♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. good friday morning to you. i'm jose diaz-balart. first this morning, republican rift. the most powerful members of the party not coming around to their new standard bearer. house speaker paul ryan, mitt romney and the two most recent republican presidents saying no to donald trump. >> i'm not there right now. and i hope to, though, and i want to. but i think what is required is that we unify this party. and i think the bulk of the burden on unifying the party will have to come from our

presumptive nominee. i don't want to underplay what he accomplished. he needs to be congratulated. also ahead, an nbc news television exclusive, the man who says he hacked into hillary clinton's private e-mail server talks to cynthia mcfadden. this as a top aide to the democratic front-runner testifies to the fbi. a bombshell in the child sex abuse scandal at penn state. what did he know and when did he know it? court documents now claim joe pa tern -- paterno was first told about the abuse in the 1970s. and north korea begins its most political gathering in a generation today. but first, donald trump up bright and early this morning on twitter, taking a swipe at the house speaker saying, quote, so many great endorsements yesterday, except for paul ryan. jacob rascon traveling with the trump campaign in omaha, nebraska. jacob, good morning to you. what do we know about when and

if ryan and trump might be getting together to mend fences? >> reporter: so trump himself says he thinks the meeting is next wednesday. reince priebus, the rnc chairman, says this was a meeting that was preplanned before the back and forth. but trump has branded himself for many months as a counter-puncher. as you just read there, he's going after the speaker. he's also had another tweet this morning in which he said paul ryan said i inherited something very special, the republican party. wrong. i didn't inherit it, i won it with millions of voters. then you have this morning trump surrogates saying things like, one of them this morning on cnn said that speaker ryan shouldn't bow the speaker if he's not going to get behind trump. then you had dr. ben carson on msnbc this morning. here's what he said. >> i was personally very disappointed to hear speaker ryan say that because we need to be thinking about unity. if we divide the party, we ensure the victory of, you know,

the opposite party. and we've got to be a bit more mature than that. you don't have another choice, so you get behind the choice that you have whether you personally like them or not. >> reporter: so you have many top republicans going behind trump, but then this speaker ryan issue puts a very interesting twist on it. mr. trump said he himself has been very -- was very surprised at what happened. and this may have something to do, we'll point out. within 24 hours after he became the presumptive nominee, trump changed a couple of key positions on taxes and the minimum wage. they have a lot to talk about, of course, and we'll see if they can come together. so far the party is divided and the party that's divided, jose, usually loses in the general. >> jacob rascon in omaha, thank you very much. and now to kasie hunt, we saw you just a bit ago. it's good to see you.

let me play for you what paul ryan said about the gop primary just about two months ago. listen to this. >> i never believed that our party is beyond the point of repair. of course we don't want to see divisions within our parties. we are conservatives. we believe in the american idea. we believe in the principles that built this country that made us such an exceptional nation in the first place. i plan to support the nominee. i think i've said enough about what's happening right now but my plan is to support the nominee. >> so what happened between march 1st and yesterday? >> donald trump became the presumptive republican nominee i think is what happened. i think when ryan was making those comments there were still quite a few people in the republican party that were hopeful that someone other than donald trump would become their nominee. that's really the reality here. now of course paul ryan really taking a stand here in a way that surprised a lot of people, even on the never trump side. people who insisted that they will never support donald trump. i talked to a number of them yesterday, and they were surprised that ryan was willing to go as far as he did in saying that he's not ready to support

donald trump. of course there are still a list of people that's growing who are saying they're not going to do this. mike murphy, the strategist who rap right to rise, that super pac that spent millions of dollars on behalf of jeb bush tweeted today, nope, nada, never. will never vote for that blov bloviahing, idiotic oaf. of course there were many that think murphy didn't do a good job of selling bush on the campaign. but how does this ultimately resolve itself? in that older clip you played of paul ryan, he was still talking about the same things, conservative principles. that's what he talked about yesterday as well. and that's what many people in the republican party have concern about. it's a challenge for trump because he, of course, is trying to pivot to the general election to run against hillary clinton, to expand his appeal. you've seen that from a policy perspective when he was talking yesterday about cnbc about his

tax plan and whether or not he'd be willing to raise taxes on the wealthy, suggesting that he might be able to do that. that is pretty sacred for the republican party, for a politician like paul ryan who's focused a lot on taxes and spending issues over the course of his career. so i think the question still for trump is whether or not he can consolidate conservatives, if he can reassure members of his own party that he's going to continue with policies that they can accept. i think that's what you heard from paul ryan. on the flip side, ryan's move also gave cover to republicans who are going to continue to say that they don't want to support donald trump and potentially look for an alternative. i would also point to some comments mitt romney made at a brooift d private dinner in washington that conservative journalists have been reporting on essentially saying that he feels dismayed that donald trump has gotten this far and doesn't intend to support him. jose. >> just the paul ryan issue, you know, imagine a convention where paul ryan is essentially the

most authoritative figure there at the convention. how is that going to be if they -- you know, they're not dealing with each other? >> he's essentially set to chair the republican national convention, that's right, jose. i think paul ryan gave himself some space. this is not going to -- what he said yesterday isn't going to prevent him from turning around and saying, okay, donald trump has taken care of my concerns. look at x, y, z thing he's done or said and so now i feel comfortable with him as our republican standard bearer and nominee. there's still space for that to happen. some of the people that i've talked to about donald trump's plans going forward and kind of the broader circle of people who are more willing to talk about supporting him, i think they're looking for policy speeches from donald trump and looking to have a better understanding of where he would stand on many of these conservative issues, jose. >> kasie hunt in new york, thank you very much. great seeing you. for more on the path forward for this new republican party, let me bring in susan paige, washington bureau chief for "usa

today" along with andy kroll. thanks for being with me. susan, do you think all these times that paul ryan said he would support the nominee, that he thought there was no way that it would be donald trump? >> you know, i thought he didn't think it would be donald trump this quickly. it took a lot of people by surprise when both ted cruz and john kasich pulled out right after the indiana primary this week. as kasie was point out, paul ryan did not say he would never support donald trump, which is what mitt romney is saying. he said i want to be persuaded. i think he is trying to use his position of stature and influence in the party to affect how it is donald trump speaks going forward. you think about paul ryan as a jack kemp republican. donald trump's comments with muslims, mexicans and others is real owe at odds with the outreach they are trying to convey. i think he's trying to say you need to change the way you talk if you want me to support you. >> and yet the way he talks is

what has brought him to the place he is today. it would be kind of odd to think that he would switch it all just to get paul ryan to say, yeah, i support him. >> well, i don't think he needs to switch it all. i think he needs to tone it down. but it would be -- it would be extraordinary if paul ryan, the highest ranking republican in the united states and the chairman of the republican convention was not endorsing the party's nominee. if we're in that situation a month from now, that would be an extraordinary situation and indicate that the republican party has a civil war going on that's not going to get resolved before november. >> yeah, andy, how does this end for paul ryan? do you think he's just got to come agreement with trump before the convention? >> yeah, and i think it's going to get pretty lonely for paul ryan. we did hear earlier about prominent -- former republican nominees and former presidents, george h.w. bush and w. bush, mitt romney, saying that they really voicing very strong opposition to donald trump. but you're seeing so many other

people come around. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has signalled that he would support mr. trump. just today you're seeing an influential family in the donor world, the ricketts family that had previously funded an anti-trump super pac now coming around and saying they're going to support him. you're going to see so many people, both elected officials and the people that have the purses and the wallets and the check books coalescing around trump. paul ryan has that stature, he has that power and influence as the house speaker, but he may find it pretty lonely in the next month or two there. >> andy, in taking what susan just said a few seconds ago, the fact that paul ryan does represent a different branch of the republicans, i guess, one that has been trying to have outreach towards the latino community and others, it's -- how do you gel those two positions? >> oh, it's incredibly hard to

gel those two positions to be honest. in a lot of ways they're diametrically opposed to each other. but what donald trump -- maybe what the paul ryans and the more mainstream republicans or at least the leaders of the republican party today are hoping for is that donald trump who maybe tempers his rhetoric. you know, massages his policies if not changes them outright now that he is the nominee. he's not in a field of 17. it's just him now. of course that raises issues of whether that's still the same donald trump that the republican base wants. but i've got to imagine what paul ryan is thinking when he says what he did yesterday is that he's hoping donald trump, as you say in politics, evolves a little bit now that he is the nominee. >> and, susan, you say a trump win relies on five states. he needs to keep arizona and north carolina, flip florida, ohio and pennsylvania. is that possible? >> you know, it is stuff. i mean i think this analysis, which does get him to 273

electoral votes in the white house underscores how difficult the path is for donald trump but that it's not impossible. and the one thing that trump will keep telling us, we didn't predict that he was going to be in this position winning the republican nomination so we ought to be kind of humble in assuming that it's going to be a blowout for the republican party, although that's what it looks like right now if you look at those states. flipping those three big states, florida, ohio and pennsylvania, that is a huge political task. >> let me tell you something, arizona, i know is not a given either necessarily. >> that's right. at the moment donald trump is narrowly behind hillary clinton in arizona. that's been a state that's historically been safe for republicans, although the demographics are moving it in the democratic direction. as senator mccain pointed out yesterday, 30% of the electorate in arizona is hispanic, and hispanic voters are really energized against donald trump. >> just from my friends, to

repeat that, 30% of arizona voters are latino. thank you both, good to see you. appreciate it. let's bring in former advisor to the 2008 john mccain presidential campaign. great seeing you. >> great to see you, jose. >> so when we're talking about 30% with susan and andy, 30% of the voters in arizona are latino. california is coming up now. you know, a majority latino state. how do you -- how does someone like donald trump cut into that? >> well, i think you're going to see donald trump's positions evolve a little bit on the immigration issue in the coming months. the fact of the matter is i know it's a small number, he won the nevada caucus, as you know, with hispanics over other republicans. i know it's a small number but he defeated other republicans, so i think donald trump's message. one statistic no one seems to mention is when the polling is

done vis-a-vis hillary clinton on the issue of the economy, donald trump is ahead by double digits across the country including hispanics. that is the number one issue for every voter. >> on every other single issue it goes hillary. >> and this was the narrative for the last year against 16 or 17 republicans who i know many of them very well and we -- i supported many of them and thought they would be the nominees and donald trump changed the narrative and he changed it this year. i have a lot of respect for my friend, susan page, but i think he can turn around states like pennsylvania, for example. so it's -- everyone has underestimated donald trump and i think now that we're going into the general election mode, i think things will change very quickly. the big question you haven't asked is, is bernie sanders going to be supporting hillary clinton. she certainly -- he certainly put out some markers. and secondly, this is a

temporary rift. a big to do about nothing. speaker ryan will endorse donald trump. donald trump has temporary political problems. hillary clinton has serious legal problems that you've covered here earlier this morning that have yet to be resolved. those are going to be i think decisive in this election. >> okay, adolfo, let's for a minute not think about what could happen because it's an unknown. for all of them it's an unknown. let's talk about what has already happened. you know better than most that donald trump from the first moment he announced for the presidency spoke about those who cross the border illegally -- >> illegally. >> -- as being rapists and murderists. those who cross illegally, correct, not the legal ones. >> some are. >> but is that something that you think is going to have to evolve? the semantics behind it? >> well, here's what i think has to be made clear, which has not been made clear. donald trump is talking about

illegal immigrations. the people voting in these elections are u.s. citizens. they're here legally. so there's big distinction. i don't think -- i hope undocumented and people here in the country illegally are not permitted to vote. so hispanics are here legally and have a very different view than the undocumented workers who get extensive coverage. so ike there's a big difference and there is a security issue on the border which every american shares. >> there is, but those are two things. but let's talk about that. every single latino in this country either knows of someone who is undocumented, knows of someone who is a family member who's undocumented. there is nobody in this country that's a latino who doesn't know the plight of the undocumented, right? you know it. >> that might be the plight, but i'm latino and i'm against illegal immigration. just because i know someone who's here illegally, i'm not going to endorse it and ike most americans come to that point of vo. >> we're not talking about

endorsing illegal immigration, we're talking about dealing with people who are already here and you know many of them for decades have been contributing to this economy and haven't committed a crime once they cross the border. >> they have. and donald trump and frankly other republicans have for years said they wanted a wall built. this is not donald trump's idea. and you know that, jose. and secondly, the contribution to the economy, we want people, including donald trump and other republicans, to immigrate to our country legally. he's not against immigration, he's against illegal immigrations. i don't think he's been given a fair shake on that issue. that he uses unacceptable language and his style, that has been his mode us operandi. >> great to see you. >> thank you. this week hillary clinton insisted her private e-mail server was secure while she served as secretary of state. >> any indication that your

private server was hacked by foreign hackers. >> no, not at all. >> but in an exclusive tv interview, nbc's cynthia mcfadden talks to a jailed romanian hacker who claims he was able to access all of clinton's e-mails. >> translator: by running a scan, i found that server was completely unsecure. >> up next, more on the exclusive interview with a man known as gucifer. stay with us. shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. incredible blnow comes with protectionan incredible double your money

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shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. nbc news has confirmed that some of hillary clinton's former top aides at the state department have been interviewed by the fbi in connection with the e-mail connection, and that includes huma abedin, including sources familiar with the investigation. sources also tell nbc news no

conclusions have been reached about whether any laws were violated in setting up or using the private e-mail server when hillary clinton was secretary of state. meantime, when an nbc news exclusive, a romanian hacker who was the first to reveal secretary clinton's use of a private e-mail address is making explosive new charges. nbc news senior investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden went to a romanian prison to interview him. she joins me from new york. cynthia, it's great seeing you. >> it's nice to be here. well, when we talked to her, known as guccifer, was in a romanian prison for seven years for hacking a variety of romanian targets. his extradition to the u.s. already approved. >> when hillary clinton says that her server is absolutely safe, you're laughing. >> translator: that's a lie. >> that's a lie? yes? >> yes. >> it's not safe. >> it's not safe at all. >> reporter: his name is marcell

lazar. he's better known as guccifer. since we talked to him, he's been extradited to the u.s. to face a variety of hacking crimes against american political figures, including clinton confidant, sidney blumenthal. >> you hacked into colin powell's e-mails, hillary clinton and many more. >> yes. >> reporter: but it is his new claims that are truly explosive. guccifer claims he got into clinton's private server himself. >> translator: by running a scan, i found that the server was completely unsecure. >> i want to make sure i understand what you're saying. you're saying the clinton server was unprotected? >> translator: yes. >> and you had total access to it? >> translator: yes. it was like an open orchid on the internet, as many such servers are. >> reporter: just this week hillary clinton told andrea

mitchell on msnbc the private server which she used as secretary of state was safe. >> any indication that your private server was hacked by foreign hackers? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: brian fallon slams these new allegations. there is absolutely no basis to believe the claims made by this criminal from his prison cell. in addition to the fact he offers no proof to support his claims, his descriptions of secretary clinton's server are inaccurate. it is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her e-mails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims. we asked several cyber security experts to review how lazar claims to have gotten into clinton's server. all concluded it was possible. among them former fbi cyber crime expert chris tarbell who led the successful prosecution of the criminals behind the online black market called silk road. he cautions that hackers like guccifer are notorious liars,

but still, he says, he takes these allegations seriously. >> it's plausible because he did get access to e-mails that allegedly came from that server. >> if he's lying? >> that seems silly to me to go on television and admit to a felony you didn't commit seems a little silly. >> reporter: a source with knowledge of the investigation tells nbc an fbi review of the clinton server logs did in fact show no evidence of hacking, but tarbell says server logs are not necessarily comprehensive. >> so it may be that there's no breach that was recorded. that doesn't mean there was no breach? >> correct. >> now, a source close to the investigation tells us the fbis skoer escorted to guccifer to the u.s. and spoke to him in transit. investigators have seen nothing yet that substantiates his claim. the investigation continues and we're told by sources, jose, that the fbi does intend to

fully question him. >> so, cynthia, does he have anything to offer as far as proof of what he says he did? >> so he told me that he did in fact download materials from hillary clinton's website. but he was in prison and didn't provide any of them, though we asked him. nor did he post anything himself. i think this is important. in previous hacks, he posted evidence, proof, online himself. he did not do that in this case. so it remains to be seen. as i said before, sources close to the investigation say so far they have seen no proof substantiating his claim. >> cynthia, great seeing you. thank you so very much. >> thank you. >> for more of cynthia's interview, check out on assignment which debuts sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on nbc. coming up, a bombshell in the penn state university child sex scandals. did coach joe paterno know that jerry sandusky had molested young children decades before sandusky's 2011 trial?

stunning allegations regarding two of the country's two black universities. a student tweets out claims of being gang raped by students from morehouse college. we'll have the very latest on this investigation. started out, it was all pencil and paper. the surface pro is very intuitive. with the pressure of my hand i can draw lightly, just like i would with a real pencil. i've been a forensic artist for over 30 years. i do the composite sketches which are the bad guy sketches. you need good resolution, powerful processor because the computer has to start thinking as fast as my brain does. i do this because i want my artwork to help people. it's everything you've ialways wanted. and you work hard to keep it that way. sometimes... ...maybe too hard. get claim rateguard® from allstate. it helps keep your homeowners' rate

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and it's available in two new flavors, vanilla caramel and double chocolate fudge. i'm not about to swim in the slow lane. stay strong. stay active with boost. a new allegation in the penn state child abuse scandal from 2008 claims the late coach joe paterno knew about the abuse much earlier than originally thought. nbc's chris palone is in state college, pennsylvania, for us. what do we know about the allegation? >> reporter: yeah, jose, this allegation comes from a court battle between penn state university and its insurance company. they have been battling over who would be responsible for paying the sexual abuse victims of joe paterno's former assistant coach jerry sandusky. there are nearly 30 of those victims. they are owed about $60 million. the university and its insurance company has been arguing over who should pay them. so on wednesday, a philadelphia

judge issued a ruling. and in that ruling he wrote that in 1976, a child allegedly reported to penn state university's head coach, joseph paterno, that he was sexually molested by sandusky. if true, it's significant because it would mean that j joe pa allegedly knew some 18 years before it was reported. can it be proven? probably not. joe paterno died in 2012. this likely came from sealed depositions or testimony in that case, which may never be unsealed. so it obviously would be very, very difficult to prove whether this is true or not. a lot of students arrived here on this campus after sandusky's trial in 2012. we asked them if this is true, would it change your opinion of penn state's legendary former coach. >> in my opinion he did as much

as he could of. it just wasn't taken farther by the university officials. >> i would definitely have to look into it more. i think, yeah, it does make you question like exactly who you were supporting. >> probably yes. i mean, again, if that were the case, maybe. but i mean you never know for sure. >> reporter: and penn state's and joe paterno's family continues to strongly defend him. he died in 2012, but they say that this is another unsubstantiated smear. the school has no comment. jo jose. >> chris, thank you very much. meanwhile, an alleged gang rape detailed on an anonymous twitter account has sparked investigations that two elite atlanta universities and set off a media firestorm. sarah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, jose. these posts were written on twitter earlier this week. the writer behind raped at spelman alleging that she was

assaulted by fourmorehouse students and told to forget about it when she reported it to officials. nbc news has not independently verified these accusations, nor have we been able to speak to the accuser. the atlanta police department says they're not investigating this case at this point because no victim has come forward. now, the presidents of both spelman and morehouse are urging the poster to identify herself so they can get more details about this alleged assault. >> it's important to get to the bottom of it because, you know, first and foremost i care about this student, this spelman student. i care about her as a victim who is afraid because she is concerned that the culture in the center does not allow her to come out and say what happened. but i also care because this

is -- you know, here we may have four students accused on our campus who may have done something that is in stark contra dixon to who we are, and that is completely unacceptable. >> several activists involved with the school released a new statement purportedly written by the alleged victim. in it she says she will come forward to the administration when the time is right. she also reiterated her claim that her case was reported. now, that letter was not posted to the raped at spelman account, but the poster did thank those activists in a later tweet for their support in this case. we are reaching out to the school's administration, jose, for reaction to this latest statement. back to you. >> sarah, thank you very much. good seeing you. breaking news this morning. the april job numbers just released a short while ago. we're going to be checking in with labor secretary on where the economy stands ahead. plus a historic political

event under way in north korea. for the first time in nearly four decades, the country holding a congress of its ruling workers party. we'll check in with bill neely. he's in pyongyang, after the break. ♪ (music plays throughout) ♪ uh oh. what's up? ♪ ♪ ♪ does nobody use a turn signal anymore? ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪

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to share information with each other. i'll be changing the way the world works. (interrupting) you can't pick it up, can you? go ahead he can't lift thhammer. it's okay though! you're going to change the world. and now to breaking news from the job market. the labor department says 160,000 jobs were added last month, below economists' expectations of 200,000. the unemployment rate held steady at 5%. but breaking down the demographic breakdown, the african-american jobless rate nearly 4% higher than the national average. latinos more than 1% higher at 6.1%. joining me from the labor department is the labor secretary, tom bettes. how are you? >> it's great to be with you and all of your viewers. >> thanks, likewise. let me start with your reaction to the new numbers. it was the weakest in about seven months. should this be of concern to us?

>> i think this is a solid report really for three reasons. these are good numbers. we're ampling 220,000, even with this month. last year was our second best and we had three months under 160,000. the second reason is we see real wage growth again, not just this month but previous months as well. annualized real wage growth of 3.2%, which is a good thing. and thirdly, it's really important not only to look at the numbers and the people behind the numbers. what we're seeing now is real opportunity emerging from the long-term unemployed. people who have been out of work for more than six months. the percentage of the long-term unemployed now in terms of the overall percentage of unemployed is at its lowest level in seven years. and two-thirds of the reduction in the unemployment rate over the last year roughly is from

the ranks of the long-term unemployed. the reason that's so relevant to me, jose, is that i've spent a lot of time with the long-term unemployed, from the day i got here. these are folks who have incredible talent. they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they just need a chance. what they're getting that chance with now at scale is you see tightening labor markets. so what that means is that employers are looking at a broader swath of applicants. people with a seven or eight-month hole in their resume, they're willing to take a look at them and they should, because these folks have immense talent. and so, you know, when the unemployment rate is at 5%, by the way, it was 10% in the depths of the recession. and you talk to -- if you administer truth serum to the republican leadership and say, hey, would you have taken 5% unemployment rate in the beginning of 2016, they would have said sign me up.

we've got more work to do. >> right. just back to the 160,000 unemployment, should we be worried that it's less than 200,000 that everybody expected? >> no, and here's why. 220,000 jobs is what we've averaged over the last six months. last year was the second best year we had during the recovery. the year before last was the best year. and even last year where we had roughly 2.5 million jobs created, we had three months that were under 160,000. and so what we see, for instance, in construction, we had -- we didn't have a good month in construction last month, but the months before it were good. and i think the reason for that was that the reason was pretty warm. it was a relatively temperate winter here. a expect that we'll see that even out because there have been over a quarter million

construction jobs created over the last 12 months so one month never makes a trend. i never get too giddy when it's a great month and never get too down when it is a month not in line with expectations. >> and i did show a graphic, i want to show it back up, there were some pretty healthy gains in professional health care and the financial sector. so there was -- and there you see it. look at the professional up 65,000, health care up 44, financial up 20,000 and then down 11,000 by government. but i want to talk to you about, secretary perez, if i could, the election. you're a hillary clinton supporter. the next big state coming up is california, a majority latino state. latino voters also have the potential to play a big role in the general election. what does this mean for hillary clinton and donald trump? >> well, i'm happy to talk to you at another time, jose, about the campaign because right here i'm at the department of labor right now and we're trying to create jobs.

we're making progress. but i'm happy to talk at another time. >> just before i let you go, have you been been having any conversations with anybody about a future job possibility? just thinking out loud. i don't want any details, but have you been thinking about a possible, i don't know, joining a ticket or anything like that without getting into details? have you had any conversations on that, secretary perez? >> i'll tell you what i've been thinking about and that is i've got 259 days until the weekend here. i don't count the days, i make the days count. we're going to continue to work to grow this economy and get more people back to work and get higher wages for everyone. >> all right. i had to try, secretary perez. >> it's always good to be with you, jose. >> it's always a pleasure to see you, sir. thanks for being with me. >> take care. north korea is putting on a political show this morning, the likes of which haven't been seen in decades. nbc chief global correspondent bill neely is in pyongyang. bill. >> reporter: good morning, jose, from the capital of north korea.

we've been invited here to one of the most closed countries on earth, to witness the first congress of their ruling communist party in nearly 40 years. it will be held here to showcase their young leader and their nuclear power. the north koreans show their power like no one else. and this week they have been getting ready for a state extravaganza. behind it all, the shadow of nuclear weapons and fears that a nuclear missile will be tested to show the power of their supreme leader. kim jong-un sees the u.s. as enemy number one. this congress is all about him, cementing his leadership, keeping his finger on the nuclear trigger. i didn't go far today to hear apparent blind loyalty to him. >> he is the best one in the world. >> the best leader isn't the

world? >> it is the most powerful country in the world. >> what should america know about your leader. >> comrade kim is the best in the world, she says, and a peacemaker. no peace with america, though. the u.s. keeps sanctions on north korea. it keeps an american student in a labor camp. >> please save my life. >> 21-year-old otto is serving 15 years for allegedly removing a banner from a hotel, one of two americans being held. there will be plenty of anti-u.s. rhetoric at this congress, which so far we haven't been allowed into. people here hoping it will bring better times for them and sweep away the economic failures of the most backward, repressive country in asia. but don't expect too much to change here any time soon. they are very proud of their nuclear capability, but this remains a very poor and very

isolated country. from its capital pyongyang, back to you, jose. >> bill neely, thank you so very much. coming up, raging wildfires ravaging hundreds of thousands of acres in canada. the fire growing larger than the city of chicago. over 100,000 people have already been evacuated. will authorities be able to slow the fire's path of destruction? miguel almaguer brings us the very latest, next. from bank of america to buy a new gym bag. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league. because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them. that's the excitement of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. trust number one doctor recommended dulcolax constipated? use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief

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now more information on those destructive wildfires that have ravaged through an entire community in canada. nbc's miguel almaguer is in alberta with the very latest. miguel. >> reporter: jose, good morning. it's going to be another dangerous day for firefighters. yesterday alone this blaze exploded in size to more than 200,000 acres. that's ten times the size it was the day before. the blaze continues to move in multiple directions, turning on

a dime. as you know, nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated from this area. some 1600 structures destroyed. this blaze, we saw it firsthand, still moving, still aggressive, still taking down homes. firefighters say they're going to go up to the hill behind me to make sure there are no people inside those communities because this blaze could quickly turn deadly. it's going to be a difficult day because the wind speeds here are going to continue to be an issue, though we do have cooler temperatures. jose, back to you. >> miguel almaguer, thank you very much. to get a broader and bigger perspective on just how big this fire is, we're going to take you to cal perry who's been looking at some of the amazing pictures we've been getting in. cal, what have you been seeing this morning? >> to give you an idea of the size of this fire, first of all, it took miguel and his team 24 hours to get to the fire from here in los angeles to get you an idea of how far away it is. let's take a look at how this compares to major american cities. we've got a graphic of new york.

that's what the fire would look like if it was in new york city. we've got another one of washington, d.c., just to give people an idea. and let me show you london. that's how big this fire is and it's going to get bigger. according to officials, only the weather will slow this down. as we look at a ground level shot of this video, people were separated in the town of ft. mchenry. some people got out to the south of this fire, and you see the intensity of this fire. some people were able to get out to the south. other people had to flee north. we think about 8,000 people are taking refuge and shelter on oil fields. authorities will have to convoy them through this fire that you're looking at right now. one of the other issues officials are dealing with, they have got about 1100 firefighters on the scene of this fire and they are absolutely exhausted. a fire of this size in california would beckon some 10,000 firefighters. again, they're working with about 1100 firefighters and they're dealing with exhaustion issues. they cannot get them cycled in

and out in enough time. one other thing of note, the syrian red cross has raised $11 million. the canadian prime minister saying they're going to match those funds. but syrian refugees, and there are about 3,000 of them in this canadian province, they have all tried to donate $5 to try to get aid to those some 100,000 people who have been evacuated, jose. >> cal perry in los angeles for us this morning. thank you very much. coming up, we're off to the races. the running of the 142nd kentucky derby tomorrow at churchill downs. we'll check in with dylan dreyer who has a great, great hat on this morning. and i can't wait to start telling people how switching to geico could save them hundreds of dollars on car insurance. but first, my luggage. ahh, there it is. uh, excuse me, sir? i think you've got the wrong bag. sorry, they all look alike, you know? no worries. well, car's here, i can't save people money chatting at the baggage claim all day.

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i used to like that song. 20 horses face off tomorrow for the 142nd running of the kentucky derby. a very stylish dylan dreyer has more from churchill downs this morning. dylan. >> we are here at churchill downs for the 142nd running of the kentucky derby tomorrow, and excitement is high.

how can you not be excited about horse racing coming off of the year we had last year when american pharoah went on to win the triple crown. i was at the belmont last year when he went all the way and it was by far the most exciting live sporting event i have ever experienced. people are still excited this year. now, american pharoah is living life as a stud over in kentucky, lexington, kentucky, at a horse farm out there. but we are still keeping an eye on american pharoah's jockey, victor espinoza. he could go on to win his third straight kentucky derby if he wins tomorrow, although he is on relative long shot whitmore. bob baffert has more spirit who also has a chance but the front-runner is nyquist. he's been seven for seven in his past races, so that's certainly the one to watch. as you know, in the fastest two minutes in sports, anything can happen, and you can watch it all on nbc. coverage starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern. back to you. >> dylan dreyer, thank you so

much. and with that, we wrap up this hour of msnbc live. thank you for the privilege of your time. erica hill picks up our coverage next. have a good weekend. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that.

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i don't plan on slowing down any time soon. stay strong. stay active with boost®. good morning, everyone. you made it to friday and so did we. i am erica hill in today for tamron hall. we're coming to you live from our msnbc headquarters in new york. this morning the turmoil in the republican party reaching new levels. this after house speaker paul ryan, the most powerful republican in congress and the chairman of the gop convention, said he's not ready yet to support the party's presumptive nominee, donald trump. this morning trump called ryan's comments surprising. >> i was really surprised by it, and it's fine. he can do whatever he wants to do, it's fine, but i was surprised by it. many other people were surprised by it and some were really surprised by it and not happy about it. i will tell you, i have many