Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20141217

Deal with a brutal dictator and a state sponsor of terror . Not everyone thinks so. Many cubanamericans, president ial hopefuls and others are not celebrating today. The national lead. Thousands of Movie Theaters abandoning sony after hackers threaten to attack moviegoers who just want to check out the new seth rogan flick. Now some in hollywood are saying if you skip that matinee you are letting the terrorists win. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. Well begin this afternoon think, with our world lead. An earthquake in American Foreign policy and after 50 years of diplomatic back biting, human rights abuses, espionage and attempted invasion, even a crisis bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war, the United States and cuba may now be moving toward something resembling normal. President obama said today that things in havana will start to look a lot like things in every other capital around the globe. Functional u. S. Embassy and potential influx of american tourists. The announcement was tied to the celebratory announcement that this man, alan gross is now home. Gross, an american usaid worker imprisoned, reunited with his life this morning, flown back to the United States after the pilot announced that they had left cuban airspace, gross stood. He took a deep breath and then he telephoned his two daughters. Im free, he told them. And on this, the first day of hanukkah, gross celebrated by having potato pancakes or latkas and a corned beef on mustard. Elise abbott, bringing alan gross home obviously central to todays news, but what else pushed president obama to act . Well, you know, jake, that president Obama Took Office looking to engage cuba. He felt this was the moment now because of some modest changes that are happening on the island and also because it was hurting u. S. Policy in the region. Now secretary of state john kerry of thes to be the first secretary to go to cuba in more than 50 years. U. S. Contractor alan gross on american soil with his release, a historic opening of u. S. Relations with cuba after five decades of confrontation. Seeing the American Flag for the first time in five years, a frail gross was overcome. His toothless smile offered the untold story of the toll his captivity took on his body. What a blessing it is to be a citizen of this country and thank you, president obama for everything that you have done today and leading up to today. Before dawn, a team of u. S. Officials and lawmakers boarded a u. S. Government plane for havana to pick up gross. On the airplane back as we finally crossed into u. S. Airspace. You saw him give a big hoorah, put his arms up and he was clearly glad to be home. Some tweeted photos of gross on a joyful reunion. From secretary of state john kerry, a hug on arrival. Gross humanitarian release was accompanied by a spy swap. On another plane, out of sight from cameras, a highly important u. S. Intelligence source held by cuba for 20 years was flown to the u. S. His identity is secret for the information he provided to the u. S. On a Shadowy Network that spied on cubanamerican exiles and u. S. Military bases. Three of those spies held for more than a decade were released from the u. S. And sent back to cuba part of the socalled cuban five. The nations Top Spy Agency called the deal a fitting closure to the cold war tensions between the two countries. President Obama Took Office promising to engage cuba. Today he followed through. These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. Its time for a new approach. Reporter as part of the deal, the u. S. Will restore diplomatic ties with cuba with embassies in washington and havana, increase travel between the u. S. And cuba, allow business between u. S. And cuban banks including the use of credit cards by american travelers, permit more exports to cuba to support business and allow americans to import some cuban goods, including cuban alcohol and cigars. In a rare address that aired at the same time president obama spoke, raul castro welcomed the landmark deal. Translator this expression by president obama deserves the respect any recognition by our people. Officials say this is not a reward for the castro regime, but a recognition the embargo is not working. If the u. S. Wants to change cuba it needs to engage more with the cuban government and cuban people. As part of this deal, cuba has agreed to release 53 cuban Political Prisoners from a list provided by the u. S. , allow more access to some of the prisoners in jail by the icrc in the u. N. And also allow more internet freedom. So the u. S. Say this is a start. They will not let up on human rights, but today, obviously, a big day. I was in the room when alan gross spoke and the very first thing he did was touch the American Flag and it was a very nice moment. Thank you so much. The dramatic shift marks a long evolution for president obama. He said he wanted to end the embargo and he said he would keep it in place, but since june 2013 according to Senior Administration officials the president has been working quietly to ease relations with the castros. We saw it in Nelson Mandelas funeral and he gripped and grinned and now we have this. A White House Photo of the president hammering out final details of this agreement with raul castro on the other end of the line. Joining me now to react to the announceme announcement, republican senator from florida, marco rubio. Senator, thanks so much for being here. I know youre happy that alan gross is home and back with his family, but you say the president is making a mistake. What is the mistake . The mistake has to do with the unilateral concessions to the cuban government. Lets run through the list of it, full diplomatic relations and that means the recognition of the cuban governments legitimacy and the opening of the banking sector, more telecommunications, higher remittances and a whole series of things that truly undermines the regime against the cuban government to be a tyranny. In exchange for that, heres what the cuban people get. 53 Political Prisoners will be set free, people who shouldnt be in jail to begin with, but theyll be right back in jail and the United Nations has agreed to more closely monitor conditions on the ground in cuba. Thats a terrible arrangement for democracy and the cuban people. As president obama says, and its a factual matter, the embargo has been in place for more than a half century, longer than either one of us has been alive and the castro regime is still in power. Why not try something new . I agree we should try something new. Thats something we should be more serious about imposing a cost on the cuban government for being a tyranny. For example, last year the cuban government and this has not been well covered. It helped north korea, they shipped from havana, the cubans were helping north korea evade u. N. Sanctions. The United States government did nothing about that. Back in 1996 the cuban government murdered american citizens that were flying over the straits of florida, international waters. Right. Trying to help rescue people. Weve not indicted the people that have done that. As far as this argument that nothings worked. I think people fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of the sanctions today. The purpose of the sanctions today as opposed to back during the cold war is it serves at leverage and you do the cuban government, as the law does, its been codified if you open up democratically and if you start to make real democratic progress in cuba the sanks will go away and thats real leverage with the successor government to the castro one when new leadership takes over and all of that is virtually gone now for the most part. Let me ask you, senator. The White House Press secretary today said that if there was an opportunity for the president to visit cuba, he wouldnt turn it down, and im wondering what your response is to that. Just think about what message does that send if you are a dissident on the island of cuba. Imagine the ladies in white. The group of women who every sunday go to mass dressed in white and afterward march down the street in silent protests, sometimes not silent protest for the tyrannical nature of this regime. They are summarily, systematically, beaten, jailed and harassed during the week by the cuban government. Imagine how they feel to know that barack obama has fully embraced the government and what does that say for people fighting for freedom and liberty in cuba. What does it is a to have diplomatic relations with china and with vietnam and saudi arabia. Is the cuban government worse than the other regimes that we have ties to . No. Thats a great point and let me tell you the differences. Number one, i agree. I was aghast that the president went to china earlier this year and in order not to jeopardize his climate deal that he signed with them said nothing about democracy protests in hong kong. I was aghast that Hillary Clinton visited there last year and said they werent going to let human rights get in the way of our relationship with china. I agree and to go further the reality is there is a big difference between china and cuba in the sense that the reality is china is now by some estimates the largest economy in the world and they have icbms and Nuclear Weapons and trying to dominate the pacific region, an island in the caribbean of 13 Million People and cuba is a place where we can make a bigtime difference and that the president has done this without anything in return when it comes to democracy is terrible. Senator marco rubio, thanks and happy holidays to you. Thank you. Happy holidays. Lets bring in someone with a different perspective, Chris Van Holland who made the trip to cuba to bring back alan gross. He was also part of the delegation that met with president raul castro to discuss the gross case last year. Congressman, thanks for joining us. Before we get to the policy you were on the plane to go and get him. At what point were you confident, oh, my god, well pull this off or were you nervous the whole time that it was going to be ruined . Ive been very nervous over the last couple of days that something would go wrong, jake, because so many piece his to come together to make this happen. Weve been working for five years to try to get alan gross release. His wife judy has spent every day in this effort and so, you know, it aint over until its over. It wasnt until after we walked out of the building on to the tarmac in havana and climbed on to the president s airplane heading home that i was really able to breathe a sigh of relief and im sure thats true for alan and his wife. He showed composure and i was at the press conference earlier today. Cuba is the most restrictive country in the western hemisphere. They jailed dissident bloggers. They jail political protesters. The castros have persecuted gays and lesbians for decades. How do you respond to the charge that the president announced today is basically appeasement for a bad, bad regime . Well, what the president announced today is not for the cuban government or regime. Its actually to change our strategy to cuba which has been a total failure over 55 years. We heard senator rubio talk about the fact that the embargo and sanctions provided leverage for change in cuba. Show me the change. The reality is that the castro brothers have now survived more than eight u. S. President s and the policy of isolation has actually helped sustain this regime. So i believe, and alan gross believes after spending five years in cuban prison that the way actually to provide the cuban people with more opportunity is to have more engagement, more communication, more travel, more trade. Thats the way to open up a society, not to try and create a wall which clearly has not accomplished our own stated goals. Right. Lets talk about the swap, though. Your fellow democrat senator bob menendez says, quote, trading mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent and it invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use americans serving overseas as bargaining chips. Is he wrong . Actually, the prisoner swap was the cuban three. Right. For a Cuban National who is a u. S. Intelligence asset who had provided the United States National Security agencies with very Important Information about cuban spies, operating within the United States government. What sends a really bad signal is when we leave the people who help us to rot in jail for their entire life. This guy had served 25 to 30 years in a cuban jail. He was going to die in a cuban jail. What kind of signal does that send, jake, to people who were hoping to help us and help our National Security overseas . So that was the swap. Alan gross was a contractor. He wasnt part of the spy swap and we were able to bring him home. That is a good thing and alan gross is not only thrilled to be free and home. He is also a believer that the president s new policy will be good for the cuban people. Not for the cuban regime, for the cuban people. Were all glad alan gross is home and we are glad the intelligence asset is safe, as well. Congressman van hollen, thank you so much. There were cheers in cuba and chants calling president obama a traitor in miami. The reaction on the streets from havana to Little Havana live. Thats next. 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. Welcome back to the lead. Im jake tapper. We continue with our world lead. There has been praise and anger over the announcement of a dramatic change in the u. S. Cuban relationship. Cnns Patrick Ottoman is the only News Network Correspondent reporting live from cuba now. Hes with us from havana. Patrick. Whats been the reaction on the streets there . Reporter mostly a reaction of joy. It was somewhat surreal, jake. We knew early this morning once the announcement came out in washington that this monumental change was going to take place, but here in cuba where the government controls all media, basically, it was until noon raul castro took to the airwaves in a rather unusual announcement that people talked about the respect he feels toward president obama, thanking president obama and pope francis for working to ink this deal. It wasnt understand then when we saw cubans celebrating. Dissidents that feel their concerns will now be overlooked, but by any large most people here whether they support the government or dont just want to have a closer relationship with the u. S. And their family. At noon when the announcement was being played they heard Church Bells Ring all over havana. For many people this was a historic day and if not the end of the u. S. Embargo, certainly the beginning of the end, jake. Patrick, thank you so much. Cnn correspondent, Alina Machado is in Little Havana, a neighborhood in miami. Shes live, as well. Were people outraged by todays announcement . What are folks there saying . Reporter weve heard a little bit of everything here. Weve been here all day and to give you a sense of where we are, we are in front of versailles cafe where cubans traditionally gather every time theres something that goes on with cuba. You see those police cars right there. Theyre here and directing traffic because people are slowing down looking at the crowd that has gathered here. Walk with me over here. You can see theres an American Flag and there are People Holding the cuban flag and there is a protester over there holding a sign that says fire obama. Those have been more vocal. I also have heard from people who are okay with it and say that maybe this is a good step in the right direction. So, jake, weve heard a little bit of everything here. Alina machado reporting live from Little Havana in miami. Thanks. Joining me to discuss the impact of this monumental shift in u. S. Cuba relations and the National Correspondent for the atlantic who was the last american journalist who interviewed raul castro, the council on Foreign Relations and mike gonzalez, an expert on cuba who livered there for 12 years. President obama vowed to engage rogue nations like cuba each before his presidency began. Take a listen to the president s response before he became president when he was asked about meeting with countries like cuba in the 2007 president ial debate on cnn. I would and the reason is this that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration is ridiculous. So its not as if this is unexpected before he became president , mike. Theres no question that has been on his bucket list for the first time. He sees this as part of his legacy. He will not have another encounter with the American People at the ballot box and hell do whatever he wants. There is a question for congress here and the act of 1996 says very clearly. We know he likes to act on his own, but we will see what the reacting of congress is also appointing an ambassador and any senator can put a hold on that. They can delay spending on the embassy. Congress should take a leading role here now. So this isnt a done deal. I mean, president obama can say what he wants and hes lifting this and allowing that, but at the end of the day is it possible that in two years well be here and nothing really would have changed . I dont think well be looking back two years from now saying that was just a flash in the pan. He has the executiva authority to do all of the things he said he would do today, the diplomatic relation without lifting the travel ban and without going to congress to undo legislation or pass new legislation, hes going to start a process of removing cuba from the terrorist lists, of allowing americans to invest in the Small Business Community Growing there. All of that with his executive authority. What about its the responsibility of congress to lift the embargo. This is about who has the Foreign Policy authority, isnt it . It is true, as mike says in order to lift the embargo, in order to nullify it, it will require an act of congress and when it was passed it left into law some flexibility for that president ial authority which we see him clearly prepared to exercise. He also said he wants to consult with congress, but i think we know with the republican majority this is the legacygrabbing moment with this president. I think he was inviting in his comments a debate, and hes a free man and not running for anything anymore and i think he understands that the polling has shown that this issue doesnt resonate with americans the way it used to. Its very, very easy with him to make the argument to the American People that we should have relations with cuba the same way we have relations with vietnam, china and other oppressive regimes. Jeffrey, you were there in march . The last time i was there was in march. So do you think that this will actually help bring freedom and democracy and human rights to cuba . You know, theres a strong possibility that that is true. I wouldnt want to say yes, of course, because the government has a vested interest there in maintaining oneparty rule. However, it is a small country, 11 Million People that lives right underneath an incredibly large and powerful country with huge cultural influences and huge influences and it will be very hard to stop the flood of information and the flood of goods once it starts. We do have 1 trillion worth of business with china every year. It is the second biggest trading partner and the chinese are not free. The Nobel Peace Prize is in prison and china bullies hong kong and puts anybody who speaks their mind in prison. We have done what obama has done and hes thrown a landline to a regime who was on the ropes because the sugar daddy venezuela does not get money now because of the plunging oil prices and because socialism is inane and venezuela has run the government into the ground. What i want to say is the question is is this going to work . What is the objective . I think we can reasonably say that cuba is becoming and because of the inflexion of american president s will become a better society, i think we should be very circumspect about that. It is a oneparty ruled country, it is a very closed media environment, but all of that in the last five years has become more fluid, and i believe that it will become more so now. It is a police state that will continue to use terror to get its way. Obama is trying to do business with a dictator who beats up middleaged women walking down the street. This is shameful. Mike gonzalez, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Very different views and lots of passions on this issue. President obama dropped another bombshell today. He revealed that the cubans also freed a topsecret agent working for america who has been imprisoned in cuba for two decades. 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The release of american aid worker alan gross is part of the u. S. And cubas historic shift in diplomatic relations. It was nothing short of splashy. We saw photos of gross meeting with secretary of state conqujo kerry and being greeted by loved ones and even held his own News Conference and yet very little is known about the details surrounding the other prisoner released from cuba. A u. S. Intelligence agent who up until now very few people even knew existed. I am joined by cnn National Correspondent jim sciutto. What do we been this agent . This is a big diplomatic move and its an oldschool cold war spy swap, and known in the u. S. As the wasp network. In exchange, cuba releasing, we are told, a cuban man who provided critical assistance to the u. S. A statement from the office of director of National Intelligence saying information provided by this person was instrumental in the identification and disruption of several cube inintelligence operatives in the United States and ument matly led to a series of successful espionage prosecutions. His release from prison after 20 years is a fitting closure to this cold war chapter of u. S. Cuban relations. So who did this cuban spy turn up here in the u. S. . One, a former Defense Intelligence agency or dia analyst anabellen montes giving up the name of four u. S. Spies and a secret u. S. Army camp in el salvador. She was sentenced to 25 years. Second, a former department of state official Walter Meyers and his wife Gwendolyn Meyers and they were accused of spying for cuba for three decades and the members of the socalled wasp network and cuban intelligence agents known as the cuban five convicted of spying known as the brothers of the rescue that ran flights to pick up people escaping cuba by boat. One of those flights shot down by cuban warplanes and its that information allegedly provided by this group that then led to them being accused of conspire so to murder. Fascinating case. Jim sciutto, thank you so much. The spy swap comes with significant, some would even say detestable Strings Attached as jim mentioned. The members of the socalled cuban five were not just secret agents. One of them was convicted of conspiracy linked to commit murder. Im joined by the mother and daughter of two men who were killed in that attack. Miriam de la pena is the mother of mario de la pena who was killed in the attack and adriana is the daughter of hando. Thanks so much for joining me. Marlene, let me start with you. Did anyone from the Obama Administration reach out to you warning you that the prisoner convicted of murdering your husband was to be released. It wasnt my husband and it was my father. I meant for miriam, what about you . For me, it was my son mario who was 21 years of age and no, no one notified us. Absolutely no one. What would you want to say to them if they had or if theyre watching right now . I would like to say that this is a slap in our faces. It is very sad that an innocent man like alan gross is going to be exchanged for a criminal, somebody who wanted to do so much harm to the United States of america like Gerardo Hernandez because he is not only tied to the shootdown and murder of my son, marlenes dad and two other americans. Hes tied to espionage, wanting to do harm to the United States of america. Marlene, what was your reaction . What would you say if president obama was watching right now . I just would like him to know that i feel that he has completely disrespected and dishonored my father who was a vietnam veteran, a voluntary vietnam veteran of this country and when he was 18 years old he went to fight for this country against communism and the only thing we had in the form of justice for her son, my father and the two other men was this one man that he just gave up. To be clear for what he was doing along with three others, your son and your father were going to rescue people who had escaped cuba and were in rafts, is that right . They were in the ocean. Thats correct. My son was a volunteer pilot. His whole life dream was to become a commercial pilot and he joined brothers to the rescue as a volunteer pilot, spending his weekends and any spare time he had from the university and work rescuing rafters who were fleeing cuba in search of freedom and they would be eaten by sharks if there was no one out there to try to rescue them. So brothers to the rescue worked in conjunction with the coast guard. They would spot the rafters in the middle of the ocean, get their coordinates and advise the United States coast guard so that they would go rescue them. Marlene, what do you say to the family of alan gross who say they are obviously overjoyed that he is out of that cuban prison . I am so happy for them because i know he has two daughters, and i am so happy that he can spend the holidays with his girls. So thats all i have to say. Im so happy for them, and i feel so horrible for him that he had to go through what he went through, and i i we are nothing, but overjoyed that he can be with his family now. Do you think that the regime is going to change because of this new policy shift, marine . Politically, i dont really have an opinion on that because i dont know enough about whats happening with the embargo and how far everything is going go, and im aware that obama cant necessarily lift the embargo completely. There are minor changes that hes doing right now. I just, in my opinion what hurts the most is the fact that he gave up someone who is in jail for murdering american citizens. Right. And thats the situation right now they think that all americans should be extremely, extremely upset about and especially in my case for me it hurts the most because my father is a veteran and any person who gives up their time and sacrifices possibly their life for this country should have some sort of level of respect given to them by their government, and i think it just doesnt show well for the way that the government feels about its soldiers and veterans in general. Marlene, alejandra, thank you very much and our deepest condolences for your loss in 1996. Breaking news in the national lead. Dropping like flies. One major Movie Theater after another after another refusing to show the movie the interview after hackers threaten to attack anyone airing the new comedy which lampoons north korea with their premiere cancelled and their stars in all, but hiding, what will sony do now . Thats next. And cialis for daily useor you. Helps you be Ready Anytime the moment is right. 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Military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. If youre a current or former military member or their family, get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Welcome back. Were going to continue with that breaking news in the national lead. All major movie chains are now giving into fears and say they will not show sonys new movie the interview. Regal theaters just released, due to the wavering support of the film, by stoney pictures, week riegel Entertainment Group has decided to delay the opening of the film in our theaters. We want to reassure our guest and staff that their safety and security is our number one priority. The movie the interview details a plot to kill north Korean Leader kim jongun. Its a comedy. Decisions to pull the movie come after an obscure message the messenger appears to be the same person or persons who hacked Sony Computers and had clips online. The fbi says its getting closer to see who might be identifying who is behind that sony hack. A lot is happening pretty quickly in these Movie Theaters, man its really quite amazing what were seeing. The situation continues to crumble for sony. In fact, most of the theaters will not show the controversial comedy. Right now sewny is digging in its heels and leaving the decision up to the theaters. As sony stands by its controversial comedy the interview, a growing number of theaters are now pulling the plug on the movie. At least five major theater chains are backing out, and the new York Premiere of the movie canceled. I cant think of another moment like this in modern movie history. The deals that are struck between studios and theaters are iron clad. Once the operators agree to put their move owe all their screens they have to stick by their deal, but this is an unprecedented situation. U. S. State Department Officials granted a request by sony executives to view an advance version of their controversial film about the assassination of north koreas leader kim jongun. Take him out. For coffee . Dinner . Kimchi. No, take him out. Widely reported leaked emails show sony exec Michael Linton sent an unfinished version over the summer. The Consulting Firm confirms to cnn linton asked an expert to look at the dvd of the move. There are a lot of countries that would like to censor americans and if we start giving into it there wont be an end to it. It tells cnn north Korea Remains the prime suspect in the hack, but so far the u. S. Government hasnt publicly pointed the finger at the reclusive country. The only way that we will stop them is if they are persuaded that this was a bad idea and so we have got to react in a way that deters future attacks of this kind. And as u. S. Investigators narrowed down who the culprit is, government officials at the highest levels are holding several meetings on this issue trying to reach an agreement on how to move forward here. Its one thing to be able to attribute and another thing to be able to decide how the plan of action will take place. They know no real credible evidence of any actual threat to u. S. Movie theaters. Pamela brown, thank you so much. Cyber threats are crippling business. Pulling the movie in the last two weeks. The companys Stock Plunged more than 10 and its facing some legal trouble and two former sony employees have filed a lawsuit saying the company failed to keep their personal information safe. It could have implications not to mention security and we also have jane, who served on president obamas National Security council and he is author of genesis code. What happens to the movie now . Is anyone going to show it . Well, right now, my colleague at variety, brent lang is reporting that sony is exploring the idea of putting this movie out on premium video on demand. Its a special level of video on demand that you can see on your cable system where you pay a premium price. That will allow sony to say, hey, we still released the movie and to potentially recoup some of its investment. Thats stunning. Jamie, i dont want to be that guy that says if you do so and so youre giving into the terrorists and having all of these movie chains drop the movie, that must be making the hackers feeling pretty empowered. It is so unfortunate that movie chains are doing in a sense what they have to do because of their liability issues and their commitment to their customers, but its just so tragic that and we dont even know who is doing this, but maybe one person, one group can threaten and make this kind of openended threat and this film gets pulled and its really just a sad, sad day and as we said earlier on the program, this could open the door to anybody who has any beef with anything thats coming out in any move demake an anonymous threat and then it would have to be pulled. So its a very dangerous situation. This is hardly the first time the world leader was used in a situation like this. You had Team America World police and there was a movie about the assassination of george w. Bush. How does this impact future production of movies . I think that this will have a big impact. I think youll have producers and studios thinking twice about pursuing projects that have any kind of geopolitical controversy because International Box office is a huge share of the business. I think its upwards of about 60 and i think studios are going to wonder is it really worth it. Is it really worth the headache or the threat that we may face. I think that will create quite a bit of consternation around the business. I think well see a lot of invented countries. We know the u. S. State department saw the movie before it was released. If sony had shown it to you and you were still on the National Security council would you have anticipated in any way this kind of blowback . I would because i was in north korea earlier this year and its a quasi religious environment with the kim family essentially positioned as gods. So we knew well in advance that this was a big insult to North Koreans and there is a balance of principles and on the one hand, people may want to play nice with the North Koreans and on the other hand, this regime is the worlds worst violators of human reports and there is a report going to the Security Council next week, very credible to the United Nations that calls the north korean regime guilty of crimes against humanity. The fundamental issues are very serious and we in this country believe in Free Expression and that includes Free Expression by artists who may say things that make ourselves or other people uncomfortable. Ted, Movie Theaters must be really worried that theyll miss out on christmas profits if theyre actually pulling this film. Yeah. Its not Just Christmas profits. Its the whole idea that should something happen, should there be even a copy cat incident, they would be legally liable because a lawyer can come around and say, listen, my client got hurt at your Movie Theater and you already had this threat. You could have taken these precautions that may not be the best on freedom of speech ground, but i think theaters are probably taking a look at the legal liability and making this decision. Strange days. Jamie metsel and ted johnson, thank you so much. In other world news, mourners openly weep in the streets as schoolchildren killed in a vicious attack in pakistan are laid to rest. Many of the children buried while still wearing their School Uniforms as the nation tries to come to grips with the tragedy help how does the government of pakistan plan to respond to the terrorists behind it . Thats next. The getaway vehicle for all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. Then boom. What happened . Stress, fun, bad habits kids, now what . Lets build a new, smarter bed using the dualair chambers to sense your movement, heartbeat, breathing. Introducing the sleep number bed with sleepiq™ technology. It tracks your sleep and tells you how to adjust for a good, better and an awesome night. The difference . Try adjusting up or down. Youll know cuz sleep iq™ tells you. Give the gift of amazing sleep, only at a sleep number store. Find our best buy rated c2 Queen Mattress with sleepiq. Know better sleep with sleep number. Welcome back to the lead. Some breaking news on the sony hack we just talked about. Sony pictures just now issuing a statement saying they are not going to move forward with the planned Christmas Day release of the movie the interview. All of those Movie Theaters pulling it amongst a possible threat to the theater showing it. Cnn will bring you more on this in the next hour. In other world news, an incredible sense of heart ache has gripped a nation in the wake of a savage and brutal and cowardly attack on a pakistani school. The deaths of those 145 innocent people, most of them children, would not be in vain. The government lift adi moratorium on the deaths penalty within hours of the massacre. They asked leaders of afghanistan to team up with them against terrorist groups which eagerly claimed responsibility for the brutal attack. Lets go live now to cnn nic robertson. He is in islamabad, pakistan. What have you learned about how the pakistani government plans to respond to this brutal attack . Well, theyve got an offensive ongoing against the taliban. They will continue with that offensive and this, of course, the background of a nation grieving right now, a nation in shock where the army gave journalists and tv crews access to the school today. That sense of shock only grew. I should warn our viewers here that some of the pictures theyll see now in this report are very disturbing. Tumbled chairs, concrete walls chewed apart by a bullets. Few of the children in these classrooms could dodge. Evidence of the attack is everywhere. Floors still soaked in the blood of the innocents. This town is drenched in grief. Funeral after funeral. Most between 12 and 16 years old, many buried in their School Uniforms, the smaller they are, the heavier they are to carry one official said. Education in this impoverished town of 3 million is everything. No one saw this coming. Survivors now wondering how they made it through. We hid in the locker room and pretended to be dead. They kind of believed us. Two students and a teacher caught their attention and they shot them in the head to make sure they were dead. Six men entered the hall. They opened fire on some students. Some died on the spot and others were injured. Reporter vigils are lighting up across the country. Sympathy is strong and so is condemnation of the taliban. It is rarely this universal and rarely this visceral. And these men, some of them seemingly as young as their victims are the attackers according to the taliban who say they planned and coordinated every murderous step the gunmen took, classroom to classroom. Brutality now becoming clear. Inside the school, a burned office, a 28yearold woman, an office assistant, not just shot, but set alight here, too. Too horrific for words. But now the recriminations are beginning. On the one hand you have the army chief of staff in kabul talking about getting afghanistan and pakistan to Work Together against the taliban, but at the same time you have the Prime Minister here in pakistan saying that this attack was planned on the soil of afghanistan, the taliban themselves who perpetrated this attack saying absolutely not. They planned it, coordinated it all from withinside pakistan. Thats it for the lead. Im jake tapper and ill turn you over to wolf blitzer who is right next door in the situation room. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com happening now, cuba turnaround. A prisoner release. A spy swap and secret talks leading to a stunning change as president obama moves to normalize relations with the communist regime. Screenings canceled, amid terror threats, sony halts the release of the sony move they mocks the north Korean Leader. Have the cyber attackers won . New evidence points to new isis atrocities as the United States and the allies carry out dozens of raids in iraq and syria. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Were following two extraordinary stories this hour, the breaking news, a spy swap and