a three-day european tour. before the meeting, john kerry focused his remarks on backing the israeli stance on iran's nuclear program. >> we have made clear and we are adamant that words are no substitute for actions. and what we will need, all of us, in order to be satisfied with respect to the united nations sanctions, to the demand of the iaea, as well is to our own security requirements, we will need to know that actions are being taken which make it crystal clear, undeniably clear, failsafe, to the world that whatever programs are pursued is indeed a peaceful program. >> russia has reduced the charges against the so-called arctic 30 detained in a direction action against russia's first arctic offshore oil rig last month. the 28 greenpeace activists and to journalists are no longer accused of piracy come of that are still facing charges of hooliganism that could land them in jail for up to seven years. at hearing on wednesday where bail was denied him a one of the greenpeace activist said the group was unlawfully captured at sea. >> [indiscernible] >> the federal government has extended the deadline for buying health insurance through the new online exchanges by six weeks to march 31. act, the affordable care americans who go without insurance for three consecutive months will be forced to pay a penalty. the obama administration says the deadline extension is unrelated to the complications that have plagued the exchanges since they came online at the end -- at the start of the month. four contractors involved in the rollout glitches are testifying before a house panel today. has found bank of america liable for one count of civil fraud in the sale of toxic mortgages. prosecutors had accused bank of america of executing a scheme that would blindly hand out mortgages without proper checks, and then turn around and sell the toxic loans to the government controlled fannie mae and freddie mac. reaped ak of america windfall, fannie and freddie were stuck with huge losses and for close properties. this scheme was known as the hustle and originated under the firm countrywide financial, which bank of america took over in 2008. the justice department is seeking a find from bank of america of over $848 million. opening arguments began wednesday in a trial set to determine the outcome of detroit's bankruptcy filing, the largest by a municipality in u.s. history. the trial pits the city and state government against thousands of current and former city employees whose pensions and medical benefits face major cuts. as the hearing began, hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the courtroom. if i amkes me feel as irrelevant, insignificant, and my voice doesn't matter. so we have to get out and show support for those who have been unjustly treated in this whole bankruptcy scheme. >> michigan governor rick snyder is among the public officials expected to testify during the multi-day trial. a new poll shows legalizing marijuana is now favored by majority of americans for the first time on record. gallup, pot legalization has 58% support, a 10% jump from a year ago. the federal communications commission has extended the application deadline for thousands of new noncommercial, low-power fm radio licenses. the fcc opened up the lpfm spectrum earlier this year in response to link the public campaign giving nonprofits, labor unions, and community groups a one-time only chance to own a bit of the broadcast airwaves. because of the government shutdown, the sec has moved the deadline from october 29 to november 14. in washington state, agribusiness companies and food manufacturers are pouring millions of dollars into an effort to defeat what could become the country's first law requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods and seeds. washington residents will vote 5,initiative 522 on november but companies opposed to labeling are funding a more than $17 million effort to derail it. monsanto donated nearly $5 million and dupont has given more than three million dollars while pepsi, coca-cola, and nestlé have dedicated more than one million dollars each. labeling supporters have raised less than one third of their opponents. their largest donor is dr. bronner's magic soaps. a recent new york times full -- poll found 93% of americans want labels on food containing gm owes, 64 countries require it. meanwhile legislators on one hawaiian island recently passed your own bill restricting pesticide use by companies developing gm owes. because of its location, kauai has become a hot spot for new genetically modified crops, particularly corn, which is grown by companies including dupont, singin take on and out. the residence a pesticides from the fields are making them sick. last week the county council passed a measure that requires the companies to disclose which pesticides they use and establishes buffer zones around medical facilities, schools, and homes. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we turn now to a democracy now exclusive. >> excuse me, sir. do you know who the cuban five are? >> didn't they play the u.s. in the pan-american games in the basketball tournament? >> do you know who the cuban five are? there are five men defending their country against terrorism. >> americans? >> no, cubans. >> why haven't i heard about them? >> are they a rock band? >> do you know who the cuban five are? do you want to find out? picture of me. >> they infiltrated terrorist exile who are planning attacks inside cuba. the cuban five have a right to defend the cuban revolution. >> that was danny glover in a clip from the documentary, "will the real terrorist please stand up." danny glover was asking people in california about the cuban 5 -- the subject of our show today. 15 years ago the cuban five intelligence agents were arrested in the united states. four remain locked up, the fifth onl join us today from hathey g the united states, but trying to monitor violent right-wing cuban exile groups here responsible for attacks inside cuba. the berlin wall comes to an end. the fall of 1989. the soviet union comes to an end in november 1991. the cuban economy is going into a freefall. the cuban exile decide they have attacks they're going to carry out on cuba. we had to send our men in order to know what plots for hatching and where were they hatching the spot's >> -- those plots. hijackedrene gonzalez a plane in cuba and flew to miami. joined afterward, he brothers to the rescue. four others.ed by years later these men would be known as the cuban five. cuban intelligence agents whose job it was to pretend -- penetrate violent exile groups. >> that was the late filmmaker saul landau, narrating his film, "will the real terrorist please stand up." today we will be joined by rene hisalez from havana in first extended u.s. television interview since his release from jail. he returned to cuba earlier this year after spending her teen years in u.s. prison. in u.s. prison. in cuba, they're seen as heroes. they were spying on a group that works hang out deadly attacks including the 1976 bombing of flight 455, killing all 73 people on board, and the 1997 hotel bombings in havana. one of the groups in florida the men infiltrated was called brothers to the rescue, founded by cia trained exile named jose who flew planes from florida and cuba to provoke the cuban government. in 1996, cuba shot down two of the group's planes after they flew into or near cuban airspace. four people died. the cuban five also infiltrated 66.a 66 -- alpha in 1998 they were arrested. instead of deporting the spies back to cuba, the u.s. put them on trial in miami, a move widely criticized. robert pastor, president jimmy carter's national security advisor for latin america said -- this is another clip from the documentary, "will the real terrorist please stand up." retired colonel lawrence wilkerson, the former chief of staff secretary of state colin powell. >> look at the taccone and sentences they got. two life sentences plus 15 years? and this is supposed to be because of the brothers to the rescue shootdown and so forth, which i have absolutely no way of knowing the truth about because our government, the cuban-american community, and others have so clouded the facts and so obfuscated all of the available material on it. >> beginning on his own behalf, hernandez said it is necessary for some countries to send their sons and daughters to defend themselves, to carry out dangerous missions, be they in afghanistan or in south florida. >> it is not whether they were sent here because acts of terrorism were happening in cuba. you do not send people to spy in other countries because you think they are committing or you say they're committing acts. those 5 that are trying to be painted as heroes are murderers. >> all of the men were given maximum sentences to my kept in solitary confinement for more than a year, barred from seeing certain family members, and what they believe was the most prejudicial, they were not granted a change of venue out of miami. >> there was ample evidence of intimidation of the jury. in fact, some of the jurors processhe voire dire specifically said that they were afraid for their families if they reached a verdict in this case that was not acceptable to the exile community in miami. >> i do not understand why the trial proceeded in dade county, florida. me, ise of venue, to something that is demanded when there is absolutely no chance of the defendant or defendants getting a fair trial in the area of where they're going to be tried. >> but all terrorists are treated the same. really those that are favored by the administration can operate with impunity inside the u.s. people who want to partake in violent acts against cuba are protected. yet you see individuals who are trying to stop those active terrorist, try to make american law enforcement aware of these activities, are the people who end up being prosecuted. people who end up in jail and those who blowup airliners, blow up hotels, conduct acts of violence, they are free. there are the toast of the town. the administration is paralyzed either on policy with respect to cuba, with respect to the war on terror. what you see is the level of duplicity is incredible. >> those democratic commerce member george miller of california. before him, lawrence wilkerson, the former chief of staff of the former secretary of state clinton powell. as well as the late cuban five attorney leonard weinglass and cuban exile ninoska pérez castellón. that was all from an excerpt of the film, "will the real terrorist please stand up." when we come back, we go to havana, cuba, to speak with rene gonzalez, the only freak member of the cuban five, about why he came to the u.s. to spy on cuban militants exiles. you will talk about the arrest and the other four members of the cuban five who remain in jail in this country. we will also speak with ricardo alarcon. , he was earlier cuba's foreign foreign minister. ♪ [music break] a concert in honor of the cuban five in havana in september. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. to rene gonzalez, the only freed number of the cuban five. 2011s released in october and return to cuba in april of this year after being jailed in the u.s. for 13 years. i recently spoke to him from havana via video stream and began by asking him why he came to the united states to investigate militant cuban exile groups. generation, cuba that common experience ,eople coming from miami killing people here in cuba, blowing up airplanes, so we were really familiar with what the cuban people have been suffering for for almost four years back then. accept't hard for me to the mission of going there and monitoring the activities of some of those people who were trained by the cia in the 1960s. anticipated inve the bay of pigs. some of them had gone to south america after that for operation condor. if you look at the history of those people, you can see they cts,linked to the worst a even the kennedy assassination, to them. are linked it was not hard for me to accept the mission and protect the cuban people's lives, and that is what i did. >> what were some of the groups that you and your colleagues came to infiltrate? what were their names and what specifically did you know they were doing in miami? >> if you're talking about that, we should start by luis posada carriles who is still in miami, living there under the protection of the u.s. luis posada carriles he is a long history of terrorism not only against cuba, but also in the u.s. he was responsible for the blowing up of the coupon -- cubana airliner. later when we were in miami, he was also organizing bombs which were placed on the hotels in havana. but it is not only him. he does not work alone. the sad part is he was mean paid by illegalid organization linked to the washington establishment, an organization that has a lobby in washington which has paid for .lection campaigns those people were paying these terrorists or that terrorist to put bombs in havana in 1997. so that is an example of the whole scheme we were facing their. of course, there were some other people. he had a long history of terrorism against cuba. with luisn, together posada carriles, was involved in the plot and venezuela to blow up the cuban airliner. othersr example, we have who were linked to the assassination in washington with a car bomb. the list is long, but those were the people we were watching. that was our mission. >> how did you make it from cuba to miami? explain how you came up. i was a pilot here in cuba. with skydiving .perations here for sport i took a chance and stole a plane and i landed in key west. of course i was born in the u.s., so when i landed there, i showed my birth certificate and they allowed me to go back to my family's house. with the first organization i infiltrated there. we were linking up with all of those people and going for one group to another to find out their plot against the country. >> and what most surprised you about what you found in the linkages of these groups from brothers to the rescue? talk about what brothers to the rescue was doing and who was supporting them and what you are reporting back to cuba. >> as i told you, brothers to he isscue was founded -- a celebrity. was a young guy trained by the cia during the beta -- they at pigs. , but a bunchly him of guys from the infiltration teams were the ones who created brothers to the rescue. say it was would more of a side operation. they tried to incite people to leave cuba by boats or raft, and let's saywould -- they would rescue some of them and make propaganda out of that rescue operation. it was a premise on a team of the -- saving lives. after 1995 when the immigration agreements were signed between cuba and the united states, they resorted to invading the cuban airspace, flying over havana. they started to develop some includedns, which even the use of some explosives. he became really dangerous. -- they there are ready already had different plans from the beginning. >> talking about a weapon they had to test in the everglades, can you talk about that? presented as evidence in the trial. weapon which would be like a flare. let's go back to the beginning. even when he was saving lives, .e called me once it was in 1994 -- i mean, 1992, sorry. his idea back then was to blowup some power lines. back in 1992, the situation in cuba was really hard. we have blackouts every day. he could doided something to make those blackouts more common. this inlready devising cuba with some explosives to be powered -- planted on the power lines. but that was back in 1992. after that he was involved in some plots to buy some left over military planes from russia. i remember he was china by an czechoslovakian military plane. about how youk came to be arrested in the united states? >> well, it is a long process. i'm going to make it short. by the middle of 1998, there was an opportunity for cuba and the united states to work together against terrorism. visiteddelegation havana for some days in june of that year. before they left cuba for the united states,hey assured the cuban government they would do something about the information that have been given to them on terrorist activities against cuba, based mainly in florida. three months after that meeting the all of the sudden things changed and the fbi raided our homes. we all got arrested on september 12, 1998. they put us in solitary confinement for a year and a half. then the whole story started to develop. >> what was your time like in prison for 15 years? how were you treated? >> i would say there were two stages. in miami, they did everything in their power to break us down. they put us in solitary confinement. they kept us in a hole for your in half. -- for a year and a half. they use the conditions of confinement to prevent our access to evidence at the trial, which is one of the grounds the united nations rejected the trial. they used my family also to punish me. they did not allow me to see my daughter's. for some reason they came up with. nobody else in the building had that. say they wereo very brutal during our time in miami. after that, [indiscernible] that is one of the reasons we said the trial could not be held in miami. >> and where are the other members of the cuban five, the four who are still in prison? one is about to be released, is that right, in february? >> yes. fernando should finish his sentence in february next year. i hope he comes right away to cuba because he is not a u.s. citizen, so he should be deported from the u.s. and antonio, who is four years away, ramon is still 11 years away, which would be a crime to keep them in jail. still dealing with one life sentence. >> and where are they in prison and? >> they're scattered over the u.s. antonio went to the prison where i am at now. arizona in an immigration prison, i believe a low level prison. ashland, kentucky i believe it is. raldo is in ge california. >> what gives you hope they will be released before their term? for example ,gerardo is in prison right now on to life sentences. >> my main hope is the nature of withstand theo pressure of the best people in the world. i believe this injustice, this trial is going to go down in history as one of the worst examples of what they call u.s. justice. i hope the was government, leader by leader, will see it is costing them more than solving the problem. >> you were already jailed. 2001 that was in june you were convicted. you were in jail at the time of the 9/11 attacks, september 11, 2001. i am wondering about your thoughts at the time. before that, the deadliest airline terrorism in the hemisphere was 1976, was the downing of the cubana airliner in venezuela that took out the entire cuban -- took out the cuban olympic fencing team, killed 73 people on board. ultimately, luis posada carriles was convicted in absentia by panama, who lives in miami. your thoughts on what happened then, that kind of what is called terrorism and where you were in prison? >> well, my first reaction was shock. of course, nobody can forget that day. i was in my cell. all of a sudden, someone,, look at this. i just walked out of the cell and there was a tv set. the first plane had already hit the first tower. athought it was an accident first. hit.i saw the second i just couldn't believe it. of coarse it was shocking. i was moved -- i can never forget those people having to jump from buildings. it is something you don't wish to happen to anybody. shockrst reaction is just of something so horrible. and then you have to think a little bit more about that. i believe -- some believe there are good terrorists and bad terrorists. i said, you because can be a capitalist, a catholic or muslim and a good person, but a terrorist is a sick person, not a good person. for me, the fact that some people like my prosecutors, for example, believe some terrorists to be protected and some don't, i can't believe in the 21st century this happens. >> what was your reaction to those who said cuba shooting down the brothers to the rescue plan february 24, 1996 and killing four members of brothers to the rescue, was a terroristic act? i don't see -- the definition of terrorism [indiscernible] sometimes it is politically motivated. violencetion is, indiscriminately can't to instill fear among -- indiscriminately, to instill fear among the surviving people. guy whoalking about a was on a plane to be a terrorist . [indiscernible] he is flying for years on the , and coast, saving rafters all of a sudden he decides he can break into the cuban airspace and do it every once in cuba. he even starts devising plans , usinglosives in cuba those planes. expect defending those actions for country -- returned toalez cuba last april after being jailed in the u.s. for 13 years. we're speaking to him and have anna. when we come back, ricardo alarcon, former president of the cuban national simply and also keep his former foreign minister . we will talk about his meetings with the fbi. the cuba calls the a b i -- fbi to havana to meet. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break] >> "el dulce abismo." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. one of the most vocal supporters of the cuban five has been ricardo alarcon. up until earlier this year, he was the president of the cuban national assembly. use also cuba's former foreign minister. he joined rene gonzalez in the interview i did with him via video stream in havana. i asked ricardo alarcon to talk about meetings cuban authorities had with the fbi in havana to talk about the threat posed by the militant cuban exile groups here in the united states. meetings.ere seven rené was referring specifically to one that took place in havana 1998 after some private exchanges between the two countries, the two governments, a very well known writer who served as a go between between us and them. got came down here and they a lot of information regarding terrorist plots and the addresses and phone numbers, everything. so much that at the end of the meeting, the fbi officials willed cuba and said they need some time to process the information and they would get back to us. they never went back to us. 5.y did act against the clearly, to help, to protect the terrorists. that is the substance of this process, of this trial. >> ricardo alarcon said the information that you the cuban government gave to the fbi in 1998, they used that to track down rene gonzalez and the other members of the cuban five? >> no, no, i don't think so. according to is the indictment, the fbi, they knew already the activities of the 5. this is an interesting point. they knew what they were doing, and they did not act against them for very simple reason. what they were doing was nothing against the interests, the real interest of the united states. they were not threatening their security. there wasn't any harm or damage to your people or your society. what happened is that when they got that information, remember, before saying goodbye to havana in 1998, the guy told us they would need -- need some time to process that information. i am sure the very first thing they did was to get in touch to checkl fbi in miami that information. triedhey knew that, they to stop thest the 5 possible cooperation between the two governments, and that was the beginning of the story. agent orn, the fbi officer in miami at that time had been publicly recognizing it was for him a very themcult task to persuade to act against the 5. probably because some people in were talking [indiscernible] book was recently , "what lies canada had a verywater," description of those days and what happened. and i think it is a very useful in answering that question you asked me. >> cuba also handed over videotapes and audiotapes that were tapes of luis posada carriles talking about his terror campaign as well as tapes of his accomplices. you gave that to the fbi as part of your proof that this kind of campaign was being targeted against cuba? >> yes. more than that, in those very and july 13, 1998, on the front page of "the new york times," luis posada carriles appeared interviewed by some well-known u.s. journalists. -- heere he did recognize said he was responsible for every terrorist act taking place in havana in those days. more than that, he said he was paying him for that. he referred to the american national foundation. that was front page of "the new york times." >> what request to have a president obama, ricardo alarcon ? simple.nk it is very the case can be solved very easily simply with a stroke of his pen ordering the release of the four brothers in prison. he can do that. it is not so difficult, amy. they have been 15 years in prison. violations ofor , charges aretever conspiracy to commit espionage -- which according to the court , unanimously was against threeal of the five on that count. that is why they ordered a recent and saying, and that is why -- re-sentencing, and that two are at lower level prisons and without a life term. conspiracy tot, commit murder. tosident obama only needs look at what the attorney general wrote in may 2001 recogniz impossible to demonstrate that charge. asking for the modification of the indictment in order -- because they were going to lose. they had two arguments. federal appeals court saying there was no espionage. and u.s. attorney general of this recognizing they couldn't prove the other allegation from the other supposed crime. they have been imprisoned for 15 thes on two counts that prosecutors, in one case, had recognized it was unfounded. the only thing that can be done, that should be done, and the only suggestion that i would make to president obama is to do what for 200 years many presidents have done time and .gain withdraw the accusation or punishment,ing the deciding simply to get those people out of jail right now unconditionally. nothing will happen against him. you will not lose anything. you will gain a lot. if president obama is really interested in protecting more positive image of u.s. policy improveif he wants to conditions with latin america, he must listen. simply free the 5. >> what message do you have for the american people, rene gonzalez, and for the american government, particularly president obama? >> i would start with the american people. i was born there. i have family there. good people. they don't have my political opinions. but they have supported me all the way since i was arrested. they supported my wife will stop they supported my daughters. they are good americans like a lot of americans that i met. i met good people everywhere. i met good officers in jail, people who are professionals, who were decent. i met good people who were in prison. i would say to all of those people, to the american people, that we have more in common. that we should live together as neighbors, relate to each other the things that make us human beings, to the things that unite us as people. forthat has been too long the countries to be separated by politics. government, to listen to a whole continent that is telling them to change their relations with cuba. to sit down with the cuban government and talk about everything. the cuban government has said that again and again. i believe the u.s. government, obama, if he wants to leave a legacy as a president for a sit down with cuba and a lot is going to change both with cuba and latin america. >> i want to ask about the legacy of the award-winning journalist, filmmaker, author, professor, saul landau. he died last month at the age of 77. he made more than 45 films come wrote 14 books -- many about cuba. his most recent film is, "will the real terrorist please stand up." it wasn't exposé on u.s. support for violent anti-castro militants. saul appeared on democracy now! last year and said this. >> i went to cuba in 1960 when i was a student because i was curious. i was curious to see how a guy was so disobedient with castro and his other revolutionaries were going to last. i did not think they could. i went down to cuba to check it out. i met people my age who are running government ministries and sleeping three hours a night and using a lot more of their brains than i was using. i was impressed by watching people making history. i think, like many other people who went down there, at the time, this place seemed really different. they were going to make a different kind of a revolution and it was going to have its impact. i think you did have its impact on the world. but that is how i got there in the first place. pretty soon i was working to stop the u.s. from invading cuba , like a lot of people who had gone down there. one of the first talks i gave was in new york city at townhall. as i came out, a guy try to cut down the back with a razor. the cuban exile. i guess he took freedom of speech parser sleep than i did. >> that was saul landau. his latest film is, "will the real terrorist please stand up." it is about the cuban five. if you could each comment on the significance of saul landau's work. >> well, i would say that saul was among the best of the american people. he was honest and courageous. we're going to miss him a lot. a difficult world, difficult times. i believe we need a lot of saul landaus. >> ricardo alarcon, if you could comment? we were very close friends from our student years. we became friends in the early 1960s in havana. i learned to respect him and admire him. , themonstrated the quality virtues that exist in the american people of love and solidarity. and also how a human being can .e honest in his entire life, not just in cuba, but also remember what he did concerning the assassination and facing the -- those terrorists, are the same guys who are militants against us in miami, those who assassinated [indiscernible] in front of everybody in the saul said,addressing "you are next." saul continues working. there were acts. still no new security chief of the cuban american national foundation. saul landau will always be the that you can, that we can. there can be a different relationship between the u.s. and the rest of the world. that it is in the best interest of the american people not to pretend to be the policeman of the world, not to dominate others, but to live in accordance with the values represented best of america. saul was perhaps the best to ministration of that. .> that was ricardo alarcon he was president of the cuban national assembly until earlier this year. he joined rene gonzalez. they were speaking from havana, cuba. you can go to our website to see our extended interview with the late saul landau. you can also see all of our coverage of the cuban 5 over the years. if you would like a copy of today's show, you can go to democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to [email protected] or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] tavis: good evening, tonight, a conversation with legendary musician herb albert and his accomplish mints are -- his a accomplishments include music from the great american songbook. we are glad you can join us for a conversation with herb alpert coming up right now. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: the debut album of her bellport dominated -- of herb alpert dominated the airwaves. sales2 million album later, he has a new one called "stepping out." let's see a video of his version of "putting on the ritz." different types who are coats with pinstripes ♪ ♪ putting on the ritz ♪ rockefellers with ♪ ♪ putting on the ritz ♪ tavis: your corpus is deep enough already. >> i am having a great time. it gives me energy to do this. i have been playing since i was eight. not stopping. tavis: still practicing everyday? >> everyday. if i don't play, something is off here in tavis: -- something is off. tavis: you have earned the right to go rest if you want to. but you can take my point. i read somewhere recently where laughable,at i found but i know what you meant by it, that you don't think you will ever master the horn. >> oh, no. i was friends with this elect city -- with dizzy gillespie. tavis: if you have not mastered it, you have tamed this thing, tamed this beast. >> i don't know if i have tamed it, but i am looking for my own voice. i strove to find my own voice. i am satisfied with the way i play. there is just a lot more to accomplish. tavis: maybe you don't know the answer because you haven't found it yet, but what do you think is still out there? how much better can you get? >> the more i get in touch with myself and the more i can relax, there is a books written by a famous flautist who said there is a formula for playing. equals small p. is the audience and the small p is how you play. if you can get to the place where you can totally relax and totally experience your gift, then you can really create. after all these years, is there a place where you feel like it doesn't get much that are than the moment i am in right now?