Download April 28, 2015

Maggie Rulli: Hey guys. We are here in Havana, Cuba and today we kick off our series
on the historic changes that are happening in the relationship between the United
States and Cuba. We will find out what young people have to say about it a little later in
the show. I am Maggie Rulli and Channel One news starts right now.
Scott: Thanks Maggie, we will see you later on in the show.
But first up today, the city of Baltimore, Maryland erupted into chaos yesterday. Protests
turned violent after the funeral for 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died while in police
custody last week. Tom Hanson is in Baltimore.
Tom: Tear gas filled the air after protesters, many who appeared to be high school age,
attacked police and looted stores.
Hundreds of heavily armed police responded. They were pelted with rocks, bricks and
concrete.
Some officers used shields to deflect the rocks, others weren't so lucky. At least 15
officers were injured. Rioters stormed a police cruiser and set fire to buildings.
As we have been walking along downtown Baltimore tonight we have seen a lot of
evidence of looting. This is a jewelry store and it looks like the windows been smashed
and people reached in and grabbed the jewelry from this display case.
Baltimore police warned residents to stay inside and sent out a tweet, asking parents to
find their kids.
Adam Fishman: You see kids running around with bricks. You see kids running all over
the place. You see parents doing nothing. It’s a weird atmosphere.
Kiba Ikuzama: It just makes me dislike humanity even more.
Tom: A few hours into the protest the situation became so bad that the governor of
Maryland put Baltimore under a state of emergency.
Governor Larry Hogan: This order deploys the Maryland National Guard in order to help
restore order and to end the unrest that we witnessed today and tonight.
Tom: Police took on protesters block by block. But at times it appeared to be an
overwhelming frenzy as rioters turned over and smashed vehicles.
This group ran from police. Some were apprehended. Most got away. At least 35 were
arrested.
The violence in the streets comes two weeks after Freddie Gray was shown on cell
phone video being arrested and dragged by police. One week after his arrest, Gray died
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in a hospital due to spinal cord injuries.
Some 25,000 mourners filled Baltimore’s new Shiloh Baptist Church yesterday to
remember Gray.
Today, Baltimore schools are closed, as the city remains on edge.
Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Scott: Thanks Tom. Alright coming up, we look at how the people of Nepal are
recovering from the devastating earthquake.
Rescuers are still sifting through rubble in Nepal, hoping to find survivors after
Saturday’s deadly earthquake. Now, as international aid pours, the country continues to
be rocked by aftershocks.
Search teams are working furiously, digging through rubble with shovels and even their
bare hands, in the hopes of finding survivors. Thousands of people are sleeping on the
streets in the capital Kathmandu, scared that ongoing tremors will destroy homes and
buildings that are still standing.
Amisha Tamang has set up camp with her family and described the moment the
earthquake hit.
Amisha Tamang: We were thinking it's our last moment, we won’t be alive and no one
will be alive.
Scott: The loss of life is devastating, more than four thousand dead, including four
Americans killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest. Dozens more are trapped.
The quake has affected 8 million people. 1.4 million need food and supplies. Help from
the U.S. and other countries is on the way.
Here in the U.S. vigils are being held in several communities. And some students are
helping to raise money for Nepal.
Neha Dixit: That's our main goal right now, just to make sure that we have enough
money to get supplies, medicine, clothing, shelter all the way over there in Nepal.
Scott: Alright coming up we head to Cuba, where the tide is warming between two
nations so close, yet so far apart.
The U.S. and Cuba have had nothing to do with each other for decades. But now the
two countries are charting a new course in diplomatic relations. And Maggie Rulli
traveled to the island nation of Cuba to see how young people are reacting.
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Maggie: What do you guys think about America?
Boy: Well for me, America is amazing.
Boy #2 : Very cool. Very cool.
Maggie: For some Cubans, travelling to America would be a dream.
Boy: I would like to live in America!
Maggie: But not all Cubans feel the same way. In fact, some Cubans blame America for
poor living conditions around their country.
Denise Duarte: Normally in Cuba, one would say the United States is like the bad guy.
Maggie: But 15-year-old Denise Duarte feels differently.
Denise: The people of the United States really like Cuba.
Maggie: She has been to the United States twice with her youth theater group, La
Colmenita, where she performed in New York City, Washington D.C., and San
Francisco.
Denise: It was interesting because we could share our customs. We were able to
dance, and play together all in one class with American kids.
Maggie: But travelling to America is a trip that very few Cubans have been allowed to
make because of restrictions put into place over half a century ago.
And although Cuba is geographically close to the U.S., politically, the two countries
could not be further apart. But, that’s changing.
President Barack Obama: Neither the American, nor Cuban people are well served by a
rigid policy that’s rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.
Maggie: In a historic moment earlier this month, President Barack Obama and Cuban
president Raul Castro sat down together at a summit in Panama to discuss plans for the
future.
Raul Castro: We’ve been able to move forward in the resolution of some topics of
mutual interest for both of our nations.
Maggie: It followed a major announcement back in December when the two countries
agreed to start talking to one another, reestablishing diplomatic ties.
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It was a huge step forward for two governments that have had little to no interaction for
decades. But it also created a huge controversy. To understand why, we have to take
you all the way to the 1950s.
It was during the Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union were
embroiled in a dangerous arms race, and both countries had built up stockpiles of
nuclear weapons.
In the middle of this conflict between the two superpowers was the tiny nation in the
Caribbean and its new leader, Fidel Castro.
Castro came to power in 1959, when he overthrew Cuba's former leader in a revolution.
He quickly created a communist government which seized most land and businesses,
controlled the media, and limited the freedom of citizens. Castro also teamed up with
America's communist rival, the Soviet Union.
As a result, the U.S. ended their relationship with Cuba and passed a trade embargo,
making it illegal for Americans to do business with Cuba, leaving behind a country that
often looks frozen in time.
Check out this car, total throwback right? Well, it is not because they are retro. It is
because America cut all ties with the country, and Cubans haven’t been able to buy new
cars or new car parts from America for the past 50 years.
The U.S. also made several failed attempts to assassinate Castro, one of them known
as the Bay of Pigs. But what Cuba did in response brought tensions between the two
countries to a breaking point.
John F. Kennedy: This government has maintained the closest surveillance of the
Soviet military build-up on the island of Cuba.
Maggie: In 1962, the CIA found out that Cuba had allowed the Soviet Union to bring
nuclear bombs to the island, within firing distance of the U.S. It began a standoff that
became known as the Cuban missile crisis.
For a tense 13 days Americans braced for war while the U.S. and Soviet Union
negotiated the deal. And on October, 28 they finally agreed.
Within six months, the soviet weapons were gone. But while the Cuban missile crisis
was over, Cuba's icy relationship with the United States had just begun. And the trade
embargo is still in place today.
You can find a McDonalds hamburger or a coke cola even in some of the most remote
parts of the world. But because it is an American company, you are not going to find
one here.
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Denise: The embargo is something that affects us a lot, especially the young people,
because we don’t have the same opportunities as young people in other countries.
Maggie: Most Cubans we have met have said the embargo is hurting the economy and
hurting the people here. This sign shows an extreme view. It says the embargo is killing
the country.
During President Obama’s speech last year, he announced that the United States would
be opening up a U.S. embassy in the capital city of Havana, and easing up on some
business and travel restrictions.
President Obama: If you've done the same thing for 50 years and nothing’s changed,
you should try something different if you want a different outcome.
Maggie: But the trade embargo can only be lifted by Congress. And it doesn't look likely
any time soon.
Maggie Rulli, Channel One News.
Scott: And our series on Cuba continues tomorrow. And for a detailed timeline of
U.S./Cuba relations, just head to Channelone.com.
And that's going to do it for us. I am Scott Evans. We will see you tomorrow.
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