well joining me tonight from havana cuba is freelance journalist jose who's on nieves jose welcome to the show i want to ask you what are people in havana what are they saying this hour about the new president. hello thank you for your call well if you said poor countries hope people need to survive on a daily basis and they have not come here about. this is something that is happening really far from the things you need a lot of the recipient of the fees not a guy that won't get some people don't think you have a say on who gets elected a president that's why i think it can gauge men could be that there were to define what people are feeling today here in atlanta before i if you take into account that the other name we have i'm from the communist party and i won't get it under control of the office until ten to twenty one it is easy to understand that it is not only culture change coming up and you can actually. say what you are saying there sounds to us to be very frank and very on this to you are a journalist in cuba how free are you to report about what is happening in your countr

havana and in washington d.c. andrew or tazo executive director of the cuba study group thank you all for being with us today on al-jazeera if i can start with you. in havana for the first time in sixty is the president of cuba is not a castro just how big a moment is this will cubans and does it represent change in any way. well this is a very bold and moment but it is a moment for which the cuban system has been preparing. the cuban president raul castro or initiated the process of preparing the way for new leadership to arrive and he's doing it in a gradual or a way as we could see yesterday a couple of the story leaders of the revolution of the historic guerrillas remaining the colors or state so but it is this is historic it is the government and the party are. going to do it but i would say that is changing continuing the reasonable doubt is that if there is no change probably that kind of vienna continuing so this is this is a dialectical process in which and you leadership is taking over the leadership of people who were born and raised in a country and boggled by the united states but also in a country that other

our correspondent will grant reports from havana. cuba'sinally changing. almost 60 years of rule underjust two men, two brothers are atan end. underjust two men, two brothers are at an end. the father of the revolution died in late 2016. his tomb isa revolution died in late 2016. his tomb is a shrine to legions of socialist followers. now, at the younger rather, raul castro, is leaving the limelight too. raul castro still had an eventful decade as president. he opened up the economy on the communist run island and re—establish ties with washington. now comes the hard part, replacing them. that falls to this man, vice president miguel diaz—canel. considered a moderniser by some, a hardliner by others, the former education minister has the unenviable task of trying to fill castro's shoes. few cubans can recall a time without a castro at the helm of. now their successor inherits an island facing some deep—seated economic goblins and must govern with none of the revolutionary past of fidel castro or raul castro. today is the anniversary of the

they all want to go to havana, cuba, but they don't want to connect through charlotte, north carolinanymore. let people believe what they want to believe. we don't all have to be on the same page. kennedy: a basic lack of curiosity. you don't have to agree with or condone what someone says or believes in order to try and understand where they are coming from. i think that basic curiosity, when you lose that, you lose decency and you lose touch with other human beings, and the line that separates life and death, not too to get too dramatic, that's what's so easily crossed when someone can't get enough views on their youtube page. >> i wrote something down in the hickenlooper article. this quote amazed me. if you told george orwell this quote. he said when i meet with people i disagree with, i want to listen aggressively and ask questions. i was thinking, do you even hear that? what about you listen passively and concede sometimes there are good people who do not shoot their goodness through the prism of being hick or lubriun. kelly: he needs to mellow his voice. >> the hickenlooper the

. >> reporter: havana cuba celebrating its opening.estaurant is using the clover system, which can also accept apple pay. >> i go don't i need to sign something, but they go no, you're good. i'm like how do you know it's me. but with the chips and everything there's less fraud. >> reporter: signatures require purchases of at least $25, but that could change in the coming weeks. >> at the same time we also want to make sure they can leave quickly and go home and have a great meal with their family or head onto work because everyone here is really busy and we understand that. >> reporter: a sign of the times as they try to keep customers satisfied and secure. >>> meteorologist sandhya patel requires no signatures for the forecast either. >> the weekend is looking good. it's going to be both sunshine and rain. i want to show you live doppler 7 right now, and there are a couple of clouds around but otherwise skies are clear across the bay area. your afternoon highs tomorrow coming up some more. low 60s to the mid and upper 60s. 59 degrees,

patrick oppmann, our man in havana, cuba. you hear how i am qualifying this forecoming process. ore than one occasion. what do you believe the promise is here to the people of cuba? is this an opportunity for real change? >> no is the short answer. it is to keep the revolution going. it he is 86 years old. he wants to turn it over to someone younger that he can keep an eye on the next several years. what will happen that no cuban has seen in their lifetime pretty much, it will be castro turning over power, leaving the presidency of this country. we'll come out later this morning. we expect to see something that cubans never thought they would see. he is turning power over to miguel diaz, someone born after the revolution. 57 years old. when speaking, taking a much harder line as plt has taken a harder line on cuba, has taken a much harder line towards the united states saying cuba doesn't need to give anything. raul castro will stay on as press secretary. for many cubans, something they never expected to take place>>> crippled southwest airline flight endured 20 minute of terror.

here from havana, cuba with the latest, fox news correspondent steve harrigan. melissa, symbolically certainly a major change of 60 years someone named castro at helm as prime minister or president. 50 years of fidel and, 10 years of raul. a shift from one generation to another. raul castro, 86 years old and new president today, who started his job just this morning, just 57 years old. so a shift there as well. this was carefully-staged, managed affair. it really seemed to take a page from the old soviet union. in the national assembly, all the members on their feet clapping in unison. of the 604 votes cast, 603 were for the single candidate who was nominated for president. that is a winning percentage of 99.8%. as far as change goes, what the new president is promise something continuity. that is the word we really hear over and over again. basically, nothing is going to change. and that is something strangely enough that both sides seemed to agree on, supporters of the regime, especially here in cuba and some of its most bitter opponents, especially lawmakers

there and order your food and sit with everybody else ordering from the other eateries and it said havana cubaoming. and scooped by jennifer gonzalez and she beats the website that said they are open. >> and we've gone there -- oh, yeah. and good mojitos. >> dinnertime. >> but fantastic food. >> and they are trying to upside the amount of food they are offering at that area. it is south of first area and folks go to the sharks game might want to eat there and the arena has outstanding eatery. >> it is quick eats. >> and when you can get there after work. >> so where wh are we going, boys? >> you decide and we'll check the website and make sure we're updated and also on marcus' tweets. >> i'll send it out. >> i'll send you the link. >>> and people living in a quiet san mateo street want it to stay that way. maybe your neighborhood gets congested during busy hours because of apps. we've highlighted the side streets on that map so you could see what we're talking about here. drivers are cramming into the surface streets when highway 101 get congested and people around there want the city to do so

survivor thank you for that update let's take a look at this scene at the national assembly in havana cuba that is the outgoing cuban president raul castro there he has so he's speaking at the national assembly and what's happened today is that cuba now has a new president and that president also spoke just a short time ago well will cross over to lauren taylor who's joining us out of london will be international news hi laura. thanks so much terrain queen elizabeth has urged commonwealth heads of state to appoint her son prince charles as the next leader of the block the queen has been the official head of the group of britain's former colonies since nine hundred fifty two although the title is not hereditary u.k. has been hosting more than fifty commonwealth leaders to try to strengthen trade ties as the country prepares to leave the european union it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations and we'll decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in one nine hundred fo

cuba. in her new work, our woman in havana, she chronicles the past several decades of us cuba relationships, recounting the misconceptions and missed opportunity. she also looks ahead to a future when someone other than castro will lead cuba. so what we're going to do this evening is kind of unusual and really sort of interesting to have two authors with a different book, although on a common subject. what we're going to do is have robin talk a little bit about his book and vicki will talk about her book. then the two of them will talk with each other about their books and then we will allow time for questions. if you have a question when we get to the q and a, please raise your hand. we have a life that we will pass around and with that please join me first in welcoming robin lloyd. [applause] >> it's great to be here and thank you for the very nice introduction. what i'm going to try to do is sort of unusual. i've notwritten fiction, i've written a historical novel a thought a lot of facts, a lot of research . so my effort will be basically to set up vicki as that will then bring us tothe

. >> reporter: at a popular art gallery and club in havana, a key to cuba's future has hit a wall. owner tells us there's been a dramatic drop in american visitors. [ speaking foreign language ] >> i am cancelling -- >> reporter: it started after president trump rolled back obama administration reforms here, most notably on travel, condemning the castro regime for its human rights abuses. now he and nearly 600,000 other cubans working in the private sector are facing an uncertain future. >> you feel that the relationship now under the trump administration has gone the other way? >> yes. >> absolutely. >> everything's stopped. >> reporter: almost six decades after fidel castro's rise to power, cuba is at a cross roads. on thursday, raul castro stepped down as president. taking his place, a largely unknown bureaucrat, miguel diaz-canel who promises to continue the island's revolution. >> what do you think it will mean for the island? >> i'm waiting. >> waiting? >> i'm waiting. >> for what? >> we don't know anything about it. >> reporter: seeking to control the pace of change, last ye

he says we are going to hit them and drop a nuclear bomb on havana and decimate cuba and the fallout will probably irradiate most of southern florida. they will shoot missiles at us and we'll shoot missiles at them and we'll win the war. and kennedy says and you have to go back in history. curtis was fire bombing like tokyo. and if we lost the war, he would have been tried as a war criminal. that is the kind of guy he was. so he is sitting there in the cabinet room and turns to kennedy and says 60 million people are going to die but we are going to win the war. and he laughs because he knows sister. kennedy closes his book and turns to his brother and they call this the human race. how much did they get wrong? he says to his brother, i'm going to tell my successor don't trust the generals, because you know what? whether they are generals, people, entrepreneurs, professors, we are putting our pants on the same way. and so we have to dial into our common humanity and we have to dial into what is the right or wrong thing to do? not the left or right thing to do. what is the right or wro

cuba. on touchdown, a journalist threw him a question about the changes in havana — which mr trump seems to a point of reaffirming his commitment both to the communist revolution and to economic reform. the white house will be watching to see which is his real priority. let's cross to will grant, who is live for us in havana. and and historic day in cuba, much ofa and and historic day in cuba, much of a change does it really mean in terms of policy and relations with the us? well, it is historic. i mean, obviously, any moment in which the castro brothers are no longer in the castro brothers are no longer in the presidency of a country that has relied on them, has had them in that position for almost 60 years is going to be hugely important symbolically. but it might not translate, at least initially, into much change politically in terms of policy. in his acceptance speech, as it were, they sort of confirmation speech, if you like, miguel diaz—canel underlined the direction that the country was set and that he was a guardian of the castro legacy, if you like. so we will not see anything mov

havana itself. trump has scared u.s. travelers away from going to cubaith travel alerts about the so-called sonic attacks in cuba andkind of tweaking restricting the way we go, the licenses that we need some of the categories we travel under. in this has had an amazing impact on travel. american citizens are traveling less to cuba. this is having a significant impact on the private sector of cuba, which had gotten geared up for the tourist sector. it is an important issue. even of the policy has not really changed, even just the hostile rhetoric and the tweaking is that in impact on u.s.-cuban relations. juan: can you t talk about your new cover story for politico? it is an amazing story of this former anchor on abc news lisa howard and her relationship to castro. >> this is an important historical topic because in this day and age, we are still looking for what lisa howard back in 1963 called an honorable rapprochement with cuba. it appeared barack obama had achieved this, and now president donald trump is sabotaging that. with barack obama sort of back

havana itself. trump has scared u.s. travelers away from going to cubaith travel alerts about the so-called sonic attacks in cuba andkind of tweaking restricting the way we go, the licenses that we need some of the categories we travel under. in this has had an amazing impact on travel. american citizens are traveling less to cuba. this is having a significant impact on the private sector of cuba, which had gotten geared up for the tourist sector. it is an important issue. even of the policy has not really changed, even just the hostile rhetoric and the tweaking is that in impact on u.s.-cuban relations. juan: can you talk about your new cover story for politico? it is an amazing story of this former anchor on abc news lisa howard and her relationship to castro. >> this is an important historical topic because in this day and age, we are still looking for what lisa howard back in 1963 called an honorable rapprochement with cuba. it appeared barack obama had achieved this, and now president donald trump is sabotaging that. with barack obama sort of back c

successful revolution in cuba it's the first time the castro would be leaving the country nomination will be voted on later on what state in america is to lucy and human joins us now from havana solis see a significant moment in cuba us history. indeed julie you know it's taken sixty nine years but it's certainly it seems to be happening very very quickly the nomination was made or at least announced by the president of the nominee committee that was only one candidate for the top job and that is as you just mentioned miguel diaz skynet and they were also several other candidates that will be voted on for the for the second and third job but really the scandal is the most important one of all she mentioned as she announced his name that this was in keeping with the with the will of god still the current president the last of the castros who would be leaving the country that he has expressed his with the will to not just are no longer in the top job everyone stood up the law and it was a rather emotional moment but the actual voting itself is going to take place we calculated within the next hour or so that could take also about an hour because there are six hundred and five d

the family that's dominated cuba's politics since the communist revolution in one nine hundred fifty nine our lot in america editor in the sea and human reports from havana. but today's session of cuba's national assembly will culminate with the selection of cuba's next president there's been no election campaign no presidential candidates have been posted that's not how the communist system here works but what is significant is not who will be elected as the next president but rather who will no longer be upheld. the law barring the unthinkable eighty six year old president old castro will be handing over power for the first time in six decades to a cuban who doesn't carry his last name and who was born after the one nine hundred fifty nine revolution that he hoping to power for me four generations of cubans live in this have an apartment grandmother daughter ianna granddaughter another and her two children only eighty five year old elsa remembers a time when juba was not ruled by fidel castro you know where your people will know when the revolution triumphed everyone was happy because there were high expectations. but like the beautiful decaying city o

very much with life in the provinces and it's often a mistake to generalize about cuba based only on a vision from havana right now that's a very very valid point that you make there he promised to defend the social star revolution in that speech that he just gave a short while ago but also acknowledges that economic reform is necessary do you believe that cubans can expect change in society with this change in leadership that. cubans can expect as much changes as possible cubans have been experiencing change predominantly and probably most radically since the one nine hundred ninety s. when the collapse of communism in the rest of the world meant that they were very much on their own and they had to bring in market reforms very very quickly and open up to a more market driven idea of socialism so they used to change i think probably the most problematic change has been the expectation that was raised by obama coming to power and the relaxing of diplomatic relations under his government and that door has been very firmly shut by his successor president trump so in many ways it's very frustrating the last

cuba. several canadian diplomats stationed in havana have complained of mysterious brain symptoms similar tose experienced by american diplomats. they include dizziness, headaches, loss of hearing, and a lack of ability to concentrate. the u.s. pulled 60% of its staff out of cuba last year. >>> "the new york times" reports on a medical study that shows lung cancer patients live longer with immunotherapy. doctors found when people with the most common type of lung cancer are given a new drug that activates their immune system along with chemotherapy, their odds of survival greatly improve. medical experts say this could change the way doctors treat lung cancer. >>> "variety" reports on the death of actor harry anderson. anderson played judge harry t. stone on the hit series "night court" from 1984 to 1992. he received three emmy nominations. he began his career as a magician. police found anderson dead at his north carolina home yesterday. they say foul play is not suspected. harry anderson was 65. >>> and "runners world" reports on the first american woman to win the boston marathon in 33 ye

cuba since 1959. manuel bojorquez reports from havana. >> reporter: rafael hernandez was 11 when fidel castro seized power in a bloody revolt. >> bullets. explosions. >> you have vivid memories of these. >> exact low. >> for most of his life. a castro has ruled the island. hernandez believes the one party system. fidel built will endure. >> it is different. but it is not -- a break. >> but for 24-year-old, musician, wendy galvez, that's the problem. >> that's fine because we have been like this for 50 years. >> reporter: she has seen what life is like outside cuba. in 2015, she visited chicago as part of a cultural exchange. since then, the trump administration, clamped down on alug tourists from the u.s. to the island. wendy says bookings for her band went from once a week to once a month. >> we are worse. >> the relations seems worse. >> yeah, seems worse. >> reporter: much is still in short supply. reforms have largely stalled. a slumping economy is squeezing the average cuban salary of lovely $40 a month. >> we are strong people. but there is long time, doing the things, the same, wishing the same. th

our cuba correspondent, will grant, is in havana. absolutely a disciple of the castros.in the via kara province, he was education minister. you know, there's no plan to in anyway unpick there's no plan to in anyway unpick the socialist project of the i—party communist state in cuba, we can be sure of that. but economically he's facing some quite difficult choices and he's going to have to take some decisions quite quickly, there is a dual currency here, for example, that spreads those paid in the local currency and those played in a currency and those played in a currency tied to the dollar. that's not very workable, it's not working very well, it's hurting a lot of ordinary cubans, he needs to deal with that quickly but it could cause inflation. has a series of quite important economic choices to make very soon and that will be his first obvious step that would differentiate him from the castros. will grant on the end of the castro dynasty. also making news today: turkey's president has announced that elections will be held injune, more than a year earlier than planned.

havana. it's only a formality now before cuba's national assembly announces the votes for d.s. can nail who will be the new president replacing raul castro the first person whose name is not castro who will be leaving this country after fifty nine years he was the only candidate so clearly there is no surprise but it is a historic moment these can l. is a long time communist party cato he is regarded as loyal to the party loyal to the communist party and above all loyal to the revolution and he is not seen as a reformist as a modern man may be open minded but certainly not a person who will come to cuba to change the system on the contrary he is being trumpeted by raul castro and the communist party and all of the state run media in fact as the man or the candidate rather of continuity the one who will remain firm and loyal to the communist party and to this one party system the cuba has had for nearly six decades despite so much pressure from around the world for it to change in a surprise move turkish president says of tayyip erdogan has announced that there will be early pre

cuba since 1959. manuel bojorquez reports from havana. >> reporter: rafael hernandez was 11 when fidel castro seized powera bloody revolt. >> bullets, explosions. >> reporter: so you have vivid memories of these. >> exactly. >> reporter: and for most of his life, a castro has ruled the roland. hernandez believes the one-party system fidel built will endure. >> so it is different, but it is not a break. >> reporter: but for 24-year-old musician wendy galvez, that's the problem. >> that's bad because we have isen like this for 50 years. >> reporter: she has seen what life is like outside cuba. in 2015, she visited chicago as part of a cultural exchange. since then, the trump administration clamped down on allowing tourists from the u.s. to the island. wendy says bookings for her band, acana, went from once a week to once a month. >> it's worse. >> reporter: the relation seems worse. >> yes, seems worse. >> reporter: much is still in short supply. raul castro's limited reforms have largely stalled, and a slumping economy is squeezing the average cuban salary of saughly $40 a month. >> we are strong people, b

the first vice president of cuba is expected to take his place. steve harrigan is in havana to explain. steve, how big is this change? >> reporter: dana, lot of people are portraying this as a very big deal indeed for about 80% of this island of 11 million people, this will be the first time they haven't had a ka 'stro in charge. first fidel for 50 years then raul for ten more years. either president or prime minister. it's also a generational change on the surface from the 86-year-old to the 57-year-old. really, this vice president who will be named president tomorrow most likely does not seem to be a reformer. he talked about small independent businesses here in cuba as being the enemy of the revelation. he does not seem like a man who's gonna try and rock the boat here in cuba, dana. >> dana: steve, what is the biggest challenge they have going forward? >> dana: it's really a cratering economy. state controlled economy. if you look at the history of cuba in 1959 before the revolution even happened they were producing more sugar, more tobacco, more fish than they are today

havana. the latest episode in the saga involving health issues of diplomats from the united states and canada here in cuba involves the families of canadian diplomats the canadian government says it is now withdrawing these families because it cannot guarantee their health this after more than a year of investigations carried out by cuban american and canadian specialists they have never been able to come up with a satisfactory explanation as to what has been ailing or what was ailing these diplomats in two thousand and seventeen the symptoms were nausea headaches dizziness among others and now the canadians are saying that there could even be some brain damage involved last year the trumpet ministration practically shut down its embassy here in cuba withdrawing most of its diplomatic staff saying that their health could not be guaranteed the cuban government has repeatedly denied carrying out any sort of acoustic or any other type of attack against american or canadian diplomats in this country but this latest incident now involving the withdrawal of the families of the canadian diplomats comes at a part

foreign policy towards cuba and that's i think is the greatest element of frustration it has a generational axis as well so many young cubans predominately in havana because they've had a lot more contact with foreigners through tourism and other things are more frustrated than the rest of the people of relations and more desiring of economic change but as i said the last couple of years have been very turbulent in that respect and a lot of people feel and don't always understand i think even in cuba that it's not a necessarily a cuban problem cuba is doing everything you can you know your reports referred to restrictions being lifted on travel now those restrictions were lifted several years ago however the rest of the world finds it quite difficult to issue visas to cubans for all kinds of reasons and so the cuban government has done as much as they can and certainly under an obama huge advances were made those of will be pushed back and again cuba is and is in paralysis because of u.s. policy towards it i've got fifteen seconds left why was he picked. he was picked because he is a young member of the communist party he was picked because he has

a latin america and as a lucien human has more from havana what we're seeing now is not a hard shift to a younger generation in charge of cuba but rather a very very slow curve i would say in fact it was very very clear both by the a scandal and vital role castro the outgoing president that he castro will continue to really qualls the shots for some time at least in fact for the next three years he will remain as the first secretary of the all powerful communist party and the us can l. said in fact in his speech that all important decisions will have to be vetted by raul castro so that really what we're hearing now is continuity continuity continually especially in terms of maintaining the power of the communist party and more or less the policy lines that have already been established under howard castro until the next communist party congress and that isn't going to happen for another three years. well to iraq now where the government has launched strikes against eisel targets in syria prime minister office says iraqi fighter jets carried out a deadly raid against i still in a border area syrian and iraqi forces have drive

in america to lucy in human joins us now from havana this is there's a new man in charge but is he likely to bring actual change to cuba. well actually the big message today was and still is because former president raul castro has been speaking now whole one and a half hours as opposed to the thirty five minutes that the new incoming president spoke about message is that there is continuity not change or not to expect any in fact to call this the end of one era and the heralding in of a new one might. but sure because it was made clear that at least for the next three years old castro is going to be the power behind the throne he will remain as the first secretary of the all powerful communist party and as the scan is the new president underscored in his address to the nation all major decisions will have to be vetted by a little so as you can see this is a very very very slow transition the new man in charge is a loyalist a person who has known castro said several times had been chosen specifically said the a scandal is not there by chance he was it was our choice he has been groomed for this job and he is just the p

cuba. staff at the u.s. embassy here in havana is slashed by two- thirds. harrigan, fox news. >>> it's one of the worst computes in the bay area. northbound 680 from fremont to pleasanton. today thousands of commuters learned there will be some relief in the form of an express lane. good evening, everyone. i'm heather holmes in tonight for frank. >> and i'm julie haener. there was a groundbreaking ceremony today for that new express lane. here's a map of exactly where we're talking about. it stretches from auto mall parkway over the sunol grade. now here's a live look at the conditions in that area right now. at last check, it would take but 30 minutes to drive that 7.5-mile stretch. ktvu's maureen naylor is live in fremont with why the express lane may not solve one of the main problems. >> reporter: behind me is a snapshot. slow going traffic and why this stretch on 680 is so notorious. today the leaders broke ground hoping to help with this. this is not the height of the evening commute. it's northbound 680 in fremont at 1:45 on thursday afternoon. it's

canada is withdrawing the families of diplomats in cuba after new information on mysterious illnesses which have affected staff at the embassy in havana diplomats from canada and also from the u.s. first supported sentence of headaches dizziness and that was last year well now medical specialists say they may have brain injuries the u.s. u.k. and australia are accusing the russian government of maliciously targeting millions of devices for political and economic espionage all three governments say hackers are trying to steal information and build networks for potentially devastating the cyber attacks russia denies those accusations the european union's highest court has ruled that poland broke the law by logging an ancient forest in the east of the country and says the operation at the world heritage site has further endangered rare birds and animals i don't or national team of scientists has engineered in zion that it's types of plastic that are polluting the world's oceans and waterways it's able to quickly digest p.t. plastic which is used in millions of tons of bottles and takes hundreds of years to break down so this team is now

canada is withdrawing the families of diplomats in cuba after new information on mysterious illnesses which have affected staff at the embassy in havana diplomats from canada and also from the u.s. first supported sentinels of headaches dizziness and that was last year well now medical specialists say they may have brain injuries the u.s. u.k. and australia irq using the russian government of maliciously targeting millions of devices for political and economic espionage all three governments say hackers are trying to steal information and build networks for potentially devastating cyber attacks russia denies those accusations the european union's highest court has ruled that poland broke the law by logging an ancient forest in the east of the country and says the operation at the world heritage site has further endangered rare birds and animals i don't or national team of scientists has engineered in sign that it's types of plastic that are polluting the world's oceans and waterways it's able to quickly digest p.t. plastic which is used in millions of tons of models and takes hundreds of years to break down so this team is now looking

che "new york time's" azzam ahmed has been wg these developments from cuba, and he joins me now from havana. azam, this is obvusly an enormous day, the end of the castro era. i think for so many americans castro and cuba have been synthymous. what imood like there? what is the feel like in cuba today?a >> it's sort otrange dynamic because as you said, cuba's been synonymous wieh th castros for the last 60 years, yet on the streets there's not d aroundathe television or talking about it in the streets, it's almost layers of apathy that have ki of taken over and it seems almost as it's been this very managed process. it happened in the national assembly, on national television, but it's almost as continuation of stability, passing on tthe new leader. >> brangham: who is the new leaderf >> the peoplom the u.s. embassy have not met with him. he worked in a province about 3.5 hours outside of havana and the people there largely responded well to him. he was a relatively modern thinker. he was for instance a major advocate of one of the first sort of gay clubs to open up in the communy even at a

anybody who's been to cuba to havana is aware of the little clusters of people gathered around a hot and using them to try to get on the internet or tourists trying to get on the internet. a lot of people have believed that the outside world could get into cuba and protest by having more openness to the internet. is there any sign that there will be more access for people to get online to speak to the outside world? >> i think because the escanelle has been such a promoter of the internet and they do believe they need to open up to the outside world, at least when it comes to the internet, you will start to see, i believe, some change in that regard judging from their background solely. he is 58 years old. a day after he took hold of power. he does represent a change from these 89-year-old men in government who believe the internet is evil. i think that ideology will no longer withstand, but if we are to see some significant change beyond the internet, that is still to be seen in cuba. >> so great to have you in the msnbc family, my friend. thank you very much. enjoy the nice, warm w

relationship with cuba and the mood in havana as raul castro steps down.re live from havana and live in west palm beach, florida, where i'm traveling with the president all week long. i'll see you at his press conference later on this afternoon and also right after the break. as you grow older, your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. during the fall, everyone who has medicare may be eligible to choose a new medicare health plan. but you may be able to choose a new plan right now. if you answer 'yes' to any of these questions: are you turning 65? do you have both medicare and medicaid? do you have medicare? and are you losing employer health coverage? if you a

trump canada's withdrawing the families of diplomats in cuba has been suffering from a mysterious illness doctors believe staff at the embassy in havana may have brain injuries envoys from canada and the u.s. first reported headaches dizziness and nausea last year cuba says it doesn't know what's behind the incidents well those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after the caliph stage of them so much about that. at home i'm a southern jordan. in the eighth century it was a settlement of one of the two major branches of the hashemites. the prophet's own family of the christ troy. known as the bus its these were descendants of the law bus one of muhammad uncles the other branch where the islets descended from. the prophet's cousin and son in law. in seven sixteen abdulla one of the eyelets arrived in and how my name a with a strange story. i had thought any been at you thought it. must i live in almost me silly amended i've been many of them a who had. well. you know what shall be modeled for. some minister they met. our beloved died in and my mom. but in his final hours he confessed to his a bust of cousin muhammad

cuba since 1959. and raul castro will stay as the president of the communist party. steve hargon reports harrigan reports from havana> reporter: for the first time in nearly 60 years the president of cuba is not a castro. 57-year-old miguel diaz-canel officially sworn in thursday promising to make life better for cubans while upholding the ideals of the communist revolution. he is 30 years younger than the man he replaces. but cuban officials have taken pains to stress that nothing would change and that raul castro will remain head of the communist party. >> the mandate given by the people is to give continuity to the cuban revolution in a crucial historic moment. >> reporter: critics say nothing changed and that the long-awaited departure of the castros was no cause for celebration. >> this has been a charade. this has been a farris. this has been smoke and mirrors. nothing more than rearranging the decks chairs on the titanic. we know what happened to the titanic. this did not end well. that's what's happening with this restructuring of the cuban government. >> reporter: relations with the u.s. have soured after a

of course there is the northern neighbor the united states us cuba relations were great to two years ago when president obama visited in havana but the situation now is not great and you have the trumpet ministration rolling back some of the obama era normalization policies but you also have a very strange situation with american diplomats that have taken ill i am sure a lot of people have read about it and been very confused the americans are alleging that it was some kind of attack the cubans are denying any responsibility for it and it has caused a crisis the embassy in the united states the embassy in havana has been sort of downgraded in terms of the number of staff and so these canals going to have to fix this because american tourists are not coming in the same numbers as they were about a year ago and people in havana really depended on those american tourist dollars what are younger gibbins telling you about how they see the legacy of the castro family well that's a really tough one first of all young cubans that's just one big group of people with a lot of different opinions a one thing that i have heard over the ye

our cuba correspondent, will grant, reports from havana between them fidel and raul castro have been rom the presidency and hands it onto someone younger and outside castro family. his expected successor is the country's vice president but that has to be voted on and confirmed by the full session of parliament. few cubans expect any surprises and they are looking to see whether the council of ministers will be made up of younger men and women whether the original generation of revolutionaries, now mostly in their 80s will stay in place. there have been plenty of moments that looks like the start of a new beginning in cuba, not least during the recent thaw with washington the obama administration, they rarely ushering meaningful change. row castro will stay on as the head of the communist party and few expect far—reaching reforms to be introduced overnight but important decisions loom for the new president and it will be significant to see the island led by someone other than a castro for the first time since 1959. there is an extraordinary meeting between mike pompeo and the leader of

raul castro is stepping down today as cuba's ruler ending a reign that lasted nearly 60 years. we're live from havanals. >> being portrayed as a momentous day in cuba. the first time in 60 years someone named castro hasn't either been president or prime minister. the only leader about 80% of the 11 million people on this island have ever noefnlt it's a generational shift, too. the reign will be passed to the vice president. the likely next president of cuba. what this shift really means for people on the ground is a lot less clear. the likely next president has been a communist bureaucrat for 30 years and also someone who has described small business in cuba as enemies of the cuban revolution and comes at a time when relations between the u.s. and cuba are really at a low point following so-called mysterious sonic attacks targeted at u.s. diplomats here back in september that left at least two dozen americans with some serious health problems. raul castro initiated modest reforms. internet for 5% of the people. let half million people start their own businesses. three out of four people work for the

a democratic cuba could emerge but those hopes appear to have been dashed and that brings us back to that window dressing now once you cast your glance inside the halls of power in havana you quickly see what is really happening a gradual slow and somewhat reluctant passing of the one party of thora terry in bhutan president diaz canelo will only be allowed to serve two five year terms and we learned today that for now raul castro remains the boss of cuba's communist party. handing over the presidency but not complete power after almost sixty years of rule by the castro brothers cuba has a new leader mikhail diaz can now promised outgoing president raul castro and the national assembly that he would carry on the socialist revolution. i assume the responsibility for which i have been elected with the conviction that all the cuban revolutionaries from whatever position we hold we will be faithful to the legacy of the commander in chief fidel castro ruz historic leader of the revolution and also to the values and teachings of general doug little castro ruz. the outgoing president will remain head of the communist party for another three years consolidating his own power b