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Fidel Castro Dies; Changing Cuban-American Relations Under President Obama Examined; Trump's Transition Team Releases Statement on Passing of Fidel Castro; Possible Conflict of Interests Questions Arise when Secret Service Proposes Renting Floor of Trump Tower. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 26, 2016 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[10:00:00] CAPT. STEVEN, U.S. AIR FORCE: -- providing support for those who need it the most.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the need for the U2 services will remain in high demand. While ISIS may be losing ground, the group remains both deadly and elusive.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, in the Middle East.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Pretty interesting stuff. Lots more news to tell you about.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Our next hour of Newsroom starts for you right now.

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PAUL: You are looking at reaction overnight to the news of the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro. Good morning, everyone. We're grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead. He was 90 years of age. You just heard the sounds of cheering in the streets of little Havana in Miami. That was earlier. Those Cuban exiles who had escaped his regime and those that came after them celebrate after hearing of his death.

PAUL: Now I want to take you to Havana. A very different scene there obviously. Streets are quiet. People found out the Cuban revolutionary who installed a communist government in the country has died. And this time it is not a rumor as has been many times before. Fidel Castro's brother and Cuba's president Raul Castro making the announcement of his brother's death on Cuban TV. And Cuba has declared nine days of mourning now, and we're about four hours into that.

This video I want to show you here, we have it in a moment, will be from his 90th birthday celebration in August. There he is, Fidel Castro here. And in the U.S. president-elect Donald Trump tweeted, very simply, "Fidel Castro is dead!" with an exclamation point.

CNN is covering this story from all angles. We have Patrick Oppmann in Havana, Cuba. Chris Moody is in Miami for us. I want to go straight to Chris Moody in Miami because what a scene it h been in little Havana, not just overnight. We thought that it would subside a bit, but even where you are now.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Celebrations have gone on since the middle of the night when people here in the exile community in little Havana in Miami spilled into the streets, and they have been celebrating and cheering and throwing impromptu parades down the streets for hours now. Just shortly before this, we were on the sidewalk and cars were coming by and there were just so many people. They opened the street back up for people to pour back into. The police had closed the street to traffic. So now people are back here celebrating and dancing and singing. We had an opportunity to talk to people here about why they feel so strongly about this and are so happy about Fidel Castro's death. Give it a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been waiting for 56 years for this night. And I thank God it happened at Thanksgiving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So this is a very important day for me because, do you know what, my grandfather suffered a lot to see the man that took everything today, to see him that day. So you know what, this is an emotional day for me today as a Cuban-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOODY: Some people might see the celebration and wonder celebrate when someone has died. You talk to these people and they say, listen, my family's livelihood was taken from me. Some people, members of their family lost their lives. And so they see this as an end a chapter in history that they say is very dark one.

They know, they're very realistic about how change can happen in Cuba. They know that just because Fidel Castro has passed on that Cuba will not change immediately. But they are at least hopeful for the future as we look at relations between the United States and Cuba opening up under President Obama. Now under president-elect Trump, there's still no telling what will happen.

PAUL: All right, Chris Moody, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there. It's been going on for hours now.

SAVIDGE: Now, we're going to show you a very different picture, Havana, Cuba, where the mood is somber and sad. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is the only U.S. correspondent in Cuba. Patrick, people, what are they saying and telling you this morning? PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Martin, you try to talk

about what would happen in Cuba the day after Fidel Castro died, how would Cuba respond? And Cuban officials were very much barred from talking about it. It was considered taboo. Today that's all changing. We're beginning to see preparations behind me here. This is an area I know you know well. I'm going to ask the cameraman to zoom in just behind us. And that's going to be one of the places we expect Fidel Castro after he's cremated, that his ashes, his remains would be taken, and for several days, thousands of Cubans, probably hundreds of thousands of Cubans will be given the opportunity to file by and pay their final respects there and before those ashes are then taken down the aisle eventually, about 700 miles from here where he'll be laid to rest.

[10:05:12] So this is going to be nine days of mourning. And already today we began to hear from Cubans about their feelings upon learning that Fidel Castro had died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): All this is is that we feel. We understand. I'm Cuban wherever where am. And he will no longer be here, understand? It's something that hurts you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): The Cuban people is feeling sad because of the loss of our commander in chief, Fidel Castro. And we wish him wherever he is that he is blessed. And us Cubans love him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPMANN: And of course Cubans are very reluctant to criticize Fidel Castro even off camera, something that can get you in trouble in this country. So some of the people we talked to seem genuinely very sad that Fidel Castro has died. Other people, of course know that they will get in trouble for saying something different. So that's the reality here in Cuba that we live and work with.

But more and more, Martin, we're getting a sense of how this is going to play out. It really is going to be a long period of mourning. The whole country will be focused on the funeral for Fidel Castro. And then a lot of people are saying what is next. We waited so long for this to happen and there's a lot of uncertainty in the air here in Cuba.

SAVIDGE: Right. It depends on the country. Some say a long fare well, others say good riddance. Patrick Oppmann, thank you very much for that view.

The White House has just released a statement on the passing of Fidel Castro. We want to get to that. And CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from there. Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, as you know, this is really a critical time for U.S. and Cuba relations. This really was a signature achievement for President Obama, normalizing relations with Cuba, open those relations diplomatically as well as economically. I want to read just in part the statement we just got from the White House, from the president himself on the passing of Fidel Castro, saying "For nearly six decades the relationship between United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences by the many thing we share as neighbors and friends, bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity.

And Martin, he goes on to offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family. It should be noted that under President Obama, he worked with Raul Castro. As you know Fidel Castro was not in power for much of the time the president has worked with Cuba in improving relations here. It was just two years ago, almost two years ago to December next month or so that the normalization of the relations really began in earnest. And we saw President Obama in his historic visit to Cuba as well, hoping that this opening will encourage the political and economic freedoms to blossom in that country. But it still is uncertain.

And as we all know, this is something that largely was done by executive orders of this president in terms of the regulations, easing regulations, easing trade, easing the money exchange, visiting, that type of thing. But the U.S. embargo is still very much in place, and that is going to take an act by Congress, a Republican congress, which a lot of people think is not likely. And everybody is looking at president-elect Donald Trump to see, who has been critical in the past of this normalization with Cuba, to see how he pursues his own policy. Martin?

SAVIDGE: Right. All eye now focused on what comes next. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much. Christi?

PAUL: Let's get another perspective from Peter Turnley. He's a renounced photojournalist and author of the book "Cuba, A Grace of Spirit." He's been traveling to Cuba since 1988. He's photographed Fidel Castro several times.

SAVIDGE: And Peter, you've just come back from Cuba. You were there when Donald Trump was elected. So what's your sense of the Castro regime and the people, at least the connection to Trump being elected?

PETER TURNLEY, PHOTOJOURNALIST: I was in Cuba only four nights ago, and I've been traveling there very extensively for the last five years. I've made more than 25 trips in the last five years. I feel like I have a very chose connection to the Cuban people in these past years.

The night of the election and then following days when president-elect Trump was elected, I interacted with many, many Cubans, taxi drivers, people on the streets, friends. And there was one thing that they all had in common, and that was that they all were extremely hopeful that president-elect Trump will continue with the opening of engagement with Cuba. And they all said they were very hopeful that because he is a businessman that he will understand that business engagement represents very positive potential in opportunity for Cuba. [10:10:00] I also was in Cuba, I covered President Obama's visit to

Cuba when he met with Raul Castro. And I will always remember during those days when President Obama was in Cuba and he extended a handshake to Raul Castro, essentially he extended a handshake to the people of Cuba. And I can't tell you what that meant to the people of Cuba.

I've been hearing today on television a lot of the reactions from Miami and people on this side of the story. I think it's very important that people know that the Cuban people really -- this is a time of change. This is a time of hope for them. And this is not the time in my mind to stop engagement and turn things back.

The Cuban people are so hopeful. They also are very proud of many things about Cuba. They're very proud of healthcare. They're very proud of public education. They're proud of the fact there's not violence in Cuba. It's the place where there are no guns and daily life is very tranquil. I also think that these people to people exchanges that have been going on in the last years have been incredibly important for the life of Cuba and for Cuban people. And I hope very much that they will continue.

PAUL: Peter, let me ask you something, since you were there for President Obama's visit in March and then just got back so recently. What changes, if any, did you see now that it's been eight months since President Obama was there in the attitude or the atmosphere of Cuba as opposed to prior to his visit? In other words, what did his visit do for that country? What did you see personally?

TURNLEY: I see it all the time. I see it every single day and every conversation I have. Every Cuban is hopeful for change. I think it's also very important as I said earlier that there's a lot that Cubans are very proud of. And they're very proud of many of the ideas of the Cuban revolution, whether or not everything has worked or not.

But I've been traveling very extensively for the last five years. I see change every single time I go. There's a lot more small business than there was before. Cubans are taking to a notion of private enterprise with great energy and dynamism.

And again, I think 50 years of isolation has simply not worked. And the best thing that could happen for the future of Cuba would be continued engagement, in fact, an opening with the United States and the American people.

Cubans have been -- almost every single Cuban has a family member in the United States. Cubans know much more about the United States than the United States knows about Cuba. The United States is not a foreign place or entity for the average Cuban person. They know much about America.

And I do think that -- I like to say that, you know, in the last years I've been around a lot of Americans that have made these people to people exchange trips to Cuba, I don't know a single person that has made a trip to Cuba that doesn't come back in many ways almost with their life transformed by the beautiful spirit of the Cuban people. I've travelled to more than 90 countries around the world in my

career. I probably have never been around a single group of people with more vibrant, upbeat, perseverant, determined and dignified spirit than the Cuban population of the island of Cuba. I like to say that my hope for the future of Cuba is that history will be as kind to the Cuban people as Cubans have always been to me.

SAVIDGE: That's very true. I made a number of visits to Cuba myself, found exactly the same feelings you just expressed. Peter, Turnley, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

PAUL: Meanwhile president-elect Donald Trump is reacting to the death of Fidel Castro and leaving a lot of people wondering, where do we go from here?

SAVIDGE: Also, Iraqi neighborhoods liberated from ISIS, but the toll and devastation left behind in un-measurable. CNN gets a first-hand look inside Mosul.

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[10:17:19] PAUL: It's 17 minutes past the hour right now, and Donald Trump is in Mar-a-Lago. He's reacting this morning to the death of Fidel Castro in a very short, simple tweet, saying only "Fidel Castro is dead!" The exclamation point there is what may be most notable.

SAVIDGE: You might remember during the campaign Trump threatened to undo efforts by President Obama to bring the U.S. and Cuba closer together. Here's what Trump said in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT: The president's one sided deal for Cuba and with Cuba benefits only the Castro regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining us live now from Palm Beach, CNN national correspondent Ryan Nobles. And Ryan, how are things there this morning in the aftermath of this news?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, things here in Palm Beach are very quiet. As you mentioned, just that one line from Donald Trump in a tweet, a much different from the reaction that we're seeing from other world leaders who have given statements that are a few paragraphs long explain how they feel about the death of Fidel Castro. Donald Trump just saying "Fidel Castro is dead!" with an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. And we're told by transition staff that's all we should expect from the president-elect today. No further paper statement or anything on camera.

But of course this begins to raise questions as to how the Trump administration will handle this relatively new deal that the United States has with Cuba. Of course there is still an embargo in place. But the Obama administration through executive orders has attempted to normalize relations between the two countries. As you pointed out, Donald Trump was very critical of that deal during the campaign. Here's what he said in Miami back in September.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them, and that I will do, unless the Castro regime meets our demands. Not my demands, our demands. You know what the demands are. Those demands will include religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And there are two important things to pull out of that quote from Donald Trump. The first of course being that, yes, because these were all put in as executive orders without congressional approval he has the power to pull them back. But the other point is that Donald Trump isn't necessarily opposed to the idea of normalizing relationships with Cuba. He just thinks the American people and Cuban people deserve a better deal. So this will be an important policy issue to track in the early days of the Trump administration. Martin and Christi?

[10:20:04] SAVIDGE: All right, Ryan, real quick, next week, pretty busy for the president-elect. What's in store?

NOBLES: Yes, and it starts right on Monday, Martin. We expect Donald Trump and his family to be here through tomorrow. They'll fly back to New York Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. And then on Monday he has eight different meetings planned at Trump Tower. Vice president- elect Mike Pence will be there as well. Among the people Trump will be with, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. He's an African- American and a Democrat. But he was a Trump supporter and spoke at the Republican National Convention. He's also a big critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. Right now it appears that Clarke is being considered as the next secretary of homeland security. Martin?

SAVIDGE: Very interesting. Ryan Nobles, thank you very much.

PAUL: Still to come, it's another one of the most high profile jobs the president-elect has to fill, secretary of state, of course. Former mayors and governors and now even a military general are all in that mix. We'll talk about that.

SAVIDGE: Plus, president-elect Donald Trump threatening to undo efforts by President Obama bringing the U.S. and Cuba closer together. So what does Castro's death mean now for U.S.-Cuban relations?

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SAVIDGE: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to hit the ground running come Monday with a full day of meetings, eight of them to be exact. A huge part of the discussion is Trump's cabinet picks.

[10:25:06] PAUL: Take a look at this. The president-elect still weighing who will serve in the top job as secretary of state in his administration. His harshest critic, Mitt Romney still in the mix despite some Republicans urging Trump to choose someone else.

Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic" is with us now. I want to take a look at everybody who is in play here that we know of as of this morning. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, General John Kelly, David Petraeus, Senator Bob Corker, these are all possibilities for secretary of state. Ron, Romney seems to be the one that has everybody talking, primarily because there was such caustic statements, let's say, in this election, particularly from Romney saying that Donald Trump was not fit to be president. But do you just chalk that up, Ron, to how the game is played? It's certainly not the first time we have seen two people really go at each other, and then suddenly they decide to work together once the election is over.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. We're looking at the kind of extreme version of that, the plus sized version of that. The comments that Mitt Romney made about Donald Trump, I believe, certainly in my lifetime were the most caustic made by a former nominee about a prospective nominee of the same party. The criticism was not only on policy grounds, it was on personal grounds. It was a big breach.

And you have Trump loyalists, of which there were not that many. That's an important point here. Donald Trump has a lot of flexibility in all of these appointments because he has fewer chips that he has to pay back. There were fewer elected official and party leaders who actively supported him than probably any other recent nominee. So he has a lot of flexibility.

But among that limited group of people who did actively campaign for him, you have people like Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, saying Mitt Romney should have to publicly apologize and renounce those remarks in order to be considered for secretary of state, which is something I have trouble imagining happening.

PAUL: So where does Rudy Giuliani fit into this do you think? Because this is one of I think at last count, at least six lists, at least six possible positions he could take in this administration.

BROWNSTEIN: Look, as we said, there were a very small number of current or even former elected officials who actively supported and campaigned for Donald Trump. Once you get past Jeff Sessions, who has gotten a prime position, Chris Christie, who hasn't, Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani, the list gets short really fast. There were very few loyalists more active or loyal than Giuliani.

The fact that Donald Trump has not chosen him for secretary of state to this point obviously indicates a good deal of hesitation, because if it was simply on loyalty, and people talk about the president- elect's focus on loyalty, this would have been a no brainer. But there are lots of issues in terms of his personal business.

But I think there's also a larger issue, which is that the breach between Donald Trump and the Republican party foreign policy infrastructure was much greater than between Trump and the domestic policy infrastructure. You had these extraordinary letters signed by dozens of former top national security officials in previous Republican administrations saying they didn't believe he was qualified to be commander in chief. And if you appoint someone like Rudy Giuliani as secretary of state after Michael Flynn, his national security adviser, I think there's very limited chances of bridging that divide and bringing some of those generations of expertise into his administration. So this is a really consequential choice for perhaps even more so than some of the big domestic positions like treasury secretary.

PAUL: So a lot of people in Trump's circle, we understand, want Romney to apologize. If he did that, would that bridge some of that divide? And would it, if he would choose Romney, help solidify the party itself as a whole?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it would be extraordinary for Mitt Romney to apologize. But it is hard to imagine how it would -- some version of that would not have to happen because he basically said he did not think of his as fit, Donald Trump as fit to be president, and then he would be working for him.

But of course there is another layer of issues beside the personal acrimony. There's the policy difference, where as a candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney's principle foreign policy critique of President Obama was that he was being too soft of Russia and that they reset was a failure. And certainly if there's any clear indication from Donald Trump as he has said over and over and sent signals in all different ways, he wants a closer relationship with Russia. So there is a big divide there.

I think on many of the trade issues there is a divide in terms of America's role in the world and what retreating from the Transpacific Partnership will mean not only economically but diplomatically across Asia with China already moving to fill the vacuum. So there are a lot of police differences as well. But this goes, as I said, to that larger question, Donald Trump is proposing a vision of American foreign policy that is very much at odds with what we have seen from the mainstream in the Republican party for generations, really since Dwight Eisenhower defeated Robert Taft in 1952 and kind of cemented an internationalist consensus in the GOP. So it is going to be difficult to find a big cadre of officials who are comfortable moving in the direction that Donald Trump laid out in the campaign.

[10:30:04] PAUL: Real quickly, we only have a couple seconds left, do you think we're going to have an appointment this week?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think this o is the toughest one. It feels like this is the toughest one. So I would not predict. Kellyanne Conway's tweets on Thanksgiving Day, unprecedented to have a senior advisor basically tweeting out concerns about someone under consideration by her boss behind closed doors. So I think this one may have a ways to go.

PAUL: Ron, it just follows suit after an election like none other that we have ever seen. Ron Brownstein, grateful to have your voice here, thank you, sir.

SAVIDGE: Still to come, protecting the president. The money spent by the Secret Service to protect Donald Trump and his family end up in the pockets of the Trump Organization.

Plus, President Obama helped bring the U.S. and Cuba closer after decades. But could all that now be reversed by the Trump administration? We'll discuss.

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PAUL: It is good to have your company on a Saturday morning. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell.

The breaking news this morning, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the man who defied the U.S. for decades, is dead at the age of 90. The news being greeted with mixed feelings. In Cuba the mood is somber and sad.

PAUL: And in little Havana, in Miami, though, take a look at what they're doing there. People celebrating in the streets, waving flags. They've been cheering after they heard of his passing in the middle of the night. This is what's been going on for hours now there.

SAVIDGE: Reaction from lawmakers, especially ones with ties to the Cubans, has been swift and forceful. Last hour we spoke with Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She's a fierce Castro critic who was born in Cuba before being forced out of the country with her family at the age of eight. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, (R) FLORIDA: For us the Cuban exiled community, this has been hitting close to our hearts because we lost our native homeland to communism. We hold Fidel Castro responsible for that and Raul Castro as well.

[10:35:05] So the death of one dictator will not usher a new wave of change because the rulers of Cuba, whether it's Fidel, Raul, whatever names you give them, they just rule over Cuba with an iron fist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining me now is Julia Sweig. She is a senior research fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She's written several books on U.S.-Cuba relations. Good morning, thank you for being with us.

JULIA SWEIG, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: Good morning, Martin, thanks for having me.

SAVIDGE: So what's your reaction? We've been asking everyone. What's your reaction out of the news of Fidel Castro's passing? SWEIG: My reaction is one of, wow, it finally happened. This has

been in the making now for quite some time. I live in Washington, D.C. This is a time over the last two years when policy toward Cuba has changed quite radically under the Obama White House. And with Raul Castro, Fidel's brother, at the helm in Havana. And this is a time to pause and think very clearly and very strategically about what this means for Cuba and for our two countries.

I've taken it as a historian, of course, as well as an important milestone in Cuban history and in recent history over the last half decade or more in Latin America, which Fidel Castro also shaped quite directly.

SAVIDGE: Right. It seems very much that Fidel was with his passing a man of the past. We now move on to a new future between the U.S. and Cuba. So I'm wondering, how do you see the next administration handling relations with Raul, his brother, president?

SWEIG: Well, I think it's a complex set of choices. The incoming president is a hotel guy who is a business guy who until the very end of this campaign basically endorsed Obama's opening toward Cuba, said he would have gotten a better deal, but only in the last throes in Florida said he would undo the actions the president had taken.

I think there are a number of business and just constituencies in American society across the board who are going to be standing behind continuing what has started in terms of the opening of commercial and family and travel and people to people ties. The flights are starting. The cruises are going down there. Hotels are opening. There was an 80 percent increase in American travel this year over last.

Cuban-Americans -- I noted in your coverage from Miami -- there weren't so many of them out in the street. That's because they're traveling on the more than 50 or now probably 100 flights per week going back and forth to see their family and help their family start small businesses there. So all of this is radically shifted in the last few years because of demographics and economics, and I think it will hard for Trump to wind that back, although he certainly could attempt it.

SAVIDGE: I apologize. I'm struggling with a cold as we talk.

Regarding these relationships, it's almost like America or Americans outside of Miami are more in favor of these changes that have happened and are already on the path of sort of normalizing things with Cuba than perhaps the presidency maybe at this point, at least the new one coming.

SWEIG: That's without a doubt. The American society is way ahead. And again, you know, you're having lots of travel. You have the American Museum of Natural History in New York City just opened a major exhibit on Cuba. You have universities from across the country having their students down there for a semester and a school year abroad. You have American families traveling there, Cubans sending their kids there for summer and spring vacation. This is a more natural relationship now than it was a few years ago, if not normal. The diplomatic and the government to government piece of it is supporting that.

And really, you know, if Trump wants to put people in office who want to pick a fight with a smile Caribbean island as we've seen in earlier parts of the cold war, that may happen. But truthfully, I think that the facts on the ground both here and between the two countries are going to mitigate against the reality of trying to accomplish that.

SAVIDGE: We will have to wait and see. Julia Sweig, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

SWEIG: Thank you.

PAUL: Here's a question this morning. Is it a conflict of interest for U.S. Secret Service to rent from Donald Trump the top floor of Trump Tower in order to protect him?

We'll talk about that and about ISIS losing ground in Mosul. How are they fighting back? They're targeting innocent civilians. A report from inside Mosul. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:32] PAUL: Conflict of interest concerns seem to be mounting for president-elect Donald Trump. The U.S. Secret Service is considering renting a floor of Trump's own Trump Tower to protect him and his family. Well costs for that could run about $1.5 million a year. Our Rachel Crane is breaking this down for us. And a lot of people hear about this, and the first thing they think is could it be a conflict of interest? What have you discovered?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, it's certainly raising a lot of questions surrounding conflicts of interest. That's because Trump Tower is actually owned by the Trump Organization. So those taxpayer dollars would be going back to the Trump Organization. And we know that Trump's children are set to take over the organization once he becomes president. We break all this down for you. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: They are fantastic people, so I want to thank the Secret Service.

CRANE: And 725 Fifth Avenue, also known as Trump Tower, might be getting a new tenant, the Secret Service. A law enforcement official tells CNN that the Secret Service is considering renting a whole floor of the famed tower in order to establish a 24/7 command post ensuring the safety of the future first family who won't all be moving to the White House in January. Melania and their 10-year-old son, Barron, will continue to live in Trump Tower. When asked about the timing of their mood, Trump said this.

TRUMP: Very soon right after he finishes school. [10:45:02] CRANE: Regardless of when they relocate, the command post

at Trump Tower won't be cheap. The going price for the space, around $1.5 million per year. The price tag is striking, but it's not just the cost that's raising eyebrows. The Trump Organization owns Trump Tower, so taxpayers would be paying the president-elect for his own security.

Officials tell CNN security plans are still evolving since many things are up in the air, like when the future first family will move to the White House and how often the president-elect plans to visit them in the meantime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CRANE: And Christi, believe it or not, despite that $1.5 million price tag, this could actually be the cheaper option. That's because the alternative would be the Secret Service renting hotels in the area, and, of course, being in midtown Manhattan hotel rooms are quite expensive. And Trump's security detail does not just involve the Secret Service. The NYPD has been heavily involved in securing the surrounding area around Trump Tower. That's been costing the city of New York $1 million a day.

PAUL: Right, right. Who can forget that figure? Rachel Crane, thank you so much.

SAVIDGE: Still to come, as ISIS loses ground in Mosul, they're fighting back in one of the only ways they seem to know -- targeting innocent civilians. CNN has a look inside the devastation and the heartbreak.

PAUL: You don't have to be a pro, let's say, to take stunning photos or shoot that perfect video. CNN Money's Samuel Burke shows us the latest consumer gear that can help get you that perfect shot when you're on that next vacation. It's today's wander must.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: If you want to travel in high tech style, make sure to bring a waterproof phone along. Both the iPhone 7 and Samsung S7 are water resistant. You can take photos and videos underwater. But be careful just how long you submerge the Samsung.

Action cameras are more durable for a more adventurous vacation. Go pros are the best known there are other budget friendly options like this camera. It costs much less and as you can see with our side by side comparison, the quality is quite similar. And if you can splurge, a drone can capture your every move in the great outdoors. The latest ones have autopilot and can even follow you around. Nothing can fly as high as this one no matter where your trip takes you.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SAVIDGE: All morning we have been talking about the breaking news of the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and wondering what it means for Cuba and the U.S. relations.

PAUL: Well, Donald Trump we now know has finally this hour released an official statement. Joining us live from Mar-a-Lago we have Ryan Nobles who has just gotten his hands on that. Ryan, what are we hearing from president-elect Trump?

NOBLES: Yes, Christi, Martin, we've been told by Trump's transition team that his one line tweet was all we should expect from the president-elect on the passing of Fidel Castro. But as Trump often does, he surprised us now with a more lengthily statement.

It's three paragraphs in total. And I want to pull out the second paragraph to read for you. It says "While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve."

And while we've seen statements from other world leaders that have kind of glossed over the controversial aspects of Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba, Trump specifically goes after it. In other parts of the statement he calls Castro a brutal dictator whose legacy will be remembered because of firing squads and some of other things Castro and his regime have been criticized for over the years.

And while the statement is tough on Castro, it clearly states that the Trump administration wants to make it clear they do not approve of the way he handled his leadership in Cuba, that paragraph we read for you shows that there is still an open or in the mind of the new administration to normalize relations between the two countries. And that's, of course, the big thing we're trying to figure out is to how the Trump team will handle relations with Cuba. He's been very critical of the deal that President Obama struck with Cuba through executive action. And the question now is, will Trump try to renegotiate a new deal? Or will he go to Congress and try and come up with some sort of an agreement through that route? There are many options on the table. But at this point it doesn't look like Trump wants to completely undo this process. He just wants to take it and perhaps a different direction. Martin and Christi?

PAUL: You're right.

SAVIDGE: It's interesting he gave thanks to a number of Cuban American groups that voted for him. And they would obviously be very much opposed to any sort of renewed relationships. So it is very much a mixed kind of message.

NOBLES: I don't think there's any doubt about that, Martin. It kind of falls in line with the Trump we saw during the campaign. When he was in front of the crowds in south Florida that were very much opposed to the Castro regime, he really emphasized his opposition to the Obama plan, saying that it was a bad deal and that he would only negotiate a deal in which Cuba rolled back some of these, you know, critical parts of the Castro regime that many of these Cuban Americans opposed. When he was talking in other interviews, he seemed soft pedal it a little bit more and said that he was open to some sort of negotiation. So we're not going to know for sure, though, until Trump officially takes office.

PAUL: He writes, "Our administration will do all it can to insure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey towards prosperity and liberty." A lot of questions have been how is this going to play out with U.S. and Cuban relations. Getting some notable statements there from him that his administration is willing to work on it. Ryan Nobles, thank you so much, we appreciate it.

[10:55:00] We should point out the White House released a statement on the death of Fidel Castro as well. Our coverage on that continuing at the top of the hour. Martin, thanks for being here.

SAVIDGE: My pleasure.

PAUL: We'll be back tomorrow.

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SAVIDGE: Voting is underway for the CNN Hero of the Year.

PAUL: I want to introduce you to Brad Ludden, one of this year's top ten heroes.

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BRAD LUDDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rivers are amazing teachers. I've definitely learned a lot about what makes me happy and what I want to pursue and do each day. The idea for first descents came to me really when I was 18. That's when I started working on it. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer as a young adult and that really affected my entire family, me included.

A few years later I chose to continue pursuing kayaking professionally as opposed to going to college. And so I came to this crossroads and realized that I wanted to find a way to give that sport, that experience of kayaking back to other people who can benefit from it. And the natural choice for me was to give it to people with cancer after seeing what my aunt when through. Young adults with cancer are definitely the most underserved population affected by the disease, and they're facing their own unique psychosocial challenges. For all of these reasons and so many more, this population deserves attention.

[15:00:01] You see it at the bottom of the rapids. It's that look of accomplishment and pride on their faces.