Same time that they are moving towards normalizing relationships. Anything not been like this in the past. Does not mean that over we cant two years anticipate them taking certain up ions that we may end finding deeply troubling. Either inside of cuba or with respect to their foreignpolicy. That could put significant on the relationship. Thats true of a lot of countries out there where we have an embassy. Normalizing int of relations is that it gives us a greater opportunity to have with that government, then not. The uld be surprised if cuban government purposely is now o undermine what effectively policy. Wouldnt be surprised if they take actions that we think are a problem. In a position to actions to whatever they take, the same way we do with a whole range of countries around the world, when they do things that we think are wrong. But, the point is that we will be in a better position to actually have some influence. There maybe carrots as well as we can apply. The only way to send dells came up i think maybe i mention this in the interview i did i delivered a fairly lengthy statement on how a new looking forward to future in the relationship between our two countries, but we will continue to press on and human democracy rights, which we think are important. My opening remarks probably took 15 minutes, which on the phone is a pretty long time. End of that, he said, mr. President , youre still a man, perhaps at the end of my remarks i apologize a long time, but wanted to make sure that before into the conversation that he was very clear about where i stood. He said, dont worry about mr. You are still a young man, you still have a chance to break fidels record, one time he spoke seven hours straight. That mr. Castro proceeded to give his own opening remarks, long as d twice as mine, and i said, it must run in the family. That was only discussion of fidel castro that we had. The other forgot all questions. How presley involves what you y involved get . Congress, we ct to cannot bring down the embargo. Think will happen where will be a process congress digests it. There are bipartisan supporters approach, their bipartisan contractors to the approach we take. Certainly weigh in i think ultimately we need to down the embargo. Id dont anticipate that that happens right away. I think people will want to see this moves forward before theres any serious debate about it whether or not we would make major shifts in the embargo. Follow on that you hat conditions would meet with mr. Castro . Would you say you are considering additional economic or financial sanctions on north korea . Of you rule out the use military force . I think im going to leave it at where i left it. We just confirm that was north korea. We have been working out the range of options. They will be presented to me. I will make a decision on those proportional is and appropriate to the nature of his crime. Respect to cuba, we are a stage here where me visiting cuba, or present castro coming to the United States is in the cards. I do not know how this relationship will develop over the next several years. Fairly young man, i imagine some point in my life to l have the opportunity visit cuba, aand enjoy the cuban g with people, but theres Nothing Specific where we are trying to sort of visit on my part. Colleen. Earlier about 2014 you took at year action on immigration are going to consider executive you concluded e that you cannot break the fever in washington and the partisan gridlock . I think that real opportunities to get things done in congress. Before, i think the American People would like to see us get things done. Going to be, is aare we able to separate out where we disagree and those areas where we agree . There will be some tough fight on areas where we disagree. If republicans seek to take healthcare way from people who got it they will meet stiff resistance from me. If they tried to water down Consumer Protection that we put in the aftermath of will inancial crisis, i say no, and im confident that i will build uphold the veto on those types of provisions. Increasing american exports, our tax system, rebuilding our infrastructure, my hope is that we can get some things done. I have never been persuaded by this argument that if it the executive actions, they would have been more productive theres no evidence of that. I intend to continue to do what i have been doing. Where i see a big problem, and an opportunity to help the American People, and is within Lawful Authority to do something, i will do it. Sidebyside, i will reach out congress, and say, lets work together, i would like to work with you. Immigration is a classic example. I was very happy when Congress Immigration artisan reform bill. I did everything i could for provide and a half to the space for them to act. To them look, if their specific changes you would like to see, were willing to compromise and be patient. Ultimately, it didnt work out. Will be is like tive actions on areas equal pay, or r sensible more immigration system are important to republicans, if they care about those issues are is executive actions bothering them, theres a very pass bills. N both sides will have to on most issues for those issues to become law. They have to take into account i care about, just decide to take into account the issues that they care about. I think this will be our last question. Thank you so much. So one of the first bills that mcconnell took on would authorize the keystone xl pipeline. You highlight some of the risk associated with the project. What do you do when faced with that bill given that republican majority . Also, what you see as the benefit . Also, given the drop in oil prices that weve seen lately, does that impact this . I dont think i have minimized the benefits. Described the benefits. Issue in keystone is not is canadian , it oil that is drawn out of tar sands in canada. Being il currently is rail or out through trucks, and it would save and the oil companies, Canadian Oil Industry an amount of money, if they could semipipette all the way to the United States to the gulf. To the goals, ve it is then entering into the world market, and it would be sold all around the world. Wont say o i no. Little impact s. Gas impact on u. Prices, what the average consumer cares about by having the pipeline come through. Sometimes the way this console this oil the implication is that it will united gas prices in the states it will not. It is very good for canadian oil companies. It is good for the Canadian Oil Industry. But, it will not be a huge benefit to the u. S. Consumers. It will not even be a nominal benefit to u. S. Consumers. Now, the construction of the pipeline itself will create thousand jobs ple temporary jobs. There are probably some additional jobs that can be in the gulf. Those are not completely it is just like any other project. Could ou consider what we be doing if we were rebuilding our roads and bridges around the country something that could authorize we can probably create hundreds of 1 million of jobs, or jobs. If that argument, there are lots of more direct ways to create American Construction jobs. Then with respect to the cost, is said is i want to make sure that if in fact project goes forward, that of not adding to the problem climate change, which i think is very serious, aand does impose serious cost on the American People. If we have more flooding, more wildfires, more droughts impacts rect economic on that. We are now rebuilding after sandy. We have to consider how we how we e preparedness on infrastructure and jersey shore the thats the example of the kinds of costs that are imposed, and you can put a dollar figure on it. Who have a nebraska judge Still Deciding on the new path this pipeline once that is resolved, that the state department will have all the information it needs to make its decision. Give this perspective because i think this tendency to some magic hing as formula. See on paper where exactly theyve been getting that information from. In terms of oil prices and how i pacts the decision think it will not have a impact, except perhaps in the minds of folks prices are lower, maybe they are less susceptible to this argument. But, it would never be the lowering gas prices the oil piped out would go into the global market. I will see what they do. Any new years resolutions . Go ahead. Thank you mr. President. Last question, i guess. Ago this month, i asked you, what is the state of black america . You said it was the best of times and the worst of times. The best of times in the sense that there had never been more opportunities for African Americans who had received a good education. And the worst of times in terms lack of employment. Today, what is the state of black relations . Like the rest of america, black america is better in in regate than when i came office the jobs that have been created, but people who gotten health insurance, before one pensions that have been recovered. A lot of those folks are africanamerican. The gap in income and wealth of black america persists. On that more work to do front. In ave been consistent a legacy of this is a troubled racial past jim crow and slavery. That is not an excuse for black folks. I think the overall majority of black people understand that it is not an excuse. They are working hard, try to get an education. But, they behind often in the race. We should be able to provide a hand hand up not down, and help folks get a good education, help them get a high school education, get to college. If they do, they will be able to succeed, and that is good for all of us. Weve seen some progress in education reforms that we have passed. We are the highest High School Graduation that weve seen in a very long time. We are seeing record numbers of young people attending college. In many states, using progress and reading es scores for africanamerican and latino students. Still have re work to do. As we think about race been ions, they have colored by the ferguson and new york a the ing awareness of broader population of White Communities of color have understood for a long time specific instances where Law Enforcement doesnt feel as if it is being applied in a colorblind fashion. That i formed is supposed to report back to me in 90 days. Now with a bunch of abstract about race relations, bbut some concrete practical that Police Departments and Law Enforcement agencies implementing right now to rebuild trust between these color and the police department. My intention as soon as i get those recommendations is to implement them. Require them will congressional actions, some of them will require actions on the part of states and local jurisdictions. But, i actually think it has been a healthy conversation that we have had. Not new phenomena. The fact that they are surfacing is because in part people are able to sell what that in the past only been the kitchen nd table, and it allows people to make their own assessments. Youre not going to solve the problem if it is not being talked about. In the meantime, weve been moving forward on criminal justice issues more broadly. One of the things i talked about in my Opening Statement is that last year was the first that we had the population prisons go al down, and the crime rate go down. This shows that we are able to go nk smarter about how we about crime. A better job of saving money in the process, by initiating some of these reforms. Ive been pleased to see that weve had republicans and democrats in congress who are interested in these issues. I will say, thing and this will be the last thing that i say. One of the great things about this job is the you get to know the American People. You meet folks from every walk of life, and every region of the country. What i dont think its always captured in our political debate is the vast majority of people are just trying to do the right thing. People are basically good, and have good intentions. Sometimes our institutions and our systems do not work as good as they should. Police es, you have a department that has gotten into over periods of time. Offer practical solutions, i think people want to fix these problems. This is a situation where good seeing somebody choked, and dying. I think that troubles everybody. So, there is an opportunity for to come together and take a practical approach to these problems. I guess that is my general theme for the end of the year we have gone through difficult times. Your job, press, to on all the mistakes that that ade, the bad things happened, crises tthat look like theyre popping. And, i understand that. But, through persistent efforts the American People, things get better. Has gotten better. Our ability to generate clean energy has gotten better. We know more about how to educate our kids. We solve problems. Ebola is a real crisis. You get a mistake in the first case because it is not that has been seen you fix it. You have some unaccompanied at the border it may not get fixed in the the new cycle, bbut it gets fixed. What i hope, aas we reflect on the new year, is that we generate some confidence. America knows how to solve problems. When we were together, we cannot be stopped. Now, im going to go on vacation. Thank you everybody. U. S. Policy toward cuba was the of the topics that president addressed. Following the recent release of usaid subcontracted out and growth in cuba. A cuban prison since 2009. That with gross statement after his return to the u. S. This is great. To say happy Holiday Season to all of you. Day of the first hanukkah. Guess so far, it is the best tonic of that i will be a long time. In what a blessing it is to be a citizen of this country. Thank you, president obama, for have done that you today and leading up to today. To acknowledge pics coordinate efforts of my wife, judy. 44 1 2 years weve been married. Lawyer and personal moses, scott gilbert. And their efforts to restore my freedom. They had my endless gratitude, love, and respect. The relentless and often intense efforts of duty and and t, the partners llp law es of gilbert right now e are they made me take my jacket off, is that i had to take it off, has reeser of capital hill been inconceivable. Leahy in atrick vermont has been instrumental in today. I want to thank all the members sides of the n all aisle. Or visited me, subjecting himself to my ranting, and help me regain of my weight, even in cuba. To all those who tried to visit me and were not able to, thank you for trying. I am at your service as soon as i get some new teeth i hope they will be sharp enough to make a difference. The washington community, howard in particular, all directors and staff who participated in synagogues and schools, and and r jewish, christian, muslim organizations, god bless you and thank you. It was crucial to my survival to know that i was not forgotten. Your prayers and your actions have been comforting. To my extended family, especially my sister, my our ins, my friends, shabbat crew, and so many others, thank you. I do understand that there many others who actively securing my in am only of whom i nominally aware. Promise i will share some more personal gratitude, as soon as i know who you are. Ultimately, the decision to secure my r and release was made in the oval office. To president obama, and the staff, thank you. In my last letter to president obama i wrote that despite my tenure in captivity, i would not want to trade places with him, and i certainly wouldnt want to trade places with him on this glorious day. Five years of isolation not need anding, i did cognizant fings to be of incredible challenges facing our nation. I also feel compelled to share my utmost respect for the people of cuba. In no way are they responsible for the ordeal to which my family and i have been subjected. To me, cubanos, or at least most of them are incredibly kind, generous, and counted. It pains me to see them treated of unjustly as a consequence two governments policies. History shows us that such does not result in a right. Im hoping that we can get these belligerent policies. I was happy to hear what the president had to say today. It was particularly cool to be sitting next to the secretary as he was hearing about his Job Description for the next couple of months. In all seriousness, this is a game changer, which i fully support. In the meantime, i ask that you respect my wishes for complete and total privacy. A judicial lesson ive learned from this experience is that freedom is not free. As personified by scott and her the , we must never forget moses covenant freedom and responsibility. Im incredibly blessed to have the freedom to resume a positive and constructive life. A r now, i will close with quote it is good to be home. Thank you, and i wish you all a happy Holiday Season. I support the president. Thank you very much. Happy hanukkah. Happy hanukkah. Florida republican senator marco rubio opposes the obama administrations changes in policy toward cuba, saying, the normalized d not relationships with cuba until it has a democracy. For being here. As a descendent of cuban has grants, and someone who been raised in a community of cuban exiles, and a man who cares deeply about the the cuban people, one of my greatest hope is to see the people of cuba live freely. It is for those reasons, that the announcement today by the present is so upsetting. The white house gains no the itment on the part of cuban regime for freedom of speech, elections. No binding commitment was made. No commitment was made to allowing the establishment of parties, or even begin the semblance of a transition to democracy. In exchange for all this concession, the only thing the do an government agreed to free 50 Political Prisoners, aand allow the United Nations and the red cross to allow conditions on the island. The same organization that did nothing last year. This entirely policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, a lie. The light and illusion that more access to commerce will translate to Political Freedom for the cuban people. All this is going to do is give castro regime which control every aspect of cuban opportunity to changes to these perpetuate its power. Only result s will a government for abused s shamelessly hum