>> i am john heilemann. >> i am mark halperin. with all due respect to fidel castro, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. ♪ on the show tonight, jeb bush gets painted red. hillary clinton sings the blues. sony gets blacked out. did somebody say christmas in havana? president obama is calling today's agreement a breakthrough in an outdated approach. alan gross says it is good to be home. republicans, most of them are not so happy especially senator

marco rubio. >> this president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the white house in my lifetime. i can tell you that his foreign-policy is at a minimum naive and perhaps even truly counterproductive to the future of democracy in the region. as part of a long record of coddling dictators and tyrants that this administration has established. today, by conceding to the aggressors this president and this administration have let the people of cuba down. >> texas senator ted cruz also super unhappy. >> this is yet another manifestation of the failures of the obama-clinton-kerry foreign-policy. this announcement will be remembered as a tragic mistake. it is also 90 miles away. cuba is an ally of north korea. it is an ally of iran. it is an ally of venezuela. it is an avowed enemy of this country.

>> who else is unhappy with the president's decision? john boehner and more republicans, most republicans who are calling the president and appeaser in chief. one democrat, bob menendez, is against this, but every democrat -- but the only democrat against it. why are republicans reacting so vociferously? >> because they are living in a different era. one of the most striking things is that american public opinion, not just nationally yes in florida, but even in miami-dade county, among cuba americans that cuban-americans, they are widely in favor of what the president did today. >> i think republicans could be unhappy. the president did this without much consultation. is doing some things that are not entirely clear within their power. resident clinton tried to do this.

the president might be harming congressional relations by doing it but i think republicans should be picking a different fight. >> the country is on the side of the president. i think the president is simply write on this matter. if you detest the castros, if you want to bring change, if you want to bring the downfall of a presidential regime that has ruled cuba, the best thing to do is engagement, trade, tourism. that is the best way to undermine these people, not pursuing a strategy that has kept them in power. >> i am inviting twitter attacks by saying this -- i do believe on the body language of ted cruz and rubio, this is genuine disagreement with the president. they may be wrong, but this is not to score political points. this is not to play to the base. they seem emotionally caught up in thinking this is fundamentally wrong. >> either that, or they think there is a political calculation. these guys want to look tough. they want to attack barack obama on foreign-policy. anything they can put in the

back of appeaser in chief, they will stuff in there. it gets them airtime for one thing. it makes them look like who is tough enough to go up against hillary clinton? somebody who can beat up on president obama. >>it is the second night of hanukkah, folks. also, the second day of the great jeb bush presidential announcement to work on. >> well, maybe he has ground he needs to gain. he has been out of this for a while. maybe he needs to get back in and practice. i don't know. i can't determine what other people. i just know what i'm going to do. >> that is rand paul going after jeb bush. he also went after him on common core. there are a lot of republicans who will attack him. what do you think will be the strongest argument that his republican rivals will bring against him? >> he is not 100% in, but i think they are still looking.

it's not entirely clear to me what the republicans align against him is going to be, but also democrats. immigrants are saying simultaneously he is too moderate to get through the republican process, but he is conservative just like his brother and others. i don't think anybody right now can tell you what going to be effective against jeb bush. part of the problem is he handles criticism very well. >> common core and immigration i don't think those are the things that are going to keep him from getting the nomination. it is hard to make the argument, but the notion that we need to not look back, we need to not nominate another bush, not because we hate bush's, but because we need somebody who embodies the future -- that is more of the way to go against hillary clinton. >> it was also said that that issue is it. if you look at the history of the republican party, that has never bothered them. they've nominated people like bob dole and john mccain. i don't know that the piracy --

the party ever wants young and new. >> there is no doubt the republican party has changed in the last decade or so. the question is, how much? not just is the tea party stronger but is the republican party now where the democrat party was in 2008 and looking at jeb bush and saying, yeah, we respect you, but to carry the banner forward having lost five of the last six popular votes -- >> "the wall street journal" said jed bush is a strong candidate. he's got part of the establishment right. i think republicans like ted cruz and rand paul are going to attack him. democrats are going to say, oh my god, we can't let jeb bush get ahead. those attacks from his rivals some elements from the right rush limbaugh and others, they are going to make donors say you know what? this is the strongest guy we have. i think republicans are going to have to figure out a way to taken down early, or he may get a head of steam and become the

defective front runner by june. >> the other argument is that -- is the one that mitt romney is making in private, the clot -- the quote. if you thought bain was a problem for me, let's talk about barclays with jeb bush. nobody wants to relive mitt romney in 2012. >> it will be a pure likability issue, not a nomination issue. attacking bayne within the party doesn't help. jeb bush people are going to say, his business dealings compared to the clinton's is this dealings -- >> rand paul might be able to push that case. >> the hillary clinton state department lifted a ban on a rich, politically connected ecuadorian so she could work in the usa for a barack obama donor. it is a big and cap located story. the bottom line is not good for the clintons. there has been very little push back on it.

reading this long and well reported "new york times story" what does it reveal? >> it is a complicated story. there is an argument that bob menendez is involved. this woman was given a passage into the united states. she is attached to a fugitive in ecuador, etc. i think the main headline is, boy, if hillary clinton is going to run for president there is a lot to look at in the nexus of money and official action at the state department, at her husband's foundation the whole family, everything it has done, where money meets policy. there is a lot of stuff to look at. i don't know what is there, but there is going to be a lot of investigation. >> the corollary is, when clinton people say to you and me, she has been scrutinized -- >> crazy. >> i guarantee you there is going to be stuff from her time as first lady of arkansas.

when you are the nominee, other stuff is going to come out. the other thing is, maybe if cuba hadn't happened, they would've felt more pressure to respond. her operation is not responding. they are content to hope the story will go away. it won't. >> there have been very few good stories done about the clinton foundation alone, let alone places where that very global organization intersected with things that the state department did. i haven't seen hardly any of those pieces. there are 20 or 30 of them to be gone. her time at the state department got a lot of scrutiny, but not in this way. you didn't have political reporters talking about her. foreign policy reporters, diplomatic reporters. >> every major news organization that still does investigative reporting there aren't very many, but those who do, they are going to say, we have democrats to investigate and republicans. 14 republicans, nobody's going to be hit that hard. or clinton, if she gets half the

scrutiny and there is stuff there, her operation is not equipped to respond. >> every major news organization is getting their teens ready and every single one of them knows if schiller clinton is running and she is the class of the field, they are going to assign a lot of people to her. in terms of sheer volume of people looking, they are going to dig through a lot of these things. >> let's be realistic about the way reporters work. they want to knock the candidates out. they want to expose malfeasance and all these things. they're big thing is damaging the candidate and to get them out. as the underlining mentality for people who do investigative reporting. you knock out ted cruz or marco rubio. it doesn't really affect the race all that much. you knock out the democratic front runner, and that is a big scalp. there is an anti-clinton bias in the press right now. this is going to remind people that there is stuff out there right now. >> as you remember in 2008 people said the clintons were

scoured. they would've found out everything about barack obama. yet somehow they missed the reverend wright tapes. ok. the most controversial movie of the year, "the interview," is as dead as kim jong-un in that league scene from "the interview ." it is only a spoiler if you can watch the movie. it today, sony canceled the "the interview christmas day release of "the interview -- canceled the christmas day release of "the interview." many theater chains in america said they were not going to screen the movie. i have to ask a cliche question, but everything we found out today, have the terrorists won? >> they have for now. i think it is north korea. whoever did it, they didn't want to this movie shown. it is now not going to be shown. i think it is incumbent upon everyone in the country, with or you are in the media, the movie business, if you care about freedom we have to figure this out. we've got to get to the bottom of who did it.

>> let's be clear about one thing. these two things are going to get conflated, which is that the hack raises all kinds of problems, stolen material should the press report about it? this is a separate thing. it is connected the same perpetrators, but what has happened our threats have been issued -- terrorists have threatened to attack movie theaters. that is the thing that is driving movie theaters to shut this down, and now the company -- yesterday i predicted that sony would take her of this quickly. sony cannot allow a movie to open that present a significant chance of people getting hurt. >> they already possess some of liability. they couldn't risk people's lives, even if law enforcement sources were saying they didn't see this as a credible threat. it is too big a risk. law-enforcement has got to get to the bottom of this. all of the subsidiaries in this

country if a major corporation is hacked, we have to get to the bottom of it even if it is not a deterrent. we've got to send the message that we won't tolerate that. >> my hope going towards this christmas, i want to see this movie because i think it's going to be funny, and my hope is between now and christmas day, the authorities will apprehend the people who were making the threats we will know who the hacker was, and sony will be able to reverse this decision. that would be the best christmas present. >> what if you make it? >>. -- what if you make it available online for $2.50? >> maybe that is the answer to this things are freedom loving americans can watch seth rogen and james franco blowup kim jong-un. >> the buzz of the movie hasn't been very good. it would be a much different debate if it were a masterpiece. >> baby. the fundamental issues are still there. >> theaters felt like they could

get away with not showing it. >> once you start to have threats against movie theaters you're not going anywhere. up next, one of the members of congress who went to cuba to bring home the american prisoner -- we will ask chris holland how many cigars he brought back. ♪

>> our guest tonight's democratic member of congress who flew back to cuba to bring back alan gross. we wish you were here in the studio so we could be puffing on cigars, but alas we cannot. congressman chris van hollen thanks for talking to us. this is a pretty momentous day in foreign policy history. tell us what it was like to go down there and come back. >> it was a huge day for alan

gross and his family, but also a big day for our country and setting us on a new direction in u.s.-cuban relations. i think all of us were very nervous right up to the last moment that this agreement might somehow fall apart. we've been working to try to bring alan gross home for the last five years, no one more so than his wife judy, who was of course on the airplane. it gave us all a great feeling when we walked off the tarmac in havana into the building at the airport to see alan gross. while he is very fragile and frail, he just had this huge smile that led, the day is finally here -- that said, the day is finally here. to give everybody very big and strong hogs for a frail guy. when we crossed into u.s. airspace alan said yes and put his hands up.

i should say that while he is obviously thrilled that he is free and out of prison he also firmly believes that the new policy announced by the president will over time, help provide more freedom and opportunity to the cuban people. >> congressman, everyone is happy mr. gross's home. you are very happy. mr. gross is happy about the policy. we have been struck by the reaction by republicans, speaker john boehner, marco rubio, and others, a negative reaction. apocalyptic, critical of the president. what would you say about the entelechy of the republicans? they stuck in the cold war? >> i do think they are stuck in the cold war. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. we have tried to isolate cuba for 50 years. we have tried to punish cuba for

50 years. by our own measure, it has been a failure. it has not resulted in more democracy or opening up in cuba. it has helped sustain the castro regime. the castro brothers have survived eight united states presidents. when a policy is clearly miserable -- a miserable failure, you should try something different. i firmly believe in gauging with cuba through more travel, more trade, more communication -- engaging with cuba through more travel, more trade, marcolina kaisha, -- more communication the cuban people will look for freedom. >> by your logic, we shouldn't just be easing travel restrictions and establishing diplomatic relationships. we should be lifting the embargo, too. do you think it is time for that, too? >> i think that should be the next step, but we've got a lot

of work to do to implement the actions the president announced today. i think those will immediately result in more interactions between the american people and the cuban people. i think they will get a bigger and better taste of what it means to engage in a market economy and have the influx of new ideas and access to communications equipment that lets them reach the world. the next step after that would be to lift the embargo. i don't think anyone is under any illusions that that is going to happen anytime soon. the president's steps taken today are a big step in the right direction for the cuban people. >> congressman, i want to ask you about another newsletter. sony released -- wanted to release a movie called "the interview." somebody hacked into sony and released documents with the intent of preventing it from being shown. now the biggest movie chains in the company have said it won't be aired in the united states theatrically. should leaders be speaking out?

>> obviously, everyone is concerned about the breach, but i have to say i have spent the last four days in anticipation of this trip to cuba trying to make it happen. while i've seen the headlines on the tv screens i have not follow that story as closely as i probably should. i am pleased that i was working on the alan gross case. >> some of the people involved with sony have been critical of the news media for covering things released in that hacking attack. do you think that the news media should not be writing about or talking about things that were unearthed as a result of those hacks? >> i believe that once that information enters the public space once it escapes, it is awfully difficult to put the genie back in the bottle. it then becomes part of the

public debate. i think it is hard to claim a private property right in some of that release information. that would be my gut reaction. i would obviously want to hear the legal argument on the other side, but like i said, certainly as a practical matter, i think it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle. >> congressman chris van hollen, thank you very much. >> "the interview" is over, but the teachers said mark has to stay late for detention. what he learned when we come back.

>> ♪ the simpsons ♪ celebrate good times. it is the 21st anniversary of america's yellow is the family. there is one character we would like to interview most of all.

that would be diamond joe quimby. he is going to call politicians politicians. we put together an oh my gosh to the real mayor of america. -- homage to the real mayor of america. >> over the past quarter century, the most successful pull that politicians have visited springfield. all of them pale besides springfield's own commander-in-chief mayor quimby. >> diamond joe quimby. >> i am no longer illiterate. >> joseph fitzgerald o'malley "the edge" diamond joe quimby was elected mayor of springfield in 1986. his campaign ads are legendary for their sustained persuasive force. >> quimby -- if you are running for mayor, he would vote for you.

>> whether he has been caught cutting deals with the campaigns of organized crime -- >> milking rays! >> time-out raged. >> or engaging in embezzlement so brazen it would make bernie madoff blush. >> we will now hear suggestions for the disbursement of the $2 million. >> don't you mean $3 million? >> of course. >> when it looks like he's finally done for good -- >> the results are in. sideshow bob, 100%. joe quimby, 1%. >> diamond joe quimby always manages somehow to hang on. he is the real comeback kid. >> the mayor's office is not for sale. [laughter] >> god bless you, mayor quimby. you've got our vote. >> up next, an advent calendar that is out of this world.

>> today, we may have detected life on the red planet. kind of. more like methane. >> up next, "taking stock."

>> i am pimm fox, and this is what i am "taking stock" of this wednesday. federal reserve chair janet yellen preaches patience. the central bank will be patient on its timing of the first interest rate increase since 2006. the statement pushed stocks higher, and the s&p 500 gained the most since october 2013. yellen says the central bank is staying the course for now. >> this new language does not represent a change in our policy intentions. it is fully consistent with our previous guidance. >>