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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Alan Gross Freed After Five Years in Cuba; Obama Reveals New Cuba Policies; Reactions and Analysis of New Policies

Aired December 17, 2014 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I am Cuban-American. I was born and raised in Miami. My parents came to this country at a very young age. People of their generation, people who came to this country in the '50s and the '60s, they seem to be pretty adamant against opening things up because, for them, this is really about a long history that dates back to that time period.

But some of the younger generation that you see here in Versailles, this Cuban landmark so to speak here in Miami, some of the younger folks here, they don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to open things up, to try to improve relations between the United States and the Cuban government. I think everybody here is eagerly anticipating and waiting to hear what comes out of the president's speech, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're only seconds away.

Jake Tapper, as we wait for the president - we're showing our viewers a live picture right now, this is the Cabinet Room. He'll make the statement. We're told he'll speak for, what, about 15 minutes?

JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN'S "THE LEAD": Something like that. And you were talking about the harsh criticism. We should note, it's not just harsh criticism coming from Republicans. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, the Democrat, outgoing chairman, Robert Mendez from New Jersey, very strong criticism, pointing out that of the three individuals who have been released, the Cubans, they were all convicted of espionage. One of them, in addition to espionage, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder dealing with two civilian aircraft that were shot down over international waters in 1996. Several people were killed, I think three Americans. So there's still a lot of criticism both having to do with this individual deal, but also the fact, Wolf, that Cuba is still a very repressive regime and, in fact --

BLITZER: Hold on a second. Here's the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (OFF-MIKE) changing its relationship with the people of Cuba and the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years. We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests.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.

Through these changes, we intend to create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people and begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas. There's a complicated history between the United States and Cuba. 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 America's steadfast opposition to communism. We are separated by just over 90 miles.

But year after year, an ideological and economic barrier hardened between our two countries. Meanwhile, the Cuban exile community in the United States made enormous contributions to our country, in politics, in business, culture and sports.

Like immigrants before, Cubans helped remake America, even as they felt a painful yearning for the land and families they left behind. All of this bound America and Cuba in a unique relationship, at once family and foe.

Proudly, the United States has supported democracy and human rights in Cuba through these five decades. We've done so primarily through policies that aim to isolate the island, preventing the most basic travel and commerce that Americans can enjoy anyplace else.

And though this policy has been rooted in the best of intentions, no other nation joins us in imposing these sanctions and it has had little effect beyond providing the Cuban government with a rationale for restrictions on its people.

Today Cuba is still governed by the Castros and the Communist Party that came to power half a century ago. Neither the American nor Cuban people are well served by a rigid policy that's rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.

Consider that for more than 35 years, we've had relations with China, a far larger country also governed by a communist party. Nearly two decades ago, we reestablished relations with Vietnam, where we fought a war that claimed more Americans than any Cold War confrontation.

That's why, when I came into office, I promised to reexamine our Cuba policy. As a start, we lifted restrictions for Cuban Americans to travel and sent remittances to their families in Cuba. These changes, once controversial, now seem obvious. Cuban Americans have been reunited with their families and are the best possible ambassadors for our values.

And through these exchanges, a younger generation of Cuban Americans is increasingly questioned in an approach that does more to keep Cuba closed off from an interconnected world.

While I've been prepared to take additional steps for some time, a major obstacle stood in our way: the wrongful imprisonment in Cuba of U.S. citizen and USAID subcontractor Alan Gross for five years. Over many months, my administration has held discussions with the Cuban government about Alan's case and other aspects of our relationship. His Holiness, Pope Francis issued a personal appeal to me and to Cuba's president, Raul Castro, urging us to resolve Alan's case and to address Cuba's interests in the release of three Cuban agents, who've been jailed in the United States for over 15 years.

Today, Alan returned home, reunited with his family at long last. Alan was released by the Cuban government on humanitarian grounds.

Separately, in exchange for the three Cuban agents, Cuba today released one of the most important intelligence agents that the United States has ever had in Cuba and who has been in prison for nearly two decades.

This man, whose sacrifice has been 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.

This man is now safely on our shores.

Having recovered these two men who sacrificed for our country, I'm now taking steps to place the interests of the people of both countries at the heart of our policy.

First, I've instructed Secretary Kerry to immediately begin discussions with Cuba to reestablish diplomatic relations that have been severed since January of 1961.

Going forward, the United States will reestablish an embassy in Havana and high-ranking officials will visit Cuba. Where we can advance shared interests, we will, on issues like health, migration, counterterrorism, drug trafficking and disaster response.

Indeed, we've seen the benefits of cooperation between our countries before. It was a Cuban, Carlos Findlay (ph) who discovered that mosquitoes carry yellow fever; his work helped Walter Reid fight it.

Cuba sent hundreds of health care workers to Africa to fight Ebola and I believe American and Cuban health care workers should work side by side to stop the spread of this deadly disease.

Now, where we disagree, we will raise those differences directly as we will continue to do on issues related to democracy and human rights in Cuba. But I believe that we can do more to support the Cuban people and promote our values through engagement.

After all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It's time for a new approach.

Second, I've instructed Secretary Kerry to review Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. This review will be guided by the facts and the law.

Terrorism has changed in the last several decades. At a time when we are focused on threats from Al Qaida to ISIL, a nation that meets our conditions and renounces the use of terrorism should not face this sanction.

Third, we are taking steps to increase travel, commerce and the flow of information to and from Cuba. This is fundamentally about freedom and openness and also expresses my belief in the power of people-to-people engagement.

With the changes I'm announcing today, it will be easier for Americans to travel to Cuba and Americans will be able to use American credit and debit cards on the island.

Nobody represents America's values better than the American people. And I believe this contact will ultimately do more to empower the Cuban people. I also believe that more resources should be able to reach the Cuban people.

So we're significantly increasing the amount of money that can be sent to Cuba and removing limits on remittances that support humanitarian projects, the Cuban people and the emerging Cuban private sector.

I believe that American businesses should not be put at a disadvantage and that increased commerce is good for Americans and for Cubans. So we will facilitate authorized transactions between the United States and Cuba. U.S. financial institutions will be allowed to open accounts at Cuban financial institutions.

And it will be easier for U.S. exporters to sell goods in Cuba.

I believe in the flee -- the free flow of information. Unfortunately, our sanctions on Cuba have denied Cubans access to technology that has empowered individuals around the globe. So I've authorized increased telecommunications connections between the United States and Cuba.

Businesses will be able to sell goods that enable Cubans to communicate with the United States and other countries.

These are the steps that I can take as president to change this policy. The embargo that's been imposed for decades is now codified in legislation. As these changes unfold, I look forward to engaging Congress in an honest and serious debate about lifting the embargo.

Yesterday I spoke with Raul Castro to finalize Alan gross's release and the exchange of prisoners and to describe how we will move forward. I made clear my strong belief that Cuban society is constrained by restrictions on its citizens.

In addition to the return of Alan Gross and the release of our intelligence agent, we welcome Cuba's decision to release a substantial number of prisoners whose cases were directly raised with the Cuban government by my team.

We welcome Cuba's decision to provide more access to the Internet for its citizens and to continue increasing engagement with international institutions like the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross that promote universal values.

But I'm under no illusion about the continued barriers to freedom that remain for ordinary Cubans. The United States believes that no Cuban should face harassment or arrest or beatings simply because they're exercising a universal right to have their voices heard. And we will continue to support civil society there.

While Cuba has made reforms to gradually open up its economy, we continue to believe that Cuban workers should be free to form unions, just as the citizens should be free to participate in the political presses.

Moreover, given Cuba's history, I expect it will continue to pursue foreign policies that will at times be sharply at odds with American interests. I do not expect the changes I'm announcing today to bring about a transformation of Cuban society overnight.

But I am convinced that, through a policy of engagement, we can more effectively stand up for our values and help the Cuban people help themselves as they move into the 21st century.

To those who oppose the steps I'm announcing today, let me say that I respect your passion and share your commitment to liberty and democracy. The question is how we uphold that commitment. I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result.

Moreover, it does not serve America's interests or the Cuban people to try to push Cuba towards collapse. Even if that worked -- and it hasn't for 50 years -- we know from hard-earned experience that countries are more likely to enjoy lasting transformation if their people are not subjected to chaos.

We are calling on Cuba to unleash the potential of 11 million Cubans by ending unnecessary restrictions on their political, social and economic activities. In that spirit, we should not allow U.S. sanctions to add to the burden of Cuban citizens that we seek to help.

To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship. Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope and we will continue to shine a light of freedom. Others have seen us as a former colonizer, intent on controlling your future.

Jose Marti once said, "Liberty is the right of every man to be honest."

Today, I'm being honest with you. We can never erase the history between us, but we believe that you should be empowered to live with dignity and self-determination.

Cubans have a saying about daily life, "No es facil." "It's not easy." Today the United States wants to be a partner in making the lives of ordinary Cubans a little bit easier, more free, more prosperous.

To those who have supported these measures, I thank you for being partners in our efforts. In particular, I want to thank His Holiness, Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is.

The government of Canada, which hosted our discussions with the Cuban government, and a bipartisan group of congressmen who've worked tirelessly for Alan Gross's release and for a new approach to advancing our interests and values in Cuba.

Finally, our shift in policy towards Cuba comes at a moment of renewed leadership in the Americas. This April, we are prepared to have Cuba join the other nations of the hemisphere at the Summit of the Americas. But we will insist that civil society join us so that citizens, not just leaders, are shaping our future.

And I call on all my fellow leaders to give meaning to the commitment to democracy and human rights at the heart of the inter- American charter. Let us leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism, the tyranny of drug cartels, dictators and sham elections.

A future of greater peace, security and democratic development is possible, if we work together, not to maintain power, not to secure vested interests, but instead to advance the dreams of our citizens. My fellow Americans, the city of Miami is only 200 miles or so

from Havana. Countless thousands of Cubans have come to Miami on planes and makeshift rafts, some with little but the shirt on their back and hope in their hearts.

Today, Miami is often referred to as the capital of Latin America. But it is also a profoundly American city, a place that reminds us that ideals matter more than the color of our skin or the circumstances of our birth, a demonstration of what the Cuban people can achieve and the openness of the United States to our family to the south.

Todos somos Americanos.

Change is hard, in our own lives and in the lives of nations and change is even harder when we carry the heavy weight of history on our shoulders.

But today, we are making these changes because it is the right thing to do. Today America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past, so as to reach for a better future for the Cuban people, for the American people, for our entire hemisphere and for the world.

Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America.

BLITZER: The president of the United States speaking for about 15 minutes, critically important 15 minutes, announcing the most sweeping dramatic change in U.S./Cuban relations since 1961 during the Cuban Revolution, confirming that he did speak on the phone yesterday with the Cuban president, Raul Castro. Also confirming the U.S. and Cuba are now about to go forward and establish full diplomatic relations, including embassies in Havana and here in Washington, D.C.

Even as the president was speaking, Raul Castro was addressing the Cuban people in Cuba. I want to play a clip. Here is Raul Castro speaking exactly at the same time, making this announcement to the Cuban people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL CASTRO, CUBAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Equally, we have recommended re-establishment of the diplomatic relations. This doesn't mean that the main issues have been resolved. The economic blockade, as well as commercial and finance, creates some economic damages to our own country. It must stop. Despite the blockade, measures have become law. The president of the United States may be able to modify its own obligation in years by his own executive action.

We propose today the United States to adopt mutual measures to improve the bilateral climate and to normalize the mutual links between our two countries. Based on the principles of international law and the United Nations charter, Cuba reiterates its own ability to sustain corporations and multilateral organisms, such as the United Nations. As we recognize the - having profound differences, especially in national sovereignty, democracy, human rights and foreign relations policies, we reserve our willingness to dialogue in all of these areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Cuban president, Raul Castro, making the announcement to the Cuban people that there will be a normalization of the relationship between the United States and Cuba. Speaking exactly at the same time as President Obama made the announcement here.

The exchange of prisoners, one U.S. intelligence asset released, someone who had been held in a Cuban prison for 20 years. The three remaining members of the Cuban Five, they are released as a humanitarian gesture, according to U.S. officials. The Cubans have also freed Alan Gross, an American contractor who had been held in a Cuban prison for five years.

Patrick Oppmann is our man in Havana right now. He's the only U.S. television correspondent reporting live from Cuba right now.

Patrick, what else did the Cuban president, Raul Castro, say? Because I understand, like President Obama, he thanked the pope for his efforts behind the scenes as well.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It was not just what he had to say, but it was the tone of what he had to say. He thanked President Obama and said that President Obama deserved respect. I've never heard a Cuban leader ever talk about a U.S. leader like that, certainly a sitting U.S. leader, that they deserved respect. And then he talked about not only freeing Alan Gross, freeing this

intelligence asset, but freeing scores of political prisoners that the U.S. specifically requested be released from Cuban prisons. And our understanding is if they've not already been released, they will be released immediately.

While the speech was going on, Wolf, it was about 12:12 and we started to hear bells in churches all around us in old Havana ringing. There was no reason for them to ring other than the fact that it was this announcement, that it was history in the making, that after long last the U.S. and Cuba are moving closer together. And I've never seen anything like it where church bells just spontaneously, in the middle of the afternoon, just started ringing like that. It was to mark this very unusual announcement, this frankly historical moment in the Cuban/U.S. relations.

And as you heard, both President Obama and President Castro talk about, Pope Francis is one of the figures who's played a key role in the back channel negotiations here. My understanding is he wrote a letter to both President Obama and President Raul Castro asking them to put aside their differences, deal with this prisoner exchange and then move the relations between their two peoples forward. And apparently that's what both President Obama and President Castro have done. They've responded to that call from many world leaders, but in particular Pope Francis, to let bygones be bygones and find a new path for Cuban/U.S. relations, Wolf.

BLITZER: A dramatic new path. Indeed a dramatic path.

OPPMANN: Clearly a day in the history books.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly is. Patrick Oppmann joining us from Havana. Stand by. I'm going to come back to you.

I want to get some analysis of what we just heard from the U.S. president, President Barack Obama. Jake Tapper is here. Gloria Borger is here.

But, Jake, this is something the president clearly wanted to do from early in his administration but couldn't do in part because Alan Gross was being held a prisoner in Cuba.

TAPPER: That's right. And early on in the president's first term, he took steps to - I wouldn't say normalize relations, but to ease restrictions on travel and remittances, that's Cuban-Americans sending money back to Cuba.

But this, of course, is a major change. You heard President Obama. He didn't give it as the definition of insanity, but the idea that doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result didn't make sense to him was what he invoked.

He also did talk about the fact that Cuba is still doing arbitrary arrests of human rights activists and Cuban - and the Cuban people. And, in fact, in 2013, the State Department's own country report on human rights practices for Cuba says that most human rights abuses were official acts committed at the direction of the government. The president isn't emphasizing it, but he's not skirting around the fact that the government is still a very oppressive regime. He's just hoping that normalizing relations, as has been done with China and Vietnam, will be helpful and steer them in the right direction.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, and the argument from President Obama, as well as from Hillary Clinton, is that the sanctions gave Castro a scapegoat to essentially say, our economy is bad because of the American sanctions. And if you remove the sanctions, then they don't have that scapegoat anymore. They can't blame the Americans for this.

But I also think if you sort of take a step back and you look at what President Obama has done in the so-called lame duck years of his presidency, just post-election, you've seen massive immigration reform through executive action, climate change with China. Cuba here. So anybody who says that lame duck presidents actually don't have any power or authority, you're seeing this president push it. Some would say over the edge with immigration reform. But you're seeing this president take it as far as I can recall.

TAPPER: Yes.

BLITZER: Truly an historic moment.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: We're standing by, by the way, we're going to be hearing from Alan Gross and his wife, Judy Gross. They are now here in Washington, D.C. They flew in from Havana this morning. They've landed at Andrews -- Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington. They're now coming here to downtown Washington, D.C. They're going to be speaking, making a statement. We'll have live coverage of that, as well as getting reaction from lawmakers, those who support this dramatic historic change, improvement in U.S./Cuban relations, as well as those who are deeply concerned.

There you see some of the pictures that came in from Joint Base Andrews moments ago when Alan Gross arrived. He's wearing the vest, joined by his wife, Judy, members of the United States Senate, as well as one congressman, his own congressman from Montgomery County outside of Washington, D.C. Chris Van Hollen was on the plane. Jeff Flake, the Republican senator from Arizona, was on the flight as well. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic senator from Vermont.

So there was a joint effort, there was a major effort to get Alan Gross out. He is now out. Three Cuban prisoners have been sent back to Cuba. One U.S. intelligence asset has been freed in the process as well.

There's a picture, by the way, of John Kerry, the secretary of state, waiting inside the terminal at Joint Base Andrews to personally hug and receive Alan Gross as he walked into that terminal.

Once again, Alan Gross will be making a statement soon. We'll have live coverage of that coming up, together with his wife Judy, who worked for five years to try to get her husband freed. Much more of our special coverage on this historic day in U.S./Cuban relations right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Only moments ago, we heard both the president of the United States and the president of Cuba thank Pope Francis for his efforts behind the scenes to improve U.S./Cuban relations, get Alan Gross freed. Now, Pope Francis issuing a statement congratulating both the United States and Cuba on the resumption of ties, saying the Vatican will continue to support the strengthening of bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba. An important statement from Pope Francis.

Let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, who's been watching what's going on.

It's been very, very carefully choreographed. Obviously, kept under tight wraps for a long time. But it looks like this was something that was in the works for at least weeks, if not months.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on a background call within the last hour, this has been going on since June of 2013.