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Obama to Hold News Conference Soon; Obama and Castro Meet One- on-One; Law Enforcement in the Spotlight; Police Use of Force Cases in the Spotlight; Eight Jailed in 10 Days in U.S. For Trying to Support ISIS; Obama Meets One-on-One with Cuba's Raul Castro. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 11, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:03] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And there's also the Bill factor, how will the campaign manage the sometimes unpredictable former president?

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: This whole thing is the biggest fairytale I've ever seen.

KEILAR: Questions. Clinton's new staff working out of office base already lease in Brooklyn, New York hoped to be better poised to answer when the campaign becomes official.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Five o'clock Eastern. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. And this is an hour packed with news.

We begin with this top story. President Obama expected to hold a news conference any moment as he prepares to leave the summit of the Americas being held in Panama. It has already been full of historic firsts as the U.S. and Cuba officially work towards burying the cold war hatchet. A short time ago when the two men sat down for an informal one-on-one talk, you're seeing it right there, we're going to talk about what was said. This was Castro's first appearance at the event. For many years he and the former leader of Cuba have not been invited. Castro used the occasion to lecture the assembly on the long list of grievances Cuba has with the United States. Among them he said the U.S. holds onto that naval base at Guantanamo Bay without any legal right.

He also said 77 percent of the Cuban population grew up under the economic hardships of U.S.-imposed embargoes of goods and trade. He also referred back to the failed CIA mission at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. He called the people involved bandits. But then this was just a moment that took a lot of people by surprise, when he was done with that Castro apologized directly to President Obama for the heated rhetoric saying that he doesn't hold Obama personally responsible for what 10 U.S. presidents did before him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The point is the United States will not be imprisoned by the past. We're looking to the future and the policies that improve the lives of the Cuban people and advance the interests of cooperation in the hemisphere. Now, this shift in U.S. policy represents a turning point for our entire region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining me on the phone, senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta. Also with us from Panama CNN correspondent Shasta Darlington.

Jim, let me begin with you. I know you're standing by, you're waiting for the president to give this news conference. What has stood out to you most about what has happened there today?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, you know, Poppy, I think we're just watching history in the making. It's unfolding here at the summit of the Americas here in Panama. And I think what you can describe today as was a first step in what could be a very long process. And President Obama said as much as he sat down for this meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro. He said obviously there's been a lot of mistrust that's built up over five decades of frayed relations between the U.S. and the Cuba. But he feels like it is time to try something new. And here's more of what the President had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This is obviously a historic meeting. The history between the United States and Cuba is obviously complicated. And over the years a lot of mistrust has developed. But during the course of the last several months there have been contacts between the U.S. and the Cuban government. And in December as a consequence of some of the groundwork that had been laid, both myself and President Castro announced a significant change in policy and the relationship between our two governments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, the President went onto say that he does hope that the U.S. and Cuba will open up respective embassies in their countries in Washington and Havana. And Raul Castro when he made remarks he said essentially the same thing. And so they are sort of on that course at this point to keep pursuing these renewed diplomatic ties. But, Poppy, there's still a lot of sticking points that need to be worked out. The Cubans want to know whether or not their island is going to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. We know, we've confirmed that the State Department is recommending that. But the White House says they have to go through this interagency process to make that a final decision that the President will make.

And in the meantime as you were talking about before we showed some of this historic meeting between the President and Raul Castro, they both sat at various tables inside the summit of the Americas here in Panama City earlier today. Which was fascinating in and of itself. You heard the President not only saying he wants to chart this new course with the Cuban people, but he also kind of lectured these leftist Latin-American leaders down here in Latin-America saying that you can't blame the United States for all of your problems and that the U.S. is going to continue to speak out on human rights issues. And the need for democratic reforms. And then Raul Castro took the stage in really as you said went into

this litany of grievances that the Cuban government has with the United States. But then he made that remarkable statement that he admires President Obama, he thinks he's an honest man and that he's personally read some of President Obama's autobiographies. So although there has been this cold war that's been in place between the U.S. and Cuba for many, many years, I have to tell you just from observing the body language down here this is sort of a warm relationship that is emerging between President Obama and Raul Castro. It's just sort of extraordinary to watch.

[17:05:40] HARLOW: Extraordinary. A warm relationship. To you, Shasta Darlington, being there also this brings up the question of the Cuban people. And to their reaction over the past four months to the thawing of relations, the work towards normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba despite these differences that President Obama points out will remain. What do we know about what the Cuban people are saying and how they're reacting to this?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's interesting, Poppy, even before this summit started earlier this week a poll was released by "The Washington Post" infusion. They were able to get some posters on the island to carry out this poll in Cuba. And according to this, more than 90 percent of Cubans want to see the normalization of relations. And also it showed that President Obama is more than twice as popular as Raul Castro or Fidel Castro on the island. So this is a reflection of the Cuban youth. Cuba is a very young country right now. So there's a lot of excitement about this, a lot of anticipation. But I also think it's interesting when we heard Raul Castro speaking today, as you mentioned he first just lit up going over the long history of U.S. intervention in the region.

He accused the United States of cropping up cruel dictators, he talked about Guantanamo Bay. And then he turned to President Obama and apologized saying he didn't blame Obama for this. We can see this is part of a strategy. You have to remember this is a man who was in the trenches. Barack Obama says, listen, this is ancient history for me. I wasn't even born when some of this stuff happened. Well, Raul Castro was not only born, he was a participant. He was one of the main protagonists in this. So he has to not distance himself too much from this more than 50 years of warring with the United States and yet somehow get closer to Obama. So this is a bit of a game and a very delicate balancing act for him -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. And it is history unfolding as we speak there in Panama. Thank you very much Shasta and Jim Acosta to you as well.

Let's talk about this with our panel. Let me bring them in. Professor Julian Zelizer, presidential historian at Princeton University also the author of "The Fierce Urgency of Now." Buck Sexton is also with me, CNN political commentator, former CIA counterterrorism analyst and a conservative strategist. And Phil Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst, former CIA counterterrorism official.

JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR & PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Gentlemen, let me begin with you, Professor. Tell us how significant this is historically speaking. We know the facts that this is the sort of highest ranking meeting between the U.S. official and Cuban officials since 1959. But give us more context.

This is a breakthrough. I think this is a combination of many changes, the cold war ending, a thawing of the tension over imperialism. Even though you heard some of that in Castro's discussion, and most important a change in the politics of Florida and other parts of the country where generational change is allowing American politicians to change course. So if this culminates with an end of the embargo, with the terrorism list shift taking place, I think it is significant in U.S. foreign policy. Not just with Cuba but for the entire region.

HARLOW: Phil Mudd, let's talk about whether or not we may hear the President today in this press conference. We don't know. Say that indeed they are going to remove Cuba from this list of states that sponsor terrorism. We'll see if that's the case or not. If that happens, what would that mean for the United States? What would it mean for Cuban? Do you think that's a good idea to do that?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Look, let's not be under any illusion here. The President can announce that they'll remove Cuba from the list. This is not an intelligence process. It's portrayed as a process by which intelligence community agencies are reviewing the data.

Let me tell you what happens here. I've participated in these. Six months ago there's no momentum to remove Cuba from the list. An intelligence analyst looks at data and says, hey, years ago the Cubans were involved in supporting revolutionary groups therefore maybe we should leave them on the list. And nobody cares. Today, the same analyst might look at that information and say, hey, the President's interested in this, we haven't seen any current information. Therefore if you want to remove them from the list that's fine. Same data can lead to a different conclusion. We know what the story is here. The President wants to get them off the list, they're going to get off the list.

HARLOW: So, Buck, you also have some big sticking points and issues including people who have sought refuge in Cuba. You've got Charlie Hill, other Americans suspected or admitted of murder, criminals, what do you do about that?

[17:10:11] BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the Cuban regime has a long standing history. When people talk about support of terrorism, what they mean is, support of these groups around the world for example, in Colombia and also provided safe haven for people who've assassinated cops.

HARLOW: Right. And not extradite them to the U.S.

SEXTON: And this brings us then into the problem which is that the regime hasn't changed one bit. The President is going down and essentially saying that we want to make this big step forward, but the Cuban government is not meeting them halfway. The Cuban government hasn't changed at all and the timing of this is particularly suspect as well. When you look at Venezuela because the drop in oil prices in Maduro was basically on his back, the country had become a joke economically because of its policies. They don't have enough toilet paper.

(CROSSTALK)

The Cubans have been trying to help the Venezuelans with their oppression as they have done for decades now. And what we see is President Obama swooping in and essentially bailing out the Castro regime at this point in time. It seems like this is the worst imaginable time to be doing this considering that without Venezuelan oil money to help prop up the Castro regime, they were particularly vulnerable right now. And so he swoops in, he wants to normalize relations with a country that still provides safe haven for cop killers, still is willing to support -- they haven't changed their policy.

They're still willing to support revolutionary groups around the world. They just don't have the cash right now to do it. So, I don't see why -- we're not meeting them halfway, we're just conceding once again. This is just the U.S. giving them whatever they want within the President's purview because of course the embargo has to come from Congress. And by the way Congress is not going to lift that embargo any time soon.

HARLOW: I do want to take Julian your take on this. Jeb Bush tweeting today, let's pull this up, Obama meets with Castro but refuses to meet with Netanyahu, why legitimize a cruel dictator of a repressive regime. Does he have a point?

ZELIZER: Well, there's many points here. So, I don't think Obama supporters are saying the regime is great. And I don't think they're happy with the human rights record. But the other argument is the embargo has now been in place since the 1960s. And in fact, we haven't given them everything. And so proponents say this is a failed policy. Proponents of change. And I think that's the debate. And that's where President Obama is now siding with a different initiative. And I don't know what's going to happen in Congress. I don't think it's clear cut Congress will stick with the embargo.

SEXTON: I just want to say they could have ended this embargo a very, very long time ago if they had just allowed open elections and the freedom that we want for the Cuban people. That was the whole purpose of it and we're essentially now saying, well, I guess, it wasn't worth even trying.

HARLOW: Guys, we got to get a break in here. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Of course the President will take questions in this press conference. A lot of these questions will certainly come up to the President. I'm sure. We're going to take a quick break.

On the other side, we'll going to talk about this, Walter Scott killed by a police officer one week ago today laid to rest. His funeral earlier today. We're going to talk about that, also these statistics that have one reporter calling North Charleston taser town USA. We'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:56] HARLOW: All right. To South Carolina now where family and friends bid good-bye to Walter Scott, the man fatally shot in the back by a police officer one week ago. Scott's flag-draped casket was carried out of a Somerville Church just a short time ago. Police officers escorted the hearse to the cemetery. After the service South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn talked about how Walter Scott struggled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: The first time he was put in jail for failure to pay his child support, he was working on a $35,000 a year job. But he lost that job when he was incarcerated. And went over the deep end because he was not -- he said it was the best job he ever had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Meanwhile, South Carolina state law enforcement division met with the still-unidentified passenger that you've see in that dash cam video. They met with him, they questioned him, they released him without charges. He still has not been identified. The mood in North Charleston today tense but peaceful. Plenty of questions linger over what happened. How could this have led to this man's death?

Let's talk about it with Michael Daly, special correspondent for "The Daily Beast." Harry Houck, retired New York City police detective and also Trent Copeland, criminal defense attorney and former police officer.

Gentlemen, thank you for all being here. Michael, let me begin with you, you wrote an article about it this week. And you call North Charleston taser town.

MICHAEL DALY, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE DAILY BEAST": Actually I wrote three articles. When I first looked at, what struck me is that, there's an unbelievable number of tasers. Kind of taser happy. And I thought, well, maybe that's what was going on here. And I took a more detailed look at the town and I saw, first of all, they knocked homicides down from about 28 a year down to five. It's ticked back up again. So, you know, there are a lot of people walking around North Charleston now who would be dead that don't know they'd be dead. That's because the police saved them. So then you start saying what could have happened here and you end up coming down to this particular officer, I think.

I mean, in Ferguson you could see a department that was kind of a mess. That were raising revenue with summons and all that. And here in North Charleston you see a department that was really trying to knock down crime, save lives, most black lives, and you come down to this one guy. If you watch that dash cam, he does everything right. You know, even they tell them explain why you're stopping, sir, I'm stopping you because of the taillight. When he started running something else kicked in in him. And I think that maybe a police officer would have more insight into what possibly could have happened. But I think it's that one -- it's the workings of that one guy in those moments. I really think that's what this is.

HARLOW: So, Harry, to you as a former police officer, when you look at everything that seemed to go in a very routine manner.

HARRY HOUCK, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Right.

HARLOW: And then he runs away. You know, Scott runs away, the officer chases after him, heat of the moment. But how can this result in this tragedy?

HOUCK: That's the big question. Was he one of those kind of guys that, you know, was looking to be a hero, maybe looking to say he would be able to brag that he was in a shootout and that he killed somebody. I mean, I don't know. I really can't -- you know, for the life of me watching this video I'm as shocked as everybody else is. You know, how can you in that moment not know as a police officer, and he'd been a police officer for six years, you're not supposed to shoot somebody unarmed in the back running away from you.

HARLOW: Running away. Well, I said something on the air earlier and I want to clarify it with you.

HOUCK: Okay.

HARLOW: Because you had said that he should not have even chased Scott when he ran.

HOUCK: Right.

HARLOW: Explain why that is.

HOUCK: Okay. It was a tactical error by that officer. When you're one officer in a vehicle, and you're pulling over two people in the vehicle, all right, and you see one of them run, you don't go after the guy running because you still got a guy in the vehicle. Now, what could have happened is if he chased him and this other guy was armed he could have came out behind the officer and killed the officer chasing the other guy. So what you've got to do as an officer is just let that guy go because you got a guy right there in your hands, pull him out of the car, call for backup, say I got a guy on the run with his description.

[17:20:13] HARLOW: Right. So, Trent, to you, as a former police officer and an attorney, looking at this, right, the charges brought against Officer Slager are murder charges. And what's your take on how the defense is going to go after this in terms of their strategy? Are they going to make the defense that this is manslaughter at most because it happened in a moment of passion, in the heat of the moment? And I wonder if you think maybe he's been overcharged here, that murder is going to be a tough one to prove here?

TRENT COPELAND, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, look, first of all, let me interrupt you really quickly, Poppy. And I'm not a former police officer. Although I represented a number of police officers in police-involved shootings.

HARLOW: My apologies.

COPELAND: Let me just say this. What I think is the clear narrative for the defense and I've got to try to put my defense hat on here and this is going to be a pretty difficult one to do. I think what's going to happen is he's going to have to say, his argument will be, look, I feared for my life. This guy grabbed my weapon in the part of the video that we don't see, this guy grabbed my weapon, he reached for my baton, I feared for my life, I had to try to tase him. And that was part of the narrative that we don't see in the video. And that will be what the criminal lawyer who represents this officer says. He'll say, listen, this was all one long movement. I reached to try to defend myself, when he ran off I reached for my weapon and I fired a gun.

It was a mistake. It was in the heat of passion. It was a moment of a mistake that I take back for the rest of my life. But it clearly is not murder in the first degree. And so, that will be the defense. But the problem with that, Poppy, is look at how careful this officer was. Look at his stance, look at his demeanor, look at his composure. He didn't look like he'd just been in a struggle. He didn't look like he was in the heat of passion. It looked as if he was firing at this man, firing at him as if it were target practice. So I think that's going to be a really difficult thing for the defense lawyer to try to prove in this instance. But I think it will have to be the narrative there.

HARLOW: We have seen charges, murder charges brought against police officers in North Charleston. We haven't seen a conviction. Do you believe we see a conviction here, a murder conviction here?

COPELAND: Look, I think it's going to be really difficult. But I think the reality is the first thing you're going to see, Poppy, is that the defense lawyer is going to try to move this case out of South Charleston. I think the problem with that is that they will say that look, this case is so infected this community that we can't possibly get a fair trial. That will be the first thing they try to do. The second thing is I think that they'll obviously argue behind the scenes. Before this case even sees the light of day in a courtroom, for manslaughter a plea deal. I think that's what they're going to work towards. I think that will probably be what happens in this case before this case even ever goes to trial.

HARLOW: All right. Gentlemen, stick around. We're going to keep talking about this because the case of Walter Scott really far from the only case of excessive force used by a police officer in this country. Coming up, three other cases in America that question the authority of law enforcement and how suspects react to force.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:40] HARLOW: In the wake of the death of Walter Scott, the man fatally shot in the back by a North Charleston police officer, just a week ago, other cases where use of a lot of force were used are in the spotlight. In California. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies beat a man multiple times at the end of a three-hour horse chase. There is an investigation underway. And in New Jersey, a police dog mauled a suspect to death. Police are investigating that. And in Miami Gardens, Florida a mentally ill man is shot and killed by police. The family has now launched a civil suit.

My panel is back to talk about this. Michael Daly of "The Daily Beast," Harry Houck, former NYPD officer and Trent Copeland, a defense attorney who has represented police officers. Let me begin with you, Harry.

HOUCK: Yes.

HARLOW: When we talk about this, look, it's not fair to give all police officers a bad name. These are the men and women out there on the streets protecting all of us. When you look though I wonder if you think use of force like this is becoming more common in police departments or we are seeing it more?

HOUCK: I think we're probably seeing it more. Because of the age of the video. It's more common or not, I don't know. I mean, I don't think there's any statistics out there to be able to show us. I mean, it seems like every time we see it on the TV especially in the last like two days. Now we got this thing going on in San Bernardino County, police officers were in a three-hour chase. I got to tell you, you know, you're in a chase that long, you're putting your life in danger chasing that person, you're going after that person and you get riled up. Okay, and what looks to have happened is those police officers once they caught him weren't able to calm themselves down.

HARLOW: But are you defending them?

HOUCK: No, I'm not.

HARLOW: They kicked and punched him more than 30 times.

HOUCK: No, I'm just saying is what you're going through as a police officer. You've got to be able to, once you take that man down, listen, he laid down, he complied perfectly the way he was supposed to do. The officers got on top of him. They weren't able to gain their composure. And that's when they started hitting him. And these guys are probably going to wind up going to jail. And I'm not condoning their actions at all. They were bad. They should not have been. They should have been smart enough to know hearing a helicopter above them for Christ sakes.

DALY: I think they heard the helicopter, but they didn't hear the second helicopter. They didn't look up. You notice the police helicopter is much lower. And I think that's all they're aware of it, the police helicopter, I think they think they're in that last realm where there's no civilian with a video camera.

HOUCK: Right.

DALY: I think that's why they're doing it. And if you even see there's a guy at the end where seems to be all over he walks up and kind of, all right, I'll get a couple kicks in too. That is life before video.

HOUCK: And it surprises me that so many officers, one guy didn't at least say knock it off.

HARLOW: Yes, we have to stop this.

HOUCK: You know, and you see the two guys standing there all they would have had to do is say that's enough or whatever.

HARLOW: Right. Trent, to you when you look at this Charles Hill, a retired L.A. County sheriff's commander told the L.A. Times that the officers' actions in this case, we are just showing video in San Bernardino, California was, quote, "Like a feeding frenzy." It was like blood in the water with sharks. What is their defense going to look like in this?

COPELAND: You know, equally difficult, Poppy. I mean, look, the video shows us everything we need to see. I mean, just like Charlie Beck said about the South Carolina shooting. He said, look, when you're wrong, you're wrong. Their officer said -- head of their police department said that

[17:30:00] Charlie Beck, the head of LAPD said, listen, this is wrong.

I don't think, Poppy, that they're going to be instances when we find when there's video that exists that the narrative is going to change. I think the officers will say, listen, you didn't see all of it. Their officers will say as part of their defense, you only saw a portion of it. You didn't see what happened before. You didn't see what happened afternoon. I think for these officers in San Bernardino, because we have so much video and it's so extensive. And we see that these officers were sort of pouncing on this guy and beating him, as the head of their police agency said, as if it was a feeding frenzy. I think it's going to be really difficult for these guys to have a defense of any kind.

HARLOW: It seems to me -- and we bring this up a lot in cases like this. It just seems like it would be common sense to have body cameras mandatory for all police departments. I know not everyone wants it. I know that it is incredibly expensive. I know it's up to the officer to turn it on or off. But as a former NYPD officer, do you agree that that is --

(CROSSTALK)

HOUCK: 100 percent, I love them.

HARLOW: You love it.

HOUCK: I think it's great because it will put an end to a lot of questions when people, you know, have interactions with the police officers. I think it will calm some police officers down also. But the issue I have is when do you turn it off and when do you turn it on? Is it on constantly when I'm talking to my partner riding around? It shouldn't be because I should be able to have a private conversation with my partner.

HARLOW: Michael Daly, what do you do about that? If you pull someone over, you're not necessarily going to remember to turn it on.

MICHAEL DALY, THE DAILY BEAST: It's tough. They have a case in New Orleans now where a policewoman turned her camera off, went and shot a guy in the head in the car, and then turned her camera on. So -- if you were a good police officer, I would go out and buy one myself. I'd put one on my uniform now.

(CROSSTALK)

DALY: Let's say you've gotten a shooting and you really did fear for your life and you really were justified but nobody saw it. Who's going to believe you now?

HARLOW: Before I let you go, Trent, any privacy issues that come up here?

COPELAND: There are privacy issues, but with anything, Poppy, there's a balancing act.

I don't know why we're discussing this. The White House Task Force a couple years ago did a study and showed there are 87 percent fewer incidents of police brutality when officers are wearing body cameras, 60 percent less complaints by citizens when officers are wearing body cameras. This is not a discussion we should be having. This is an academic issue that should have long been put under the rug and we should now be discussing now the use of these cameras. It shouldn't be whether they exist or now, it should be, why aren't we using them.

HARLOW: It is a discussion because they haven't been mandated and they're not used in most police departments. We'll see if things change.

Gentlemen, thank you all. Appreciate it.

HOUCK: Thanks.

HARLOW: Coming up, in just 10 days -- consider these numbers -- law enforcement across this country have arrested eight Americans charging them with conspiring to join ISIS or worse. The details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[1&36:31] HARLOW: In the past 10 days alone, eight people have been locked up right here in the United States charged with trying to support ISIS. Most frightening are indications that some were plotting attacks right here on U.S. soil.

This man, Joshua Van Hastan (ph), left the U.S. last year to join ISIS. He was captured in Turkey and now facing charges in the state of Illinois. In Pennsylvania, a 30-year-old woman is charged with trying to provide resources to ISIS. Officials say she wanted to martyr herself. In Virginia, a teenager, just 17 years old, charged with helping a man get to Syria to join ISIS. And right here in New York, a 26-year-old man is charged with raising money for ISIS. Three of his friends were arrested last month. Two women also in New York under lock and key, charged with plotting to detonate a bomb somewhere in the United States. And in Kansas, John T. Booker, seen on the right, charged with plotting to detonate a bomb at Ft. Riley Army Base. The man on the left, Alexander Blare, allegedly knew of the plot and did nothing to stop it.

Joining me to talk about this is former CIA counterterrorism official, Phil Mudd.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Wow.

Wow.

HARLOW: In the past 10 days, eight people in different states. And we know that secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, has said that he's very concerned about the lone-wolf threat. How do you combat this effectively?

MUDD: I don't think you can. By the way, I wouldn't consider most of these folks lone wolves. A lone wolf is somebody, in my world, who doesn't communicate or doesn't travel or doesn't try to speak with ISIS. As soon as an individual starts to communicate or travel and becomes part of a broader network, as an intelligence professional, that's a vulnerability. That's something I can look at and see if I can exploit.

What we're seeing here is really interesting though, from my perspective. In the early post-9/11 years, we saw virtually none of this. What you would have is al Qaeda guys in places like Pakistan trying to recruit operatives either to conduct attacks out there or to train them in Pakistan to come back here. Right now, we're seeing typically young people, who never even travel out there, which makes it harder for us to find a vulnerability, and who have little connectivity with those kinds of networks that we can look at with intelligence resources. In some ways, this is a much tougher intelligence problem because there are so many of these people and they're disbursed.

HARLOW: All these eight suspects are under the age of 40, and we know the White House has said, and some critics have shot them down on this, but said this is in part dealing with a feeling of disenfranchisement, a lack of opportunity, especially for youth in this country. What does that tell you?

MUDD: There's some of that going on. For example, in the Somali community in Minneapolis, which was a recruitment for al Shabaab, the terrorist center in Somalia. The terrorist group in Minneapolis is not doing well economically.

A lot of those that I witnessed were single-mom homes. I'm not suggesting that that's not a validation for somebody who wants to commit an act of murder. What I am saying is people who want to be part of something bigger -- think of this psychologically, not just terrorism, it might be a gang. Think of this as people who want to join something that gives them validation in their lives because they're not getting it in their community or at home. I saw quite a bit of that. Again, not a justification for an act of violence, but helps you understand their mindset.

HARLOW: Yeah, but you have -- I've reported with my team extensively on what's happening in Minnesota and the Somali community there, right? You've got a lot of people -- look, law enforcement has stepped things up there. The community itself is trying to do everything it can to make sure that these kids don't fall into the ISIS trap.

MUDD: Yeah.

HARLOW: When you look at the pilot program launched by the White House in these states, Minnesota among them recently, do you think something like that is going to be effective? These pilot programs, to really try to get to the root of this disenfranchisement? Or is it frankly hiring a ton more people to scour through social media to find warning signs.

[17:40:17] MUDD: You're asking a government guy about hiring a ton more people.

(LAUGHTER)

MUDD: Let me give you a serious answer. I think it can be effective, but there are so many people getting involved in this pipeline. The numbers we're looking at are foreign to a counterterrorism professional. We never saw hundreds of people when I was at the bureau at the FBI and at the CIA. The numbers are just astounding.

However, what I saw in a lot of these cases, particularly at the younger end, when you're getting 15, 16, 19, 20 years old, is people who have an emotional interest in ISIS but no real ideological understanding of what they're getting involved in. These people, like this kid you mentioned, Booker, who was just arrested, these people think that they're terrorists. They're not really terrorists. They're people who think that they are joining something that will give them a better life. My point is halfway houses for those kids that give them exposure from real religious experts who can explain why what they're doing is inappropriate, I think there's a decent solution there between letting them go and putting them in a federal prison. And that is putting them in a halfway house.

HARLOW: We know they're actually piloting that one program --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: -- in Minneapolis right now.

Phil Mudd, I appreciate it. Thanks so much.

MUDD: Thank you.

HARLOW: We're standing by as we expect President Obama to speak in Panama. At any moment, he'll take questions from reporters after his historic meeting today with the president of Cuba, Raul Castro. We'll bring that as soon as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:19] HARLOW: We're awaiting a news conference from President Obama as he closes historic talks at the Summit of Americas in Panama. The president will tell us what he and Cuba President Raul Castro discussed during that one-on-one meeting that just took place a short time ago there. It's the first time leaders of the U.S. and Cuba have sat down for any substantive talks since 1959. President Obama has indicated plans to possibly remove Cuba from America's list of countries that support terrorism. He could make that announcement today in this press conference before he leaves Panama this evening.

Today's historic moment between the president and Cuban leader, Raul Castro, is just one sign of things to come. Really this is a new era.

Our Richard Quest traveled to Havana to see how many things may change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tobacco plants are the finest in the world. And these are the plants used to make Cuba's famous cigars. And now the farmers here face an interesting challenge. With a potential new market in the U.S., how do they balance quantity over quality?

The Robana family farm is famous across Cuba. Everybody agrees here they're growing the best tobacco in the land.

HIROCHI ROBANA, TOBACCO GROWER: I'm very happy this year. The quality this year is very, very good.

QUEST (on camera): What makes a good cigar?

ROBANA: There's the land, the weather, the variety of the tobacco and also the experience of the farmer.

QUEST (voice-over): The Robana's have been doing this for 170 years, hand picking the leaves, lovingly laying them out to dry. It's a true passion.

ROBANA: I like to use like this. Just a little bit. Only a little bit. Yeah.

QUEST (on camera): Too much?

ROBANA: Yeah. Taste like chewing gum. Yeah. Yeah, Nice flavor. Then after that, I start to put to fire.

That's what I like. That's what I like.

So we grow tobacco here. To roll around four million or five million cigars a year, I need two million leaves.

QUEST (voice-over): Two million leaves is not enough for existing clients and to satisfy the prospective new American market. Demand outstripping supply, something has to go up, production or the price.

ROBANA: I can't produce more.

QUEST (on camera): You can't?

ROBANA: No. No. Because the land is not so big. I want to produce the same but with better quality.

QUEST (voice-over): Production increased in the 1990s. And quality fell. It's a mistake the industry doesn't want to repeat.

ROBANA: I'm not worrying about the farmers. The big problem is the rollers. They work very fast. They have to take care of a lot.

Remember, more important is quality. Price is not important because when people want to buy the best product in the world, they pay.

QUEST: The issue of quality is family pride.

ROBANA: 1845. Today, it's very, very, very special day for me because it's the birthday 96 of my grandfather.

QUEST: Considered the godfather of Cuban tobacco, he died five years ago. But Alejandro's Robana's memory lives on in the room the family call the chapel.

(on camera): A Victrola.

ALEJANDRO ROBANA, TOBACCO GROWER: Yes. The Victrola is 1906.

QUEST: Does it work?

ALEJANDRO ROBANA: Of course, man.

(MUSIC)

QUEST (on camera): From green leaves to golden tobacco, now they make the two-hour journey to central Havana.

(MUSIC)

This must be the most beautiful factory ever built, street number 21.

ROBANA: We hope the embargo would be for next year.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: Here are the rollers that Hirochi Robana is so worried about. This is Habanos, the joint government-private operation that rolls and sells all of Cuba's cigars.

JORGE LUIS FERNANDEZ MAIQUI, COMMERCIAL VICE PRESIDENT, HABANOS: We've been waiting for more than 50 years when the blockade will be lifted and then we are ready. Believe me, we are ready.

[17:50:09] QUEST: Habanos) sees the opportunities and the way to take advantage very differently than the Robanas.

MAIQUI: We have the capacity to produce more cigars in Cuba, to produce more tobacco leaf. We don't want to raise prices.

QUEST: Higher production, greater markets. The risk is falling into bad habits and losing the love with which these are rolled.

MAIQUI: It's a risk but our main objective is to keep quality.

QUEST (on camera): This is an example here of what they have to be careful of. There's a hole in the tobacco leaf.

(voice-over): It's a delicate balance, one that everyone knows they've got to get right.

MAIQUI: We are careful and we have more than 500 years of history. Remember that. We are not new to this. There is no one compare with us. When you see a cigar roller rolling a cigar, now you can't realize -- you can't understand why a cigar has this price.

QUEST: I'm not listening to a word you're saying. I'm enjoying my cigar.

MAIQUI: OK. Then I don't talk to you.

QUEST: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Our Richard Quest with that.

We are standing by, awaiting a press conference from President Obama. It could happen at any moment following his historic meeting with President Raul Castro of Cuba. Stay with us. It's just minutes away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:23] HARLOW: Time now to meet this week's "CNN Hero."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE DOYNE, CNN HERO: Most 28-year-old girls my age have a very different reality. A lot of engagements and first babies. I took a very different path.

After high school, I decided to travel around the world with my backpack.

In Nepal, for the first time, I really saw the effects of civil war and children and women suffering. And it changed me.

There was one little girl, she was standing in a heap of garbage. And she said, "namaste." That means hello. And that was the beginning.

(SHOUTING)

(LAUGHTER)

DOYNE: I called up my parents and I asked them to wire me over my $5,000 of babysitting money.

Time to get up. Morning.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Good morning.

DOYNE: We started with the home. Then we built a school.

(SHOUTING)

DOYNE: We select children who without us would not be able to go to school. A lot of them are begging on the streets.

You've got it.

We have been one of the top performing schools in the region for 350 children. And 50 of those kids live in our home.

(CROSSTALK)

DOYNE: Our first priority is to keep a child with their family. And then in the severe case of a child who really has nobody, they come in to live in our home.

(LAUGHTER)

When you walk in the front gates, you don't see suffering. You see healthy, laughing, thriving kids.

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:57:12] HARLOW: Amazing work she's doing. You can always nominate someone for "CNN Heroes" at CNNheroes.com.

President Obama expected to give a news conference anytime from Panama after that historic meeting with Raul Castro, the president of Cuba. We'll bring his remarks as soon as they begin.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)