Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Velshi And Ruhle 20180419

Im stephanie ruhle. Im ali velshi. It is thursday, april 19th. Lets get started. President trump under pressure. Now one of his longtime Legal Advisers is apparently warning the president that his boy Michael Cohen could turn against him if hes facing serious jail time. He told trump on a scale of 100 to 1, mr. Cohen isnt eve an one. I dont know if hes in trouble or not. But if you said to me and i had to flip a coin is he going to turn on President Trump or other people, i would say no. On the mueller probe, have you concluded that its not worth the political flalout to remove either special counsel mueller or mr. Rosenstein . Theyve been saying im going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they are still here. Despite an internal administration battle over further russia sanctions for the support of syrias chemical weapons program, the president is defending actions to hold out of an additional sanctions for you. Very much deserve it. Well have thats a question theres been nobody tougher on russia than President Trump. President trump is revealing more about his upcoming and unprecedented meeting with kim jongun. If i think its a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, were not going to go. If the meeting when im there is not fruitful, i will respectfully leave the meeting. This morning were learning more about the absolute terror on board southwest flight 1380 after an engine exploded, shattering a window and partially sucking a woman out of the plane before passengers pulled her inside. Investigators say jennifer readeren was wearing her seat belt. The coroner said she died from Blunt Force Trauma to the head, neck and torso. She had two kids, a loving husband and a Community Around her that loved her. My heart is broken for them, and i just pray that they find comfort and healing. That was a texas firefighter who was one of the two men who helped pull jennifer back into the plane. Speaking out for the first time at a News Conference in the past hour. Well hear more from him in a few minutes. Weve spoken about the pilot and that firefighter and another emergency worker who helped try and keep this woman in the plane and save her life. And weve talked about how amazing it was for the 144 other passengers and crew to have landed safely and survived, but were also remembering the fact that this woman lost her life in a horrific way. First person since 2009 to die in the United States in a flight. Absolutely awful. Well get to that in a minute. Well begin the coverage this hour with Michael Cohen. President trumps personal attorney and a man who once boasted that he would take a bullet for the president. But now trumps allies are worrying that cohens loyalty may not be bullet proof, especially if hes facing years, not like a year, years, in federal prison. The wall street journal is reporting that jake goldberg, a long time Legal Adviser to the president warned trump that cohen might cooperate with prosecuters reportedly telling trump on a scale of 100 to 1 where 100 is fully protecting the president , mr. Cohen isnt even a one. And according to politico, another President Trump ally warned that when anybody is faced with spending a long time in jail, they start to reevaluate their priorities. And cooperation cannot be ruled out. Joining us now, nbc news intelligence and National Security attorney and the former attorney general in the civil rights division. Ken, politico is reporting trump allies are concerned because of an interview cohen gave last week in which he described the fbi as professional, courteous, and respectful in the raids. Remember, it was that same day that trump was out there saying they illegally they broke in to his apartment. And comey the red flag is that comey who is normally combative wasnt cohen. Cohen. Im sorry. Super combative, and suddenly hes not. Cohen. I said comey. You said cohen. You did the right thing. Its a red flag. The whole situation is a huge red flag for donald trump. Michael cohen is a man who knows Donald Trumps secrets. Now hes facing serious criminal jeopardy. Ive covered a lot of white collar criminal investigations. People who wear suits to work tend to do whatever they can to avoid prison. Cohen said he would take a bullet for trump. But stormy danielss lawyer said its one thing to say it in theory. Its another thing when theres a loaded gun at your head. Figuratively speaking. Yes. They say theyll share most of the materials or that which they can share during the raids with the president s lawyer by as early as may 11th. Thats not too far away. What does it tell you about the pace of the investigation . It felt this is going to get bogged down in procedural stuff for a while. It sounds like theyre moving. I think they are. One of the things we need to keep in mind is the cohen investigation is not under mueller. Two different places. The Southern District of new york is essentially like a separate special counsel. When i say that, i mean the Southern District of new york has always had a preeminent role among all the u. S. Attorneys in the country. When i was at the Justice Departme department, although my rank was above the, so to speak, assistant attorney u. S. Attorney or the u. S. Attorney, i asked them what they wanted. They didnt ask me what i wanted. They were always to be highly respected, and very much on their own. That means they are going to be doing things at their own pace. Theyre not going to committees on the hill. Not to the washington press, not to the white house. Theyre on their own. That means theyre going to go at a pace thats different. Does it mean that President Trump could pardon Michael Cohen if the states attorney finds something some. I dont see why not. He could. I dont imagine he would do that early. I dont think he would do that ree reeveryonetively. If he made a pardon move, he would have to have a good record of why and say this was unfair for the following reasons, a, b, c. He would have to make a record, otherwise it would look like partisan hackdom. Saying he was my lawyer and im protecting myself. Hed have to find a basis to make it stick with the public. Can i ask a dumb question . If its only about appearances, the president doesnt care what appearances are. If hes saying to Michael Cohen, do not flip on me, and i will pardon you, isnt that so much more important to the president and Michael Cohen than what the general public thinks . The president will get up there and say fake news, youre out to get me. Risky to do that. Theres a possible obstruction of justice. It could be done, but it would have to be done through hand signals that you and i cant read. Right. And ken, to that point about pardoning and then moving back to the Mueller Investigation for a minute, a reporter asked President Trump yesterday about the prospects of firing special Counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein. Heres what he said. Theyve been saying im going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and theyre still here. So we want to get the investigation over with, done with. Put it behind us. So that wasnt really an answer to the question. No, it was not. But look, i think all the evidence and the reporting suggests that donald trump would badly like to fire Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller. The only reason he hasnt is because almost all the advice hes getting is it would do more harm than good, because as james comey has been saying this week, firing those gentleman would not stop the investigation. Donald trump would have to fire the entire Justice Department and fbi to stop it. For right now, its just a terrible idea everyone telling him that. I dont think we can ever rule it out. Youre not in your head. I agree completely. I think it would be much harder for the president to do that than not to do it. By the way, i think anything he says other than youre fired means hes not fired. You have mark meadows and jim jordan putting the pressure on rosenstein. It doesnt have to be the president if he has republicans behind him. Yeah. I think thats right. But certainly to get to mueller, though, you would have to outright fire him. And that would mean it would prolong it. It means more losses in this year and the congress. It means a complications in 2 0 2020. It means that you would have an even bigger brand of antimueller and antiinvestigation that you have now. I think that the final reason that you wouldnt do it is because hed simply be replaced. And now you have to start all over and go another two years. Why would you do that even if you wanted to get rid of the person . Thank you to you both. All right. Senators are moving ahead with legislation to protect Robert Mueller. The Senate Judiciary committee is marking up the legislation this morning. It could vote on a bill next week. And it appears it has enough support to make it out of committee. As less likely to get the 60 votes needed to pass the senate and even more of a long shot topaz in the house. None of that matters because Mitch Mcconnell says hes not bringing up the legislation for a floor vote insisting he doesnt believe President Trump would actually fire mueller. Why doesnt he believe that . President trump says russia will get more sanctions. Do you know when . When they deserve it. Next, were going to find out why they deserve it now. Were going to break down the many ways russia has blatantly attacked the United States just since trump has been in the political game. And President Trump is on his way to key west for a briefing. Hell return to his home at maralago this afternoon. Out of the 454 days hes been in office, hes spent 146 days at trump properties. Thats about a third of the time. He spent 107 days at his golf properties. Whenever hes at the properties, that is huge dollars to his resort. The secret service has to the amount of people tied to the president and the government that have to be at the resort staying there and protecting him and using the facilities paid for by you. Millions of dollars going right there. Well be right back. A wealth of information. A wealth of perspective. A wealth of opportunities. Thats the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. Straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. To help you grow and protect your wealth. Experience a blend of. And raw power,nship. Engineered to take the crown. Presenting the allnew lexus ls 500 and ls 500h. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. You know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Welcome back. Just a few seconds ago air force one took off. President trump is flying to naval station key west, florida the next hour. Hell be briefed by the joint Interagency Task force south. The president apparently doesnt believe russias done enough to deserve further sanctions. I dont understand that. I thought i only saw a transscript at first, i thought somebody transcribed it correctly. He weighed in on russia on we understand trying to get his administration back on script after a dual between the u. S. Ambassador u. N. Ambassador, and the chief economic adviser to the president larry kudlow. Nikki haley promise red talluation for russias backing of bashar al assad. So youll see that russian sanctions will be coming down. Secretary mnuchin will announce those on monday and theyll go directly to any part of companies that were dealing with equipment related to asaad and chemical weapons used. Its stunning. She was not waivering. It was specific. Shes putting them forward forward. She wasnt making it up or shooting from the hip. When asked about the sanctions, however, larry kudlow said he said nikki haley, she was mistaken. She got ahead of the curve. Shes done a great job. Shes a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that. Nikki haley responded flatly saying with all due respect, i dont get confused. The president tried to put the issue behind him at maralago yesterday by saying this. Well do sanctions as soon as they deserve it. Well have thats a question theres been nobody tougher on russia than president donald trump. As soon as they deserve it. Were going to get to that in a moment. But if that last part sounds familiar, it has been a favorite line of the Trump Administration. He has been tougher on russia in the first year than obama was in eight years combined. Weve been very tough on that. Weve been very tough on russia, frankly. Nobody has been tougher on russia. Nobody has been tougher on russia than i have. Theres nobody been tougher on russia. There has been nobody tougher than me. But russia will tell you there has been nobody tougher than donald trump. In that press conference last night, President Trump says hell sanction russia, quote, as soon as they deserve it. Well, for facts sake, they do. The Intelligence Community including the president s nominee for secretary of state mike pompeo agree the russians meddled in the 2016 election. When the president signed sanctions, the intel chiefs said the meddling is going to continue after the 2018 midterms less than seven months away, the 2020 president ial election and beyond. So far no concrete action to move against russia on that. On the fact that they are still working on meddling in our elections. In syria beyond the Chemical Attacks that nikki haley said the evaporated sanctions. Mercenaries took attack in Eastern Syria last month. American forces successfully pushed the attackers back inflicting heavy casualties. Last night the president seemed to imply the losses werent punishment enough inspect theres also the looming danger of russian hackers. Already confirmed to have penetrated Critical Infrastructure like the u. S. Power grid. The government report for march warned to the vulnerability of mayhem that the russians could potentially cause. Nothing yet from the president either on this one. And its not just the u. S. , but our allies, russian boots were linked to the uks divisive brexit vote and interference in the French Election leaking emails from macrons campaign. And the russians are accused of murders on british soil going after former soils with compounds. Most recently accused of attacking agents with a nerve agent. The question for the president is this. If interference in u. S. And allied elections attacks on u. S. Soldiers, hacking u. S. Utilities and poisonings on british soil dont deserve further sanction, what does . Joining us now is bobby gauche. This kind of stuff, it almost feels like a waste of time to do what i just did. Most humans are not unconvinced of this thing. I really thought it was a mistake when i saw the transcript of what the president says. Well get to sanctions when they deserve it. The president s own security i mean, name one of his lieutenants. I dont mean one of his campaign cronies. One of his lieutenants in an official capacity. Every one said russia is going to interfere in the next election. The president has given them nothing to fund or direction to combat it. If we opened the windows, you could hear the laughing from moscow. Theyre laughing. I got back from europe. A trip to italy and all over europe, people are scratching their heads about this. What is going on . Which part of the American Government when it comes to dealing with russia should they believe . Theyre hearing from the folks at nato. Theyre hearing from the cia that russia is a threat to the United States, and then they hear this from the president. They see that the americans went along with them and sent home 60 Russian Diplomats when then they hear the president say this. Its a weird thing going on within one administration. Doesnt this hurt the president s case for saying Robert Mueller has nothing. Theres no collusion. Youre right. We havent heard anything from mueller yet. If youre macron, may, countries know russia has interfered in their elections, this thinks he has to have something with russia. Especially at a time when the state department is heavily under staffed. There are no people from the state department to hold the hands of our allies and say dont worry. Weve got your back. This is a particularly bad time with the russian threatening in Eastern Europe and parts of other europe as you described there, ali. This is a particularly bad time for there to be uncertainty among American Allies about where america really stands. So what is supposed to be done at this point . Because nikki haley who has had a good aggressive stance on u. S. Foreign policy at the u. N. , by the way, which is a big voice, in a forum where people didnt think she yould play that much of role. Shes been doing it there. When that is undermined, whats left . What can what can our allies expect from us and what can russia expect from us . Theyre not certain at all. If you really stretch your imagination, and you really have to stretch, you could argue that perhaps what the president is trying to do is to keep the russians guessing. That hes trying to play within a Single Administration both good cop and bad cop. As i said, you really have to stretch the imagination. Thats not the way the russians are looking at it. Thats not how anybody is looking at this. Maybe that works in childrens games. Maybe that works in the real estate business. It does not work in international diplomacy. Thank you very much. Ali, the thing that blows my mind is the position this puts nikki haley in. Larry kudlow apologized for saying she was confused, but he also made it clear she was not in the know. Now nikki haley has to go about her business with it being put out that shes not in the inner club . Thats important. The idea that the people whom youre trying to convince of something they youre not in the Decision Making circle, thats a problem. You can get confused about what the sub prime mortgage situation is going to do with our economy. Nikki haley, she didnt get confused about what sanctions were going to be put in place. Yeah. Coming up next hour on andrea mitchel, well hear from the chair of the Senate Foreign relations committee, bob corker on trumps pick for mike pompeo as secretary of state and the recent talks with south korea. Im sure this conversation will come up with him as well. Airlines around the world are inspecting boing 377 engines after one blew up mid flight on a southwest plane this week. Well have details about one of the most common aircrafts in the sky. About a third of all commercial flights. Youre watching velshi and ruhle. It took guts to start my business. But as it grew bigger and bigger, it took a whole lot more. 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Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. And help make more tomorrows possible. Entresto, for Heart Failure. Welcome back. Here are the top stories right now. President trump says he will walk out of north korea talks if theyre not productive. This as south korea prepares for talks with north korea next week. And claims that the north is ready for, quote, complete denuclearization. Trump is expected to meet with kim jongun by june. California is sending 400 National Guard troops to the mexico border. California troops will be tasked with combatting International Crime including Human Trafficking and drug smuggling. Amazon prime has more than 100 million members worldwide. 20 million more than wall street projected. Ceo jeff bezos announced the number in a letter to shareholders. Another Senior Executive at nike is out. The fourth to leave this week. The shakeup stems from a Corporate Culture investigation that began last month. Nike received complaints that the company lacked diversity and is, quote, a boys club. The two men arrested at starbucks last thursday spoke out this morning. Heres what they are saying about the moment of their arrests. A call was placed at 4 37 approximately two minutes after you arrived to 911. What did you think when you saw Police Arrive . It cant be us. As soon as they approached us, they just said we have to leave. There was no question of was there a problem here between you guys and the manager . What happened . When you were arrested, did they tell you what you were being arrested for . No. Not. Wasnt read any rights, nothing. Just double locked handcuffs behind our back and escorted out and put into a squad car. All right. Federal safety officials are soon going to order emergency inspections of the type of engine involved in the tragic accident on tuesday in philadelphia. One of the flight engines exploded after a fan blade came off and a passenger was killed. Southwest says it is already inspecting every one of its engines used on at least 4,000 boing 737s. The faa says all of these now must be examined after a certain numb of take number after takeoffs and landings. Lets look at the plane. This is the single most popular commercial jet in the sky. It broke the Guinness World record for most produced commercial plane of all time last month with its 10,000th plane coming off of production on march 13th. The 737 has been in the air for more than 50 years. Its a narrow body aircraft with one aisle. Its actually sold. Boing has sold more than 14,000 of these planes. Its got a backlog in production of more than 46 00 orders. More than 300 airlines in 111 countries fly the 737. You can see the airlines. Southwest, by the way, owns the biggest number of 737s. The entire fleet is 737s. One takes off or lands every two seconds. It makes up about 31 of all commercial flights. The Company Estimates its carried about 23 billion passengers in total. Now, according to Global Safety records, incidents on the 737 700. The type of plane involved in tuesdays accident are rare. Since the year 2000, there are 17 accidents involved this plane eight of which on Southwest Airlines flights. Remember, it is 100 of southwest planes. All right. Moments ago we heard from the hero firefighter who was on the southwest flight 1380 and the man who tried to save the life of Jennifer Riordan who died from blunt impact trauma to her head, neck and torso. Heres the firefighter. I never was in fear of my life. Im sure my family could speak otherwise. Im trained for emergency situations. Thats exactly what it was. I felt moved to act, and as well as other people on that plane. The pilot, tammie jo, the pilot, professional in all aspects and her crew, amazing job. She had two kids and a loving husband and a Community Around her that loved her. Time will heal. People were placed on that plane for a reason, and there was people helping others throughout the plane. Throughout the plane. No doubt. And i felt calm. I knew that tammie jo had it under control. That allowed me to do me and others to do what we did. So i think overall i think it was calm. You know . Andrew needum. It was successful. She landed the plane. It could have been worse. An engine was lost, but this womans life was lost. Its important to remember her. Jennifer riordan. When we come back, facebooks privacy problems. Tens of millions of accounts have already had their personal data harvested by third party apps. It seems the company, theyre still steering users away from tightening their privacy settings. Thats what i dont get. Its the opposite of what Ceo Mark Zuckerberg told Congress Last week. Were going to explain what some of the problems are. First, science. Nasa launched a new mission to find planets specifically those that could support life. The test satellite launched on a Spacex Falcon nine rocket last night is going to orbit the earth on a twoyear mission. Youre watching velshi and ruhle. My breath. It was the last song of the night. It felt like my heart was skipping beats. I went to the er. They said i had afib. Afib . Whats afib . I knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. I needed answers. Once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected from a stroke. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. In a clinical study, over 96 of people taking xarelto® remained strokefree. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your bodys natural bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. For afib patients well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily or take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Facebook is facing a deadline on new privacy measures imposed by the european union. Privacy laws are stricter than they are here in the United States. The company says it will roll out the privacy options worldwide and held a News Conference showing the new options. But its already running into complaints that users are actually deterred from opting out or not really being give an choice to begin with. Pay attention to this. One example, this step by step process of protected information, like religion, sexual orientation, and political views critics say the design makes it easier to simply opt in. And the only way to prevent facebook from using the data to personalize your feed is to delete it. This is just not as easy as facebook seems to imply it should be. Joining us to discuss this is Washington Post Technology Policy reporter tony. Good to see you. I dont know if you have a monitor. I think you know this. I want to show you what stephanie was talking about. We blew up the page with the policies that youd get on your phone. And heres the thing. You can read it through. I think 99. 9 of people click the i accept button at the bottom. This is clear. Lets say you dont want to agree. Lets say you read it and dont want to agree, theres a little blue thing, it says see your options. Thats what you have to click. Even if you click on that, its not simple. Its not easy. Thats the difference. Accept it and move along with your life or question it and do something about it. Hard to see. Hard to do something about it. Tony, thats part of the problem. Its like either you make it easy or you dont. They dont seem to be making it easy. Mark zuckerberg said last week that was their intention. That was certainly their intention. They wanted to make it easier for users to see what they were agreeing to. We know from the research we know from Consumer Behavior people are going to take the path of least resistance, click the box and move on. Theyre not going to think in the moment about the tradeoffs. What am i getting for the information im surrendering about my digital life . And the spirit of the laws that are going into effect in europe right now are to combat these things. Its supposed to make it easier for consumer to figure out whats happening. A lot of folks in the Tech Industry are criticizing facebook for the feature it rolled out. Heres what i dont get. Im comfortable targeted advertising. In my lifetime, getting circulars sent to me in the mail that have nothing to do with the things that i buy were useless. I dont mind sharing my information and then ads that apply to me in my life coming my way. Why cant Mark Zuckerberg just say that instead of whats happening here . Well, he does say that. He says that people like to have targeted ads. The problem is its not as simple as i went to a website. I almost bought some shoes and now im seeing ads for shoes on facebook. Theres tracking thats happening far outside of your field of vision. Every time you log onto a website and theres an invisible pixel thats even tracking what youre going when youre not logged onto facebook. These are the things consumers are freaked out about when they learn about. Theyre the kind of things facebook hasnt done a good job of explains. This fake news nonsense people get is based on the same technology that kaucauses you t see the shoes you almost buy. A lot of meamericans are being subjected to dishonest questionable sources they think are news stories. But thats part of the problem too. Yeah. These are slightly different issues. The things that appear in the feed versus ads. Both speak to the same issue. Facebook is under a lot of pressure to take more responsibility for the information it collects and the information you consume on the platform. But at least in the United States, there really isnt any consensus as to what that should look like. And the privacy context democrats and republicans still fight about the nature or the need for regulation when it comes to the data that companies collect. Members of congress are skittish because you get into First Amendment consideration. Theres a push for facebook to act as a gate keeper, but theres a lot of uncertainty as so to the what a company would do if they were given the power to control what you see and when you see it. Theres a problem, but often lawmakers arent sure or arent willing to act. Maybe they dont understand the policies and problems well ne enough. Thank you, tony. For the first time in nearly 60 years cucubas leader will n be a castro. Well tell you more about the man succeeding rual castro as president and what he thinks of the United States. And hundreds of people evacuated from hawaii after historic floods triggered mud slides, washed out roads and destroyed homes. This is the worst disaster to hit the island in 25 years. Youre watching velshi and ruhle. 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This man isnt named castro, but it wasnt a democratic election and he was running against anyone else. Reporter good morning. The short answer is no. A short time ago Miguel Diazcanel said he could only promise to continue the work of the revolution, and castro told the assembly he expects miguel die yez canal to serve twofive year terms. This is a man is who is an electrical engineer. Been a bureaucrat and has toed the party line for several decades. He had been an advocate an advo several reforms, for example, bringing Internet Access to the island. But the vent statements, hes towed the party line and talked about continuism and towing the fine line. Many experts believe there wont be a sweeping political change here on this island. Stephanie . Theres been a lot of challenges with the economy in cuba. The average salary is about 30 a month. What is expected to happen now . Certainly, after the Obama Administration sort of lifted restrictions on cuba and they reimposed some of them. What does the future look like in cuba . Reporter yeah, thats the question. Many young people have questions about that, ali. As you mentioned back in 2014, president obama said he wanted to restore diplomatic ties here. The Trump Administration rolled back some of those last year. And just a short time after that, the castro government here actually froze the issuing of renewed licenses for private businesses. Nearly 600,000 cubans work in the private sector, but many of them, many that we have been talking to over the last several days, some of the restaurant owne owners, some of the private businesses, say american travelers have been declining over the past year or so since the Trump Administration announced the rolling back of some of those obamaer rar reforms. And perceptionally, theres been less americans. Some businesses dropping 25 to 30 . So the young generation is looking at what is happening now, this political transition that is happening, and they think, they are not sure what the future holds. And they want to know exactly what the political transition might mean and how the cuban government will navigate this complicated relationship that its had with the u. S. And with the Trump Administration going forward. Also, what is also hurt is the mysterious alleged sonic attack where is the diplomats pull out of here. That further complicated things and strained this complicated relationship dating back several years. Gabe gutierrez, thank you so much. Next, an islandwide blackout in puerto rico nearly seven months since Hurricane Maria hit the territory. Well break down where things stand for the millions of Americans Still living without basic services. And its time now for the favorite part of the show, monumental americans. People who should get a statue of their own. Today we are honoring sylvester james. You make me feel unreal ah, james was born in 1947 in los angeles. And got his start singing in a gospel choir. He moved north to San Francisco when he was 22 and began producing elaborate drag shows that still influence performers today. He then gained International Fame as a solo vocalist. And he became known as the queen of disco. He pushed social boundaries with genderbending performances, his openly gay lifestyle and his belief that gender was a choice. James was also one of the first wellknown people to address hiv aids saying it was not a punishment from god. He died from complications due to hiv aids in 1988. Hey, if you have a monumental american, tweet us velshiruhle. Its time now for the your business of the week. Jake and cramer built their watch Business Movement on instagram by targeting influencers who helped spread the word about their reasonably priced millenial focused brand. Today the two College Dropouts added jewelry and sunglasses to the mix and plan to keep growing. For more, watch your business weekend mornings at 7 30 on msnbc. Sponsored by the powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. Dont juggle your home life and work life without it. And dont forget who youre really working for without it. Funding to help grow your business. Another way we have your back. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. The powerful backing of american express. A hilton getaway means you get more because. You get another day in paradise. Get a sunset on a sunday. Get more stories to share. Get more from your Summer Getaway with exclusive hilton offers. Book yours, only at hilton. Com cedric, i couldnt even bowl with my grandkids cause of the burning, shooting pain in my feet. I hear you, sam. Cedric, i couldnt sleep at night because of my diabetic nerve pain. I hear you, claire, because my dad struggled with this pain. Folks, dont wait. Step on up and talk to your doctor. Because the one thing i keep hearing is. Im glad i stepped on up. Me too, buddy. If you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, step on up and talk to your doctor today. You know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. Step on up when only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Now to one of the stories we have been closely following for months. The devastation faced by millions of americans in puerto rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. They are facing another setback. A massive blackout. This one, islandwide. Power Officials Say it was caused by a worker who got too close to a power line with a bulldozer yesterday. The electricity is back on for some people this morning. The Power Authority says about 70 of the customers, about 1. 1 million homes and businesses have been restored. Power is expected to be fully restored by tomorrow. And puerto rico, of course, has been struggling with power since Hurricane Maria knocked the island into darkness now seven months ago. Just last week, there was a massive blackout affecting about 840,000 customers when a single tree fell on a power line in the center of the island. A backup line that was supposed to prevent such an outage also failed. The subcontractor responsible for this blackout also caused yesterdays. And power Officials Say the company has been fired. That, of course, is going to set them back in terms of schedule. In february, most of northern puerto ricos power went out after an explosion and fire at an electrical substation. Blackouts aside, some 40,000 customers dont even have power on a daytoday basis as a result of the hurricane. Maria destroyed up to 75 of all Power Distribution lines. And according to the u. S. Census bureau, please listen to this, its estimated that more than 3. 3 Million People live in puerto rico. That number is as of 2017. That is in the range of states like utah, iowa and connecticut. So just imagine, if these states had such unreliable power for their residents, it would be outrageous, ali. And factor this in, separate from all the people who are currently still in puerto rico, thousands have left. And so youve got states here that are asking for more support from the federal government because now theyve got so many more people who have made the move. But puerto rico remains our responsibility. And it is a hornets nest still. They have had a very serious infrastructure problem before this happened, which is partly why it is so up damaged. And were keeping an eye on the Virgin Islands. You over your break went to both of those places to see how the improvements are. And the Virgin Islands is doing a bit better. It is very hard to compare the two because the Virgin Islands, so small compared to puerto rico, but Puerto Rico Needs this attention and needs serious strategy at this point. All right. Well stay on top of both those stories. Thank you for watching this hour of velshi ruhle. See you back today at 3 00. And ill see you back tomorrow at 9 00. Right now, its time for Andrea Mitchell and Andrea Mitchell reports. And right now on andrea mitt chchell reports, the art dodge. What is leaving Rod Rosenstein hanging . They have been saying, im going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they are still there. We want to get the investigation overwith, done with, behind us. The state department nominee making the rounds on capitol hill that is bolstered by the secret trip to north korea. What did you learn from your conversations with kim jongun . Im just here today working. Coming up, well talk about pompeos confirmation battle and the planned summit with north korea with the Senate Foreign relations chairman bob corker. And