Hello again, I'm Oran Alney.

Today we'll hear the extraordinary story of Lisa Howard, the former soap opera star who became the first high-profile woman in American TV news, the Barbara Walters of the 1960s.

She earned her way in a man's world by getting exclusive interviews with major world figures, including Fidel Castro after his revolution in

Cuba, but that's not all. Her relationship with Fidel changed the course of another man's world.

It was intimate diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.

This is a timely moment to hear that story.

For the first time since 1959, Cuba's president is not named Castro.

The late Fidel's brother, Raul, turned the office over to

Miguel Diaz Canal just a few days ago. A historic moment. But even in Havana, the New York Times reported,

nobody seemed to be listening. Ted Pocone is deputy director for foreign policy at the Brookings

Institution.

He was Latin American Policy Advisor during the Clinton administration.

He's one of this country's leading experts on Cuba.

Good morning.

So, I understand in Havana, they didn't even have the TV stations tuned in.

Everybody was watching a different channel.

It was just not a big deal.

Why not?

Well, you have to appreciate that in Cuba, they don't do much politics. And of course, all the media stayed controlled. And I think they wanted to lower expectations about this transition.

We have a historic revolutionary generation that's passing the baton to the next generation,

and I think they want to keep the image in people's minds that the cashers are still basically running the show.

Raul is just stepping down from the presidency, but holding on

...