includes north korea, sudan, and iran the fourth nation was -- was cuba. it has now been officially removed. this is something that the cubans wanted to happen because they say that they could not do business in the united states, they couldn't get a credit card or participate in world financial markets for that matter with this cloud hanging over their head. a 45-day period started ticking when the president made his announcement, it ends today. what could have happened is congress could have objected and challenged the president's ruling. they are on recess this week before they left they didn't do so so now cuba today is officially all of that list clearing away more of the underbrush towards more normalized relations the president announced he was going to work towards. >> mike some of the underbrush involved u.s. credit card companies that couldn't operate in cuba so if you were down there as a tourist, you couldn't use a credit card. does this mean that now american credit card companies will be free to operate there? >> and it's a 2 way street the c

cardinal: he told me he was thinking to come to cuba. he told me in february at the last event we had in rome. he told me, i'm thinking about going to cuba. i told him, holy father, now you are going to bolivia and to ecuador in july on this trip. and he said to me, it no, it will be very long. it's not the same way. perhaps in september. then the day after before beginning the morning session, he called me, the holy father, and he told me, i'm thinking to go to cuba. i don't know, perhaps in september. but then in the morning, he told me, the holy father, into told me, i am thinking to go to cuba. but in my trip to the united states -- charlie: that is symbolic. cardinal: not only for the flight of the plane, etc., but also to create a symbol of this relation between cuba and the u.s. and i have known that a month ago, because at this woman, i didn't know -- at this moment i didn't know what moment he was going to come to cuba. i was thinking always after the visit to the united states he would go to havana and he could fly directly to

cue what was orig -- cuba was originally placed in 1982 when the government accused fidel castro of sponsoring terror groups latin america. showers this weekend. doug: we have had a cluster of heavy rain south of washington in fredericksburg. not good for the commute south of 95. here we go. live look for you now. a dark red shows up very clearly to you. that is the problem. is it not going anywhere in a hurry. if this keeps up much longer longer there will be localized flooding concerns over the area. that is something we will watch closely here. not raining itself out. if you head south or living in the area and watch. a frontal boundary. the ideal condition to bring more rain exists. take a look at the numbers. 86 was the high at reagan national. the coverages are among average. they will through the weekend. 85 at reagan national now. 75 in fredericksburg. and the rain. 86 in frederick. temperatures through the midatlantic, northeast, coastal areas a pleasant. the number values are four or five degrees above average for this time late may. we have high pressure. it will draw moisture from

one was cuba that voted on principle and the other was yemen which was just a unified. it was the only arab country and the security council. yemen voted no and no sooner had the yemeni ambassador putdown his hand in the security council meeting, the u.s. ambassador to the un was at his side and said that will be the most expensive no vote you ever cast and the remark was picked up on the un mike that he said he didn't know was open and it became embarrassing, three days later the u.s. cut its aid budget to yemen. by that time nobody cared, the poorest country in the arab world, it still is but what was interesting, many of us, me and others wrote at the time we didn't think was an accident. we didn't think that the ambassador made a big mistake he knew full well that the mic was open because it was a message not primarily aimed at yemen, it was primarily aimed at the rest of the world. if you cross us on an issue that is important to as you will pay a price and at the u.n. they call it the gannon president, the name it was known by. there were bribes that had to do wit

at this moment i didn't know at what moment he was going to come to cuba. i was thinking always after the visit to the united states he will go to havana and he will fly to -- he could fly directly to rome. but he has decided to arrive to havana to visit two days, to go to another diocese and then to the shrine of the virgin of charity in cuba and to return to the united states from santiago de cuba. and for us it was a very great thing for our church and for the relation between cuba and the united states. >> rose: it's an important visit. this pope seems to have a certain not only mission, i do log, but urgency. he's very pastoral. he clearly is the most popular man on the planet. he clearly wants to get things done, and he's pushing and he's speaking out. he's a presence. he also seems to have a certain urgency. he's your age he's 77 -- >> 78. >> rose: 78. he said, this year, there is an example, a new way that has begun between cuba and the united states for normalized relations. it is an example for all the world. we can resolve the problems of the wor

normal icing relation was cuba. the treasury department has approved licenses, for the first ferry service to the island in decade. now, the potentially opens up a path for hundreds of thousands of travelers between florida, and havana every year. cuba is just 90 miles south of key west. >>> soon you'll be able to fly to cuba jet blue will be beginning weekly flights between new york's jfk airport and havana starting in july. if you wanting to though you must book through cuba travel services. >>> rutgers university students say that the scarlet knight mascot needs an update. >> the current mascot does not the accurately represent all rutgers students. so "eyewitness news" reporter nicole brewer joins with us more on. that they want more diversity um. >> you can imagine the debate on social media. >> oh, yeah. >> it is heating up. scarlet knight isn't going anywhere, just to be clear but students at rutgers want they 60 year-old mascot to be a bit more representative of their diversity. the here's what the school's

in 2011, the year castro made the speech, cuba was 167th on the list, 13th from the bottom. four years later the ranking has gone down, not up, to 169. >> translation: raul made a call to end secrecy. there'd been many forbidden areas of information, that might be hurtful to the resolution. if any country tried to deal with cuba, and the united states knew about it, the countries were punishable by law, because of the blockade imposed by cuba, meaning the cuban press quoted too much. today we are aware of that, and the importance that the cuban press has for the cuban people. >> this notion of cuban journalism characterised by secrecy should be understood in the context of an island under siege, and what that implied when the project is perceived to be under threat. this is used as an excuse by some in the government when they make mistakes, and want to avoid being held to account. >> since 1974, cuba has applied a puddle of press control based in the soviet one. the department has a job of supervising the media, and its position differs from that of raul castros, whenever t

i was in cuba when pope john paul ii arrived in 1998. >>> 27 minutes after the hour. we are following the breaking news in texas where a tornado left dozens injured overnight. severe storms wreaking havoc across the country. there is more to look out for today. all of the breaking news next. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> john berman here with christine romans. we have breaking news this morning. a possible tornado in van, texas. about 70 miles east of dallas. emergency officials call it a mass casualty event. what we know so far, at least 26 people injured, 20 plus structured damaged or destroyed. i want to bring in meteorologist pedram javaheri. pedram pedram. >> the storm system coming into van with a population of 2,600 people. seven reports of tornadoes on sunday. this particular town is 70 miles south and east of dallas. the national weather service said they issued a tornado warning at 8:55 p.m. local time. police reporting the tornado touching down at can the9:00 p.m. a lot of people going to the first baptist church for shelter. pretty incredible

in havana cuba's capital was hit hard. hail storms and strong winds about 100 kilometers per hour were reported. as we mentioned two people died from the storm. one woman was killed because of the flooding. another man lost his life after being electrocuted. in addition to widespread flooding we're getting reports of several land slides taking place over the area. now as we go through friday i think we will see an improvement in the forecast. maybe some scattered showers along with this line of rain that's continuing to push eastward over cuba but then we should see a little bit more in terms of sunshine. meanwhile the rest of the united states seeing relatively calm weather. a low moving through the deep south in the north and east. that will bring rain in the mid-atlantic states and southern states like virginia and then we're going to see high pressure controlling the rest of the united states, mainly seeing sunny skies, dry conditions and temperatures are going to be quite warm as well. we're talking about highs in the

as a sign that the administration cuba policy was achieving results. not surprisingly these numbers climbed dramatically in the ensuing months with more than 450 political arrest in february, more than 600 in march, more than 1600 political arrests in total during the first four months of 2015. 1600 in first four months of 2015. now as i'm sure you know this past sunday more than 100 activists in cuba were violently arrested including 60 members following their attendance at a church service. site gives she was right when she said the cuban government will only take advantage to strengthen its repressive machinery because all these women were doing is marching in white with a coagula to church. and the result of that is to be beaten and thrown into prison. that is not success. so i don't get it. so the final thing i'll say mr. chairman, i have a lot of other questions but in deference to my colleagues and i appreciate it as this is one-sided. i don't know what we've got in return. we've gotten nothing in return but the cubans have gotten plenty and ret

i was simply a kid, and to me everything was a game. >> reporter: in cuba, elian's father, juan miguel launched his own media battle. backed by fidel castro. the propaganda war on both sides heated up when elian's miami family shot this video in which the then 6-year-old, some say, was coached to say he wants to stay in the u.s. but the final word would come from the federal courts. the boy belonged with his dad. when the miami family refused to comply armed u.s. agents were sent in creating the scene few can forget. certainly not the fisherman holding elian in this picture. >> if i didn't cooperate at that moment i blooift could have went bad and could have been bloodshed in there. >> reporter: elian returns to cuba a national hero in his father's arms. greeted by his elementary school classmates and a national tv audience n. this never-before-seen on tv video, provided by cuban photographer who shot for abc news on this story, fidel meets with elian privately. today else onlives with his father in this modest house in cardanas elian sitting beside his father. >> do you have any regre

the administration's decision to resend cuba's kessedesignation at a state sponsor of terrorism was a fact based process as the president has emphasized. while progress has been made if our efforts to re-estabilsh diplomatic relations, we are not there yet. there are still outstanding issues that need to be addressed to ensure a future u.s. embassy will be able to function more like other diplomatic missions in cuba and wrels in the world. but even today under challenging circumstances, our diplomats unite families through our immigration processing, providing american citizens services, issue visas and aid in refugee resettlement. they work hard to represent the issues and values of the united states. our engagement with the broadest range of cubans will expand once we establish diplomatic relations with cuba and tomorrow we'll be holding a new round of talks with our cuban counterparts to advance these objectives. as we move the process ahead, we hope we can also work together to find common ground towards our shared goal of enabling the cuban people to freely determine their own fu

it was announced, especially cuba and libya, we'll act with firmness. with the words ronald regan consigned cuba to a state list. today old cars crewed the street. reminders adorned the walls. cuba is on the cusp of change. coming off the list. some cubans we spoke to were skeptical. those that would go on camera were positive. this was always a political move. everyone nose cuba does not support terror. their relationship with the united states is really new for us. >> there's a few that the move does more than open the door to the united states. the religion of those with the rest of the war. we call on them now. it's difficult for any country to have a good relation. it is a terrorist cult. >> shortly after the revolution the u.s. shut down the embassy. the next step is to reopen. there's a suggestion that there could be announcement. >> the embassy was shut down. they are erected by the cubans to mask that side of thing about from a screen which they perceived to be american propaganda. they prepared to re-engage. >>> in the u.s. more than 200 peopl

he was the first time a host was taped in cuba since 1959. i am pleased to have conan o'brien at the table. welcome. >> i'm the old guy now. isn't that crazy! >> rose: you are the old guy! crazy times! one of the first times i game came on the show in '93 i sat here and no one thought i was going to make it. you were very nice to me, if i recall. if we were to look at that appearance now it would be like i love lucy. >> rose: you hadn't done much performing when you took over the show. >> no, i had done improvisation but not nearly the amount of performing one should have done to get a late-night show. i was a fluke. i credit warren mike also with it. he thought, i think this kid can do it, it will be rough at first but he'll be a good fit. that was such a time in 1993 there was no footage of me that existed and the media couldn't find any. if you could imagine how much footage there was of everybody. there was not an existing photograph of me when they announced the late night show. they were taking photographs of my appearance on the show t

as a sign that the administration's cuba policy was achieving results. not surprisingly these numbers climbed dramatically in the ensuing months with more than 450 political arrests in february, more than 600 in march, more than 1600 political arrests in total during the first four months of 2015. 1,600 in the first four months of 2015. now, as i'm sure you know this past sunday, more than 100 activists in cuba were violently arrested including 60 members, follow their attendance at a church service. so i guess she was right when she said the cuban government will only take advantage to strengthen its repressive machinery. all these women were doing was marching in white with a gladiola to church. and result of that is to be beaten and thrown into prison. that is not success. i don't get it. the final thing i'll say, mr. chairman, i have a lot of other questions but in deference to my colleagues and i appreciate it this is a one-sided -- i don't know what we've gotten in return. we've gotten nothing in return but the cubans have gotten plenty in return.

it was a slap in our face. >> her son's mission was humanitarian sob watching cuba taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism is even more of a slap in the face. >> we feel that the shoot-down and the murder of our son was an act of terrorism. >> it was premeditated coldblooded murder that's what it was. it was state sponsored. >> but cubans can make the same argument alleging u.s. harbored terrorists who attacked cuba. a former cia agent who spent his life trying to take down the castro regime. he is accused of planting a bomb on an airliner that killed 76 people. for decades venezuela and cuba has been asking for his extradition, but the u.s. has refused, which is at the age of 77 carilas is a free man living in miami. but now cuba off the terrorism list his freedom is in question. >> he's some kind of osama bin laden of cuban origin. >> while the u.s. and cuba move forward with a diplomatic relationship accused ex isles are here to stay. >> the reality is that the american government protect the -- all the agents that were used for the government many years ago. where the pa

it was the first time a late-night host taped show in cuba since 1959. i'm very pleased to have conan o'brien back at this table. conan: i'm the old guy now. those are crazy times. one of the first shows i came on in 1993 was this show. no one thought i was going to make it. you were very nice to me. if we looked at that appearance now, it would look like in -- "i love lucy" cast. charlie: you had not done much performing when you took up with that show. conan: no. i had not done nearly the amount of performing one should have done to get a late-night show. it was a complete fluke. to this day i credit lorne michaels. he saw something and he said this kid can do it. but that was such a different time, 1993, that there was no footage of me that existed. the media could not find footage. can you imagine today how much footage there is of everybody, there would be hundreds of hours of footage of me that i have posted on youtube and everyone would have it. there was not an existing photograph of me when they announced me for the late-night show. i remembered

the decision today by the obama administration was not exactly unexpected in cuba. government leaders in havana have long insisted that any normalization of relation was rechoir rechoir removing cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list. >> it's another obstacle removed, and something that had to happen. there would be no progress without comic off that list. we heard the relief of reconciliation can continue. it is said interest is cautious optimism here, excite of some doubt about the future as well, but over all a cautious optimism. remember this is only incremental step. if you were to suddenly lift the trade embargo here, which is congress' decision, or lift the travel ban you might see more of a reaction on the streets. but that is a long way away from now. in the meantime the next step is the embassyies opening the cuban embassy in washington, d.c. and opening the u.s. embassy in havana. now it looks after u.s. interests here in cuba, but it's very dilapidate: the roof is leaking and it needs knew air conditioning. renovationings could be around the corne

cuba was placed on the list 33 years ago during the cold war when cuba was accused of aid inging latin america. this marks the end of a 45 day required congressional review period. congress did not act to intervene in the decision. including opening embassies in washington and havana. only iran sudan and syria remain on the u.s. state sponsors of terrorism list. >>> and the soccer world's governing body is holding elections. voting is underway and it's expected to re-elect its long time leader. current fifa president was not indicted and he says he's not responsible. he's looking to win an unprecedented fifth term. i'm joined by grant wall. explain the politics of fifa. >> you have to consider who the voters are and the voters are the 209 national soccer federations from around the world. one country one vote no matter how small or large your country is. the world cup last year had nearly $5 billion in revenues. they use it to build stuff and do other soccer things. that's why they're voting for him today. >> and the underdog challenger is the 39-year-old prince ali. he's well regarded

why this visit was so significant and what it could mean for u.s./cuba relations. ortho home defense gives you year long control of all these household bugs - roaches, ants, and spiders. spectracide gives you year long control... of just roaches. their label says so. got more than roaches moving in? get home defense. the label tells the story. some weed killers are overzealous. they even destroy your lawn. ortho weed b gon kills weeds... not lawns. our label says it. your grass proves it. get ortho weed b gon. the label tells the story. >>> a historic meeting between the pope and president of cuba. it's only the third meeting between the head of a catholic church and cuban leader. during the meeting, president raul castro thanked the pontiff for helping to father relationship between the u.s. and cuba. joining me is cnn's patrick hoff in havana. >> reporter: it's an extraordinary to see rau castro the head of a communist government meeting with pope francis to leads the catholic church. not only to have an hour-long meeting on a sunday but have the two men emerge a

, and was part of the generation that was afraid of airplanes, she used to come to cuba on a ferry, and we'd meter every couple of years at the dock so she'd spend a couple of months with us and go back to washington d.c. i think i have become a lot like my old aunt and my family can expect to see me arriving on the ferry soon. >> i want to thank you both for joining me on "inside story". daff nigh reed from virginia professor silvia great to talk to you both. i'll have a final talk in a minute on rising tides in the straits of florida - lifting different boats. stay with us. >>> on new year's eve 1959 castro's army took havana and they have been in charge since. the vast majority of havanas can't remember a time before the resolution or a time that split families and brought sniping. the relationship had a potent symbol. countries lined up to begin ferry service, a common and popular way to move back and forth between havana and miami. four or more american companies were told by the state don't and the u.s. treasury that they'll be licensed to carry passengers of the over the last 40

cuba was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1982. countries including syria, iran, and saddam when -- sudan remain on the list. embassies will reopen once officials resolve several remaining points of contention. alix: questions about former house speaker jenness hester -- dennis hastert and a hush money scheme. he agreed to pay $3.5 million to cover up past misconduct, and broke banking rules to do it. nature of the alleged misconduct or who the other party was. times" alleges the conduct dates back to his time as a teacher and wrestling coach in illinois. when pimco was looking for a new ceo in 2013, it turned to goldman sachs. a report that gary cohen was on the short list to succeed mohamed el-erian. it never progressed beyond informal conversation. cohn a possible successor to lloyd blankfein. alix: the former home of pop star michael jackson is on sale for to $5 million. the estate once known -- $425 million. jackson bought the property in 1998 and turned it into a combination amusement park and zoo. he stopped visiting after i

francois hollande was on cloud nine and he mainly talked business, saying that france would be by cuba's situs cuba opens up to the rest of the world, but he also brushed on a minefield of the subject, human rights, but it was mainly subliminal messages. genie: that visit of the president to cuba comes a few days after his visit to the middle east. florence: that's right. you can read more about it here, talking about how hollande is on a diplomatic role and this is part of opportunist diplomacy. he is trying to push forward france's reputation as a diplomatic and military power, putting france's foot in the door and taking advantage of the country's opening, all the while trying to counterbalance the influence of the united states in the region. and in the middle east, francois hollande is taking advantage of the fact that america's, i guess, popularity is dropping, specifically with respect to saudi arabia. basically, francis taking advantage of this. -- france is taking advantage of this. all of this d<é?xpñ mike: what happens when physical limitations, logistical challenges, and

states, and was part of the generation that was afraid of airplanes, she used to come to cuba on a ferry, and we'd meter every couple of years at the dock so she'd spend a couple of months with us and go back to washington d.c. i think i have become a lot like my old aunt and my family can expect to see me arriving on the ferry soon. >> i want to thank you both for joining me on "inside story". daff nigh reed from virginia, professor silvia, great to talk to you both. i'll have a final talk in a minute on rising tides in the straits of florida - lifting different boats. stay with us. >> sunday. >> my idea of a fun night out? a bit of anarchy! >> punk legend, john lydon. >> my weapons are words, not bullets and bombs. >> turning childhood anger... >> i was left-handed and the nuns seen that as a sign of the devil. >> into hit music. >> it's a perfect introduction into becoming a sex pistol. >> every sunday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping... inspiring... entertaining. "talk to al jazeera". s

. >> he says there was a clinical trial, but the results were meaningless. >>> cuba is set today to come off of the list of state-sponsorers of terrorism. mike viqueira reports from washington. >> reporter: a major impediment to fully normalize relations between the united states and cuba is removed as of today. it could clear the way for an opening of embassies and the election of ambassador dors. the president has met with raul castro at an international summit in panama but there were things to do that had to be cleared away before these two countries could fully normalize relations, chief among them the president announcing he was going to remove cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. since the president's announcement on december 17th there have been four rounds of talks all aimed at normalizing relations, the nuts and bolts towards opening an embassy and exchanging exchanging ambassadors. the u.s. is very concerned that cubans would be intimidated if they headed into the embassy, also the ability of diplomats in havana and cuban diplomats here in washington their abilit

it comes ahead of a state visit to cuba. castro was in moscow to attend the anniversary celebrations over the victry in nazi germany. jet blue will conduct direct flights much the airline will be the first to offer services since travel was eased. there may be cheaper ways to travel to cuba by boat. for the first time in 50 years the u.s. will allow a ferry service. four companies found out they'll be allowed to make the 90 mile journey. cuba needs its approval for the service. >>> the city of los angeles is suing wells fargo bank accusing of it pressuring employees to open accounts. the lawsuit ales it's par of a drive to boost profits, leaving consumers to pay ever-increasing fee and putting credit at risk. morgan radford reports. >> i had 10 accounts i had more than 10. i only need one. >> reporter: los angeles business owner is one of many duped by the fourth biggest bank in the u.s. >> wells customers have been victimized by tactics designed to maintain high levels of sales of wells products. to hit the goals la city at

there was the big custody dispute between the u.s. and cuba. he was returned to cuba to his father. he sat down with jim avila for his first interview as an adult. he had a message for everybody here in the u.s. >> i want the time to give my love to american people. >> you hear that? he wants to give love to the american people. he's now 21 years old admits he lost a bit of his english skills since he returned to cuba in 2000. you'll hear more about his past, present, his future. we'll reveal video never seen before in the u.s. our coverage starts on "good morning america" coming up later this morning. >> st. louis cardinals fans were focused on more than the field this weekend. in between innings fans took out their phones, cameras, and set a guinness world record by simultaneously taking 4,296 selfies. >> all right. that's a new record for most selfies taken at one time to encourage the crowd here, someone who knows a thing or two about records, eight-time nathan's famous hot dog eating champion joey chestnut. there he is in the center. he tossed the game's first pitch also. there

was a key cuba demand as they want to conduct banking in the u.s. among other activities. >>> a mid increasing pressure from corporate sponsors fifa the top governing body engulfed in a massive scandal went ahead with the electionives and not without drama. wilford frost has more from zurich. >> president sepp blatter of fifa has been elected fifth term in office as the head of the soccer governing body and in a yo-yo afternoon he failed to secure a first round of the vote as we are heading for a second round vote the prince ali decided the gap was too large to close and he conceded to the re-election. i know that you accepted me that for the next four years i will be in command of this boat called fifa and we will bring it back where finally football can be played. >> at the end of a torrid week for the world of soccer we hope this election result can lead to a new corruption-free era for soccer and for fifa. for "nightly business rep" i'm wilford frost in zurich. >>> rosetta stone pops on buyout interest and that is where we begin tonight's market

one was cuba that the voted on principal. the other was yemen, the it was the only arab country on the security council. yemen voted no. no sooner had the yemeni ambassador put down his hand in the security council meeting, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. was at his side and said "that will be the most expensive no vote you've ever cast ." and the remark was picked up on the mike that he said he didn't know was open. that the time nobody compared about memen, if poorest country in the arab world. still is. me and others wrote at the time that we didn't think it was an zerningts that we didn't think that the ambassador made a big miss stake, that he knew full well that the mike was open. the message was primarily aimed at the rest of the world, if you cross us, you will pay a price. still at the u.n., they call it the yemen precedent. there were bribes that had to do with arms that were sold to countries like colombia that had not -- the u.s. had not been willing to sell arms. there were oil deals that had been consult there w

and cuba. cuba was designated a state sponsor of terrorism by washington in 1982. they have since been taken up the list. officials are prepared to reopen embassies in havana and washington once officials results several points of contention. theepa's proposing cutting corners of the use of renewable fuels and gasoline. the agency want to lower the mandate for corn ethanol this year and next, from the 15 billion gallons required by law. agency officials says it will still provide incentives for more investment in biofuels while acknowledging real-world impediment in the marketplace. the epa will issue a final standard in november after receiving public comment. spectacular new views from manhattan. at one world trade center is now open to the public. the observatory occupies the top three floors. visitors travel 1250 feet above the city and can see for 50 miles on a clear day. some ear-popping on the way up. the elevators will is if you up to the observatory in 60 seconds. that is a look at our top stories this hour. we are still awaiting the results of the fifa pr

i had the opportunity to go to cuba last week and it was pretty much a trip meeting with educator, government officials, people involved in helt care, public health and people involved with disaster response. a lot to learn. different economic system that cuba has compared to the united states. it is a socialist country but what was a huge take away from that experience was that down to the individual the government of cuba does a lot to support people and involve people in many aspects of their delivery of service and building of infrastructure. it is a country that is very poor in infrastructure but rich in the human spirit. met with a lot of people who discussed what it is like to raise children in this country and they don't v lot of worries about what their clern are up to or the education their children get or what type of access their children have to health care or housing all that is taken care of. they do have a lot of concern about how far dollars can go. not the dollars, but the pesoes and stretch to meet the needs. the standard of living is hard especially with the block aid from

in fact, it was in 1998, that pope john paul ii visited cuba. at the time, it was considered a historic visit. unfortunately because of the breaking in of the monika lewinsky scandal at the same time, much of the world's attention was diverted away from that story. this long process of normalization between cuba an the rest of the world which -- >> catholic church pushing for an end to the u.s. trade embargo against cuba but no time line as to when that will happen. i imagine that might be top of mind as well in this conversation. >> yes, it will. there's no clear time line when the embargo will be lifted. only this week you should recall that the united states apparently approved two companies to provide ferry service between the united states and cuba. clearly, that is moving ahead not necessarily as planned but it is moving. george? >> senior international correspondent ben weidman live in rome. we appreciate your reporting there. thank you. >>> on saturday, raul castro's daughter led a gay pride march and symbolic wedding in cuba's capital.

taking cuba off the list was the key to talks going on for more than six months. there's to deal to reopen embassies in both nations. it's a process that may take sometime given the long history of mistrust. >> the news has been greeted with cheers in both countries. >> i think this would be really good. each party would set their conditions and this injection of capitol is something great. >> not all americans welcome the change. >> would we accept an embassy in cuba where we are not allowed to meet with activists on the island. >> marco rubio said cuba has not made it for the crimes against its people. for some, it's hard to forget cuba was at the center of what the world has ever come to global nuclear war. at the helm at the time, fidel castro. he emerged as cues prime minister in 1959 after a revolution that toppled the government of bautista. after castro nationalized all businesses the j closed its embassy in havana and imposed a crippling trade embargo. the u.s. attempted to overthrow castro in the failed invasion known as the bay of pigs. castro survived

broke his silence he was six when he was put into the spotlight after escaping from cuba on a raft. her mother drowned. the federal agents took him from the extended family in miami so he could be returned to cuba. gonzalez said he would like to come back to america. >> you want to visit the united states? >> si. i want the time to give my love to america. >> he gotten gauged. our producers helped him snap the first selfie and three would like to use it as rot file picture when he gets internet access to open a facebook account. you can hear more of the interview at 5:30 people on "world news tonight," here on abc7. >> a legal victory for google and free speech advocates. the appeals court in san francisco ruled that google owned youtube should not have been forced to take down an antimuslim film and an actress sued, winning a lower court ruling in 1212 for the movie to be removed and said she was misled about the nature of the policemen and got death threats. it is not clear if it will be reposted on youtube. >> a man bullied throughout grade school received an unexpected apology 1

as a sign that the administration's cuba policy was achieving results. not surprisingly these numbers climbed dramatically in the ensuing months with more than 450 political arrests in february, more than 600 in march, more than 1600 political arrests in total during the first four months of 2015. 1,600 in the first four months of 2015. now, as i'm sure you know, this past sunday, more than 100 activists in cuba were violently arrested including 60 members, following their attendance at a church service. so i guess bertia was right when she said the cuban government will only take advantage to strengthen its repressive machinery. all these women were doing was marching in white with a gladiola to church. and the result of that is to be beaten and thrown into prison. that is not success. i don't get it. the final thing i'll say, mr. chairman, i have a lot of other questions, but in deference to my colleagues and i appreciate it, this is a one-sided -- i don't know what we've gotten in return. we've gotten nothing in return but the cubans have gotten plent

someone in the audience was recording when it happened. an 80-person choir was performing when that happened. the whole group fell to the floor. two people reportedly suffered severe injuries but they're not life-threatening. cuba's president said he may return to the catholic church after meeting with pope francis. the two held private talks for nearly an hour. castro thanked the pope for bringing washington and havana closer together. >> i said if the pope continues talking like he does i may start praying again and return to the catholic church. i'm not kidding. i'm a communist, and the communist party does not allow it. but it does allow it now and it is a step forward. >> taking a softer line on religion, it was long banned in cuba. >>> well perhaps the most expensive painting ever is up for auction tonight. one of 15 versions of picasso's picasso's. we have more on why this piece is so special. >> impressionist, modern and remember those terms. they're very important in the art world. they say that art collectors are keen to broaden