>> from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. charlie: cardinal jaime ortega y alamino is here, the archdiocese of havana and cardinal of the catholic church. he became archbishop of havana in 1981. he participated in the conclave that selected pope benedict 16 and pope francis. lastly, he was awarded the medal

of honor for helping to normalize u.s.-cuban relations. i have known him for several years and i'm pleased to welcome him to the table for the first time. welcome. cardinal: thank you. charlie: tell me why you are here in the u.s. cardinal: i have been invited by fordham university for a doctorate i will receive tomorrow. charlie: an honorary doctorate. cardinal: the doctorate i will receive tomorrow morning. and then i was invited from almost two years for this honorary doctorate. but other problems and difficulties in my condition of archbishop of havana has made it

difficult for me to come to new york. but i've got to be able to respond to this invitation of the fordham university. it is for me a very great honor. charlie: you are a great man. the two things you and i share is [indiscernible] and a doctorate from fordham. i had the great fortune to speak at that commencement three or four years ago. it will be a glorious day for you, and for them as they honor you. cardinal: yes, sure. i have been honored -- charlie: many times.

cardinal: many times, but it seems to me it's not a personal recognition, but a recognition of the role of the catholic church in our country in improving the life of the church in my country. and also now on this occasion many are looking for the intervention of the holy father in this new relation between cuba and the united states that is taking place after the words of the two presidents of both countries in december about a

new diplomatic relation and the possibility to take off the embargo by the united states. it was important. and the key role the holy father has laid -- has played in this dialogue. i am sure i have known that the holy father himself, his interest creates a new relation between countries and peoples in order to have the conflict

resolved by dialogue. charlie: we are now looking most recently a visit by raul castro to the vatican where he said maybe he's coming back to the church raul castro? he in panama met with the president obama, and the pope is coming to cuba. how did it start? you played a role. cardinal: there are some previous contacts that speak to

the possibility of the dialogue between the holy father and president obama. charlie: that is where it started. cardinal: in april or may of last year 2014 because it was a good guy with obama, the holy father has told me -- a good dialogue with obama, the holy father has told me it was a good moment. they were very conscious of each other, of the role of the holy father as pastor of the church and president obama is president

of the most important country in the world. and the holy father has mentioned cuba to the president. the president, he has mentioned the embargo. and president obama told him something like this kind of laws were taken before -- charlie: my presidency. cardinal: yes. not before my presidency, but before i was born. charlie: yes, exactly. cardinal: yeah, exactly. and the holy father says to me it seems to me a time for change. and we have some problems. there is the law of the congress and it's difficult for me, but

the holy father insists on a roll of cuba in latin america. he said to president obama, the politics of your government and of your future government in the united states passes through the relationship with cuba -- charlie: that cuba is important to this country's relationship with the rest of latin america. cardinal: not only on account of the sufferings of the cuban people, but also a latin america is now united -- all latin america is united now in a kind of association of all countries of the caribbean and latin america.

and now they have rejected these measures against the country of this subcontinent. the pope told me he was very impressed by this, these words he said. and afterwards, it was a process in which the holy has the dome and the holy see and the secretary of state and the vatican -- charlie: you know raul castro. tell me how he views this new relationship.

cardinal: for him, he it is a -- for him, it is a political decision. when we have some meetings for the liberation of prisoners at the beginning of this time of the government, he told me he was decided to look for a new relationship with the united states. and he said to me, this is a political decision. we can live together. we can live together with difference, but in a civilized

work, in a civilized style. then he has repeated to me that after the summit of panama, he has a very good discourse -- charlie: with president obama? cardinal: with president obama. he was very kind, very polite with the president. and even in the press conference they had after both stated

together -- it was interesting the kind of conversation the answers they had. and it was from both parts a real dialogue. i have congratulated the president after -- charlie: president castro? cardinal: president castro. after this meeting, and he asked me, -- he answered me, yes, i would continue it in this way. it is a political decision. we want to establish a new relationship with the united states and we can live in a civilized world with a civilized style.

it was interesting to hear that again. it is the same politics he expressed at the beginning of his time in the government. charlie: raul castro visited the vatican on sunday and praised him for helping to broker this breakthrough between. i want to know as much as you can tell me about that, because the holy father in dialogue seems to want to do what he can to create dialogue, to play a role, to use the moral authority of the church as a force for good as he sees it. yes? cardinal: yes. i can speak about this meeting between the pope and president

obama -- charlie: president castro, too. cardinal: but afterwards, he addressed it to both raul castro and to president obama. through the secretary of state of the vatican because his mission was not finished in this meeting with obama, has continued. even to do some proposals about the liberation of prisoners in the united they -- the united states and about the liberation of an engrossed that has been -- of alan gross that has taken place.

it was a very well-prepared diplomatic package. i cannot think about a declaration of both presidents -- opening and been seized, -- opening embassies, creating relationships between cuba and the u.s., the liberation of prisoners -- charlie: right, allen gross. cardinal: and the other prisoners at the same time. and they were in their countries at the moment of the declaration . this possibility, to speak to the congress about -- from president obama to speak to the congress about the embargo, it was very interesting to see that

altogether. ♪

charlie: ronald castro at the vatican said the following. this the country in which they have restricted religious worker

-- religious beliefs and have promoted atheism. he said the following. "i read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, i will go back to praying and go back to the church. i'm not joking." cardinal: i'm not joking. yes, he has said that come and he said it seriously. on account of the relationship with journalists perhaps he has added to his words charlie:, i'm speaking seriously. this would not have happened without the pope -- he added to

his words, i'm speaking seriously. charlie: this would not have happened without the pope. cardinal: i believe this pope has a special charisma to create not only by his words or his declarations but about the kind of relationship he is able to establish with all persons that come to him. something is implicit a very human treatment of the person even presidents kings. he's very simple.

then he creates a good fashion in encounters with the people not only the big encounters with thousands of people, but also a person-to-person encounter. he's able to create a good climate. charlie: how is he able to push this along? i mean, he is encouraging this. he wants this to go forward this relationship. cardinal: he told me he was thinking to come to cuba. he told me in february at the last event we had in rome. he told me, i'm thinking about going to cuba. i told him, holy father, now you

are going to bolivia and to ecuador in july on this trip. and he said to me, it no it will be very long. it's not the same way. perhaps in september. then the day after before beginning the morning session, he called me, the holy father, and he told me, i'm thinking to go to cuba. but in my trip to the united states -- charlie: that is symbolic. cardinal: not only for the flight of the plane, etc., but

also to create a symbol of this relation between cuba and the u.s. and i have known that a month ago, because at this woman, i didn't know -- at this moment, i didn't know what moment he was going to come to cuba. i was thinking always after the visit to the united states he would go to havana and he could fly directly to rome. but he has decided to arrive to havana to visit the country for two days and go to another diocese, and then to the shrine of the virgin of charity in cuba , and to return to the united

states from santiago de cuba. as for us, it was a very great symbol for our church, and for the relationship between cuba and the united states. charlie: it's an important visit. this pope seems to have a certain not only mission and dialogue, but urgency. he's very pastoral. he clearly is the most popular man on the planet. he clearly wants to get things done. and he is pushing and he is speaking out. he is a present. he also -- he has a presence. he also seems to have a certain urgency. he is your age, 77. cardinal: he is 78.

he said this year there is an example, a new way that has begun between cuba and the united states for normalized relations. it is an example for all the world. we cannot solve -- we can solve the problems of the world by dialogue with diplomatic ways. he has diplomatic ways. he has them at this moment. and when he was visiting and he said in his visit to the philippines that the journalists had asked him about his trips because he has gone to france. he has gone to spain.

-- he has not gone to france. he has not gone to a. he having gone to germany, no. he said, i prefer to go to the little countries, to the little countries who have to resolve problems and conflicts or who are fighting for dialogue and a new way to resolve conflict. that is why i will stay in sri lanka where it was finished only six months before. and i will go to the philippines, where the guerrilla with the muslims has taken

before. and he will go to sarajevo now. charlie: sarajevo, right. cardinal: this week, in 15 days sarajevo. and he has been in albania. because, it is an example, he said, -- because it is an example, he said, of how catholics and muslims are working to rebuild the nation together. charlie: together. cardinal: and he has some of the first words we say about dialogue here. he's very interested, it seems to me, to project to all the

world this vision, this new vision of the world and of the relationship. charlie: he has announced in the last couple of days and initiative with respect to palestine as well. cardinal: yes, sure. charlie: here is what he is doing that is interesting to me and you know all about this. the president credited pope francis as helping to jumpstart the diplomacy with personal letters, and also by allowing the vatican to be used for secret meetings so they could accomplish things between diplomats from cuba and the united states. i mean, this is a very active role he has been playing. cardinal: this is an active role that he has played. charlie: cuba is ready for this change. cardinal: oh, yes, it seems to

me my country will be ready for this change. but it will become economically ready when the change will be structured step-by-step. it seems the change cuba is the siren for tourists, the siren for foreign investment in the economy. there is a for it. -- there is a new law for investment. there is a new law even for repatriation of capital for

foreign investors. and the creation of the special zone of mariel and the newport in the west of have anna -- the new port in the west of havana you receive -- who receive the new panama bowls. all that has been in preparation . and for the mentality, i believe the cubans always prepared for a new relation in these parts.

charlie: it must feel good to you -- the archbishop of havana to see this, because you have played a role in it. you have been the indispensable link to pope francis. cardinal: no. perhaps we have created before the possibility of the links of the secretary of state and pope francis.

it was created, a climate of confidence and possibility, to resolve conflicts. i'm sure the government of cuba has asked to the secretary of state of the vatican to say something to the pope for presenting to president obama's problem of the embargo. because the cuban government was sure -- had a positive approach

meant to cuba -- approach meant -- positive approach to cuba with cuba's relation with the vatican. they have been developed in these years before. that facilitates this contact we have now in this moment. it seems to me you have asked me about the holy father and his

role and if it was necessary. i believe pope john paul ii lived in cuba. he has said cuba must be open to the world and the world will be open to cuba. charlie: thank you for coming. it was a pleasure to have you here. cardinal: iq for your invitation. i apologize on account of my english. charlie: we heard you. back in a moment. stay with us.

charlie: james taylor is here, the five-time grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. he has just recorded his first outcome of new songs since 2002. it is called "before this world." welcome. writing songs again are you? james: i was absent for a wild.

actually i had recorded a lot of different albums and projects over the past 12 years. none of them was original material. charlie: why did you finally say i'm ready to write again you go did you feel the muse of songs that needed to be attended to? james: i had enough songs on the burner under way that i really wanted to finish up. i found that nothing would do. i know writers who can write for three hours a day for five hours a day or get up at 5:00 in the morning at right until nine. that just wasn't doing it for me. i needed to sequester myself away. i borrowed a friend's place in newport rhode island on the harbor in the off-season. after a couple of empty days

things started to come through and i managed to finish a few of these songs. i was excited to learn that there was till something in the well. we recorded it at home at a home studio which was nice to not have to leave home. charlie: the berkshires, which i have seen. james: western massachusetts. charlie: you brought the game together. here we are. james: i feel at though -- i feel as though at this point i'm a member of a musical community. i have a band of fellow musicians whom i have worked for with the pet -- worked with for the past three decades. i value that community and i would like to get them together

and make music with them. driving you wrote the songs in newport and executed them in berkshire. james: we came home and cut tracks for 10 days. it was a traditionally made album. i took the basic tracks and overdubbed vocals. and some experimental stuff and a lot of choral work. it is my 16th time in with a batch of songs. charlie: do you think yourself as a songwriter or singer? james: i'm a singer-songwriter, but also a performing musician. as i said, a member of a musical group.

james: i grew up during the great folks scare as my friends would call it. it was the time of dylan and the kingston trio a lot of folk acts. there was a guy in cambridge massachusetts. tom was a great model for me. i emulated him in my work -- in my early work. music in those days and the opportunity to perform was very accessible.

charlie: you always wanted to perform? james: i always did. charlie: the great history stories you were in london and hanging out and sent tracks to peter asher. james: peter had just signed on as head of and/or -- of a&r. he was doing that for a new label started by the beatles apple records. i was in the right place at the right time. sort of a classic and perfect lucky showbiz rate. charlie: soon you are on the cover of time magazine. james: that was exciting. game changing. i went from having worked very hard at abusing my family of their expectations for my future. i went from being once again at

the center of the family dynamic -- it was a strange thing to happen. charlie: meaning what? james: i had sort of dropped out. i dropped out of school. i spent some time in a psychiatric hospital under observation for teenage angst and depression. i think the two benefits of that were that i got a deferment from the draft and i wrote songs. at the end of it i had spent my college fund and my family was just happy i was still around. charlie: a were no longer expecting great things? james: i used it. i came here to town and started

a band with my friend and fellow cohort. we tried for a year here in new york. eventually i had to go across the ocean to get discovered, to get -- charlie: what you make of the fact that the songs you have written have such permanence? you go into places and hear them, everybody knows james taylor. sweet baby james. it is caroline on my mind. james: it is partially that i have been around for a long time and have kept at it. charlie: you are always on the road. because you enjoy it? because you need the money? james: i need the money, it's how i make my living. baseball has been very good to me.

that's my work, it's what i love to do. i guess part of it is i have been around a while. i have this audience that for one reason or other keep coming back. and i love them too. they have supported me and i can travel in the world and find an audience and have an excuse to be there. it is a very satisfactory arrangement to me. charlie: angels of the fenway it is one i have wrote most about. james: it is about the 2004 miracle season that reversed the curse of the bambino when the

red sox won since 1980. charlie: can i read some of the lyrics? or you can sing it. roll tape. here we have you singing it. ♪ 86 summers gone by living on a tear and a sigh in the shadow of the bronx machine. can you get a little chip on your shoulder? say something that is downright rude. the yankees outspending everyone

to 21. ♪ angels of fenway hear our prayer. ♪ we have been patient. ♪ mama was a fenway fan, even after granddad died. i still remember holding my hand, taking me along for a ride. ♪ she was born in 1918 last year that the red sox won. charlie: love those red sox don't you? james: i do. born in boston, raise in north carolina. always identified myself as a red sox fan.

my mom always took pains to keep her connections to new england. she was a fisherman's daughter from newberry port. she didn't want us to lose our connection with the new england area. for some reason it was important to her. she would load us into the family station wagon and drive us up to the cape every summer. charlie: you and i knew each other at that time because i knew your father and mother. i couldn't understand why they went to the vineyard. we have all these beaches in north carolina. the vineyard is the plate -- they act like the vineyard is the place to be. it was there because you grew up there. james: it was an unusual place to vacation that was remote in those days.

it was a cheap place to vacation. a cheap summer rental. it was a nice collection of people who came there. it meant a huge amount to me. there was a lot of music in martha's vineyard. i met my best friend there. a lot of lefties, a lot of academics. charlie: that's when you became a man of the left. james: i inherited from my dad, but yes. he was definitely a left-wing northeast liberal enclave. i guess i always identified

myself as a red sox fan. it was after i met kim that i got really cold back. charlie: your life today. james: she would work for many years at the boston sympathy -- boston symphony. he is a great red sox fan. charlie: the great music conductor. "today, today today i am finally on my way. the time has come to say goodbye, goodbye goodbye." james: it's the song that starts the album. i wrote it driving down to newport to get underway, to get down to finishing some songs. it's just a song of let's get down to work. charlie: is the process always the same?

james: it is often similar. there is a period where some ideas emerge. sometimes if you are lucky that will be an entire song in one initial event. usually you end up with bits and pieces and fits and starts and you need to get alone with them spend the time working with them. charlie: is there such a thing as a muse? james: i have a sense that i don't write the songs, that i'm just the first person to hear them. it's such an unconscious process for me. the song angels of fenway is the first on i had written in a long time that i actually set out to right. i said i want to write a song about the 2000 or red sox and

the reverse of the curse. -- 2004 red sox and reverse of the curse. the others, i just follow the direction the song takes. it may be about alex's death. charlie: your brother. james: it will start with cap -- start with that but it has its own architecture and own logic. i ended following the song through to the end. often a very surprised by where it goes. if not in use then it is certainly an unconscious process. charlie: most intriguing question and sciences understanding the unconscious. james: they will figure that out. charlie: you and i guess the

next one. james: this is a love song -- you and i is the next one. james: this is a love song for my wife. i had the sense when we met that i'm not particularly -- charlie: you're not surely mclean. james: i'm not surely mclean. i do feel it is possible that we know how to recognize the -- recognize each other unconsciously better than we do on the surface. something about meeting kim, i felt that i knew her already. charlie: it is the moment of attraction. james: it is but it continued for the first six months that we knew each other.

it was as if we had been together beef or. -- together before. charlie: she has given some order to your life too? james: she has turned it around. i really need that. i wrote a song about waiting i herself in this lifetime. charlie: "again the days go by. then again maybe we can't because i can't escape this feeling that we have been this way, together u.n. die. i can -- together you and i. i climb so high." james: attending your own fire,

fighting your time we were both waiting for the moment our paths would come together, you and i. i have been writing a lot of lung songs -- lot of love songs for kim. she has come to expect it. stretch of the highway is a highway song. that's my driveway. it is just a celebration of wanderlust, essentially a song about love of the open road and the life. charlie: this album is reminiscent of taylor's work in the 1970's, do you like that? james: i should think so. it is me, so it should be reminiscent of me.

the 16th time now i have taken a new batch of songs into the studio. i think i get better at doing it , whatever that thing is. charlie: you're not try to recapture something, you are reaching for it. james: i think it is more in the nature of a slow evolution. it is just continuing as pedestrian as that sounds. it is just carrying on. charlie: great to have you. to see you. james taylor, before this world and his oh my gosh to the red sox -- his oh my gosh -- his homage to the red sox.

thank you. ♪

. .

angie: getting out of a hole -- rio tinto and mongolia region agreement at last. the records keep coming -- u.s. stocks hit new highs on speculation on higher rates. among the drivers apple, and carl icahn once a bigger stock buyback, saying the stock could double. facing the end game -- greece said to be almost out of cash as the deal remains elusive. welcome to "first up." i am angie lau.