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 We will end an outdated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our interests and, instead, we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries.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 CorrespondentChris 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