Crisis and right now, president Vladimir Putin is on the defensive fielding questions from reporters. We are live in moscow with the session coming up. Good morning. A lot going on. Welcome to early start. Im john berman. It is thursday, december 18th. 4 00 a. M. In the east. Christine romans is off this morning. Developing this morning, monumental changes in the contentious and complicated relationship between the United States and cuba. President obama has announced plans to normalize u. S. Relations with cuba. It feels strange saying that. After months of closely guarded negotiations. The president ordered an Embassy Opening in cuba for more than 50 years. A Cuban Embassy in washington. The key part of the deal is release of alan gross after five years in the cuban prison. He was flown back to the United States. God bless you and thank you. It was crucial to my survival knowing that i was not forgotten. There was also a spy swap. Three cubans convicted of espionage released from prison. Jim acosta has more on the historic development. Jim. Reporter john, it is not the lifting of the embargo, but the relationship has thawed with the communist nation that started 18 months ago. Most of the discussions took place in canada led by security adviser ben rhodes. That was when castro and obama shook hands at mandelas Memorial Service last year. The pope stepped in sending letters to obama and castro to resolve the two sides. Mr. Obama and raul castro hammered out the deal yesterday in the phone call. The First Contact since the cuban revolution more than 50 years ago. At the white house hanukkah celebration, the president talked about the phone call with alan gross. I spoke to him on his flight. He said he was willing to interrupt his corn beef sandwich to talk to me. I told me he has mustard in his mustache. I couldnt actually see it. Needless to say, he was thrilled. He landed at andrews in a plane marked the United States of america. He will get the medical attention he needs. He is back where he belongs, in america, with his family. Home for hanukkah. Reporter a senior official said former leader fidel castro was not involved with the deal. As for a president ial trip, the president is not ruling one out. He was in china last month. John. Our thanks to jim acosta for the report the the report. There is a raging debate over this. Two republican senators, cubanamerican denounced the agreement. This policy contradiction is absurd. It is disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and freedom. We have seen for six years under this situation is we have been consistently alienating and abandoning our friends and allies and at the same time, appeasing our enemies. Rubio announced a plan to block the deal with cuba. Cuba admits to harboring fugitives wanted by the United States. Including some accused of terrorism. The release of the three cubans accused of espionage in the United States. These are the final members of the could called cuban 5. Part of a spy ring that infiltrated groups and military installations in florida. One man was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in the role of the downing of the planes flown by brothers to the rescue. A big story in the late 1990s. The Family Members killed in the 1996 incident are furious at the agreement. In no way equivalent. He has blood on his hands. In south florida, cubanamericans are shocked and also torn after this sudden unannounced change that 50yearold u. S. Policy. Some mostly older cubanamericans, are furious calling the president a traitor. Many, mostly younger cubanpersons, seem pleased. The last six years, this administration has been negotiating with cuba. Everything in exchange for nothing. I believe and i believe that many in my community believe that cubas best days have not yet been seen. All right. We have another major story. Sony pictures has out and out canceled the release of the film interview. They may never release it in any form. This comes as u. S. Officials prepare to announce they have determined that north korea is behind the huge cyber attack on sony and perhaps the threat of violence that led most major theater chains to drop the film. That announcement could come as soon as today. We are also learning this morning that the federal Law Enforcement agencies received internal warnings about the threat to theaters, but the fbi did not issue a bulletin because it did not believe the hackers posed a real threat. President obama seemed to back that view in an interview. Listen. The cyber attack is very serious. Were investigating it. Were taking it seriously. Well be vigilant. If we see something we think is serious and credible, we will alert the public. For now, my recommendation is people go to the movies. We will go to will for the latest. The u. S. Announcing north korea is behind the hacking. This story gets more and more interesting by the day. Reporter it does. It guess complicated for sony. You talk about catastrophic financial losses and shaken morale. The statement sums up what the public is putting out there. You have bet behind closed doors they are feeling stronger feeling than this. We are saddened the brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie and the process to do damage to our company and employees and american public. We are disappointed by the outcome. When he spoke out to sony, they referred me to the statement. I also reached out to the japanese government. Cnn has learned that the United States could just be hours away from naming north korea as the alleged instigator of the hack. Here in japan, they are staying silent, john. That is interesting. We have been talking about the geopolitical situation with the tension with north korea and japan. One analyst pointed out to me today, japan may be fearful who is the next target going to be . If this is north korea driving this, they could not want to provoke issues in asia. A lot of questions to answer by sony and theater owners. Perhaps by the makers of the film. Will ripley, and not to mention north korea if what the United States is accurate that they were behind the acts. Will, thanks so much. Needless to say, this is turning into an expensive disaster for sony. Cristina alesci is here on that. First off, the interview costs 44 million to make. Sony is losing out on ticket sales to the tune of 100 million. You have to factor in the cost of software and security. Sony stock is down about 6 since the hack. The movie business is just one of sonys problems. The company is really falling behind in electronics, a market that it used to dominate. Its Television Unit struggles to make money. The smartphones make up 3 of the market. Sony out and out waved the white flag and dropped personal computing earlier this year. Playstation is a highlight, but the company lost 1. 2 billion last year. If i was an executive at sony, i would find some way to release this digitally and charge people a lot of money to see a movie at home that should have been in theaters. You cant spend 44 million on a film that did not see the light of day. Cristina alesci, thank you. Ten minutes after the hour. Happening right now. Russias economy in a freefall. President Vladimir Putin answering questions right now live in front of the media. A marathon session. Well go live there next. 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. With only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Stelara® helps me be in season. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. 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Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. I love myself as a nonsmoker. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. This morning, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will attend a Pretrial Hearing before the murder trial on january 5th. His lawyers have filed a motion to delay that start date. The judge could rule on that request today. The 21yearold has already pleaded not guilty to a 30count indictment. One month after imposing it in missouri, governor jay nixon lifted the state of emergency in the wake of Michael Browns shooting death. Nixon praised the local and state police and National Guard for containing the violence without a single fatality. New york citys comptroller is looking to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of eric garner. The high profile case of the choking case is handled by the Law Department overseen by the mayor. It makes sense for the city to settle the case now before a long and bitter trial begins. Garners are not expected to formally file the suit until next year. The 49ers have released ray mcdonald. Just last month, the Santa Clara County d. A. s office declined to file charges in the Domestic Violence investigation. Now a woman in san jose is accusing him of sexual assault. Mcdonald has not been charged in the case, but the 49ers are severing ties with a pattern of poor behavior. We as an organization have notified him and his agent that he will be terminated and released immediately. This is an organization. A franchise. You want to have a high standard. We do around here. You have to be able to abide by that. San jose police have searched mcdonalds home. The Players Association has not decided to file a case. And connection in the deadly meningitis outbreak in 2012. Two people have been charged with 25 acts of possible murder. One victims Family Member describes what happened to her mother who caught the deadly disease. During those ten months, her behavior changed and until finally she couldnt do anything. She couldnt walk. And i stayed with her and she passed. Whoever was doing this, i think they should all be held accountab accountable. I do believe that. I think they all should do jail time. The steroid was produced to be given to patients with neck and back pain. Mold and dirty equipment was found in the clinic. Fracking is now banned in new york state. Governor cuomo says he is concerned with the Health Risks Associated with extracting natural gas. The governor embraced fracking as a way to increase the economy. New york is the first state with significant Natural Gas Resources to ban the practice. A new setback for governor jan brewer. The denial on the request for undocumented immigrants. There is no decision yet on when the state department of transportation will accept applications. Republicans will have the largest majority in the house in 83 years when the congress convenes in january. That is because Martha Mcsally has been declared the winner in the Arizona House race that required a recount. She ended up defeating the democratic opponent. Weekend storms could make Holiday Travel difficult. Lets go to meteorologist derek van dam for an early start on your weather. John, we are waking up to a wet start across the Central Plain states and Tennessee River valley. Wet weather with tricky travel conditions for nashville. Enough cold air to the north to change this into snowfall. Winter weather advisory from kansas to missouri. 1 to 3 inches of snowfall before it is all said and done. Tracking a departing low pressure across the new england coast. Maybe a flurry for new york, but 1 to 3 inches for maine. Temperatures below average or minneapolis and chicago. Cool day for new york city. Mild across the southeast. Including atlanta. We are monitoring two major storms for the weekend. A lot of people like to travel leading up to christmas. Rain for the southeast and a wet start to the weekend for the west coast. Once again with mountain snow. John. Thanks, derek. Russian president Vladimir Putin just starting his marathon news conference. He is expected to take questions. He will no doubt face questions about the economic crisis. The russian economy has been plunging in part because of the falling price of oil and an effect by the western sanctions following what happened in ukraine. Cnns Matthew Chance is live in moscow. Matthew, good morning. Reporter good morning, john. This widely anticipated annual press conference by Vladimir Putin just got underway. He is standing in the kremlin and he will be addressing some 1,259 journalists that have come in not just from russia but around the world to hear comments on the range of issues that affected russia in 2014. It has been a bumper year for the country. Started off with the Winter Olympics in sochi in february. That was a high for the country. He is likely to address that and talk about it. He is also likely to talk about the annexation of crimea. They lifted International Sanctions for that. The conflict in ukraine and the sanctions on russia. Now the economic crisis. Thats the big crisis of the moment. The currency, the ruble plunging against the dollar by nearly 60 over the course of the year. People will want to know which steps he will take to dig the country out of the economic mess, john. Interesting to see what his answers are. He will speak for a long time. I think the record for the conferences is more than four hours. We will Pay Attention to this. Matthew, i appreciate it. Inside pakistans school massacre. Cnn crews travel to where taliban terrorists murdered 150 people, mostly children. Were live after the break. In the wake of tuesdays horrific siege in pakistan, people are likely to turn to afghanistan. There is word the attack could help cooperation with the countries that spent years torn apart by combat, but face the rising threat of terrorism along the volatile border. They faced that threat for a long time. Lets bring in correspondent Nic Robertson live this morning. Good morning, nic. Reporter good morning, john. We are right outside the school here where the attack took place. Theres no doubt that some people may be hoping this incident may help cooperation with afghanistan and pakistan to combat the taliban. Already we have seen accusations the Prime Minister saying the r. Taliban got their training and did their using bases inside afghanistan. The taliban say thats not true. We just come from inside the school there. I have to tell you this is probably one of the most horrific scenes i have ever seen. You go to the auditorium, the first room the taliban burst through. The army told us what happened. So much blood on the floor where the children were trying to hide under the chairs where they were given class. The army officer taking us around, told us the children tried to get to the doors of the auditorium to get out. As they were crowded around the doors, imagine this, the taliban opened fire on them. He said 100 children were killed as they were trying to get out of the main building. The scene that you witness on the floor, it is stomach churning. Awful. Absolute coldblooded murder. We went to a computer lab. Computers down either side of the room. It was obvious what happened in there. The chairs were by the computers. They were shot as they sat at their computers. Blood underneath the chairs on the floor. There is no other way you can come out of witnessing this first hand and feel absolute awful and realize the barbarity of what went on here. It truly is barbaric to see the shoes and school books. Our Nic Robertson in pakistan. Historic agreement to restore relationship with cuba. President obama announces the deal, but he faces major opposition. How will that affect this plan . Thats next. [ rob ] we werent always the most adventurous couple. Once we kept the lights on. But then we started using ky yours mine. Yeah, we were nervous to try it. Theres an amazing sensation for her. Amazing. This one feels fantastic for me. And combined. Ohh, its a completely new sensation for us both. Its opened a whole new door for us. Ive come to clean your pool. But we dont have a pool. Ill come in anyway. Next week im going to be a maid. [ female announcer ] ky yours mine. His excites. Hers delights. Together feel them ignite. Keep life sexy. A completely new course on cuba. President obama reveals an historic agreement to restore relations with the island. That after 50 years of isolation. This will not happen easily. Well tell you about the fight some politicians are promising. The interview canceled. Sony pulls the plug on the controversial film after Cyber Attacks and threats from hackers. Today, u. S. Investigators are expected to reveal who is behind the attacks and all eyes are on north korea. We have live coverage ahead. Russia in crisis. Its ruble in freefall this morning. President Vladimir Putin put to the test right now as reporters question what went wrong. We are live in moscow with the latest. Welcome back to early start. Im john berman. 30 minutes past the hour. Christine romans is off this morning. Developing this morning, monumental changes in the complicated relationship with the United States and cuba. President obama announced plans to normalize relations with cuba after months of closely guarded secret negotiations. The president ordered opening of an embassy in havana for the first time in 50 years. The president will open an embassy in washington, d. C. Alan gross spent five years in a cuban prison. He was immediately flown back to the United States. God bless you and thank you. It was crucial to my survival knowing that i was not forgotten. There was a spy swap. Three cubans convicted of espionage were set free. Our senior White House Correspondent jim acosta has the latest. Reporter the cold war with the u. S. And cuba has started to thaw. This deal with cuba is the ca culpeppcall issue with the discussions led by canada with ben rhodes. One Sticking Point remained in all this. That is the impris amprisonmentn gross. Pope francis urged both sides to push the talks forward. The vatican welcomed officials to rome in october. Castro and obama hammered out the deal yesterday. The First Contact the white house had more than 50 years ago with cuba. Then at a hanukkah celebration, the president talked about the phone call with alan gross. I spoke to him on his flight. He said he was willing to interrupt his corn beef sandwich to talk to me. I told him he had mustard in his mustache. I couldnt actually see it. Needless to say, he was thrilled. He landed at andrews in a plane marked the United States of america. He will get the medical attention he needs. He is back where he belongs in america home for hanukkah. Reporter a senior official said cubas former leader was not involved in the negotiations with the deal. As for a president ial trip, the white house is not ruling one out. John. Thanks, jim. A raging political debate over this move. Opponents say it throws the castro regime a lifeline. Two republicans, you see them there, both cubanamerican, they denounced this agreement. This policy contradiction is absurd and disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. We have seen for six years under this administration is that we have been consistently alienating and abandoning our friends and allies and at the same time coddling our enemies. Block any possible nominee for ambassador to cuba. The reason they give for not normalizing is cuba harbors fugitives wanted by the United States. One of the most contentious parts is the release of three cubans convicted of espionage here. You see them here landing in cuba after the release from the u. S. Prisons. Final members of the cuban 5. Part of the spy ring that infiltrated the groups in south florida. One men was convicted of conspiracy of murder for his role in the downing of planes flown by the exile group brothers to the rescue. Family members killed in the 1996 incident are furious. Listen. In no way equivalent who has blood on his hands. In south florida, you see a difference of opinion among cubanamericans. Some shocked. Some torn. This comes in the previously announced change of the 50yearold policy. Many older cubanamericans are calling the president a traitor. Many younger cubanamericans seem pleased. The last six years, the administration has been negotiating with cuba. Unlike many in my community, i believe that cubas best days have not yet been seen. The normalization could have an increase of businesses. Cristina alesci is here with more. If the sanctions are lifted, we are talking more about cuban cigars. Many American Companies could profit from increase in trade. Companies that make soap and packaged goods could benefit. It could be another win for american carmakers and travel. Cuba could be a huge vacation destination for americans. Shares of carnival and norwegian cruise lines jumped yesterday on the news. All together, american businesses could be looking at an extra 1. 2 billion in sales. Cuba could get another 700 million a year. A quick check on the markets. Asia and european stocks up after the Federal Reserve said it is in no rush to raise Interest Rates. Futures are looking up after a rally yesterday. Investors and traders see the low Interest Rates perhaps throughout 2015. You are looking at an Interest Rate hike in 2016, which would be a big boone for the markets. You have a good point on cuba. Embargo is not lifted. What you see now is investors and businesses drooling at the process that some day they may get more in the economic relationship. They are readying themselves. Im sure there are many planning on how to sell goods to cubans. Thank you so much. New this morning, sony announced that it will cancel the release of the interview. They may never release this c controversial comedy, including home video. The news comes after officials prepare to announce that u. S. Determined north korea is behind the huge cyber attack on sony and the threat of violence that led most major theater chains to drop the film. Announcement from u. S. Officials could come as soon as today. We are learning that federal Law Enforcement agencies received internal warns about the threat to theaters, but the fbi did not issue a bulletin because they did not believe the hackers posed a real threat. President obama seemed so echo that view in an interview. The cyber attack is very serious. Were investigating it and taking it seriously. Well be vigilant. If we see something that is serious and credible, we will alert the public. For now, my recommendation is people go to the movies. So much with this story. We are joined by cnns will ripley live in tokyo. The Corporate Headquarters of sony. Will. Reporter john, i can tell you here in tokyo, not only sony executives, but japanese government are watching what will happen in the United States in the coming hours or days. There are two things the United States is leading the way on right now. They are investigating sony here in tokyo told me most of the investigation happening in the United States, but also the fact that u. S. Law enforcement officials are first to say what frankly most people have been thinking and suspecting that north korea is behind this attack. The next thing that japan will watch closely is whats the response going to be. If north korea is believed to be responsible, what retribution or consequences are for the action like this . Unprecedented attack on an American Corporation that has brought this corporation to its knees. Cost it potentially hundreds of millions of dollars. Shattered and caused people to be fearful if the movie was released in theaters, which we now know it will not. There will be people who would not go because of the threats made. All of this is new territory. The coming response is crucial and people here in japan are watching it closely. Right now, they are staying silent. You can bet they are monitoring. There are questions, will, and people asking is this not giving the North Koreans, is this not giving them what they want . Those questions will be asked all over this country and other countries as this story progresses. Will, thanks so much. North korea has been suspected of Cyber Attacks before. Including some against south korean Media Outlets and banks. The threeyear mourning period has ended, more suggest there could be more from kim jongun. We have kyung lah live from seoul this morning. Reporter good morning, john. What is this countrys concern is whats next. It is not a surprise for people in south korea. Not a surprise for the tech people this happened. There is a cyber war happening here in the peninsula with the north and the south. The fact that north korea decided to take the cyber war off the peninsula and attack a Large Company like sony, a company that is well entrenched in america, that is what is surprising here for south korea and the people here were speaking to are wondering what is next. What is north korea capable of . The first sign this country knew something was whats happening was last year when the banks were paralyzed and Media Companies went dark. John, cyber war full blown in the peninsula, now going global. A big concern. May in fact be effective in the North Koreans launched this. Kyung lah for us in seoul. Russia facing Major Economic turmoil. The ruble in freefall. As we speak, president Vladimir Putin questioned, grilled, by reporters. We are live with what he has to say and who he says is to blame. Thats next. Happening now. Russian president Vladimir Putin is in the middle his annual news conferen conference. He is facing questions about the economic turmoil. The value of the russian currency is falling because of oil and western sanctions following the aggression in ukraine. We have cnns Matthew Chance live in moscow with the latest. Good morning, matthew. Reporter good morning, john. Thats right. He started off this press conference, Vladimir Putin, with an introduction in which he talked about the economic crisis. Trying to reassure this country that the mess they are in economically would be dealt with and handled. The recovery would take two years. He did pledge he and his government would overcome the economic challenges facing the country. Those challenges are great. The ruble plunging by 60 against the dollar over the course of the year. He said that he will use the countrys Foreign Exchange reserves to support the ruble as much as possible and whenever necessary. Also saying he would reduce spending and key diversify the russian economy. The russian economy is almost wholly dependent on the price of crude oil. It rises and falls with the ruble. That is why the ruble has been dragged down the last couple of weeks because of crude oil. That has been a fundamental economic mistake on the russian leadership. It left them vulnerable in the oil markets. Vladimir putin, not for the first time, he is saying russia will diversify away from the dependence on oil. These are the reassuring remarks he is making as he faces questions over the course of the next four hours or so from journalists from around the world. Journalists from russia. Journalists from ukraine as well. He was asked by a ukrainian journalist by the situation there. He took the opportunity to say the russians are not in conflict with the ukraine crisis. They are doing more than giving moral support, but providing weapons and engaging in combat operations. Little sign, john, he is do an about on the international issues. I think what russians want to see is what happens in the next few day was the currency. Matthew chance, thank you so much. 47 minutes after the hour. Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will make his first appearance in court in more than a year this morning. He will attend a final Pretrial Hearing before jury selection begins in this murder trial on january 5th. His lawyers have filed a motion to delay that start date. The judge could rule on that request today. The 21yearold has already pleaded not guilty to a 30count indictment. Missouri governor jay nixon lifted the state of emergency for the st. Louis area in the wake of Michael Browns shooting death. Nixon praised the work of the National Guard and state and local police for the work following the grand jury decision not to indict officer darren wilson. New York City ComptrollerScott Stringer looking to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of eric garner. High profile cases like this death are usually handled by the Law Department of the city overseen by the mayor. It makes sense for the city to try to settle the case now before a long and bitter trial begins. The garners are not expected to file suit until early next year. More heavy rain and mountain snow in california. Lets take a look at the weather with meteorologist derek van dam for an early look at your weather. Good morning, john. We are monitoring a low pressure system bringing some wet weather to the Central Plain states as well as the Tennessee River valley. I40 could have a wet start. Drive with care near nashville. This is cold air to the north. Winter weather advisory from kansas all the way to missouri. 1 to 3 inches of snow before it is all said and done. This is a quick moving storm. We will say goodbye this afternoon. A departing low pressure system in new england. Flurries in new york. We have 1 to 3 inches in the forecast across maine and parts of vermont. Here is a look at temperatures through the weekend. Trending below average for places like chicago and minneapolis. Mild to the southeast. New york, you top 43 today. We are monitoring two different weathermakers for the Holiday Travel weekend. Wet weather across the southeast. Especially near louisiana and southeastern texas. Yet another storm across the west coast of the United States. Bringing muchneeded rain to california. Back to you, john. Derek, thank you. Happening now. Pakistan vows to fight back after the massacre. This morning, cnn crews take you live to the seen next. New this morning, in the wake of the tuesday School Attack in pakistan, leaders are asking afghanistan for help. The two countries spent year torn apart by tribal combat. They face terrorism along the border. No act of terrorism more barbaric than the murder of the 130 children on tuesday. Our Senior CorrespondentNic Robertson is live and has seen the carnage first hand. Reporter the army says the total number of people now dead is 148. One of the principle hospitals, there are 15 children still treated. Four in icu. Another two in high dependence unit. One in surgery today. Some of the children still in very critical condition. When the army took us into the school today, you just get a sense of shock and disbelief when you see what happened. The army showed us where the taliban came into the auditorium where the children were getting a class from the Army Brigadier on first aid. The pieces of equipment he was using to show them what to do, just lying where the brigadier was lying. The two doors of the side of the auditorium. Thats where the children fled to try to get out of the room. The taliban were shooting at them. Thats where the taliban mowed them down. 100 children died trying to get out of the doors and areas around the doors, carpets are blood soaked. The computer lab. Computers down either wall of the classroom. Chairs next to the computers. Taliban going in and shooting the children cold bloodedly. On the floor underneath where they were sitting are just pools of blood. The army is now trying to clean it up. Police forensic teams are in there. There is no doubt about what happened here. Nick, those images are difficult to see, but important to understand the brutality. Nic robertson live in pakistan. Thank you. 55 minutes after the hour. New trouble for uber. A driver accused of rape. What the company says it will do now to keep passengers safe. We will get an early start on your money next. All right. Cristina alesci is here with an early start on your money. Cristina, a lot going on in the world, but optimism in the markets. A good day for stocks around the world. Big gains in europe and asia. U. S. Stock futures are signaling a higher open. The dow coming off its best day of the year yesterday. It closed up 288 points or 1. 7 . Why . A small rally in oil prices was a good sign for energy producers, but the big reason, the Federal Reserve. The fed said yesterday it is not raising Interest Rates anytime soon. That promised to keep Interest Rates low for a considerable time. That did not change. Fed chair janet yellen hinted it will be closer to next user before the fed moves. It all depends on how the economy is doing. That is what wall street wanted to hear. Thats snapping stocks out of a threeday losing streak. A big deal. Uber is trying to clean up on the bad reputation. It has been at the center of huge scandal including drivers raping and assaulting passengers. Now the company is working on new technology to monitor drivers and improving the background check practices. Uber is setting up a Rapid Response team for emergencies. This company is getting one negative headline after another. Day after day. Cristina alesci, thank you. Early start continues right now. An historic new beginning for the United States and cuba. President obama announces a breakthrough agreement to restore ties to the island. The big fight from both sides of the aisle the president faces. Movie release canceled. Sony pulls the plug on the film the interview following Cyber Attacks and certiyber threats o hackers. All eyes on north korea. Is kim jongun behind the attacks . We have coverage ahead. Russias economy in crisis. As we speak, russian president Vladimir Putin on the defensive