white collar and blue collar, young professionals, men and women in small business desperate for the capital and contracts they need to prove their worth. we speak for the minorities who have not yet entered the mainstream. we speak for ethics who want to add their culture to the magnificent mosaic that is america. that was another portion of mario cuomo s tale of two cities keynote address at 1984 democratic national convention. today he s being remembered by fellow politicians for the qualities that made him a political giant. president obama released a statement calling mario cuomo a determined champion of progressive values and an unflinching voice for tolerance, inclusiveness, farnness and opportunity. president clinton and his wife hillary clinton called mario s life the very embodiment of the american dream. joining me now is new york congressman charlie rangel. congressman, happy new year first of all. what is your sort of favorite kind of memory or what is the
new york governor mario cuomo. i ll talk to his colleague, charlie rangel. a federal judge breaks down one of the final barriers for couples who are seeking a marriage license in florida. iday music ] can you help me up? [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. all day pain relief with just 2 pills. get back to being you. you re driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck you re dri slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn t there and the next second. boom! you ve had your first accident. now you have to make your first claim. so you talk to your insurance company and. boom! you re blindsided for a second time. they won t give you enough
to the political clubs to find someone that can best articulate the principles that we do believe. and on proved you don t really have to sign up as a captain go to the city council, do those things. everyone, no matter what job they had, would smile when they say, mario s on. he definitely made good. de very well. congressman charlie rangel thank you very much, sir. thank you, joy. thank you. for more on mario cuomo s legacy we re joined by terry galway, professor and author of history at keen university. thank you, sir. happy new year. thank you for being here. we ve been talking a lot about what the overall legacy of mario cuomo will be in your view as a historian? well, i think it will be his speeches. i think it will be the way that he spoke up against the legacy of ronald reagan and margaret thatcher and the conservatism of the 1980s. as you suggested in your
interview with congressman rangel, the 80s were a difficult time to be a liberal, to be a progressive. and mario cuomo was not afraid to stand up there in san francisco, and in many other venues and say this is what the democratic party stands for. this is what we believe in. mind you, it s the exact opposite of what ronald reagan is telling you. so, i think, you know he wrote a book once called more than words and mario cuomo s legacy is, in fact more than words because he also had the courage as well as the words to counter that narrative that ronald reagan was preaching during the 1980s. you did indeed wright in your obituary in capital new york he was unafraid to challenge a comforting narrative with pertinent questions at a time when others simply preferred to go along to get along. i want to read an excerpt from your oe bitbit. william faulkner once said that
obama s effort to normalize relations with cuba could hit a brick wall in congress. south korea lindsay gram tweeting this week, i will do all in my power to block the use of funds to open an embassy in cuba. normalizing is a bad idea at a bad time. also the question on whether congress will agree to lift the embargo. these comments from speaker john bano don t offer much wiggle room. relations with the castro regime should not be revisited yet alone normalized until the cuban people enjoy freedom and not one second sooner. so, what will it take to totally restore diplomatic relations and how much of that could be blocked by the republican-controlled congress that reconvenes in january. we have former adviser to senator john mccain. republican strategist and democrat from new york charlie rangel. back with us at the table. so, adalfo let me start with you on this question, i know you have yilsh issues with what the