Transcripts For MSNBCW The Cycle 20141217

Known to only a few, provided america with the information that allowed us to arrest the network of cuban agents that included the men transferred to cuba today as well as other spies in the United States. Most information about this agent is classified but the director of National Intelligence says hes a cuban who worked on behalf of the u. S. Now, about those three cubans. They were convicted in the u. S. Of conspiracy to commit espionage. Today signals the biggest thaw in u. S. cuban relations since 1961 when eisenhower was in office. Some travel bans are being lifted bit not yet for tourists. President obama wants to reestablish diplomatic ties with havana and possibly lift cubas designation as a state sponsor of terror. We will end an outdated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our interests and, instead, we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. A big day but not everyone is cheering. Mixed feelings today for some cuban americans and americans of cub cuban descent. Well look at where the news first broke this morning, nbc news senior White House Correspondent Chris Jansing on the north lawn. This is the definition of an historic diplomatic breakthrough. How did it come about . Reporter yeah, 50 years of change. It is really transformational. The backstory is phenomenal. It started 18 months ago when the president gave the go ahead to go ahead with a series of super secret meetings. Most took place in canada between u. S. And cuban officials talking about, first of all, how do you release alan gross . Because if that didnt happen, none of the other things announced today were going to move forward. Then there was a meeting between the president and pope francis. And i think you cant overstate the importance of this. He encouraged the president , not only to work for the release of alan gross but to work toward normalized relationship with cuba. And then later on the pope just last month sent a letter to both president s, president castro and president obama, urging them to take this action. And that was kind of the final impetus. The final meeting that kind of crossed the ts and dotted the is on what we heard today took place at the vatican. We also know that the president then called alan gross today, while he was on the plane, returning back home. Expressed his happiness that this had happened. But there are a lot of other things that happened that are critical to the timing of this. And i think one we have to point out, ari, is simply generational. That theres been a change both with americans generally who have wanted a majority now, normalization of relations with cuba, who have an interest in traveling there, who have an interest, frankly, this things like cuban cigars, but more than that, there is a generation of young cuban americans who view things differently. This is really one of the last vestiges of the cold war and an awful lot of people alive who dont know what that was like and dont see that as part of it. The final thing were doing is looking ahead and that is, it is controversial. Setting up a huge fight in congress about whether or not an embargo should be lifted. We heard from some potential 2016 candidates like marco rubio and jeb bush, who are very unhappy about what the president announced today. Very important about the generational shift. Chris jansing at the white house. Now we go to south florida, home to americas largest cuban population. Mark caputo, you were covering jeb bush. Were putting up some of the live tweeting you did. How are people on the streets, though, and out in these communities reacting to what, as we just heard Chris Jansing call, a time of profound generational shift on these big Foreign Policy and immigration issues . Really depends on kind of what person youre talking to in the community. Chris did mention the change in attitudes. The Florida International university has done polling since 1991 about attitudes toward the embargo and cuba travel restrictions in miamidade county, which has been 860,000 cuban americans or cubans living in. Over the years, since 1991, support for the embargo has dropped about 39 Percentage Points in the fiu poll. And support for unrestricted travel has increased 25 Percentage Points. Now a slim majority of cuban americans in this poll in this county support lifting the embargo, or at least normalizing relations. But there are a lot of older people mere who remember their old homes and rm how the castro regime really ruined cuba. They came here as political refugees and they dont really like what theyre seeing. Some of those people who give voice to that, mario diaz balart, congressman from miami, says hes going to be using his position on two Budget Committee in the house to block these various executive actions, funding for them, specifically opening an embargo pardon me, opening an embassy in havana. He said that in a written statement, president obama was the appeaser in chief who was basically giving up a lot of stuff to the castros and not getting a lot in return. Albeit everyone seems to be lauding or has lauded so far alan grosss release. Do folks feel like the potential for full normalization, which it seems we are trending toward fairly quickly, would that help provide the gravity to end communism and bring down castro in cuba . Thats a good question. I understand the helms burton law that was passed codified the embargo in federal law. In order for that to be lifted it takes an affirmative act of congress. As you know, doing anything in congress, even things people agree on, is almost impossible these days. Beyond, that we have to look at venezue venezuela. We dont have an embargo against venezuela and the place right now is a socialist hell in that its sitting on some of the Worlds Largest oil reserves. You cant get cooking oil there. You can barely get toilet paper. So the actual political systems that exist there have caused a lot of problems. The idea that cuba will suddenly become a vibrant capitalist style, democratic style, capitalist economy, thats probably doubtful. But there is a strong belief, a voice now by president obama notably, that if we start to thaw relations, it will improve things in cuba and improve things in the United States. There are a lot of people in south florida, miami and key west, who would stand to make a fair amount of money from this because there if you do have increased travel, youre certainly going to have an increased amount of money flowing both ways. We heard from Chris Jansing about the centrality, interestingly, of pope francis in creating the space for this diplomatic breakthrough. How does the involvement of the v vatican in this deal impact the way the actual policy change is being viewed by the community there . Good question. One of the things we are seeing is a lot of people who come to the United States from spanishspeaking countries are actually becoming more theyre tending to be more protestant than catholic. Pope francis has done a good job in the spanishspeaking communities around here of reaching out and reestablishing the sense of the old church thaw used to love. I would imagine just for the church itself, that this would bring a certain amount of support back. I as a lapsed catholic certainly like the fact thaw see the pope taking a stance on something that he truly believes in and is trying to bring people together. Beyond, that you know, were talking about the politics of dysfunction in the United States. This is probably now a president ial campaign issue. Its 2014, but its basically 2016 as far as the election calendar is concerned. Jeb bush and marco rubio will certainly be making a big deal out of this. And a lot of people in this community who support them for it. They already have today. Ari said this is the definition of a significant diplomatic breakthrough. As someone that has been living and breathing the relationship between the u. S. And cuba, i mean, weve heard different opinions on this from both sides. But this in Historic Context for us. I mean, how big is today . Is this something well be talking about 50 years from now . It might be. I almost liken it when i was driving here, thinking about the death of castro. You would have thought that one of the castros would die before you would see Something Like this. And this certainly dropped a bombshell here. I was at this event this morning with jeb bush and we all kind of learned about it at the same moment. We were trying to figure out, what the heck does it mean . As far as the newsmaking quality of it, the only real comparison a lot of people come up with is the closing of the u. S. Embassy in havana in 1961. Now you have a president talking about reopening that. Its almost 180degree turn. Not quite there, but its i dont know, 140 degrees. Its a big monumental shift that i think people are going to were going to be talking about at least in this community and probably in our nation for the next few years. Certainly through the next president ial election. Mark, nor people who havent been following cuba, where do you rank it among the Different Countries that pose problems for us . We mentioned in our lead today that its still on the state sponsor of terror list. Is this a country like syria or iran or north korea, or are we really looking at updating for todays conditions a country that treats its people terribly but not the threat of our own enemies . Dangerous question for someone like me to answer. I dont have all the facts that the u. S. Government has that are probably classified. Just be honest. But we do know, for instance, that, you know, russia has talked about, sh putins russia has talked about reopening a base and having more of a military presence there. We know there was a connection between cuba and north korea with arms. So, to a degree they certainly deserve the state sponsor of terror designation to a degree, but at the same time f you make someone an enemy, the old saying goes, the enemy is my enemy of my friend so maybe you drive them into their arms, but for me it would take a lot more information to decide whether they should be on the list or not. They havent necessarily be the best of actors. South florida is a big place for Medicare Fraud, for instance. Theres a strong suspicion, a few reports out there, that the cuban government is actually incentivized people to come over and commit Medicare Fraud as a way of importing money into cuba. You know, these are our enemies. We have been had their enemies. Now were in this delicate dance of perhaps not being enemies any longer. Theres a lot of distrust and i used the word dysfunction earlier. Theres a lot of dysfunction in our relationship with cuba and i dont think its going to go away magically with the wave of a wand or executive action or even affirmative action of congress. Thanks for your time on this big day. Thank you. We have much more on this story. Next, reaction to todays developments. What americans are saying and what the politicians are saying. And then still ahead, as the Tipping Point goes, why the major shift in u. S. cuba relations right now. From the cyber attack to the threat of now, yes, a potential actual terror attack on u. S. Movie theaters. The latest sony hacking fallout. Thats all ahead as the cycle rolls on this wednesday, december 17th. But i did. Im mike, and im very much alive. Now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. And i quit smoking with chantix. 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Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. Im a nonsmoker, that feels amazing. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Wwithout the time and money to wash all this stuff separately. So we wash it all in cold water with tide. Even saras shorts. Those are mine. Seriously . Throw it all in. Really . Because tide cleans better. Even in cold. 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 political reaction is pouring in at this hour following president obamas announcement of a thaw in relations with cuba. I think this is an historic day for relations. With cuba and the United States. I believe very much that this action today will empower the cuban people. Its just another concession to a tyranny by the Obama Administration other than every right our country was founded on. Is it also would be the beginning of new policy changes for cuba. I was delighted to hear both. It is time. Its a tragedy he had to be in prison that long for simply doing his job. But, the fact is, is that hes coming home and thats great news. Today is a day to celebrate. Celebrate alan gross is home. Celebrate that ware moving toward more normal relations with cuba. And the work that went through points out to me that when youre fighting for human rights, you cant be quiet about it. He said i hope that this ordeal, this fiveyear ordeal, actually leads to something positive. And today, when we got on the plane, i told him, when you look at what the president will announce here soon, youll see that it has resulted in something very, very positive. So, that is what politicians are saying on the hill. But how are ordinary americans reacting . We have our own man of the people, Steve Kornacki has been digging into the polling to find out how todays news will ultimately play out. The bottom line, if you look at the polls and you dont have to dig that far into the past, can you look into february. February of this year and the polls are saying, the American People are ready for this. Theyre ready for Something Like this. The question that was asked this this poll back in february is, do you want a normalize relations with cuba or just sort of increase relations with cuba . Do you want a more direct relationship with them . Overall, 56 of the country said, yes, we want that. Only 35 said say they opposed it. Heres the more interesting thing. Lets dig deeper into these numbers. The reason why this has been so politically difficult to do, the reason this hasnt been done until now, after more than 50 years comes down to florida. Florida, the state with a huge cuban american population. Florida always the swing state in president ial elections. The thought has always been in florida, youll have particular opposition to this. So, it might even be popular in the rest of the country but it wont be in florida. How does this poll in florida . Take a look at this. Its even more popular. In february 63 in florida, people in florida said they supported this. Only 30 opposed. If you look at latinos cubans are one group of latinos. But its 2 to 1 supporting this. Another way to look at the numbers is broaden this and look at the sweep of history. This embargo weve talked about being there for more than 50 years is a product of the cold war, the u. S. Versus cuba being the soviet satellite country. So look at this. In 1996 gallup asked the question, just about five years after the cold war ended. Asked the question, do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of cuba . 81 unfavorable. Barely anybody in the country said they have a favorable view. Now four in ten americans say they have a favorable view of cuba. Theres a softening of americans view of cuba. Then the political evolution of the cuban american community. For a generation, for two generations, really, after fidel castro took power in cuba, the cuban american vote was as rock solid republican as can you find. Because the republicans were the hard liners against communism, against castro, in all of those cuban refugees in the United States sided with them. As recently as 2002, 64 of cuban americans called themselves republicans. Just last year they polled that question again. The number is basically dead even. You can see in these numbers why theres political space right now. When you look at florida, the cuban american community, theres political space right now for president obama to do Something Like hes doing today. It just wasnt there even ten years ago. Always love having qult pst cycle alum Steve Kornacki. Thank you for that. Alex is here with us on this big day. I want to start by putting this in some context. The president spoke about our relations with cuba over the years. Lets roll a built of that. I was born in 1961. Just over two years after fidel castro took power in cuba and just a few months after the bay of pigs invasion, which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out against the backdrop of the cold war. And americas steadfast opposition to communism. Were separated by just over 90 miles. But year after year an ideological and economic barrier hardened between our two countries. Barrier hardened is a new youve mystic way of putting it. I look at cuba as being a gnat in our backyard, and fidel castro enjoyed annoying president after president. This has been the way its been for so long. And its not going to go away any time soon. Weve already seen tremendous opposition from republicans in congress. They have a lot of power here. He can do a lot of this Via Executive action but he cant lift the embargo without legislation. And Lindsey Graham has already come out and said hell try to block funding for an embassy. So, if castro has been a gnat for republicans, republicans will be a gnat for obama on this one. Theyll do everything in their power to stop him. They view it as a complete overreach as they did with immigration, Climate Change and another in those series. Theyll fight this tooth and nail. Huge political implications from today. I mean, reaction to some of the polling steve showed us, fascinating stuff, the trends that have happened over the past few years. One that stuck out, though, 63 in florida support improving relations to cuba. Two names many people were waiting to hear from today, marco rubio, son of a cuban immigrant, as well as former governor jeb bush, especially leading into 2016. Both, obviously, not very happy about what obama did. Speak to the implications of this. Is this enough to animate the base of the Republican Party beyond just the state of florida . Well, im not sure if its enough to animate the entire base of the Republican Party. Youll get some opposed to any kind of executive action from the administration. But theres that very important base that cares about this, you know, tremendously. Single issue voters, a lot of them. And theyre very important. Theyre in florida. They donate money. They are reliable republican donors, so their voice goes a long way. And i think what youll have now is every republican in 2016 is going to have to come out, theyll have to roll this back, both because thats been the historical republican position and thats now what obama is coming out against and theyre opposed to theyre against anything obama comes out. I think it will fall into partisan camps. Its a little messier right now. Have you Robert Menendez coming out against the president , senator flake riding back on the plane with alan gross. I think by the time we get to 2016, it will be pretty partisan. Hillary clinton is on the record on this issue, which shes not on the record on every issue but one where shes been fairly clear. She wrote in her book hard choic choices near the end of my tenure i recommended to president obama that he take another look at our embargo with cuba. After 20 years of observing and dealing with the u. S. cuba relationship, i thought we should shift the onus onto the castros to explain why they remained undemocratic and abusive. This will be a big debate, if not countrywide, but in the swing state of florida. Earlier this year she called the embargo castros best friend because she views it as propping up the castro regime this ideological excuse to posture against the United States. Shes very much with the president here. Thats where she wants to be. She wants to be right with the white house. She was actually there a little before the president was. And, you know, she might speak out more on this in the days and weeks to come. One thing is clear, looking at those poll numbers and the generational divide, there are going to be fascinating. Very fiery debates over the family dinner table. Thank you very much. Up next, why now . What was the Tipping Point that led to this major change after 50 years . More than the car. For lotus f1 team, the Competitive Edge is the cloud. 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Then talk to your doctor about scientific advances i was thinking about htaking this speed test from comcast business. Oh yeah . If they cant give us faster internet or save us money, theyll give us 150 bucks. Sounds like a win win. Guys faster internet . I have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. Does he even work here . Dont listen to the naysayer. Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. Every single one of us are extremely grateful to see alan home on american soil, to see him free, to see him reunited with his family, to feel and witness the joy that this family is sharing today and that all the people in our country are sharing on their behalf. Cycling right now, new video of secretary of state john kerry reacting to the release of alan gross this morning. The question many of us have been asking since news of the cuban release this morning, many cuban americans never thought the political dominos would fall. So, what was the Tipping Point . For more on the timing of all this and what it means, we bring in michael crowley, new Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent at politico. Wow michael, moving up. Congrats. Good for you. Thanks, guys. The most Sweeping Change in american policy toward cuba in decades. Why now . Well, im going to tell you something you might not be expecting to hear which the question is almost why not sooner . If you go back to president obamas first campaign, in fact, i spoke to a former white house aide official very familiar with this policy today. He said, you can trace the line back to a debate in south carolina, i think it was, like seven years ago now, where president obama said that we need to have direct dialogue with, you know, sort of enemy governments we werent talking to at the time. They included iran and i think north korea. Cuba was definitely one of them. He was sort of attacked and ridiculed at the time by Hillary Clinton and others. He basically stuck to his guns. He changed his parameters a little bit. My point is from the beginning, this was an example in which president obama wanted to upend what he called conventional washington thinking about Foreign Policy and trying new approaches. And he wanted to begin normalizing relations from the beginning of his presidency. The big snag here was that this guy, alan gross, was abducted by the cubans. I also think obama realized that this socalled intelligence asset, who was a prisoner over there, was a bigger problem than he realized. So, they had to untangle those knots. In fact, as a matter of sort of policy vision, this was something that president obama had wanted to do from the very beginning. And it just took them a long time to be able to kind of orchestrate the particulars of this deal to get the individuals who are holding up the broader policy, get that Problem Solved and then move forward with this grander vision. For decades cuba has been horrible on human rights and abusing people, journalists. Are we going to get them to answer for those sort of things in all of this at some point . So, i think that this is the one area in which, if you go back and look at what obama was saying, back when he was a candidate, as i just mentioned, he seemed to be, i think, raising a somewhat higher bar than the one hes clearing now in terms of what the cubans had to do first. He talked about the release of, i think he said, all or virtually all Political Prisoners. And he also talked about real steps toward implementing democracy and Political Freedoms there. There have been dozens of Political Prisoners released as part of this deal. There were also many more released several years ago before an earlier step of liberalization in the relationship that the president took. But what you have not really seen any of is that systematic, broader, political reform, opening the door to democracy. There just hasnt been that much of that. I think in that regard the president has somewhat lowered the bar. And, you know, its possible there are some private assurances about future, you know, accountability and reforms in terms of human rights and politics. We havent seen them yet. Thats really the footholdren critics of this policy have right now. Michael, in terms of where we go from here, we heard from senator tom udall, democrat of new mexico earlier today. Lets take a listen. This is a day for us to start thinking in congress as to what we should be doing, because the president has been pointed out, can take certain actions but its really congress that drops the embargo and that moves towards dropping the embargo, and i think we should do that. I think i know the answer to this, but does Congress Actually act here and move the ball forward any further . No, congress as it is on all fronts for the president remains uncooperative and the hurdle that he cant get over. Likewise with iran, hes going to need the congress to lift permanently lift any sanctions hes willing to roll back as part of a nuclear deal. In fact, the Congress Wants to go in the opposite direction, by and large, press for tougher sanctions and try to sync his Nuclear Talks if he can. Its the same thing here. The president is doing as much as he can unilaterally but i dont think he can count on a lot of followthrough from congress. This is the great frustration of his presidency. Youre seeing in the steps he is taking today, an example of the president using the powers he has, where he can, as boldly as he can, because hes essentially given up on capitol hill. Michael, theres another big player that is not given as much attention today and that would be china. They obviously have an important relationship with cuba. President obama mentioned china today, speaking about this making the point, look, theyre not a democracy. We figured out a way to make it work. He said considering 35 years weve made relations work, a communist country. They have their human rights issues as well. How do you think china is responding about all of this . I imagine theyre not thrilled about it. Yeah, theyre probably not thrilled about it. But theres a big difference by the way, it will also be interesting to see what Vladimir Putin has to say about this. Cuba has this very special, historical relationship with moscow as well. And the russians may see it as a somewhat strategic asset. This could be another setback for Vladimir Putin. Hes having a rough Holiday Season. China and cuba are very different. China at a certain point really kind of adopted, you know, a modified version of capitalism. They completely reshaped the way they think about markets and commerce. Fundamentally changed their society. Theres just not that much ideology remaining in china, the communist revolution is mainly over. Cuba has that old revolutionary, ideology and spirit. Theyre very different animals right now. Mr. Politico, michael crowley, thank you very much for your time. Thanks for having me, guys. My pleasure. Still ahead, aris thoughts on this major news story at the end of the show. Next, another movie chain pulls the movie the interview after a real world threat by cyber hackers. Details and a spin on this next. In a race, its about getting to the finish line. In life, its how you get there that matters most. 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Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. Fallout continuing from the sony cyber attack. More movie chains pulling back that any theater that shows the comedy about that fictional assassination of the north korean leader. Cnc reporting regales cinema delays opening, arclight is not showing it as well as carmike. Sony itself canceled tomorrow nights planned new York Premiere the interview and the film stars james franco and seth rogen have pulled out of publicity appearances this week, including the tonight show and late night with seth meyers on nbc. On tuesday hackers who call themselves guardians of peace invoked 9 11 while threatening to attack any theater that shows the movie. U. S. Officials say theres no credible evidence at this point between any terror plot but between the lost profits, pr nightmare, some analysts believe it could result in financial losses for sony running up to 100 million. Others suggest the media is playing into the attackers hands in the way some reporters are using the leaked emails. So, were going to get right to a big question here, should the press be reporting on all the content of these emails . I mean, sony would love for us not to cover the story. Partly because its super embarrassing and theyre invoking, dont help the hackers. I find that incredibly selfserving, sfoolish, perhaps offensive. Media should not be hacking or stealing information. Thats not ethical newsgathering. Thats not what happened. A hack happened of a major american corporation. We have to report that. The obvious, natural next question is, what did we learn in this hack . Its not our fault that what we learned was very lainteresting stuff. The next step would be very boring. The ceo said the coo does not do his job good enough. Boring stuff. In this situation, we have titilating information. We have to talk about it. Theres two pertinent questions here. One is, is the information newsworthy . And the courts have already given, ari will correct me, the courts have given wide jurisdiction to what is newsworthy. Clearly when youre talking about relations with another country, Major Company hacked, thats all very newsworthy. Its angelina jolie, thats newsworthy. To some that is newsworthy. But the question is, does the media reporting it put lives at danger . The fact that Homeland Security is saying doesnt look like a credible threat here and when you ask the question, does the fact that the media is reporting the threat make it any more real, no, not really. So, to me, its not even a tough question, as youre pointing out, toure. You know what, theyre on the defense. I think if this were to happen to any company, that would be there. No one wants this to happen to them. No one wants someone to get into their personal emails or work emails. I think if anything, this is a huge wakeup call, this is as a reality today. This stuff happens. You asked the question, does this make any news . Do we care at all . One thing that stuck out to me was the maureen dowd emails from the new york times. Shes someone i respected for a number of years. She was writing a piece about women in the industry and wanted to highlight amy pascal, the cochair of sony. She was sending emails to her and her husband. There are reports she even showed her the piece before it was released. Maureen dowd said, that didnt happen. Who knows what actually happened there. But its a reminder, i think, to the media of what do we want our responsibility to be . And we have to know that everything we write in our emails, especially at work, could get out at any moment. Right. I think this is a story that has big Foreign Policy implications. The United States would not react kindly to a big propaganda operation from another country talking about the assassination of our leaders. This is serious and bellicose in that way. Yet in our free speech tradition, that kind of art, that kind of satire, is allowed. And its a goofy comedy. We havent seen it yet. I think, though, its important to say, what is allowed in the case of the first amendment, a lot of reporting with a wide berth is not always whats good. And i think the question and the test as this gets serious. My producer is telling us we have to go. Were in a serious time right now as were talking about these threats of violence. Were in a serious time about a lot of leaked information thats the product of crime. And so the press has to think deeply about the responsibility it wants to play. We have a wide legal berth and then we have to make decisions about weighing that, editorial judgment, what is valuable and constructive here. Theres information thats come out thats useful. Some of it, Social Security numbers and others, that i wouldnt publish. So, its a tough one. Were in a tough time. And i think i can speak for everyone that we hope, obviously, the story gets better and not worse and none of these threats come to pass. We got to go, as i said. Up next, well look back overseas. Nbcs allowed inside the school in pakistan where that terrible terror attack took place. We have a report from the scene. Will it drag the u. S. Even deeper into that spiraling conflict in pakistan . [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. Wow [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbells chunky soup. Its new chunky beerncheese with beef and bacon soup. I love it. And mama loves you. And mama loves you. I was pretty stunned myself. Removes fourteen years of stains. See . Crest whitestrips work on a deeper level than paste. Whitening toothpaste only removes surface stains, but whitestrips go below the enamel surface to safely remove deep stains. Dont miss our buy one get one free offer this Holiday Season feet. Tiptoeing. Better things than the pain, stiffness, and joint damage of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Before you and your rheumatologist decide on a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. Xeljanz tofacitinib is a small pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz can relieve ra symptoms, and help stop further joint damage. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. Dont start xeljanz if you have any infection, unless ok with your doctor. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz and routinely check certain liver tests. 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. A nation in mourning after the unspeakable horror inside that Pakistani Military school. The death toll now stands at 133 School Children and 10 of their teachers. Pakistan is under three days of official mourning. Vigils are being held across the country. The Prime Minister is vowing revenge. Hes bringing back the Death Penalty for convicted terrorists. The Pakistani Military has launched another round of air strikes targeting militants in north waziristan. Waj khan is there. Youre inside the remains of this school and the hospital as well. Weve only seen the pictures. Tell us what its actually lick to be there. Reporter it was it was terrible, abby. It was hellish, actually. The smell of blown up explosives and grenades, charred body parts, coagulated blood. The site of the kids bags, their pens, books. Theyre retracing the steps of the terrorists who attacked this auditorium. They obviously knew they had intelligence that most of the kids would be inside this auditorium. Thats where most of the casualties were incurred. They were, ironically, these kids were attending a seminar on first aid when they came in through all doors, picked them off one by one. The teacher who was there, who protested. They stood her up on the stage and burned her alive so they could all watch. The kids who tried to escape were picked off by the door. A human pyramid of bodies was created, thus essentially blocking all the exits. Then they moved on to other classrooms. Held the principal hostage. Its a terrible story, really, but its really in a divided country, its time for some sort of unity. And it seems the pakistani are being forced by this event to reorganize. The military chief flew to kabul, met american commanders, met the president and chalked out a common plan for tackling terror. The pakistani Prime Minister has announced a joint National Action plan for battling the militants. The opposition, which was in months long protests have called off those protests. Even the clerics are on the same page now. Theyre calling this a condemnable act of terrorism. Thank you so much for that report. Widespread condemnation of this attack is creating a rare moment of unity among pakistans political rivals and from pakistans neighbors. But there are concerns the u. S. Could get dragged back into pakistans new war on terror as we pull combat forces out of afghanistan at the end of this month. This summer pakistan ranked 13th on Foreign Policys list of failed states. That is the worst rating it has ever gotten. So, is the situation there worsening . Does the u. S. Have a Real National security interest in helping pakistan destroy terrorists . Daniel, at the council on Foreign Relations and author of the book no exit from pakistan. Thank you for being with us. So, answer the two Big Questions here. Is pakistan worse than ever . And at what point does it make sense for us to step in . At what point is it in our National Security interest . Its hard to judge whether pakistan is worse than ever. Viewers will probably remember a series of other spectacular and horrible events that have happened in pakistan over the past decades. Even just over the past few years weve seen suicide bombings, weve seen assassinations of top political assassinations of top political leaders and near assassinations of former president. Weve seen a country that has suffered and traumaized terribly over a long period of time. Still this most recent attack has shaken the people of pakistan even more. Certainly one of the most saddest day in pakistans history, whether it will change pakistan policies and strategies, it is completely unknown at this point. To that point and one of the things i was looking at that Foreign Policy was pointing out is the fact pakistan is has the second highest number of out of School Children in the world, 22 of kids who are supposed to be going to school are not going to school. I could only imagine a horrifying attack like this would worsen that crisis. The fact you dont have children getting an education does it feed in the ability of the terrorists like the taliban to operate in pakistan . It is useful to put this event in a context. Pakistan is a country of 200 Million People and Something Like 60 is under the age of 23. That is an enormous youth bulge that is likely to persist for the next three decades until it has about 300 Million People, making it top five countries by population in the world. So an enormous population and much of which is poorly educated and has limited opportunity for earning a living, getting out of poverty, for finding sorts of opportunities that would make terrorism, extremism and other kinds of violence, even criminal ality would make those unnecessary or less attractive than they already are. This is a country that faces huge internal problem thats go well beyond the narrower question of terrorism and this one attack. And its a country that the United States has a deep and abiding interest in. Remember this is not just a big country, not just a poor country, its also a Nuclear Armed country and a country that is located near china, near india, near the arabian sea and the energyrich countries of the middle east. Pakistan will matter to the United States and to the world for decades to come. This is a sign of the challenges we face. Thank you very much for that. Up next angle on past, present and future relationship of u. S. And cuba. Go power. 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Now if you had a Liberty Mutual new car replacement, youd get your whole car back. I guess they dont want you driving around on three wheels. Smart. New car replacement is just one of the features that come standard with a base Liberty Mutual policy. And for drivers with accident forgivness,rates wont go up due to your first accident. Learn more by calling switch to Liberty Mutual and you can save up to 423. For a free quote today,call Liberty Mutual insurance at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. He. We can never erase the history between us but we believe you should be empourwer with dignity and selfdetermination. Today were making these changes because it is the right thing to do. Today america will cut loose the shackles of the past. President did not just make history by restoring relations with cuba but ended a failed experiment. January had 1, 1961 America First advised americans to leave cuba. Saying limits of endurance had been reached. It was true then. But today, in a different way. We have lived through the stubborn repetition of a failed approach by president s in both parties. Become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the soviet union than this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies. The president of soviet combat troops in cuba is of serious concern. Our cuba policy has never worked. It never toppled castros government. It fails capital. Barred from doing business with cuba has cost tens of billions of dollars. And humanitarian failure. It doesnt reflect our values and it is a counter productive strategy. From the old cold war to the current fight with islam we have a strategy to win people over by values of freedom and progress. And the cuban embargo operate on cubas goals. It will begin to change today. Land change more if Congress Steps up and votes on further reforms. It is worth noting this policy was first celtiset in motion by lame duck president before the current president was even born and now being over hauled by another lame duck president thats because there is no political calendar when it comes to american leadership. President obama prove that today. It is a lesson this Congress Still hasnt learned. That does it for our show. Now with alex wagner starts right now. An achievement over half a century in the making. This is now. Today the United States is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. Allen gross leading cuba after 65 years in prison. Released on humanitarian grounds. It was crucial knowing i wasnt forgotten. Theres going to be a lot of mixed feeling in the u. S. A. This policy shift is based on an illusion a lie. 50 years have shown that it hasnt workd. It pains me to hear congress insult the president. The president is doing what hes been elected to do. Im as anticastro as any of them. I think this is a good move. This is about freedom and openness. In president is the single worse negotiator that weve had in the white house in my lifetime. Its time for a new approach. Today after more than half century of economic them bargo and political obstacles, president obama announced the renewal of diplomatic relations with cuba. First shift since 1961 when u. S. Severed relations. 1961