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Washington. elise, i want to begin with you because you have the details of this series of remarkable developments here and at the top of that list we'll have an embassy. the white house wants to open up an embassy in havana. >> that's right, john, and the u.s. and cuba having these talks for some time. not only about alan gross and the cuban five and u.s. intelligence asset but how the u.s. and cuba can normalize relations. you've seen talks with u.s. and cuban officials over the last years and the u.s. sees reform on the island. so the u.s. will be opening up an embassy in havana. right now ...

Alan gross, we'll bring him to the -- we'll bring him live. finish your point. >> my point about alan gross. when i went there in 2011 to cuba, it was very clear. and i said to the cubans, nothing is going to happen in the improvement of u.s./cuban relations unless you release alan gross. then they said well we want the cuban five. and at the time, neither country was ready to make that deal, but i think it is significant that serious negotiations have been happening, i don't know if the pope had a key role, probably did, and i think the president, president obama who's thinking of his legacy....

Were, in fact, spies? >> yes. they were not technically dealing with espionage but if you refer to a secret intelligence agent, yes, they have always admitted that. at the start of the trial they admitted that. that's one of the things that made it so difficult to get a fair trial in cuba -- i'm sorry, in miami, which was that the very beginning of the case, all of the defendants admitted they were agentings here working in cuba. what they were disputing at trial and what we continue to litigate up until today was whether they did commit the particular violations they were accused of, which in...

Majority of the court of appeals that heard it either found the evidence completely lacking or highly questionable. but he is actually innocent. this will n all likelihood, terminate the legal proceedings that have gone on for 16 years in which we're still trying to erase any doubt about his noninvolvement with that event. that simply is not something that can be fairly attributed to gerardo hernandez. it would take a long time to explain all the factors why that's true but it's legally impossible for him to have participated in that event. >> the names of the men are gerardo hernandez, ramon ...

Cuban relations in decades appears to be unfolding this morning. alan gross, an american contractor held prisoner in cuba for the last five years is now on his way home on a plane heading back to the united states from havana. gross was arrested back in 2009 after he was caught smuggling satellite equipment into cuba. it with us part of a u.s. aid plan to increase internet access in a severely restricted company. the release of three of the so-called cuban five, being held on espionage charges in the united states. let's heard to elise laf vick, she's in washington with more. tell us more. >> ...