[Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Okay, here's Pope Francis making history in Havana, Cuba, looking at the motorcade right now. The plane landed, he and President Raul Castro gave remarks. President Castro obviously is more political than Pope Francis. Pope Francis meeting children saying, he's here for the people, saying that he extends blessings to those he cannot meet, a little bit of a nod to somewhat of the culture of oppression here in Cuba. And now, here he is, the streets lined by not just the faithful, but the hopeful here in Cuba. Our Patrick Ottman, who lives here in Cuba saying that the enthusiasm he hears from the crowds here is genuine and that not always the case. The Pope keeps getting hit by his frock, which is not unusual, and the way he deals with it so nonchalant about the ceremony of it is one of the things that endears them to the faithful. And he's joined in this modified Pope mobile by Cardinal Ortega, he's very important in what is believed to be the active negotiation by the Vatican between Cuba and the United States to help a re-rapprochement of relations. So, this is the scene here in Cuba. We are joined by the host of the Catholic guy on Sirius XM. Lino, let me ask you, this is cool, this is the ceremony and the celebration, but for the significance, what does the Pope need to do here to satisfy the faithful Catholics, the hopeful Cubans, and the media?
[Lino Rulli, Siriusxm Satellite Radio, "the Catholic Guy":] Good question, and I think in a way, believe it or not, the Pope doesn't care. And I know that sounds not flippant
[Cuomo:] Probably shouldn't, right? On some level. But why do you say that?
[Rulli:] Oh, I say it because, you know, I've been lucky enough to travel with the Pope around the world, whether it be South Korea, or Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and there are many expectations and there are hundreds of thousands or millions, depending on where these places are, and politicians want to use him for this and maybe people on the right of the church want to say one thing and people on the left of it everybody wants to use him for one thing or the other and I think the best expectation he can have when he goes to a place, keeping in mind he's never even been to Cuba before. He had a layover once. That doesn't exactly count, right? Here's a man who is 78-years-old, his first time coming to a country that he's never been to before and to try to reach out with a message of let me help you build a bridge, let me help make friendships, let me do what I can, but don't put so many expectations on me that I can fix everything. So when I come to South Korea and I talk to the people of Seoul, I can't fix everything, but I'll do what I can in the few days I'll have.
[Cuomo:] And he's picking areas in the interior, right? That's where the poverty is the hardest. And we're here in Havana, this is right on the coastline, this is the port, this is about as good as it gets in Cuba, but he's going to places that are not just indigenous, but impoverished in that matters. Tomorrow night he's meeting with 2,000 kids and on the table, Wi-Fi and encouragement of sending social media messages, unheard of in this regime.
[Rulli:] Especially considering unheard of and he calls himself a dinosaur when it comes to social media. And so that the idea the Pope says, it's very important that the younger people do this. Cuban government doesn't want it, the Pope doesn't even do it himself, but understands the significance, but he also when you talk about not just being in Havana, but other places, somebody asked, why are you going to some of the other places. One place, he said, no Pope has been there before. So it's reaching out to people who might feel excluded by government, by church, by anybody. Especially the poor, the Pope shows up to say I care about you. Not just I care about you, but God cares about you and I don't want you to forget about it.
[Cuomo:] Lino Rulli, Sirius XM, "The Catholic Guy," it's great to have your perspective. I appreciate it. Poppy, let's get it back to you. Here history is being made before our eyes, the motorcade, obviously, the Pope on his way to the nunciary here, it's kind of like the consulate for the Catholic Church here. And that's where he's going to stay and we'll keep our eyes on the situation for you.
[Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Just remarkable what we have seen take place in the last hour as the Pope landed for a historic visit to Cuba. I'm Poppy Harlow, you're in the CNN Newsroom, just past 5:00 Eastern. I want to welcome our viewers both here in the United States and around the world as we continue to follow the Pope's historic visit. Chris Cuomo live for us in Havana, as well. We will get back to Chris in a moment. First, though, to politics here in the United States. Donald Trump is standing by his decision to keep quiet when one of his supporters outright called President Obama a Muslim and not an American. Today, Trump is taking to Twitter about the controversy, tweeting a number of times one of the things he said on Twitter, "If I would have challenged the man, the media would have accused me of interfering with the man's right of free speech. A no-win situation." I want to go straight to MJ Lee, he joins us from Iowa, that is where a number of the candidates are speaking at this freedom and faith forum tonight. Donald Trump expected to speak just around 7 p.m. Eastern. But MJ, let's go through some of these tweets. You talked about a moral obligation, whether he has to defend the President or not.
[Mj Lee, Cnn Politics Reporter:] That's right, Poppy. After being uncharacteristically silent, he broke that silence today releasing a number of tweets basically defending his decision not to correct a supporter, who as you mentioned, referred to President Obama as a Muslim and referred to Muslims as being a problem in this country. Here's one of the tweets that Trump released today. He said, "Am I morally obligated to defend the President every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!" Exclamation point. He also said it was probably one of the first times that he had created a controversy by not saying something rather than by saying something.
[Harlow:] I know there's been a lot of response, not only from Democrats, as you would expect, but also from his fellow Republicans. What are we hearing?
[Lee:] That's right. Trump's arrival both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail are being asked to respond to Trump's decision not to correct this supporter and Democrats and Republicans are having to address this issue. Democrats are, obviously, finding this an easy opportunity to pounce on Donald Trump, whereas Republicans are giving a series of mixed answers. They seem a little more hesitant to go after Trump, saying that it's not always the candidate's responsibility to correct supporters in what they say.
[Harlow:] All right, we'll be following it again, hear what Trump says in person tonight and in tomorrow morning, he will be on CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper. MJ Lee, thank you very much. Let's talk more about the republican race for the White House, a newest controversy surrounding Donald Trump. Marc Lamont Hill is with me, Matt Schlapp also here. Marc is a professor at Morehouse College. Matt is chairman of the American Conservative Union, he was political director in the George W. Bush White House. Thank you gentlemen for being here. Marc, let me begin with you, Trump tweeting also that basically if he would have challenged the man, the media would have accused him of interfering with the man's right of free speech, calling it a no-win situation. What do you make of whether this can hurt test one Trump?
[Marc Lamont Hill, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it absolutely can hurt him. I mean, whenever you say things that are considered this objectionable to large sector of a voting block is problematic. I mean, whether his base cares about it is a different story. I think what makes him look weak at this moment though is the fact that he's pivoted so many times. I mean, his camp said they didn't understand what the person was saying.
[Harlow:] Right.
[Hill:] Now, we heard it but we didn't want to interfere with his First Amendment rights.
[Harlow:] Right.
[Hill:] The truth is, there's no evidence of that. John McCain interrupted a woman who was saying negative things about President Obama on the campaign trail, and McCain was applauded for it, he was looked at as a hero by Democrats and Republicans. This was an opportunity for Donald Trump to look presidential, to look above the fray and I think he made a bad choice. Not just the person who misidentified President Obama's religions, but they used the word Muslim as if it were a slur, he said the problem with America is Muslims and we need to figure out how we get rid of them. And in some sense, he may have been complaining terrorism with Islam, which is the most generous interpretation. But either way, it was problematic, it was dangerous and he should have said something.
[Harlow:] Matt, to you, you're someone who likes that Donald Trump is in this race. You've said a number of times, including here on CNN, he is good for the political process, good that he is in this race, you're a republican and conservative and you've said we need to hear people in a bit more bold strokes, right? From our candidates in this campaign. What do you think about these remarks and now him coming out with these five tweets today defending them?
[Matt Schlapp, Chairman, American Conservative Union:] Well, I mean, we've seen this before and when he said things that were over the line. He has come back and pulled back. Doesn't necessarily apologize. I think it's important to remember in this case he didn't say anything that was over the line. Somebody else said something. I do agree with Marc that it was an opportunity that if he really heard the man and his full question, it was an opportunity for him to delineate between, you know, the extremist radicalized element of Muslim terrorists that are threatening America and, you know, devout Muslims who are not and that's an important delineation, it's incredibly important delineation, because we have the freedom of religion in America. So, when you run for president, it's different than anything else you might do.
[Harlow:] And you have eight million Muslims in this country.
[Schlapp:] That's right, that's right. And by the way, I'd like them to vote for Republicans. So, I don't think we want I think we have to be careful in the tone here and the approach is important, but it's important to remember, Donald Trump is not the one who said this. Let's be clear.
[Harlow:] And it's a question of, is it as important what you don't say as what you say, and that's what the American voters are going to have to decide ahead of the RNC Reince Priebus saying, you know, a week with Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," you know, people, the candidates are accountable for their words. We'll see what effect this has. Matt, Marc, please stay with me. Got to get a break in here. We're going to be back with you. More on the other side and we'll going to hear more from Donald Trump tonight. He will make a few campaign appearances in Iowa, including at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition at that annual fall banquet trying to get those critical evangelical votes. We'll be right back.