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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...

Released this photo, showing president obama talking on the phone yesterday with cuban president raul castro. it was the first direct communication between a u.s. and cuban leader since 1961. today president obama addressed critics of the agreement. >> to those who oppose the steps i'm announcing today, let me say that i respect your passion and share your commitment to liberty and democracy. the question is, how we uphold that commitment. i do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result. today america chooses to cut loose the shackles of th...

Letter to both president obama and raul castro asking them to put aside their differences, deal with this prisoner exchange and then move the relations between their two peoples forward. apparently that's what both president obama and president castro have done. they've responded to that call from many world leaders but in particular pope francis to let bygones be bygones and find a new path for cuban/u.s. relations. >> a dramatic new path. patrick oppmann joining us from havana. stand by. i'll come back to you. i want to get some analysis of what we just heard from the u.s. president, preside...

Will have a platform to argue for american beliefs, that the castro regime has a poor human rights record. that it is opposed to freedom for the cuban people and we ought to be pushing that view from inside cuba. not from outside. so i applaud the president. it is a courageous move. we've sustain pushback from a number of his critics, especially in the republican party. i think the president can handle that criticism but a very courageous decision by president obama. >> you recently traveled to havana as part of a delegation. how important are the president's actions? >> let me give you a very...

>> [ inaudible question ]. >> there you have it, senator marco rubio condemning this decision by president obama today, condemning the decision to go ahead and improve u.s./cuban relations, the most dramatic improvement in some 50 years, going back to the cuban revolution in 1961, the president of the united states and the president of cuba simultaneously speaking to the american people on president obama's part, the cuban people on president raul castro's part saying there will be a full diplomatic relationship now between the two countries and an historic opening-up of economic and commercia...