>> is that an i.e.d.? >> "faultlines". al jazeera america's award-winning investigative series. monday, 10:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. >> any nuclear missile launched from cuba -- >> good human friends. >> cold aware adversaries bringing a -- cold war adversaries bringing a half century to a close. >> we have decided to formally establish diplomatic relations with cuba. >> raising flags and lifting hopes on both shores. the signs of change on the

street of cuba. as a communist holdout seemingly frozen in time looks to the future. but with a crippling trade embargo still in place, and human rights violations, can two countries separated by just 90 miles finally bridge the divide? u.s. cuba, a new era. an al jazeera america special. i'm antonio mora coming to you from havana, in the plaza did san francisco. people of cuba and the people of united states, the u.s. flag was raised over the american embassy in havana for the first time in more than 54 years a powerful symbol of the change in the u.s. cuba relationship that's taken place in lest than a year. melissa chan, at the ceremony, melissa there were some powerful

moments. >> absolutely powerful, the flag went up very, very quickly, whoosh and it was done. we heard the crowd outside the embassy, ordinary cubans, clapping and cheering. i'll have to say what a day. it has actually functioned as an embassy for almost a month now since the formal resumption of diplomatic relations on july 20th. but if any doubt symbols are important, the fact that the embassy in havana waited for secretary of state john kerry to raise the flag is proof that pomp and circumstance matters. >> the presidents obama and castro made a courageous decision over the issues of today and tomorrow. that doesn't meanwhile we will forgot the past hypothesis how can we after all?

>> symbols market the occasion. the first surreal moment, the u.s. band playing the cuban national anthem. ♪ >> reporter: on friday, the same three marines who took the flag down 54 years ago, helped to raise it in havana. when they chose the same flag that had been in storage all these decades in washington, two weeks ago. >> between cubans and americans alike. >> why we is had have such tensions, this beautiful island beautiful people and our country as powerful as it is, treat these people with such disdain is so terrible. i'm so glad we're past that time. >> it's an important step and it's beautiful after so many decades and so many generations and so many conflicts between the two countries it's beautiful. it's good for cuba, good for the united states. but we should wait and see.

>> reporter: fidel castro once called this building a nest of spies and until recently it was known as u.s. intersection. 50 american staffers work at this embassy, that number will increase but normalization does not mean the u.s. and cuba actually have a normal relationship. differences remain highlighted by the press conference in the afternoon. >> there needs to be a process for working them through. and the path to full normalization is not always going to be easy. we both understand that. >> translator: i have emphasized to secretary of state the lifting of the blockade in our opinion is an essential element for us in order to have normal relations with the united states. >> reporter: still, whoever expected to see this a u.s. secretary of state walking the cobble stones of historic old

havana. the two nations the closest they've been in most of our lifetimes. >> and u.s. secretary of state john kerry did have a very busy day. the cobble stones, he did end up showing up here on the plaza de san francisco. for a surprise visit. >> they invited quite a few people but decided not to invite any dissidents to that early morning ceremony. but the other thing john kerry did was have a special ceremony at the charge d' affairs ha affs residence. >> we'll have you back a little bit later in the show. the ceremonial flag raising, it

drew a chorus of opposition from republicans. the biggest voice of dissent came from senator marco rubio. >> small groups of cuban american protesters gathered on this street corner the symbolic heart of the little havana neighborhood of miami. they held signs denouncing president obama as a traitor and saying he caved in to the castro brothers. there were scattered clashes as well as protesters scuffled with one another. police intervened. there didn't appear to be any violence, certainly no one was badly hurt or taken away in an ambulance. while those scuffles, somewhat dramatic on camera were less dramatic when seen from the street. the normalization of the relations between cuba and the united states has split the cuban american comoourn. thcommunity.

the elderly people are veterans of the time when they left cuba during castro's revolution after the fall of the dictator bautista. they have dramatic memories of that time but further generations have been born and grown up over the last 50 years without those memories. and in addition, cubans have migrated to the united states freely in relatively significant numbers over the past several decades. so those cubans of the younger generation and the more recent arrivals are more likely to see normalization of relations as a good thing, as an inevitable thing and even for the potential for economic benefit, some business ties. that's all a long way off. because cuba's laws really are not the kind of laws that would

encourage people to invest in the country unless they were extremely tolerant of risk. >> rob reynolds in miami. today's ceremony in havana was one step albeit a significant one of healing a half a century of mistrust. dealing directly with cuba will be far more effective than the policies of the last 50 years in bringing about democratic and free market reforms on the island. a lot of work is still ahead and a lot of obstacles still in the way. cuban civil rights and dissidents were secluded and they say their voices need to be heard. >> translator: here it is very important to give everyone their place. when and where is necessary. and we are not being given place we require as civil society in cuba and the second ceremony that will take place at the u.s. chief of missions residence is a way to seclude us and let us in

through back door. >> translator: we really believe that things are not being done the right way regarding the promotion of human rights which is crucial in promoting democracy during this political process. >> cuba may also be preparing for changes at the top of its government. in 2013, raul castro says his current five year term will be his last as president. if he leaves office it would be just the second transition in power on the island since the revolution. fidel castro was president for nearly 50 years, he ceded power to his brother in 1998. raul is 88. diaz canel is considered the likely successor of castro. wayne smith was a young

diplomat at the u.s. embassy when it closed in 1961. in late '70s he served at the head of the american intersection in havana. i met with him at the historic hotel national when he reflected on the events of the day. >> it was owonderful moment. i've waited all these years to return. i mean i've been back to cuba many times but to return with normal conditions between the two countries. i had begun to believe it was never going to be in my lifetime. now, wonderfully it's happened. >> when you came here as the head of the intersection, did you think back then that relations would be normalized quickly? >> i was delighted to come back and to become the chief of the

intersection under carter. and hoping that i could then help bring about dialogue, discussions, negotiations, and leading to a great improvement in relations perhaps in time to normalization. unfortunately, there were those in the carter administration who didn't want normalization. then came ronald reagan. he was elected. he made it clear he didn't want any normalization. it was clear to me this policy of hostility, refusing to discuss the differences, was not going to lead anywhere. 2014, after obama had come in, i thought look, i may die before we ever have normalized relations with cuba. but it was at that point that things changed. >> relations have been normalized but the embargo continues to be in place.

can the u.s. and cuba really have full relations until the trade embargo is lifted? >> no. we have normal -- we have diplomatic relations, i shouldn't say normal. because as you say we still have the embargo in place. we haven't given the quoam naval basguantanamonaval base back anl these claims that need to be settled. >> you have been an advocate, an advocate of open relations with cuba when it wasn't popular to be an advocate of that. in fact you have probably been more popular on the island of cuba with cuban americans than you have with america. >> absolutely, that's true. >> why did you think it was so important? because still today many will argue that normalizing relations is just legitimizing a repressive regime and that things won't really change on the island if more isn't done to push the communist regime to

change. >> we have normal relations with china. china is a much more repressive regime than cuba. we established normal relations with the soviet union years ago. that, i would say, is a more repressive regime than this one. but we engage because we believe that engagement will gain us more than isolation. >> how can history not continue to matter, as the people who have repressed the cuban people for past five and a half decades continue to be in power? >> have we accomplished anything in the past five decades by refusing to talk to them? have we made a change in cuba? not a one, nothing. we haven't accomplished a thing. >> does the cuban government need to do more in order for the embargo to be lifted for there to be a full normalization?

>> let me ask you by saying we have said that for 50 years haven't had a effect at all. now moving to engage. it will talk to you. even though you haven't improved human rights to the extent we would have wished, perhaps you haven't improved human rights at all. our policy has not brought that about. maybe we better try something new. >> what do you hope to see? >> my hope is that we will now begin a constructive dialogue with cuba. we will engage. the atmosphere will improve, atmosphere between our two countries will improve. leading hopefully in time to normalization, a real normalization of relations, lifting the embargo and all that. >> our thanks to ambassador wayne smith. we've heard from the politicians

and diplomats. up next, the ordinary cubans. cubans from all walks of life their hopes for a new era of u.s. cuban relations, and we hope for reparations for both size.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> animosity between the u.s. and cuba dates back more than half a century to a popular armed revolt that removed a pro-american dictator and installed a communist revolutionary. fidel castro entered havana, shortly after bautista left. then looked to united states for help. he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers and met with senators and u.s. president nixon but full rhetoric was

already on display. praisinpraisingpraising dictat s kruschof, asked if he was a communist. >> wait for the history. the history will state what we are. >> u.s. cuban relation he went down from there. raised taxes on american goods. the u.s. retaliated by slashing trade with cuba, soon leading to a full embargo. the u.s. broke off relations with cuba in january 1961. in april the u.s. supported the bay of pigs, invasion, pushing castro even closer to the soafnt. soviet

union. then in october of 1962, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. >> it shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack by the soviet union on the united states. >> the crisis ended with a deal. the missile sites would be dismantled in exchange for a pledge of the u.s. not to invade cuba. relations only began to improve after raul castro became president and shook hands with president obama at nelson mandela's funeral. prisoner exchange and on the same day last december, the two neighbors announced they would set aside more than five decades of hostility. >> today the united states of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. in the most significant changes

in our policy in more than 50 years. >> that officially happened at midnight on july 20th. ♪ ♪ >> hours later the cuban anthem played and the cuban flag was raised over what was once again the cuban embassy in washington. >> translator: we refirm cuba's willingness to move towards normalized relations with the united states in a constructive spirit. >> president obama has said that while normalization is an important step, serious issues stand in the way. the average salary in cuba is little more than $20 a month about 500 cuban pesos, and that makes it impossible to repair owe rebuild homes. >> we find people living on the

top floor. >> we have been living like this for 39 years, every day it gets worse and worse. the building is in shambles and when it rains it floods the apartment. >> the ceiling and what's left of the shutters can't keep out the water. the side of a crib is now the balcony's railing needed to protect children and their dog. her father-in-law gilo lives here too. >> translator: we are humble and poor people. to fix the balcony costs 2,000 0 pesos and where am i going to get that money? we think despite the blows that all the world has given us, we advance fairly well. we get free health care and whoever wants to study can. >> his daughter-in-law disagrees. >> life is hard. your salary isn't enough. if you don't have help from abroad where do you get the money? everything here is expensive.

everybody who lives on a salary lives like this. >> you will find a seaside avenue call called the maracon, people come here to talk, and the talk is about the americans and the future. david ariosto went there, people leave their homes to be able to sit by the seaside. >> many don't have air conditioning. the malacon is the stretch four mile stretch along havana's northern edge and people of all stripes go there. we saw people carrying american flags, carrying cuban flags for the first time since 1961, those stars and stripes will be flying over the malacon.

we delved into this topic and take a look. bending around havana's northern rim is the famed malacon. a four mile stretch of concrete and asphalt that has long served as a meeting spot for cuba's lovers politicians and musicians. its promenade offers a perch together to rest. this is it, the famed malacon, partially built by the u.s. army corps of engineers, before fidel was a thought in this country. on a good day you can actually pick up radio stations from florida. kids dating and fishermen casting their lines and sometimes talking about politics. and so i sat down with a few cubans to get their take on what

this new embassy actually means. >> what do you think of changes between united states and cuba? >> there are changes finally and.hopefully they'll help the country but you know changes they don't always benefit everyone. it really just depends on their point of view? >> what is your point of view sitting on the malacon, what is your point of view? >> in my opinion there is still a lot missing. >> reporter: after fidel castro rolled into power in 1959, he prompted the united states to slap an economic trade embargo against the island. today, despite the relations, the embargo remains, microfinance now allowed under new u.s. regulations is starting to pump cash into this cash strapped economy but travel further down along the malacon

and towards the u.s. embassy and money isn't always the prime concern. so just off the malacon, there is this park, that is called a park of death or life and it's named that because all these people here are waiting to get into the embassy. and the hope is now we have some improved relations between cuba and the united states this process will get a little bit faster. because some of these people have been waiting for years just to get processed to see their family. >> yoanni says he is waiting to get his visa approved to see his father in miami. >> from today it's been three years. i don't know what it's going to be like under the new law. >> for here and along the malacon those are the new questions. will the u.s. embassy speed up the process and will improved relations mean improvements in the day-to-day lives of every

day cubans. >> david, i know it's a beautiful place and you lived here a couple of years five years ago. >> in 2009-2010, this was the time when allen gross was still in prison, relations were at a all time low. you didn't necessarily have the same feeling of cumbaya moment, it was starting to change when i started to leave. started to implement changes in agriculture and able to sell houses. cropping up of small businesses. now with normalization of relations, microfinance is going to flood into the country, and your expectation is to see more of this. traveling down the malacon, seeing the stars and stripes, this is momentum us for the

generation. >> thank you david. we'll look at business owners operating in the economy and u.s. businesses ready to invest in cuba. i'll talk to one of the people who's making that happen.

>> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and >> cold war adversaries, bringing a half century standoff to a close.

>> the united states has agreed to formally reestablish dploik diplomatic relations with cuba. >> cuba's future is for cuba to shape. >> separated by 90 miles and decades of distrust, finally bridge the divide. an al jazeera america special report, u.s./cuba a new era. welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm antonio mora, live in old havana. history was made here in this capital city at the u.s. embassy for the first time since 1961, the u.s. flag was raised over the building. secretary of state john kerry became the highest ranking u.s. official to set foot on the island in 70 years. it is a symbolic gesture but a sign of the relationship between the u.s. and cuba. handed the new banner by three retired marines those three men were the ones that took down the flag in 1961.

now today's ceremonial flag raising drew a chorus of complaints from republicans. the biggest voice of dissent came from florida senator marco rubio. repressive castro regime restoring diplomatic relations where the country. >> in cuba we face a proudly antiamerican leadership who continues to work with nations like russia and china to spy on our people and our forfeit who harbor fugutives from american justice and stand in opposition to nearly every value our nation holds dear. in eyes of barack obama and hillary clinton his former secretary of state, the cubans are suffering because not enough american tourists visit that country, where in truth, their residents live under a

tyrannical dictatorship. >> lucia newman has a story. >> most of cuba still looks like it's frozen in time. a time when most of what you see here was owned by american countries. from the former sears department store to the grand hotels once run 50 american mafia. u.s. firms and american citizens whose property was confiscated after the american revolution are demanding up to $7 billion in compensation. but not to be outdone, the cuban government is claiming damages, too. to the tune of $100 billion. that's what it says 54 years of u.s. economic sanctions has cost the country. >> translator: for example if you have a refinery with u.s. machinery that was paralyzed because we could not buy spare parts, cuba calculates the embargo. and jacking up prices of

everything all of this adds up. >> cuba is also claiming assets frozen in u.s. banks after the revolution plus interest. and it blames the u.s. embargo for its dilapidated infrastructure. but while cuban insiders concede $100 billion is an inflated figure they say it is a starting point for a negotiated settlement which for cuba begins with the lifting of the u.s. economic embargo. >> cuba can argue very legally if the sanctions aren't lifted there is a way we can sit down and negotiate this. what will we negotiate for one, we are going to give you a bill of what you owe us. >> reporter: the standoff on who owes what to whom and how much it's worth is not only complicated, it's essential to normalizing bilateral relations, the 1996 helms burton act passed in the united states states that

all u.s. claims must satisfactorily be resolved before the embargo can be lifted. negotiating a deal in which both sides agree to call it even. >> they'll have to accept otherwise there isn't going to be any deal. and of course the prize is, investment in cuba. >> reporter: with diplomatic ties renewed, many americans expropriated, are eager to return to the island but the expectation will be that they'll first have to drop their claims or stay out. lucia newman, al jazeera, havana. >> pedro now heads the international practice in miami's acreman law firm, he told me business the booming. >> everybody's lined up on the seashore and i have to tell you

it's no exaggeration since december 17th there hasn't been a day that's gone by when my phone has not been ringing from a company that's interested, somebody who wants to understand the limitations under the embargo. news men, speaking engagements, it's been absolutely crazy. >> how big is the barriers? >> the heart of it is so-called helms burton where there are a number of auxiliary laws around it. but it has more holes than cheese. you got to know where the holes are so you don't fall into it. >> how prepared are they, it is one thing for lawyers to be called saying, hey we might be interested in going to cuba but will things really change? >> first it is companies want to assess, what is it i can and cannot do, according to law and what is it in cuba, once they

assess that and say i still have an appetite, the decision any company goes through, the decision of cost benefit analysis. before deploying capital, people are going to want to know, what are the opportunities in cuba, how long is it going to be to ramp up, am i going to be able to get my profits out, what's the labor situation, am i going to be able to get management, what does the market look like and what do the employees look like? >> those are questions that can't be answered overnight and then as things stand now, the cuban government would force any company going in to work with the government. how many american companies would want to do that? >> right now the way things stand, theoretically the government would do a joint venture but they could allow

100% investment. >> have they done that? >> they have done that in certain circumstances but not with u.s. companies. they can't do that anyway, unless you fall into another category. we're still aways away from doing that. >> european and canadian companies have gone in and had major investment in tourism in particular. can american companies catch up? >> the european companies will be overwhelmed. we will overwhelm them. we are a tsunami of investment interest and we are 90 miles away and there are 2 million cuban americans here that can be the ambassadors for both sides. we can be the people that facilitate the business. >> what will go first? what companies do you think will get into cuba first? >> travel and tourism. that's the low hanging fruit. that's the easy one. that's the easy one because and to me i always describe travel and tourism as the engine that pulls the cuban train. that's the one where cuba has already done a little bit of

investment in infrastructure, they have hotels. the island is stungly pooufl. thstungly beautiful.the geograpy beautiful. >> there are still serious infrastructure troubles in cuba. >> water, cuba needs to rebuild its power plants, some of its road networks need to be redone. there are some sort of nice main roads but a lot of bumps along the way. >> without that how can american companies go in, in a big way? >> that's the engine that pulls the train. my sense is the impetus from the u.s. is so tremendous. and the thirst to deploy the capital in a market that will be very substantial 90 miles away is so fantastic that the moment that tourism engine starts

priming the pump you will see that and of course the conditions are there, the legal and political conditions are there, you will see the capital being deployed very rapidly. >> do you think politicians have changed the way they're looking at this? it's not an overwhelming block against the embargo. since florida is a part of the picture, that americans would not be significant enough from not taking the state? >> the loudest thing from miami has been the silence. when this happened on december 17th, if you recall, what happened with alian gonzalez, that was 15 years ago, there were tires burning in the streets of miami over one child. this is a complete shift in the policy towards cuba. and nothing happened. there was a rally that got called by the conservative folks in the community. and 250 people showed up and that was the end of it. >> some cubans are already

making a living outside the government and government owned businesses, capitalist entrepreneurs in communist country. melissa chan joins us again. this is the part of the economy. >> absolutely. a lot of people keep asking or expect a lot of change in the future because of this. and what a lot of people forget is that actually, cuba is a bit of a contradiction. change is already going on. of course if you look back in history there are certain lean economic years where the cuban government has allowed cubans to pursue private enterprise and then they rein it back in. what they have to do, these entrepreneurs to operate in cuba. so close and yet so far away. a nation that took a different road from that of the united states. and for a time, cuba was the

romantic vivid poster child for communism. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but it became a place frozen in time by an underperforming socialist economy until now. after decades of decline, cuba it seems is on the move once again. i first came to cuba back in 2001, 14 years ago. everyone expects to see a lot of change in the next few years but i see change already. there are a lot more cars on the road, people are better dressed and there are more businesses. a parallel economy has developed. analysts estimate that more than a million people work as independents who don't depend on the state but make their own money. one of them is roberto vidal. his cell phone repair shop may look modest but in a place short of everything, he keeps those with access to technology

connected. even the store front represents change. until recently commercial rental space simply did not exist. >> translator: i would love to see my business grow into a transnational company like at&t. that would be great. >> reporter: before the revolution, julio's father had worked for general motors. more than half ocentury later, alvarez finalize himself working on the seam models his father might have fixed. >> translator: i run these with the most basic of tools. i can get these things to work. imagine how it would be without the embargo. >> he has restored 22 cars and he hopes that normalization between the two countries will mean he can import spare parts more easily. alvarez fixes cars and his wife drives them catering mostly to tourists. together with other quinta

propistas. >> i'm happy, i enjoy what i do. i love driving i've always loved driving. he enjoys restoring cars and this gives us economic benefits and we're happy with that. >> alvarez says more than anything he's just tired. >> i feel like a capitalist. i have no life of my own. i don't have the time to pay attention to anything else but my business. >> reporter: from socialism to the drive of capitalism. officials would insist reforms have remained true to the revolution and cubans have little choice but to do something different. but the changes will make way for a growing middle class in a supposed classless society. >> it's really such an important story and it was quite a thing to listen about that man talking

about how he's an exhausted capitalist, in part because they have to deal with a very inefficient socialist bureaucracy that offers little help. >> reporter: absolutely. they mentioned two things, they do allude to the bureaucracy but they also talk about the embargo, the blockade, some of the ingenious things they had to do to bring in supplies, julio alvarez the gentleman who restores cars, he would go onto ebay in the united states find the part he wants but he can't buy it because of the embargo, he would find a miami middleman to buy it online and ship it to him. something else he mentioned that was quite interesting is the paint job for these cars. he'd actually have people bring in paint by plane essentially check it in or carry on in order for him to finish up his cars, antonio. >> it's rough for homeowners who want to fix their homes, melissa

thanks. talking about homeowners, still ahead the beauty of old havana. the historic neighborhood is the subject of one of the world's most ambitious urban renewal plans.

♪ ♪ >> how do you save a city, known

as the city of columns and the rome of the caribbean, the old city much havana is a unesco world historic site. one stone at a time havana is being rebuilt but with hundreds of millions of dollars needed, the future may depend on people from havana's past. >> i hope that the cuban community, more than even the americans, the cuban community would want to come back and help recover this country and this city. >> as the head of the cisneros association, she has returned to havana as an active patron of the arts and restored a ruined mansion to its former glory. >> i remember ten years ago you

would come here and it was a disaster. >> havana is still a stunning living museum of architecture, home to spectacular colonial buildings, a city frozen in time. a professor at the university of havana's architecture school. >> translator: havana looks the same as it did 50 years ago. grand plans to modernize were abandoned and not saving the city from becoming another impersonal cosmopolitan city of glass. >> limited funds for even basic maintenance much of havana's city is crumbling including the capital and the havana yacht club. in the '80s the city was designated as a world heritage site. but massive almost everywhere you look, beautifully restored

structures next to condemned ones. >> this city is falling to pieces, every day buildings are collapsing. it's now financially possible to save it's heartbreaking. >> in many cases painstakingly difficult work is stunning, but beautification in some cases is only skin deep. facade beautification hides flaws within. havana may go from not having enough money to too much, too fast. >> on one hand money from abroad is extremely valuable to save this city but there's also the risk of huge uncontrolled investments and we could lose havana. it's a great risk. >> i've heard they gave the chinese and some other people come and build 500 room hotels. how is that going to look or how is that going to feel? i'm afraid, yeah, i'm afraid

that that might not be the best for cuba. >> remittances, airbnb is make it attractive for people who can, to renovate and improve. >> they are improving, because of airbnb. >> a spirit that will be needed to save historic havana. >> so i do think yes that many of the buildings can be recuperated, of course there are others that are going to cost a lot of money to recuperate. but maybe it's worthwhile spending the money and not losing the city. >> so you're hopeful? >> yes, i am, i'm hopeful. >> up next my journey back to the home where my family lived until we left cuba a year and a

half after the revolution.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> cuba is preparing for a visit from pope francis. construction teams have begun building an altar where the pope will bless the city of havana

next month. pope francis has pressed the leaders to put aside their differences. thousands of families in cuba and the united states were touched or even divided by the tensions including my own. so what happens to u.s. cuba relations is deeply personal to cuban americans as is returning to the island where we were born. it was for me. so we're here in the old section of havana right along the bay here and the malacon and we are headed to the home where i lived as a baby with several generations of my family. and i haven't been there for over 20 years. >> since my family left soon after u.s. broke off relations, i still know one person who lives in the house. carridad, she worked with my family and never left.

she's telling me she's been here all these years. she's been taking care of this house for us, she said. the house was turned into a small school and then the government decided to subdivide it into apartments and there are 11 apartments here now. she's telling me that these days they really maintain the house, the government is involved, they want to keep it up because it's a historic house and they want to make sure that it's in the tourist area that it really shows off havana in a positive light. caridad's daughter marisa invited to take me a tour. the house broke down, the salt air from the sea taking its toll. >> this was a stained glass

window and i guess some of the molding is still left around the window but as you can see most of the rest is falling apart. ironically even though this is stained, this is still marble. maybe this could be cleaned some day. on the second floor we ran into another tenant. he lives, turns out that he lives in my room when i was a child. and he's going to show us. >> a room i hadn't seen since i was 2. so i guess this is where i slept as a child. only then did he learn who i was. what followed was a revealing moment about how cubans see those who left. i pray a lot for your family, he said, whispering, come back and buy this.

before leaving we shared family photos. caridad was most excited to see a picture of my mom in miami. 55 years apart despite living little more than 200 miles away. so close, but yet so far. many cuban americans are here today, they came for the flag raising ceremony. and i think just how emotional it is for them was exemplified by a woman on the plane behind me. she had never been to cuba, had never been there, when she saw the island couldn't stop crying until she landed. that's it for u.s./cuba a new era, i'm antonio mora, thanks for watching. good night.

>> on "america tonight": echoes of the watts riots still heard 50 years later. >> six days of rioting in a negro section of los angeles. >> the frustrations are really the same. >> just the same. >> "america tonight's" joie chen with an in depth look at race relations in america and what i.t. means today. also tonight, restored relations. the u.s. restored its relations with cuba after more than 50 years but many will never forget the dark daysn