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Direct Flights to Cuba Resume from U.S. Today; Dilma Rousseff Expected to be Impeached; Inside the Aftermath of ISIS Oppcupation; Donald Trump to Visit Mexico. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 31, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:18:02] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Keeping a close eye on the Brazilian senate right now. Lawmakers expected to vote to oust President Dilma

Rousseff following a painful nine month impeachment process.

These are live pictures from the senate floor in Brasilia. Rousseff was suspended, of course, in May for allegedly misrepresenting the country's

budget deficit, but critics say the real reason she is being impeached is political.

Rousseff was Brazil's first female president twice elected democratically has denied any

wrongdoing.

Shasta Darlington joining me live from Brasilia with the very latest. And when can we expect this vote?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is amazing Becky, every time we think we are just around the corner -- they are dragging it

out. These are the dramatic last moments. We will have a vote today. It could come within the hour.

This is the vote that will decide whether Dilma Rouseff is permanently removed as president. Brazil's first female president, twice elected, as

you said. She has been accused of manipulating the budget to hide a budget shortfall. She says, however, that she did not break any laws.

And in fact, she has used her 45-minute testimony on Monday to point the finger at a lot of the lawmakers who are spearheading this impeachment

drive. And she points out that they are in fact being investigated for corruption and other crimes.

So, she says this is a power grab that they are taking advantage of her low popularity due to an economic recession and due to this really sweeping

corruption investigation to get her out of power and put their own people in.

Of course, she was suspended in May, replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer, opne of the people she accuses of orchestrating her ouster.

If she is impeached today, which again we expect very soon, he would be sworn in and wold stay as president throughout the term, which ends in

2018, Becky.

[11:20:03] ANDERSON: And Shasta, briefly, as we've been pushing towards this vote, most experts will tell you the likelihood is that she will if

she impeached today, correct.

Absolutely. The senate -- two-thirds of Senators would have to vote in favor, that means 54 of the 81 senators and the fast majority of observers

say that this is just a given. Temer has already sworn in his own ministers, he's got his government plan going. This will really just make

official an already de facto governemnt. In fact, his swearing in ceremony today if this happens, is expected to be extremely speedy, because he wants

to jump on a plane to go to China for the G20 meeting. And he wants to do that as president.

But he's taking this for granted and so are many of the people here in the Senate, Becky.

ANDERSON: Shasta Darlington on the story as soon as we get a result in that vote, of course, we will bring it to you viewers.

Well, in the hours ahead, Donald Trump will sit down for a meeting nobody could have anticipated. He will arrive in Mexico City for talks with

President Enrique Pena Nieto. Now, you will remember, this is after Trump spent the past year bashing Mexican immigrants and pledging Mexico will pay

for a border wall between the two countries.

That's just the half of it. He has also spoken of a so-called deportation force. The sit-down will come hours before Trump gives an immigration

speech in the state of Arizona just across the border.

Well, for more on what is this unexpected visit, our John Vause joining me now from Mexico City.

What sort of reception is he likely to get there, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm sure he will get a warm reception from the president, but not necessarily a very warm reception from the

people of Mexico. In fact, a lot of officials are very unhappy about this visit here by Donald Trump, also

unhappy that the president of Mexico issued that invitation on Friday.

We should note this has been a hastily arranged visit here by Donald Trump. The invitation went out on Friday. He is now arriving here just a few days

later. And we are hearing from the U.S. embassy they actually advised Donald Trump not to come so soon. They

wanted a little bit more time to arrange it because there's a lot of security issues.

Donald Trump is not very popular in this country. So, clearly, if he is in public anywhere, we don't know, that could be a security issue.

But to give you an idea of what people might think about Donald Trump's visit, when I arrived

here I went through immigration. The official took my passport. He said what are you doing here? I said I'm with CNN. He said what for? I said

I'm here for Donald Trump. He rolled list eyes, gave me my passport back and said, well, good luck to you.

So, obviously there's a lot of animosity here. And there was a poll out in -- quoted by the website Politico, which said that Donald Trump's

favorability ratings in this country stands at 2 percent.

And you have to remember, Becky, this is where they make Donald Trump pinatas. And they've had protests on the streets because of it.

So, it's going to be an interesting meeting, to say the least.

ANDERSON: John, it is extremely unlikely that Donald Trump will get the Mexican president to concede to forking out for his wall that would,

according to Trump, keep out the murders, drug dealers and rapists. Look, the Mexican president at home is only marginally more popular than Trump

himself. What do you think his motivation was for inviting him?

VAUSE: Well, that is a question a lot of people want to try to find out. Some people are saying this is a good chance for Enrique Pena Nieto to show

that he is a strong man, that he can confront Donald Trump. That he will sit down and have a frank and open and honest discussion with this

Republican nominee who has been very harsh on Mexico for more than a year now.

But many people say that there is a lot of good that could come out of this for the mexican president. Also, a lot of people wondering what is in it

for Donald Trump as well, because as you say, it's unlikely that Mexico is going to agree to pay for that building of the wall on the border with the

United States, but maybe, if nothing else, there will be discussions there will be talks and they will understand the point of view from each party.

In the big picture, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

But the critics of Donald Trump say, listen, this is nothing more than a PR stunt. It's all part of that attempt to reach out to minorities. And it's

not -- it's just not something, which won't work, I guess, because you know if he wants to reach out to minority voters in the United States, then

perhaps he should meet with Hispanic groups who actrually vote in the United States. That's one of the criticisms, at least..

70 days and counting, of course, until this election, what, just less than a month until we get the first of the presidential debates.

What this will provide for Trump, of course, is the opportunity for the photo opportunity with, a, another statesman, as it were, a foreign leader.

And if he is going to look statesmanlike, he is going to need to start meeting some of these other leaders, correct?

[11:25:09] VAUSE: Absolutely.

Well, look, I think back to the only other foreign trip that Donald Trump has been on during this election campaign. He was in Scotland. It was

during the Brexit vote. He didn't have a very good trip there. A lot of criticism to his response, his reaction to the UK voting to leave the

European Union. I think he said it would be good for his golf clubs because the pound would go down in value. And he didn't meet with any

foreign leaders on that trip.

But, the Trump campaign and the Trump supporters have pointed out that this is the first time that a non-incumbent presidential nominee has actually

traveled abroad and met with a Mexican leader during an election campaign. And as you say, it will give Donald Trump the image of looking like a

statesman taking his message right to the people and spelling it out and sitting down with him and being that very hard negotiator that he says he

is. And he will walk away with that photo-op and they will be shaking hands and he will, at least according to his supporters, they say he will

look very statesmanlike.

And there's another thing, too, in all of this, Becky, is that this does change the narrative in a very big way for Donald Trump. No one is talking

about the gaffes, no one is talking about the walking back, the softening, the flip-flops, the contradictions. Everybody is talking about the trip.

So, again, he is dominating the news cycle. And we saw that worked very, very well for Donald Trump through the primary campaign.

ANDERSON: John Vause is in Mexico City for you today. Thank you, John.

We are going to get you back to Cuba now and to Santa Clara. These are live pictures of what

is the JetBlue flight 387, which touched down moments ago. It began its journey about an hour ago in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, the first direct

commercial flight between the U.S. and Cuba in more than half a century, and a symbol of the thawing relations between former cold war adversaries.

JetBlue gets first honor, but soon it will be joined by the likes of American Airlines, Delta and Southwest operating, get this, up to 110 daily

flights between the U.S. and Cuba.

We are going to take a very short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[11:30:59] ANDERSON: Russia says one of its air strikes in Syria killed senior ISIS leader Mohammad al-Adnani. Earlier, the Pentagon said it

targeted the ISIS militant in a strike as well, though it did not confirm his death.

Now in a rare move, ISIS announced al-Adnani's death on Tuesday and vowed to take revenge.

Well, his death is a major blow to the terror group as it loses ground in both Iraq and in Syria.

And that is where we want to take you now. Just days ago, Turkey's military helped drive IDID from Jarablus in Syria's north. CNN's Nick

Paton Walsh is the only western television reporter inside the city, going there with the Turkish government's super vision escorted by Syrian rebels.

Here is what he saw just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The people next to me are the Free Syrian Army basically, those Syrian rebels which the

Turkish military has given substantial backing to, enabling them to many say without much of a fight come into this key border town of Jarablus.

Now, why is this town so important? Well, this is one of the key answers. This until just over a week ago now was the ISIS recruitment center here.

This is why Jarablus really had to be taken away from ISIS, according to the Turkish report, and also U.S. policy as well. It was a key hub for

those who sought from all over the world to come into Turkey, cross over what is now a war over here, but used to be just a border fence months ago,

and come into here where they would then join up with ISIS.

Behind that pickup truck at the end of the road is one of the more gruesome sites we have been

familiar with seeing when ISIS take over a town. And that is the central square where ISIS would carry out one of their punishments.

Now we have heard from one of children here, sadly because this war has been going on used to wearing camouflaged smocks, fatigues. He describes

how he -- ISIS had tried to recruit him to join what they call the Cubs in the Caliphate, their child recruits. But he also described the gruesome

scenes that use to be down there on that central square where those decapitated by ISIS would have their heads put on spikes.

Now, this is still feeling like a town influx. we have had people asking for

food, for humanitarian aid to get life back to normal.

Do you see there? The rebels -- some sense of -- for them, victory, they would say. You see that man carrying an American issue weapon.

But here is a remarkable scene of life coming back to normal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, this is a meeting that is as extraordinary as it is unexpected. Donald Trump will arrive later today in Mexico for talks with

the country's president. That's the same Mexico Trump has continuously railed against as he stormed his way to the Republican U.S. presidential

nomination.

Immigration is one of the cornerstones of Trump's message. Here is just some of what he has

been saying since he began the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We have a law, right? You are supposed to come in legally. I would get people out, and I would have an expedited way of getting them

back into the country so they can be legal.

Here illegal immigrants. They have got to go out.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHRO: But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can round up 11 million people.

TRUMP: You know what, at some point we are going to try to get them back, the good ones.

You are going to have a deportation force and you are going to be do it humanely.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: Are going to be sending in officers...

TRUMP: We are going to be sending in people in a very nice way. We're going to be giving notice, we're giong to be saying you have to go.

We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back, some will come back, the best,

through a process. They have to come back legally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:35:09] ANDERSON: Is it back and forth? Flip-flop? We are getting a speech a little bit later on today. And this will come after the meeting

that Donald Trump is having with the Mexican president in Mexico in the hours to come.

CNN Espanol's Gustavo Valdes is in Phoenix, Arizona, where that speech will take place. And Gabriella Frias is an anchor at CNN Espanol and she joins

me now in the studio.

Let's start with you down in Arizona, Gustavo. How likely is it that we will get a definitive message today from Donald Trump about exactly where

he stands on immigration?

I have to tell our viewers internationally by the way, this is being chewed over sort of second by second, minute by minute, in the states as people

await this speech.

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN ESPANOL: It is one of the main speeches that people are anticipating. It was delayed once. And it's expected that he finally

will tell the United States voters what his ideas are for immigration. So for him to go to Mexico on the eve of this speech is also increasing the

expectations, and perhaps changing the game a little bit, because he really doesn't have much to lose on this visit. He is not that popular with

Latino voters. He is going to Mexico, perhaps to say, look, I'm willing to negotiate. That is what I do as a businessman. I go there, talk to the

people and find solutions. Perhaps the one that has a little bit more to lose is

President Pena Nieto.

But the risk Donald Trump might be taking is if they do talk about trade, and something there points out to him increasing trade with Mexico, not

immigration, that could hurt him in some states that have shown support for his ideas because of trade. People who are frustrated with NAFTA and they

have seen many of their jobs move to Mexico.

So immigration and trade are two very important issues that people are going to be paying

attention to.

ANDERSON: Yeah, NAFTA, the North American Free Trade agreement, which was cut back in the early '90s by Bill Clinton. That is something that Trump

has been very vocal about. He says it does American businesses absolutely no good at all and the only people that win out of that are the Mexicans.

well, let's talk about Mexican economy and trade, because it's not in good shape at present, is it?

GABRIELA FRIAS, CNN ESPANOL: No, it's not, Becky. And one thing that everybody is wondering is the reasons behind President Nena Nieto to accept

a visit that is by the way behind closed doors. So, we won't know the content of what has been discussed.

And Donald Trump has been a candidate that talked against trade, but more of taking down

the walls of NAFTA and not necessarily renegotiating.

The private sector in Mexico is worried, of course. But also we need to remember that this is

a relationship that is so tied together that products that consumers in America are buying have a lot of input from Mexican workers and being built

half of their state in Mexico.

So we are wondering how much of this conversation is going to be about the wall, how much of it is going to be about just we negotiating NAFTA, which

is something that is expected considering that even Hillary Clinton has talked with the TPP and the possibility that it will not go through.

But at the same time, Mexico's President Pena Nieto is having one of the worst possible

moments in his presidency. But at the same time, Mexico's President Pena Nieto is having one of the worst possible moments in his presidency.

ANDERSON: We were just discussing this with John Vause a little bit earlier on who was in Mexico waiting the arrival of Donald Trump and saying

that the Mexican president at present is only marginally more popular than Mr. Trump himself is in Mexico. And we know after his speech about rapists,

murderers and drug dealers being those that Mexico sends into the United States, he is highly unpopular there.

So, why do you think the Mexican president invited him?

FRIAS: It's hard to say.

And this is why I think it's more political. Every survey that the media - - local media -- has done in the past week and a half can average 70 percent disapproval of President Pena Nieto's administration so far.

Perception is that insecurity is increasing, poverty is increasing, and tomorrow President Pena Nieto will give his state of union, the fourth one.

It is a six-year term in the presidency.

So -- and he is only going to talk to the young people. They have -- the government has chosen 30 young people to sit down. It is going to be

something that is going to be recorded. And the thing for the Mexican citizen right now about this meeting is where is President Pena Nieto

proving that he is defending to begin with, the Mexican worker in the United States? And how

can he be looked as consistent because before he has said something -- we don't want to take part in U.S. politics. And now they're meeting. And

they're meeting in Los Pinos, which is the Mexican government office.

So, for many Mexicans having somebody who is pretty much a bully and has been considered a

bully inside Los Pinos, which is from where the president is you know managing the daily -- the day-to-day things is not something welcome.

So, we'll need to know more than what President Pena Nieto says, we need to know what he does to prove that this is valuable for Mexico, not only for

Donald Trump.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. Well, we may or may not find out more information later on today. It's been a pleasure having you on. Thank you

very much indeed.

And to you, Gustavo, down in Arizona, thank you.

All right, let's get you back to Brazil now. You are watching live pictures from the senate floor in Brasilia, the capital. Lawmakers

expected to vote very soon to oust President Dilma Rouseff following a painful nine month impeachment process.

Now, Rousseff was suspended in May, you'll recall, for allegedly misrepresenting the country's budget deficit. Well, investigative

journalist Glenn Greenwald has covered the impeachment process extensively. He's co-founding editor of the Intercept, which has reported on documents

leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, of course.

Glenn joining me now via Skype from Rio.

Glenn, she's being impeached because she cooked the books ahead of the last presidential election. Case closed, correct?

GLENN GREENWALD, INTERCEPT: Well, that's the excuse for why she is being impeached. The budgetary trick that she used, which is borrowing money

from state banks and then delaying repayment is one that is a very common budgetary maneuver used throughout Europe, used in the United States and

has been used by prior presidents in Brazil as well.

ANDERSON: Doesn't make it right, does it?

GREENWALD: Well, no. It proves that using that budgetary maneuver does not result in a president being impeached.

The reality is that her party, which is the Worker's Party, has won four straight national elections. And so the opposition, which is composed of

conservative and evangelicals and oligarchs in Brazil concluded that the only way that they can finally get rid of her party is not through the

ballot box, by beating her -- they just lost 20 months ago in an election, but by instead removing her and

replacing her with a right wing faction that could never possibly win a election in Brazil. And that's really what's happened.

ANDERSON: So, how would you describe the general attitude towards politicians in Brazil, today, in August, 2016?

GREENWALD: Yeah, they are extremely unpopular. You know, people talk a lot in the United

States about how Clinton and Trump are very unpopular. It's ten times worse in Brazil.

There is a very deep recession that has left a lot of people suffering. There is a huge corruption scandal that has engulfed both of the major

parties. And while Dilma herself is very unpopular, her vice president, who is about to become is even more unpopular.

Overwhelmingly people want him impeached as well. He's at 2 or 5 percent in public opinion polls when asked who people would vote for if they got to

decide who their president would be.

So she's unpopular, but the faction that's about to replace her is extremely unpopular. And the senate that's now voting to judge her, 60

percent of them are either convicted of crimes or under active serious investigation. So, corruption is really pervasive in the Brazilian middle

class.

ANDERSON: What happens next at this point? I mean, we should get this vote -- it's expected to to go through. What happens next? How does it is

work?

GREENWALD: As soon as the vote is consummated and it's 100 percent likely that the senate will convict her, she is immediately removed from office,

permanently. Her vice president, who is from a different party and has formed a coalition with the right wing of the country who is now the

interim president, Michel Temer, will become president. And unless he is impeached, he will serve out the remainder of her term through 2018.

ANDERSON: At which point Brazilians will have an opportunity once again to democratically decide to elect somebody, possibly from the Worker's Party

or possibly from the right.

Who is to say that a right wing-run government wouldn't be better for Brazil given what's been going on with its economy over the past couple of

years? What happened to this incredible emerging economy which sat at the forefront of what were known as the BRICs?

GREENWALD: Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously in 2014 when there was an election the right made that argument. They were already suffering

economically. They said you should vote PT out of office because their policies are proven unsuccessful, and 54 million people disagreed and

reelected Dilma.

Part of it is that there has been has been a continued fallout from the 2008 financial crisis that has really hit developing countries hard like

Brazil. And part of it is the PT has made serious mistakes in its mismanagement of the economy, particular Dilma. So, she certainly deserves

a lot of blame for the economic suffering, it's just that in a democracy you don't remove an elected president because she is doing a bad job, you

ask the people to remove her. And they did that 20 months ago, and they said no.

So, the right wing of this country has made these arguments since 2002. And they have lost every election.

ANDERSON: Glenn Greenwald is keeping an eye on what is going on down in Brasilia, extensively reporting on the impeachment process, which looks as

if it is now about to wrap up with a vote on the senate floor likely to impeach the president there, Dilma Rousseff. Well, the former

president as it were. Thank you, Glenn.

Open for business, Cuba set for a surge in tourists. How is the island preparing? We're going to take a look at that in about ten minute's time.

But in a very short break at this point. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it's waterproof and it's wind proof. And if you fold it up like this...

AMIR DAFTARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oliver Brin (ph) is a design engineer and social entrepreneur. Together with his girlfriend,

Sarah (ph), he has created a sustainable business model to assist the homeless in Capetown.

OLIVER BRIN (ph): I thought of this three years ago when I came back to South Africa. And I just wasn't feeling like an integrated member of my

own community.

After speaking to some of the homeless people in my neighborhood I asked them what would they really want? And they said an immediate form of

shelter.

DAFTARI: It's estimated that there are some 7,000 homeless people in Capetown. Oliver, looking for a way to help, says it took two weeks to

come up with a sustainably sourced solution, what he calls an urban survival sleeping bag.

BRIN (ph): I didn't have the material, but I knew I had to find it somewhere in the city. Advertising billboards that you'd see around any

city in the world. It's made from PVC. It's extremely strong, it's waterproof, it's weatherproof. It just so happened to be a

really good fit.

Remember when you cut, youth them you want to utilize as much as the billboard as we can

to get as many sleeping bags as possible.

DAFTARI: He created Street Sleeper, meeting the demand for sleeping bags while at the same time upcycling the plastic billboards.

The bags are provided to the homeless for free, but the company is also providing jobs, hiring homeless people like Desiree (ph).

[11:50:08] BRIN (ph): Do you know how many bags we have already made this winter?

DESIREE (ph): How many, sir?

BRIN (ph): 3,000, 3,000 people got somewhere warmer to sleep.

DESIREE (ph): Seriously, sir?

BRIN (ph): Yeah.

You just -- when you are sleeping like this.

DAFTARI: Anyone can go online and buy them for around $10 each. Corporations usually buy them in bulk. And their staff are encouraged to

distribute the bags themselves.

BRIN (ph): Social entrepreneurship is an extremely important part of how we are going to tackle some of these challenges not only in Africa, but in

other parts of the world as well.

We have had to double our production capacity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have reached our target, well, exceed, actually.

BRIN (ph): We need money to run the business. We are not a charity. We are a social business and we need to operate like one.

You put your bag in like this, and it is a a carry bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will keep me nice and dry and nice and warm and I won't get wet.

DAFTARI: An innovative business that empowers and creates value while bringing much needed shelter to the streets of South Africa.

Amir Daftari, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS ACOSTA, DANCER: No, no, no politics. The best way to help my country is doing what I do which is being an artist, connecting. Arts in general

unified. You know, and politics always divides. Whereas art is something that connects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Live from CNN Center, you are watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson.

And that was Carlos Acosta, the talented Cuban ballet dancer talking to me a few months ago about his humble beginnings and how he thinks Cuba is

changing.

Well, the pace of change going to pickup now that commercial U.S. flights are once again heading there.

In our Parting Shots today, CNN's Patrick Oppmann shows us how the island is responding to what is this surge in American visitors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Havana's colonial old town is full of music and increasingly, visitors from the United

States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) this is official (inaudible) of the Cuban Communist Party.

OPPMANN: Just two years ago, Americans visiting Cuba without special permission from the U.S. government faced the prospect of hefty fines, even

prosecution.

But the thaw in U.S./Cuban relations and loosening of restrictions on travel to the communist run island has led to a surge in visitors, up 93

percent from last year according to Cuban government figures.

Many Americans say they want to see Cuba while the island remains stuck in a Cold War time warp.

GERRI HALL, U.S. CITIZEN VISITING CUBA: Our friends had come here and said why don't you come to cuba before it becomes too westernized?

OPPMANN: Too westernized?

HALL: Yes, before you see McDonald's and Wal-Mart and all of the other U.S. companies here in Cuba.

OPPMANN: Cuba's largely state-run tourism industry is already buckling under the increased demand.

TOM POPPER, INSIGHT CUBA: The hotels are full. The infrastructure wasn't ready for the avalanche of interest, whether it's American travelers,

Chinese travelers, Canadian travelers.

Cuba is building their infrastructure up. They have plans over the next four or five years to add many additional hotels. So we just advise people

to plan ahead.

OPPMANN: Tourism will likely continue to boom. Soon it will be much easier for Americans to fly to the island.

Up until now, the only way that Americans could come to Cuba was via third countries or on

expensive inefficiently run charter services. But that's all changing now that direct flight service is being restored between the U.S. and Cuba

after more than 50 years.

The first direct flight will land here in Santa Clara, Cuba, where revolutionary icon Che Guevara is buried.

Even though he was tracked down and killed with help from the CIA, Cuban officials say Guevara would have agreed with the opening to the U.S.

[11:55:12] UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: So, I would say that he was not different from us thinking that even with the kind of differences that we have, it's

beneficial for Cuba and the United States to have normal relations.

OPPMANN: Benefits that can be seen on Havana streets, already packed with U.S. visitors.

As Cuba's economy continues to struggle the boom in U.S. visitors is a rare bright spot that's only expected to grow.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Changing in front of the world's eyes. My colleague Patrick Oppmann has

been documenting that change for decades.

If you head over to CNN.com, you can read his article about the first time he visited Cuba

back in 1994 with his father when he was a 17-year-old. And as always head over to our Facebook page to see my full interview Carlos Acosta conducted

recently in Abu Dhabi where we normally live.

For the other stories that we brought to you on this rather busy day also there at Facebook.com/CNNConnect.

I'm Becky Anderson that was Connect the World. Thank you for watching.

END