i think this is an economic benefit to cubans, to the cuban population living in both countries. it has a political benefit to the government to show itself as being responsive to very longstanding demand that an unpopular policy change. >> suarez: before when it was very difficult to get off the island if you did leave, you stayed away for good. could this be opening up a new kind of life for a lot of cubans who are mobile that instead of leaving once and for all, they'll go back and forth sojourning? >> i think this is a way of addressing what has been discussed as brain drain which is to acknowledge that in a global economy and where-conditions are so difficult in cuba with cuban professionals having skills, if you will, to sell abroad, even not super duper professionals but people with some kind of skill set to be able to come and go and earn money and bring income and not lose their status at home, be able to go back. what that does is it creates far more fluidity. it brings cuba toward a much more, if you will, normal status in line with other developing countries with a ce

the cubans offer hospitality to general alexander alejandro o'reilly. he rose through the ranks of the spanish army. the spanish sent alexander o'reilly to cuba to form a militia. he was appointed governor of louisiana and head of the army later on. he arrived in august, 1769, and took formal possession of louisiana for spain. think of new orleans and cuba, in particular havana, governors there were also in cuba so there was all this traveling from one city to another because later when i got my ph.d. from tulaine university and i went to the irish channel. it's interesting, the irish history connected with new orleans. so the o'reilly family has been in louisiana for centuries. in cuba, nobody remembers him but it was the street of calle oreilly, famous until the 50's for its banks and bookstores. it was one of the favorite streets of (inaudible) secretary of the spanish count of fernandino, my grandfather, another irish man feeling at home in havana. there, at the busy corner of calle street and oreilly was a cafe bakery owned by a catelan. it was des

parrot the multicolored cuban tody, and the island's national bird the cuban trogon.ut below the surface of zapata's vast swamps lives one of cuba's oldest most iconic creatures... one that once lurked throughout the caribbean but is now found only here in its last refuge -- the cuban crocodile. the cuban croc shares the swamp with its larger cousin the american crocodile. but what it lacks in size it makes up for with a notoriously aggressive temperament. among the fastest crocodiles in the world the cuban croc has evolved feet with less webbing, to enable powerful bursts of speed. known as the "pearly crocodile" because of its yellow and black coloring the croc has powerful jaws for crushing its prey -- turtles, crabs and fish. it's best known for jumping out of the water to snatch small mammals from overhanging trees. cuban crocs once ranged all the way to the cayman islands and the bahamas... but overhunting and competition for habitat have now confined them to cuba. as few as 3,000 animals now hang on to survival in zapata swamp. roberto "toby" ramos is cuba's le

, cubans who want to travel, this is good. there will be large numbers to try to look for passports, knowing passports are available, will go to get this passport's right now. when you are dealing with the cuban bureaucracy, you never quite know how long this passports are going to be available, whether the rules are going to change again in a short period. i think a lot of people will travel now certainly because they're afraid the six months from now the cuban government will take away the privilege. >> syrian planes have reportedly fired missiles on a town near the turkish border. video online appears to show the aftermath. however, al jazeera cannot confirm if the footage is authentic. turkish media reports seven people killed. this comes as the turkish government calls for the rebels to negotiate with the government. the israeli prime minister says no one will block the construction of settlements in the occupied west bank. activists set up a protest camp in one area where a new block is scheduled to go up. israeli police

cubans formed long lines out sight immigration offices in havana. it means the end of obstacles to travel by those living on the island. most are eligible to leave the country with a current passport and national identity card, lime residents of other countries. >> compared to before, when the process was very difficult and took a long time, and we had to wait for an exit visa and an invitation and spending money, and now we can save all that. >> wendy: the governments of other countries now largely control who can travel from cuba. they will determine who will receive entry visas. in many cases, cubans, like those from other developing countries, will still find it tough to get visas from wealthier nations, like the u.s. for many years, being a christian in cuba was an invitation to persecution. >> george: but the congregation is becoming much more open. big changes have been taking place. >> when fidel castro took power in cuba, communism gained a foot hold in the western hemisphere. the u.s. responded with an embargo, effectively cutting off the

and cia and whose activities caused thousands of cuban deaths now like any country looking to prevent terrorism on its own soil castro sent five men to miami and one thousand nine hundred to infiltrate these groups in order to thwart future terrorist attacks against cuba those men. fernando gonzales and they gonzales hernandez and ramon being the eno were infamously known as the cuban five because you see and one nine hundred ninety eight the f.b.i. arrested all five men men who some would call and terrorists and charged them with committing espionage conspiracy against the u.s. as for the next seventeen months the cuban five were held in solitary confinement for their seven month trial commenced. in two thousand and one they were sentenced to four life terms and seventy five years in federal prison but the fight for their justice has been an ongoing struggle in fact in two thousand and five there was an appeal and the reversal of that appeal venture ending with one of the members being released albeit stuck in the u.s. on probation for three years but the fight is far from over to re

the cuban government has always let me travel without difficulties. i do not even need an invitation. >> she is in a compare the situation. she is a lawyer and her father was born in spain. besides the cuban passport, she holds a spanish one, too. >> with this committee gives to the world are open to me. with this, everything is a bit more resctmoney for traveling he from family members abroad >> as a lawyer, she is a well-trained, but with a salary equivalent to 30 year-old per month, they will not be boarding a charter flight soon. -- 30 euro per month. these two sisters also work for the government. the new freedom to travel is nonexistent for them. they do not even have passports. >> it costs too much. a new passport is the equivalent of $55. it will go up to $100 on january 14th. that is more than one month's pay. traveling is my dream, but i cannot do it. >> is the simper all cubans without relatives abroad. they have never set foot outside the island homeland, and they may never will. she says global will change. >> most cubans are glad to have

the cuban government has always let me travel without difficulties. i do not even need an invitation. >> she is in a compare the situation. she is a lawyer and her father was born in spain. besides the cuban passport, she holds a spanish one, too. >> with this committee gives to the world are open to me. with this, everything is a bit more respected. money for traveling has to come from family members abroad >> as a lawyer, she is a well-trained, but with a salary equivalent to 30 year-old per month, they will not be boarding a charter flight soon. -- 30 euro per month. these two sisters also work for the government. the new freedom to travel is nonexistent for them. they do not even have passports. >> it costs too much. a new passport is the equivalent of $55. it will go up to $100 on january 14th. that is more than one month's pay. traveling is my dream, but i cannot do it. >> is the simper all cubans without relatives abroad. they have never set foot outside the island homeland, and they may never will. she says global will change. >> most cubans a

cuban matches every fine with a personal donation to charity. >> a drop in the bucket. missy franklin made her high school swim season debut this week. you would think with all the time she spent on the international stage in london that she would not even that and i, but she said that was not the case. -- not even bat an eye. >> i was so nervous. i was literally intensely shaking in the locker room. my teammates were like what is wrong with you? i was so nervous. i love that. it shows me the excitement of this board is still there. >> the excitement was there, but not a lot of competition. she laughed all but swan -- laughed all but one swimmer in the 500. tough to compete with. -- laped all but one >> there is the seven-day forecast. near 70 by sunday. cooler next week. >>

starting on monday, they are easing travel rules and cubans will be able to come and go as they like. >> now have a lot more personal freedom. people will be more in control because we can decide when and where to travel. >> garcia and her husband are thinking of are spending most of their time in spain. people who were away for 11 months we still losing their home and residency status. now they can stay away as long as two years. >> i'm not going to lose my house unless i want to sell it myself. >> and make travel easier all cubans, most of whom have never left the island. before the change, they were barred from travel unless they were emigrated and they had to have a letter of invitation before they could leave. they still need a visa, but by eliminating exit visas, this could leave many to apply for passports for the first time. >> it makes it easier for them to leave the island and those who want to travel back and forth to other countries to work for study abroad. >> some think many will try to emigrate. he wants missed a chance to tour the united states when authorities delayed

they added two more members, cubans, to my team and making us a member of the infiltration team for ... c-span: didn't give it any second thought to kill another human being? >> guest: well, if you had seen how many people fidel has killed, how many of our friends he has assassinated, it is a different perspective, it is a different situation. we don't believe that a government should be involved in that, but at the same time, like that same people, like the israelis -- i know that in israel, the jewish people, you tell them that hitler were alive, i think that there would be a lot of people trying to get him -- i guess, the same similar situation with the cubans. c-span: have you known a lot of people in your life that have said the same thing, that they would be glad to kill fidel castro? >> guest: oh yes, many. c-span: how come no one has ever gotten the job done? >> guest: some have tried, and fidel has a very, very good security system. in the past he had a czechoslovakian who ran his security force and he moved from one place to the other. for example, when he was in havana, i s

cubans have to get an exit permit before going abroad. folks say it's a very expensive and lengthy process. but starting this month. cubans will only need a valid passport and a visa from the country they wish to visit. the change will not benefit everybody. phil keating with more live in our south florida newsroom. phil, not everybody is going to be allowed to leave the island? right, jon, all cubans consider it travel for vacation and then never go back home. people like scientists engineers chemist military, youth go going nowhere. everyone else will still first have to get a cuba passport which the cuban government will control can certainly deny. still this sends a major complaint five decades strong. >> those that can travel should travel like it used to be before and how it is around the world in every country. >> >> industry gone 10 years without seeing my father. maybe this way can i get some money together and can go. >> sure the ones that have the money, you heard not everyone can travel. when there is no money. that is for the

. >>> billionaire mark cuban slapped by the nba. the lion dog and jimmy beats days. >>> plus, a tough day for new yorkers. we'll have the latest on what caused this commuter ferry accident and also this crane collapse. >>> and we have a lot of rain right now streaming right through louisiana, where is it headed? all of your forecast, you're watching "early today." >>> today, the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy "1600 penn" which centers on a goofy guy who keeps embarrassing the white house. or as joe biden put it, why's everybody looking at him? [ laughter ] >>> here's a look at other stories making news in "early today" in america. passengers were tossed around when a new york ferry slammed into a new york pier. the crash let over 70 people blooded and battered. the national transportation safety board has launched a team to investigate the accident. >>> and new york firefighters were investigating a cable snap. >>> a drug deal bust turned baltimore streets into a drag strip. a female suspect led police on a

we see kennedy a real change of mind after the cuban missile crisis. we see a new kennedy.a visionary kennedy, kennedy who wants to end the war to. that's the tragedy. as the tragedy. >> why do you call your airport dulles airport? does not meant to be insulting. >> the reagan airport. the reagan airport. at least we have thurgood marshall and baltimore. >> host: now, obviously one of the last things that happens well he is a lie that has a very important impact on his foreign-policy is the assassination of the president of south vietnam from our client, our allies for there. and then two weeks later kennedy himself was assassinated. as you were saying before, this raised the question that the story cannot pro league we will keep arguing about for the next 50 years, with kennedy have wanted said -- would he have pull that american troops out of vietnam, the advisers of a vietnam if he did not have troops in great numbers are, combat troops. and you argue, think, that indications are that he would have. you cite various sources about that. just curious, just to challenge tha

so a cuban is the best one still. >> without any doubt.e cuban cigars are still the best. >> jimmy: what rates a cigar? >> i think it's the flavor. the way the cigars are rolled, how strong it is, you know? >> jimmy: do you still get a buzz from cigar? >> oh, yeah, you still get a buzz. >> jimmy: you do? >> oh, yeah. >> jimmy: do you inhale the smoke? >> well, tobacco is a stimulant, you know, so it's perfectly good. it's a coffee, and it gives you a little buzz, yeah. >> jimmy: all right. >> exactly. >> jimmy: some jacuzzi time. yeah, absolutely, yeah. >> because at the havana club one time right here in new york, you and i, we smoke up a cigar, okay? >> jimmy: i'd love to do that. you guys heard him, right? [ cheers and applause ] i want to talk to you. the fact that you're -- you're starring in a giant movie. now, you were governor for a while. congratulations on that, and all the good work you did there. >> thank you. >> jimmy: now you're back to movies. everyone is excited about this. "the last stand." you're back. you're back on the

however cubans still must have a passport, which the government controls and can still deny.aper this at least offers some hope. >> i've gone ten years without seeing my father. maybe this way i can get some money together and can go. >> travel should be like it used to be before and how it is around the world in every country. >> reporter: very importantly cubans will still need to get an entrance visa from the country that they want to visit which is not expected to be simple and essential cubans, scientists, engineers, military-aged youth will still be denied access to leave the island. bill: what is the political motivation or what is the motivation in general behind this move for the castro regime? >> reporter: well, most cuban-americans if not many of them here in south florida all believe this is pure politics, pure economics. the and the ta kwaeuted cuban machine is broke, the people are very, very poor and this allows raul castro to challenge the u.s. to do the same and now allow americans to freely travel to and spend money in cuba. >> the desire of the cuban govern

. >>> billionaire mark cuban slapped by nba. the livedog that sparked calls to 911, and jimmy beats dave. >>> plus, beyonce shows off her post-baby body and she looks better than ever. this is "early today." >>> today the president hosted a screening of nbc's white house comedy "1600 penn" that centers on a groove fi guy that keeps embarrassing the white house. or as joe biden put it, high is everyone looking at me? >>> all right. here's a look at other stories making news "early today america" for you. a suspect led police on a hair-raising chase before they pinned her in and made the arrest there. a washington woman discovered an uninvited guest living under her home. she learned of this intruder when her heating system began working improperly. the heating repairman discovered a ripped heating duct along with beer cans and liquor bottles in a crawl space. the stranger may have been residing there for nearly one year. >>> and then finally, a virginia dog triggered panic when passing drivers spotted the lion or pooch or lion ru

still it's not going to be easy for cuban travel.ies like the united states. you think about an airplane. the end is about $20 -- here in cuba, so just in the -- for many cubans to afford a plane ticket they'll find a way to do it, people are eager to travel. >> they will find a way. no doubt about that. patrick in havana this morning. thanks for being with us. >> excited people there in cuba. soledad o'brien joins us now with a look at starting point. good morning to you, soledad. >> good morning to you. a special edition of "starting point" this morning. live from newtown, connecticut. it marks one month since that tragic shooting happened at sandy hook elementary school. you'll remember the lives of 20 first graders and six staffers that saw tragedy that day. it sparked the debate about gun control. this morning we'll be talking to several survivors of similar mass shootings, as well as john huntsman, joe manchen, connie mack will be our guest. we're talking about the flu this morning and vaccine shortages at many pharmacies. we'r

a couple of boards about cuba and a relative indifference to the suffering of cubans, ordinary cubans but also the dissidents, people who starve themselves for death and hunger strikes. why did they go to these extremes? i have spoken to a great many people about this problem, our indifference to cuba and one of the most painful phenomena of our times. there are many people that i think of one in particular, a man on the cover of time and "newsweek" and is still on the cover of time and "newsweek." there are to be songs about him, poetry, movies, movies of the of the week and they have to be on 60 minutes every other week. a man named oscar%. he he is a heroic and brave man, and inspiring man, a practitioner of nonviolence. he was in the cuban gulag as i don't blush to call it, for 12 years and got out last year. a interviewed and tribute him as soon as i could. he's a follower of gandhi and martin luther king. he is just perfect. he is even black but no one cares. no one knows who oscar processes and they stand on opposite sides of the great divide shake a bar and ask her present. he

of the cubans. he knows the perspective from our side, because it was his uncle who was the president at this time, but he had some very strong words to say about that and our embargo against cuba. >> president kennedy resisted the advice of his advisers, otherwise we would have attacked. if george bush had been president, we would have attacked, there would have been a nuclear war no question about it. nuclear warheads would have landed on the continental united states. we've had an embargo against that island since 1962 and that embargo. >> cenk: you've got to admit that the embargoes almost worked. if we give it another 40 or 50 years, i think we've got it. >> well, it has worked in strangling the cuban population. the american embargo has inflicted unbelievable damage on the population of cuba. it hasn't worked very well at all in terms of the political culture there, which it was intended to do, but it has infected the population to a great degree. i remember i was there and they were talking t

island. >> the desire of the cuban government is number one to let a great number of cubans leave becauses to feed. the second and probably more important is the way to put pressure on the u.s. government to lift the travel ban. >> the delegation here in south florida and for that matter most if not all cuban-americans here all think this is simply political and economic posturing by the regime. this is done there is broke. the society is that they may see every single day down there. the people are four. it will make it next to impossible. connell: there has to be a reason for them to do it. you wonder what castro gets back from all of this. you do not want to give away too much, obviously. >> if someone allows the castro regime to challenge the united states to do what cuba will now do, at least legally, which is letting their people leave to visit other countries. now, the u.s. should end its hands for americans to travel to cuba. connell: thank you, phil. let's get to bret transport in washington. we are getting closer to the hour when the new congress will be sworn in. he joins us fr

amazing. >> the cuban missile crisis, in an audio sense almost completely documented, right? what we have for you now is a short tape. on october 22, 1962, president kennedy made the famous speech to the country where we heard for the first time something about what was happening. on that day before he made his speech, as he often did, as presidents often do, he got on the phone to predecessors. and one of them was president eisenhower. and first, it's interesting to hear the mechanics of this kind of a call to a predecessor, ma but because of something that they talk about right at the beginning, i want to ask ellen about it after the tape is played. i'm going to read a paragraph and then we will be okay. this is the president. general, what if the soviet union, khrushchev, announces tomorrow which i think he will that if we attack cuba, that is going to be nuclear war? and what is your judgment as to the chances they will fire these things off if we invade cuba? eisenhower, oh, i don't believe they will. a point not elaborate on. and ellen, what i wanted to ask you, when yo

there's no need. >> mark cuban, you're a texan, you don't own a gun.te unusual in texas, and i mean that in a respectful way. there are a lot of gun owners there. >> i have no problem if you have guns in your home. that's your choice to protect yourself. we have armed guards in my house because of all the crazies. if you're register and you own a gun, you need to be registered and pass tests. i'm a believer in the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. we ought to make them fill out forms, pass test, then give them a white hat. no one will mess with a good guy with a gun with a white hat in public. seriously. it's absolutely ridiculous to take a gun out in public because you think you might protect yourself. like the shooting today when someone just decides they're going to attack back because someone got them mad, you can't take that risk. don't people watch "die hard" movies? >> what many americans don't realize is many countries around the world have brought in tough gun control, japan, australia, britain and others and the

there were cuban slave owners. that may it easier to vilify the cubans slave owners. so it is a little bit different, so it is a little this safer, but i would emphasize, that is not an easy distinction to maintain. in other words, i have never read about any american slave owner who would have liked to see and it's like that. you don't glorify and lionize slave rebels. the spanish government pointed this out clearly. yes, you're going to say it is legal for these people to kill a white man, a figure of authority and capture a ship? all the slaves to america would be very interested to get this days. the do believe the fact that it came from outside the that states may it a little easier, but the other thing which really does matter is that this was a really very dramatic events. and what has struck me about the popular side of it is that they were interested in here these people were as africans, and there was some kind of as out a system that -- exoticism and then. but on the end the provide -- rebellion itself wasg they wanted to know about. that is why the paintin

a couple words about cuba and our relative indifference to the suffering of cubans, ordinary cubans, but also disdense, people of conscious, people who starve themselves to death for example, and hunger strikes, why the extremes? i spoke to a great many people about the problem, our indifference to cuba, and i recall one saying it was one of the most puzzling and painful phenomena of our times. there's some, many people, but i think of one in particular, a man who ought to be famous. he ought to be on the cover the "time" and "news week," and he ought to be a big deal, ought to be songs about him, poetry, movies, movies of the week, ought to be o 60 minutes every other week. it's a man named oscar, a heroic man, a brave man, inspiring man, and a practitioner of non-violence, he got out last year, interviewed him as soon as i could. he's a follower of ghandi and martin luther king, and he's even black, but nobody cares or who who he is. they are on opposite sides of the great divide. he's someone who ought to win the nobel peace prize. give it to the ladies in white. these people who

then in january, cuban officials lifted the restrictions for most cubans to travel abroad and gave manyiving in exile the ability to return. with a change in immigration laws, more cuban sports stars who defected are expected to begin returning. no doubt that the cuban government that they'll bring back with them those multimillion-dollar salaries. more than the salaries on cuban's national team combined. he said that those big paydays didn't ease the longing to see his family back home. at first, we were missing the past, it was tough. ten years, not seeing my brother. he said, but everyone is good now. and just enjoying the moment. a decade outside of the island convinced him that he would be forgotten by his countrymen. but he can't go anywhere here without people asking for a photo. or being embraced by former teammates. this pickup game draws other legends of cuban baseball. nursing an injury, contreras plays first base instead of pitching. once he recovers he hopes to return to playing professionally soon. this is hardly the major leagues. after a home run, the play is interrupted

i think that is fantastic for cuban families an an opportunity for the u.s.o try to attract more of the brightest people from cuba. >> let's move on to something closer to our technological home. that is the smart phone battle and who wins and loses. apple or smart -- or samsung. but here in this, a third player, which is google. which seemingly can't lose either way since they make apps for both the iphone and of course the android. or l license the android operating syst system. >> google is in a great position. no doubt they can get huge market share, whether for apps or the operating system. however 75% of profit good to apple. they are the ones making the money. it is about where the developers go. so i think it is early to say that google is winning no matter what. but i think they are not losing, certainly. >> they are making a few pennies on all of those smart phones one way or the other. >> exactly. it is oversimplified to say, this is like the ketchup wars. like if mcdonalds continues to get bigger, then so did ketchup. >> he has a great voice. >> h

. >>> mark cuban slapped by the nba, the lion dog that sparked calls to 911 and jimmy beats dave. >>>est on what called this commuter ferry accident and also this crane collapse. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. at a dry cleaner, we replaced people with a machine. what? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it? hello? hello?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello? ally bank. your money needs an ally. ♪ i have direct deposit on my visa prepaid. my paycheck is loaded right on my card. automatic. i am not going downtown standing in line to cash it. i know where my money is, because it is in my pocket. i got more time with my daughter, we got places to go. [ freeman ] go open a new world, with visa prepaid. more people go with visa. with visa prepaid. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressin

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