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Historic Reopening of U.S. Embassy in Cuba; Kerry Due in Havana to Raise American Flag at Embassy; Candidates Gather at Iowa State Fair. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 14, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:26] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And, good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. I want to welcome our viewers from around the world.

Moments from now, an historic breakthrough between the United States and Cuba will play out on the streets of Havana. That's where the U.S. embassy will officially reopen following a ceremony led by Secretary of State John Kerry. Now, the U.S. embassy first closed in January of 1961 when the Eisenhower administration severed diplomatic ties with the Cuban government following the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. Just four months later, the United States made an unsuccessful attempt to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. And the following year, in 1962, a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union after the discovery that Russia was building missile installations in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy ordering a blockade to prevent any other weapons from entering Cuba. The Cuban missile Crisis would later end with the Soviets withdrawing and the United States promising never to invade Cuba. But then, in 2014, after decades of strict sanctions and travel restrictions, President Obama made this announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba. We will begin to normalize relations between our two countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's head to Cuba now and watch history in the making. Jake Tapper is there.

Good morning, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Good morning, Carol.

It is indeed a very historic moment here in Havana, Cuba. As you mentioned, diplomatic relations with Cuba were cut, were eliminated, were shut down in January 1961 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. And, in fact, no U.S. secretary of state has been in Cuba since 1945.

Well, that has changed this morning with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry touching down not long ago, coming here for the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba. That building was basically shut down until 1977 when some diplomats then were permitted to go back and start the U.S. intersection there. But there has not been a formal U.S. embassy presence here since 1961. Remarkable. But even then, even with this building behind me only being a U.S. intersection and not a formal embassy, it is bigger than all the other embassies that are here.

Joining me now, CNN's Patrick Oppmann. He is down on the ground.

Patrick, tell me what you're seeing there. Tell me what's going on closer to the embassy.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People have been coming in all morning, Jake, lining up. You've got Cuban flags, American flags. I'm next to a woman named Soriah (ph). Soriah here next to me and Martysol (ph). Supporters of the Cuban revolution, proud patriots, but here this morning to welcome Secretary John Kerry. They feel this is a new beginning. They're very excited.

This is something they've never seen in their lives. These women grew up after already diplomatic relations had been broken, after a U.S. economic embargo was in place. So even though, you know, a lot of people here in the past here come here to protest the United States, here, well, we've got hundreds of people coming here waving American flags, waving Cuban flags.

Also next to me is an American visitor. This is James Madigan (ph) from Los Angeles.

Why did you come to Cuba? What's it like to be here in the crowd this morning?

JAMES MADIGAN, U.S. CITIZEN VISITING CUBA: Oh, it's just -- it's amazing to see this place opening up. I mean it's a -- people here -- no one's protesting today, let me tell you. It's -- everyone we meet her, the friends we have here, everyone wants this to be opened. They want to regain access to the world basically.

OPPMANN: Thank you so much. Have a safe trip home later today.

MADIGAN: Sure. Thank you.

OPPMANN: But, Jake, you know, a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm, but also a lot of people realizing that even this historic change is not going to change all Cuba's problems. The very severe, economic problems. Still a lot of diplomatic differences to work out between these two countries. But again, people here, certainly in this crowd, feel this is a very important key first step to a better future between the United States and Cuba.

Jake, back to you.

TAPPER: Patrick Oppmann, thank you so much.

Indeed there is a lot of hope in the streets of Havana. People want this to mean something. Something beyond just symbolism. But what will it mean? What will it mean in terms of economic opportunities for the Cuban people? What will it mean in terms of human rights? There are a lot of people in the dissident community here who have been fighting for human rights, sometimes, quite honestly, at their own peril, whether imprisonment or beatings by the secret police. And they were not invited to the ceremony this morning. And they are very upset about that fact.

[09:35:11] CNN's Fareed Zakaria is with us in New York City.

And, Fareed, I suppose that the explanation from the U.S. State Department, the simple fact that, look, this is a government to government moment might go over fine with some people, but a lot of human rights community members, a lot of people in the dissident community, and a lot of hawks when it comes to Cuba, very, very upset about the dissident community being snubbed, not being invited to the ceremony this morning, Fareed.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": That's right, Jake. And you're -- you touched on it. It seems to me perhaps the central issue here, which is that this move by the United States is a bet. It's a bet that having more contact, more engagement with Cuba will give the United States greater leverage to try to further the cause of opening up Cuba economically, politically on human rights dimensions, than this 54 years of isolation has. Clearly the 54 years of isolation has not worked.

And it's worth pointing out, this is mostly an opening between Cuba and the United States. Other countries are in Cuba. Cuba is not isolated from the world. It is just the United States that has not had relations with Cuba. But because the United States is the 800-pound gorilla, so close to Cuba, the -- you know, what we are going to watch is whether or not this opening, a diplomatic opening, allows for greater political opening.

Look, let's not -- let's not kid ourselves. Cuba does abysmally on many human rights measures. On press freedoms, for example, I think Cuba ranks 169th in the world. The regime remains a pretty tough old line communist regime. Fidel Castro just turned 89. And in the Cuban community party newspaper "Granmr" (ph), he had an article, presumably authored by somebody else, in which he blamed the United States for, you know, dropping the atomic bomb, starting the global financial crisis. It was old line socialist propaganda.

So, there's still an old -- this is still a tough, closed communist regime but 54 years of isolation has not worked and the hope is that this opening will give the United States some leverage to be able to act on behalf of not just the journalists, but the average Cuban people, who still are living in a politically unfree society.

TAPPER: And indeed, Fareed, one of the arguments in favor of this new step by President Obama has been, as I understand it from those who are advocating it, that creating this diplomatic relationship, lifting the embargo if Congress chooses to take that step, that will no longer allow the Castro brothers the excuse for why this country is in the condition it is in. Driving into Havana, you see a giant poster blaming the blockade, as they call it here, except in Spanish of course, the blockade for perpetrating a tremendous genocide is how they phrase it. If the U.S. gives that excuse, puts it in the trash, removes it, creates this diplomatic relationship, lifts the embargo, what will then happen? What will the Cuban people see that the Castro brothers really have no excuse for the condition of this country?

We're going to talk about that more. But we're going to first take a very quick break. We'll be back with more from Havana as the U.S. embassy officially reopens for the first time since 1961. CNN NEWSROOM will be back in a moment with this history in the making.

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[09:41:05] TAPPER: Welcome back. We are live in Havana, Cuba, covering the historic reopening of the U.S. embassy. There has not been an American flag flying over the building behind me since January 1961. There has not been a U.S. secretary of state in this country since 1945. This morning, both of those are changing. Secretary of State John Kerry has come here to preside over the opening of the -- the reopening of the U.S. embassy, the flying of the flag. In fact, three of the Marines who took down the flag in January, 1961, they are here, they will be here for this historic moment.

But let's talk about the significance of it and the bet, as Fareed Zakaria put it, the bet that the U.S. government is making on this move. Joining me now in Miami, Jose Luis Martinez. He's with the Cuban American National Foundation. And in Charlotte we have former U.S. Ambassador Mark Erwin, who met with Cuban officials in 2012. And again, just the -- I believe in June, to help further the relationship between Cuba and the U.S.

Jose, let me start with you. What are your concerns about today?

JOSE LUIS MARTINEZ, COMMUNICATIONS DIR., CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION: Well, I think the big concern is that a lot of this could technically be symbolic. And we talk a lot about symbolism, about hope and about change. But I think the real change that we need to see starting immediately is the change in the relationship between the Cuban government and the Cuban people, and we have not seen that. And, in fact, in many instances, especially with regards to human rights and activism, it's actually gotten worse over the past eight months.

TAPPER: Ambassador Erwin, you wrote an --

MARTINEZ: And so we need -- what we need to go --

TAPPER: Go ahead, sir. I'm sorry.

MARTINEZ: Yes, no, I was going to say, as a matter of fact, this relationship has gotten worse over the past eight months. Just last week there were 100 arrests documented of political dissidence and human rights activists. We have a list of at least 26 political prisoners that are currently serving time in Cuban jails at this very moment. So a lot of that relationship between the Cuban government and between the Cuban people has to change and I think that should be the subject of a lot of these new conversations. TAPPER: Indeed. And, in fact, I spoke with a dissident just yesterday

in Havana who expressed the same concerns that you're expressing. That, in some ways, things have gotten worse. His fear is that this move by the Obama administration, without concrete demands, at least ones that we know about, for advances in basic freedoms, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, without those advances and commitments that the U.S. has given everything away to the Castro brothers while getting nothing in return for the people of Cuba.

Ambassador Erwin, I read an op-ed that you wrote in "The Charlotte Observer," and you were a little bit more bullish about some of the advances, you referred to it as a sort of economic perestroika in terms of advances that had been happening as far as you could tell. Explain what you see.

AMBASSADOR MARK ERWIN, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MAURITIUS & SEYCHELLES: Well, yes, I think -- I think it's an incredible time in history. When we were down there just a few months ago with the Council of American Ambassadors, we saw huge numbers of people working in the private sector that were not working there in 2012. The economic boom that's going to take place there is going to be great for the United States. There's at least a half a trillion dollars' worth of infrastructure that needs to be improved. And that's a great opportunity for us. It's also more importantly a great opportunity for all the people of Cuba who have been living a desperate life, 11 million people who have been living on the edge for 54 years now.

TAPPER: Well, Jose, what's -- what would your response be to that? Obviously, as Fareed Zakaria put it, this is something of a bet. The Obama administration is hoping, is betting that this step will work, that opening this country to what the United States has, will create a situation where freedom just grows and becomes stronger.

[09:45:19] We have seen in the last few weeks in this country, where internet is hard to come by, these wifi hotspots popping up, by the government, about three dozen of them every night. People gather in the parks. They buy these cards from the government and they are able to get on the internet. Granted, there is still government censorship, still websites that you cannot visit, especially when it comes to things such as criticism of the Cuban government in addition to things relating to pornography. But that is better than it was a month ago. What would your response be to that?

MARTINEZ: Well, that is correct. I mean, Cuba still remains one of the ten most censored countries in the world. And, again, for these changes diplomatically to have any sort of effect on the Cuban people, I think the Cuban people should be exposed to information and perspectives and all points of view.

And I believe if there is one sign that the Cuban regime can give right now to show that they're also willing to change and they're also willing to bet themselves on their own people is why not just completely tear down Cuba's cybernettic wall? Let's connect Cuba and let's start to offer that -- not only a few public parks so that people have to gather and pay $2 an hour, which is around 10 percent of their monthly salary, to connect to some form of censored internet. Why not give it to them on their phones and in their homes and wherever and however they can access it, and make them part of this relationship and not just people that still have to ask permission from their own government to do anything from business to politics to even any travel.

You still need a permit just to live in Havana, for example, if you're a local Cuban. A lot of Cubans don't have access to a lot of the local tourist destinations, you know, the tourist hotels, and a lot of places that, you know, very soon perhaps a lot of Americans are going to start to enjoy. So why not make them part of this and why not empower Cuba's civil society to build a better future for themselves?

TAPPER: Indeed. Mr. Castro, tear down this cyber wall, as it were. Well said.

We will stay here in Havana waiting for this historic reopening. We're running just a little behind here, about 20 minutes. It's not our fault. It is how things are going today with Secretary Kerry and Cuba. I'll be ready to go when it happens.

Carol Costello is going to join us next with what's happening stateside. Stay with us.

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[09:52:03] COSTELLO: All right. I'm going to take you briefly back to Havana, Cuba, for just a second. This is Carol Costello. We' are awaiting the U.S. Secretary of State to arrive at this location to raise the U.S. flag over the American embassy in Havana, Cuba, something that has not happened since 1961. Secretary of State 's plane was delayed this morning. So you know what, sometimes history doesn't happen on time. So history is running about 20 minutes late this morning. And when that flag does raise and when John Kerry gets behind that podium to make some remarks, of course we'll take you back to Jake Tapper and Cuba.

But right now I want to take you to Iowa. Because Jeb Bush is speaking to reporters this morning. He had some interesting things to say about poll numbers and Iraq and Iran. Let's listen.

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JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, polls are irrelevant. During the week of the ten days of the state fair there will be people moving up and down. It's always been that way. I'll remind you that my dad in 1980 was probably an asterisk at this point. And last time around, there were candidates that were winning at this point that never even made it to the starting line. This is an all in state. You've got to organize. You've got to get people to commit to attending the caucuses, recruiting others to go to the caucuses. You've got to go campaign. I mean, when I campaign and hear people's -- and I get my passion appeal, all in, and I come to the person and I go now, after that, you've got to support me. No, I've got to hear you one or two more times. That's the way it works here. And so polls are completely --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that frustrating for you then?

BUSH: Oh no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you all in here?

BUSH: Oh, yes. I'm competitive.

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COSTELLO: All right. So let's head to Iowa once again. And, Chris Moody, you're in a different, oh, I don't know, less busy locale? And when Jeb Bush was talking about poll numbers and who was losing the last time around, I suspect he was talking about Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICS: Well, polls this early out don't necessarily mean what the election will be several months ahead, but they do provide a snapshot of how Iowans are thinking. And it's really important to look at these state polls because those, I think, are much more accurate than what we'll see in national polls.

But right now it's Scott Walker and Donald Trump that are really sucking a lot of the oxygen out of here. But this is the Iowa state fair and it's the first couple of days, and it's a great opportunity for candidates who are maybe in the middle of the pack, like Jeb Bush, to come here and make their case to Iowans.

Now, there's something about the fair that's really beautiful and that is it's egalitarian. There's no coming in through the back door or sneaking in, or sneaking in and making your case and sneaking out. You've got to walk down the promenade, address voters, address media, and make your case right out in the open. A lot of candidates are very vulnerable and it's an opportunity for them to make their case to voters, but it also could be a minefield for a lot of them. So it's going to be really interesting to see how Jeb Bush handles the day.

COSTELLO: It is going to be interesting. And when you say he's in the middle of the pack, what, he has about 5 percent in Iowa. Iowans seem to love Donald Trump.

[09:55:01] In fact, I read an article yesterday that there's a big blue Trump bus going through Iowa. Donald Trump is not on it, his staffers are -- there it is -- but people surrounded that big, blue bus just to look at the bus?

MOODY: Well, Donald Trump actually does have a little bit of organization here. Jeb Bush, in his sound bite, he mentioned that organization is what it takes in Iowa. It's a long term strategy. I think Donald Trump's staffers are in the double digits, so it's more than just a bus. Now, Trump is going to be coming in tomorrow I think making a huge splash here at the fair. You can imagine just hordes of media and people. I think it's going to be a real sight to see.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think it's going to be a real circus. Chris Moody reporting live from Iowa. We'll get back to you. Thanks so much. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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