Transcripts For CNNW New Day 20141218

And economic restrictions on the island nation. The surprise move has set off a Major Political fight on capitol hill. But it extends far beyond. What will it mean and for whom is very much in doubt. Except for one thing, it means alan gross is coming home to the Sony Pictures announcing it United States, a government will not release its new movie, contractor, freed by the castro regime after five years in the interview, following prison. Threats at theaters and now sony this moving image, did you see officials preparing to announce this . Its gross celebrating his that north korea is behind the freedom on a u. S. Government threats and cyberattack on sony. Plane after taking 0 off from this as a defector who once cuba. Watching the news, where else, worked as a computer expert for on cnn, on new day. So weve got this developing north korea tells cnn that pyongyang is running a vast story covered from every angle. Network of hackers who lets begin with the white house, michelle kosinski, this is a big day, this is all about cyberattack perceived enemies, the narrative now, what this here to discuss is brian means and how, michelle. Stelter, host of reliable after 1840 days, more than five years, alan gross was sources. Released from a cuban prison and and cnn correspondent kyung lah live for us in seoul, south flew back to america to hugs, korea. Newt gingrich called this americas first cyberwar. Popcorn and corned beef sandwich and if thats the case, has the and the biggest, most stunning u. S. Just admitted defeat change in u. S. cuba relations in somehow . Well Sony Pictures and the five decades. Not exactly welcomed by theater owners, if so led that. Everyone. Some members of congress to you know because these theater owners, one by one yesterday vowing to aggressively thwart it. Backed away from the movie. Were under tremendous pressure how does it feel to be a free not to show it and then sony had man. The release of alan gross, little choice but to cancel. Shawn, you were with the fbi more than a happy reunion, now the sudden reestablishment of for 24 years. Diplomatic relations with cuba. What do you make of the u. S. In Fidel Castros brother still at the helm has erupted into some form or at least sony, another political firestorm. Caving to this outside threat. This policy contradiction is does it set a precedent for future cyberattacks . Absurd. And its disgraceful for a i see this no different than president who claims to treasure any other type of terrorist human rights and human freedom. Especially from hispanic attack. I think its important for the u. S. Government and the private lawmakers, who felt left out of sector to Work Together in terms the discussion. Some possibly running for of how we respond to this. President next round. Weve been consistently but from a terrorist perspective, when youre using violence to enforce actions and alienating and abandoning our influence people, we cant cave to those types of demands. We cant cave, but we did friends and allies and appeasing cave. Thats why so many in hollywood are outraged by this. And coddling our enemies. Sony is not the u. S. Government. Can we equate whats happening first russia, then iran, now here with the u. S. Caving . Cuba. Or sony, which is just a big not only republicans. Its a fallacy to believe corporation, watching its bottom line, doesnt want to have a that cuba will reform because an threat on its hands. American president opens his what would you, would you have hands and the castro brothers recommended that they pull the will suddenly unclench their plug on this . I dont want to criticize sewny. Im not saying that they caved. Fists. President obama spent a day im saying that as, as a explaining. We want to see greater freedom. Citizenry, this type of attack greater prosperity. Has been going on for a long time. Greater opportunity for ordinary were hearing about this one at cubans. This, the first time an sony now. It is not the first time weve seen attacks by nation states we american president has reached out to cuba since the revolution have to come up with a strong policy as a nation. In the 1950s will mean an maybe the point here is that sony was afraid that we as embassy in havana, rue moving americans would be afraid to go to the movies and thats why the cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror, and Opening Company caved. Maybe as a country we had to some commerce. Stand up more strongly with a the steps lauded by u. S. Backbone and say, were not business and agriculture. It is the right thing to do. Going to let us diswade us from today america chooses to cut going to the movies on loose the shackles of the past. To reach for a better future. Christmas. I think brians got a point cuba has agreed to release there. I think this calls for very dozens of Political Prisoners strong u. S. Policy and a very and open the internet and strong u. S. Response. Connectivity to its people. I think we need to talk softly critics say, not nearly enough. And care ray big stick. U. S. Has some capabilities, plus, a spy swap including a weve got to have discussions cuban convicted of conspiracy to about this. I see this as the next nuclear murder rankled many, for whom issue. Weve got to sit down nation to this subject is still raw. Nation and have strong discussions. Because all of our infrastructure is at risk. The president knew it was coming, addressing that reaction, before it even kyung lah, whats the started. Let me say that i respect reaction in south korea particularly to the announcement your passion. And share your commitment to from the u. S. That north korea liberty and democracy. Is behind this . The question is, how we uphold well, there isnt necessarily that commitment. I do not believe we can keep surprise. Because as were just hearing here in this discussion, this is doing the same thing for over something that has been ongoing. Five decades and expect a this is something that south different result. Korea was rudely awoke ton last the white house says you know, we have relations with year when there was a hack china, vietnam, other countries attack of the bank systems. That dont exactly have a banks were frozen, people stellar human rights record and couldnt get access to their they see this as a path towards money out of atms nationally for meeting those human rights goals days, because the government eventually. But some members of congress are said it came directly from north korea. There are threatening not to this is a shot across the ocean to the United States. Fund a new embassy in cuba, not thats the interpretation here. To confirm a new u. S. Ambassador it is a widening of a cyberwar to cuba. That has been seen. Even saying those words, u. S. And alisyn, were learning more. Ambassador to cuba, pretty were you talking about bureau amazing, chris. 121, were learning more about you know, its a good point, the Shadow Agency out of north michelle. It does remain to be seen how korea, the government is much of this can get done by confirming here in south korea just the president alone. That it does exist. And were hearing from experts it was very interesting to see who allude to something of 1,000 president obama and the cuban leader, raul castro now to 1800 secret agents around the world, that it may be a much delivering their contemporaneous speeches almost about this more organized attempt by north coordinated effort. And it reminds us of what korea to try to move into this happened with their handshake at parallel war of cyberwar. Nelson mandalas funeral. Thats chilling. Everybody said the shake may brian, would the answer here have been about more. Have been for sony just to it may have been about the talks release it online, take away the and other things. Threat from the theaters, but lets get to patrick oppman. Still mott be perceived as caving so much . One of the answers would have hes in a place where theres been to make this about a joe over this situation. Fictional dictator, not kim hes in havana. Patrick . Yes, joy, disbelief, tears. Jong jongun. On the other hand, that would cubans had no sense of have been selfcensorship. And weve got to stand up for negotiations were going on. They had no sense that an easing freedom of expression. Of tensions between the u. S. And one good answer would be to put it online. Sony said they didnt have any cuba were in the works. Plans to put it online. And you took a couple hours for i was told by a source, dont say never. Raul castro to address the cuban maybe someday well still see the movie. I wouldnt, i wouldnt assume it people. So for a couple of hours, it was wont leak. It could still leak. The foreign media telling people part of it has leaked. That this had happened yesterday some of sonys other movies morning. And they looked at us like we leaked online. Maybe this one will leak, too. Were crazy. What should the u. S. Response and then raoul castro came on tv. Be . Cheering people had tears in go ahead, kyung lah . Their eyes, there was stunned alisyn, i have to say, it is disbelief. And what really this opens the way for now, of course, the an important propaganda point here. The dvd, there are actual activists here in south korea embargo isnt going anywhere. Who are trying to get their hands on the dvd. And yesterday for the first time somehow because they want to try in the three years that ive to launch it across the border lived here, chris, i heard into north korea. They actually want to get a copy cubans talk about how they expect things to get better, of it. That in their minds at least, because they see it as being critical in trying to crumble the excuse the cuban government the regime. Thats how potent this movie is always falls back on, its the being seen here in the peninsula. Embargos fault that the economy so it has a significant amount never improves, thats somewhat of power. So there are a lot of people lessened and now the onus is on here hoping to get bootleg the cuban government to improve copies. Who knew this comedy would lives of its citizens. Become such a hotbutton issue. Chris . Patrick, theres no question theres hope now, hope is an appetite. We have to see if its satisfied kaung, brian stelter, shawn, thanks so much. Should sony have pulled the plug by the regime. In the u. S. , the response is very strong and divided, largely on the movie, the interview . Along generational lines. I want to bring in elena tweet us or response on sfas book. Pakistan is mourning, the machado. Nation reeling from a any time theres anything that comes out of cuba, this is schoolhouse slaughter at the where cubans comes. Hands of the taliban, 150 people they gather, they have very killed. We are now getting a look, our heated discussions as you saw last night. First look inside the very and in this particular instance, we saw generational divides as school where so many innocent victims lost their lives. You mentioned. Well give you a live report we tend to see the younger ahead. I have the worst cold with this runny nose. Cuban, to be a little more open about change on the island and also in terms of relations between the u. S. And cuba. Those older generations, the people who came here in the 50s and 60s, the people who went through so much when they left the island, left everything behind, suffered tremendous hardship, theyre very much opposed to any sort of change without seeing a political change on the island. With good reason. Its personal. Their pain and its pragmatic. Because what has been the indication that if you do something good for this regime, theyll do something good for anybody else, theres not a lot i better take something. Of proof there. Dayquill cold and flu doesnt treat your runny nose. They point out the fact that other countries have been going seriously . To cuba for decades and nothing alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms has changed. Thats the big issue they have. Plus your runny nose. They tell me they feel betrayed oh, what a relief it is. By the u. S. Government. Theyre angered by it and you ive had moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis most my life. Saw that here yesterday, chris. It wasnt as angry as ive but that hasnt stopped me from modeling. Seen it in the past. My doctor told me about stelara®. This has been going on for a long time, you have two more it helps keep my skin clearer. Generations of people here who with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Have a very different view about their connection back there and. Stelara® helps me be in season. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections maybe a yearning that can and increase your risk of infections. Somehow be facilitated by this. Some serious infections require hospitalization. And you have younger cubans before starting stelara®. Your doctor should test for tuberculosis. Who have been here for five, ten stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. Years who have family in cuba and are concerned about them. Always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, they may be more open to change. And the machados, you got to or if you develop any new skin growths. Do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® be indifferent, you have to be or any of its ingredients. Unbiased, but you have your alert your doctor of new or worsening problems brothers generation, your including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems generation and then your parents. Different ideas in the same house. And different experiences these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Which kind of shape those ideas. Serious allergic reactions can occur. One thing for sure, alina tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs knows this better than i do. Or has recently received a vaccine. This matters more than anything in a medical study, most stelara® patients else to people of cuban descent saw at least 75 clearer skin. Here, what happens with policy,. And the majority were rated as visavis that country. Cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. Lets bring in senator tom udall, a democrat from new stelara® helps keep my skin clearer. Mexico. He was certainly working hard to ask your doctor about stelara®. Secure the release of alan gross, he met with him in cuba a little over a month ago. Senator thank you very much for joining us. What was it like when you went back and saw alan gross there . What did you make of his situation . Well he wasnt in a great situation, theres no doubt about it, he had lost some teeth, his health wasnt great. And he had said he wasnt going to spend another year there. So we knew that we had to work very hard to try to get him out and we maintained a lot of ties with the administration. And talked with others and it was such a joyous day, so see i won this 55 inch tv for less him reunited with judy, his than 30 on dealdash. Com. Visit wife, and the rest of his family. Its a big thing in the life of dealdash. Com for great deals. Alan gross, but its also a big, and start bidding today bold step forward in the right direction. Were turning our back on a failed policy and moving forward with engagement. Thats the way i think the United States works best. Is engaging countries like cuba and supporting the cuban people. Under this policy all that i have seen from my several trips to cuba and have stud died is tt the leaders do better with this kind of policy, not the cuban people. This engagement is going to empower them. How do you have confidence in that proposition because of what you just said before, senator, every time something good happens to cuba it seems to only happen for the regime, and not the people, who are living in conditions and a lack of freedoms that Many Americans are still not aware of. Its very bad in cuba, economically and from a freedom perspective, where does your confidence come from . Theres no doubt about that. That theres a problem in terms of the economics. Thats why opening up travel and other restrictions, alilowing u to trade with cuba. Allowing our Business People to consult with them. Put aside this failed policy. And lets move forward. I think the key here is supporting what has been happening in cuba. Over the last at years or so we tush to the hunt for the there are 500,000 entrepreneurs taliban commanders behind the massacre of 148 people at the in cuba. We ought to be supporting them and supporting the school in pakistan. Privatesector efforts, you can Pakistani Military and now own land in cuba. Intelligence officials have thats something thats very travelled to afghanistan. Important to a democracy. So we need to be encouraging looking for elements of the Pakistani Taliban they believe those kinds of things with carried out the attack. This as journalists are given a engagement, rather than an look inside the school for the isolation policy, which hasnt done any good for the cuban first time, including our nic people or for the American People. And im just tremendously encouraged to see the business robertson, joining us from outside the school at peshawar. Some of the images were about community, the farm bureau, to show viewers are really ranchers and farmers in the upsetting and shocking scenes United States, enthusiastic inside that school. About this and moving forward with engagement with cuba. Michaela, it is, its haunting, you know ive seen you got two obstacles to things in there today that i entry here, could you argue you think are going to stay with me have little control over either. For some time. One of the rooms we went into, one is the one were discussing we were taken to by the army now, the oversight over this officers who showed us around was a computer lab, a small room regi regime, theyve getting squeezed and there are computers down by venezuela, squeezed by either side of the walls on the russia. Theyve been looking for a deep side. And there are chairs by those pocket. Could you argue you just gave computers. And underneath the computers on them one. The floor, there are just big but youre going to have to see pools of blood. How that plays out. Its so clear what happened, the other obstacles is your brothers taliban just went in there and and sisters in washington, d. C. , where the children were sitting theyre saying they wont fund at their computers, typing away, any type of Diplomatic Mission having a computing class, they in cuba. And you as a democrat are now were just gunned down mercilessly. The auditorium is, is almost as losing leverage when the new Congress Comes in. How do you think you get this bad, or worse, its hard to done . Well first of all, we have a figure it out. But the carnage is awful. Topnotch person there on the the army officer showed us the kids in the auditorium were ground, Jeffrey Delaurentis is a having a big class there. There was a lot of them. They were on chairs, stacked up firstclass diplomat and hes going to move forward with this in the auditorium. Policy. Hes going to continue to engage the gun man came in there guns with the cuban government and blazing and the kids tried to continue to try to open up hide out. Some tried to get out through things down there. The doors and the army officer showed us, by the doors on both we have cuban intersection, so sides where the children are crowded around trying to get out, the taliban just simply were going to have that debate. Walked up to them and gunned i think its very close in the them down. Foreign relations committee. 100 children died in that one we have many people that want to see this kind of engagement, hall alone he told us, the full diplomatic relations, carpet there is literally an senator jeff lake who travelled absolutely soaked with blood. From arizona, republican, we went to the administrative traveled with me to cuba. Area where the taliban sort of made their last stand, they hes for dropping some of these killed the principal at the restrictions. School. The Deputy Principal only so we have bipartisan support escaped by hiding in a toilet. For lessening the hostile even though they threw hand grenades at her. Its a devastating scene. Relations and trying to engage you know what weve learned something in the last few and trying to put this failed minutes, theres a small policy behind us. Christian community in the city peshawar, of three million senator, thank you very much people. The Christian Community here has for your perspective on this. Said that they are canceling and certainly having alan gross home is something that needs to their christmas celebrations, in be celebrated, well see how the sympathy and support of all the rest plays out. Families who lost children here appreciate you being on new day. Thank you very much. Real pleasure. Michaela. Hard to believe that this all right ill send it back kind of humanity or lack of to you in new york, the humanity can exist in our world, we also understand there was president mentioned a phrase some teachers that were trying that the cuban culture called no to shield the students only to be assassinated in their efforts. Nic robertson, hard to say thank you for that but we appreciate es facile. You showing us what you saw nothing is easy. There. In other news, top theres other news to talk republicans back at home are about. Im conveniently located vowing to thwart president next to you. Obamas plan to normalize i like that. Lets look at the headlines, relations with cuba. Breaking this morning, sad to ease trade and travel report another massacre and restrictions imposed on the massive abduction by boko haram. Communityist country. The policy shift is triggering militants have kidnapped 185 celebrations in cuba. Women, killed 32 in a raid on a at home reaction has been mixed. The president plans to open an village in nigeria sunday. Embassy in havana. Gunmen and pickup trucks stormed hes not ruling out a possible visit before he leaves office. The village from two directions, hundreds of protesters back overcoming the vigilantes that on the streets in new york city in response to the grand jury were standing to fight against decisions in the Michael Brown them. Death and the eric garner case. They burned homes and shot men dozens of protesters are staging before herding the women and a weeklong diein at the staten children into trucks. Island mall. It happened not far from a all of this as new york Officials Say theyre trying to village where over 200 girls negotiate a settlement with eric were abducted in april. Garners family. One person killed, several they filed a 75 million civil more, as many as a dozen according to the l. A. Times rights claim over his death. Injured after a car slammed into this morning, Boston Marathon bombing suspect, several pedestrians outside a Southern California church. Dzokhar tsarnaev will make his the group was exiting a church first appearance in a year. In Redondo Beach where a Christmas Pageant had just ended. The driver ran a red light, tsarnaevs lawyers have filed a slammed into another car, the driver of that original vehicle motion to delay the start date. Was arrested on suspicion of the judge could rule on the request today. Felony d. U. I. And vehicular tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty manslaughter. Overnight the u. S. Is set to to a 30count indictment. A little sports here, the announce north korean leadership is indeed behind the cyberattack San Francisco 49ers have had enough of ray mcdonald. Thats crippled sony. The Team Released the defensive forcing that company to pull the lineman after police said they christmas release of its film, were investigating mcdonald on the interview. Suspicion of sexual assault. Sony decided not to row lease the movie, even on demand after the team says mcdonalds release is about a pattern of poor major theater chains said they would not show it because of behavior, theres also hackers threats to another investigated months ago for project with a focus on north alleged domestic violence, even korea. That other project, a steve though charges were never filed. Carrell thriller, pyongyang, has been dropped. At this hour, right now lets get to meteorologist jennifer gray, keeping track of the latest forecast for all of ongoing russian president us. Vladimir putin is delivering his hi, jennifer. Yeah, were watching a lot of snow in northern new england. Endoftheyear News Conference, we have seen about a foot of he addressed russias deep snow up there over the past economic crisis, saying growth couple of days. This is going to push out. Is inevitable. Making it clear that russia will but you can see having a little bit of an impact on the boston diversify its economy. And said that moscow is aiming area this morning. To restore political unity in so morning commute could be a little rough there. Ukraine and called russians were also looking at rain in killed during fighting in the south. A bit of a mixture around the ukraine volunteers, no the part nashville area. And also seeing snow across of the military. Want to point out something that kansas city and pushing into we know well when he talks, he talks, last years news omaha. The cold spots this morning well conference went on for fourplus to the north. 29 degrees in chicago, this hours, it is ongoing as we speak. Well continue to monitor that morning. 24 in minneapolis, 26 in and find out what else he has to marquette. Were seeing temperatures in the say. We also want to show you 40s across much of the this incredible picture. Northeast. Chris, as you know, there was a what were going to be watching as we go through the weekend, a picture taken on the plane when lot of rain to the south. The gulf coast getting several alan gross realizes that he is inches of rain. In u. S. Air space and he of the good news is this system is course is listening there in the going to take a southerly route. It is not going to climb up the background to cnn reporting the northeast coast and cause a lot coverage of his release. Of snow. And it was just an incredible for a big travel weekend, were mainly just going to see rain moment. Thats actually from a video out of this. That jeff lake, the congressman we could see three to five inches in southern louisiana. One to two across portions of shot. He says u. S. Air space and alan northern mississippi, alabama, gross takes a huge inhale of his into georgia. The other big story were freedom at that moment. Watching . Chris, what an image to be over on the west coast, another system is going to push into the west. And that is going to bring more able to see, capture the joy in rain, anywhere from seattle down this man experiencing freedom for the first time yesterday. The california coast. Its a huge, probably the biggest moment of his life and chris . All right jennifer, thank its also historic. A big reason we do the job, you very much. Down here, there is a 50year right . Is to have a voice in these big chill thawing. Moments like this one. The question is, will it make im sure weve never looked as problems heat up . Good to anybody as we did to president obama announcing plans alan gross when the words coming to normalize ties with cuba. Out of our mouths were about his the cuban people are celebrating freedom. Thats for sure. It is so true, chris and its there, but here, cuban exiles, poignant for us to have been along on that ride. Immigrants are of two minds, even via satellite. Were going to take a closer you know, thats a great moment. Look for you, when we come back. Turn around so well show you more of that and tell you more of what happened after his release. Moving on to another story, as youve just heard, sony is in crisis mode. Theyve pulled the release of the film the interview. Every now and then i get a little bit hungry what does that mean for the and theres nothing good around future of hollywood . Plus were getting our first turn around, barry look inside the school in pakistan where taliban fighters i finally found the right snack slaughtered more than 130 students this morning. [ female announcer ] fiber one. The death toll rises. Our correspondent son the ground, were going to take you and our big idaho potato truck is still missing. Live to the scene of that brutal so my buddy here is going to help me find it. Attacks they search for the masterminds behind it. Here we go. Woo who, woah, woah, woah. 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Show them the rock, the sign on it says this is to remember the people who had their freedom stripped, who had to leave their country and they come here and they often commiserate about the regime and thats what happened. Thats what was going on here yesterday and last night. What all around that, you had people here last night. Theyre still screaming from cars about the situation in cuba. And there is mistrust that goes back generations about whats going on. So when the president said yesterday, its time to try something new. There was an immediate pushback from the community here, because they were saying whats new on that side . Whats new with this oppressive regime. But then you have a split among generations baurecause young pee are saying maybe we should try something new. Our next guest, republicanelect carlos corbello. Hell represent floridas southernmost district. Congressmanelect, thank you very much for joining us, congratulations on the election. Good luck to you when you serve. Please tell me why you feel that the president is making a mistake. Chris, good morning, look my generation wants the same thing that all generations of cuban americans want. Number one, we want a strong United States that leads, we did not see that yesterday, the United States in exchange for alan gross, who were very happy is back home, gave away three criminal spies, one convicted of murdering american citizens. And gave cube everything with regards to diplomatic relations, thats bad for u. S. National security and we also want freedom for the cuban people. You know, for over 50 years, the occupant in the white house, no matter the party, has had a policy of solidarity, with the cuban people, with the Political Prisoners, with the widows of those who have been executed by the cuban government over the last 56 years. That has now changed. And you can understand why so many people in miami feel abandoned, disappointed and hurt. But its not, its a complex situation, though, right congressman . Lets put up the poll for a second. This is the New York Times poll, october 1st 2014, do you approve or disapprove of reestablishing diplomatic trade relations with cuba . 56 26. Thats a little deceptive, if you were to poll people of cuban descent, it would be a different number, it would be closer, but isnt there something to be said about what hasnt worked and the need for trying Something Different. Why is that something youre not receptive to . This idea that if we give the castro regime everything it wants, because we know the castro regime has been lobbying for these changes for a long time, that all of a sudden something is going to change in cuba . Thats just completely false. Every other country in the world has commercial and diplomatic relations with cuba, yet nothing has changed. On the island. This is very simple does the United States want to be on the side of the victims, the people who have had to come to these welcoming shores, over 56 years because theyve had their property confiscated, because theyve had their relatives imprisoned . Or do we want to be on the side of the same men that have perpetrated all of these crimes throughout the years . As an american, because im an american citizen, born in this country, i want to be on the right side of history. And what the president did yesterday for the first time in 56 years, put an american president at the table with the castro brothers and no longer in solidarity with the victims of all of these crimes. And by the way, something that gets lost in all of this conversation the cuban government is an enemy of the United States. This is a government who only last year was caught trafficking arms illegally to north korea. This is a government thats been complicit in the murdering of young men and women on the streets of caracas in venezuela, this is not a good neighbor, this is not a country that we should be welcoming and accepting of. However, we shouldnt be surprised congressman yeah . I understand the perspective youre offering, we had people coming up to us last night and said cuomo, i know your name, your people came here for opportunity. My people came here because they had to. They were chased out of their country, they lost everything and now youre rewarding the same men who did that to them. And that has always been true. I dont think the president or anybody else is trying to take away from that. What do you say to the cuban people who are so desperate, who are without so many you know really just freedoms that we take for granted here. And that they see this as hope. They see this as a chance of Better Things for them. What do you say to them . Chris, i dont know which cubans on the island youve talked to. But the opposition leaders, the heroes that are fighting on the streets of havana and other cities in cuba, for freedom so that they can enjoy the same freedoms in cuba that we do in the United States. They feel abandoned. They feel very disappointed. They feel like they no longer have that ally, that over the last 56 years, even when every other country in the world has abandoned them, the United States has been there. The american president has been there. And yesterday, a lot of those people feel like the american president sold out, the same way by the way that the american president is selling out on iran and sitting at the table with the mullahs, the same way the american president drew red lines in syria. And ignored them and hundreds of thousands of people have now died. This is a, a u. S. Foreign policy under this president , that is diminishing American National security and is abandoning so many victims of tyranny and oppression throughout the world like the cuban people. Congressmanelect carlos curbelo, thank you very much for offering your perspective. Very strong opinions down here. Its one of the cliches in politics, youre going to wait and see whether or not the opportunity being offered to the regime is taken the right way. Good luck Going Forward, sir. Enjoy miami. All right. Mick, back to you in new york. Dont enjoy miami too much without us, okay, chris . Were going to turn now to russia, what is next for Vladimir Putin . As russias economy is on the brink of collapse. Putin is right now at this hour in the middle of a press conference, entering its third hour. Remember, he started at 4 00 a. M. Eastern. Were going to tell you what hes saying. But theres a new card in town. Introducing the citi® double cash card. It lets you earn cash back when you buy and again as you pay. Thats cash back twice. Its cash back with a side of cash back. The citi double cash card. The only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem onesided. Youre down with crestor. Yes when diet and exercise arent enough, adding crestor lowers bad cholesterol up to 55 . Crestor is not for people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor all medicines you take. Call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of serious side effects. Im down with crestor make your move. Ask your doctor about crestor. Right now president Vladimir Putin is holding a News Conference. Addressing the countrys urgent economic crisis, promising the Financial Markets will rebound. Putin also tackeni ining the situation in eastern ukraine. Suggesting the u. S. Is sparking a new cold war. Lets get to Matthew Chance live on the ground in moscow with more of what putin had to say. Well michaela, the president putin focusing this annual press conference on the economic crisis. That is affecting russia so badly. The currency having lost more than 60 against the u. S. Dollar saying to russians, were going to be able to overcome this economic crisis. Saying theyll spend some of the billions of dollar, hundreds of billions of dollars theyve got in foreign currency reserves. Supporting the russian economy if necessary. He was asked to really interesting question, one of the journalists in the audience said look, is this economic crisis the price that we have to pay for annexing crimea . That area of ukrainian territory which was absorbed into russia in march. And he categorically rejected that, saying no, its nothing to do with that. We have to annex crimia its to do with our national sovereignty. He said look, our national bear, we dont want it to become just a stuffed animal. He was also asked about the allegation that russia is behind a new cold war between east and west. Between russia and the United States and others and he denied that, too, saying look, we only have for instance two military bases overseas, one in tajikistan and kyrgyzstan. We spend 50 billion a year in our defense budget. The United States spends more than ten times that amount. He was categorically denying that russia is the aggressor, categorically denying all of the allegations against him. If youre looking at this saying Vladimir Putin would be cowed, do a uturn on his policies because of this economic crisis, michaela, youd be very disappointed. Matthew thanks for the background. Lets bring in a former adviser to the russian president boris yeltsin. As you know, Vladimir Putin is in the middle of a press conference, hes speaking live as we speak. What can president putin say to the russian people today to convince them that he knows how to fix this economic crisis . Well, i think it was important for president put ton actu putin to appear in front of the National Audience and interNational Audience and to assure that the russian government knows what its doing and that the russian government is aware of the situation. That it accepts that this is a difficult situation. And he gave the reasons why it is happening. Now i think this is very timely appearance, although it was obviously planned. But what, but mr. Nekrassov, what are the answers . What can Vladimir Putin do to increase oil prices and to help the soaring cost of food go down . What can he do for the russian people . Well, first of all, you cant really give all the answers, because the crisis has started not that long ago. And the dramatic interference of the central bank has happened only several days ago. So you have to wait for results, for example, after the basic Interest Rate has been raised dramatically, the ruble has gained more ground. And things have started to improve. So to say now that he has to give the remedies now to reveal everything now, it is impossible. What i find amazing myself, watching the coverage by western media of the crisis in russia, is the gloating. Is the strange feeling that the journalists are actually enjoying talking about the hardships and the ruble in freeflow and this strikes me as odd, because for russia, to go down, you know, we live in a global economy. And if russia goes down, be rest assured europe and america will go down with it. So that is what i absolutely dont understand. And dont even accept as proper. Mr. Nekrassov you yourself said and let me quote to you from a column you wrote for cnn. Com, if the Oil Prices Fall below 60 a barrel as some experts are predicting, that would be tough to stomach for russia. Even with its substantial hard currency reserves totaling 450 billion. This week the price per barrel has fallen below 60, its now 55 a bafrl. The lowest in five years, you yourself have predicted what dire straits russia is in where will putin go for help with this . Well first of all, you must accept one thing russia has the muscle financially to hold on for quite some time. Yes, it is a problem and im not going to say to you that Falling Oil Prices are going to help russia. But russia has a surplus trade balance, unlike america for example and britain. Russia has all the currency and gold reserves. So of course its going to be tough. But there is a way out of it. To diversify the economy as president putin promised at the press conference, this will take time. I dont think that this is a solution, a quick fix. But on the whole, russia has the ability and the resources to last for at least a year or two. So during that time, the russian government has the opportunity to change things. And also, i would strongly, strongly advise countries that are pushing the oil prices down. To think very carefully that they might damage themselves in the long run as well. Alexander nekrassov, thank you for joining us on new day with your perspective. Thank you. Were following a lot of news this morning, lets get right to it. It was crucial to my survival, knowing that i was not forgotten. What will happen when things are relaxed on the cuban government . Cubas best days have not yet been seen. 50 years have shown isolation has not worked. It is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. Sony should fight fire with fire. All major movie chains are giving into fears. Well certainly the studio has bowed to the enemy. I cannot think of another moment like this in modern movie history. His Approval Ratings are still sky high, 85 . Russias budgets is squeezed and hurting. The ruble losing almost half of its value to the u. S. Dollar. Good morning, and welcome back to new day. Im chris cuomo, we are in Little Havana, miami, florida. This is the home to thousands of cuban exiles and immigrants literally generations of people who had to flee their homeland and now this is home. And theres powerful and mixed reaction to what president obama just did. It is certainly history. The announcement that the u. S. And cuba will be normalizing ties and restoring diplomatic relations. The question is what will that mean for the cuban people. And for this regime, alisyn . Chris, well get back to you in a second. There are a couple of other stories were following this morning. Im Alisyn Camerota with Michaela Pereira here in new york city. Were tracking some other big headlines. U. S. Officials seem certain now that the North Koreans are behind the crippling cyberattack on sony as the embattled movie constitute stooud yoe pulls the release of the new film the interview. And were watching russia president , Vladimir Putin, as he addresses his nation amid a growing economic crisis. But first, back to chris in miami. So we know that its been since 1961, okay, that things broke off between cuba and the United States. And its all been about isolation, trying to squeeze out that regime. And president obama said yesterday it has not worked. He wants to try a different way. He wants to set up an embassy in havana. President obama even considering a visit to the island nation before leaving office. It has brought a lot of mixed opinion here. People feeling that hes conceding to an oppressive regime. The good news without any dispute is that american alan gross was able to come home after five years. He was a humanitarian release. By the cuban government. You can see here, his emotional ride home, hes on a u. S. Government plane there he was with his wife. He was with some congressmen and he was watching cnn. He heard the news of his own freedom on our show yesterday. But not everybody on capitol hill wanted to be on that plane. Theyre not on board with this new approach to cuba. Some Top Republicans are vowing to overturn the president s actions, saying they will not fund an embassy there, they will not fund any diplomats there when they get back together, especially in january. So lets get our coverage of this extraordinary, certainly historic announcement. Lets begin at the white house where it happened with michelle ka zins ski, michelle . Were hearing the tlits now from some in congress not to fund a new u. S. Embassy in cuba, not to confirm ambassador there. Its not clear how much success this would be. But it sure sounds like the start of another political firestorm. A lot of the criticism coming from hispanic lawmaker who is felt left out of the discussion. Some of whom may be running for president next round. But its not all coming from republicans. One senator said we cant expect cuba to change just because the u. S. Is making this evident. Another charged that we keep alienating our allies and coddling our enemies and one called it be a sushd and disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure freedoms. And another in the white house saying we cant keep doing the same thing for five decades, have it not work, but expect a different result. And they call this plan a path thats more efficient and will benefit americans and cubans. Chris . Michelle, thank you very much. Thats the big question who will this benefit. How real will the change be . For the people who matter most, which are the oppressed people in cuba. So lets go there right now. We have Patrick Oppmann in havana. Patrick, it was impressive, you had the leader of cuba, the leader of the United States, giving the same message at the same time about restoring negotiation. Reaction here which is going on right now. There was a lot of bitterness, but where you were, there was joy, true . There was joy, there was disbelief. And there was wonderment about what it means for the cuban in the street. We have to point out has to subsist most of them on less than 20 a month. A very tough life, chris, as you can imagine. But you know when cubans did see raoul castro appear on their Television Screens and talk about the United States in a way that fidel castro, his brother, never did. He talked about his admiration, respect for president obama. Talked about the necessity of a path forward. Very important for cuba, since the closest ally, venezuela, their economy is tanking, oil prices drop. So you know a lot of people said this is a necessary pivot for the cuban economy. It also raised a lot of questions about what is Fidel Castros opinion of this . We havent heard from him in months, havent seen any new pictures of him. Will he weigh in as he sometimes does on this historic agreement . You know our understanding is that he played no part in it. But fidel castro usually likes to wait a few days and write an editorial, weigh in, almost always very supportive of his brother. But perhaps one more sign that its raoul castro, and not fidel castro who these days is running cuba. Chris . Well patrick, i know youve been digging down. With a have you found out about fidel, it may be raoul castro, but its only the last name that matters and thats what engenders the anger certainly here and what have you learned about alan gross and what his plans are . Well ill start with the second question, because over the last few months, ive spent a lot of time with judy gross and alans attorney. And one thing they told me on condition that i wouldnt divulge it until he was released, that unbelievably enough, alan gross over the last months has talked about his desire, one day, not right away, he wants to spend time with his family. And recover his health. But one day were told he would like to return to cuba. He fell in love with the cuban people, the cuban culture, certainly not the cuban government. He spent five years in prison. So one day alan gross has told his family and his attorney he would like to return to cuba, see some of the people who became lifelong friends, see places in cuba he was never able to visit and one cuban official i spoke to said alan gross would be welcome, as long as he came as a friend. Chris . Patrick, thank you very much. Well be back with you in a little bit. As you hear behind me right now. This is where people come in Little Havana to debate whats going on in their homeland. You know this is home now obviously. But there were so many forced to leave cuba and youre hearing it going on right now. People are angry here about whats happened. Lets bring in somebody who represents the side of change, though, and believes this is a good idea. Congressman jim mcgovern, a democrat from massachusetts, hes been involved in the ongoing discussions to open relations between the u. S. And cuba. So congressman, as im saying behind me right now, there are men and women who would disagree with you very, very heartily that what youve just done has rewarded an oppressive regime. And that the castros will help no one but themselves. How do you respond . Well, you know, the way i would respond to that is i think what the president did yesterday was in the best interests of the cuban people. And in the best interests of the American People. The one thing we know for certain, chris, is for the last 50plus years, this policy ha we have had toward cuba has been a miserable failure. Its a relic from the cold war. You know, im glad the president did what he did yesterday. I wish it happened decades ago, and i think for those who are concerned about human rights, i think the more engagement between the United States and cuba, the more difficult it will be for the cuban government to be repressive. There are changes already going on in cuba. In spite of the u. S. Policy. And thats because of the involvement of the europeans and canadians and everybody else around the world. The only people that have this policy of eye lating the island is the United States. And that has changed, and i think its a good thing. Right. But you have the theoretical and the practical. The theoretical, you have dialogue, you introduce them to democracy, to capitalism, to commerce and the people will respond. The problem is that hasnt happened. The u. S. Has isolated them, but many other countries have not. There have been a lot of corporate interests that have gone in and out of there. A lot of chances for the regime to loosen their grip, but theyve only tightened it. They still give no freedoms to their people. Right, look im not here to defend the cuban government human rights record. But to say there have been no changes in cuba is just wrong. Theres more political space there today than there was in the 1970s and the 1960s, that has nothing to do with us, it has more to do with the fact that the soviet union collapsed and other countries became engaged. Theres more Free Enterprise going on in cuba. Out of necessity. Because the economy there is in shambles. So there are things that are going on. Positive things going on. Yes, we need to focus on the human rights record. But we have no say in that right now because we have isolated that country. Weve had an economic embargo that the cardinal of in cuba has said has hurt the average cuban citizen. We havent hurt the government. Weve hurt regular people and thats not the policy of the United States. Our policy quite frankly, i think has been petty. And weve been isolated from the rest of the world, i think what the president did yesterday, i think has raised our image. Especially in latin america, and i think its going to result in more and more change. He did the right thing and im, i praise him for his courage and for his guts. And i know you know hes taken some heat. But he did the right thing. Well, i want to get your take on two different aspects of this dynamic. One was a force for making it happen. The vatican, and what role the vatican played. And the poem pope in your understanding and on the opposite side. With a are you going to do with your brothers and sisters in d. C. When the ruling majority thats coming in says they wont fund an embassy there, they wont fund a Diplomatic Mission there, so comment on those two aspects. Please. I praise the vatican. I praise pope francis for his involvement in trying to encourage both countries to, to move toward the announce thamt was made yesterday. I think the vatican by the way has long been pushing for better relations between our two countries. As you remember, Pope John Paul ii delivered a mass in cuba which i happened to have the privilege to be at. In terms of my colleagues who are saying theyre not going to fund an embassy and going to tri to disrupt all this. How silly. Were the greatest country in the world and if for some reason theyre afraid to engage a country like cuba . The bottom line is, we need to go forward, we need to behave like a grownup. And try to influence cuba in a positive way. Having an embassy, having the ability to talk directly to the cuban government, why would that be a bad thing . I mean, all these years weve had no access to the cuban government. What the president is saying, we ought to be at the table and talk to them directly. I think that can only have positive implications and look, you know, marco rubio who is running for president and others are going to do what theyre going to do. But quite frankly, i think they look petty. And i think what theyre doing is counterproductive and not in the best interests of the cuban people on the island. The cuban people. The average cuban citizen on the island is welcoming what happened yesterday. You also had, look, this is a complex issue, you have a lot of people on the Ground Fighting for reform and change and its literally a lifeanddeath fight for them who feel this was the wrong move. But theres a lot who feel theres a hope to it as well. The problem is youre going to have to see how it plays out. Congressman, i appreciate you joining us this is a big fight Going Forward. Its certainly not done just because the president said it should be so. So that fight well be watching very carefully. Thank you for joining us on new day. I appreciate it, thank you. Alisyn, back to you in new york. Maybe ill bring you back a cuban coffee if i can get it to travel. Well see. I want some garlic chicken from versailles behind you, i love the restaurant where you are. Its so great. Its breakfast time, were having those guava pastillitos. Im off the coffee, but not off the cuban coffee. Lets talk about the timing of all this. It may seem like it happened suddenly. There were signs over the last year and a half of improving relations with cuba and the release of alan gross could be in the works. Most of the behindthescenes work was facilitated by the canadians and the pope. It culminated with the first president ial conversation between the u. S. And cuba since the eisenhower administration. Chief White House Correspondent jim schutto has more for us from washington, give us back story, jim. This is a remarkable piece of diplomacy conducted in secret over more than year and a half in multiple countries, principally as you say canada and in the vatican. And it had everything, including a cold war spy swap until it was revealed to the world yesterday, and lane gross finally came home. So far its the best hanukkah that ill be celebrating for a long time. Alan grosss emotional return to the u. S. Became a reality after 18 months of secret contacts and shuttle diplomacy. To president obama and the nsc staff, thank you. The president First Authorized highlevel contacts in the spripg of last year. First meeting between u. S. And cuban officials followed in june in canada. Which would host the majority of meetings between the two sides to follow. Also playing a key role the vatican. I want to thank his holiness, pope francis. Pope francis, the first head of the Catholic Church from latin america pressed obama in a facetoface meeting in march to renew talks with cuba. And raised the issue again in a letter this fall. It was at the vatican in october where details of grosss release and the new u. S. Trade policy with cuba were hashed out between the u. S. And cuban delegations. Culmination coming on tuesday, president obama spoke to cuban president , raoul castro in a call that lasted about an hour. The first communication that at the president ial level since the cuban revolution more than 50 years ago. On wednesday, a year and a half after negotiations first began, gross was able to embrace his wife, judy, who flew to havana to take him home. How was the trip back . Judy gross was joined by a team of congressmen. On the airplane back as we crossed into u. S. Air space, you saw him give a big hurrah. We were flying there and watching the news on the airplane and i said, you know, alan, youre free. And he got up and he threw his arms around me and hugged me. A phone call from the president to congratulate him on his freedom. I spoke to him on his flight. He said, he was willing to interrupt his corned beef sandwich to talk to me. Needless to say, he was thrilled. Officials say it will move relatively quickly. They want to open, reopen the embassy in cuba as quickly as possible. And some trade is going to be able to start right away. Things dealing with home construction, particularly Telecom Equipment do get the internet up and running in cuba. I went to cuba in 2011 in one of the Early Exchange trips under the obama administration. And under those early relaxation of the embargo, some food trade was already allowed. I went to an exposition there, you had all of these American Food companies in there ready to sell their wares, that was three, more, almost four years ago. Can you imagine the influx of American Companies as these trade restrictions are relaxed even more. Jim, its so fascinating to hear how the whole deal came together. Thanks so much. A car slammed into several pedestrians outside a california church. A group of people was exiting a church in Redondo Beach where a christmas performance had just ended. Officials say the suspect ran a red light, drove through the crowd of people before hitting another drive headon. The driver was arrested on suspicion of felony d. U. I. And vehicular manslaughter. The manhunt intensifies for the leaders responsible for the horrifying School Attack in pakistan. Pakistani military intelligence officials traveling to afghanistan wednesday, looking for afghanbased elements of the Pakistani Taliban. That they believe carried out that heinous attack. Pakistani officials also reaching out to the Afghan Government for assistance in tracking down those militants. At least 148 people were killed in a siege. Among them, 132 children. Also here at home, a manhunt in texas for a gunman who shot a television meteorologist. Police say patrick crawford, a meteorologist for kcen, in waco, was in his car, in his stations parking lot when the suspect approached them. Were told the two got into some sort of an argument, and crawford was shot multiple times. He was taken to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He is said to be in stable condition this morning. Well its almost time to say good night to the colbert report taping the final show tonight after ten seasons. He had pretty memorable moments on the air when he announced his bid for the white house, even becoming the focus of a senate campaign. He begins his new gig as the host of late night on cbs in september. Lettermans last show coming up in the spring. Wont miss being made fun of by him. But well miss him. Thats great. Well you can strike the movie called the interview off your holiday movie list. Sony canceling the christmas release after hackers threatened to attack theaters. What could be the wider ramifications of all of this . Well ask our legal panel. Chris . And look, a big issue between the u. S. And cuba that still needs to be addressed, is a trade embargo, the president has just done cannot remove the legislation, it existed as a policy since the 60s, it was made a law in the 90s, is there any chance of that happening . Well take you through what stands in the way. Alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours but aleve can last 12 hours. And aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. So why am i still thinking about this . How are ya . Good. Aleve. Proven better on pain. vo rescued. Ed. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Ive had moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis most my life. But that hasnt stopped me from modeling. My doctor told me about stelara®. It helps keep my skin clearer. 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Ask your doctor about stelara®. Release of the new movie called the interview after hackers threatened movie theaters that were planning to screen it. For more on all of these developments lets bring back chief national correspondent, jim sciutto from washington, cnn analyst Jeffrey Toobin and former president ial candidate newt gingrich. Thanks so much for being here. Tell us your new reporting. Well, its incredible. Only a few weeks ago, we had the release of all the american detainees in north korea, youll remember that moment. Reporting it here on new day. Thoughts what does this mean, new outreach from north korea. A calmer period in u. S. north korean relations. Now you have this unprecedented north korean hacking attack on a major u. S. Company. The u. S. About to identify north korea today as behind the attack and announce measures its going to take in response. So the concern is that that restarts this cycle of provocation between the u. S. And north korea. It is so familiar and the u. S. Officials have been on pin and needles about a missile test. At a possibility of a nuclear test. Thought they had bought some time. With the north korean leader, kim jongun invited to moscow by russia in may of next year, giving north korea the International Attention it likes, makes it feel like its a world power, gets respect, et cetera, now youre back in this tit for tat situation here and concerns are very high. Newt, what should the u. S. Response . I think we have to take steps that cost the North Koreans a substantial amount in money or prestige or something else. You cant allow the precedent of a foreign hacking operation to blackmail an American Company, to cripple it, to cost it enormous amounts of loss of prestige and loss of money. That stands as a precedent, then next year do the iranians get to do it . The following year the russians and putin get to do it. This is the first time weve seen hacking for the purpose of intimidating and forcing change and i think we have to develop a policy response thats very strong and dissuades anyone else from thinking this is doable. Newt, let me read the tweet you sent out when sony announced yesterday it was pulling the plug on the movie. You said no one should kid themselves with the sony collapse america has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very, very dangerous precedent. Thats dramatic. Well its true. And i think people need to understand that. Here you have a foreign, dictatorship. Make a decision to intervene on american soil. To punish an American Company to raise threats of physical violence. Remember what finally stopped the movie was movie theaters were afraid that they were going to be bombs or other threats. And the threats were being made. Now are we prepared to relax and allow foreign dictator ships to intimidate us in our own country and force us to change behavior . Unless we have a very strong response, we have lost this war, and that should be a serious concern for the congress and the president and require us to really rethink what sour policy on these kinds this is not a cyberstealing of something. This is a deliberate coercive effort to change behavior by the threat of both of cyberinvolvement and the threat of physical violence in theaters. Jim, i want to bring in jeffrey dourks s, do you see th as a cyber war we just lost . Not as many people took it as seriously in the beginning because it was a seth rogen movie, it was kind of a joke. Think about the implications, here we is have a foreign dictator saying we dont like a movie and the movie disappears, what happen when is they dont like a newspaper or a book thats being published . What happens if they dont like whats on cable news . This is a real disaster. You know, i dont know that the movie theaters made the wrong decision, but there was a cost to their cowardice, there was a cost. Because now the message has been sent that the United States can be intimidated by these sorts of threats. And that only encourages more of them. Jim, what did you want to add . I would say theres a political diplomatic cost and theres an immediate business cost. Here you have north korea that has cost a major american movie studio tens of millions of dollars. We talk about cyber attacks, they come from china every day, multiple times a day. And oftentimes, the business cost of these attacks are theoretical, down the line, hard to quantify. Here you have it very directly. One cyber attack from north korea shuts down a move that i that costs a few tens of millions of dollars, setting a precedent that north korea can exact a financial cost, a dollar cost very directly on the u. S. Economy. In addition, to striking fear in americans. Talking about going to a movie on Christmas Day. With your kids. You know, the fact that they could do both those things . Pretty remarkable. Well i just want to make the point also, lets also talk about the cowardice of the american entertainment companies, who are not standing by sewny. Where is disney . Where is Warner Brothers . You think they should have spoken out . When there was a death threat against Salman Rushdie for the satanic verses all the publishers came to his support. The cowardice of these American Companies is appalling. Do all roads lead back to china here . Is china involved . No. They may be involved, but its irrelevant. This is a north korean effort done by the North Koreans, they have a very robust cyber program. Individual companies cannot stand up against a foreign dictatorship. I agree that they might have shown more courage. But the truth is for the last couple weeks, this has been coming. The u. S. Government has done nothing to protect them. It has done nothing to communicate to north korea and its pretty shameful that it took the collapse yesterday of the will of american theaters to run the risk frankly of their people being killed. Which is what was happening and the u. S. Government finally today may be about to name north korea this is a pathetic failure by the u. S. Government and require as much more robust policy. This is a war, this is an act of war and we should be clear about whats involved here. Newt gingrich. Jim sciutto, Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much for all of your perspective. Back to michaela. Ahead, u. S. Businesses eager to move in. Now that cuba and the u. S. Are talking again, but when will travel and trade resume to cuba . Good questions for commerce secretary penny pritzer and russia president Vladimir Putin trying to put his people at ease after a lively and long press conference. Made some surprising comments about the future of his presidency, well take a look, ahead. 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So what could this mean and for whom . Because remember, the goal of this according to president obama, was to help the people who need it most. Those who are oppressed. By a repressive regime in cuba. Whats going to happen . Lets bring in u. S. Secretary of commerce, penny pritzger. The situation has a potential plusminus, make the case for why there will be good for the people who matter most and not just for american corporate pockets. You know, first of all lets think about this. This is the most profound policy change as it relates to cuba in my lifetime. And what the president is saying openness and engagement is a better approach than isolation. And we know that commercial engagement has the opportunity to change lives. If you think about whats, the president s actions will allow in terms of travel, there will be 12 different groups that will have the opportunity to travel. Families, religious groups, education groups, academics. Journalists. So this is about more openness. Also, telecommunications, i dont know if youre aware, but only 5 of the cuban people have access to the internet. And only two million of the 11. 4 million cuban people have a cell phone. So theres going to be greater opportunity through telecommunications. The opening of the telecommunication sector, encouraged by the cuban government for greater connectivity. Really, really important. And for the agriculture sector, theres going to be an opportunity for greater sales. The question is, who gets the opportunity . Secretary, because theres no question its an historic move by the president. But is it a good historic move or a bad historic move . Thats where you get the tension. Especially where we are right now. The feeling is you are rewarding the same regime that kicked out a generation of people and stole everything that was theirs. So the question is how do you insure that these moves wind up creating opportunity, telecommunications, ability to communicate with the outside world and to have more freedoms for the right people . You know, what we have to remember is first of all, yes, this is a good decision, and its, what the president is allowing here is to empower the cuban people. To give them more opportunity. For connectivity, more opportunity to be entrepreneurs. And his view is and the administrations view and i wholly endorse this, is that engagement is what matters and what can be helpful. I talked to many Business Leaders yesterday who are very enthusiastic about this. But they recognize right now, we still have an embargo. And theyre saying what can we do on the humanitarian side. To be supportive . And to help the cuban people . So secretary, one of the things that youll be looking at very carefully is how you secure capital there. Right . And i know it sounds like its in the weeds, but it isnt. Its easy for Carnival Cruise lines, they go there, they get a port of entry, theyre in, theyre out. Its okay. But if people want to do business with cuba, what guarantee do you have that their money is safe there . Theres an infrastructure that respects commerce, that respects Property Rights . Because there isnt one right now. Well i think you have to recognize this is the beginning of a process. Were not, were not, were not able under our current laws to just open business with cuba. What were able to do is in specific sectors. Have greater engagement. What the president is encouraging more openness and his feeling is i totally agree with this. Which is, by giving greater Telecommunications Opportunities to the individuals, in cuba, that will begin to evolve change. And whats exciting about that is the cuban government is supportive of that. And so this is a process, this is not just opening up. Banking laws and things like that, those will have to change over time. But thats not where were at in the process. Were still subject to an embargo. The good headline from the day, alan gross is home, Political Prisoners are freed and hope is a good place to start. Agreed on that lets go from a situation where some are arguing youve done too much, to one where you could argue you havent done enough in the u. S. Government. And thats with the sony situation. Wheres the u. S. Government on this . You have a huge corporate interest, thats being bullied by hackers. And a complete capitulation to demands that compromises the first amendment. Where were you guys in defending the company, finding out whats happening and keeping them safe for their own enter prize . You know, obviously the National Security team has been engaged in this lets just think about whats happened. Weve had a Cyber Security breach. This is an area where the Commerce Department has been involved historically by helping to develop the Cyber Security framework. Lets remember whats happened here. Someone has broken the law and stolen property from sony. What i think the government has been doing is working with sony to insure peoples safety and make sure there isnt some sort of threat to individuals. On the flip side, where the government has been active is to engage with companies writ large in terms of developing the types of Cyber Security protections that are necessary to protect their intellectual property to protect their assets. So the government has been active in two very different ways and very important ways. Well secretary, im just pointing it out because it seems like theres certainly more that needs to be done when you have a major hollywood organization say its not going to release a movie because of a fear of reprisal. Something thats very new to the American People and theyre expecting government to step up. Secretary pritzker, thank you very much for explaining two situations to us this morning. Thank you. Great corage there, the search is on right now for the leaders responsible for the Pakistani School massacre. Pakistani military and intelligence officials have travelled to afghanistan, wednesday, looking for afghanbased elements of the Pakistani Taliban who they believe carried out that deadly attack. At least 148 people were killed in the siege, among them, 132 children. Back at home, hundreds of protesters back on the streets of new york, in response to grand jury decisions in the deaths of Michael Brown and eric garner. Dozens of protesters also staging a weeklong diein. At the Staten Island mall. All of this as new york Officials Say theyre trying to negotiate a settlement with eric garners family. They filed a 75 million civil rights claim over his death. Federal officials have filed murder charges in connection with that deadly meningitis outbreak in 2012. The Justice Department said 14 people have been arrested, including two people who have been charged with 25 acts of seconddegree murder. 64 people died in the outbreak. Which was linked to steroid injections from a massachusetts pharmacy. Officials say the steroids werent sterilized and expired ingredients were used. Meanwhile, russian president Vladimir Putin tries to ease fears about his economics freefall. Well talk to a member of the russian stayed stait douma. In this accident. Because there was no accident. Volvos most advanced accident avoidance systems ever. The future of safety, from the company that has always brought you the future of safety. Give the gift of volvo this season and well give you your first months payment on us. Will thank you. , sir . Ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. I order b14. I get b14. No surprises. Buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster White Knuckle thrill ride. Youre promised one speed. But do you consistently get it . You do with comcast business. And often even more. Its reliable. Just like kung pao fish. Thank you, ping. Reliably fast internet starts at 89. 95 a month. Comcast business. Built for business. Moments ago, russian president Vladimir Putin wrap up a threeplus Hour Press Conference in which he made a surprising comment. Saying his decision whether to run for reelection will depend on the countrys economic situation. Right now the economy is in a downward spiral. But he assured russians it will bounce back. Lets bring in ilya pomororev, a russian opposition leader, nice to see you again. Good morning. Just to give viewers a context of who you are, you have never been in lockstep with putin. Nor have you been in lockstep with the douma, the legislative body on which you sit. You were the only state douma member in march to vote against the annexation of crimea. Since that time your Bank Accounts have been frozen and you have been virtually exiled, what is it like to watch whats happening in russia and the economic crisis now for you . I really feel sorry for my country and especially that a lot of people whom i am working with and who were working with during reset policies that were implemented by russia and the United States and the reorganization of the economy that was introduced by medvedev. All of those people right now see here in Silicon Valley or in boston or new york. They virtually all of them left russia and thats really feels me sorry. President putin just wrapped up a threeplus Hour Press Conference. He made some headlines, talking about the economy. He said russian growth is inevitable. So people dont need to worry so much. He finished on a very cheery note. He said well get through this period, its not easy of course, but well strengthen our position in the world economy. The most important thing is to insure social prosperity of people despite the cuts in the budget and we can do that. We absolutely can. What do you think of his optimism . I totally share his optimism. For sure we will do all of that. But i am afraid we will be doing this without him. What do you mean . I mean with the current policy that has been implemented, the economy would not bounce back under his leadership. And people were very much hoping that he would give at least some answers how he would overcome the economic crisis of today. Who is responsible for the downfall of the ruble. Does he feel sorry for what was done and for the policies that actually led to this economic crisis. Because its all artificial. It was not supposed to happen just beginning of this year. And he felt like no, i am okay. Im not at fault. None of my people are at fault. Central bank and the government is doing okay. All my people, you know, are doing the right things. And it would have happened even without crimea. Even without invasion in ukraine. Thats just a general logic of confrontation of the west. With russia. And yet, putins Public Opinion poll numbers continue to be remarkably high. Here is a poll taken by the associated press, this was just earlier this month. So already when the economy was slipping, 81 of russians believe in putin. And that is compared to 2012 when it was just 58 , how do you explain his tremendous poll numbers, despite this crisis . People do not believe in putin. People believe in certain policies that are being implemented right now. People believe that we indeed as at war with the west. That america is trying to crush russia, that america is trying to crush ukraine and that we are protecting our brother ukrainians from americas aggression. Thats what our tv is telling russians. And thats why they support putin, who is the commanderinchief and who is leading the resistance. To the western aggression. But time will pass and it will be not so long time and then people will say okay, so maybe we were mistaken, maybe it was the wrong message, maybe the guy propagating the message is actually trying to cheat us. Very quickly, do you think putin survives this . Of course not. Its just will take him a year and a half, two years and then he would be gone. Ilya pomomarev, nice to see you again, thank you for sharing your personal thoughts on this. Thanks for having me. Lets go back to chris in miami. What an interesting discussion you just had, alisyn. Thank you very much for that. So the situation here you have a stalemate that lasted 50 years, right now the sudden and certainly historic thaw between the u. S. And cuba. A big player here, were all talking about president obama. What about pope francis . He and the vatican played a very big part, much of what just happened in cuba and the u. S. Started in rome, well tell but it. People with type 2 diabetes come from all walks of life. 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Reliably fast internet starts at 89. 95 a month. Comcast business. Built for business. I want to thank his holiness pope francis who shows us the importance of pursing the world as it should be rather be that settling for the world as it is. President obamas eloquent words, thinking pope francis for the pivotal role he and the vatican played in brokering this h historic new agreement between the u. S. And cuba. The pope is an advocate between tieing together the u. S. And cuba. Its important to say that the vatican explain to us what the vatican has been doing long before pope francis to bring about the day that we have today. Reporter yeah, its an important point, chris. Pope francis credits his role in this but it wouldnt have been possible without a long and patient history of vatican diplomacy. The vatican has not broken ties in cuba in more than 70 years. It was Pope John Paul ii who really made history by being the first pope to go to talk to if i had castro. He subsequently wrote a book about those dialogues. Obviously his interests and study of the problem began some time ago. Chris, i want to mention to you that the pope, just a few hours ago, was speaking to a small group of ambassadors here at the vatican. He did reference the events of yesterday and, in fact, pointed out to just what we were talking about, about the role of diplomacy. And he said, and today we are all happy because yesterday we saw two nations who were estranged for so many years, take a step to bring them together. This was achieved by ambassadors by diplomacy. Chris . Right. You do have, d ecelia, what is historic and then the popes statement about reality, he wishes to express his warm congratulations taken by the United States and cuba. The difficulties which have marked their recent history. Heres the problem. Yes, you want freedom, peace, understanding but you have a regime in place that is repressive. And it will be interesting, what is the vaticans perspective on what the government should be doing. Yes, its good to be open to cuba but what does the vatican and pope say about what the cuba regime should change for its own people . Reporter well, the vatican line has always been, we are not here to decide one political regime over another. What we are here to say is that the dialogue must always be maintained. Thats pope francis line but its been the diplomatic line. They believe its better to keep the line of communications open. The chances of a regime change are better than if you were not talking at all. They said this is what we wanted to achieve. The line of communications are open. They are sovereign nations to decide for themselves and their own political story. Chris . Well, delia, ill tell you it is fitting that that is the perspective of the vatican and the pope. Obviously fueled so much by faith because there are many who dont trust the proposition that the regime will change there no matter what it is offered in exchange. Thank you for the perspective from rome. The United States and cuba and the vatican all moving together. Well give you more on this story. Stay with us. Shopping online is as easy as it gets. Wouldnt it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple . Thanks to angies list, now it is. Start shopping online from a list of toprated providers. Visit angieslist. Com today. Will probably eat something or drink something that is acidic on a daily basis. Those acids made over time wear the enamel. A lot of patients will not realize whats happening to the enamel. Once its gone, its gone away for good. I recommend pronamel. Its designed specifically to help strengthen the teeth. Pronamel will actually help to defend the enamel from the acids in our diet. If you know that there is something out there that can help, why not start today . These 50 years of isolation has not worked. Theres much ingrained doubt and anger. This president is the single worst negotiator that weve had in the white house in my lifetime. It was crucial to my survivor knowing that i was not forgotten. Sony should fight fire with fire. I cannot think of another moment like this in modern movie history. Certainly the studio is about to be the enemy. The rubel losing half of its value to the u. S. Dollar. His Approval Rating is still sky high. About 85 . Good morning. Welcome back to knew day. Im chris cuomo coming to you from miamis Little Havana district. We have seen so many people here coming with such different perspectives on the historic announcement that president obama just made. Largely its along generational lines. Oldschool cubans forced to leave everything and everyone behind thinking how can you reward this regime and a Younger Generation saying, is. A better way forward . Nothing seems to change there. Were going to give you the reaction from havana to here to washington. Back to you. We are tracking todays other big stories, including the fallout from the cyberattack on sony. North korea is being pointed at as the release of the new film the interview. And Vladimir Putin is addressing its growing crisis and the future of his presidency. First, lets head back to miami and chris. Mic, thank you very much. Little havana is a Huge Population center for people of cuban descent, whether they were more there or generations that have followed here to the United States. With president obamas optimism and the vatican, theres a lot of feelings of betrayal but its good to know that alan gross is going home, freed by the castro regime. They say its a humanitarian release. Many dispute why he was held for in the first place. Alan gross put three cuban intelligent agents part of the wasp network that was convicted in the United States, one of them was serving two life sentences, released. Thats alan gross. Hes on the u. S. Government plane. He had his wife and congressman with him. He was watching new day. The story is just beginning and weve got coverage from every angle. Lets start at the white house. Michelle kosinski is there. Reporter released from a cuban prison after more than five years, u. S. Officials had popcorn, corn beef sandwich waiting for him and the biggest changing to u. S. cuban policy in five decades. A bold move that many are not on board with. Many vowing to aggressively try to stop it. The release of alan gross, much more than a happy reunion. Now the sudden reestablishment of diplomatic relations with cuba. Fidel castros brother still at the helm has erupted into another political firestorm. This policy contradiction is absurd. And it is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. Reporter especially from hispanic lawmakers who felt left out of the discussion, some possibly running for president next round. We have been consistently alienating and abandoning our friends and allies and at the same time appeasing and cod delling our enemies. First it was russia, then iran, today its cuba. Reporter not only republicans. Its a fallacy to believe that cuba will reform because an american president opens his hands and the castro brothers will suddenly unclench their fists. Reporter president obama spent a day explaining. We want to see greater freedom, greater prosperity, greater opportunity for ordinary cubans. Reporter this, the first time an american president has reached out since the revolution in the 1950s will mean an embassy in havana, opening some commerce, though not tourism for now. First steps, lotted by u. S. Business and agriculture. It is the right thing to do. Today america chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past, chooses to reach for a better future. Reporter cuba has agreed to release dozens of Political Prisoners and open up its connectivity to its people. Critics say, not nearly enough. Plus, a spy swap, including a cuban convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. The president knew it was coming, addressing that reaction before it even started. 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. Reporter 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 policies. Some may try not to fund a new embassy there or not confirm a new ambassador. Chris . All right. So complicated, the politics in this situation, both in what matters and all the trappings of Politics Around it. A lot of it is people feeling like they got surprised. Youll remember, recaaul castrod president obama at mandelas funeral. We know that that handshake meant more. There have been negotiations going on since june, involving the president , the vatican, the pope. That plays into who knew, who didnt and from all of the feelings here from politicians and from regular people, what is the feeling in cuba . We have patrick there and hes been covering it from when we really began what was happening with alan gross months ago. Hes in havana for us this morning. Patrick, tell us about paint us a picture of the reaction there from the cuban people we hope are benefited from this and also what youve learned about fidel castro and alan gross and their plans Going Forward. Reporter 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. There was hope and disbelief and absolute shock. You saw people laughing and crying. 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 cubans wellbeing. But, you know, obviously the cuban people these decisions are out of their hands. The negotiations were kept secret from them until the last moment until raul castro made this very unusual announcement. No sign of fidel castro. They say he had nothing to do with the negotiations which certainly would be significant from a leader who ran every small detail of this country. Well 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. If you ask alan gross, hes just starting the rest of his life. Its interesting, his attorney and wife told me months ago but asked me not to address, he will one day return to cuba. He fell in love with its country and its people, certainly not its government but dreamed of getting outside of the cell walls that constrained him for five years and seeing more of cuba. So we heard and really its 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 an official what they think about that and as long as he came as a friend. Chris . Thats amazing patrick. We talk about the history but just the simple humanity, of this wife that she thought shed never see him again. Were getting the reaction from there and what it means for alan gross and for the people. Back here, people were taken to this street also but for different reasons. They were not celebrating. To put it at best, they are divided. You have a generation here forced to leave cuba, to leave everything and everyone. This is their adopted home and they love it now but they have 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 . Elena machado is joining me. People have heated discussions about what is going on and, youre right, this debate is along a generational lines. You have the younger cubans and then the people who came in the 50s and 60s. They went through incredible hardship. When they left the island, they left everything they knew. Many left family members, many 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 . And you can understand that perspective. Youre still dealing with the same two men who caused all of this hardship and yet you have to look at it from the perspective of, but has it worked. Right . Right. And thats what the Younger Generation says. A lot of the younger cubans have only been here for five, ten years. They have family members there and they say, weve been trying this for decades. None of it has worked. Why dont we try it from a different approach and everyone is going to be looking at what goes on here, see what happens, any changes on the island, any changes here. Well have to wait and see. Usually its very definitive to say that people are here to commensurate and see what is going on. You hear some viva obama. Well have to see. Thank you for giving us a perspective from here. Nobody know it is 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 it the way forward . Lets bring in a democrat and one of his constituents is alan gross. Hes from maryland and 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. So this was a big moment certainly for one family. Tell us about that about how his wife felt because she used that word, endure, she wont endure another year. We all know what she was fearing. Youre right, chris. This has been five years in the making. People have been trying very hard to secure his freedom from the jail and nobody has been more relentless or tireless than his wife judy gross and there have been lots of ups and downs along the way, where people thought there might be a breakthrough. It was 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 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. All right. Now, let me play proxy on the other side of the situation. You have alan gross back. Thats good. You gave up too much more him. You gave up three bad guys, one 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 american who is had to free their oppression. First on the prisoner exchange. The exchange was for a u. S. Intelligent asset, a Cuban National who would 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. Its 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, its 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, its only isolated the cuban people. Its actually helped to sustain the castro regime. They have now survived eight president s and so when somethings 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. Right. Right. But thats the promise versus the pragmatism. On one level this could be seen as negotiating, not with terrorists. Lets 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 thats why when you poll this question, if you do all americans, you get like about 50plus percent say this is the right thing to do. Not among cubans. They feel like you are rewarding people who have hurt them. That doesnt mean you give the bad guys what they want. Chris, as youve said, theres a generational split within the cubanamerican community. This is not giving the their people have been punished but they are still there and theres no sign that another five or ten years of trying to isolate cuba will result in any kind of regime change. And so the reason youre 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, alan gross who spent five years in a cuban jail, the last thing he wants to do is reward the people who put him in prison, the regime. Right. But he firmly believes that the president s policy will help empower the cuban people over time. 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 spe perspective, but 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 you believe what the president is doing is not just historic but historic in a good way. Thank you, sir. I do. Thank you, chris. Mic, let me come back to you in new york. The policies are going to play out. We dont know what is going to happen Going Forward. You have to have a lot of faith in the outcome here to keep the optimism going. Ill 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 hed never get out of there, including himself. There we are on television. Its not gratuitous. Its nice to be part of history, especially when its good news for someone. Oh, we were truly flies on the wall for this historic moment. But just to tell you the backstory 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. Theres a video at this moment that ive 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 its just so nice that this is the moment that so symbolizes his freedom. Powerful. The image says it all. Chris, well 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 threehour News Conference saying whether he runs for reelection depends on the state of his country. Putin speculated the u. S. And saudi arabia were conspireing to Lower Oil Prices to punish russia. He addressed the crisis in ukraine, suggesting that the u. S. Is sparking a new cold war. Pakistani intelligent Officials Say they believe afghanbased elements of the 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 stud dent. Pregnant women may double their risk of giving birth to an autistic child by breathing in pollution. If they breathe in elevated levels of airborne particles emitted by power plants and automobiles. Alison, have you met power swimmer . I have not. Its a drone in the shape of a shark. Its 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. Look at his tail. Thats lifelike. Robots these days. So sony picture pulling the plug on the controversial new movie following threats of a 9 11type attack on theaters. What does this mean for the future of hollywood and the future of cyberattacks . Just in time for the holidays. Tmobile introduces americas only unlimited 4g lte family plan. Get two lines of unlimited 4g lte data for just 100 bucks a month. With any smart phone. Including the Samsung Galaxy note 4, for 0 down. Add more family members for just 40 bucks a pop. Think the other guys have a family plan like this . Think again. Only tmobile has an unlimited 4g lte plan for the whole family. Thatll get your holiday bell ringing. Surface sos my surface, its just as powerful. Mac you can you write with a pen . Surface you can say that again. Surface i really like my surface pro 3. Mac hey whats that, is it a kickstand . Surface touchscreen too, its pretty slick, man. Mac it comes apart i see. Surface its got a usb. Mac i think i like your surface pro 3. Surface no seriously where can i get one. Female announcer sleep trains ends sunday. E for 3 event its your last chance to get three years interestfree financing on beautyrest black, stearns foster, serta icomfort, even tempurpedic. Plus, get free delivery, and sleep trains 100day low price guarantee. But hurry sleep trains interest free for 3 event ends sunday. Guaranteed sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep Sony Pictures announcing it will not release the controversial movie the interview following threats against theaters. The u. S. Is prepared to announce that north korea is behind the attacks and cyberattack on sony. A defector tells cnn that pyongyang is running a group of hackers against perceived enemies. Great to see both of you. Right or wrong, sony to pull this movie . Its an unprecedented move. It takes years. It cost 44 million to make this movie and doesnt include the cost of advertising and buying ads on tv and the fact that they are not releasing it at all in theaters, dvd, you cant get this movie anywhere and everybody is talking about it, thats pretty big. Maybe it was the wrong move . A lot of people feel like this is censorship and that they should have released the movie. A lot of people were outraged yesterday. Is north korea stronger and more dangerous than we knew . Okay, look, north korea has a capability and an agreement with the iranians on sort of cyberattacks, sort of working with them, maybe. But this is to your earlier question, this is not the way you deal with the bully. You punch him in the nose as oppos opposed to cower and gave. Why has sony pulled this movie when theyve invested so much money . What is the answer . You could have gone ondemand or premium. What is sony trying to hide . They have been horribly embarrassed by these documents. They clearly want to stop further release of the documents. Dont know, right, that if it is north korea, will the not releasing the movie do that . You know, this is a thug regime youre talking about. Because the hackers promised a Christmas Day surprise. Sony does bear some responsibility in this whole thing. 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. Thats a legitimate business decision. Dont imagine that sony feels that way today. Exactly. So they should now that seems completely foolhearted, that they did not invest the amount of money that they should have, and they admitted it, in order to prevent this. We dont know that this is over. We dont know who the hackers are or what their motives are or that they are going to make good on their word. They could continue to terrorize sony. The fact that they pulled it doesnt necessarily make sense because youre negotiating with a known terrorist. Unless they know something that we dont. Right. But the amount of data that these hackers were able to get, fran, compare it to something. It was 100 terabytes of information, ten times the size of the entire library of congress. That doesnt 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 remotely got inside the system and stole administrative privileges so they could download. But somebody is asleep at the switch at sony because they dont catch what is going on here. Ten times the size of the library of congress . Thats mind blowing. What should the u. S. Do in response . Its not clear that the u. S. Government is going to do anything. They say this is a commercial dispute. Remember, when they were dedicated Denial Service attacks against the service industry, the government didnt do anything there either. The government seems to be taking the approach, look, you have to build this into your Business Model and endure these costs. Its not clear that they will do anything at all. If sony failed to take the appropriate response, its like when an individual leaves the keys in the car. Its like 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 enduring the lawsuits from the stars and whose other private information is going to get release. Of course we now all feel at risk because of sonys decision. Ramin, fran, thank you. Michaela . Maybe you are watching us here on new day on the elliptical. Youre cutting your risk of something quite serious. Were going to discuss it with our senior medical correspondent, ahead. What does an apron have to do with Car Insurance . An apron is hard work. An apron is pride in what you do. An apron is not quitting until youve made something a little better. What does an apron have to do with Car Insurance . For us, everything. Thats the way i look at life. Looking for something better. Especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. I was taking warfarin, but wondered if i kept digging, could i come up with something better. My doctor told me about eliquis. For three Important Reasons. One, in a clinical trial, eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin. Two, eliquis had less major bleeding than warfarin. And three, unlike warfarin, theres no routine blood testing. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Those three Important Reasons are why eliquis is a better find for me. Ask your doctor today if eliquis is right for you. In todays new day new you, we all know that exercise is good for us. A new study shows that if you are in better shape, not only is your body slimmer, so is your risk of high Blood Pressure. Joining us is medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. Michaela, this was a huge study. More than 50,000 people. What they found was when they put them on the treadmill, those who could work out the longest and the hardest, if you looked at them over the next 18 years, they were less likely to get high Blood Pressure which means they were less likely to get heart attacks and strokes. So there are folks right now watching us from the treadmill or elliptical. They are wondering how much exercise do i need to get to start to see that Blood Pressure start to dip. Experts tell us about 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week. So its not huge. I mean, thats not a huge investment. Its not every single day. So hopefully people can manage to get that . And its stuff that gets the heart pumping, cardiovasculartype exercise, right . Yes. Thats what you want to aim for. So elliptical, treadmill, getting your heart rate up. I always want to add this note. Some people who dont exercise a lot, the thought of doing exercise strenuous to get their heart rate really going, it seems intimidating. Right. Or they try to do too much and say this is too much. I cant do it. Sure. Do what you can. If what you can do is a tenminute walk around the block, thats great. Start with that. Behind your picture, theres a picture of people walking in new york central park. Get out and get some fresh air. Its not lost on me that this study is coming out as people are likely planning those new years resolutions. And maybe they can start small. Elizabeth, have a great day. You, too. Alisyn . Well breakdown the president s bold and controversial moves with our political experts. Hello. Im an idaho potato farmer and our big idaho potato truck is still missing. So my buddy here is going to help me find it. Here we go. Woo who, woah, woah, woah. Its out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart associations go red for women campaign. If you see it i hope youll let us know. Always look for the grown in idaho seal. Feet. Tiptoeing. 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Tell your doctor if you have been to a region where fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take. One pill, twice daily, xeljanz can reduce ra pain and help stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Ask about xeljanz. Even without methotrexate. vo rescued. Ed. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Welcome back. Were coming to you from Little Havana in miami. Now, this is a real focus for the community here, specifically the cuban community. This is where they have come to commensurate about what things have gone wrong in cuba and to celebrate. We had a little bit of both last night. President obama has made history, whether you like the move or not, this is something. Thawing relationships with cuban in establishment since 1961 and now the president wants to change course. Its also an example of what seems to be a new strategy that deserves discussion. Lets bring in ana navarro and mark lamont hill. Now, heres my point, ana, and you start with it. The president gets a beatdown in the midterm elections. His party but also him. And since then, this flurry of activity by him. Take a look at what hes done with the deal with china, about immigration as executive action and now this, making history in cuba. Is this strategy working with him going it alone . I think he tried for a while unsuccessfully, failed at it, frankly, to get legislation done. He came in trying to be the uniter. Instead hes been the divider. Probably the country is more antagonized, more divided and polarized than when he came in and he decided, well, i cant do it through legislation so im going to do what i can through executive order, which is limited. As you said, this is a lot of thawing out but not the lifting of the embargo. That he cannot do by executive order. Immigration, yes, he saw certain nations and addressed the problems of certain people but its not a permanent legislative solution. So i think weve seen this pattern and the timing here is not coincidental. Lets remember that we had a very close Congressional Election going on here that ended up costing the democrat his seat. I dont think they would have done this before that election and we also have a close govern governors race where i think there was hope so he waited to make sure it wasnt an al gore 2000. Come november, well remember. Politics is rarely accidental. Theres a lot of intentionality. The president is dealing with a toxic political environment and he cant get things done because of the culture of obstructionism. And hes doing the best he can do but a show of strength, not weakness. Your take . I would disagree with anas initial premise, which is that the president has been a divider rather than a uniter. The president has been trying to respond to a congress thats been stubbornly resistant to any type of legislative move proposed by the president. I think any type of progressive policy has been resisted by the congress and, for that reason, hes been stuck in a difficult place. I dont agree with the president s policies or ideologies but hes made an effort to move the ball forward which has been thwarted at every turn. This is a timing issue. All policy moves are timing issues. All president ial issues are timing issues. Postelection immigration makes more sense. Postelection thawing or trying to normalize solutions with cuba makes more sense and i think its a legacy issue. The president doesnt want to go down in history as somebody who doesnt get anything done. It wont lift the embargo but its a positive step forward. And this is not making sense right now. Why . What it does is have less political cost. Whats the difference . The difference is hes no longer up for election. This is a purple state. Theres no longer congressional seats up for grabs here. That he himself is no longer on the ballot. Thats why the timing makes sense. Thats the huge difference. You know, what would have made sense is for him to try to do immigration, legislation on these big issues when he had both the house and the senate. And he didnt. And so now he couldnt. No, he chose not to. On immigration he chose not to. Youre telling me the amount of work mark thats a good point. Lets break out immigration for a second. The fair point from ana about immigration, he could have done it and did not. This is the whied that when the president the narrow window in which the president has a supermajority he should have done, health care, cap and trade, he didnt have the muscle power to do all of those things. He prioritized. Do i think he should have done Something Different . Perhaps. And thats up to everyones decision but i dont think it was easy to say that he could have gotten immigration through and even now its difficult to get immigration through wholesale. If you remember correctly, congress didnt want to deal with this issue in a substantive way in postelection. They dont want to deal with anything, mark. But immigration was is largely selffunded by fees. A lot of these changes have to go through the congress, things like the confirmation of the ambassador, things like funding for the regulatory changes that he wants to put through and i think hes going to get a very tough fight. Look, at a minimum, we have seen a little bit of change in perception here for the president. Lets put him against putin, okay . Putin was like cleaning his cloth all summer long. We were baffled by how Vladimir Putin had a new way of doing whatever he want and then putin, in this press conference today, he said its too early for me to say whether or not im going to run again. From Vladimir Putin. As you hear them saying, i dont know, youve been a little too aggressive with these sanctions and the rubel is crashing. It looks like hes had an event. And isnt it ironic, we did sanctions there, we enforced them, strong sanctions and were bringing putin into a weaker position and at the same time were appeasing the dictators 90 miles an hour. Wait a minute. Do you think well see progress in cuba because of the sanctions . Do i think well see progress because of the sanctions . You know, i think we havent seen a victory by the dictatorship because of the sanctions. The sarnctions at this point ar symbol electric at this point but were closer to the dictators than we were 55 years ago. They are 80some years old and we have not even seen fidel castro. For all we know, they bring out his corpse every now and then. I wont respond to that part of it. Go ahead. Button up quickly. Ive got to go. I strongly disagree, one, the point about sanctions to me is mind boggling. Weve had nearly 60 years of sanctions. No, all weve done it further isolate cuba, undermine humanitarian and Economic Growth in the country. The point about putin, in the summer when we did the sanctions, people said that it wasnt enough. People ignored that the toughest sanctions had to come from europe because thats where the Energy Dependency was. Now that its working people are saying, why didnt you do with putin with cuba. They move the target. Its unreasonable. I hear you. Mark lamont hill, ana navarro were going to have to test your spanish. Thats good. Because i dont know what you said alisyn, back to you in new york. Its been great to get a read on how people are feeling. You can hear the passion and the noise and conversation. Its fantastic. A lot going on there. Meanwhile, president Vladimir Putin, as weve been discussing, what is he saying about the collapses economy and his own political future . Well speak with the former ambassador of russia. Rescued. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Russian president Vladimir Putin holding a threeplus hour News Conference this morning. His own future, he admits, is uncertain. Good morning, mr. Ambassador. Good morning. What a turnaround in fortunes for Vladimir Putin in just the space of the year. He was the king of the hill after the sochi olympics, annexing crimea, showing aggression in ukraine and now today in the press conference, hes having to explain his countrys crumbling and economys future. Its very clear that the crumbling economy has been a major and Significant Impact on the russian people and they are asking questions now they were not before. They were very happy with the notion that putin was in fact leading them into a brave new world. Thats pretty well gone. Hes been explaining why, in fact, sanctions are hurting him but hes, interestingly enough, allotting that only 25 of the economic disruption. Thats probably right. He himself i think was responsible for causing the initial decline beginning in march with the crimean invasion and thats had a real effect and now, of course, hes been hit with a triple whammy. The Oil Price Decline has hit russia very, very hard. While they have strengthened. Ruble overnight, the world will recover at some point and hell have enough money to ride out the crisis before that happens and keep his people happy. Thats a big bet. It is a big bet and admitted in his press conference that his own future is uncertain. He doesnt know if he would seek reelection. Do you think that he survives this . Well, if he survives this, i think certainly he will seek reelection. Hes been canny like western politicians. Hes in a very difficult situation now, the notion that he should turn to seek reelection at this stage is probably politically unwise. And yet, mr. Ambassador, the Public Opinion polls in russia still today, the a. P. Just did a poll. It was at the beginning of december. So the economy was already taking a nosedive and 81 of russia still support Vladimir Putin. Compare that to 2012, before the annexing of crimea and before the olympics in sochi, he was only at 58 . Thats right. His trumpeting of nationalism, i expect its still a ways back and polls taken over the next couple of weeks will show a truer picture and will show, in fact, the reflection of people standing in line with rubles in their hands either to buy Foreign Exchange or highvalued goods. The ruble went down to 80 but stabilized to around 60 overnight and i think its still a very problematic situation for putin and russia. Ambassador thomas pickering, thank you for joining us on new day. Michaela . All right. When we come back, were going to have the good stuff. Stay tuned for that. X helped me. Along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. It gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke. Some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. Some people had seizures while taking chantix. 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Theres only so much enamel on a tooth, and Everybody Needs to do something about it now if they want to preserve their teeth. I recommend pronamel because it helps strengthen the tooth and makes it more resistant to acid breakdown. We want to be healthy and strong through the course of our life, and by using pronamel every day, just simply using it as your toothpaste, you know you will have that peace of mind. All right. A beloved crossing guard from lakewood, texas, for decades he has made sure the kids are safe. However, his wife is sick and the medical bills have been mounting. A couple weeks ago, his car was repossessed. The residents of lakewood were not going to stand for that. You now how you get the attention of a crossguard, you park his car in the middle of a crosswalk. Its your car. Thats right, baby. Thats right. The dads got together, bought mr. Kent a brandnew car. We wouldnt trade mr. Kent for the borworld. Everything is good. Youre welcome. And we love you buddy. And we love that community of lakewood for doing that for a tremendous man, a member of their community who needs a little love and support this holiday season. You did the good stuff really well. Did i do okay . I need a tissue. Thats the mark of a good stuff. Thanks so much for watching us with all of the breaking news today. We appreciate it. Well see you tomorrow. Time now for newsroom with carol costello. Thank you. Have a great day. Newsroom starts now. Good morning. Im carol costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with the massive cyber terror attack on sony officials. The u. S. Is getting ready to announce that north korea was indeed behind that b rcrazen attack. Also new this morning, a defector who once worked as a computer expert for north korea tells cnn he believes the communist country is running a massive Hacker Network made up of nearly 2,000 secret cyberwarriors. All of this as sony