Sony pictures pulls out of the interview. The christmas release canceled. The studio says it has no plans to release the movie at all. The u. S. Plans to implicate the north korean government for the cyber attack. What are we doing here . Lets let the guys come in here and have their way. American alan gross, imprisoned by cuba for the last four years, now back on u. S. Soil. President obama announceing normalizing relations with cuba. This president is the single worst negotiator, basically giving the cuban government everything it asks for. A deadly crash in california. One person is killed when a car plows into a group of people. I saw two people hit each other and one car fly away. It was bad. Defending actions in crimea. He promises the economy would recover within two years. Christmas light displays can be out of this world. New images from nasa showing Holiday Light from space. All that which one of these is not a piece of jewelry symbolizing the relationship between two people . B. And all that matters 6yearold theater critic landed an interview with the one and only sting. I can see you tried your best. You can be proud of yourself. Im proud of myself. If you say so. A movie about castro. Announcer this mornings eye opener presented by toyota. Lets go places. Captioning funded by cbs welcome to cbs this morning. Anger and outrage this morning after Sony Pictures pulls the controversial movie the interview. One commentator said the United States lost its first cyber war. Sony backed down from hackers threats of violence and potential release of damaging internal documents. Cbs learns u. S. Could soon blame north korea for the Cyber Attacks about the movie. The film is about a plot to assassinate north koreas leader. Elaine quijano is here with the most dangerous cyber attack ever for corporate business. Corporate america, hollywood, and the u. S. Government agree the sony hack attack has been unprecedented and Officials Say the white house is considering a range of options in weighing a potential response. You want us to assassinate the leader of north korea . Yes. Whaaat . In the end it turns out the sony comedy the interview is no laughing matter. Soon, the u. S. Government may announce the result of the investigation as to whether north korea is behind the attacks. Its incredibly difficult for the u. S. Government to respond in part because the North Koreans are playing a game of brinksmanship and they know there arent many options for the u. S. Government. This comes after the cyber Group Calling itself guardians of peace threatened a 9 11style attack on theaters showing the pinterview on Christmas Day. Thousands of theaters say they wouldnt show the film and sony was facing pressure from other studios. Of rival movie, concerned about the threat of violence. They realized this would dissuade regular moviegoers from going to the mall and that would affect their bottom line for the holiday. Finally sony decided to cancel it all together saying we are deeply saddened at this bracen effort to suppress the distrip butionbution of a movie. I have never seen a studio just say we are pulling the publicity, we are pulling the movie, no video on demand. Its as if the interview never existed. While sony says it stands by the filmmakers and their right to Free Expression critics have been vocal. From Newt Gingrich who tweeted, america has lost its first cyber war. This is a very dangerous precedent. Personally, i think allowing a ruthless dictator of another country decide what American People can or cannot see in our own country is against, like everything were supposed to stand for, right . This whole thing is scary, man. Somebody, its your emails and your private stuff. I dont know. The whole towns scared. Everybodys got to be scared. The ripple effects continue. A steve carell movie about north korea has reportedly been canceled. Sources tell us its possible the interview will never see the light of day and that sony wants to distance itself from the films controversy as much as possible. Losses from pulling the film and fixing the corporate infrastructure would easily run into the hundreds of millions. Elaine, we thank you. In the next half hour, a hackers take. Why a onetime hacker of a group is not so quick to blame north korea. Ahead, who else could be behind the attack. This rn mo governments around the world are a plauding the United States and cuba after that diplomatic breakthrough. President obama said wednesday he will restore relations between the two countries. Those ties were cut in january 1961. Scott pelley is in cubas capital and well speak to him in a moment. First Major Garrett is at the white house where the president made the historic announcement. Major, good morning. Reporter good morning. Good morning to our viewers in the west. President obama said it was time a diplomatic and political experiment that dates back to the Eisenhower Administration arguing closer ties would coax cubas communist government toward all manner of reform. The president s critics called him misinformed and naive. We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests. Reporter the white house negotiates the release of u. S. Aid worker alan gross unjustly jailed in cuba for five years at the same time it worked on normalizing relations with havanas communist government. Pope grab sis set the process in motion urging president obama and cuba president raul castro to resolve the dispute over gross fate and initiate a new phase in relations. The president sealed the deal with castro in an oval Office Phone Call tuesday. Freedom for gross triggered the lifting of certain travel and trade restrictions but only congress can remove all commercial barriers between the u. S. And cuba. Democrat Robert Menendez is the outgoing chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. I think it stinks. I think its wrong. Im deeply disappointed in the president. Reporter former florida senator marco rubio, whos parents fled the cuba revolution, said the white house gave up too much. This president is the single worst negotiator weve had in the white house in my lifetime who has basically given the cuban government everything it asks for and received no assurances of any advances in democracy and freedom in return. Reporter arkansas republican jeff flake among others flew gross back to america, and was rare among republican supporters of the president. The policy weve had in place for the past 50 years has done more in my view in manys view, has done in power than anything we could have done. Reporter republicans who will run Congress Next year have vowed to do everything in their power to block the lifting of a decadesold economic embargo with florida. In south florida, anticastro sentiment has run high and both parties have tried to exploit it. With president obamas move now the policy could be the dividing line for the race to the white house in 2016. All right, major. Thank you. The president s announcement was a surprise, but diplomats have worked for years to bring home gross. Margaret brennans at the state department. Shes on that part of the story. Margaret, good morning. Good morning. Alan gross first words to his two daughters were im free. Hes been in jailed since 2009 and charged with crimes against the cuban state. A mob of wellwishers greeted alan gross just after he landed outside washington, d. C. A devout jew, gross later told reporters he felt blessed. Today is the first day of hanukkah. And i guess so far its the best hanukkah that ill be celebrating for a long time. Reporter imprisoned in 2009 the cuban government charged gross for crime against the cuban state and sentenced him to 15 years. Hed lost 100 pounds, vision in his right eye and five of his front teeth. God bless you and thank you. It was crucial to my survival knowing that i was not forgotten. Reporter after a few false starts over 18 months of talks a final deal was brokered this week. The u. S. Released three members of the spy network known as the cuban five. In exchange the castro regime released an unnamed Cuban National who had served 20 years in jail for working as a u. S. Spy. Alan grosss imprisonment helped pave the way toward a diplomatic opening. President obama announced the first step will be allowing cubanamericans to send more money to families in cuba, and u. S. Credit and debit cards will soon be accepted. Gross told reporters it was about time the two countries made up. 5 1 2 decades of history shows us such belligerence inhibits better judgment. Two wrongs never make a right. Gross was greeted at the airport by john kerry who says he want to be the first secretary of state to visit cuba in 60 years but theres no trip planned yet and it will take time, at least six months to lift those terrorrelated sanctions. The two cubans released at the same time as alan gross were all accused of spying at home. They are considered national heroes. Castro embraced them when they got off the plane in havana. Cbs eefl ning news anchor and managing editor scott pelley is in havana, cubas capital. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Those three cubans returned here to a heros welcome. Cubans watched them on Television Last night greeting their neighbors as the streets around them filled with what appeared to be adoring crowds and they thanked everyone for keeping the faith and bringing them home. The castro brothers had always said this country would never rest until those three cuban spies were returned from the United States. As the sun rises this morning over the island, cubans are waking up to a new reality. Now that the sweeping changes have finally been announced. These negotiations went on for 18 months in secret. When raul castro announced it to his people, at the same time obama spoke in the United States. Nearly everyone was watching. At first, there was silence. But that soon turned to joy. People broke out in song and danced to celebrate the news. Church bells rang and cars and Motor Vehicles honked their horns as they drove through the streets. Although its still far too early for people to feel any sort of impact theres a sense that this can only be a good thing. People here feel that Economic Conditions will improve as trade restrictions loosen and visits by american tourists are made easier. Diplomatic relations between cuba and the United States have been virtually nonexistent since they broke off in 1961. And when you look around a city like this, like havana, the city almost feels frozen in time, but this might change things now that ties have been reestablished. You cant overemphasize what this news means to families here. An entire generation of cubans have watched their children either leave the island or attempt to leave the island and theres a sense here now that if the economy improves and the government opens up more freedoms, families may stay together, people may want to stay here in cuba. Charlie . Scott, thank you so much. President george w. Bush supported the economic embargo on cuba. So did secretary powell. He joins us from washington. Good morning. Good morning. How are you all . All right. Youre a veteran of diplomacy. Do you totally support the steps the president has done, the plans he has made and the deals hes made . Yes, i support it but theres a long road to be traveled. I had a flashback when i heard the announcement yesterday. Flashback in 1962 when i was a infantry captain on my way to vietnam when suddenly i got instructions to go to ft. Hood because we may invade cuba. That didnt happen. Over the years ive watched this policy unfold and ive been a part of it. I think its time to turn the page of history. I dont see anything wrong with opening diplomatic relations with cuba. We have diplomatic relations with other nations. Just as oppressive as cuba. Its a way to talk. Its a way to make your point. Theyre not going to get off the sanctions list any time soon. Congress isnt going to do that. But its good to have an ambassador there who tells cubans, this is what will come if you start to respond in a positive way. And as scott pelley just noted, there is optimism within the cuban people by this change and therefore i think lets start it, lets get the process going, lets not have any illusions. This is still a terrible regime. We dont support their government. We dont like what theyre doing. But i think having diplomatic relations, as weve had with the soviet union, vietnam, so many other place, we can produce positive changes. So you recommend they lift the embargo . No. I recommend they take it under advisement. Monitor what the cubans are doing. If they reach a point where they think sufficient progress has been made, then congress should consider it. This is just the beginning. Were not lifting the sanctions yet and theres a lot of pressure that will remain on the castro brothers and should remain on them until they start to show the kind of positive movement that we want to see. Releasing political prisoners, opening up the economy, making life easier and more open for the cuban people. And so this is just one step and there are a lot of steps that have to be made to make this work. General, can you address the criticism that president obama by taking this action has vindicated the brutal behavior of the cuban government, a castro government that has been so oppressive, a long list of human rights abuses . No, i dont think hes done that at all. Nor is that necessarily the case just because you opened an embassy and started to make some movements. I hope that our government will continue to speak out against that kind of behavior and i hope our ambassador going in makes sure we give that message to them at every opportunity. Were going through the same thing with a lot of other countries. And my experience in all of this is once you Start Talking to someone, youre almost inserting a poison pill into the system where they have to start responding to the pressures that theyre still under. And so i thing this is a positive step and lets not overemphasize all thats going to happen in the months and years ahead. Its a long process, but i think a page of history has been turned and its appropriate to do so at this time. General, i want to turn to the sony hack attack and reports that the north korean government is behind it. What do you make of that and if true, what are the implications of that . Well, i think if it is the koreans, and i understand the government will announce that, the American Government will announce that its a very serious issue. But, you know, this is a problem all of us have to face in this internet age. But if we can identify that the North Koreans did it and if we can be specific as to who did it within north korea, then i think appropriate action has to be taken. I cant tell you what that appropriate action is. Were rather limited in what we can do with north korea that we havent already done. But ill wait and see what the Administration Announces and then well go from there. Secretary powell. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Coverage on the cyber attack and the historic shift in policy towards cuba continues tonight on the cbs evening news. Scott pelley will be anchoring from havana. Russia president Vladimir Putin says hes confident his countrys economy will rebound. Hes hosting his annual News Conference. With questions ranging from International Conflicts to recent financial troubles. Putin puts part of the blame for the fall of the ruble on western sanctions. Translator what theyre trying to do at the moment is to maintain our sovereignty and our independence. And if you do it, then the problems were facing in our economy at the moment are the results of the sanctions, and it is partially true because you know about 25 of the problems we are facing at the moment, 20 , 25 , are due to the sanctions. Well, putin says russia is not the aggressor in International Conflicts and in protecting the interest he accuses the United States of meddling in russias affairs. Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is appearing in boston at this hour. Tsarnaev has not been seen in public since his arraignment in july of 2013 when he still had visible injuries. Attorneys are expected to discuss jury selection which begins in january. Defense motion to move the trial from boston is pending. New video this morning said to show the tense moment as iraqi officers tried to defuse a suicide belt strapped to a boy. Iraqi media reports he was at a shrine in baghdad. He surrendered to authorities instead. Sources tell cbs news the boy is 13 years old and from syria. Iraqi officials appear to have successfully deused the bomb. And it is 7 19. On cbs this morning well ask Peter Greenberg how long it will from the kpix 5 Weather Center good morning, everyone. Heading out the door, grab the umbrella to be safe. Light drizzle but look at that. Hidef doppler no green no yellow no orange. We have a mainly cloudy day on tap for today. Southwest winds up to 10. Temperatures currently in the low 50s going up to highs today upper 50s and low 60s. Rain develops overnight. The bulk of the rain friday morning commute. Mostly cloudy friday afternoon, all the way through your weekend. Announcer this National Weather report sponsored by kohls. Find your yes. Kohls. A bittersweet morning in colbert nation as he makes the jump to cbs. How he defied critics who said he would not last the season. The news is back in the morning on cbs this morning. Stay tuned for your local news. Announcer this portion of cbs this morning sponsored by kay jewelers. Every kiss begins with kay. Unlocking the true beauty of the diamond. For over 90 years. We have continued to pe