it is thursday, december 18th, 2014. welcome to "cbs this morning." outrage in hollywood after sony surrenders to hackers. united states prepares to blame north korea for the massive cyber attack. they promise historic changes after 55 years of conflict. scott pelley is in havana and secretary of state colin powell is with us. and after 19 years, stephen colbert prepares to say see you, cable, and hello to cbs. but we begin this morning with a look at today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds. >> this is a terrible thing that happened.

the message it says if you really scare us, we will do what you want. >> sony pictures pulls out of the interview. >> the christmas release cancels. the studio says it has no plans to release the movie at all. >> the u.s. plans to implicate north korea for the cyber attack. >> what are we doing here? let's let the guys come in here and have their way. >> alan gros, a prisoner for years back on u.s. soil. >> this president is the single woeft negotiator, basically giving the cuban government everything it asks for. >> a deadly crash in california. >> one person is killed when a car plows into a group of people. >> i saw two people hit each other and one car fly away. >> defending actions in crimea. he promises the economy would recover. >> christmas light display out of thisw images from nasa showi holiday light from space.

>> which one of these is not a piece of jewelry symbolizing the love between two people? >> b. >> he landed an interview with the one and only sting. >> i can see you tried your best. you can be proud of yourself. >> bile proud of myself, if you say so. >> the u.s. prepares to cut loose the shalks. a better future for the cuban people and the american people. >> announcer: this morning's "eye opener" presented by toyota. let's go places. captioning funded by cbs welcome to "cbs this morning." anger and outrage this morning after sony pictures pulls the controversial movie "the interview." one commentator said the united states lost its first cyber war. >> sony backed down from

hackers' threats of violence and potential release of damaging more internal documents. cbs learns u.s. could soon blame north korea for the cyber attacks about the movie. the movie plott is about north korea's leader. elaine quijano is here with the most dangerous cyber attack ever. >> corporate america, hollywood, and the u.s. government agree the sony hack attack has been unprecedented and the white house is considering a wave of options. >> you want us to assassinate the leader of north korea in. >> yes. >> whaaat? >> in the end it turns out the picture is no laughing matter. there will soon be an investigation into whether north korea is behind the hacking attack. >> it's incredibly difficult for the u.s. government to respond

in part because the north koreans are playing a game of brinksmanship and they know there aren't many options for the u.s. government. >> this comes after the cyber group guardians of peace threatthreat ened a 9/11-style attack on christmas day. thousands of theaters say they wouldn't have show the film and sony was facing pressure from other studios. >> sony realized this was going to affect others and this would affect their bottom line. >> finally sony decided to cancel it all together saying -- >> i have never seen a studio just say we are pulling the publicity, we are pulling the movie, no video on demand. it's as if "the interview" never

existed. >> while sony says it stands by their right to express, critics have been vocal. newt gingrich says america has lost its first cyber war. this is a very, very dangerous precedent. >> personally allowing a ruthless dictator of another country decide what americans can or account no see in our own k country is against everything we stand for. >> it's scary, man. e-mails and it's your private stuff. i don't know. the whole town's scared. everybody's got to be scared. >> the ripple effects continue. a steve carell movie reportedly about korea has been canceled. it's possible "the interview" may never see the light of day and sony wants to distance its from the controversy as much as possible. pulling the film and loss of the infrastructure could easily run into the hundreds of millions. >> elaine, we thank you.

in the next half hour, a hacker's take. why a one-time hacker of a group says it doesn't blame north korea. president obama said wednesday he will restore relations between the two countries. those ties were cut in january 1961. scott pelley is in cuba's capital and we'll speak to him in a moment. first major garrett is at the white house where the president made the historic announcement. major, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. president obama said it was time to end the experiment and isolation that dates back to a the eisenhower administration. critics said the president was misinform and naive. >> we will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests. >> reporter: the white house negotiates the release of u.s.

aid worker alan gros unjustly jailed in cuba for five years at the same time it worked on normalizing relations with havana's communist government. the pope urged them to resolve and initiate a new phase in relations. the president sealed the deal with castro in an oval office phone call tuesday. freedom for gross triggered the lifting of certain travel and trade restrictions but only congress can remove all barriers between the u.s. and cuba. democrat robert menendez is the outgoing chairman of the foreign relations committee. >> i think it stinks. i think it's wrong. i'm disappointed in the president. >> marco rubio said the white house gave up too much. >> this president is the single worst negotiator we've had in the white house in my lifetime who has basically given the cuban government everything it

asks for and received no assurances of any advances in democracy and freedom in return. >> reporter: gross was flown back to america. >> the policy that we've had in place for the past 50 years has done more in my view to keep the castro regimes in power than anything we could have done. >> reporter: republicans who will run congress next year have vowed to do everything in their power to block the lifting of a decades-old economic embargo with florida. anti-sentiment has run high and both parties have tried to exploit it. with president obama's move now the policy could be the dividing line for the race to the white house in 2016. gayle? >> all right, major. thank you. it was a surprise but the white house has worked for years to

bring home alan gross. margaret brennan has more. >> good morning. his first words to his two daughters are i'm free. he had been in jail for 15 years and charged with crime against the cuban state. a mob of well-wishers greeted alan gross just after he landed in washington, d.c. a he get blessed. >> it's the first day of hanukkah. >> he was charged for crimes against the cuban state and sentenced him to 15 years. he'd lost 100 pounds, vision in his right eye and five of his front teeth. >> god bless you and thank you. it was drushl my survival knowing that i was not forgotten. >> reporter: after a few false started, over 18 months of talks

a final deal was brokered this week. in exchange the castro regime released an unnamed cuban national who had served 20 years in jail for working as a u.s. spy. alan gross's imprisonment helped pave the way toward a diplomatic opening. president obama announced the first step will be allowed cuban americans to send more money to families in cuba and u.s. and credit and debit cards will be used. >> it shows such bilge ranns inhilkts better judgment. two wrongs never make a right. >> gross was greeted aet the airport by john kerry who said he looks forward to being the first secretary to visit in 60 years. there's no step yet and it's going to take at least another six months to release the terror related sanctions. the two cubans released at

the same time are all accused of spying. they're considered heroes. castro embraced them when they got off the plane in havana. scott pelley is in havana, cuba's capital. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. those three cubans returned here to a hero's west coast. cubans wachled them on television last night greeting their neighbors as the streets around them filled with what appeared to be adoring crowds and they thanking everyone for keeping the faith and bringing them home. the castro brothers had always said this country would never rest until those three cuban spies were returned from the united states. as the sun rises this morning over the island, cubans are waking up to a new reality. now that the sweeping changes have finally been announced. these negotiations went on for 18 months in secret. when raul castro announced it to his people at the same time

president obama spoke new state. nearly evan was watching. at first there was silence but that soon turned to joy. people broke out in song and danced to celebrate the news. church bells rang and cars and motor vehicles honked their horns as they drove through the streets. although it's far too early for people to feel any sort of impact, there's a sense that this can only be a good thing. people here feel that economic conditions will improve as trade restrictions loosen and visits by american tourists are made easier. diplomatic relations between cuba and the united states have been virtually nonexistent since they broke off in 1961. and when you look around a city like this, like havana, the city almost feels frozen in time, but this might change things now that ties have been re-established. you can't overemphasize what this news means to families here. an entire generation of cubans have watched their children either leave the island or

attempt to leave the island and there's a sense here now that if the economy improves and the government opens up more freedoms, families may stay together, people may want to stay here in cuba. charlie? >> scott, thank you so much. president jormg w. bush supported the embargo. so did secretary powell. he joins us from washington. good morning. >> good morning. how are you all? >> you're a veteran of diplomacy. do you totally support the steps the president has done, the plans he has made and the deals he's made? >> yes, i support it but there's a long road to be traveled. i had a flashback when i heard the announcement yesterday. flashback in 1962 when i was a young captain of vietnam whelp suddenly i got instructions to go to ft. hood because we may invade cuba.

that didn't happen. over the years i've watched this policy unfold and i've been a part of it. the i think it's time to turj the page of history. i don't see anything wrong with opening diplomatic relations with cuba. we have diplomatic relations with other nations. it's a way to talk, make your point. they're not going to get off the sanctions list any time soon. congress isn't going to do that. but it's good to have an ambassador there who tells cubans, this is what will come if you respond in a positive way. it think it's a positive way. and as scott pelley just noted, there is optimism within the cuban people by this change and therefore i think let's start it, let's get the process going, let's not have any illusions. this is not a terrible regime but we don't like what they're

doing. thing with the relegislations we've had with soviet union, vietnam and others, we can look forward to change. >> you're recommending they lift the embargo? >> no. i recommend they take it under advicement. if they reach a point where they think progress has been made, then congress should consider it. this is just the beginning. we're not lifting the sanctions yet and there's a lot of pressure made on the castro brothers and should be made on them until they start to show the kind of positive movement that we want to see. releasing political prisoners, opening up the economy, making life easier and more open for the cuban people. and so this is just one step and there are a lot of steps that have to be made to make this work. >> general, can you address the criticism that president obama by taking this action has vindicated the brutal behavior of the cuban government, a castro government that has been so oppressive, a long list of human rights abuses? >> no, i don't think he's done

that at all. nor is that necessarily the case just because you opened an embassy and started to make some movements. i hope that our government will continue to speak out against that kind of behavior and i hope our ambassador going in makes sure we give that message to them at every opportunity. we've got through the same thing with a lot of other countries and my experience in all of this is once you start talking to someone, you're almost inserting a poison pill into the system where they have to start responding to the pressures that they're still under. and so i thing this is a positive step and let's not overemphasize all that's going to happen in the months and years ahead. it's a long process, but i think a page of history has been turned and it's appropriate to do so at this time. >> general, i want to turn to the sony hack attack and reports that the north korean government is behind it. what do you make of that and if true, what are the implications of that? >> well, i think if it is

koreans -- and i understand the american government will announce that -- it's a very serious issue. but, you know, this is a problem all of us have to face in this internet age. but if we can identify that the north koreans did it and if we can be specific as to who did it within north korea, then i think appropriate action has to be taken. i can't tell you what that is. we're rather limited. i'll wait and see what the administration announces and then we'll go from there. >> secretary powell. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. coverage on the cyber attack continues tonight on the "cbs evening news." scott pelley will be anchoring from havana. >> russia president vladimir putin says he's confident his country's economy will rebound. he ee hosting his annual news conference. putin puts part of the blame for the fall of the ruble on western

sanctions. >> translator: what they're trying to do at the moment is to maintain our sovereignty and our independence. and if you do it, then the problems we're facing in our economy at the moment are the results of the sanctions, and it is partially true because you know about 25% of the problems we are facing at the moment, 20%, 25%, are due to the sanctions. >> well, putin says russia is not the aggressor in international conflicts and in protecting the interest he accuses the united states of meddling in russia's affairs. >> security stepped up at the courthouse in boston. tsarnaev is expected in court. he has not been seen when he still had visible injuries at the time. the defense motion to move the

trial from boston is pending. new video shows the tense moments as iraqi officers try to defuse a suicide belt strapped to the boy. he surrendered to authorities instead. sources tell cbs news the boy is 13 years old and from syria. iraqi officials appear to have successfully defused the bomb. and it is 7:19. on "cbs this morning" we'll ask

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hi, good morning i'm ukee washington. let's start with katie and kick it off with that forecast. >> it is not looking that bad, and we do have some sunshine here, on the delaware valley, underway, if you want to head to your east facing window and check that out. we have a wind that will make it feel chillier. then the thermometer reads. it is a 1/2 punch here. storm scan three is quiet, we expect to see some sun. we have some clouds but generally mostly sunny day, brisk and colder, thinks just a dose of reality mid december 43, very typical. we will drop down to 31 tonight. just keep in mind that you will want to drop five to 10 degrees off and shave that off mentally when you walk outside the door because wind makes it feel colder. try weather right through

weekend. by monday next shot for wet weather, vittoria. >> good morning. we have rush hour sprinkles all over the map. lets start first with i-95 if you are commuting in the southbound direction you are delayed from the north east and down to the vine street expressway. north bound i-95, not awful around that area but in delaware county you will find delays around 320. fourteen is your average on the schuylkill both sides jammed, traveling within your western suburbs and watch out for an accident westbound on the pennsylvania turnpike at mid county, ukee. >> next update 7:55. up next on cbs this morning, have after a nine year run steven colbert records his final comedy central show tonight. we are on the cw philly and you can find us on these

make no mistake. obama has a whole lot of plans to make cuba liberated. >> this comes after cuba released an american frizz never along with a high-level spy. >> it takes cuba off the terrorist list and eases banking regulations. >> you can bring in cuban cigarettes. >> they're not going to get way with this. as soon as my show ends e i'm heading to cuba. i will go to every pristine beach and visit every rum disti disti distillery. i will not leave until my job is done and i'm resting in a hammock. >> those hammocks look comfortable. coming up in this half hour, the real end tonight for stephen

colbert's fake alter ego. some in washington just might be relieved this morning. >> plus, travel editor peter greenberg is in our toyota green room. he'll show us when you can duo to cuba. how the travel industry is getting ready and what you need to know about buying cuban cigars. that's ahead. time to show you this morning's headlines. the "washington post" said there's treatment for patients who suffer from the most severe and disabling strokes. they use a stent to grab large blood clots in the brain. they returned to an independent life 90 days after the stroke. >> how great is that. new york's daily news says governor kuo is working to ban fracking. a report said this. that there are concerns it could pollute water, air, and soil. nearly 35 states allow fracking including neighboring

pennsylvania. "the new york times" remembers the last of the merrill boys. richard c. died. he was hired by edward r. murrow. in the 1960s he reports. richard c.hotlett was 97 and set a standard for those of us who worked at cbs news and tried to achieve. >> indeed, indeed. "wired" says the evidence that north korea hacked sony is flimsy. they say it looks more like the work of hacker activists so could they pull all something like this when they can barely keep the lights on? a former american hacker who once attacked sony is skeptical. elaine kequijano sat down with e

one-time hacker group anomty. >> he began cooperating with the fbi after getting caught. he now works as a security researcher. >> as someone who was connected to that world of hacking, what is your theory on how this took place? >> for something like this to happen, it had too happen over a long period of time. you cannot just ex-fill trait one tear rah bite in that short a time. it would take months or even years to hack 100 tear a >> could it have been north korea, do you think? >> it could be. in my personal opinion it could not. look at the pipeline, the pipes going in handling day tachlt

they only have one major isp across the entire information. that kind of information flowing at one time would have shut down the north korean government immediately. >> you're saying they don't have the ability. >> they have things very similar to china, russia, and good old usa. >> what about china? >> it's possible. i mean it's possible. it might be north korea inside of china. >> some gathers say some of the malware was written in korea. what does that tell you? >> that doesn't tell me much. i've seen russian hackers pretending to be indians, hackers pretending to be little girl, they do it to get information, disinformation covering their tracks. do you really think a bunch of nerds are going to do it to blow up new york?

no. it's not realistic. >> he said it was an inside job that an employee or consultant downloaded all the information from sony's servers and then sold it to someone else gayle? >> thank you. >> president obama's decision to renew diplomatic ties with cuba does not affect a long standing ban for travel tourists. what happens when these two countries just 90 mile ace part open up tourism and trade. cbs travel editor peter greenberg has been to cuba 30 times. he joins us at the table. >> they never foinld out yet, no. >> what does that mean for those who have never been there even once? >> let's not get too excited. it prohibits us from spending u.s. dollars there. we still have the sanctions in place. there are no scheduled airline flights there. they have to get a lot of other things in place before we can actually do that. >> how long do you think that will take? >> probably six months.

this came as no surprise to the private sector. they've had contingency plans to go there for years whether it's coca-cola or ibm. they're ready to go. they're just waiting for the green light. >> what are the laws now in terms of -- you mentioned a couple of them but in terms of say buying property in cuba? >> right now you can't. >> can you do it with a foreign -- >> a lot of people have done it. not the americans but the swiss, spanish, italians, jamaicans have brought it. raul castro has been opening condominiums. when you see that, you know the doors are about to open somewhere. >> many are complaining people are still being violated. scott pelley said, look, it looks like something out of the 1950s. this doesn't look like a good thing. >> when travel and tourism shows up, the doors get taken down, it

opens up the boundaries and trade flows. when trade flows, jobs are creates. people think cuban cigars and rum. you know what that is? it's nothing. it's travel and export. this is a big deal for them. >> speaking of cigars and rums, interest are going to be an immediate lifting of those, right? >> right now if you're coming back as a licensed traveler you can bring back up to $100 worth of cigars and $400 worth of products that are limited. don't buy the cigars, i'm just saying. >> i don't smoke, so. thanks, peter. >> you got it. coming up, one last show before stephen colbert moves to cbs. we'll look at some of the scathing comedies. that's next on "cbs this morning." ♪

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who knows who will show up in our celebrity ball pit. >> hello. >> broadcasting legend and anchor of "cbs this morning," charlie rose. whoa. >> don't you love that? that's charlie. >> hilarious. >> bouncing up on the "colbert report" back in march. guess what. after nine years of biting political satire the late night host is heading to cbs. he'll be taking over for david letterman. >> vladimir duthiers is outside of his new york studio where the last taping is just hours away. vlad, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. there are critics who said that the character stephen colbert created back in 2005 wouldn't last a season. before he wrapped up his ninth, we wanted to take a look back at what's made the "colbert report" such a success. >> so what the critics said when it started was finally true.

it won't last more than a couple of weeks. fortunately there's still time to pratz me. >> william jefferson clinton was taken but prez billy clinton was available. >> you i've taken a lot of shots aet my job. i've decided to go ahead and take a shot at yours. >> sharing the anchor desk with obama and shaved his head in solidarity with troops overseas. >> we'll be right back. >> now after nine years and six emmy awards steven co-pair is leaving his post. >> that's right. jeb no w. bush had explored the presidential committee which excludes the two he was born

into. >> colbert inhales oxygen and exhales comedy. it's pretty much that simple. >> he takes over if david letterman in january. >> there's so much to love about the show. first the fact he took on the whole persona of the fake idol, bill o'reilly or fake papa bear. >> when you met o'reilly at the time 100, you said, jesus save me, i'm ready to go. >> this is it. he talked about the advantages of creating the pundit persona on charlie rose. >> meanwhile i get to hide behind the character face and i get away with a lot. >> reporter: at times he took his show on tour like the correspondents' dinner. >> i believe by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in iraq. >> it was pretty brave for him

to do that and that was the genesis of people falling in love with stephen because they saw he was so brave to do that style of humor. >> over the years, folks, i've interviewed only 81 members of congress. >> while mark colbert kept washington on their heels politicians were often in on the joke. >> i have fenced with marshal fudge, leg wrestled jason cha vis. >> if you're doing an interview you've got to be yourself and be on the receiving end of a lot of laughter. >> reporter: the majority of colbert's office is under 40. they look to it as their primary source of political news. >> the show igts has been a breath of fresh air. >> which would you rather fight, one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses. >> how do you think the audience will respond to him not being papa bear? >> no matter what you throw at

him it comes out funny. >> we'll see you tomorrow night one more time. >> i think they'll be pleasantly surprised when they see his fuller personality on display. now, stephen colbert may be leaving the studio behind me but he's not leaving the neighborhood. the ed vaunl theater is just a few blocks away. >> all right, vlad. in this special taping tonight a special audience. only one of us aet the table will be there. who's going to be there, mr. rose? that's so cool. >> i have no idea who's going to be there but he send me sommelier ricks we're going to sing and saint don't worry, there'll be a tell prompter. >> he's everything they said. he inhales oeks oxygen and exhales comedy. >> comedy is a sign of intelligence i say. thank you, vlad. americans, we love our holiday decorations. what's going on at your house? you can see the proof from outer space. new images from nasa show just

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dramatic new images show how some love our lights. these are new satellite images. they measure changes in light intensity. a number of u.s. cities increase brightness by 50% between black friday and new year's day. los angeles, miami, and atlanta are some of the brightest. they are pretty to watch. >> absolutely. >> i love looking at them. >> i do too. coming up, chris rock talks with charlie about the special responsibility he feels black actors have that white actors

don't. >> no one -- no one goes, hey, tom cruise, stay white, don't forget your whiteness. come back and visit white people. what you doing for white people, tom cruise. nobody says that to tom cruise. >> charlie's conversation with chris rock. that's ahead here on "cbs this morning." suffering from the flu is a really big deal. with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. and call your doctor right away. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash,

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good morning, i'm erika von tiehl. i want to head over to katie because we want to grab sunglasses, right. >> and i say heavier coat. we might be tug ago this coat more tightly today because we are, a, seeing colder air moving in. we are back to reality on the thermometer but you have got to factor in the north west breeze. you can see m of the clouds. it tells us that wind coming from the northwest generally speaking and it is in the super strong wind but enough to notice it. that is all we need. as we go outside here in broad headsville things are quiet. just some clouds. you will see sunshine across the board here today and temperatures up top, generally low to mid 40's for next few days. quieter weekend expected at this point, vittoria.

good morning, everyone. we have rush hour, that is for sure, if you are traveling on the ben franklin bridge expect minor volume making your way in philadelphia approaching mid span down toward eighth and vine. construction on the eastbound side taking out right-hand lane but you're used to that by now. you are also used to the schuylkill looking like this 2 miles an hour there, 11 on i-95 in and out of the northeast. nineteen on 476. if you are traveling pennsylvania turnpike westbound mid county an accident is causing a 6-mile backup, erika. thanks, variety tore y next update 8:25. next up this morning, three cuban intelligence officers flocked for american cia insider, mikee morel explains. your local weather traffic and

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it is thursday, december 18th, 2014. welcome back to "cbs this morning." more real news ahead including america's release of cuban spies. cia insider michael morell weighs in on what it means with future relations with cuba. but first here's look at today's "eye opener" at 8:00. hollywood, corporate america, the u.s. government all agree that the sony hack attack and its aftermath have been unprecedented. >> for it to have happened it had to have happened over a long period of time. it would have taken months, maybe even years. >> alan gross's first words to his two daughters were i'm free. >> it's the first day of hanukkah and i'm celebrating. >> cuba wakes up to a new

reality now that sweeping changes have been announced. >> president obama said it's time to end the experiment and diplomatic isolation that dates back to the eisenhower administration. >> i think we can produce positive change. russian president vladimir putin hosting his national conference. he puts part of the blame of the fall on the ruble on western america. >> he's putting his show behind him but he's not leaving the neighborhood. the ed sullivan theater is just blocks away. >> click on the historic artifacts on my book shelf. for instance, the rock 'em sock 'em toy. that's not what i wanted but the store was all out of hungry scalias. i'm charlie rose along with gayle king and norah o'donnell. sony cancelled the upcoming release of its comedy "the

interview." cbs news has learned federal investigators have believed north korea could be behind the cyber attack and threats against moviegoers. >> sony expressed frustration with the addition to shelf the film, "the interview." sad day for creative performance. fear eats the sew. judd apatow says i think it's disgraceful that these theaters are not showing it and actor rob lowe posted this. wow. everyone caved. the hackers won. an utter and complete victory for them. wow. and a theater in dallas is making a statement of their own. they're swapping "the interview" for one free screening of "team police." it's a terrorist comedy that thwarted a terror plot from north korea. another berlin wall is starting to fall. that's in response to the response to cuba restoring diplomatic relations that were

severed in 1961. they made the historic announcement after a 45-minute phone call with cue back president raul castro. they agreed to terms for the release of alan gross, a contractor who spent five years in a cuban prison. >> meanwhile three cuban agents sevening time in america were freed. they returned to a hero's welcome in havana. they were part of a cuban spy network known as the cuban five. michael morell is with us former cia dep purt director. good morning. >> good morning, charlie. & >> what can you tell us about the spy that we only discovering yesterday that was in the cuban prison. >> this was a very important as set of the united states government. he provided it. and ultimately resulted inty a

rest of eight individuals for spying for cuba. very, very significant intelligence as set for us. >> what do you think about the prisoner exchange in general, micha michael? do you think we should be exchanging spies? >> absolutely. we have naum poefr individuals spying around the world on behalf of the united states who are committing espionage on behalf of their own country. when they do that for us, gayle, we make a commitment to them that we will be with them forever. and on the very rare occasions when one of them gets caught do everything. we haven't forgotten. we brought them out. very, very important. >> mike, as part of this historic change the united states will now reconsider cu cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terror. when might that happen? how will that change things?

>> there's a number of steps here, norah, that has to happen to re-establish normal relations. in my view cuba has not been involved in terrorism for a very, very long time. so an actually looking at the issue should be pretty easy but it's probably going to get wrapped up in politics. >> michael, knowing what you know about nsa and cyber espionage, wouldn't have we know if the north koreans were behind this hacking at sony? don't we have that much technical superiority to identify where it's coming from? >> charlie, i have to be careful how i answer that, but i thing in general the answer is yes and i will tell you that north korea has significant cyber capabilities. they use that. for a backward state that might be a little surprising but they

also have a nuclear weapon. so they're capable of acleving things when they focus on them. >> but, mike, the significance. has america lost its first cyber war to north korea? >> obviously they succeeded in doing what they wanted to do which is take this movie and put it to the side. so, yeah, they won here, but, you know, north korea is some day going to change, you know, like cuba has changed. that's going to happen. it can't survive over the long term. >> mike, thank you. >> you're welcome. scott pelley reports from havana, cuba, tonight on the "cbs evening news." you can also fienlds coverage on cbsn, our 24-hour news network. go to cbsnews.com. russian president vladimir putin says his country will bounce back. they fulfilled the kremlin for his annual news conference. charlie d'agata was there and he

joins us now from moscow. charlie, what did we hear? >> it was a marathon. he was at times relaxed, even joking. but when he was asked if russia was being punished for taking over crimea he guarded it like the russian bear over his territory. >> translator: like a russian bear guarding the forest. you know, if we go with such analogies, sometimes -- this thing even comes to my mind is that probably our bear should just relax and sit quiet -- relax and sit quietly and just eat honey instead of hunting animals. maybe then they will leave the bear in peace, but, no, they will not. what they're trying to do is to chain the bear and when they manage to chain the bear, they will just take his teeth and

fangs and clause. >> by fangs and claws he's meaning russia's nuclear deterrent when he was press. of course, the overwhelming subject, he blamed external factors and he said sanctions were to blame for 25% to 30% of the problem. norah? >> charlie, thanks -- i mean -- >> that's a long time to hear about a bear. >> he always has a colorful analogy. >> he does. ahead on "cbs this morning," chris rock's big role. he reveals what he wants to prove as a writer and director

a little girl gets some help from a very high place, the pope, in her fight against cancer. she shows us new meaning for the term "amazing grace." coming up on cbs.

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my daughter wants do this, this, and this and not me, me, me and it's irtatss me that her facebook page is more important. it's true. her twitter account is more important than family life. a blunt conversation with a focus group next on "cbs this morning." did you get chips for the party? nope. (ding) cheese plate? cheese plate. no, i made something better.

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christmas is one week from today. scary, right, with the holidays here. a new pew research poll shows family and friends are looking forward to visiting this season. cbs news contributor and republican strategist frank luntz brought together parents to talk about the state of the family. >> i begin with a simple question. is it easier or heard today to raise your children than it was for your parents raising you? who thivs it easier? who thinks it harder? everybody thinks it's much harder. what is it? >> ipads, tvs, cell phones. >> isn't technology a good thing? >> it's good for the most part but not in the hands of children.

>> there's no guidelines. >> what's that? >> they can go as far as they want whenever they want. nobody's putting a lid on it. it's 3:00 in the morning. stop, get off the ipad. >> isn't it your job? >> they don't do it. >> the technological process inkster fears with the educational process and family life. my daughter wants to do this, this, this and nothing with me, me, me. it irritates me that her facebook page is more important -- i'm not kidding. it's more important. her twitter account is more important than family life. >> i don't let my kids do any of that. that is part of the problem. i make my children very shy. i make them interact with people. i think it's hard to battle a narcissistic society that's teaching my child to thing about themselves and no one else. >> is every parent a role model? >> not every parent. i am. i can't speak for anybody else. i make it the point to be the

best. >> does your child appreciate it? >> she does. she doesn't have no choice. >> what values do you want to teach your kids if your parents -- what do you want your children to know and how do you want them to behave. >> to be accountable for their actions. there are good ones and bad ones. >> to teach your kids personal responsibility. >> self-control. >> are there any single parents here? we've got three of them. how hard is it for you when -- are you raising your child? >> yeah. >> how hard sit for you to raise your child without a mom? >> i mean it's pretty hard because you have to -- i mean a father's one thing. but you do have to have certain types of sensibility because she's of the opposite sex. have to have certain types of sensibilities there. >> what are the unique of being the mother and the father? >> trying to be both parents. i'm a firm believer -- i was

raised by a single dad. even to this day not having my mom i stel feel like i missed out on something they needed so that gives me the want to do much better as a parent so i try my best to be both parents although i can't because i do believe children need both parents. >> we've kind of lost touch knowing gender roles. women's liberation, i'm for it. i think it's great but there are certain things a woman needs to learn from a woman and men to learn from a men. >> especially our community, we need a man to raise our son. a woman cannot do it. >> there's a love from both parents. >> he's telling me -- >> why is this so emotional? >> in our community, we've just been ransacked. >> what is a black community? first of all we're one america. a black america's problem is america's problem. that's my biggest issue with

this whole conversation, number one. number two, we do need to work on building families as a whole. >> do any of you having trouble in a typical day making it through from morning to night? is that difficult for anyone? >> sure, yes. it's exhausting. >> what is it? >> it's exhausting between work and trying to do homework with the kids at the end of the day, especially if you have a job thain involves travel. you feel like you're always catching up. >> i feel like i'm working, working, working to death and i don't have much to show for it. >> do you think your children will have a better quality of life than you or worse off? >> better. >> better. >> worse. >> how many think better. >> and how many of you think worse? >> worse. >> so you're split. whoo do you think it will be better. >> because technology is moving, the knowledge is there so they can obtain everything they want. it's achievable. right there in their face wchl that being said, you can do anything nowadays. >> and who thinks it will be worse? >> i think homeownership is going to be out of the question for most of the kids in this

room. taxation, the decline of the government, the way it's heading. we used to be an exceptional country. we have american leaders who don't believe in an exceptional country. >> history says we have a long road to hoe and we're going to do it. we're going to do it together. >> all the parents seemed to agree technology makes it hard. i think parents are the boss. take away the technology. you can't have your twitter, facebook and ipad. >> go ahead and try do it. i'm sitting in the green room for the last 45 minutes and everyone who comes in here said the same thing. when i was a child, when i was a child and they all talked about how different they were raised. this is 2014. it igs not 1980 anymore. and so our kids have different expectations and different demands and parents are having a touch time and what i tell you is the role of technology for parents allows them to be more connected to their children but it allows their children to be

less connected to their parents and that's what the frustration is. it's the anxiety. it's fear. they don't know what world their children are living in and unfortunately they're not willing to fight to be part of that technological world. >> how should they fight? >> as gayle says, if not take away the technology then participate in it, engage in it. know what they're experiencing online. it's more than that. that gentleman who said -- they all agreed. the idea that dhar children find technology to be more powerful and more real than real life. the idea that you can be something different on the web than you are face-to-face, kids don't know how to communicate anymore. they don't know how to talk. they don't look you straight in the eye. they say um and like and don't know how to communicate. our parents have to have these conversations with their children. the most important advice i give them is that you come to the dinner table, you turn off the tv, you turn off the radio, and

you come prepared with it,, wit somethin good morning, i'm ukee washington. grief counselors will be on the bensalem high school today where a student was struck and killed by an suv trying to catch a school bus. investigators say 16 year-old minette zeka was crossing at bridge water road in bensalem boulevard yesterday morning, when the driver of a broncho disregarded a stop sign and hit her. fellow students gathered last night to remember her, at a candle light vigil. katie has your forecast from the weather center, good morning. >> good morning, everybody. today we will end up with more sun then anything even though we have a couple clouds for right now but you'll note that is it is colder and b, it will start to note that is breeze out there too. that makes it feel that much more chillier knocking a good five to 10 degrees off at think point today.

looking at storm can we are split in half. we have bright blue clear skies, down toward the area shore points, still just some cloud cover, across the rest of our region. but again we are expecting some sunshine. 43 degrees is the spec high. dose of december reality for sure. we will be spoiled with temperatures the last few days, seeing still some clouds here tonight and we will keep it dry and that is theme right through weekend. we have been looking at the a storm potentially to affect us sunday. right now it is looking like that storm will will bypass us to the south, some good news there, vittoria. >> i don't have any good news to follow that up with. but, well, mass transit looks great. traffic wise your rush her not looking so good. you will find delays sprinkles all over the place. roosevelt boulevard commuting southbound you are delayed just beyond kelly drive and 76. a lot of that has to do with the delays on the schuykill itself where your average is 7 miles an hour. eleven on 95. twenty-seven on 476. an accident at 611 and

pennsylvania turnpike causing delays and we have delays on the turnpike itself, ukee. our next update 8:55. um next on cbs this morning charlie rose conversation

welcome back to "cbs this moing." coming up in this half hour, charlie's wide-raging conversation with chris rock. he opens up about everything from gone girl to why he's winning praise from seinfeld for being bet owner race than anybody else in comedy. an 11-year-old girl's battle in cancer. how she just found inspiration from pope francis. he remarkable journey of faith and strength. that's ahead. "the wall street journal" looks at an annoying problem for party planners. nobody rsvps anymore. it createsal kinds of problems like food shortages and space. one said we have simply

forgotten,000 make a commitment. >> so true. they don't rsvp and they show up at a party and you don't have a seat or food. >> yes. the blimp is 80 feet long. the first of two will be launched over maryland this week. it can attract missiles in cars and boats. it can monitor from north carolina to boston. and "people" magazine says elton john will tie the notd with his longtime partner david furnish. these guys have been together for more than two decades now. they entered a civil partnership back in 2005 but the singer and furnish decided to mary after england legalized same-sex marriage in march. it will take place this weekend. chris rock is known for his standup and comedic rules in some of hollywood's funniest

movies. this month he'll release a movie he wrote, direct and started in. it's received critical acclaim and i was pleased to play a role in it myself. >> here's what they're saying about your movie. for the first time he has made a movie that's as good as his standup. does that resonate with you? >> that was the desired effect. >> what's up. this is andre allen. >> oh, my god! >> where's my kiss. >> do we have to do it on camera? >> it doesn't exist. >> in 2005 "time" magazine voted this man the funniest man in america. >> i don't feel like doing a funny movie anymore. don't feel funny. >> i wanted to do a movie kind of in some ways about black fame because being famous as a black guy is a little different than being famous as a white guy. tom hanks is an amazing actor. denzel washington is a god to his people.

okay? denzel washington has a responsibility to his people that tom cruise and, you know, liam neeson and all these guys don't have. they just make their art and no one -- no one goes, hey, tom cruise, stay white. don't forget your whiteness. come back and visit white people. hell, what you doing for white people, tom cruise? nobody says that to tom cruise. salon, what you doing for italians, man, what are you doing for italians. like no one says that. >> what do they say to denzel? >> they want to know that denzel loves his people, that denzel is doing stuff for your his people and they feel denzel's highs and lows more than

there's going to be another white movie next week. if denzel does a bad black movie, i might not see a good black movie for a year. i'm really left out here hanging. >> did you feel that yourself when you were in that room writing? >> a little bit. a little bit. >> didn't you make this movie without studio backing? >> no studio backing. i got the money from barry diller. >> right. >> barry diller came up with the moan. >>. >> you go to toronto. >> i go to toronto. >> with the movie, no distributor. >> the crazy thing was, we went to toronto. there's all these pamphlets and booksing things to look for in toronto. we're on nothing, no list. no list to the point wherever i went in toronto people were going, what are you doing here? what are you going to see? how about my movie. >> how about "top five?" >> what are you doing here, mr.

grown-ups? didn't you make booty chang. what are you doing at the toronto film festival. i'm like i made a movie. my movie is jay, scar face and then i might let biggy in. my biggest is cool j. we'll put on a show. >> you said an interesting thing. you said i want to make a chris rock movie. you would sit with adam sandler and see what he was doing. he was making an adam sandler movie. >> he was really making an adam sandler movie. men dress like -- we always get our fashion sense from whatever friend gets laid the most. i guess i'll get those shoes. okay, that hair cut seems to work for him. i'll get that haircut. so sandler's like my biggest

movie star friend. i'm like, okay, i'll just do what he's doing. but it didn't kind of fit me, you know what i mean? like i had to -- it fits when i'm in a movie with him but it didn't fit me to make a movie of the same tone as him or even an eddie murphy movie. that wasn't my tone. and this movie -- the important thing was i found a tone that works for me. >> everybody has said to me it's harder for a serious actor to be funny and that it is for a comedic actor to be serious. >> i saw "gone girl" the other day. it's amazing, right? it's amazing. but if you took adam mckay who directed "anchorman" and you let him direct "gone girl," right and take dank fincher and have him direct "anchorman," who's

going to get closer to the finished product? adam mckay is going to do it. not as good as fincher. but you'll get from a to b. fincher's "anchorman" is going to suck. >> he can't do comedy. >> i'm just saying. odds are -- come on, fincher. i'm here. i love social network. >> standup will always be at the core of your life? >> yes. standup will always be at the core of my life. >> why is that? >> i like it. i really like it. i really love it. >> map, we lie all the time. we lie all the time. you know what a man's lie is like? i was at tony's house. kenny's house. a woman's lie is like, it's your baby. >> you want people who are african-americans who are in the audience to populate the audience when you do the hbo specials because why? >> here's the thing. when i do an hbo special -- and

this is why i do it. kind of insist on an all black audience. >> yes? >> because sometimes i do things that are critical of black culture or critical of my people as a whole, and when you do jokes like that, it's important to cut to a black face laughing to signal that this is not racist because black people can be racist against their own people too. guess what? black people laugh better than white peel. they're better laffers. black people laugh with their feet. when you hear black people laugh and you hear -- you know what i mean? when black people are really in into it? it's the mouth and belly and feet where white people laugh from the neck up. >> all my black friends have a bunch of white friends and all my white friends have one black friend. >> seinfeld says you can do race

better than anybody else because you can approach it better to get to the truth of the race in america than most. >> maybe. i'm from -- i'm from that era. i was bussed to school in 1973. thing of it this way. the bridge has been the robert f. kennedy bridge for 20 years. we still call it the try barrel bridge. so when you pass a law it takes like 20 years -- even though it's illegal to do certain things it takes 20, 30 years for people to get acclimated to things. i got bussed to school. i was called nigger all the time, you know, by students, teachers, janitors, so i know it. like i really, really, really, really know it. >> there ain't a white man in

this room that would changes with me. none of you. none of you would change places with me, and i'm rich. >> what's interesting, louie c.k. told me once it takes about 15 years to get really, really good. you were really, really good pretty early, weren't you? >> i was -- >> not really, really, but good. >> i was good, you know, a club level of good pretty early. but, yeah, it did taken 15 years for me to become, you know, a guy good enough to get on a charlie rose show, you know. i made money. >> or to get to be in your movie for god's sakes. >> or to get charlie rose in my movie. you know how good i had to be to get that? it does taken 15 years. you have to hit the highs and lows. >> and you have to have really lived. >> you have to have really lived for the audience to take that journey with you. >> thank you. >> thank you. thanks for doing my movie. >> it's a pressure.

>> it's our movie. we're always going to have this. we're always going to have this. >> he's so smart and so funny. actually you opened that movie, the crick ross movie. when i went to the premiere, nor norah, i was taking pictures. some who shawl remain nameless, chris licht said it was annoying. i wanted to capture that moment. yeah, it was a moment. he's so smart and so funny. >> absolutely. and he achieves in his movie what i mentioned there. he's as good and directing and acting in a standup which says a lot. and rosario dawson is great in the movie too. >> very well done. >> it's in the theaters. "top five" is in the theaters. an american girl has a dream come true when she meets the pope. >> i'm excited and a little bit nervous just because it's like the pope. he's the closest thing to god, so i'm excited.

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she was called one tough cookie and how gracie west is living up to that nickname as she fights cancer. she's had nine rounds of

chemotherapy. when asked if she could have one wish she said she wanted to meet the pope. allen pizzey has gracie's amazing story. >> reporter: at first glance this looks like nothing more than an average 11-year-old packing for your a trip but the trip isn't ordinary. neither is gracie west. >> i have no choice but to be strong. but you can choose to be happy and positive. it's helped me through. i say i have to keep going. and then other people won't thing like, oh, i don't feel good, i just have to -- you can pick to be -- you can either be happy or sad. >> reporter: a year ago gracie was diagnosed with stage 4 fuehrer row blass toma. she's become an expert on things no child should have to think about. when people say what are you doing next week, i'm going for kimmo. i can't come to your birthday party. it's like the new normal.

>> reporter: try to imagine how abnormal that is for parents. you can't, sharon west said. >> no one said it's going to be fair. you can always ask why us, why this, you can always say why not you. getting angry, what is that really going to do? we have to really focus on the positive and what's our next step and different ways that we can do things to make a difference. >> reporter: gracie named her dog topie for her first cancer drug. a good catholic she prayed for strength. then along came make a wish, the foundation that grants kids like gracie their fondest desire, which is how she found herself in a hotel in rome all dressed up to meet pope francis. >> i'm excited and a little bit nervous just because it's like the pope. it's like the closest thing to god, so i'm excited. >> enjoy.

ciao. bella. >> the parents got a seat but only she and her brother joe would be allowed into the exclusive area where they would be guaranteed to meet pope francis but when the moment came it wasn't like being in church. a person with no thought shove add gift at the pope. >> i finally put her forward to make sure she got the blessing. >> it worked. vatican tv caught the moment too. >> it's amazing because he's like the closest thing to god and like he gave me and joey a blessing is like crazy. >> the west family says faith has been a major factor thus far. gracie summed up the papal blessing this way. >> it's going make my faith stronger, feel like. i people like it's going to help me be stronger. >> helped by a fine lunch of

pasta and fresh artichoke. a special treat for a very, very special little girl. for "cbs this morning," allen pizzey, rome. >> wow. >> beautiful shot. so wise beyond her years what she has to go through and learn at this age. >> and giving her hope. >> love how she said the pope is next to god. >> and she got to talk to him. you're watching "cbs this morning." we'll be right back.

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good morning, i'm erika von tiehl. grief counselors will be at bensalem high school after a student was struck and killed by an suv while trying to catch a school bus. sixteen year-old minette zeka was crossing at bridge water road and bensalem boulevard yesterday morning, when investigators say that the driver of a broncho, disregarded a stop sign, and hit her. fellow students gathered last night to remember her at an candle light vigil. right new we will get your forecast with katie and we have some sun to talk about, right. >> we do, closer to the shore the more bright the sky will be for you at least initially but we do expect to see sunshine across the board here today and we are seeing a more quiet weather pattern. there may be cloud cover as is evident on storm scan further

inland and we are finding that in philadelphia. but all see some sun and a dry day, 43 degrees, brisk and cold by comparison but this is just a dose of the december reality. variably cloudy skies, dropping down to 41. keep in mind it feels five to 10 degrees colder then thermometer reads today, through the weekend we will see more cloud cover building in but we expect to it stay dry which is great news, by monday another disturbance is getting it act together and it will be bringing us some rain, vittoria. >> thanks very much, katie. good morning. if you are traveling on i-95 you will still fine rush hour out there, southbound delayed out of the northeast down to the vine. we are seeing it break ever so slightly but you are going to be slow. if that is where you are headed give yourself more time. same thing traveling on the schuylkill expressway, nine is what we are averaging, within your western suburbs. biggest delay right around area roosevelt boulevard on both side of the roadway. >> eleven on i-95. pennsylvania turnpike westbound, yikes, out of the

area have bucks county all the way down crest to mid county we are dealing with the slow down and we have an accident on the pennsylvania turnpike ramps. be mindful of that. avoid fit you can. erika. that is "eyewitness news" for now. talk philly coming up at noon. i'm erika von tiehl. i hope you have a great day

>> coming up today on the doctors. >> how much more pain do we have to endure until we get fixed? >> infertcouples, get frank. >> how the doctors are giving them hope. >> and suffering from severe memory loss. >> tomorrow when you wake ile , will you remember being on the show? >> can tweeting help him remember. >> a brother's devastating diagnosis. >> he's upbeen my role model since i was born. >> find out what they did next to be the news in two's family of the year. ♪ doctor,r gimme the news ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> poor vision, obviously, can be an inconvenience, but a 4, doctoinconvenience? hear why one man's eyesight left him whining about this restaurant bill. >> a new 000 jersey dir