Transcripts For CNBC Squawk On The Street 20160322

Terror threat level, shutting down all Public Transportation in belgium. Belgiums federal Prosecutor Says he believes one of the two explosions were caused by a suicide bomber. As far as the subway bombing, at least 15 dead, dozens wounded. A few days ago in brussels one of the main suspects in the paris attacks was arrested. What do you make of the reaction to the market . I have been watching the futures since before the attack. You never want to say its difficult to relate the two, the markets resilience is surprising. We were at the highs yesterday. If theres a reason to sell, you could say this. I dont see gold spiking. The dollar is stronger. A couple of earnings reports that are negative. Travel has been part of the renaissance of this market. Particularly the airlines. It is almost bizarre how muted the market is to this. After paris, the market came back. Theres a recovery period. And theyre looking not to sell but to buy. Is that correct . Listening to fabulous coverage earlier by us, but i recognize there is what we call a bid underneath. People wait for an event and then seem to want to get in. Certainly. More news elements to come today. Not the least of witch is the president remains in cuba and is expected to speak today. For more lets get to london and Steve Sedgwick joins thus morning. Hi. Lets go through some of the chronology. Around 3 00 eastern time this morning, 7 00 london time, 8 00 in the brussels capital, the airport, this is Brussels Airport, zaventem, there was one blast heard at the can checkin desk. A moment later, a second explosion hitting. Rescue operations, Mass Evacuations started. Rail transport to the airport was stopped about 20 minutes later. 8 20 local time. An hour after the initial events, the attention focused on maelbeek, a key station, close to the hub of the bureaucratic center of europe. The ecb institutions, parliament institutions, thats all around this maelbeek station. There was a blast reported on a a train. The metro system was closed down 27 minutes later, then the entire public transport system, metro, trains, buses were shut at 10 00 time. There were three explosions total, two at airport, one at maelbeek station. They were confirming they were terrorist attacks, at least one thought to be a suicide bombing. Belgium police have been carrying out house searches. Weve seen the Belgium Crisis Center saying people muss stay inside. Brussels will lock muted reaction on the markets. The blue chips on the brussels exchange, trading around fat flin fl flat line a few hours ago. Increased policing presence at kilo cases including transport husbands, thats gatwick, heathrow. London markets down 0. 5 . Looking at the french market, january last year we saw those horrific Charlie Hebdo attacks. The 13th of november, the attacks at the bataclan, the concert hall. France seeing the market down 0. 7. The german index down 0. 3 . The ax down 0. 9 . Ill show you the transportation stocks across europe. A strong reaction tcompared to earlier on. The two low Cost Carriers were down but have recovered. The premiere hotel of france, a global chain, accor, 4. 27 down. Here are the big carriers, down 4. 4 . Let me hand it back to carl and jim. Steve sedgwick, thank you very much. Trying to put this into context on what people have been talking about shocks coming to the market. Whether its something terror related, a brexit vote, those are all reasons to go overweight gold. I think obviously this kind of risk makes it feel so you are less sure of situations i come back attorneys per share. Will American Airlines and delta have weaker numbers . The answer is theres always been a dip, whether its from tragedy of plane crashes or terro terror. Joining us on the phone this morning, retired army general wesley clark. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. You know nato extremely well. All the int intricacies of intraeuro intraeurope. What do you think . Brussels has always had an open policy towards internash nags, its an international city. Theres always been issues in brussels with security. If you were going to name the spot where this would have happened, everyone would have said its likely in brussels. Now, since abdeslam was arrested on friday, perhaps the terrorist organization decided this was a use it or lose it time. They were being closed in on, had to strike out fast, and this is an allout effort. Or its an allout effort but still residual elements left in brussels and in the environment around brussels. So Belgian Security has a lot of work to do. General clark, jim cramer. Thanks for coming on the show. Can we talk about this encryption issue for a moment . What would what would be, if you could tap all phones, if all phones could be broken into, do you think there would be a decline in the number of instances or is that something were getting to and the notion of private liberties has to be suspended . I think we will be seeing a further tilt towards security and away from privacy. You cant underestimate the difficulty of billions of billions of transmissions on the internet, telephone calls, all of which have to be intercepted and understood. If theres a social Media Network and it says when it mom coming . Mom is coming tomorrow. That could be a signal for the attack to happen tomorrow. It has to be placed in the Communication Networks and the meta data. It requires huge Processing Power and International Cooperation and coordination on the electronics side. A lot of this can be done person to person. Maybe there was little electronic coordination in this case. People are moving back and forth in these neighborhoods and conversing with each other facetoface. Would have to supplement that with lots of local police efforts. General, you mentioned this potential use it or lose it moment for these isis related cells. The darker view would be that post the arrest on friday, theres been Additional Networks created. Something that abdeslam suggested to officials. What is the chance that were underestimating their capability even now . I think theres more out there. I dont think there were any new networks created. Its possible they had several different attacks that could be sprung. Its possible they did the maximum they could do right now. There are always additional sympathizers, communication personnel, bombmakers who may not have detonated themselves in these attacks. The police will be looking for all the evidence, running the evidence back. In the meantime i think they wisely tried to close the borders and prevent people from leaving the environment and leaving the country, leaving the city. And this is just sort of all hands effort on the part of the Belgian Police force and others. Donald trump was talking yesterday about nato, and whether we should pull back and other countries paying their full share. Will this be a focus, that nato is not doing its job, these countries are not keeping up their end and we should pull back . Saying that europeans are not doing their share in nato is as old as nato itself. Theres nothing new in that charge. You have to recognize that nato has nothing to do with the internal security in belgium. Nato doesnt have a single policeman working for it in belgium. Its only securing its own headquarters. This is government responsibility. The difficulty we had is governments jealousy guard information. They dont share easily with other governments. Despite the fact of europe peep union, the Security Network to make it secure has not taken place. Every nation more or less collects intelligence and hoards it, shares it only on a case by case or special event basis. There was an increase in sharing after the paris attacks last fall, but is it continuing . We never have detailed nato level security. Theres no relation of any of this to trumps charge about nato not doing its share. Understood, general. Appreciate your insight. Hope you come back and will talk more about it as the need arises. General wesley clark, retired fourstar general on the story today. We want to bring in reuters chief correspondent, what can you add already, specifically to this conversation about whether or not Law Enforcement in brussels has sort of been behind the curve in terms of coordination between agencies and the gathering of intelligence. Theres certainly to be accusations of that following the paris attacks. Clearly there was a charge from france in the immediate aftermath of that. That the paris attacks were actually organized in brussels, and clearly some of the suspects, some of those involved in the attacks had been living in brussels during that time. The city as we understand largely on lockdown. No Public Transportation. The airport remains closed. How is that effecting life in the city . Is there a sense of when things like even twith cellular use wil get back to normal . The city is in total lockdown. For public transport was running, now all public transport is shut down. And the mobile network has been having problems. Its not clear when things will be back to normal. Simply not clear. The german interior minister said theyre stepping up security on the borders with belgium, with trans. Is there a sense as to how thigt that lockdown becomes and how long it lasts . You would only the only reference point, you got is the parties attacks, you know, they had a state of emergency in france for months. We are six hours after the first attack, about five since the second. Its too early to say. People are almost criticizing the openness of the system saying this allows militants and those who would cause attacks to kind of move from one country to another country easily and unchecke unchecked. Were looking at pictures of the expeterior of the airport a theres been discussion about soft targets. When you go to the airports in western europe and the u. S. , theres no screener to get inside the initial lobby, that happens later. Its not always the case. Israel is different. But is there a feeling that the perimeter around things like airports will enlarge as a result of this story today . It is clearly something that the government has to consider. But you are quite right. Anybody can walk into that departure hall of Brussels Airport, a lot of them carrying bags. Certainly allows you to carry more than arguably youd be able to carry on a vest of some kind. Phil, appreciate your time today. Thank you. Phil blenkinsop, chief correspondent for reuters in brussels. The president has even more on his plate this morning from cuba. That will be interesting to see how that comes into play. After that Historic Press conference that we covered. You saw the clash of two of a totalitarian government and a democratic president. Here you go. This is the way one guy deals with imprisonment of Political Prisoners, another guy says there are no Political Prisoners. I know people talk about economic impact. After paris a lot of companies that did business there retailed. There was a shutdown. There was some eurozone activity we just got. Modest recovery has not stalled. It wasnt too bad. No. It was very good. There were renud signs ewed sige at the spring. You always hope these things dont impact too heavily. People have to go on with their lives. That sounds glib at times. Thats what Winston Churchill said. Eurozone flash pmi above expectations. Increase in order, increase in output. Weve seen this before. Yeah. Its ironic, this would have been you look at that data, you say the europe o. Will get stronger since the bottom february 10th or 11th. We dont know what will happen after this. But i think we have some sophisticated things in our favor. Im checking in with the people from ibm. Watson. You may see the ads. The ads are clever. In terms of Artificial Intelligence, thats the break through well have. Ibm is the leader. General large was saying you have to monitor these situations. The good guys have watson. The good guys have Artificial Intelligence. Lets hope were using it. I think we can. You want to bring in Michael Chertoff. Michael, good to talk to you. Jim cramer. Thanks for coming back to our show. Sure. Michael, can you give us as executive chairman of the chertoff group, former director of homeland security. In our country, are we ahead or behind . After we see whats happening in brussels a lot of what we do, you cant see what we do. Are our people more undercover and we have more people at work than we ever thought . Like we have federal marshals on airplanes. Is this something we do better . I think it is. Particularly for belgium, which has a reputation for being stricter, as somebody said a couple moments ago, we have a lot of technology. A lot of automated capability, ability to use behavioral algorithms as a way of whittling through the data. Finding the important signal as opposed to the noise. Its not perfect, but our ability to manage the risk is much better than in a lot of places. Mr. Secretary, is the bar higher stateside to have the Terror Threat level raised . What would you need to see to argue that should be raised. When we have an event like this overseas. Weve been through this on a number of occasions, you want to step up your response. Some of it will be visible, like more canine teams, police in subway stations, at the departure lounge. Some of it will be invisible. The stepping up of communications coming from western europe to the u. S. Some will be coordinated between american intelligence officials and european officials where we help them but they also help us in identifying a link between terrorists in europe and operatives that might be in the u. S. A lot of people are talking about how these are soft targets. Nothing you can do. Several trips ive taken to israel over the years, there are no real soft targets in israel. Everything is a hard target, i feel. Its a different level of urgency. Is that what you do . Is that where you go . Israel is a democracy. It seems the terror there did drop. What was their formula . First of all, unfortunately in israel they do still have bombings. Bombings in buses, people carrying out attacks again at soft target areas. I dont think theres a way you can eliminate the risk short of living in a prison state. But there are things we need to do to manage the risk. Some is asking people to be alert and weaware about surroundings. If you see something, say something. Thats been helpful at stopping attacks and blunting attacks. Some is collect information, metadata. People communicating with other people. Focus on people who might be threats. Some of it is randomness. Having canine teams in area where people congregate. You see this sometimes on the train. The dogs walk by. Having an armed presence in certain areas so you can respond quickly. None of these things are a perfect magic bullet. They will never have a perfect level of security. But youre reducing the risk, managing the risk. Michael, you talk about metadata, the nsa has it. We had an incidence with snowden, maybe we were more vigilant were we more vigilant before snowden than after . No question that snowden created a lot of misinformation and a lot of pushback against intelligence collection. It was an effort to look at what were doing, see the things that are excessive and need to be reformulated. I think on balance we still have most of the capabilities that we had before. And unlike ten years ago, we built an ability to use behavioral analytics and to collect and assimilate and integrate data that is far superior than weve had before. While its not perfect. While there are people who dont like the analysis were doing now, on balance we have a good set of tools. We just need to make sure we continue to assemble them, bring them together and be rapid with our analytic understanding of whats happening. On any other day, mr. Secretary, we may be asking you about apple doj. A lot of news in that story today that will not get talked about. Tom freedman this morning on our air suggested that another large attack in this country, and that debate is essentially over. Do you agree . How much would it shift . Its an unfortunate thing. If the debate about the right way to deal with security and privacy were to be radically shifted, one way or the other, either because you have a snowden who is putting out information on the one hand or you have an attack on the other, the truth is you need a sustainable balance. On the issue of encryption, that allows me to protect the individual security of my data against criminals, terrorists and foreign power. To me its not about security versus no security, its about what kind of security is the most effective to protect all americans. Sometimes encryption is more secure and more of a security enabler than some ply giving the government the ability to penetrate into everything. Finally the ongoing fear, mr. Secretary, that as the world tries to coordinate and put pressure on isis in syria, and nearby territories, that if youre a European National fighting for isis, and you sense that theyre about to lose in the middle east, what is there to do but go back home to europe . And what kind of pressure that brings back to the european continent. How much do you worry about that . I think the europeans have a challenge. They were presented with literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world who turned up on its door. Probably most of them are there for innocent reasons, political refugees, war refugees or immigrant migrants. But in that pool there will be some bad people. They had an issue with integrating and assimilating some of the foreign population and that created a Fertile Ground for recruiting. Weve seen that in france and in belgium and in other areas. So i do think we want to work with the europeans to increase their intelligence sharing. Things they do with collection sharing and make sure were coordinating back and forth so we have full visibility in who comes from europe into the u. S. The good news is congress and the administration have recently stepped up some of the data we collect from the europeans who come to the u. S. And while its not perfect, we do have a good capability of knowing who is trying to get into america before they set foot on an airplane. It didnt take long for the president ial candidates here in the u. S. To reach out to the morning shows and talk about how the debate over, for instance, waterboarding changes now. Donald trump on the today show this morning taking a more aggressive stance than Hillary Clinton is. Does that change today . Again, the tendency to try to use this terrible event for political purposes is very disappointing. Waterboarding will not stop an attack like this. According to all the reporting, the individual that the belgians arrested a couple days ago was cooperating with authorities. It may be that actually accelerated the attack. The terrorists were worried they would be caught. Mr. Chertoff, for a very long time i always you can have false reassurances, but i think its clear that the countries do not communicate the way they should. Its more catch us if you can there than here. But again weve been soft, too. I marvel that your question is right about the people in syria. These are training grounds. They got in. You got much more sophisticated people trained than in the old days. They dont know where to go. They know they go to europe. Look, were lucky were so far from europe. Thats true. And europe is learning quickly, changing quickly in terms of levels of coordination since the paris attack. We are getting word from the nypd this morning that they are expecting a heavier presence at bridges, at tunnels, at airports in the new york city region. Theres the opening bell. At the big board, its banco macro, and at the nasdaq, its cyrus one. Well see what happens with the markets. In light of the sherwinwilliams valspar bid, and starwood, the board was trying to get a better deal. Starwood, the activists owned enough stock they forced their hand and made a deal that wasnt so good for marriott. Why im bringing these up, there is a kind of why is the market not plummeting . I think its a recognition that look, life goes on. We every time that you have one of these incidents, people are able to put it in perspective and come back and buy stocks. Lets take a boeing, for instance. Boeing has been a hot stock. Im worried about some accounting issues that has come up, travel has come back. Boeing takes a pause today, but people say this will not last. Thats been the process from 9 11. Theres almost a propensity to say i wont wait around. This market is so hot that i will take advantage that you are getting this break that will not mean much ten days from now barring another attack. I understand that. Its been empirically demonstrated again and again. Sad to say that people understand thats the world you live in now. Yes. Thats a great way to put it. The Boston Marathon bombers, initially we felt what happened . Then you think about it, well, if you look back and where the market was, its not like that was a reason to sell priceline. But here we go people selling priceline. Priceline does a lot of business in europe, travel. Hotel stocks down. Momentary pauses in travel as there was a momentary pause in starbucks sales. In paris, stales in europe dropped for starbucks. The stock got hit. Then people went and bought the stock and did well. Always mindful, again, talking about not trying to talk about profiteering, but heres priceline down, company doing well. Delta doing quite well. Amr. People asterisk it. Listen, things got disappointing for starbucks. They came back. Disappointing for delta. They come back. Southwest air. Lets watch southwest air. All the etfs take down all the airlines, whatever, southwest air has no exposure. Comes back quickly. A lot of losers today, delta, airlines, Royal Caribbean, carnival, priceline, marriott. United, continental. Names you would expect. The cruise ships. Thats a mistake. The cruise ships had a terrible ebola scare. It was frightening to people. Then they had good quarters. Life goes on. Life goes on in the same way i had a good trip to london two weeks ago. Did some history. Was on the tube. You remember people they bomb london every day. You make the joke about keep calm and carry on. Churchill said theyre bombing us every day, well have our daily lives. Churchill being the greatest statesman of the previous century was saying we will not let the germans make it so we dont have a cup of coffee. Thats been the attitude. Not being cavalier, but being strong. They are cowardly, were not what churchill was saying, the germans want to bomb civilians all day, were going to show them that were going to go about our daily lives. I think churchill is still a guy you go to. Certainly describes a large the way people live in the states, in israel and hopefully in europe. Yes. Yes. Athere are a couple calls we should get on the record. Wynn is one of them. Morgan stanley arguing deterioration in asia may be ending . Market may be turning . I think theyre a little late. Stock had a gigantic move. Steve wynn has a new casino opening, this palace. Clearly things have stabilized there. That note talks about the idea of market share. He will be able to take a lot of market share because of the new casino opening. Betting against steve wynn over the shortterm may have been right, longterm, no. Macau share going from 10 to 13 , 14 . People are not going to money does not shift, lets not invest in europe. Wynn has been a good stock. Susquehanna cuts starwood to neutral. Price target goes up. They think marriott could bid more. Yeah. I think that look. Starwood is when you go back and look at the timeline of what initially happened, the activists were pressuring this board over and over again, you have to sell. You have to sell. As if there was a short fuse. The short fuse is activism trying to make as much money in the quarter as possible. I dont think starwood was able to the board was able to get the action that got the chinese involved. The chinese took a longerterm view and said this is an opportunity. This deal has not closed. There was a small breakup fee. Marriott was not able to usually you have the deals, there could be gigantic breakup fees. The board was smart enough to recognize, lets not make it impossible for someone to come in i was critical of the board that they felt pressured but also saw they kind of had an out and was able to raise more money in their own quiet way for a franchise that turned out to be worth 20 bucks more than people thought. On another day we probably would hit amazon harder. Down 4 as that is taken to outperform from strong buy. This Google Web Services has come on. Theyre talking about who is winning business away from amazon. Also amazon spending a lot of money. I keep thinking back to that fedex conference call. Mr. Smith talking about the idea that amazon wants to talk about their own destiny. Good luck. Yesterday a story about amazon trying hard to do drones. These are all expenses. International will be an expense. Amazon is in spend mode. People thought they got away from that. Theyre back in it. I thought the note made sense. Its a strong note to buy, not a downgrade. Goog google has gotten aggressive. Since ruth piatt got there, they keep monetizing and monetizing. Lets see if the nfl does china. Its natural for google to take those games. Youtube is international. Maybe football takes off. Thats the next thing if google gets involved. Google is so much more money than all the networks put together. Good to watch. Amazon down almost a percent. Not 4 like i said earlier. Look at ge. You might think at another time when the market went that strong. People would say sell ge. They just made a big bet. Some people might say that strength is unnatural. This is a great opportunity to sell. Theres been so many great opportunities to sell that have been wrong since the market bottomed. There was in algeria, they were shutting down natural gas plants. Terrorism in oil has often meant taking Oil Properties offline. I think the idea that transocean yesterday came up with some bad news about when they see the day rates could improve for schlumberger is also bearish. Saying theres no quick recovery. The stocks dont go down the way they should. The Companies Think theres no quick recovery. Market says maybe the companies are wrong. Ive never bet against schlumberger. But theyre a very strengthened company here. Because they took action early. Yes. With all of that, about a half dozen dow components in the green. Lets get to bob pisani on the floor. Once again, fairly muted response here. Volume very much on the light side. We saw this yesterday also. Ten sectors of the s p 500 are down. Very, very small declines. Take a look here. On very light volume. Fractions of a percent. Industrials, financials, Consumer Discretionary and all the sectors down roughly a half percent. Airlines may open down 3 with united, delta all down about 3 . Southwest not down as much. With the exception of jetblue and virgin, all the airlines have had modest gains this year. In travel, you mentioned carnival, the usual once you might think might be affected, carnival, priceline, Royal Caribbean down 2 roughly. The thing is none of this has lasted in the past. One way to look at this is to look at the airline etf, j. E. T. S. , its a basket of global stocks versus the s p 500. The s p is the orange line. For the most part it performed in line with the market. When it didnt, the airline etf dropped more in january and february, those were on recession concerns, not terror concerns. That abated. The paris attacks were on november 13th of 2015. As you can see, in that index there, november had very, very small declines. On that day, the 13th and 14th the declines in this particular index were very, very modest. None of this lasted despite the horrific attacks. This is true of the overall market. We asked or partners at kenshow to look at 13 terror attacks where there were deaths, some going back 20 years. Most in the last five years or so. S p 500 was up 76 of the time. Three out of the four times the s p was up. The average gain wnegligible. If you look at this in terms of probabilities, its not a huge impact on the market even shortterm afterwards, let alone two, three months later. People ask what may be moving. Anything in terms of security and surveillance have done well. Heres one, fleir systems, they do military, safety, they have ticked up. The paris attacked since the 13th, the stock has been a big mover here. Even here today, thats not a big mover. The drillers are all weak this morning. The ceo of transocean was out after the close yesterday saying no chance of an increase in drilling prices, rig prices until 2019. Thats far out there. He said this is the worst oil Drilling Market hes seen in 30 years. Everything there down 3 to 4 . The dow down 63 points, volume on the right side. Bob pisani, thank you very much. The president is in cuba, john harwood is in the Nations Capital with more. We have both governmental and political reaction this morning. The president has been apprised of the attacks. He and his aids are monitoring the situation. He will address that at the top of the hour in his speech to the people of havana. I would expect the president to speaks forfully abo speaks forful forcefully agains the terror attacks. I expect that. We heard from secretary of state kerry and the state department saying they urged americans to check in on social media, shelter in place, let people know as the state department tries to determine whether there are american victims here. Paul ryan tweeted that we all stand together in solidarity with the people of brussels. We had a political debate break out on morning shows between donald trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump calling in saying this shows why we need to stiffen control at the border. He talked about waterboarding would be fine and might help deal with a situation like this. Hillary clinton in response phoned in and said waterboarding wouldnt have anything do with it. Echoing the message we heard from Michael Chertoff a few moments ago. Saying we cant seal our borders, but we need to be more vigilant and increase the coordination across borders in europe and among countries around the world to deal with these attacks. Carl . Well see what the president says later this morning. John, thank you very much for that. Paying close attention to the trading action in europe. Simon has more of whats happening at the big board. The main stock market indices, most likely its Small Businesses not quoted on the national i dndexes may be the mt affected by this. Belgium, netherlands, germany, france negative territory. European markets off the lows. Of concern is what happens to the travel sector. You have people making decisions about discretionary decisions they would make through the summer as to where they go. Brussels is in the Main Business travel area for the European Union and nato. If you look at the airlines affected, its the Big International airlines perhaps and ica is British Airways and iberia. Its that fear that International Tourists after the paris attacks of november would think twice before traveling. There are the individual airports. Fraport is frankfurt, and some other german airports are inhe negative territory. Youll be aware we have the crossborder euro start train being canceled into brussels today for obvious reasons. This is the euro tunnel. The fixed link, the tunnel between france and the uk through which many of those trains travel. They are lower, but that may be one area that people can short the market. Finally to the hotels and cruise lines. Thomas cook is a travel agent, coming into teed it woday it wa concerning because there was a slowdown in bookings. A lot of that has to do with cuba and the United States. Guys, back to you. Thank you very much. Interesting that weve seen transports for the most part get closer and closer into coming out of that correction territor territory. Yes. A time where people realize where it was five, six times earnings, even though there was degradation in travel to texas because of oil and the strong dollar, theyre still able to do well. Fuel has since gone up. A lot of reasons to take profits after the bit of a run. We are still based on earnings, g3 is the weakest stock i follow. Thats because outerwear sales were in decline. The stock that i think people felt would be hohum today is apple. There are buyers today of apple. A bunch of analysts have said no time better than the present to get in. App apple, it turns out, the whole smaller form may be emerging market. There were a couple articles where its cooler people want to trade up and are aspirational, but dont want to trade down. This was a subtle and good merging market initiative. It is amazing, carl. Its almost as if apple doesnt have a huge new phone, people dont think they can do it right. This is more Service Revenue for them. Its an ecosystem. If they can get more people involved, theyll make more money. Even in developed markets, it was a correction for apple to pivot back towards those who like a smaller phone. Its funny. Since i got my new one t doesnt fit in my suit the way i like. I was conscious of it the other day. When you get to be david faber would like this, you get to be my age, you like the big print. You know, you get my emails. People say what is he doing . Is he shouting . No, hes doing it so he can read it. Jackie deangelis is at the nymex. Oil prices not really affected by the attacks in brussels. Historically these incidents do send prices higher. Looking back to the paris attacks, we did not see the same reaction, potentially because the supply. Crude trading just under 41 a barrel. A strong dollar on the day, relatively weaker is probably adding support here this contract is up 23 in the last month alone. Absent a significant catalyst that limb paimpact supply and d we probably wont see it run up anymore. Tomorrow we hear from the api. The builds are getting smaller seasonably. Given the situation abroad, i would say be flexible when watching the markets and expect to see a little volatility in the prices. Jackie, thank you very much. Joining us on the phone is howard gutman, former u. S. Ambassador to belgium. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure. What should we know about belgium and Law Enforcement in belgium that helps explain how theyre going to react to this today. Belgium has been facing the problem emanating out of maelbeek and i thought the Security Force and police had been doing a good job first looking for abdeslam to catch him. But they pretty much snow maelbeek and they pretty much with up on the wires, the wiretaps. Today took them by surprise. They had not put out a warning that i put out once when i was ambassador to paris to stay away from train stations and airports. They were caught blind by this, which leads me to believe this is Something Different than what you saw coming out of paris and maelbeek. Not necessarily some belgians picking up a kalashnikov and shooting. This is somebody who is figuring to go to the airport and the metro, so this may be more international and would take a different Law Enforcement capability. In that part it would be partly the u. S. Who are monitoring airwaves. Jim cramer, i go to mexico a lot. Those of us who do are conscious that there are places that the government advices we shouldnt go to. Mostly because of cartel activity. Do you think there will be a time where we detect terrorism and these are places where United States citizens f theyre tourists shouldnt go. When i first heard it in mexico, i was flabbergasted that they would say these cities are not safe. Its been something thats happened. People dont go those cities. Is it practical that we say these are places we dont go. Belgium was the 14th safest place in the world, unite ye uk, and the United States in 93rd. When i heard about this, i would have told you i was safer at maelbeek than in the United States. Its like saying should you not go to california because of San Bernardino . You have to say now is this Something International . What caused it. This is something that 9 11 that could be Game Changing in that its target iing much different than local youth going out in maelbeek with the kalashnikov. I was a High School Speaker at maelbeek, and there are fantastic people there. But there are some radicalized, maybe 100, and maybe more now returning from syria after fighting assad. This is something targeting the world, looking at brussels, with you understanding the sophistication of the eu and the airport. Not to filter through Donald Trumps world view, but president ial frontrunner on the gop side on the today show and other shows called belgium a mess. That it used to be a beautiful city but theyve become overrun by this terror making their way back from syria and other areas. What is to stop us from crossing belgium off the list altogether . I hate to bother people with the facts, but donald trump calling belgium a hell hole, he has not been in 2020 years in belgium. The top u. S. City on an international study, the top u. S. Rated city was San Francisco at 28th. Seven notches below brussels, boston was at 34. If all you look at is uninformed people like Donald Trumps statements or the news of an explosion, thats like judging the beauty of living in california by seeing one incident in San Bernardino or condemning oklahoma because of the bombing there. Clearly some International Forces knew they would paralyze the world by coordinated bombings. Just like we saw in 9 11 in new york and no one would say new york is anything but the finest city in the world. Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for joining us. Howard gutman, former u. S. Ambassador to belgium on the phone. Thank you. Thank you. Jim, dow down 60 points. I mentioned something about Artificial Intelligence earlier. I know mr. Chertoff was talking about it. If you want to know who is really trying to figure some of this stuff out, it is ibm and watson. They have this i2 enterprise analysis, trying to ferret people who may be Political Prisoners and people who shouldnt be. When you hear watson, you think what is that . Is that a gimmick . Because the ads are so funny. No, they have excellent healthcare analysis, but theyre being used to find out who is good, who is bad. Ibm, again, i feel is making a comeback. Artificial intelligence and ibm, its a hit. The secretary did refer to behavioral algorithms. Thats ibm. As a tool we have and they dont. Ibm wont tell you about it. The greatness of what watson may be is the invisibility of watson. If i was ibm, i would not be putting out a press release saying im involved. If you can ferret through the trillion pieces of data in healthcare, on national security. Couple things to be aware of. Ash carter expected to speak at a house hearing in a few moments. The president remains in havana, expected to speak today. Thats where we find Michelle Carusocabrera this morning. Good morning. Good morning. Hes expected to start about 10 10 in havana. That speech will be broadcast live on cuban tv. This is an address by president obama to the cuban people, cuban tv has been advertising all morning that they will broadcast the speech with translation. I have been watching cuban television, the translation has seemed accurate of all the events ive seen over the last 24 hours or so. This was going to be an extraordinary speech. It takes on a higher level of interest because of what happened in brussels this morning. Well wait to see what the president has to say. We expect him to address the situation in some way. After that he will begin his address to the cuban people. It will be long. About 50 minutes. We have been given guidance that he will review the tense history between the two countries, also try to look forward. Give a rational for the dramatic changes, big turnabout in u. S. Policy under his presidency towards cuba at this point. Hes aware says hes aware this is a speech not just to the cuban people here in cuba, 11 million of them, but the cuban expatriates, cubanamericans living in the United States. Some of whom have been critical to this path of normalization between the two countries. This is the leader of the largest democracy in the world addressing the people who live under a dictatorship. This is an extraordinary event by any measure. It will be cleanly watched. Because of brussels, well be watching what he says about those events as we struggle both in europe and the United States to deal with the situation created by isis. Historic indeed after that Historic Press conference yesterday. Well talk to you in a few moments. Jim, how will you handle everything tonight on mad . Well look at travel and whether travel has come back. Particularly some of the ones hardest hit. Well look at when you see biotech moving so aggressively, this is the second positive day. Is that because of activity slowing or valeant coming back. A great man, andy grove passed away. A lot of people think about steve jobs, what happened to valeant, andy grove was an american original. Only the paranoid survive a great book. The tweets from jack welch to bill gates to tim cook calling him maybe the greatest Business Leader of the 20th century. I had the Great Fortune once he used a quote of mine in his annual. I was like, oh, my god. It happened. He will be missed. Just when Prostate Cancer comes, addresses that. But the father of your pc. Father of the pc. Well see you tonight. We want to get to the news of the day. The deadly explosions in brussels. Sue herera has the latest. Thank you very much. Here is the latest on the terror incident in belgium. Attackers detonating bombs at the Brussels Airport and on a metro train beneath the capital confirming the worst fears of european officials who proclaimed the continent at war. Belgium raising its terror level to the highest level. Two explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber in the departures area of Brussels Airport. 11 people were killed there and dozens injured. An hour later, another 20 people were killed in an explosion on a subway train not far from the headquarters of the European Union. The death toll coming from the brussels mayor. At the airport, explosions splattered blood across the departure lounge. Smoke was seen billowing out of the terminal. There was no immediate claim for responsibility and no immediate evidence link iing salah abdesl to them. Ed after his arrest on friday, abdeslam said he did create a new network. In belgium, police trying to set up a security corridor. British Prime Minister David Cameron offered his support. These are appalling and savage terrorist attacks. Ive just spoken to the Prime Minister of belgium to give our sympathies and condolences to the belgian people. We stand with them at this difficult time. We will have updates on the situation every half hour for you. And breaking news as it warrants because it is still, carl, as you well know, a very fluid and developing situation in and developing story over in brussels. Back to you. Defense secretary ash carter will be addressing the events in brussels with congress. Theres a live shot of the hearing room. When that happens well take you there live. Lets get to eamon javers in washington with the latest from there. What have you learned . Were starting to get some reaction across the political spectrum. In washington and around the wontry we heard from gru r country. We heard from donald trump already today. Hillary clinton called into the today show. Heres what she had to say. Hillary clinton saying we have to do a much better job in coordinating with the europeans in tracking anybody with connections to terrorism. She also said we do have to be realistic about how people move from place to place. Talking about Border Security issues in europe. We heard from the speaker of the house, paul ryan, a republican who said in a tweet we stand in solidarity with the people of brussels and pay for the victims of this horrendous act of terror. Defense secretary ash carter set to begin speaking here in a few minutes. Well hear new details from him. And also ted cruz, republican candidate for president , speaking in washington and linking trump and Hillary Clinton and barack obama as all three political figures who want to withdraw from the world, saying thats not acceptable policy for republicans or the United States. Well come back to you soon. Thanks. For more lets bring in jack rice, former cia officer and terrorism expert. Jack, good to see you again. Great to be with you. We had secretary chertoff on this morning. He said u. S. Response is likely to be a mix of maybe stepping up detection of metadata, coordination with european officials. Get some visible presence at some airports. What else needs to happen stateside . The biggest thing is this coordinated effort. Understand that the europeans have a lot of experience with this the americans need to tie themselves in directly. Isil is extraordinary complex in terms of what theyve been doing. Their operations were coordinated in paris. We havent had an absolute connection between brussels, but it seems close. Theyve been coordinated. Theyve been very well involved. They use burn phones, forgery, very, very, very good things from an onrationing p ining pon perspective making it difficult for the u. S. Salah abdeslam was arrested on friday after a large pizza order was seen going into a womans house. This is the other end of the spectrum to the cyberdiscussion we have in this country at the moment. And whether there is enough information to pass back and forward. What do you think . Its a great point, you make. The europeans have been looking for this guy for four months. This is extraordinary. Much different than what we saw ten years ago with al qaeda in britain in that case they were able to wrap up cells. Here we see a guy who gets away for almost a half year, is establishing new cells, at this point the europeans, from brussels and from paris, still dont know how many people are involved, were involved, and what was going on not just in paris but going on in brussels as well. As a result there is a very real question on the competency and capability. The big question is if it takes four months to find somebody what does that say about the other operations . Are we just looking for more pizza deliveries . Jack, the other uncomfortable fact is that he was held since friday, apparently told authorities he had a new network that would strike back yet nobody was able to prevent this one. You come to the suggestion that donald trump made this morning about the wider use of waterboarding. Do you think it is appropriate . I dont think it would happen in a european country now, but is it in general more appropriate than it was . No, i dont. My concern there is about competency of intelligence. If we think about the capability of what it is isil is doing here. The distinction between organizational structure, what youll see with organizations like this is they will break themselves into separate operational units. So one does not touch the other. Sometimes may not each know about the other ones. Regardless of what it is abdeslam knew, there are operations that will be run independent of him. More importantly we want accurate intelligence. The idea of torturie ining some forcing them to say something, we dont know what is accurate what is not. To date waterboarding wasnt effective getting information. There are other efforts that work the much more effectively. That wasnt one of them. This developing story from brussels, and one question people may have is how safe are we at home . How vulnerable are we to attacks here in the u. S. . How do you go about assessing that situation. Im coming to you from minneapolis. Al shabaab has been effective in recruiting youth. Thats a reality. Lets think about this two ways. There are those who are involved and tied directly to isis, thats one organization. Theres also the lone wolfs. Think about San Bernardino and those who were motivated by them. So we have to watch for chose coming from abroad. We also have to watch those sitting in their basement, watching this on the internet saying, wow, what theyre doing is fantastic. We need to find a way to help them with their cause here. We need to look at both of those. Im hoping the bureau, the agency and others are doing exactly what theyre supposed to be doing. We will see. Jack, what about the obama administrations efforts so far . Is enough being done to fight isis and terror organizations abroad . Its happened so often. We hear from the president , were about to hear him from him in the next hour. Is enough being done . Of course its not. Lets be clear, lets look at whats going on in syria. We have seen more than 3 Million People who fled the country. 100,000 killed in the fighting. Increased volatility in the region, and more people rolling across the border. Unclear who those people are. Those are all very real and important questions what are we doing now to make sure were not spurring isis to do even more, motivating them to do more than theyve done and the splinter groups. We still have to talk about al qaeda, al shabaab, boko haram, theres a whole series of organizations across the world. The more vigilant we can be, aggressive we can be about doing the appropriate steps, the better. Is the president doing everything . No. She do more . Absolutely. The burning question is whether you go into a ground war against isis. I was listening to british radio again this morning. That was the suggestion. Thats what people are recommending with this, with russia and china on board, to wipe this out. I keep saying great question, i dont know where else to go. I was just on television with the russians in the last 24 hours. Its easy to say were all against isis, all against isil, dash, whatever you want to call them. The problem is were not. Were not in the same place. If you look at what the turks are doing, what the europeans are trying to accomplish, versus what the americans are trying to accomplish, we are all in different places and what it is we want here. That is the problem. There is no clear unified answer as to what needs to be done. Until that takes place we will seeing an ongoing fight. Weve been watching it for years. Jack, appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Of course the president is about to make an address, still in cuba for the visit there. Lets go to Michelle Carusocabrera in havana. Due to start any minute now, michelle. Yes, hes arrive d and is se to talk to the cuban people. Whether youre a supporter of what the president is doing or a critic, you cant deny this is an extraordinary moment. An extraordinary opportunity. The leader of the free world is about to address 11 Million People who live under a political and economic dictatorship. He said he will use that opportunity or weve been guided by the white house to learn he will use that opportunity to discuss the history twine the two countries, the tense history what he hopes for the future describe what he is doing and why, not only is this addressed to the cuban people but cubanamericans living in the eyes, many who have been critical of the loosening of the relationship between the two countries and the lawsuioosenin the embargo. Michelle House Speaker paul ryan. The next minute people are running for their lives. This is a terrorist attack in the paheart of europe. As our countries have always done, we must confront this threat together. We must defend democracy and defeat terror. Our prayers are with brussels, as is our solidarity. Thank you. I want to associate myself with the speakers comments. One thing we learned is that these terrorist groups brief comments from the House Speaker as we await the defense secretary on the hill and the president in havana. With all of that in the mix, lets get to john harwood in washington and talk about what me might expect over the next hour or so. As you heard michelle just forecast, the president will be speaking to the cuban people. But now brussels has changed the context for the beginning of his remarks. He will be addressing the entire world, not to mention the American People. As we spoke about, the president has gotten flack for not identifying sufficiently with the fears of americans in response to the terror attacks in paris and San Bernardino. I would expect him to make an extra effort to do that. While also not departing from his basic philosophy and assessment which has been we are vigilant, we have a strategy, but you cant protect all attacks if somebody straps a bomb on themselves and wants to wreak some havoc in a public place. Its very difficult to stop that entirely. I would expect the president to hit all those points at the outset of his remarks to the cuban people. The fact that he is in cuba, an authoritarian and totalitarian government makes it all the more fraught an occasion for him to be addressing this issue. Again, thats why i expect him to show a lot of forcefulness on subject. You mentioned the flack hes taken as it relates to americans fears. Hes also taken flack for his past evaluation of isis credibili credibility. Their competence, how does that change, if at all, today. A core question about the president s legacy, which he will have to deal with through the rest of his term and beyond is his effectiveness on dealing with this threat. He at one point referred to them, reflecting intelligence at the time as a jv team. Clearly we had a set of attacks that changes that context entirely, he will have to take that into account. As we await president obama, lets take you to our own nancy holgrave in london. At least 31 people have been killed in separate explosions. Talking about at least one caused by a Suicide Attack vest. We are talking about at least 1 1 People Killed at the airport and 20 People Killed at the metro station, which is close to e ushu institutional buildings. When we talk about the situation, the response weve seen looking outside of brussels and europe, we have seen outpours from leaders in germany, france and the uk. In the uk, David Cameron holding an emergency cobra meeting. They decided not to raise the security level here but they offered assistance when it comes to Security Assistance and any help with intelligence that brussels might need. When we look at investor response, we have seen a dip in the equity space, particularly when it comes to travel stocks. Thomas cook among the worst performers. Also seeing weakness when we look at Airport Operators themselves on concerns over what the travel disruption means. The Brussels Airport will be closed until 6 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning. The euro star canceled trains going into brussels. We dont know when they will reopen. Thats causing disruption across other routes as well. I want to give you a look at the sterling trade. Several experts have warned that this atrocity in brussels could fuel antieurope movements. We are facing a june referendum about the uk membership in the European Union. There is some concern this could fuel those argues to leave the European Union. That is driving the sterling sharply lower. We will be watching the developments within brussels. Well be back with you with more coming up. Dow remains in negative territory as it has been all morning long. Transportation stocks being the locusts of the weakness. S p down about five points. Airlines, cruise lines, pric pricelinelike stocks all in the red. Most people are saying the uk is leaving the European Union, but its likely they will pull together, if not in a military sense with paris and brussels in a united european front, as they vote to leave the European Union. Thats an error that some commentators outside the uk are making. Still likely to have an influence on politics there, politics there. And the angst so many have. Looks like the president is walk out. Lets take you live. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. To president castro, the people of cuba, thank you so much for the warm welcome that i have received, that my family have received and that our delegation has received. It is an extraordinary honor to be here today. Before i begin, please indulge me. I wanted to comment on the terrorist attacks that have taken place in brussels. The thoughts and the prayers of the American People are with the people of belgium. We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally belgium in bringing to justice those responsibility. This is yet another reminder that the world must yew neunite. We must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world. To the government and the people of cuba, i want to thank you for the kindness that youve shown to me and michelle, malia, sasha, my motherinlaw, marion. [ applause ] in his most famous poem, jose marte made this offering of friendship and peace to both his friend and his enemy. Today as the president of the United States of america, i offer the cuban people [ speaking Foreign Language ] havana is only 90 miles from florida. But to get here we had to travel a great distance. Over barriers of history and ideology, barriers of pain and separation. The blue waters beneath air force one once carried american battleships to this island. To liberate but also to exert control over cuba. Those waters also car rid generations of cuban revolutionaries to the United States where they built support for their cause. That sort distance has been crossed by hundreds of thousands of cuban exiles on planes, makeshift rafts. Who came to america in pursuit of freedom and opportunity, sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and every person they loved. Like so many people in both of our countries, my lifetime has spanned a time of isolation between us. The cuban revolution took place the same year that my father came to the United States from kenya. The bay of pigs took place the year that i was born. The next year the entire world held its breath watching our two countries as humanity came as close as we ever have to the horror of nuclear war. As the decades rolled by, our government s settled into fighting battles through proxies. In a world that remade itself time and again. One constant was the conflict between the United States and cuba. I have come here to bury the last remnant of the cold war and the americas. I have come here to extend the hand of friendship to the cuban people. I want to be clear. The difference s between our governments over these years is real and important. Im sure president castro would say the same thing. I know because i heard him address those differences at length. Before i discuss those issues, we also need to recognize how much we share. Because in many ways the United States and cuba are like two brothers who have been estranged for many years. Even as we share the same blood. We both live in a new world, colonyized by europeans. Cuba like the United States was built in part by slaves brought from africa. Like the United States, the cuban people can trace their heritage to slaves and slave owners. We welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the americas. Over the years our cultures have blended together. Dr. Carlos finlez paved the way for others to combat yellow fever. Justice marte wrote some of his most famous words in new york, Ernest Hemingway made his home in cuba and found his inspiration in the waters of these shores. We share a National Past time. And later today our players will compete on the same havana field th Jackie Robinson played on b before he made his major league debut. It is said our greatest boxer, muhammad ali would only be able to reach a draw with the great cuban stevenson. Even as our governments became adversaries, our people shared these passions. Particularly as so many cubans came to america. In miami or havana, you can find places to dance the chachacha or salsa or eat. People in both of our countries have sung along with celia cruz or Gloria Estefan and now listen to reggaeton or pit bull. Ma millions of people share a common religion, a peace that cubans find. For all of our differences, the cuban and American People share common values in their own lives. A sense of patriotism, and a sense of pride. A lot of pride. A profound love of family. A passion for our children. A commitment to their education. Thats why i believe our grandchildren will look back on this period of isolation as an aberration. As just one chapter in a longer story of family and friendship. We cannot and should not ignore the differences that we have about how we organize our governments, our economies and our societies. Cuba has a oneparty system. The United States is a multiparty democracy. Cuba has a socialist economic model. The United States has an open market. Cuba has emphasized the rights and role of the state. The United States is founded upon the rights of the individual. Despite these differences, on december 17, 2014 president cast tro a cacast ro and i announced a process to normalize relations between our two countries. Since then we have established diplomatic relations and opened embassies. Weve begun initiatives to cooperate on health and agriculture, education and Law Enforcement. We reached agreements to restore direct flights and mail service. We expanded commercial ties and increased the capacity of americans to travel and do business in cuba. These changes have been welcomed. Even though there are still opponents to these policies. Still, many people on both sides of this debate asked why now . Why now . Theres one simple answer. What the United States was doing was not working. We have to have the courage to acknowledge that truth. A policy of isolation designed for the cold war made little sense in the 21st century. The embargo was only hurting the cuban people instead of helping them. Ive always believed in what Martin Luther king jr. Called the fierce urgency of now. We should not fear change. We should embrace it. That leads me to a bigger an more important reason for these changes. [ speaking Foreign Language ] i believe in the cuban people. This is not just a policy of normalizing relations with the cuban government. The United States of america is normalizing relations with the cuban people. Today i want to share with you my vision of what relationship can be. I want the cuban people, especially the young people, of why you should look to the future with hope. Not the false promise which insists things are better than they are, or the blind optimism that says all your problems can go away tomorrow. Hope that is rooted in the future you can choose, you can shape and build for your country. Im hopeful because i believe the cuban people are as innovatetive as any people in the world. In a Global Economy powered by ideas and information, a countrys greatest asset is its people. In the United States, we have a clear monument to what the cuban people can build. Its called miami. Here in havana, i see that same talent in cooperatives, old cars that still run. [ speaking Foreign Language ] cuba has an extraordinary resource. A system of education which values every boy and every girl. [ applause ] and in recent years the cuban government has begun to open up to the world, to open up more space for that talent to thrive. In just a few years weve seen how people can succeed while sustaining a cuban spirit. Being self employed is not about becoming more like america, its about being yourself. Look at sandra adama, who chose to start a small business. Cubans, she said, can innovate and adapt without losing our identity. Our secret is not in copying or imitating but simply being ourselves. Look at papito villadares, a barber whose success allowed him to improve conditions in his neighborhood. I realize i wont solve all the worlds problems, but if i can solve problems in a little piece of the world where i live, it can ripple across havana. Thats how hope begins, with the ability to earn your own living and something to be proud of. Thats why we are supporting cubans, instead of hurting them. Thats why we got rid of limits on remittances, thats why were encouraging travel which will build bridges between our people. Thats why we opened up space for commission and exchanges so americans and cubans can Work Together to find cures for diseases and create jobs and open the door to more opportunity for the cuban people. As president of the United States, i have called on our congress to lift the embargo. [ applause ] it is an outdated burden on the cuban people. Its a burden on the americans who want to work and do business or invest in cuba. Its time to lift the embargo. But even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow, cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in cuba. It should be easier to open a business in cuba. A worker should be able to get a job directly with companies who invest here in cuba. Two currencies shouldnt separate the type of salaries cubans can earn. The internet should be available across the island so cubans can connect to the wider world and to one of the greatest engines of growth in human history. Theres no limitation from the United States on the ability of cuba to take these steps. Its up to you. I can tell you as a friend that sustainable prosperity in the 21st century depends on education, healthcare and Environmental Protection but it also depends on the free and open exchange of ideas. If you cant access information online, if you cannot be exposed to different points of view, you will not reach your full potential. Over time the youth will lose hope. I know these issues are sensitive, especially coming from an american president. Before 1959 some americans saw cuba as something to exploit. Ignored poverty. Enabled corruption. Since 1959 we have been shadow boxers in this battle of geopolitics and personalities. I know the history, but i refuse to be trapped by it. [ applause ] i made it clear that the United States has neither the capacity to impose change on cuba. What changes come depend on the cuban people. We will not impose our political or Economic System on you. Every country, every people must chart their own course, shape their own model. Having removed the shadow of history from our relationship, i must speak honestly about the things that i believe. The things that we as americans believe. As marte said, liberty is the right of every man to be honest. To think and to speak without hypocri hypocrisy. Let me tell you what i believe. I cant force you to agree. But you should know what i think. I believe that every person should be equal under the law. Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education and healthcare and food on the table and a roof over their heads. I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear. To organize and to criticize their government and to protest peacefully. And that the rule of law should not include arbitrary intentions of people who exercise those rights. I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. Yes, i believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. Not everybody agrees with me on this. Not everybody agrees with the American People on this. But i believe those human rights are universal. I believe they are the rights of the American People, the cuban people, and people around the world. Theres no secret that our governments disagree on many of these issues. Ive had frank conversations with president castro. For many years he pointed out the flaws in the american system. Economic inequality, the death penalty, racial discrimination, wars abroad. Thats just a sample. He has a much longer list. Heres what the cuban people need to understand. I welcome this open debate and dialogue. Its good, its healthy. Im not afraid of it. We do have too much money in american politics, but in america its still possible for somebody like me, a child raised by a single mom, a child of mixed race who did not have a lot of money to pursue and achieve the highest office of the land. Thats whats possible in america. We do have challenges with racial bias in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society. The legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact we have open debates within americas own democracy is what allows us to get better. In 1959 the year that my father moved to america, it was illegal for him to marry my mother who was white in Many American states. When i first started school we were still struggling to desegregate schools across the american south. But people organized. They protested. They debated these issues. They challenged government officials. And because of those protests and because of those debates, because of those Popular Mobilization i am able to stand here today as an africanamerican and as president of the United States, that was because of the freedoms afforded in the United States that we were able to bring about change. Im not saying this is easy. Theres still enormous problems in our society. But democracy is the way we solve them. Thats how we got healthcare for more of our people. Thats how we made enormous gains in womens rights, gay rights. How we addressed the inequality that concentrates so much wealth at the top of our society, workers can organize, ordinary people have a voice. American democracy has given our people the opportunity to pursue their dreams and enjoy a High Standard of living. Now, theres still some tough fights. It isnt always pretty the process of democracy. Its often frustrating. You can see that in the election going on back home. Just stop and consider this fact about the American Campaign thats taking place right now. You have two cubanamericans in the Republican Party running against the legacy of a black man who was president , while arguing that theyre the best person to beat the democratic nominee who will either be a woman or a democratic socialist. Who would have believed that back in 1959 . Thats a measure of our progress as a democracy. So, heres my message to the cuban government and the cuban people. The ideals that are the starting point for every revolution, americas revolution, cubas revolution, the liberation movements around the world, those ideals find their truest expression i believe in democracy. Not because american democracy is perfect but precisely because were not. We, like every country, need the space that democracy gives us to change. It gives individuals the capacity to be catalysts to think in new ways and reimagine how our societies should be and make them better. Theres already an evolution taking place inside of cuba. A generational change. Many suggested that i come here and ask the people of cuba to tear something down. But im appealing to the young people who will lift something up, build something new. [ speaking Foreign Language ] to president castro, who i appreciate being here today, i want you to know i believe my visit here demonstrates you do not need to fear a threat from the United States. Given your commitment to cubas sovereignty and Self Determination im also confident you need not fear the difference voices of the cuban people and their capacity to speak and assemble and vote for their leaders. In fact im hopeful for the future because i trust that the cuban people will make the right decisions. As you do im also confident that cuba can continue to play an Important Role in the hemisphere and around the globe. And my hope is that you can do so as a partner with the United States. Weve played very different roles in the world. No one should deny the service that thousands of cuban doctors have delivered for the poor and suffering. Last Year American healthcare workers and the u. S. Military worked side by side with cubans to save lives and stamp out ebola in west africa. I believe we should continue to kind of cooperation in other countries. Weve been on the side of so many different conflicts in the americas, but today americans and cubans are sitting at the negotiating table and helping the colombian people resolve a civil war thats dragged on for decades that kind of cooperation is good for everybody. It gives everyone in this hemisphere hope. We took different journeys to our support for the people of south africa in ending apartheid. President castro and i could both be there in johannesburg to pay tribute to the legacy of the great nelson mandela. In examining his life and his words, im sure we both realize we have more work to do to promote equality in our own countries. To reduce discrimination based on race in our own countries. In cuba, we want our engagement to help lift up the cubans who are african dissent who have proven there is nothing they cannot achieve when given the chance. Weve been a part of different blocks of nations in the hemisphere. We will continue to have profound differences about how to promote peace, security, opportunity, human rights. But as we normalize our relations, i believe it can help foster a greater sense of unity in the americas. [ speaking Foreign Language ] from the beginning of my time in office, ive urged the people of the americas to leave behind the ideological battles of the past. We are in a new era. I know that many of the issues that i talked about lack the drama of the past, i know part of cubas identity is its pride in being a small island nation that could stand up for its rights and shake the world. I also know that cuba will stand out because of the talent, hard work and pride of the cuban people. Thats your strength. Cuba doesnt have to be defined by being against the United States, any more than the United States should be defined by being against cuba im hopeful that the futu of the future because of the reconciliation taking place among the cuban people. You know, i know for some cubans on the island there may be a sense that those who left somehow supported the old order in cuba. Im sure theres a narrative that lingers here which suggests cuban exiles ignored the problems of rerevolutionary cuba and rejected the struggle to build a new cuba i can tell you today that so many cuban exiles carry a memory of painful and sometimes violent separation. They love cuba. A part of them still considers this their true home. Thats why their passion is so strong. Thats why their heartache is so great. For the cubanamerican community that ive come to know and respect, this is not just about politics. This is about family. The memory of a home that was lost. The desire to rebuild a broken bond. The hope for a Better Future. The hope for return and reconciliation. For all of the politics people are people, cubans are cubans. Ive come here, ive traveled this distance built by a bridge by cubans on both sides of the florida straits. I first got to know the talent and passion of the cuban people in america. I know how they suffered more than the pain of exiling. They also know what its like to be an outsider, to struggle and work harder to make sure their children can reach higher in america. So the reconciliation of the cuban people, the children and grandchildren of revolution and the children and grandchildren of exiles, thats fundamental to cubas future. You see it in Gloria Gonzalez who traveled here in 2013 for the first time after 61 years of separati separation. Was met by her sister, jorca. You recognize me, but i didnt recognize you, gloria said after she embraced her sibling. You see it in Melinda Lopez that came to her familys old home and as she was walking the streets an elderly woman recognized her as her mothers daughter and began to cry. She took her into her home and showed her a pile of photos that included melindas baby picture which her mother sent 50 years ago. Melinda later said so many of us are now getting so much back. You see the man that became the first from his family to travel here in 50 years. I realize family is family no matter the distance between us. Sometimes the most important changes start in small places. The tides of history can leave people in conflict and exile and poverty. It takes time for those circumstances to change but the recognition of a common humanity. The reconciliation of people bound by blood and one another. Thats where progress begins. Understanding and listening and forgiveness. And if the cuban people face the future together, it will be more likely that the young people of today will be able to live with dignity and achieve their dreams right here in cuba. Its time to look for the future together. [ speaking spanish ] there wont be easy and it will take time but my time renews any hope and confidence in what the cuban people will do. We can make this journey as friends and as neighbors and as family together. [ speaking spanish ] [ applause ] so the president completes his keynote speech. Broadcast live on radio clearly to a broader audience across the country. Lets bring in michelle who is in havana covering this event for us. The question is if that is the climax of the trip how ultimately it plays to those forces that still have to be won over. Not just within the Castro Administration but on capitol hill. Many people of course you remember the brutality of fidel castro and would prefer not to have Huge Movement now. How do you think it will fair . I think it was a very good speech with deep historical references and i think some of the criticism will be lightened by the fact that he chose to endorse very strongly key american ideals of democratic freedom. Of the right to be able to criticize your government without fear of detention. He also encouraged economic freedom. And the two key arguments we always hear from the cuban government. Such as being allowed to start your own business and being able to hire and fire your own workers. Thats a key thing for him to say because even on the front page of todays newspaper theres a photo of president obama and on the other side it says the key reason cuba doesnt grow is the u. S. Embargo and president obama addressed that head on suggesting that there were many, many issues within the cuban economy that are problematic and are the reason why this country hasnt grown for so long. The right to have an election. He said i believe that voters should be able to choose their leaders in free and democratic elections. Thats a very powerful statement here in this country which is still a dictatorship and for 11 Million People to have heard that here i think is key. The fact that he said that, i think, will remove some of the sting of the criticism that you might hear from the Cuban Exile Community in florida which by the way is divided. I would say ten years ago they would have been extremely critical of this, the overwhelming majority of cuban exiles would have been extremely critical of what the president has done here but that is not the case anymore. And some kind of improvement in the relationship with cuba. Also i would just acknowledge that he seemed to make fun of raul castro twice suggesting that he talks a lot and complains a lot. I dont know if you noticed that. Ive listened to castro say this, dramatic pause, at length. And ive heard him criticize us for a long time. So some of the key things that i noticed in this speech. I think it was a powerful speech and just the mere making of it here in cuba was an extraordinary event. Michelle, thank you very much for your take. Michelle reporting live in havana. The president also did mention the bronchusussels terror attac. Saying we have to stand together in this fight no matter your race, faith or ethnicity. The president held a call before this speech with the Prime Minister of belgium. Lets get more from john harwood in washington. He did make brief remarks john but went to cuba very quickly afterward. He did. It was a very short topper to the speech. Well do what we have to do to defeat the scourge of terrorism. He expressed solidarity with brussels. It was more remarks at the top than i expected frankly and to add on to what michelle said the power of what the president was doing was making a longer play. Not making it a government to government thing but a people to people thing. He urged reconciliation between the Exile Community and the cuban people that remains the residents that remain in cuba said thats key to the growth of cuban democracy and cuban economic progress but he also linked the his admonition in urge to protest and Democratic Change with what had happened in the United States. And when he was a child, segregated schools and prohibitions against inner marriage and its how the change happened and suggested to the cuban people that they can make change happen themselves and that was a special element of that speech today. Theyre running against the first female nominee for president and the first democratic socialist to replace the first African American president. Something that certainly rings true here. Youre right. That was a way to weave the democratic aspirations and the value of political protest and the possibility of change for the cuban people so that they could invision a future that maybe they havent been able to invision up to now. John, thank you very much for your analysis of the president s speech. For more on cuba and the latest in brussels. Lets bring in the former assistant secretary for state of western Hemisphere Affairs and also visiting fellow at the American Enterprise institute. President obama making this powerful speech in cuba. Something he wanted to say for a long time. The president had a learning curve on cuba. I think he learned a lot. Unfortunately his political opening to the cuban regime reinforces that regime and legitimizes that regime. Having said that the president s speech was powerful and deserves a lot of credit for his stout defense of democracy and his recognition that u. S. Policy is not the problem. The problem is the regime and the way he challenged that regime in very clear ways to let the cuban people decide their own future. Let them build and improve their own economy. Participate in their building a Better Future and deciding who leads it is significant. Its not the Cuban Exile Community but the cuban regime. I just wonder to simons point how this is going to play on capitol hill. How this is going to play on the campaign trail. He called on congress to lift the trade embargo and theres that issue and the issue of brussels and fighting terrorism. Quick comment. Well, the cuban embargo is, can be lifted based on conditions of democracy and progress for respecting labor rights, et cetera. That wont happen until you see change on the ground there. Thank you, roger. Thank you for joining us. We want to get to the news of the day. The deadly explosions in brussels. Sue is live at hq with an update. Thank you and here is the latest on the terror attacks in brussels. President obama as you saw on cnbc a few moments ago speaking out on the attacks while addressing the residents of cuba. He called for world unity against terrorism. This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together. Regardless of nationality