Today. Here is the latest nbc news poll of South Carolina voters. Joe biden still in first place with 27 of the vote. Bernie sanders behind him down by 4. That is within the margin of error. And for his part, sanders is now undergoing the kind of skrut intdy typical of any frontrunner in this stage of the race. Sanders facing a wave of critism over his comments about fidel castro. Comments sanders reupped overnight in a trumpian display of doubling down on what critics say might hurt him politically. When fidel castro first came to power which was when . 59. 59 or 60, he initiated a Literacy Program. There are a lot of folks in cuba at that point who were ill litt litterat and they helped people learn to read and write. You know what, i think teaching people to read and write is a good thing. Those comments have inviting protests from cubes community and competitors for the nomination all of whom he faces off against in a few hours. Mike bloomberg tweeted this, fidel castro left a dark
Prepares to leave the summit of the americas in panama on a very historic day for this country. It has already been full of historic firsts as the u. S. And cuba move to bury the cold war hatchet pap short time ago the two president s sat down for an informal 12 minute, oneonone discussion. This was raul castros first appearance at the summit of americas and he used his time to lecture many countries and their leaders of a long list of grievances that cuba has with the United States among them he said the u. S. Holds on to that naval base in Guantanamo Bay without any legal right. He also said 77 of the cuban population grew up under the economic hardships of the u. S. Imposed embargo on goods and trade. And he referred back to the failed cia policy at the bay of pigs in april 1961. He called the people involved bandits. But after that this is what has everyone talking, castro turned and apologized to president obama for the heated rhetoric saying he doesnt hold obama personally respon
Normalizing relations after more than 50 years of a standoff. Plus, russian president Vladimir Putin prepares to address his nation very soon in the midst of an economic meltdown. Well take you live to moscow for a preview. And coming up later, sony cancels the release of the controversial movie the interview, but will the movie only encourage the hackers whove targeted the entertainment studio . Well explore that question this hour. We do want to begin with major developments in u. S. cuban relations. These places are so close geographically but for half a century theyve been so far apart over a political ideology and human rights. Well, now what were seeing is a change in direction as the two countries are announcing plans to normalize relations and it all began with a Prisoner Exchange. Global Affairs Correspondent elise labott reports. Reporter u. S. Contractor alan gross on american soil with his release a historic opening of u. S. Relations with cuba after five decades of confron
Just a few days away and theres a big storm already causing trouble. We have the forecast coming up. Hello again everybody. Im fredricka whitfield. Welcome to the cnn newsroom. President obama and the first family in hawaii. They landed in honolulu overnight to begin their holiday vacation but before he left washington the president held a year end News Conference highlighting administration accomplishments. White house correspondent Michelle Kosinski is traveling with the president. Joining us now from honolulu. What is the president doing today. He said he hoped to relax or at least have some calm moments in his Fourth Quarter. Right. He seemed really ready for a vacation. Look at this place. Good morning from waikiki beach. The secret service prepared for his arrival. The family arrived pretty much in the middle of the night. We expect today to be full of relaxation. Youre right. He made he gave this address yesterday, his end of the year press conference, a long list of the adminis
Off a stunning shift in u. S. Policy with cuba, with the freeing of alan gross who had been jailed for five years. President obama has announced plans to normalize relations with the communist state. Hes spoken with the cuban president raul castro. The two countries will be opening their embassies and the United States will ease an embargo that began half a century ago. That sparked a protest in miami. Some republicans are accusing president obama of appeasing tyrants. Also, there are stunning new developments happening right now in the sony cyber attack that sources say potentially could be traced to north korea amid threats of a 9 11style attack and cancellations by theaters all across the United States. Sony has now decided to pull. Its canceling its film release. The film mocks the north korean dictator. A sharp critic of ileana roslehtinen. She is standing by along with our correspondents, our analysts and our guests. Lets begin with the end to a half a century of u. S. Hostility