceptado de ninguna manera por que esa no era mi mision, mi mision colaborando colaborando con ellos...
SANCHEZ: So you would not -- let me just tell the viewers what you said. You would not have accepted that mission had they given it to you. Why, because he's year brother? Even if you hate him and despise what he's done, you would not be willing to go along with any plan to kill him?
Is that right? Did you understand what I said in English?
CASTRO: Si, no, por supuesto, que yo no hubiera aceptado jamas, jamas hubiera aceptado cometer semejante barbaridad contra mis propios hermanos, ni contra ningun ser humano.
SANCHEZ: That's true.
You would never be willing to do that against your brothers or against any other human being.
So how do you feel when you hear people in Miami say they would love to see nothing more than to have your brother dead? Does that hurt you? Does it hurt your feelings? After all, even though you disagree with him politically, he is still your brother.
Como tu te sientes cuando la gente en Miami dicen eso, cuando hablan de asesinar a Fidel?
CASTRO: Bueno, mira, yo sinceramente yo no oigo muchas noticias aqui en Miami, por que no vale la pena, realmente.
SANCHEZ: You don't listen to the news.
CASTRO: La lucha nuestra no es en contra del sistema marxista, la lucha nuestra es buscar caminos que nos lleven a un gobierno democratico en Cuba.
SANCHEZ: You believe the struggle is against the totalitarianism and Marxism, not against -- not a personal thing against your brothers.
If Fidel Castro dries tomorrow, will you go to Cuba to be at his funeral?
Si Fidel se muere manana, vas a ir a Cuba a estar al lado de el en el velorio?
CASTRO: Mira, yo.. mi viaje a Cuba, mi regreso a Cuba no esta condicionado a nada. Yo, lamentablemente igual que muchos cubanos dignos aqui en el exilio no han podido ir a Cuba a visitar a familiares o a asistir a ningun tipo de evento triste, como seria la muerte de...
SANCHEZ: You have never been able to go to Cuba, neither have many of the dignified people who live in south Florida, so -- continue?
CASTRO: Yo soy solidaria con todos los cubanos buenos que estan aqui y que si desean un regreso a Cuba, desean un regreso digno.
SANCHEZ: But Juanita, answer my question. If your brother dies tomorrow, would you go to Cuba to be at his side at his funeral? You?
CASTRO: Que resuelvo yo con ir a Cuba senor. Que resuelvo yo con ir a Cuba...
SANCHEZ: "What good would it do me? What good would it do me?"
CASTRO: Yo como ser humano, como hermana, como ser humano..
SANCHEZ: "As a human being..."
Go on.
CASTRO: Dejame- como ser humano lo sentirea, por que siempre se desgarra la parte de uno cuando hay una muerte, no importa los problemas politicos que estemos enfrentando.
SANCHEZ: "I would feel it because it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt me no matter what, despite the politics, but..." Sigue.
CASTRO: Pero yo, yo no creo que yo irea a Cuba.
SANCHEZ: "I don't think I'll go to Cuba, no.
CASTRO: En ninguna circunstancia. Hay muchos cubanos que han tenido que resistir ese dolor y esa pena por que no le han permitido entrar a Cuba.
SANCHEZ: There are many Cubans who have had to go without that very difficult situation when they have lost loved ones because they haven't been allowed to go to Cuba," she says.
Hey, one more question.
Raul, tu hermano Raul. Tienes mejor relacion con el que tenias con Fidel, por que es un tipo mas familiar.
Do you have a better relationship with Raul than you would with Fidel because he's always been known to be known as a family guy, whereas Castro was more into his own self and his own ego?
CASTRO: Yo tengo, yo desde nina tenia muy Buena relaciones con todos ellos, en particular con Raul, por que...
SANCHEZ: "Since I was a little girl, I have always had a good relationship with all of them, but I've had a better relationship with Raul, even when I was a little girl," she says.
CASTRO: ...por que eramos mas o menos contemporaneos, nos llevabamos muy bien. Siempre nos quisimos mucho.
SANCHEZ: "Because we were about the same age and we got along well."
Do you talk to him? Has hablado con el?
CASTRO: No, yo no he hablado con Raul desde el dia 18 de junio de 1964, cuando ya abandone Cuba. Le di mi ultimo beso y mi ultimo abrazo.
SANCHEZ: No. "1964 was the last time that I kissed and I hugged Raul, and I have never spoken to him or seen him since."
What a story.
CASTRO: Y ojala sea el el instrumento...
SANCHEZ: Juanita Castro, I hope -- yes, me, too. As a Cuban exile, I would like to see things work out as well. Maybe he will be the way it works out.
Juanita Castro, muchas gracias.
CASTRO: No, gracias. Me dejas decirte algo que ojala sea Raul, que esta en el poder, supuestamente es el jefe de gobierno, que sea el que pueda producir los cambios
SANCHEZ: Yes.
She says she hopes that it's her brother, the younger brother, Raul, who's able to bring about the changes in Cuba that have never come about, and that maybe that's really his destiny. Interesting words from somebody's been wishing this for an awful long time. Juanita Castro, the sister of Raul and Fidel Castro.
Y te garantizo...
I am sure, Juanita, that the Castro government that literally monitors CNN has listened to your words and will likely respond to them soon. We'll be checking on that as well.
Once again, muchas gracias. Thank you for being with us.
A White House (ph) justice of the peace who refused to marry black and white couples in Louisiana making a surprise decision. That's the guy? That's ahead.
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SANCHEZ: I want to thank you guys. I'm getting a ton of e-mails during that commercial and tweets and MySpace and Facebook on that interview we just did with Juanita Castro. God bless her.
You know, she doesn't speak any English as she says, like my mom and dad live living in Miami and they don't speak much English and I tried to do the translation so you could get a sense of where we were going with that.
But I welcome your responses, a ton of you are responding to what we just did. I think to a certain extent probably was a bit of breakthrough television there, cold to do.
Roland Martin will be joining me in just a moment. I want to get his take on this as well, the whole situation in Cuba and the interview we just did with her, and I also want to get Roland's take on a couple of stories that are being followed all over the country.
Obviously, the big story in Cleveland and what's going on there, and a lot of people were saying, you know what, if these had been ten white women in affluent neighborhood, would the police have not noticed, would nobody have noticed that? And that's an important question to ask. And I'm going to ask Roland in just a little bit. Stay right there, man. The "R & R" segment is coming up next.
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SANCHEZ: I'm reading a tweet from Wayne Slater, of all people. You know Wayne Slater with "The Dallas Morning News," apparently it's been picked up.
Is that my microphone that's rubbing? Let me fix that real quick.
And Wayne says, "I watched Rick Sanchez's interview to Honduran president or candidates in Spanish a couple months ago, Ricks." OK. We'll go with that.
Let's bring in Roland Martin. Roland, what did you make of that interview with Juanita? I thought that was pretty cool to get that perspective.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN ANALYST: No doubt have a family member talking about working with the CIA. I mean, it clearly shows divided loyalties, if you will, when it comes to freedom in Cuba.
SANCHEZ: Did it surprise you? I mean, obviously it didn't surprise you -- the CIA was trying to kill Fidel Castro with the blowup cigar trick but that they went to his sister.
MARTIN: Well, actually, it's not surprising because if you're trying to get to someone, you try to get those closest to them so you go to family members, you go to people in terms of military aides around them so, look, you take your shot and you never know. All they can do is say no.
SANCHEZ: Why would you keep -- why does a person keep a story for that long? She has been living in the United States, she told us just moments ago, I thought, she's been here when I got here. I got here before she did because I came in the early 1960s, she didn't come until '64.
MARTIN: Think about it. Look at the woman in Washington who kept the story secret that she was a black daughter of Strom Thurmond until after he died. She was, you know, in her 60s, if you will, and so people keep secrets, you know, for quite some time. It could be an issue of safety, it could be an issue in terms of family members who are still there, any number of reasons why. Some people could be ashamed, you know. One never knows.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's talk about something, let's talk about someone else that we've been talking about through the week and I can't wait to get your perspective on this. I said this yesterday in defense of officers. They investigate a specific crime. Is it the same whether it's in a black neighborhood or it's a white neighborhood?
I mean, if they are investigating a specific crime -- here's the case we're talking about. Convicted rapist accused of luring ten women now to his home over a period of who knows how long, I mean, when he started this, right? Nobody seems to catch on what this guy is doing. Why would they not catch on? I mean, did they ignore all the clues, or is there a real different standard between the inner city and the affluent parts of town?
MARTIN: You know what, first of all, you can make generalities. There are other examples where people will say there is no doubt, there is a difference. What is interesting here is people have talked about the smell that was coming from that particular house.
In fact, I'm a board member of a national association of black journalists. One of my fellow board members doesn't live far from this guy. He said it was a very weird story, and so what is interesting is that people have called in and said it smells like a dead body. Well, you would think if you are having that kind of smell -- granted, there's a meat packing plant right next to it...
SANCHEZ: A sausage factory next door and everybody blamed it on that guy and he dug out his basement for new sewer lines.
MARTIN: You name it, but I tell you what, there are people who certainly say there is a difference, but also let me say this here. There's also a question of the people living near him in terms of what they see, are people as observant, are they going to report these things as well? That is also a critical issue but it begs the question, how do you have these women who are coming up missing? Did anybody report them missing?
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this right now being a cop beat reporter for many years in South Florida. If any police officer, no matter where it is in the country -- they are good guys. They work hard. If they see a case where someone is on the street bloodied and beaten, they will investigate it. I don't care if they have to set up a perimeter and close down an entire part of the inner city. However, there are more resources for cops in the white communities.
MARTIN: Of course.
SANCHEZ: And more interest in the white and affluent communities than there are in the minority communities. It would be silly for us not to see that.
MARTIN: I agree. I agree, and we have plentiful examples that can actually back that particular point up.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's do this. You and I are going to continue with this, and we're not just going to talk about this case. I can't wait to get your opinion on what happened in the New York congressional district 23.
MARTIN: All right. Listen. If anybody who is watching television right now, in five seconds, I am ticked at the sorry Americans voters on display yesterday. You want to tune in for that because they were horrible at the polls yesterday.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's do this on cnn.com/live with Roland Martin, R&R continues. Stay with us. Here now is "THE SITUATION ROOM."
