communicate in realtime, with an unprecedented number of people, tarek bazley, al jazeera. >> there will be news hour from me in 30 minutes. all the rest, at al jazeera, 126 characters. >> history in the making. president obama is in havana sitting down for talks with cuban president raul castro. >> if you see violence, condemn it. if you see a bully stand up to him! >> tough talks from candidates trying to move pro-israeli

tenants at aipac. new strikes in europe. all right, al jazeera senior washington correspond mike viqueria is liven for us in havana. so mike what can we expect from this meeting that's happening now and tell us what's often th- on the president's agenda. >> well, the president has two goals here really. one is really to cement in the public's mind the perception that this opening to cuba is real, it's permanent and it is irreversible. to do that the president has embarked on two things. a lot of ceremony here walking through streets of havana upon arriving yesterday with his family, today laying a wreath at the memorial for jose marti, a 19th century cuban

nationalist. bringing along in toe, ceos from american corporations who hope to do business in cuba. he can encourage the congress to get off the mark, republicans are dead set against what the president is doing, dead set against this visit and they could conceivably be under pressure, to allow this meeting to go forward. the president wants to seal this in the public's mind. there has been a fly in the ointment, that is question of dissidents and civility rights here in cuba. the white house last been very sensitive ocriticism that it is not doing enough to listen to what wees dissident these dissio say. they have a meeting tomorrow with these groups, the cuban government not happy about that. the swhows eager to say -- the white house is eager to say that it is going to be broadcast,

unfiltered. sunday afternoon arrests of a cuban disdenlts grou -- dissides group called ladies in white. counterdemonstrators and that was the headlines in major american newspapers today including the new york times. so a very mixed message here but the president pressing forward at this moment in his bilateral meeting with cuban president cast strow. we do expenditure remarks from these presidents but no questions as we understand it are going to be taken from the press. that is something the white house has fushe pushed for but e cuban government has not agreed. >> as i look behind you the road is pretty much empty.

what is the atmosphere like in havana? >> reporter: i'm glad you asked that question. i've done a little bit of traveling, richelle. and out on the street everybody's heard about the 1950s era chevies driving down the street. it's hard to conceive of, unless you see it. hundreds of these cars, regular cubans are driving up and down the street in '57 chevy bel airs, driving through this colonial era architecture, much of it crumbling. in a certain extent this is a time capsule of the old and the new. there's no internet service to speak of, banking services are rudimentary. cubans are looking forward with

hope, those we have talked about, to end this 50 years of estrangement and acrimony, and things they want to see changed is the american economic embargo. president obama and the administration doing what they can through executive orders to mitigate those be effects. but republicans are four square against lifting the embargo, and part of the goal of the trip the president is embarking on is to put pressure on congress through the business community and elsewhere to try to reverse course, try to get them to reverse course and lift that embargo, richelle. >> let's talk about yesterday before i let you go. president castro did not greet president obama when he landed in havana. is there anything to make of that? >> fidel castro is not going to be meeting, they're emphatic about that. raul castro, younger brother of

fidel taking over in 2008 didn't come out to the airport. the protocol, the way things work, this is a state visit with a lot of pomp and ceremony. for example, when heads of state come to andrews air force, the president doesn't go to greet them. the first time that that has happened under the obama administration, those of us who watch that on a regular basis, eyebrows weren't raised. but other critics have been very vocal over the last 24 hours or so, because that didn't happen. we didn't see raul castro, out at the airport. >> i believe i did misspeak and say fidel castro. thank you, mike. a new poll shows that

majority of americans betwee 55r ending the trade embargo, only 43% of americans interested in visiting cuba. ambassador vicky hemston was chief, of the intersection in 1992 and served as the director and deputy director of the office of cuban affairs, she co-authored the book learning to sam isalsa. did you make anything of the fact that president raul castro was not at the airport to visit barack obama? >> that's a great question.

when i was there, governor ryan came to visit and fidel castro was there and the flags were flying and there was a red carpet and of course there was not a normalization of relations. i'm a little surprised that raul didn't come. on the other hand, the cubans are real sticklers for protocol, so the protocol with the chief of state is that the president would not be at the airport. however, i think we all would have liked to have seen raul at the airport. >> what do you think would happen on this trip for it to be called a success for cuba and for the united states? >> well, let me put it this way restoring a normal relationship is a process. and so to say yea, this day made a change, you're going to have to look at time. i think probably obama's visit

did make it irreversible. but cuban and u.s. relations are fraught with crisis. allen gross was in prison for several years for distributing communicates processes. elian the little one who the process was complained over, finally returned to cuba. we have had two major migrations crises with cuba. you can't say this is a great moment because it is a process and any number of things could happen. but i guess what i would say is a success is if, when obama returns home, americans are not around 50% in saying, we want to restore relations across the board, we want to get rid of the embargo, we want to talk about

giving back guantanamo, if that number went up to about 70%. because that's what we need to give e-keep the normalization into full swing. they arrested the women in white because they might give cuba a bad image. cuba is going to move slowly and it might even embarrass obama and that would be unfortunate because he has been brave in undertaking this initiative. >> i was asking mike viqueria, there were a lot of ceos on the trip with the president. what role does this business community play in normalizing the relations and is the motivation simply money? >> motivation is always money. and these companies want to get back to cuba.

i mean it's a great transshipment area, for the caribbean, for europe, for latin america. a number of companies, home depoa, i don't knohomedepot, i e on the trip, they all had facilities expropriated. all these companies are looking to position themselves for the future. the problem for them conservatism and the problem for obama, is the cuban government is very, very slow on this. we have as your commentator michael mentioned, we have very little internet access, companies donate their proceeds for a whole year and the cuban government takes a very, very long time to approve any joint investments. and the united states so far,

except for communication and perhaps a few other areas, only louse u.slouis u.s.onlyallows p. and tbowm i obama if he wants to stick, will have to allow u.s. companies investment with cuba. >> ambassador vicky huddleston stay close, we will calm on you again. >> thank you richelle. >> the two leers are i leaders n meetings and we'll cover that live after the break.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> welcome back. as you can see this is a live picture in havana. the two podiums are where president obama and president castro will come out to make a statement, after their meeting. you can't call it a press conference because the cuban government is not allowing any question-and-answer.the relations are anything but positive. the new relationship is dividing the community young and old. andy gallagher has more.

>> reporter: inside the miami studios of radio milka, seven days a week they transmit to the people of cuba and say theirs is a message of resistance. for ten years they've been reporting on cuba's opposition movement and for many here, president obama's visit is a step in the wrong direction. >> what obama is doing is not engaging raul castro, he is befriending raul castro. the only sane connection to cuba is to use whatever leverage obama last. >> the exiled community, for those who came here many years ago, any movement towards noicialsationormalization is nol

received. sylvia eliando arrived as a teenager. like many of her generation she thinks president obama's visit sends the wrong message. >> we are going to go there traa moment when there's more repression when our visit will serve to empower those in power. >> among those in miami, they say it began over a year ago and they are still not seeing the concessions they would like to see for the cuban people. but when you speak to younger americans, they do things very differently. raul is sympathetic to how younger cubans feel but tend to embrace a new approach. >> tend to be a little bit more curious about what changes in policy may yield. it is very different. i don't have the scars and the

trauma of being an exile the way my grandparents do. >> reporter: ultimately every cuban american in miami wants better things for island. how that's done causes the most friction. andy gallagher, al jazeera, miami, florida. >> christopher joins me from miami and just returned from cuba so having said that christopher that you just gok gt back from cuba how is it? >> actually i only got back two hours ago. the cubans are absolutely thrilled that obama is visiting. the perspectives that have been given by the exiles, they are out of touch with reality in cuba. the vast majority of cubans in cuba are thrilled by the opening obama is making. it's meant to endorse the kind of economic reforms, at the core

of raul's changes. >> so will the cuban people really benefit, will the government benefit, who is actually going to benefit there this normalization? >> what's really happening within the last two years since 2011 there have been more categories that are allowed. when i lead my motorcycle tours and other groups to cuba, i'm putting people in private homes, using a.m. 50s cars as private taxis, putting money in the hands of a new burgeoning realm of private enterprise. what obama wants to do is endorse that. >> let's talk about that. you think an improvement in the business and economic situation there could lead to changes when it comes to dissidents, human

rights issues, is there a connection there? >> there is a connection. because one of the reasons that there is oppression in terms of human right, lack of ability, freedom of speech, et cetera, is the fact that cub united statess the most power to overthrow the castro regime. it's caused the castro government to tighten its grip. with this new era of rapprochement et cetera, it allows the government to permit more openness. i've been going to cuba for 26 years and the last two years have been remarkable change, private enterprise blossoming, much more money in the hands of private entrepreneurs that have been sponsored by the state.

but at the same time now you've got internet access, public wifi zones that the government are done, reducing the cost of internet, et cetera. >> when you talk about -- >> it's relatively prevalent -- >> go ahead. >> it's relatively prevalent. the travelers, the u.s. tourists et cetera, that go to cuban hotels, they will see the lobbies filled with be tourists and also public parties, almost every park has public wifi zones. it's a matter can the cubans afford the access, they have reduced the cost significantly, $2 an hour. a rapidly increasing percentage are actually accessing the internet. >> is it a limited internet in any way, fire walls on certain sites?

>> well, there are certainly certain sites you can't access but the vast majority of cubans could have access that most have. but what cubans want to use the internet for is facebook, social media, they are communicating between themselves. so 80% of cubans i see accessing the internet are on facebook. >> i realize you were cutting it close, didn't realize you cut it that close, landing two hours ago. but thanks for your insight. >> you're very welcome. >> we are waiting as you can see there for president obama and cuban president raul castro to speak, they're in meetings right now and we are going to hear from them after that. a public address will bring that to you. keep it here.

only on al jazeera america. >> again, the live pictures in

havana, still waiting to hear from president obama and president raul castro. the first visit a sitting american president for almost 90 years. when they come out we'll take you there. let's talk presidential politics, most of the candidates are in washington, d.c. to address aipac, the pro-israel lobbying group considered the most powerful in washington. hillary clinton alluded to president obama. is. >> we need steady hands,everyth. well, my friends israel's security is nonnegotiable. >> bernie sanders, who is the only jewish candidate in the race is not at aipac, he is

campaigning out west. some polls show donald trump as israel's favorite candidate and second most favorite candidate overall. be. >> many of the people who support donald trump have significant concerns over donald trump and the role of u.s. policy, for many of them, they would be perfectly comfortable with donald trump speaking to the group and have a large group of rabbis come out. you will see not one but two donate buttons there for anybody who wants to do that. a self funded candidate wouldn't do that. but straight talk doesn't necessarily mean intelligent talk. so trump is doing what he's

always doing. >> meanwhile, tensions boiling over at another donald trump rally today. >> a disgusting guy, who puts a ku klux klan hat on. a disgusting guy. >> man has been charged with misdemeanor assault. trump says he does not condone the violence and calls the people involved agitators. also this video of another incident showing trump's own campaign manager, be be trump called his campaign manager spirited saying he was trying to remove and offender. biggest prize of the tuesday

primary is winner take all in arizona, primary in utah and caucuses in american samoa. for democrats, a total of 149 are at stake, primaries in arizona and utah and caucuses in idaho. belgian prosecutors are appealing to the public for help to capture a newly identified suspect. najeem who traveled with salah abdeslam. nah diem baba has more. nadim baba has more. >> before being allowed to carry on to western ceurm h europe, hs

been identified by dna evidence, found in explosives used in the paris attacks. it is now down to belgian investigators who carry on looking into the whereabouts of this individual, but they have asked for the public to remain vigilant. >> all right and again live pictures in havana. in the past few minutes we've seen more people come in, the rows start to fill in. this is window of time where we expect to hear from president obama and president castro who have been having talks for i guess about the last hour, hour and a half. when they come out and speak to the press we will bring that to you. there will not be questions from the press. that is something that the white house had been pushing for but the cuban government did not acquiesce, statements about something productive that came out of the meeting.

as soon as that does happen we'll bring it to you live. richelle carey. thank you for your time. >> this is al jazeera. f. >> very good to have you along. you're watching the al jazeera newshour, with me david foster. in the course of the next 60 minutes right now, obama and castro hold a historic meeting at havana's palace of the revolution. former drc vice president jean pierre benba is found guilty of murder rape and