Assistant secretary of state Roberta Jacobson. Begin negotiations tomorrow to normalize relations. When what youre doing doesnt work for 50 years, its time to do something else. What were doing with respect to cuba is not a reward for anything. Hoping it will pave the way for secretary of state kerry to come. I look forward to traveling to cuba. Its unlikely the embargo will be lifted any time soon. There is a lot of history to overcome. We are ending policy that was long past its expiration date. What we keep hearing is hope. Weve been waiting for this. Assistant secretary of state Roberta Jacobson arrived in cuba to begin talks tomorrow on normalizing relations with cuba. She will discuss opening a cuba embassy in washington, d. C. And American Embassy in havana as well as banking issues mail service and expanding trail between the two countries. With cuba we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. [ applause ] the president , of course does not have the Legal Authority to fully dismantle the United States embargo on cuba which was finally actually signed into a law by president bill clinton in one of the most misguided and weakest moments of the clinton presidency. Because completely removing the embargo requires legal action just one senator, like Florida Republican marco rubio, might be able to stop that. Last night the president asked congress to do the right thing. When what youre doing doesnt work for 50 years, its time to try something new. [ applause ] and our shift in cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere. It removes a phony excuse for restrictions in cuba stands up for Democratic Values and extends a hand of friendship to the cuban people. This Year Congress should work on ending the embargo. A governing majority requires 60 and 60 of the American Public is with the president on this one. Joining me now from havana is amon. What are you anticipating tonightsome reporter it was a big day here today in cuba. With the arrival of this american delegation the highest level of delegation to arrive in cuba for 38 years. Today, what they were talking about is sort of the normal migration talks that exist on an ongoing basis. Tomorrow, they get into the nitty gritty of renormalizing relations and whether american diplomats can travel here and whether or not the United States can reopen its embassy here which has been closed since the 60s. There was that sort of appendage to the story where a russian spy ship as we call it found its way into havana har bob. Harbor. Reporter it was a spy ship not too far from where were sitting. We went over there to take a look at it. It is a soviet era 1980s russian navy ship. Its here on active duty. The russians say its here not to send any particular signal. Theyre not trying to step on the u. S. Visit to cuba. We went to try to get on the ship and talk to the sailors. Security stopped us there. But it looked like a normal day there on the ship. We saw the russian sailors meeting with members of their family who had flown in from russia to visit them. A lot of them have been out to sea for a year or more. This is the first time for the families to be reunited with their loved ones on board. Obviously, it went very well noticed here in havana that the russian ship was here. Before you go youre reporting for cnbc. Of course you have a lot of knowledge of whats going on in the business communitys reaction. Reporter American Business wants access to the cuban market particularly in the travel and tourism sectors. A lot of americans who want to come down here. As of now, there are 12 categories opened for american travelers. A lot of those categories werent open before. We could be talking about billions of dollars of new business for american and cuban businesses. I can tell you with the level of poverty that you see on the ground here in havana, they need some influx of capital here pause theres a lot of improvement that needs to be made here in havana. Joining us now, congressman peter welch. Congressman welsh, what is your reaction to what the president had to say last night . I think it was great. Senator rubio may not like normalizing relations, but the cuban people are really excited. We spent 2 1 2 days Walking Around cuba, enterinteracting with cubans and they where are so excited. They saw our cubanamerican lapel pipn and came up to talk to us. The opponents are say thing is a reward to castro. This is a threat to castro. You have trade, you have travel you have transportation you have interaction open internet. This is the dynamic that has to get going in order for the cuban people to have a shot at opening up that society and having a more democratic government. I can see why senator rubio is against it. But the cuban people are quite excited about it. And why now you know the castro approach to government having spent realtime with fidel, why did the castro brothers come around now . Because they had to. They had no choice. Their biggest ally is venezuela, which the president is in a very wobbly condition there. They didnt know if they had years, months or even weeks with venezuela, which provides a huge economic subsidy to the island of cuba. 100,000 barrels of oil every day. And the laundry list goes on and on which they have helped them with. China, not available to be a patron. The russian ruble, you know, collapsing. This is an economic necessity. That doesnt mean its not the right thing for america to do after 50 years, as president obama said of doing one thing that hasnt worked out, you might want to try something else. But in terms of the castros, and i think they made that clear by making sure there was a soviet spy ship in the harbor on the very day, they made it clear they are reluctant partners. They have resisted this contrary to conventional wisdom for some time because there are there are questions of you know what will this do to the reign of the castros, serious questions. So ann, you dont see the spy ship as a coincidence . Oh no absolutely not. Nothing that happens in cuba and with the castro family is coincidence. Everything is carefully choreographed. Certainly nothing of that scale. Its just to say look guys at the negotiating table, if this doesnt work out with us today, remember we still have the russians very interested. We have their spy station literally on the island which is very capable of surveilling the United States to a certain extent. And theyre sending a signal. Now, look both sides have indicated on day one that theyre tamping down expectations. Roberta jacobson said look were restoring. Were reestablishing diplomatic relations, but we are not normalizing, which she said is going to be a very long process. And the cubans on their side said look dont think for a minute that this is going to change the status quo with our government. We are run by the communist party and that is the way its going to be. So both parties said they day one, you know be ware. This is the hard part. Tomorrow is going to get harder. They each have a list of what they want and well see by the end of the day what is achieved. Its exciting. Congressman, to restore diplomatic relations, were going to need an embassy and ambassador. Obviously you need to confirm an ambassador, but what other legislative action is necessary for that . Does it have to be a specific appropriation for that embassy in havana . We have a big building we have the residents of our resident agent down there, who would be called the ambassador if we had normalized relations. So we have property its not a big deal there, but its much more a political deal here. The fundamental question for us is whether we think hands off the policy of nonengagement is going to work or the policy of engagement is going to create a dynamic that gives the cuban people more of a shot at changing their own government. And the castros, they are tough. They have no interest in relinquishing power. When we were there with senator leahy, good friend who has done a lot, we were expecting a meeting with raul castro. That was canceled when we told him we were meeting with cuban dissidents in advance. So they had this reaction to the mere fact that we wanted to hear from all sides. This is not about us trying to do regime change its trying to give the cuban people more access to information and some of the tools they need and Economic Opportunity that may help them make determinations about their own future. Ann, what about the reaction in florida among the Cuban Community in florida . Its mixed. Its generational. The Younger Generation the newer, you know, cubans to florida are very enthusiastic. The older generation tends to be very either unhappy or wary. Although everybody is exhausted by a half century cold war. So there is this tremendous cuba or fidel fatigue, as it were. But yes, certain of these items like getting an ambassador is going to require congress. We have eight members of congress who are definitely not going to be helpful in any way. We have three cubanamerican senators, any which can put on a hold. So i dont you know i think theres going to be a lot of change in cuba. Immediately, you have a huge amount of money flooding into cuba right away from people sending remittances. But yeah, theres going to be a lot of tough work to do in washington. Thank you both very much for joining me tonight. Coming up republican paul ryan says he agrees with president obama word for word on at least one part of the president s state of the Union Address. And we have breaking news tonight from the house of representatives where the speaker has decided to abandon plans for a debate and vote on a restrictive abortion bill tomorrow because of the opposition of republican women in the house of representatives. Youre only young once. Unless you have a subaru. announcer the subaru xv crosstrek. Symmetrical allwheel drive plus 34 mpg. Love. Its what makes a subaru a subaru. Ameriprise asked people a simple question in retirement, will you have enough money to live life on your terms . I sure hope so. With healthcare costs, who knows. Umm. Everyone has retirement questions. So ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. Now you and your ameripise advisor. Can get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. Jimmy fallon saw some pros and cons in last nights state of the Union Address. After the speech president obama took questions. This is if first question, i can has obamacare . Thats not a good question. Pro, obama entered the room to the song hail to the chief. Con, biden entered to cotton eyed joe. Coming up breaking news from the house of representatives. Republicans have pulled a restrictive abortion bill. Theyre not going to have a vote on that tomorrow after a revolt from women in the Republican Party in the house of representatives. With the incredible fuel efficiency of 38 milespergallon highway you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima. Now, get great offers on the 38 mpg highway nissan altima. Nissan innovation that excites. We used to have so many empty rolls mom thats why we switched to charmin ultra mega roll. Charmin ultra mega roll is 75 more absorbent so you can use less with every go. Plus it even lasts longer than the leading thousand sheet brand. Charmin ultra mega roll. I have the flu with a runny nose. [coughs] better take something. Theraflu severe cold wont treat your runny nose. Really . Alkaseltzer severe cold and flu relieves your worst flu symptoms plus runny nose. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. Mommy hey we still may not agree on a womans right to choose, but surely we can agree that its a good thing that teen pregnancies and abortions are nearing alltime lows and every woman should have access to the health care she needs. Breaking news tonight. The house of representatives has just canceled a debate and vote tomorrow on a very restrictive abortion bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks. The vote was scheduled for tomorrow, but several conservative members, female members of congress, thought the bill was too extreme. And yesterday, two cosponsors oh of that bill did this. For what purpose does the gentle gentlelady speak recognition . I speak to remove myself as a cosponsor. Mr. Speaker, i ask consent to remove myself from hr36. Without objection. Joining me now, david axelrod, former Senior Adviser to president obama and molly redden. David, thats a very surprising moment on the inner of the house of representatives when anyone gets up there and withdraws cosponsorship. Earlier tonight, when i was preparing this segment before the announcement that they werent going to vote, i thought that was an ominous signal. It turns out it was enough apparently. But did they represent two votes or 20 or 50 votes . It turns out they represented enough to stop this bill tomorrow. Yeah, now we know. What strikes me is how much things have changed in just ten weeks. Ten weeks ago, we were sitting together in the Republican Caucus was triumphant giants on the landscape, on the Political Landscape and the president was in retreat. Now the president is resurgent and this new Republican Congress has gotten out of the gates very badly. This is just another example of it. A big problem on the immigration bill now this bill dropped because once again, they mishandled the issue of rape even in the eyes of conservative women in their caucus. And its almost as if theyre doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Really, a Stunning Development tonight. Molly, youve been reporting on the developments of this bill. What was it that the republican women had problems with in this bill . Well, the comments that they made they had problems with the rape exception as david said. The bill would require women, in order to get an abortion under circumstances of rape to first report her assault to Law Enforcement officials and republican women thought that was just too restrictive. They know a lot of women who are raped never come forward to the police, and they would really be in dire straits. Privately to their caucus they spoke out about how is this going to look . Lets think very carefully what sort of message this will send to voters. I think thats an interesting contrast. Im sure they believe both are very true. David, tomorrow is the, i believe, 42nd anniversary of roe versus wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in this country. Every year on that day, the halls of congress are filled with petitioners, kind of grassroots lobbyists going to members of Congress Going to senators, their senators members of congress lobbying against illegal abortion in this country. Every Year Congress does nothing about it including the Republican Congressmen who swear thats why they got elected, to do something about it. That vote tomorrow was supposed to be that symbolic something. This would have never made it to a vote in the senate. They couldnt have gotten by a filibuster by democrats. So it was a purely symbolic act and now it turns out the republicans arent capable of that. Well look they have a huge problem, and it shows up every president ial election cycle, which is they have driven off young people they have driven off women voters in large numbers. They have driven off hispanic voters in large numbers. As i said before they seem intent on compounding all of those problems in the first weeks of the of this congress. If i were a candidate running for president on the republican side, this is my worst nightmare, which is ive got to live with this Republican Congress thats dominated by far right voices. Once again, defining the Republican Party in ways that are unhelpful to them. You know i think theyve got a big problem, and clearly have misread their own caucus. Lawrence, youre a veteran of the hill. The notion that this bill could get as far as it got, with all the problems they had within the caucus, that nobody thought to stop it before it became a public embarrassment speaks to real mismanagement of the caucus. These guys are like the dog that caught the car. Theyre in charge before with a caucus larger than ever before and they seem befuddled by it. Im not one who has been critical of john boehner in the past having to take down bills, like budget bills where he knows he has to test his caucus and see what theyre willing to vote for. And thats always ive always seen that as boehner enroute to getting something through that they need to get through in terms of budget stuff. This was a pure symbolic vote and to not get the count right on that or to not see this coming says something about what this Republican Leadership is able to even understand about its own caucus. Yeah. Its a really astonishing turn of events. They werent whipping up votes exactly for this bill. There were early signs that they understood some of the issues with this. At the same time so many of their conservative members really went to the mat for this legislation in debates as they were getting elected in these last elections. And so theres just this real schism between the people who are really counting on these symbolic votes. Then people who just realize that its the wrong turn for the party. Even representative elmers doesnt seem to fully understand some of the issues with this bill. She said that it might be worth avoiding a vote on this because Younger Voters they dont feel too strongly about social issues. And that is just wildly incorrect. Polls have consistently shown that Younger Voters feel a lot more strongly about Abortion Access and reproductive rights than other age groups, as other age groups shift to the right on this issue. Younger er so even the more moderate voices are still fundamentally misreading the wrong tur