Today there is new hope that cuba and the United States might just begin mending a prone relationship. It all began with the release of an aid worker, alan gross. A officially he was released often humanitarian grounds but it was part of a bigger Prisoner Exchange between the u. S. And cuba. To me, cubanos, or at least most of them, are incredibly kind, generous and talented. It mains me to see them treated so unjustly as a consequence of two governments mutually belligerent policies. The deal had been in the works for months but it wasnt finalized until tuesday when barack obama spoke on the phone with cuba president difell castro. This decision deserves respect from our people pl i would like to recognize the support of the vat an and especially that of proep francis. The u. S. Released three cubans, part of the group known as the cuban five. They were arrested in anaheim in 1998. And convicted of espionage for gathering intelligence for cuba. An unnamed intelligence aid was also freed by havana. President obama say iing he easing sanctions and is pushing for more normalized relations spp. Nothing says a saw in u. S. Cuban relations more than this, a phone call between president obama and raul castro. The first president ial level of engagement the white house said since the cuban revolution more than 50 years ago. We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interest and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. The sket u. S. Cuban talks started in 2015 and led by ben roads. One kay staking point remained. A major obstacle stood our way, the wrongful imprisonlement of the u. S. Citizen and a. I. D. Subcontractor alan groosz for five years. Last march, president obama found poeb frap sis. What were his concerns . In terms of the meeting with his holiness. In october, the vat caican welcomed talks. The pope who celebrated his 78th birthday today is also the fist latin american leader of the catholic church. So it should be no surprise he got the ball going. Yet he says its always better to be talking than not talking. Thats really what this was about. Fidel castro was not involved in the negotiations. Congressional reaction has been mixed. It hasnt exactly broken down on party lines either. A number of cubanamerican lawmakers are unhappy and that includes florida senator marco rubio. This policy contribution is absurd. And its disgraceful for a president who claims to treasure human rights and human freedom. This president is the single worst negotiator weve had in the wous in my lifetime. Who has basically given the cuban government everything its asked for and received no assurances of any advances of democracy and freedom in return. I think our policy has done more to keep the castros in power than anything. 50 years is long enough. We ought to do this and do whatever we can so ordinary cuba cubans might benefit. Allow more americans to travel, more commerce, more contact. This is a good thing. So opponents of the president s plan like marco rubio say they will do everything to block the policy. They could refuse funding for the u. S. Embassy in havana or block the nomination for the u. S. Ambassador to cuba. A spokesman for the National Security council says, and im quoting here, the u. S. Government is working tirelessly to bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice and we are considering a range of options in weighing a potential response. Sony pictures has pulled the movie the interview from release after receiving a threat against any theatre which was planning to show it. And president barack obama spoke about that to abc news. Well, the cyber attack is very serious. Were supressing it. Were taking it seriously. Well be vigilant. If we think something that we think is serious and credible then well alert the public. But for my, my recommendation that people go to the movies. This is a company that had a plot where there was a assassination of the north Korean Leader and that angered pyongyang. Now the damage from the cyber attack is spreading. Take a listen. Capitulation. Thats one word for what happened wednesday. Sony, caving under pressure, cancelling next weeks release of the interview in light of the decision by many of the countrys biggest theatre chains to yank the film from their schedule, citing uncertainties and security fears. This coming after a warning by anonymous hackers, threatening a 9 1 1 style attack at theerts where the film is playing. The state Department Says they have no evidence of a specific credible threat but we, of course, take seriously all threats gwen the homeland including recent threat against movie theatres. Pack backing away, sin plex calling it an unprecedented and complex situation. The chains are keeping their options open with regal saying its just delaying the opening. But this is another blow for sony, coming three weeks after more than 100 terabytes of data were stolen. And the hits keep coming. On tuesday, actors seth roe gan and james franco canceled many of their Upcoming Press events including seth meyers, the tonight show starring jimny fallon and live with kelly and michael. James franco was supposed to be here with morning but theyre going through a lot. He had to cancel. But, you know, hope everything over there et ging worked out. Even the new york premier set for tomorrow has been scrapped. This is a movie with a 44 million budget. So if theerts wont play it, what should sony do . I think sony should fight fire with fire, that is if these people are using information theyve hacked on the internet, wide open on pirate sites and all kinds of other places. Thats where sony should take the fight. Rather than trying to get the movie, the information into movie theatre, i think it should be posted all over the web. Let the whole world see it for free in hd. And really show these hackers that two can play at this game. No word from sony on a digital release yet. Lots of companies could help sony stream the movie. The question now, will any of them risk a hack attack to do it. Cnn, new york. One estimate says sony looks like they could lose at least 50 million by pulling this. Expensive. It cost 44 million to make. But its all about freedom of speech. Its not necessarily about the movie. Can we really let terrorists dictate what we see in the movie theatres . I think theyre right. Stand up to them. Yeah. There we go. Now, coming up next, some new steps to repair the battered economy in russia. How everyday russians are coping with the economic turmoil. Plus, columbian colombian re calling for a holiday truce. 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Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. Wednesday was a big day for u. S. Stocks. 288 points. The s p 500 jumped 200 as well. Stocks rallied a little bit after the u. S. Reserve are eleased a statement saying it will take its time raising Interest Rates. So a lot of people very happy about that. Yeah, they are. Theyve been on a very big fall over the last couple of days. Lost about 800 points. Rebounded somewhat. The ruble has also stabilize. That happened on wednesday after russia unveiled a package to support the countrys banks. The currency has still lost more than half of its value against the dollar so far this year. Richard quest looks at moscows plans to stop russias economy in free fall. 6. Reporter the crisis is on their doorstep. The finance ministry sen Central Banks are deciding what to do. The finance industry says the ruble is extremely undervalued. And to try to put things right is planning to sell up to 7 billion in foreign currency reserves. The object is to buy the ruble and hopefully prop up its value. The russian Prime Minister insists russia has the resources to overcome the crisis in this extremely undervalued currency. The if ig youres we have seen during the last few days do not reflect the real picture and have unreasonably left a zone confidentable for the people and the economy. And emotions have also played a role here. So the finance ministry is doing what it can, as has the government. The central getting involved. Having said a year ago the situation was unthinkable. And now the central bank having raised Interest Rates dramatically is going to take more desperate measures. The tripling of Interest Rates so far this year to 70 has done very little. Its move to free float the ruble. And in doing so, it spent 1 5 of the currency reserves. Put all this together and russias currency crisis seems set to continue for some time to come. Richard quest, cnn, new york. So as our resident business expert, Richard Quest just explained. Thor nooterm outlook does not look good for russias economy. Russians are now feeling the pinch of inflation and lower wages as we. This economic clash is just too much. We get the details from Senior International correspondent. Reesht russias ruble crisis has claimed its first desperate victim. These are the last moment of one businessmans life, caught on a hotel surveillance camera. Russia state media said he suffered from psychological stress from the rubles dramatic fall and left a suicide note and shot himself. On the streets of moscow, russians are starting to feel the economic pain. Like 52yearold tatiana. My salary used to be 1,000 or even higher, she tells us. Now its hardly even 200. Its difficult for people my age, she says. But this curb side currency exchange, people are still buying dollars, despite the skyrocketing rates. An hour ago, it was 60. Now its like 85. Im afraid because we got our wages in rubles and they dont pay in dollars. Its scary. And this is just the start of russias crisis. Some moscow stores have already suspended sales to recalibrate prices. In this holiday season, travel agents say clients are cancelling trips abroad because of the devaluing ruble. Luxuries to which Many Russians have grown fond are suddenly out of reach. Matthew chance, cnn moscow. Okay, were going to be taking a closer look at whats happening. Russia a little bit later on in this hour. But for now, lets take a closer look at some of the other stories we are following. Colombias rebels have declared an indefinite ceasefire beginning saturday. The group said it will not attack unless Government Forces do so first. The rebels have declared ceasefires during the Christmas Holidays before, but those were only temporary. The colombian governments have resisted requests for a truce since the two sides began peace talks two years ago. A Nigerian Court has sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny. A human rights Attorney Says five other soldiers were acquitted. The sentence is subject to aprooifl fr approval from top military officials. A mass grove holding more than 230 bodies has been discovered in eastern syria. Isis is believed to be behind the deaths. Activists say the victims were members of a tribe that fought isis earlier this year to protect their oilrich land. Okay, well this programming note is for our international viewers. The syrian town of ckobani has been an important place of the fighting in isis. Our cnn correspondent spoke with the families caught in the middle. Nic brings us a rare and remarkable look at the impact of isis inside kobani that airs at 8 00 p. M. Saturday in london, 9 00 p. M. In berlin. Only on cnn. Time for a short break. Washington points the finger at pyongyang for the sony hack, experts say the isolated country could become even more oppressive. A closer look when we come back. Ah, push it. Push it. P. Push it real good ow oooh baby baby. Baby baby. If youre saltnpepa, you tell people to push it. Push it real good. Its what you do. Ah. Push it. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Ah. Push it. Im pushing. Im pushing it real good soft holiday music ] can you help me up . [ snow intensifies ] [ sleighbells ring in the distance ] aleve. All day pain relief with just 2 pills. Get back to being you. As nations develop over the next heres a 25 years,for you the world will have almost twice as many cars. How much fuel will be needed to power them . About the same as today . 50 more . 100 more . The answer is. About the same as today. By 2040, advances in fuels and vehicles could enable about 75 better fuel economy than today. Take the energy quiz round 2. Energy lives here. The mercedesbenz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle thats just right for you, no matter which list youre on. [ho, ho, ho, ho] lease the 2015 c 300 4matic for 419 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Jordan submitted a palestinian draft resolution to the u. N. Security council wednesday calling for israel to withdraw from the palestinian territories by the end of 2017. It also calls for negotiations leading to a palestinian state. They drafted language to avoid a veto from the United States and a vote could happen sometime on thursday. It came on the same day israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu condemned two moves by the european union. In france, the yaur peen parliament adopted a resolution on wednesday to support palestinian state hood in princip principle. And the General Court in the eu in luxembourg removed hamas from its list of terrorist groups. Benjamin netanyahu had a strong reaction to that. Today we witnessed staggering dpafrms of european hypocrisy. In geneva they called for the investigation of israel for war crime while in lex bourg, the European Court removed hamas from the list of terrorist organizations. Hamas that has committed countless war crimes and terrorist acts. It seems too many in europe where 6 million jews were slaughter slaughtered, learning nothing. Benjamin netanyahu clearly not happy about that. Hes demanding that the eu place hamas back on the terrorist list immediately. With u. S. Investigators blaming north korea for the sony hacking, there are growing concerns pyongyang might become even more aggressive. North korea is coming out of its official mourning period for the dead leader, kim jong il. And many are concerned the new young leader kim jong un might lash out. hes now unshackled, free to be more aggressive as he comes out of the traditional threeyear period of morning for his late father. Kim jong un was supposed to observe that period by being less aggressive, lying low. Many argued he never waited. In addition to executing his uncle, he has purged anyone who can question his leadership or his authority. He braisingly killed his powerful uncle, threatened south korea. What could he do now thats more aggressive . He could likely have a Fourth Nuclear test. In the meantime, cyberattack, asimilymmetric attacks across t northern limit line at sea or with assassinations or terrorism even. Kims regime did make some peaceful overtures recently, releasing three americans from north korean custody, sending top officials to visit south korea. But those moves are now seen as a Charm Offensive, aimed at stafing off a u. N. Vote to recommend prosecuting leaders for human rights abuses. The Charm Offensive didnt work. Now un could be even more dangerous. North Korean Leaders are furious over the new movie the interview a movie about the assassination attempt on kim. Hackers working for north korea were behind the attack according to some. Analysts say kim jong unses for hating the movie go beyond being embarrassed by it. Cds are going to be pouring in across the boarder from china. They will slip into the bags of elites and they will be seen. Regardless of where this movie is shown. And that will sew a potential movement, underground movement in the elite against kim jong un. This is the paranoia that is driving this regime. If the public sees this, kim jong un is considered god. Now that seenny has decided not to release the interview at least for now, theyre watching what the hackers will do next. Experts say north koreaens have a growing and improving team of government hackers and they also outsource hacking to others. Hiring freelancers to operate out of places like china and thailand. The u. S. Government is still look into ways to retaliate against the perpetrators of that attack. Well, the u. S. And cuba announced plans for closer relations. But as you might imagine, certainly not everybody is happy about it. This is obviously controversial. A lot of people are divided. More on why some say the deal gives cuba the upper hand. Also, how will russias president address his nations economic crisis at his National News conference. Well go live to moscow for a preview. Often enough, but thank you. Thank you mom for protecting my future. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. If youre a current or former military member or their family, get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. Oous aide worker alan gross is back in the u. S. After spending the past five years in a cuban