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Relationship with iran? >> well, it's -- you would expect the white house to issue warnings or to push back or to condemn or, you know, make other kinds of complaints but not in this open-ended threat without kind of a background. often it would be the other way around. we wouldn't have heard from an nsc member at the podium. there would have been a white house organized background call, reporters, then followed by some statements, very carefully, methodically chosen language. this was clear language. this was the same tough sabre rattling stuff we heard on the campaign. they said they were go...

Of times. today they said that snowden had not formerly requested a pardon. he has not been convicted of anything yet. the only recourse is for him to return to the united stas and face the crimes he's been charged of. that gets insights to the thinking on this perhaps. we're expecting there to be a background call that's happening soon, probably sort of while i'm talking to you now that will offer insight as well into the thinking of the administration as to why they did this. again, it had been there for some time. obviously now because the president has time left. and we think to answer som...

To go on a listening tour for the next six or eight weeks, not do any major campaign rallies. what's up with that? >> hillary clinton is one of the only candidates who's already a celebrity. everybody in the world knows who she is unless you've been living under a rock somewhere. so what hillary clinton has to do is reintroduce herself to people who think they know her and newer voters and do it in a different way. she can't behave as if she's entitled to this nomination. so she's got to go out and earn it as they say. the campaign advisors had a background call with journalists and they said ...

So the white house had a green light to move forward. one other thing i want to point out in listening to this background call with senior administration officials, this is not lifting the embargo. this is not ending the travel ban. americans will not be able to go to orbitz or travelocity to buy tickets to cuba. you have to go to a third party. you can't go to the store and buy cuban cigars. people can travel to cuba and bring back cuban cigars, but they can't go to a cigar shop in the united states and buy subban cigars in the united states. that's still under the embargo. but no question ab...

Choreographed. obviously kept under tight wraps for a long time. but it looks like this was something that was in the works for at least weeks, if not months. >> reporter: wolf, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on a background call within the last hour, this has been going on since june of 2013. and to put all this in perspective, you'll recall when the president went to nelson mandela's memorial service last september and he had that handshake with raul castro, they were shaking hands as the u.s. and cuba were involved in these talks -- >> jim, i need to int...