that was her wedding day last month. next to her, the lady in the blue dress, by older child, that is chill in chatham, adam, winemaker in australia, and rachel works for ralph lauren in new york city. okay, who's taking it away? it's not neil, is it? no, it's not neil. who is -- neil: it's neil. hi, how you doing? stuart: i'm sorry. neil: all those kids look so happy. knowing your fame and everything else, do they every day pinch themselves and go, ka-ching? stuart: what are you talking about? [laughter] get out of here. neil: okay. well, happy father's day. stuart: thank you, neil. neil: with that many kids, if you can even remember them -- stuart: yeah, i was struggling. [laughter] neil: i like her. she's a good kid. congratulationses and hope it's a great day, stuart. all right. in the meantime, well, you remember that old twilight zone episode, it's a cookbook? well, for amazon it's a grocery

store chain. and to that notion that amazon is taking over the world and now people are getting afraid that not only has it taken over the technology world, but it's going into the traditional food world and how you get your groceries and buying whole foods in a roughly $13.7 billion deal, if you don't think that this is sort of creating a bit of a selling twilight zone for competitive retailers, look what's happening to walmart, costco and target. all of them taking a big hit right now on the idea that maybe amazon's hopes to serve man means that it's going to serve all of his competitors. that is, jeff bezos' competitors on a platter. you see how i worked that in there with a little rod sellerring? [laughter] okay, fine. this is basic cable. you just have to deal. in the meantime, let's take a look at the implications of this deal, because it is a dramatic alternative for jeff bezos and company. it's one thing to go into rockets, but to go into food and grocery stores and into organic

food at that, all of a sudden this whole sphere changes, like, in a second. to market watchers christine short, dan schafer, larry zeller. larry, what do you think? what's going on here? >> well, this is just another deflation cramdown by amazon. stunning when you think about it. but what's been bothering the low end of the industry, the german retailers coming in and squashing prices, now it's vulnerable to the upside. imagine being a supplier to whole foods right now. you're running for cover because that's what they're going to do. i think it's the fourth pillar of their business after aws, marketplace prime, this is a layup for them just to help customers, especially prime customers, with better channel options, in-store delivery. this is going to be a really game-changer for the industry. neil: now, what i want to know is how they implett it, christine. -- implement it. the immediate question is with amazon you just order stuff, it comes to your house. so if you have a grocery store, high-end grocery store at that,

how does that jibe with the amazon image? or does it confuse it? >> well, you know, amazon knows that groceries are a twofold business. online grocery, unlike online, you know, other retailers of apparel and accessories and electronics hasn't really caught on. only 2% of groceries are purchased online. amazon's tackling that with amazon fresh. they're also going another route with amazon fresh pick-up so you can order online, but you can go to the stores to pick up. with whole foods' 450 locations, this gets them closer to consumers' homes, but they're also trying out amazon go, as we know, which is an in-store brick and mortar store, however, you don't need to check out. you're already logged in, you pick up what you want, and you can leave. there is a portion of the market that's never going to do online grocery. they want to go in person, pick out their own produce, their own meat, and they want to be there in person to do that. i think this furthers their quest to take over grocery. and as we're seeing today, a lot of the other grocers are worried

what they did with bookstores, is that what they're going for with grocery here, and will they be successful, and i think we're seeing investors think they will be. neil: whole foods was not an accidental choice. they could have just as easily seized the ponderosa restaurant chain, they did not go that route. [laughter] so what are we to make of this? >> i think this is absolutely brilliant. i'm a whole foods shopper. i eat organically and as naturally as possible, and i think they're one of the best in the business. the problem is organics cost more. is so here you have amazon that has a fabulous distribution system and a fabulous model being able to now come in and redo the distribution network of the whole foods brands because they also have a lot of regional products that's not just national. so they could put this perfectly together. and the world is recognizing more healthier foods. what they need to do and why the other stocks, in my opinion, are down is because they're going to lower the price points.

that's been the biggest problem for whole foods, and that's what's been keeping their stock down. in this cycle of the economy when people don't have as much disposable income, if they get those price points down based on their distribution system and as your other guest said being able to deliver closer to home, this is a home run for everybody from whole foods to amazon but not a home run for all the rest of the retailers in the grocery business. neil: you know, almost anything these days, larry, that amazon touches turns to gold and turns its own stock to gold, but i'm wondering if it's priced for perfection in this runup. i should disclose i'm an amazon shareholder, so i should be careful, right? but one of the things i liked about it, first, is i don't like to shop. let alone go in a place that sells healthy stuff. but that's a whole other discussion we'll have. >> right. neil: but i wonder if it's falling, and we'll get into this a little later, if it's veering from its niche, and it's

confusing folks. i mean, it confused me. i do see and you all, you know, articulately outlined a vision here that maybe i missed. but i do wonder where it's going here, why have stores where you can check out at a physical location. why bother with this sort of field. i mean, there's not a lot of money and not a lot of wiggle room in the profit margin for these stores, whole foods included, although it finds more than others. am i missing something here? >> no, i don't think you're missing anything. it's easy to get hypnotized. since 1997 it's, what, amazon $675 billion in sales yet $5 billion in earnings in that makes no sense from a valuation standpoint. yeah, i don't think you're missing anything. they're definitely able to lay an egg, and this could be the egg that they lay. fresh pantry hasn't worked out for them. they've not gotten into the farmly industry, and i don't --y and i don't think they will. i do believe they think it's a

fourth pillar, and they're just looking to cause deflation, and there still is a lot of fat in the high end of that market, and it'll get reduced very quickly. neil: do you think what jeff bezos is doing isn't that far afield from what he was doing when he bought "the washington post," launched into rocketry, that these are eclectic interests that don't necessarily have to be instant moneymakers, he just likes the idea of having them? >> yeah. i mean, i would trust almost anything jeff bezos does at this point. look, he's trying to disrupt industries that don't work. grocery isn't working out that well. it's not necessarily convenient. we haven't cracked online grocery. the brick and mortar options are, you know, too much for some people, so he's trying to crack this $1.5 trillion consumable foods industry. and considering, you know, consumers spend so much money whether it be at restaurants or grocery stores, he's looking for areas that aren't quite work anymore. he knows he has the technology,

he has the capital to fix these industries, and he's trying to do so. i know it might not make sense for a lot of people that know this as starting with bookstores and being really a technology company, but i really think it's genius, what he's doing. because there needs to be change in the grocery industry, and i think he's realizing that. neil: with "the washington post," there's something you could wrap the fresh fish in from whole foods. just a bad joke. thank you very much, have a safe weekend. what to make of this? there's a lot of people scratching their head. this is the delivery company, right? online for everything and now you're online at a whole foods getting the same thing or are you? what's going on here? is the company veering a little bit from its core? now, you wouldn't know it, again, looking at the stock price or, for that matter, looking at whole foods' stock price. let's go to a stock analyst, shea that, what do you think? >> i think it's a smart move for amazon. it's bringing tech, you know, into our daily lives more and

more even for those who are tech-averse. and for amazon, you know, they waded into online grocery delivery with amazon fresh, and it's not working. and they are losing to a company called insta car which is a huge competitor for them. for jeff bezos and amazon, i don't think they like to lose a lot x. for them, you know -- neil: i think this is going to to be, you know, i think it's going to be a disaster. here's why, you know i mentioned earlier i'm a shareholder, but i can remember that infamous twilight zone episode where everyone was so excited about the aliens. oh, they're curing cancer, they're going to make peace, they're teaching us to get along, and it turns out it was a cookbook, and they're all getting on the rocket ship to get eaten. you're way to remember, but rod serling warned us. amazon and jeff bezos are taking over everything we value, including food. your thoughts.

>> while i appreciate a goodale yen reference, i just -- good alien reference, i disagree. amazon has already got in the industry with amazon fresh. they are looking at this competitor which is doing well which is, you know, expanding and growing, 80% this year. or they're going to be serving 80% of markets within a year, and they saw an opportunity to come in, buy whole foods -- which, by the way, is instacart's number one supplier -- neil: really? >> yes, absolutely. they rely on whole foods to, you know, go to instacart. you go on, within an hour you can get something delivered to your door. whole foods is one of the number one partners that instacart has to deliver to your home, and amazon saw that, and i think they saw an opportunity not only to bolster amazon for example but also, you know -- fresh, but also to take over this market

that instacart had been owning. neil: i'm just saying, i've been talking to a lot of young, healthy people like yourself swearing by this, but you're all zombies -- [laughter] i know i'm comparing old movies here -- >> at least we'll be healthy doing it. organic, very healthy individuals when we jump. neil: you're a good sport and a very smart one who knows far, far more about this than i do. but i'm warning you, america and the world, jeff bezos is destroying the world. no, he's not, actually. i have no idea. all right, but can you imagine if they combined the rocketry with whole foods? well, the astronauts would be set for food. all right, president trump, meanwhile, he's going to be unveiling a new cuba policy. remember when he was never a fan of the president, his predecessor barack obama, normalizing relations? today he is formally making good on his promise to do differently, but how differently? is he just going to sever all ties with the cubans altogether? we're told not quite, but he'll address that miami, florida,

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neil: all right, miami, florida, we're waiting to hear from president trump. he's going to be addressing a group on how he wants to redo his predecessor's open ties to cuba right now and sort of dial them back. not cut them off, but dial them back. i think that's the gist of it. adam shapiro at the white house with the very latest. >> reporter: it's not only what the president's going to do that's getting headlines, but what he tweeted this morning. let me go through the tweets in order, especially the last one and clarification fox news got about the last tweet just moments ago. first tweet came this morning, and the president said: after seven months of investigations and committee hearings about my, quote, collusion with the russians, end quote, nobody has been able to show any proof. sad. second tweet: the fake news media hates when i use what has turned out to be my very powerful social media, over 100 million people, i can go around them. third tweet: despite the phony witch hunt in america, the

economic and jobs numbers are great. regulations way down, jobs and enthusiasm way up. here's the key tweet causing ripples in washington, the fourth tweet. quote: i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who told me to fire the fbi director, witch hunt. two issues there. the first, did the president just admit to being investigated as part of the russia probe that robert mueller is conducting, and second, the fox news channel did confirm that he was referring here to rod rosenstein, the actual deputy attorney general who has the authority to fire rod mueller. first, the president's legal team has issued a statement saying that he was not, again, not confirming that he is under investigation. so this is just one of those days in which the tweets have sparked all kinds of news coverage, and now there's the clarification. the other headlines quickly, neil, coming out of miami already, vice president pence is in miami.

he was touring a part of little havana called domino park, very popular. people sit down in public and play dominoes, and he was asked about lawyering up as part of the russia probes and investigations, and he said to the press in attendance, very routine, very routine. neil, back to you. neil: i don't know if it's routine. i mean, it's not every day a vice president of the united states hires a personal lawyer. interesting. by the way, did the president clear or is he clearing these tweets these days with anybody? does he just rocket those out? >> reporter: it's hard to get a clarification on that. i can tell you -- and this is not an official kind of statement, but there was discussion in the white house this morning about why was that allowed to go. there's no way that the legal team -- neil: no way. >> reporter: -- in new york could have allowed that. and we got the clarification from the legal team that, quote: not confirming he is under investigation. neil: okay. thank you, my friend, adam shapiro, at the white house. meanwhile, president trump is,

as you might imagine, still very concerned about these leaks. with more white house briefings -- would more white house briefings help? he's cut way back on them. some people argue the fewer briefings, the more tempting to hear from leakers or to try to extract information from those who might know it. fox business' charlie gasparino on that. he's pro-leaking. [laughter] we've got david hop by and independent women's forum carrie lucas. welcome to all. what do you think happened? do you have a theory? here's my crackpot theory on this. when a president or even a company cuts back on its, you know, its dealings with the press, this thing is going to escalate, this type of leak. anyway, when it's a president who is at war with the press and the press with him, it really escalates. >> listen, i covered wall street for a long time, and i still do, but i covered it, like, daily as a beat particularly at "the wall street journal." you know, wall street firms are very insular. they do not give press briefings.

all's i did all day was wake up trying to figure out how to crack them, and i cracked them a lot -- neil: yes, you did. >> i hurt the stocks, sometimes i helped the stock, but either way, i kept them off -- neil: the worst message one of their assistants could give these guys, charlie gasparino online one. >> and they despised me, but they did that because i woke up every day with this burning desire to break a story about merrill lynch back in the day, citigroup particularly, did a lot of work on them, p morgan back in -- jpmorgan. so i don't think it works. neil: if they didn't have a friendly press talking the you or saying, charlie, you're wrong, would you keep going? >> no. ask the people at citigroup, who i roasted -- sandy wylde to this day despises me because i spent three years roasting him. john thain while he was at the new york stock exchange, three years roasting him because they didn't return my phone calls. neil: wow. >> it's just -- neil: you're a mean person.

>> here's the thing, you have targets and you have sources. that's journalism. neil: all right. david, one of the things that's being raised is whether the president, even with these tweets, keeps the argument going. now, i understand what he's saying. i don't believe he does get, whether you agree or disagree with him on certain policies, a fair shake from the press, because i do believe the press does hate him. i think that's fair to say. now, who started what and how bad it is, i think the press should rightly be condemned for not even trying to balance things out. leaving that aside, by cutting back on the briefings or keeping these gaggles even limited, does it force the press to do more of this stuff? >> well, controlling the narrative is terrifically important in politics, and you control the narrative by being both regular and consistent. and the second one of those where the white house has some issues, because we've seen a number of cases recently where the president will tweet something, then the press people, the press secretary and the press operation will follow,

then something else will be -- neil: he gave it new life. see, he just gave it new life. >> that's exactly right. there has to be a consistency and a control. but controlling the narrative and doing more of it, i think, is the best way to do that. but if you don't have consistency, you're going to get yourself in trouble. neil: carrie, how bad is this -- i'm sorry. how bad is this going to get, carrie, in your eyes? >> yeah. it's interesting, because the president clearly loves the fact that he can get around the media by using things like twitter, but that doesn't replace the idea that he needs to engage with the media or try to get the message, the narrative back on issues he wants to talk about -- neil: but his tweets consume the media. he's not getting around him, he gets the media to pounce on those and use them as ammunition. >> sure. but he does get to at least talk to the american people -- neil: true. >> there's no rhyme or reason the what he does half the time. listen, if i were on that side of the fence, i would say, yeah, let's stick it to the media, let's use twitter, let's get our message out. but he's actually doing it in a

self-defeating way because he doesn't even tell sean spicer what he's going to do. >> yeah, absolutely. >> there's no coordination here. >> he needs to be trying to find ways to get back to the story he wants to talk about, things like health care and tax reform -- neil: like this one today is a good one, i want to normalize relations with an abusive administration, i want to dial that back. but he's off that. >> there needs to be some discipline -- neil: right, and there isn't. >> he can control certain things by using his, the twitter account. but once again, if they don't have a thought process of where they're going and how they want to connect -- neil: bingo. and a lot of people think i'm anti his tweeting, no, i'm anti getting off what i think is the more productive message. >> i had dinner last night with outside advisers, people who know trump very well, know the administration. his lawyers, his senior staff, they have just given up on trying to control him.

they know what he's doing is, is self-defeating. cause wits knows it's -- neil: his personal lawyer. >> yeah, he knows it. neil: and he's got to account for these tweets that are going to be used as evidence. >> so allegedly, according to this source -- and i believe this is true -- the lawyer asked priebus or one of his inside advisers to get him to to stop, and they were like, don't even ask. neil: good luck. [laughter] carrie, if that's the case, there's still going to be -- there's not a right-left argument, there just is. there's just a bad relationship here. but this is not going to help matters any. but the president does enjoy a lot of core support for a lot of his core programs, core initiatives. dare i say even on this i cuban thing today? so i'm wondering, where does he go from here on this? >> absolutely. i think his team needs to realize that he may be -- you can't control him, he's going to be tweeting on some things -- neil: it's like charlie. we deal with it every day. [laughter]

it's just part of the volcano. >> exactly. but they also have to have a proactive plan so they can get back on message because the real shame here is so much of the narrative is moved away from things we want americans talking about, about positive things like moving forward on tax reform, deregulation, health care reform -- neil: right. >> these are the issues we need to get back on. >> that's exactly right. the alternative to wall-to-wall mueller is policy. >> right. >> there's a lot of good policy the administration's pursuing. they ought to be consistent in talking about it and disciplining -- >> can i correct something just a little off topic? neil: please. yeah. >> you made it like you were a modern-day warren buffett holding amazon forever. [laughter] you failed to disclose that you sold ge -- neil: yes, i did, the day before you announced that -- [laughter] yeah. hung onto that puppy for 20 years. >> so just be clear. neil: i know, warren buffett, i am not. by the way, the big issue we're missing, charlie, is amazon taking over grocery stores like

the aliens in that twilight zone episode. it's a cookbook, you realize that. >> did you get that from alex jones? neil: go ahead, laugh all you want. remember this. [laughter] but i've enjoyed gaspo's final appearance here. [laughter] we have more on this amazon thing and what the heck they're thinking. i mean, i know a lot of people like the convenience of fresh food delivered. charlie and i are are as organic as you get, but i'm worried, folks, because my heart was palpitating at this. after this. sten up, heart disea. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done.

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neil: all right the president has arrived in miami where he will be addressing a group here showing concerns about normalizing relations with cuba. said throughout the presidential campaign and a lot since we haven't gotten much out of that deal. that the cubans haven't really extracted too many concessions on our behalf. they seem to be gaining everything including a lot of u.s. companies expanding business and cubans are getting all the goodies.

he wants to put an end to that. not an end to normalizing relations entirely we're told but dialing it back a tad. the question is how much, what will be involved. apparently all these cruise lines, americans and others that won't change but if you wan to lift off to go to cuba on your own, that is not going to happen. we'll hear that very shortly. meantime russia it may, stress, even russia saying this, may have killed isis leaderring a baghdadi in an airstrike last month. -- al-baghdadi. colonel, great to have you. >> thank you, neil. neil: when the russians are dialing this back, we think. obviously they have reservations this was a raid at the end of last month, right? >> that's right, neil. if this is true, he i take this as a big if, russian reporting with a big grain of salt, but if it is true, this could accelerate the unraveling of isis as a state.

you know right now raqqa, its capital, is under pressure. the initiative, the offensive there has just begun and in iraq, mosul has almost been taken by iraqi forces supported by the u.s. but it would not mean the end of isis as a movement. look, we have to keep our pressure a lot of pressure on this leadership. they're fully radicalized. they're not going to come to the table. they have to be taken off the battlefield by military means. if they are more afraid of whether they're going to make it through the night alive, they don't have time to plot and plan future attacks but my fear, and what i worry about are young arab, five, six, seven yearly children affecting their hearts and minds. we have to have a longer term strategy on extremism. neil: you're closer to i ever was or will ever be, colonel, so

if you would indulge some simplistic questions. even if we called osama bin laden, not as if al qaeda went away. now his son is trying to take his place. we see the same with similar incidents with top lieutenants over at boko haram, who were killed or wiped out in a raid, all of sudden they emerge somewhere else like coke roaches. people get reassured when they hear this sort of stuff. how do you advise them to stay vigilant? >> well look, we haven't, again, this is the difference between individual personalities and then the idea. it is relatively easy to hunt down and kill an individual, bomb a tank, you know, take a city. it is very difficult to bomb an idea and just like it took 50, 60, 70 years to undermine the legitimacy of the idea of communism, it is going to take the same thing with islamic extremism. so we have to have in the short term we have to go after these guys.

we have to disrupt them. it does affect their ability to recute. it custodies rapt their ability to plot and plan but we have to have the long-term strategy in place as well. why can't -- there were terrorist groups in the '80s and '90s, that recruited and conducted terrorist attacks in names of communism. why can't the shining path and red brigades can't recruit anymore. their ideology lacks legitimacy. that is the point we have to get to. it will have to be a long-term effort and generational effort, neil and we need to be honest with the american people how long it will take. neil: we need to let the american people know they will recruit americans, lone wolves. >> that's right. neil: deupon dent or angry orbiter or demented individuals who would be amenable to any sort of crazy message, right? >> difference with the analogy i made with the cold war, undermining communism, now we have the internet, now these

individuals, these groups, isis, the taliban, al qaeda have the ability to reach into homes and individual minds and inspire localized attacks. that being said i wouldn't underestimate the effect of taking out the osama bin ladens and al-baghdadi. a lot of those folks, fighters and recruits are attracted to strength. they respect the strong horse. when isis was, had realized that the caliphate that osama bin laden had always dreamed of, that attracted thousands of fighters per month. we are seeing that, you know, that attraction kind of be undermined and be diminished but it is still going to be there for a while. that's why things like girls education, women's empowerment, long-term economic plans have to be put in place to take away the instability that these groups are using to recruit folks. neil: well-put. colonel, thank you very, very much. i appreciate it, sir. >> sure, neil.

thanks so much for covering this. neil: senate republicans are getting very close to a health care beale, but here's the deal. it is upsetting some conservatives. it comes at a time when even chuck schumer may be in light of all the crazy developments this week, maybe we can all talk on this health thing. now what? donald trump has arrived in miami. it will start getting interesting after this. looking from a fresh perspective can make all the difference. it can provide what we call an unlock: a realization that often reveals a better path forward. at wells fargo, it's our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and wealth management firms in the country. discover how we can help find your unlock. that's why this control enthusiast rents from national. where i can skip the counter...

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whether that is part of this kabuki theater getting real progress or staged progress, who knows, but i have a good idea this guy has a better idea than i do. house freedom caucus member andy biggs of arizona. sir, good to have you. >> thanks for letting me be with you, neil. neil: let me ask about the over ture to chuck schumer, maybe owing to all the horror this week, he wants to see if he can build off of that, maybe get democrats and republicans in the same room to thrash this out. what do you think? >> well you know, that is kind of hard for me to believe. maybe i'm too cynical i guess. you know, first of all, grateful for the capitol police, they were heroic. prayers go out to steve scalise and those wounded and their families. i'm surprised chuck schumer is going to weigh in and i would be more surprised if the republicans in the senate took him up on his offer.

neil: if you fear that you don't, look like back to sort of the old way? >> well, i think we're not going to really get too much out of the old way anyway. i think what's going to happen is, you will push conservatives off who made these promises of repeal. the only part of the last bill that really was a solid repeal, was repeal of the taxes. that is what is being attacked right now, is some of the taxes they want to leave n so if you're going that way, then, why would you move to the democrats instead of move back to the conservatives to say we want -- neil: that is interesting. that is sticking in your craw, i would imagine, more than guys like you, a idea to keep lot of taxes in place to presumably pay, i think that's what they're saying for the increased medicaid coverage a lot of governors want. that isn't going to fly with guys like you, isn't it? >> it is like a lead balloon, neil.

neil: what do you want to see? the president himself said the plan, to be fair, you rejected this plan if memory serves me right, the president said that house measure was mean. so is that was mean and they're coming across with something that is senate republicans, that is, deemed less mean, because it provides more money or keeps more taxes, where are we going here? >> well you know, what is really mean, and i don't know what the president said. i wasn't there. i don't know what his motivation was and what he was really thinking but one thing i do know, we all promised a straight repeal, and if we're bogged down, maybe it is bogged down because we're just kind of fiddling around the edges of obamacare. maybe we're just not really keeping our promises to the american people. and that is really what's mean, when you don't coop your promises. and when you look at it, and if you're not going to repeal the taxes, you're looking at the costs are going up and people who are losing their health

insurance daily in this country, maybe that's what is really mean. maybe that is why we need to go back to street repeal. neil: you're saying if that measure, what republicans are apparently cooking up in the senate calls for keeping a lot of the obamacare taxes in place, a surtax on medicare for the well to do, et cetera, devices all that, that that is, that is not going anywhere with you, or for that matter your caucus? >> well i can't speak for the whole caucus but i can tell you that in my, my little echo chamber folks i talk to that is really hard to conceive we would go that way. and for me that's just, that's just anathema. neil: thank you. very good seeing you, sir. hope you have a good father's day weekend. meantime insurers are looking at all this, for the time-being this is getting to be very costly so we're going to be raising premiums. now those rising costs and rising premiums to boot are a

little eye-popping, and doesn't wills will know that. she he has the latest. hi, gerri. >> that's right, neil. the senate's efforts to craft a bill to repeal and replace obamacare is foundering on those conservative objections to the direction the bill is taking. at issue the medicaid expansion. how long should the program keep running? also, how many of 21 tax increases put in place by obamacare should be removed? what about the rollback of coverage requirements? the issues are contemplated. lack of direction coming out of washington causing chaos in the individual market. a new survey by oliver white, average increase requested by insurers on the obamacare exchanges, 20%, two, 0. insurers facing deadlines to file coverage next year. we're getting a picture what it will look like, how it will he emerge. the survey found 43 insurers are asking for increases in, ses of 20%.

at the top end of this, maryland insurer carefirst, asking for a 52% increase in rates. now, as in the past insurers say they are raising rates dramatically because of the lack of young people signing up for obamacare coverage. now they say uncertainty surrounding health care policies, delay in the senate bill, also pushing them to assume worst case scenarios for their pocketbooks. as a result, more and more of them are pulling out of the exchanges. so an update here. according to the centers for medicare & medicaid services 1200 counties or 40% of all counties nationwide containing 2.4 million obamacare customers will have a single insurer just, one on the exchange next year. that is as of right now. another 47 counties, mostly in ohio, missouri, washington, will have no choices at all. so obamacare falling apart as washington tries to get its act together. sounds all too familiar now, doesn't it, neil? neil: when you hear these

republicans having a devil of a time getting together on this. real quickly, gerri, what did you think of chuck schumer's olive branch, whatever you want to call it to work with republicans on this, given obviously the events of the week and everything else, but what do you make of that? >> look, regardless how he is not straighted, if this isn't really a true reaching out across the aisle, doesn't matter. republicans should talk to him. they should take him up on this. we should get together on this. neil: bingo. >> we to move forward. neil: bingo. plenty of people have doubts and cynicism and everything might be all like i say kabuki theater, you can't walk away. if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. if nothing happens, you're no worse for the effort. >> more of the same. neil: feel the love, right, gerri this feel the love. >> that's right. neil: president trump in miami expected to unveil a cuba policy. this was one of his big issues

in the campaign especially when we normalized relations with cuba. what did we get out of that deal? that is a big issue with the president. he is making good on a promise to rescind it but not entirely though. that is where it gets interesting, the devil in those details after this. ♪ ou feel like you're a part of the family. i love that i can pass the membership to my children. we're the williams family, and we're usaa members for life.

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neil: we're looking at a record or close to one if it happens. the dow has been resilient in all the cross current. you have what is going on in technology and amazon which is taking over the world, everyone is happy about it, a billionaire is taking over our grocery stores. that's fine, neil, i can live with it. many too young to remember the infamous "twilight zone" friendly aliens come to the world, try to cure diseases and wars and everything only for us to board a rocket ship to become an item on a menu. take it for what you will. nicole petallides born decades after that particular episode of the "twilight zone" but i guess there goes everything that holds dear. >> i sew enjoyed that, neil. you're a good story-teller. neil: many say that. >> i didn't see

"the twilight zone," never saw it. that is interesting. neil: whoa, whoa, whoa! >> what? neil: you never saw the "twilight zone"? >> i remember the beginning of the show, the theme, but the answer is no. neil: all right, go ahead. >> that's why i enjoyed your story so much. to jeff bezos' point he came out with this great word how it is nutritious and delighting nourishing customers for four decades, whole foods has, they want to continue to do an amazing job. jeff bezos coming out with strong nice words about this 14 billion-dollars deal. look at food companies, about 55 billion-dollar in market cap of some of these companies has been erased. we're seeing not only supervalu, kroger, tar got, coming under pressure but the food companies stocks as well, post, thinking cereals, smucker's, kellogg,

mccormick spices and the like. everything under pressure across the board. largest acquisition ever for amazon, right? 13.7 billion. the deal that didn't happen was target and sprouts farmers' market. that was last year. they pulled out of that. see what happens. some of these stocks will be closing at lows -- neil: better part of that deal.

that he not trying necessarily to reverse but scale it back, to something advantageous for us to remind cubans they have a lot more to do. he will speak. marco rubio, of course the vice president. full-scale effort come back, we're keeping track of congressman steve scalise's condition. connell mcshane with an update on that. hey, connell. reporter: hey, neil. all we can say fox has been told congressman is doing better. no official change in his condition, still critical. last night at the congressional baseball game, prayers at second base. both parties gathering at the position. he would have played, scalise, in the stands. people holding up signs, scalise strong. there was a long-standing ovation when his name was announced. very nice moment there. as for his condition, we're told the doctors may give the congressman a day or two to rest after couple surgeries. more surgeries likely, could

happen today but they might wait. a surgery related to internal injuries and broken bonn in his leg. the concern remains the area where he was shot, pelvic region, so many organs, very, very sensitive. doctors told him they expect him to make a full recovery. he is certainly getting better. they may have to operate again. they may give him a day or two to rest. we'll keep you updated. neil: connell mcshane in the newsroom. we'll have a lot more, how the president will thread the needle on this one. he doesn't want to break relations with havana, but break the deal at least in half after this.

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or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. neil: moments away from hearting president trump's address on our cuba policy whether he wants to continue normalization of relations or dethawing from president barack obama. tracee carrasco is there what we might expect. reporter: as you see behind me. this is passionate crowd of protesters in support and against the president, as we all away his new cuba policy just moments ago. it is to begin in a speech down here just a few blocks away from me. now the new policy is a campaign promise to roll back obama era changes that opened up relations with cuba. he long felt this deal has been a bad deal for america.

that obama's decision to ease up trade and travel restrictions that a regime has not let up in return. now president trump is expected to announce efforts to restrict u.s. companies from doing business with cuban ventures controlled by the country's military. the new policy strengthens the american statutory ban on tourism to cuba. the president says he will not cut off recently resumed flights, commercial flights between cuba and the united states, some of the airlines have pulled back. jetblue, cut back on some of their flights because demand hasn't been as great as they expected. with this new policy we can only imagine that demand will be much lower. so the president, also we're not expecting him to shut down the u.s. embassy. that was reopened, re-established there in 2015.

so we will hear exactly what this new policy offers in just a few moments. neil? neil: tracee, thank you very, very much. sounds like it is getting pretty boisterous there, not always in a good way. u.s. economic council president what this could be for business relations.john, if we y nothing of cutting them off, that big distinction of course, it changes things. people pro the obama deal, we get a seat at table others had for a long time, we lose it again if we don't. what do you think? >> unfortunately neil, the reason we're here today is because of what the obama administration didn't do in terms of making more changes to regulations and more changes to policies, and the cuban government didn't do in terms of accepting many of those changes. so the u.s. business community is looking at what the trump administration has announced and it's disappointing but u.s.

companies are going to be adaptive. the role of the cuban military in the cuban economy is substantial, it is increasing. if you want to use an optic, it is a big spider gobbling up little spiders and uses energy to create a big are web, it is metastasizing. it will be difficult for u.s. companies to operate in cuba without touching the cuban military but it is possible. many of the efforts are in the next 30, 60, 90 days as regulations are promulgated. and they go to the commerce department, treasury department, state department, white house to make their case. hopefully the trump administration will listen to some of the nuances and make certain that what entry u.s. companies do have is able to be sustained. but there is no question that everyone is prepared for less today than there was yesterday. neil: all right, this would be done how then? in other words, i don't even

remember, with barack obama, there was no congressional sort of input on this, right? i mean there presumably wouldn't be as well? >> that's correct. when president obama made changes to the treasury department regulations, commerce department regulations he did so unilaterally. when president trump making changes to the treasury regulations and commerce regulation es he is doing so unilaterally. president obama upset those who did not want to see any changes. president trump is upsetting those that didn't want to see any changes. neil: let me get a sense what happens. a lot of people, tourism has boomed in cuba since this thawing in relations here. i understand that would not be affected here, on part of a cruise to cuba you still can but there is a distinction made if you travel alone there. i didn't understand. can you explain that to me? >> there's still, i think jelling that together. treasury department did issue moments ago a updated frequently

asked questions but the reality is, tourism, traveling to cuba for the purpose of tourism remains illegal by the trade sanctions reform and export enhancement act in 2000. there are 12 authorized categories, educational travel is within the category. president obama reverse ad bush administration decision which required everyone going to cuba for educational or what is called people to people, go in groups. the purpose was to put more bodies into cuba. the trillion administration is saying we're no longer going to allow certain categories, people to people, to go individually. what that does is impact the airlines because the airlines gained because people just hopped on planes and went to cuba for purposes other than than what they were supposed to do. it will benefit cruise lines, cruise lines do well with group tours. they know how to do that for example, when 2,000 passenger

vessel from norwegian or royal caribbean docks in the port of havana, 2,000 people wander off on their own. now going back to requiring group travel, they will need to get on buses. so it will be organized and cruise lines will probably make more money but there is no question there has been abuse. there was abuse during the bush administration which then resulted in the bush administration making changes that impacted the u.s. business community, sort of coat lateral damage. now this will be the same. unfortunately some of the travel agents and tour operators pushed the envelope too hard and they were doing some things that were just egg greens just and screaming -- egregious and screaming tourism. they shouldn't be surprised what is happening. neil: we'll watch closely, john, thank you. as you said, last time it wasn't done with congressional approval. this time without congressional approval but would be sweeping nonetheless just in reverse. tom fitton joins us on the

"judicial watch," from on this cuba development, we'll go there as soon as president speaks, maybe before, a lot of concerns about leaks, who is talking to whom and all this talk about maybe former fbi director and his role as chief counsel investigating all this is cooking up possible obstruction charges against the president of the united states or looking into that potential. tom where is all of this going? can you update me? where do we stand on this? >> well, he i think we're kind of facing a rule of law crisis and not so much the president is above the law. i think the approach of the establishment class, the fbi, and others is that he is beneath the law. they can leak whatever they want. they can spend government money and taxpayer money investigating someone because they simply don't like the person. in the case of the obstruction of justice investigation which is allegedly going on because we really don't know if it is going on since there has been no official confirmation, according to "the washington post," it

didn't began when mueller came in. it was begun by the fbi immediately after mr. trump fired comey. so here you have payback plain and simple in my view. you have the fbi leadership, initiating an investigation into the president over an employment dispute. and, the fact that mueller evidently is taking it up, further confirms in my view the abusive nature of the special counsel office. highlights need for anything to come in. it is certainly out of control in other ways. neil: i don't know what would have been worse, let's say we never seen comey fired. we know the views he harbors of the president now, that he is a liar, can't be trusted, doesn't want to be alone in the room with him, this is the guy presumably leading investigation into his administration or cohorts or the president himself

with russian operatives, but at the same time, you know, we know he leaks after the fact he is fired. so either way, you know, he, he has an axe to grind here. i mean, you don't have to be left or right on this, pro-trump or anti-trump, you can see he has an axe to grind. >> he hates the president. doesn't like him. he told one friend, he was disgusted by an effort for the president to shake his hand, give him a pat on the back. he. neil: he wanted to hide. >> he was disgusted. we asked the fbi, we demand that they go get records he took. which raises other questions. he took the records with the idea evidently of leaking them. they weren't his records to take. he faces liability over that. i have to wonder -- neil: do we know that for sure, by the way? that is in some dispute. >> dispute whether the records were his to take? i don't think there is any reasonable dispute. there is partisan --

neil: that -- >> he admitted he took them. he admitted he took the records. he gave them to his friend. but they weren't his records to take. neil: i thought he took one memo? >> i don't know. i'm concerned if you take one record, take two, take three. who knows how many records he took. that is the job of the fbi to get them back. neil: i hear you. i was thinking in this hypersensitive time where e-mails are checked, phone calls, references communications are checked, wouldn't it behoove james comey and for that matter, mueller here to be very, have he careful what they're sharing because that all comes out as well or explain that? >> well, you know, mr. mueller, comey took the position that everything hillary did with violation of the law related to records weren't violations of the law, so frankly doesn't surprise me broke the rules too. no surprise there, it raises again, goes back to the genesis

of this special prosecutor investigation. number two at the justice department, know that comey purposely leaked this information, with the hopes of getting a special counsel to having president trump on unrelated charge of obstruction of justice. is that, did know that was the game that was going on? did mueller know that was the game going on when he was installed there? i really think they need to go back to square one. as i said, i think there are constitutional issues with the office because what is going on here, the president attacked the rosenstein this morning for having him because, into the investigating him over firing of fbi he recommended. the problem rosenstein doesn't have control over the investigation. neil: you're talking about the deputy attorney general? >> the deputy attorney general. he hired mueller, mueller has the authority to start prosecuting people. where does the authority come from? he hasn't been confirmed by the senate?

he is not subject to day-to-day supervision by anyone within authority of justice department? this is prosecutor who doesn't have the constitutional mooringses to be able to proceed lawfully. it is up to the justice department to look at these regulations, and correct them. and if it means mueller has to report directly on day-to-day basis to rosenstein, so be it that is the constitutional way to proceed. neil: tom, thank you very, very much. tom fitton on development who has what, and intelligence. i want to switch to miami right now. i do want to dip into marco rubio. we're told his support on this change in policy, down to his ideas how we go about changing it is crucial here. rubio the former presidential candidate made this core part of his campaign, especially when we had normalized relations. his family fled from cuba, harkened back to a time when they risked their lives to come here, his father included this

was kind of a middle ground. i want to go to marco rubio in miami? [applause] >> i want you to know in every single one of those incident the president spoke about cuba, he spoke about brigade 2506. [applause] a few weeks before the election the first time in deck he went to their museum, they endorsed him. first time in decades they endorsed a presidential candidate. there isn't a single time i haven't.to the president about cuba that he has not mentioned the brigade. that strikes me because remind us almost 60 years ago, young men willing to fight and die for freedom of their homeland they made extraordinary sacrifice and perhaps some of them felt that

the time to make a difference for them had passed. i want them to know, almost 60 years later, they have made a difference this meeting, their efforts i believe as much as anything else brought us to this day. [applause] and -- [applause] we just landed at the airport. i had honor again of flying on air force one. they have thes about m&ms on the planet. [laughter] and you can take red lights when you're part of the motorcade when it comes in legally, without those crazy cameras. never mind. i don't want to talk about that. get rid of the cameras.

and, and, it struck me as the plane landed and we were getting into the cars that brought us here, we look at the president coming down the steps he was greeted by dissidents, by freedom fighters, by people, some of whom, on the island of cuba have suffered greatly at the hands of had oppressive regime. less than year-and-a-half ago an american president landed in havana, greeted by a regime. [booing] a year-and-a-half ago, a president, american president hand landed in havana to out stretch his hand to a regime. today a new president reaches out his hand to the people of cuba! [applause]

and, i close with this. -- >> usa. usa. usa. usa. >> i close with this, many will characterize this as an effort to punish the cuban regime, and it will punish the cuban military that open presses its people and helps maduro open press their people in venezuela. [applause] -- oppress. more than anything else, this changes powers of people in cuba. not cuba, not the government, not the regime but the people. so they can enjoy freedom and liberty very clear message, america is prepared to out stretch its hand toe work with the people of cuba, we will not empower their open press source! -- oppressors.

you mark my words, and you mark my word, whether it is in six months, or six years, cuba will be free. and when it is -- [applause] and when it is,. [shouting] and when it is, i believe that the people on the island, and history will say, that perhaps the key moment in that transition began on this day here in this theater, with each of you and with a president that was willing to do what needed to be done so that freedom and liberty returns to the enslaved island of cuba! [applause]

[speaking spanish] neil: all right. while he is saying essentially the same thing in spanish, tom bevin is joining us, boyd mathison. boyd, listen to the way marco rubio set something up, apparently working closely with the administration, how they approach this, this was something that i know your old boss, senator mike lee wanted to do but in stages. so what will the differentiation be? we don't go back to what we had, but what do we do here? >> i think what, i think what marco rubio is really teeing up is this forward movement and this connection to the people of cuba. i think that is the whole key. we can't go to the regime

component to this. obviously not going all the way back but i think it is significant how far back it seems to be ratcheting what the obama administration did. as you rightly pointed out before, neil, the real key to this, not for the president not just do this by another order might be swept away by somebody else in a few years, he needs to go to congress. i think that is one of the markers senator rubio is i lag down. we can start with this declaration today, but this needs to go back to congress to get this right and get on a path that really will lead to more liberty are to the people of cuba. neil: former obama campaign regional field director, vice president to speak very soon. i wanted to squeeze you in, the president might have regretted then, this one might you now if he doesn't get congressional approval? >> you're exactly right. i'm encouraged by everything i just heard marco rubio say. president obama started this process right before he left office. i'm really glad, this is somewhere we can work by partisanly through congress.

i think this is victory for all of us. neil: not a victory for your old boss, right? it is not a victory for your old boss, right? by the way, florida governor rick scott, i misidentified. this administration is trying to undo much of what president obama did, not entirely to your point, but does that worry you? >> obviously if they roll back what obama set in place. obama before he left office opened up to trade and travel to cuba. anywhere we can work together to try and move progress with cuba i'm all for. you know, we're going to be caught in the weeds a little bit. there is a lot more to investigate but i think the democrats need to pay careful attention find ways we can work together regarding this issue, neil. neil: tom bevin, "real clear politics," one of the things you always search for in a deal, how much you're getting out of it. donald trump is famous for saying almost all the deals this country gets involved in we get

the shorter end of the stick. on this one wants to make sure we get fair treatment, our businesses do, what have you, but can pulling out now or business interests pulling out now leave foreign competitors at an advantage here? >> perhaps, you know, but this is one of donald trump's campaign promises he would deliver on. he thought this was a bad deal. and he would renegotiate it. one of the major complaints from marco rubio and others this gave away too much to the regime. they didn't have to do anything in response. cuban regime gave nothing in exchange for getting all of these benefits. so trump is now ratcheting that back and we'll see how it goes from there. i agree, it should be a congressional thing moving forward. bipartisan thing through congress he will put that down as another campaign promise filled. neil: boyd, so much is made of the fact, it was argument for barack obama normalizing or semi

normalizing relations between the cubans, for 60 years and cold war between our countries, nothing came from it, nothing for them, nothing for us. at least now americans are going to travel there, they get something out of it, beyond that, u.s. businesses, hotels could get something out of it. so their argument has been there is gain for american interests. how is that obviously something the president disagrees with, how is that going down? >> there is difference between having a seat at the table and giving away the table all together. so i think that while you could say, well, nothing really moved over that 60-year period you can't just suddenly normalize everything and expect that to be a good deal for america and for the american people and for american business. so i do think it will be incremental thing. this is certainly not the end today. the end of the beginning. the hard work and heavy lifting will have to be done by congress, step by step, proving it out, making sure the regime

responds accordingly and that the cuban people are empowered to really move it all forward. neil: robert, do you know when this was crafted in the obama administration, maybe you were there for all the details of that? was there a sense how americans would be treated if they traveled alone to cuba? if you're part of a cruise line whatever that is different, i guess you're in large groups so not something so aggressively policed but technically i was told even lone travel would be frowned upon. i don't know if it was illegal. >> yes. neil: now in this case it will be deemed illegal, but bring up-to-date. what was the thinking then? >> protection of americans is our first and foremost interests. so yes lone travel was, there was a lot of concern about that. obviously we started with cruise lines like you said, neil, going back to cuba. and this is incremental. but like i said, we have a wonderful opportunity here to have bipartisan support.

americans are tired of the politics. this is something we can work together. this was started under president obama. donald trump is countering what was done but we can work with what we're given, neil. neil: tom, real quickly, what happens from here? the president will stick with a promise he said he would deliver on. he is delivering on it today. but for americans who look at our, this is a place we want to go, we want to travel to, we want to see. how big of a deal will that be norfolks? or is that such a relatively small audience there are plenty other options in that neck of the woods is it just a moot point? >> yeah look, i don't think in the grand scheme of things is not going to affect many americans. they will not have a real opinion about it one way or the other. again a lot of this stuff, neil, comes down to, is all background noise to the economy. can he get the economy moving. are policies he is putting in place helping fuel the economy. that is really where his presidency will be decided i

think by most americans in the end. neil: all right. that is very well-put. meantime the vice president of the united states, this is a full throttle, full court effort now as they lead up to the president, make a push for making enormous concessions with the obama administration with very little to show for them. of course the vice president inindicated that as well when he was still the governor. let's listen to what he has to say as he tees up his boss. >> what a great day. governor scott, senator rubio, congressman diaz-balart, secretary acosta. [applause] secretary purdue, secretary ross, distinguished members of the cuban-american community, honored guests, my fellow americans, welcome to history. [cheers and applause]

welcome to an historic day, a day when america will renew our commitment to the ideal of freedom in this hemisphere. a day when the world will witness america once again, standing in solidarity with the people of cuba. thanks to the strong and unwaivering leadership of president donald trump. [applause] it is the grittette privilege of my -- greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to president donald trump. a man of his word, a man of action and a president who stands without apology as leader of the free world. [cheers and applause]

since the hour of our nation's birth the united states has stood for the proposition that all are created equal. that we're endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. [applause] as americans we believe those rights belong to the entire human family, but for 58 years the people of cuba have labored under a repressive regime that has stifled their liberty and with it their future. for generations the sons and daughters of cuba have come to our shores in search of the freedom that their friends and family at home are denied. but while you came to the land of the free, you never forgot home.

you raised your voices through the generations, to demand that cuba be free once more, and once again, you have a president who hears you, and is with you. [cheers and applause] >> that this nation stands not with tyrants, but today president donald trump will make it clear that the united states of america stands with the courageous men and women of cuba who seek to reclaim their god-given rights to life and

liberty. [applause] today, under the leadership of president donald trump, america will say once again with one voice -- [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] cuba, si-- castro no. [cheers and applause] >> so with gratitude for his leadership and with admiration

for his unwavering dedication to freedom,s it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to you my friend, the president of the united states of america, president donald trump. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ [applause] >> trump! trump! trump! trump! [cheers and applause]

[cheers and applause] >> thank you, everybody. thank you very much. it's a great honor. thank you to my truly great friend, vice president mike pence. he's terrific. [applause] and thank you to miami. we love miami. [cheers and applause] let me start by saying that i'm glad secretary of state rex tillerson and i, along with a very talented team, were able to

get otto warmbier back with his parents. [cheers and applause] what's happened to him is a truly terrible thing, but at least the ones who love him so much can now take care of him and be with him. also my dear friend steve scalise took a bullet for all of us. and because of him and the tremendous pain and suffering he's now enduring -- and he's having a hard time, far worse than anybody thought -- our country will perhaps become closer, more unified. so important. so we all owe steve a big, big thank you. [applause] and let's keep the warmbier

family and the scalise family and all of the victims of the congressional shooting in our hearts and prayers. and it was quite a day, and our police officers were incredible, weren't they? they did a great job. [cheers and applause] and let us all pray for a future peace, unity and safety for all of our people. [applause] thank you. and for cuba. i am so thrilled to be back here with all of my friends in little havana. [cheers and applause] [laughter] i love it. i love this city. and one of the big -- thank you. thank you. [inaudible conversations]

no, this is an amazing community. the cuban-american community, there's so much love. i saw that immediately. >> yes. we -- we love you. >> thank you, darling. oh, do i love you too. [laughter] [applause] what you've built here, a vibrant culture, a thriving neighborhood, the spirit of adventure. it's a testament to what a free cuba could be. and with god's help, a free cuba is what we will are soon achieve -- we will soon achieve. [cheers and applause]

[cheers and applause] >> usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! usa! >> and i don't even mind that it's 110 degrees up here. [laughter] this room is packed. you know, it wasn't designed for this. i'd like to thank the fire department -- [laughter] we are delighted to be joined by so many friends and leaders of our great community. i want to express our deep gratitude to a man that's really become a friend of mine, and i want to tell you, he is one tough competitor, senator marco rubio. [cheers and applause] great guy. he is tough!

man! [applause] he is tough and he's good and he loves you. he loves you. and i listened to another friend of mine, congressman mario diaz-balart, and i'll tell you, i loved what he said, and i appreciate it. mario, i appreciated what you said so much. [applause] in fact, i was looking for mario. i wanted to find him. they said he was on stage. i almost dragged him off the stage to thank him, but now i'm thanking him anyway. thank you, mario, that was great. really appreciate it. and and i also want to thank my good friend and just a man who was of tremendous support in the state of florida for being with us, governor rick scott. [cheers and applause]

great job. he's doing a great job. oh, i hope he runs for the senate. i know i'm not supposed to say that. i hope he runs for the senate. rick, are you running? be -- huh? i don't know. marco, let's go. come on, we've got to get him to -- i hope he runs for the senate. we're deeply honored to be joined by amazing veterans of the bay of pigs. [cheers and applause] these are great people, amazing people. [applause] i have wonderful memories from our visit during the campaign. that was some visit. that was right before the election.

i guess it worked, right? boy, florida as a whole and this community that supported us like, by tremendous margins, and we appreciate it. but including one of big honors, and that was the honor of getting the bay of pigs award just before the election. and it's great to be gathered in a place named for a true hero of the cuban people, and you know what that that means -- [applause] i was also looking forward to welcoming today two people who are not present, jose daniel ferrar and bertasoler who were both prevented from leaving cuba for this event. [applause]

but we acknowledge them, they're great friends. great help. and although they could not be with us, we are with them 100%, okay? we are with them. right? [applause] finally, i want to recognize everyone in the audience who has their own painful but important story to tell about the true and brutal nature of the castro regime. brutal. we thank the dissidents, the exiles and the children of operation peter pan. you know what that means. [applause] and all who gather in the cafés, churches and the streets of this incredible area and city to speak the truth and to stand for justice. [applause] and we want to thank you all for

being a voice for the voiceless. there are people, it's voiceless, but you are making up the difference, and we all want to thank you. this group is amazing. just incredding, you -- incredi, you are an incredible group of talented, passionate people. thank you. incredible group of people. many of you witnessed terrible crimes committed in service of a depraved ideology. you saw the dreams of generations held by captive and just, literally, you look at what happened and what communism has done. you knew faces that disappeared, innocents locked in prisons and believers persecuted for preaching the word of god. you watched the women in white bruised, bloodied and captured on their way from mass. you have heard the chilling

cries of loved ones or the cracks of firing squads piercing through the ocean breeze. not a good sound. among the courageous cuban dissidents with us on stage here today are carrie roquet who was imprisoned by the castro regime 15 years ago. [applause] [cheers and applause] she looks awfully good.

>> thank you, mr. president. thank you, mr. vice president. thank you, marco rubio. [speaking spanish] thank you to all the many cubans who fight. no matter what the time for me, the cuban liberty. the cuban people, the people inside my eyes, my homeland, thank you. thank you, and we appreciate your love. [applause] >> thank you. wow. that's pretty good. she didn't know she was going to do that either, i will tell you. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible] imprisoned for 17 years.

where is he? [applause] i love that name. antunes, i love that name. and angel difana, imprisoned for over 20 years. [applause] thank you, thank you. very brave people. the exiles and dissidents here today have witnessed communism destroy a nation just as communism has destroyed every

single nation where it has ever been tried. [applause] but we will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer. you have seen the truth, you have spoken the truth, and the truth has now called us, this group, called us to action. thank you. last year i promised to be a voice against repression. in our region, remember, tremendous repression. and a voice for the freedom of the cuban people. you heard that pledge, you exercised the right you have to vote. you went out and you voted, and here i am like i promised. like i promised. [cheers and applause]

>> trump! trump! trump! >> i promise you, i keep my promises. sometimes in politics they take a little bit longer, but we get there. we get there. don't we get there? you were better believe it, mik. we get there. >> four more years! [laughter] >> thank you. thank you. no, we keep our promise. and now that i am your president, america will expose the crimes of the castro regime and stand with the cuban people in their struggle for freedom. because we know it is best for america to have freedom in our

hemisphere whether in cuba or venezuela and to have a future where the people of each country country can live out their own dreams. [applause] for nearly six decades, the i cuban people have suffered under communist domination. to this day, cuba is ruled by the same people who killed tens of thousands of their own citizens, who sought to spread their repressive and failed ideology throughout our hemisphere and who once tried to host enenemy nuclear -- enemy nuclear weapons 90 miles from our shores. the castro regime has shipped

arms to north korea and fueled chaos in venezuela while imprisoning innocents. it has harbored cop killers, hijackers and terrorists. it has supported human trafficking, forced labor and exploitation all around the globe. this is the simple truth of the castro regime. my administration -- [applause] not hide from it, excuse it or glamorize it. and we will never, ever be blind to it. we know what's going on, and we remember what happened. [applause] >> trump! trump! trump! [applause]

>> on my recent trip overseas, i said the united states is adopting a principled realism rooted in our values, shared interests and common sense. i also said countries should take greater responsibility for creating stability in their own regions. it's hard to think of a policy that makes less sense than the prior administration's terrible and misguided deal with the castro regime. [applause] well, you have to say the iran deal was pretty bad also. [laughter] let's not forget that beauty. [laughter] they made a deal with the government that spreads violence and instability in the region, and nothing they got -- thank you -- nothing they got, they fought for everything, and we

just didn't fight hard enough. but now those days are over. [cheers and applause] now we hold the cards. we now hold the cards. the previous administration's easing of restrictions on travel and trade does not help the cuban people. they only enrich the cuban regime. ms. -- [applause] the profits from investment and tourism flow directly to the military. the regime takes the money and owns the industry. the outcome of last administration's executive action has been only more repression and a move to crush the peaceful democratic movement.

therefore, effective immediately, i am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with cuba. [cheers and applause] >> trump! trump! trump! [cheers and applause] >> i am announcing today a new policy, just as i promised during the campaign, and i will be signing that contract right at that table in just a moment. [cheers and applause]

our policy will seek a much better deal for the cuban people and for the united states of america. we do not want u.s. dollars to prop up a military monopoly that exploits and abuses the citizens of cuba. [cheers and applause] our new policy begins with strictly enforcing u.s. law. [applause] we will not lift sanctions on the cuban regime until all political prisoners are freed -- [cheers and applause] freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized -- [cheers and applause] and free and internationally-supervised elections -- [cheers and applause] are scheduled.

elections. [applause] we will very strongly restrict american dollars flowing to the military, curt and intelligence services -- security and intelligence services that are the core of the castro regime. they will be restricted. [cheers and applause] we will enforce the ban on tourism. we will enforce the embargo. [cheers and applause] we will take concrete steps to insure that investments flow directly to the people so they can open private businesses and begin to build their country's great, great future, a country of great potential. [cheers and applause]

my action today bypasses the military and the government to help the cuban people themselves form businesses and pursue much better lives. [applause] we will keep in place the safeguards to prevent cubans from risking their lives to unlawful travel to the united states. they are in such danger, the way they have to come to this country. and we are going to be safeguarding those people. we have to. we have no choice. [applause] we have to. ms. -- [applause] and we will work for the day when a new generation of leaders brings this long reign of suffering to an end. and i do believe that end is in the very near future. [cheers and applause]

we challenge cuba to come to the table with a new agreement that is in the best interests of both their people and our people and also of cuban-americans. [cheers and applause] to the cuban government, i say put an end to the abuse of dissidents. release the political prisoners. [applause] stop jailing innocent people. [applause] open yourselves to political and economic freedoms. return the fugitives from american justice -- [cheers and applause] including the return of the cop killer joanne chesimard. [cheers and applause] and finally, hand over the cuban

military criminals who shot down and killed four brave members -- [cheers and applause] of brothers to the rescue. who were in unarmed, small, slow civilian planes. [applause] those victims included mario dela pena jr. and carlos costa. we are honored to be joined today by mario's participants, miriam and mario -- parents. and carlos' sister, merta. where are you? [applause]

[inaudible conversations] >> those are great, those are great, great parents who love their children so much. what they've done is just an incredible, incredible thing. what they represent. they did not die in vain. what they represent to everybody and especially to the cuban people. so your children did not die in vain, believe me. [applause] so to the castro regime, i repeat: the harboring of criminals and fugitives will end. you have no choice. it will end. [applause] any changes to the relationship

between the united states and cuba will depend on real progress toward these and the other goals, many of which i've described. when cuba is ready to take concrete steps to these ends, we will be ready, willing and able to come to the table to negotiate that much better deal for cubans, for americans. much better deal and a deal that's fair. a deal that's fair. and a deal that makes sense. [applause] our embassy remains open in the hope that our countries can forge a much stronger and better path. america believes that free, independent and sovereign nations are the best vehicle for human happiness, for health, for

education, for safety, for everything. we all accept that all a nations have -- all nations have the right to chart their own paths, and i'm certainly a very big believer in that. so we will respect cuban sovereignty, but we will never turn our backs on the cuban people. that will not happen. [applause] over the years a special sympathy has grown between this land of the free and the beautiful people of that island so close to our shores and so deeply woven into the history of our region. america has rejected the cuban people's oppressors. they are rejected officially today. they are rejected. [applause] and to those people, america has become a source of strength, and

our flag a similar -- symbol of hope. i know that is exactly what america is to you and what it represents to you. it represents the same to all of us. and that is what it was to a little boy, luis aza. you ever hear of luis? became very famous, great talent. just 8 years old when fidel castro seized power. at the time, luis' father was the police chief in santiago de cuba. you know santiago? oh, they know santiago. just days after fidel took control, luis' father was executed by firing squad near san juan hill at the hands of

the castro regime. luis buried his grief in his great love of music. he began playing the violin so brilliantly and so beautifully. soon the regime saw his incredible gift and wanted to use him for propaganda purposes. when he was 12, they organized a national television special and demanded he play a solo for raul castro. who, by the way, is leaving now. i wonder why? [applause] they sent an official to fetch luis from his home, but luis refused to go. and a few days later, castro's soldiers barged into his orchestra practice area, guns blazing. they told him to play for them.