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U.S. Announces Normalization of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba; American Prisoner in Cuba Released; Interview with Congressman Chris Van Hollen; Sony Cancels Release of "The Interview"

Aired December 18, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These 50 years of isolation has not worked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is much ingrained doubt and anger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This president is the single worst negotiator that we've had in the White House in my lifetime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was crucial to my survivor knowing that I was not forgotten.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sony should fight fire with fire. I cannot think of another moment like this in modern movie history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All major movie chains are now giving in to fears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly the studio is bowing to be the enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ruble losing almost half of its value to the U.S. dollar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His approval rating is still sky high, 85 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia's budget is squeezed and hurting.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, December 18th, just before 8:00 in the east. I'm Chris Cuomo coming to you from Miami's Little Havana district. There's a place here called La Pena Del Versailles, and it's literally an outcropping, a rock that represents the Cuba that was left behind. And we have seen so many people here coming with such different perspectives on the historic announcement that President Obama just made. And largely it's along generational lines. Old-school Cubans were forced out by an oppressive regime who were forced to leave everything and everyone behind thinking how can you reward this regime? And then a younger generation who is saying, well, is there a better way forward? Nothing seems to change there. So we're going to give you the reaction from Havana to here to Capitol Hill, Alisyn. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's looks like a hopping scene behind

you, Chris. You must be hearing a lot of reaction to this historic news. We'll get back to you in one second. I'm Alisyn Camerota along with Michaela Pereira here in New York City. We are of course tracking today's other big stories, including the fallout from the cyber-attack on Sony. U.S. officials pointing a finger at North Korea as the movie studio pulls now the release of its new film "The Interview".

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning Russian President Vladimir Putin is addressing his nation's growing crisis and the future of his presidency. We'll talk about that. But first, let's head back to Miami and Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Michaela, thank you very much.

Here in Little Havana is a huge population center for people of Cuban descent, whether they were born there or now they're one, two generations that have followed here in the United States. Make no mistake. For all the talk about this being history and President Obama's optimism and the Vatican's involvement, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of mistrust, and there's a feelings of betrayal.

But there is one thing that everybody seems to agree on, and that is it is so good to hear that Alan Gross is going home. He's the U.S. government subcontractor freed by the Castro regime. They say it's a humanitarian release. Many dispute why he was held for in the first place and held for five years in prison.

The exchange is creating controversy as well. Alan Gross put three Cuban intelligent agents that were part of what was called the Wasp Network that was convicted in the United States, one of them was serving two life sentences, now released. You're looking at pictures here. That's Alan Gross. He's on a U.S. government plane. He had his wife and some congressman with him. And look what he was watching. He was watching NEW DAY, and that's when he got word of his actual official release, that his nightmare was finally over.

But the story is just beginning and we've got coverage from every angle. Let's start at the White House. That's where this history was made yesterday. Michelle Kosinski is there.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Chris. Alan Gross was released from a Cuban prison after more than five years. U.S. officials had waiting for him some popcorn, a corn beef sandwich, and the biggest, most stunning changing to U.S.-Cuban policy in five decades. A bold move though that not everybody is on board with. Some lawmakers are already vowing to aggressively try to stop it.

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KOSINSKI: The release of Alan Gross, much more than a happy reunion. Now the sudden re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, Fidel Castro's brother still at the helm, has erupted into another political firestorm. SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: This policy contradiction is absurd.

And it is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom.

KOSINSKI: Especially from Hispanic lawmakers who felt left out of the discussion, some possibly running for president next round.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: We have been consistently alienating and abandoning our friends and allies and at the same time appeasing and coddling our enemies. First it was Russia, then it was Iran, today it's Cuba.

KOSINSKI: And not only Republicans.

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, (D) NEW JERSEY: It's a fallacy to believe that Cuba will reform because an American president opens his hands and the Castro brothers will suddenly unclench their fists.

KOSINSKI: President Obama spent a day explaining.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to see greater freedom, greater prosperity, greater opportunity for ordinary Cubans.

KOSINSKI: This the first time an American president has reached out since ITS revolution in the 1950s will mean an embassy in Havana, removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror, and opening some commerce, though not tourism, for now, first steps lauded by U.S. business and agriculture.

OBAMA: It is the right thing to do. Today America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past so as to reach for a better future.

KOSINSKI: Cuba has agreed to release dozens of political prisoners and open the Internet and connectivity to its people. Critics say, not nearly enough. Plus, a spy swap, including a Cuban convicted of conspiracy to murder, rankled many for whom this subject is still raw. The president knew it was coming, addressing that reaction before it even started.

OBAMA: Let me say that I respect your passion and share your commitment to liberty and democracy. The question is how we uphold that commitment. I do not believe that we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result.

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KOSINSKI: The White House says we have relations with old rivals and new ones -- Vietnam, China, plenty of countries that have less than stellar human rights records. And they say this is a more efficient way to meet those goals. Some in Congress, though, say they may try not to fund a new embassy there or not confirm a new ambassador. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, so complicated, the politics in this situation, both in what matters and all the trappings of politics around it. A lot of this is about people feeling they got surprised.

You'll remember, Raul Castro and President Obama together at Mandela's funeral last December. Do you remember the handshake and people were saying, there's too much made of this handshake. It doesn't mean anything. He shouldn't have shaken his hand. We now know that that handshake did mean something more than just that moment, that there have been negotiations going on since June involving the two parties, involving the Vatican, involving the Pope, all about what happened yesterday. So that plays into this too, who knew, who didn't, and they feel about it.

And for all the bad feelings here from politicians and from regular people, what is the situation in Cuba? Very different. We have Patrick Oppmann there. He's been covering it from when it really began, when we really learned about what was happening with Alan Gross months ago. He's in Havana for us this morning. Patrick, tell us about -- paint a picture for us of the reaction there from the Cuban people we hope are benefited from this and also what you've learned about Fidel Castro and Alan Gross and their plans going forward.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. And for the Cuban people, they are hoping that this will benefit them at long last. You know, the reality for the average Cuban citizen is pretty dire. They subsist on less than $20 a month. And when this announcement made yesterday, there was hope, there was disbelief, there was absolute shock. You saw people laughing, you saw people crying. And despite politics, whether people are pro or ambivalent or against the revolution, there is hope among most people that I spoke to that this means that the Cuban people within Cuba -- outside of Cuba will be brought closer together, this will improve the average Cuban's well-being.

But, you know, obviously the Cuban people these decisions are out of their hands. It's made by a single party form of government led by Raul Castro. The negotiations were kept secret from them until the last moment, until Raul Castro made this very unusual address. No sign of Fidel Castro. We heard President Obama say yesterday that Fidel Castro had nothing to do with these negotiations, which certainly would be significant from a leader who ran every small detail of his country. We'll have to see if Fidel Castro will weigh in. It may be more telling if he ends up not opining about this historic landmark deal.

You asked about Alan Gross. He's just starting the rest of his life. But something that's interesting that his attorney and his wife told me months ago but asked me not to report, and I kept that promise, but Alan Gross is actually intending one day perhaps to return to Cuba. He fell in love with this country and its people, certainly not its government, but he dreamed of getting outside of the cell walls that constrained him for five years and seeing more of Cuba.

So we heard -- and really it's almost unbelievable that Alan Gross intends one day his health is well enough, to come back and meet more Cubans and see more of Cuba. I asked a Cuban official what they thought about that, and they said that Alan Gross would be welcome to return as long as he came as a friend. Chris? CUOMO: Boy, that is amazing Patrick. We talk about the history here,

but just the simple humanity of this wife that thought that her husband, she'd never see him again and he wasn't going to endure was the word, such a loaded word that she used.

So we're getting the reaction from there and what it means for Alan Gross and for the Cuban people. But now back here, people were taking to this street also but for very different reasons. They were not celebrating. To put it at best, they are divided. You have a generation here again forced to leave Cuba against their will, to leave everything and everyone. This is their adopted home and they love it now, but they have very hard feelings about the regime and no trust. And then you have a younger generation here who looks at the past 50 years and says, has this really worked, this strategy? Do you need something else?

Alina Machado, Alina you're from here. Your family spans the generations that we're talking about and you know the scene here very well.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is Versailles, right, there is where any time there's any news from Cuba people come here and they have heated discussions about what is going on. And, you're right, this debate is along a generational lines. You have the younger Cubans, and you have then the people who came in the '50s and the '60s. And as you mentioned, they went through incredible hardship. When they left the island, they left everything they knew. Many of them left family members, many of them lost family members, and that generation is very much opposed to any change on the island without any political change. So their biggest issue is, you know, how can you do this without actually bringing about change on the island, Chris?

CUOMO: And you can understand that perspective. You are still dealing with the same two men who caused all of this hardship. And yet then you have to look at it from the perspective of, but has it worked, right?

MACHADO: Right. And that's what the younger generation says. A lot of the younger Cubans have only been here for five, 10 years. They have family members there. And they say, we've been trying this for decades. Nothing has worked. Why don't we try a different approach and see what happens? And everyone is going to be looking at what goes on here and see what happens, any changes on the island, any changes here. We'll have to wait and see.

CUOMO: One thing that seems a little different here, usually it's very definitive that people are here to commiserate and to talk about what's wrong with what's going on in Cuba. You do hear some "Viva Obama" here like they like his move, and then somebody will scream out "coward." So you have two opposing viewpoints. Usually you just have one. Maybe that's a little bit of a change. We'll have to see. Thank you for giving us a perspective from here. Nobody knows it better than you do.

All right so this debate going back and forth, is it a good move or not? Is America getting duped or is this the way forward? Let's bring in Congressman Chris Van Hollen. He is a Democrat, and, more importantly, one of his constituents is Alan Gross. He's from Maryland and he's one of the three lawmakers who traveled to Cuba yesterday to bring Alan Gross home. Thank you very much, Congressman, for being with us and thanks for having CNN on the plane. Appreciate that. I'm sure it was intentional.

So this was a big moment certainly for one family. Tell us about that about how his wife felt and what this meant to her, because she used that word, endure, she won't endure another year. We all know what she was fearing.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) MARYLAND: You're right, Chris. This has been five years in the making that people have been trying very hard to secure Alan Gross' freedom from a Cuban jail, and nobody has been more relentless and more tireless than his wife Judy Gross. And there have been lots of ups and downs along the way, moments where people thought there might be a breakthrough. So it was just incredibly heartwarming when we walked into the building at the airport in Havana. Judy Gross, of course, leading the way to see her husband Alan who has lost a lot of weight but has a huge spirit, big smile on his face. Of course, he gave Judy a big hug, and then he hugged everybody else. And, you know, he thanked people for sticking with him, keeping the faith. And we thank Alan for his resilience and his incredible spirit. You saw him at the press conference just yesterday.

CUOMO: All right, now, let me play proxy on the other side of the situation, which is, OK, you got Alan Gross back. That's good. But you gave up too much more him. You gave up three bad guys, one who was serving two life sentences. And you also got duped and you are now supporting a repressive regime that has never shown an instinct for change, which is a betrayal to a generation of Americans now who had to free their oppression.

VAN HOLLEN: So, Chris, to things. First on the prisoner exchange, the exchange was for a U.S. intelligence asset, a Cuban national who had spent 25 to 30 years already in Cuban prison who was going to rot away the rest of his life in Cuban prison who had provided the United States intelligence community with lots of important national security information. It's very important to send a signal to those who are going to help us around the world that we will remember them. And so he has been freed as part of this.

With respect to the larger policy, look, it's very clear that 54 years of a policy of isolation has failed to accomplish its own goal. The goal was to squeeze the Castro brothers, to force them to step aside, to create more democratic space on the island. In fact, it's only isolated the Cuban people. It's actually helped to sustain the Castro regime. They have now survived eight presidents.

And so, when something's not working, you try something else. And the policy of engagement with the Cuban people will open up communication, trade, travel and begin to open up Cuba. Not overnight but clearly the last 54 years have not -- and that strategy has not had its intended result -- in fact, quite the opposite. CUOMO: Right. Right. But that's the promise versus the pragmatism,

right? Because on one level, this could be seen as negotiating, not with terrorists. You know, let's put definitions aside, but you are basically giving something to someone who has been not held to account for doing very bad things to a big portion of your population.

And that's why when you poll this question, if you do all Americans, you get like about 50-plus percent say, OK, this is the right thing to do. Not among Cubans. They feel like you are rewarding people who have hurt them. And while it hasn't worked, that doesn't mean you give the bad guys what they want.

VAN HOLLEN: Chris, as you've said, there's a generational split within the Cuban-American community. This is not giving the Cuban government anything. This is trying to empower the Cuban people.

Again, the Castro regime has benefited from the isolation, in the sense that their people have been punished but they are still there and there's no sign that another five or 10 years of trying to isolate Cuba will result in any kind of regime change. And so, the reason you're seeing the Cuban people celebrate this is they believe that more engagement, more trade will actually empower them, not the regime.

And I should point, as you mention, that Alan Gross who spent five years in a Cuban jail, the last thing he wants to do is to reward the people who put him in prison, the regime.

CUOMO: Right.

VAN HOLLEN: But he firmly believes that the president's policy will help empower the Cuban people over time.

CUOMO: Right. Look, Alan Gross and his whole family have to be held harm unless this situation. He needed to get home no matter what it took, from his perspective, and you have to respect that.

But, obviously, there are big questions going forward and I really appreciate you coming on the show and taking the time to explain the perspective of why, what you believe what the president is doing is not just historic but historic in a good way. Thank you, sir.

VAN HOLLEN: I do. Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Mick, let me come back to you in New York. The policies are going to play out. We don't know what is going to happen going forward.

No irony, no small irony in the fact that the Vatican is involved, because you've got to have a lot of faith in the outcome here, to keep the optimism going. But I'll tell you, it was a moment, no matter how you look at it yesterday, put up that picture of the plane, U.S. government plane bringing Alan Gross back. Many people thought he'd never get out of there, including himself.

And there we are on television. And it's not gratuitous. It's nice to be part of history, especially when it's good news for someone.

CAMEROTA: Oh, we were truly flies on the wall for this historic moment, when NEW DAY got to -- you know, via satellite be part of it. But just to tell you the back story more of what was happening at this moment, that was the moment after Alan Gross had just looked out the window, he raised his hands in that sort of victory salute and a voice off camera.

There's a video at this moment that I've tweeted out, a voice off camera. Maybe Congressman Jeff Flake says, U.S. air space, how does that feel? And Alan Gross takes a big inhale and smiles.

And I mean, it's just so nice that this is the moment that so symbolizes his freedom.

PEREIRA: Powerful. The image says it all.

All right. Chris, we'll get back to you in Miami in a bit.

We want to take a look at some of your headlines now.

And we start with Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing a three- hour news conference saying whether he runs for re-election depends on the state of his country. Right now, the economy there tanking, in part due to falling gas prices. Putin speculated the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were conspiring to lower oil prices to punish Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Putin also addressed the crisis in Ukraine, suggesting that the U.S. is sparking a new cold war.

Pakistani military and intelligence officials have headed to Afghanistan, to look for the leaders responsible for that massacre at a Pakistani school. They say they believe Afghan-based elements of the Pakistani Taliban carried out that deadly massacre. At least 148 people were killed in the siege. Among them, 132 children.

More evidence is showing a possible link between autism and air pollution. This is according to a new Harvard student. It shows pregnant women may nearly double their risk of giving birth to an autistic child by inhaling smog from vehicles or smoke stacks. The research shows women in their third trimesters are the most vulnerable, if they breathe in elevated levels of tiny airborne particles emitted by power plant fires (ph), and automobiles.

All right. Alisyn, have you met ghost swimmer?

CAMEROTA: I have not.

PEREIRA: Nothing out of the ordinary, just an underwater drone in the shape of a shark.

Yes. Developed by the military, the Navy says the drone is five feet long, weighing about 100 pounds, swims just like a fish. It can dive as deep as 300 feet gathering data on tides, weather conditions. Eventually, it could be deployed on surveillance and reconnaissance missions and also just to terrify a swimmer.

That part I added on my own. Music not included.

CAMEROTA: Look at his tail. That's lifelike.

PEREIRA: Robots these days.

CAMEROTA: Right. All right. Thanks, Michaela.

So, Sony picture pulling the plug on the controversial new movie "The Interview" following threats of a 9/11-type attack on theaters. What does this mean for the future of Hollywood and the future of cyberattacks?

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CAMEROTA: Sony Pictures announcing it will not release its controversial new movie, "The Interview", following threats against theaters.

Now, U.S. officials preparing to announce that North Korea is behind those threats and the huge cyberattack on Sony. This as a defector who once worked as a computer expert from North Korea, tells CNN that Pyongyang is running a vast network of hackers who cyberattack perceived enemies.

Let's talk about all of this with our CNN national security analyst, Fran Townsend, and senior film editor with "Variety", Ramin Setoodeh.

Great to see both of you.

Ramin, what do you think? Right or wrong of Sony to pull the release of this movie?

RAMIN SETOODEH, SENIOR FILM EDITOR, VARIETY: I mean, this is an unprecedented for a movie studio, because it takes years to make a movie. It cost $44 million to make this movie and then that doesn't include the cost of advertising and buying ads on TV. So, this is a big investment, and the fact that they are not releasing it at all in DVD, in theaters, anywhere, you can't get this movie anywhere, and everybody is talking about it, that's pretty big.

CAMEROTA: Maybe it was the wrong move?

SETOODEH: People -- some people -- a lot of people on Twitter, a lot of directors on Twitter, people in Hollywood, feel like this is censorship and that they should have released the movie. So, a lot of people were outraged yesterday.

CAMEROTA: Fran, what does this whole attack tell us about North Korea? Are they stronger and more dangerous than we knew?

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, OK, look, you do have -- North Korea has got a capability. They also have an agreement with the Iranians on sort of cyberattacks, working with them, maybe.

But, I mean, you know, this is to your earlier question, this is not the way you deal with the bully. You punch him in the nose as opposed to cower and gave, which is what Sony has done. So, you've got to ask yourself. Why did Sony do this? Why did they pull this movie, when they've invested so much money?

CAMEROTA: What's the answer?

TOWNSEND: Well, it makes no sense right. You could have gone video on demand, you could have done it premium. You could have mitigated this big financial loss that you've got. So, you've got to ask yourself, what is Sony trying to hide?

Well, they have been horribly embarrassed by these documents. They clearly want to stop further release of the documents. Don't know, right, that if it is North Korea, will the not releasing the movie do that? You know, this is a thug regime you're talking about.

CAMEROTA: Because the hackers promised a Christmas Day surprise. You don't know what else they had up their sleeve.

But, Fran, you say, Sony does bear some responsibility in this whole thing.

TOWNSEND: Well, in 2007, for example, the CIO at Sony said it was a business decision that it might be more expensive to prevent the cyberattack than to endure it. So, that's a legitimate business decision. Don't imagine that Sony feels that way today.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. So they should now -- that seems completely fool- hearted, that they did not invest the amount of money that they should have, and they admitted it, in order to prevent this.

SETOODEH: But we also don't even know if this is over. We don't know who the hackers are. We don't know what their motives are. We don't know if they're actually going to make good on their word. You know, they could continue to terrorize Sony. The fact that they pulled it doesn't necessarily make sense because you're negotiating with a known terrorist.

CAMEROTA: Unless they know something that we don't.

SETOODEH: Right.

CAMEROTA: But also the amount of data --

TOWNSEND: Right.

CAMEROTA: -- that these hackers were able to get, Fran, compare it to something.

TOWNSEND: OK. So, it was 100 terabytes of information, which is ten times the size of the entire library of Congress. That doesn't happen in days or weeks. That happens over the course of months, which means the hacker was very sophisticated, got inside the system.

There was an insider who helped them or they remotely got inside the system and steal administrative privileges so that it can download. But that's a massive quantity. So, as all that information is going out the backdoor, somebody is asleep at the switch at Sony that they don't question, what is going on here.

CAMEROTA: Ten times the size of the library of Congress? That is mind blowing. So, Fran, what should the U.S. do in response?

TOWNSEND: Well, it's not clear that the U.S. government is going to do anything. I think the U.S. -- when you talk to officials, they say this is a commercial dispute. Remember, when they were dedicated denial service attacks against the financial services industry, the government didn't do anything there either.

The government seems to be taking the approach that, look, you have to build this into your business model and endure these costs. So, it's not clear that they will do anything at all.

Look, if Sony failed to take the appropriate security measures, it's like the individual who complains when their car is stolen when they leave the keys in the car. And so, yes, it sounds like a little bit blaming the victim, but Sony may have some real legal liability here. They made a business decision not to release this movie. They decided taking the financial hit is cheaper, frankly, than releasing it and enduring the lawsuits from the stars and others whose private information is going to get release.

CAMEROTA: Just incredible. And now, of course, we all feel at risk because of Sony's decision.

Ramin, Fran, thanks so much for coming in with your insights.

SETOODEH: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn. Thanks so much.

Well, maybe you are watching us here on NEW DAY from the elliptical at the gym. Well, good news, gym rats, you're doing more than just earning a cut body. A new study finds that you're also cutting your risk of something quite serious. We're going to discuss it with our senior medical correspondent, ahead.

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