NBC Nightly News open - 1977-05-17

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] This is NBC Nightly News with John

[0:04] Chancellor and David Brinkley. Tonight,

[0:08] Tuesday, May 17th, reported from the NBC

[0:10] News Center in New York. Good evening.

[0:14] Today, for the first time since Castro,

[0:16] a shipload of American tourists arrived

[0:19] in Cuba to spend two nights to look

[0:22] around and to see what has happened to

[0:24] the place since the past years when

[0:25] Americans went there all the time. Our

[0:28] man Fred Francis was on the ship and we

[0:31] have a report from him. But first, as a

[0:33] matter of some curiosity, here is how we

[0:36] got it. From Cuba to a Russian

[0:39] satellite, the only one that works from

[0:41] Cuba to Prague, Czechoslovakia. From

[0:44] there back to the ground and by cable to

[0:46] Frankfurt, Germany, and from there by an

[0:49] American satellite back to New York.

[0:51] About 6,000 mi to get pictures from a

[0:54] country 90 mi from the US. by that

[0:57] roundabout route. Here's Fred Francis in

[1:00] Cuba.

[1:09] Dizzy Gillespiey's Afrouban Beat turned

[1:11] Havana on in the 40s and the 50s. Today,

[1:15] it helped to open the doors to the first

[1:16] American tourists to visit Cuba in 16

[1:19] years. 320 Americans book passage on the

[1:23] Greek cruise ship Daphne from New

[1:24] Orleans. because they are the first. It

[1:27] was an historic cruise. Some came for

[1:29] the adventure. Some just to hear jazz

[1:31] great Gillespie, Stanett, and Earl

[1:33] Father Hines. All were excited that

[1:36] Fidel Castro wanted Cubans to hear

[1:38] American jazz with American presence.

[1:41] Tomorrow night, these Americans will sit

[1:42] with Cubans at Havana's National

[1:44] Theater. They're all hoping Fidel Castro

[1:46] will attend the jazz concert.

[1:49] The presence of these tourists in Havana

[1:51] is another milestone in the marathon of

[1:53] amenities lately, like basketball

[1:55] diplomacy and negotiations on fishing

[1:58] rights. Amenities that many believe will

[2:00] soon lead to renewed relations between

[2:02] Cuba and America.

[2:06] Most of the passengers aboard the Daphne

[2:08] hope that relations are resumed soon.

[2:10] Many were happy that they're part of

[2:12] breaking down America's policies towards

[2:14] Cuba. Mr. and Mrs. Herb Freed from Miami

[2:17] Beach feel that way. They booked the

[2:19] cruise before Havana was a scheduled

[2:21] stop. They decided to go despite friends

[2:23] who urged them to forget Cuba.

[2:25] >> We deal with the Soviet Union. We deal

[2:28] with the People's Republic of China. So

[2:30] why not deal with this man who is 90

[2:32] miles away?

[2:34] >> Four Cubanameans came for emotional

[2:36] reasons. Sergio and Dulie Fuentes and

[2:39] Carlos and Maria Bono left Cuba in the

[2:41] early 50s. They came to see brothers and

[2:43] sisters and visit the graves of their

[2:45] parents. But the Cuban government is

[2:47] still undecided about letting them go

[2:48] ashore. For the others, the arrival in

[2:51] Havana was exciting. The Cubans cheered

[2:53] as the Americans left the port to go to

[2:55] a nearby beach. A few Americans who had

[2:58] been apprehensive about the trip seemed

[3:00] at ease. One said, "They're killing

[3:02] those with kindness." And that was a

[3:04] fair assessment of