the most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. now's the time for a better moment of proof. ask your doctor about victoza®. you didn't know we had over 26,000 local activities listed on our app. or that you could book them right from your phone. a few weeks ago, you still didn't know if you were gonna go. now the only thing you don't know, is why it took you so long to come here. expedia. everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. good saturday to you. i'm jacob soboroff in los

angeles. we continue to follow breaking news out of suburban philadelphia. after 52 hours of deliberations, the jury in the bill cosby criminal trial came back deadlocked on all counts. judge o'neill asked ehuror individually the question do you agree that there is a hopeless deadlock that cannot be resolved by further deliberations. after each juror answered yes, the judge declared a mistrial. cosby was charged with three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault. he has of course repeatedly denied these and all allegations of sexual misconduct. the district attorney says they will retry the case. attorney gloria allred, who is representing some of cosby's accusers, welcomed another trial. >> we can never underestimate the blinding power of celebrity but justice will come. i hope that the prosecution will try this case again and that the

next time the court will permit more prior bad act witnesses to testify as the prosecution had requested. >> bill cosby's publicist celebrated the legal victory while taking a jab at allred. >> mr. cosby's power is back. it's back. it has been restored. the jurors, they used their power to speak and mrs. cosby's power is back. so the legacy didn't go anywhere. it has been restored. and for all those attorneys who conspired like gloria allred, tell them to go back to law school and take another class. >> for more, we go to nbc's ron allen who has been following the trial in norristown, pennsylvania. have we heard anything from any the jurors? >> reporter: not yet. they are believed to be on a bus back to pittsburgh, 300 miles from here, where they come from and where they were selected to try and get a jury that would be

less affected by the publicity here in montgomery county, where cosby's home is and where the case happened, where the alleged crime happened. for all the talk now, of course he is not out of the woods. these charges are still hanging over him and the judge has said that the next trial could begin in as soon as 120 days, about four months from now. so people are being very cautious, perhaps, or perhaps should be more cautious about what they're saying now that this is over. the prosecutor immediately said he wanted to retry this case. there was no hesitanchesitancy. gloria allred made an important point. one of the big issues in this case is the number of other accusers of cosby who were allowed to testify or who were not allowed to testify. only one was. the prosecution wanted as many as 13 women. but it was ruled by the judge that that would be too prejudicial to bill cosby's defense. so going forward, i'm sure that's going to be one of the issues that the prosecution will push hard at to try and get more women, more accusers, to be able

to tell their stories. for many of them here, there have been a number who have been here sitting throughout the proceedings, they remain hopeful, they are trying to find what positive thing they can in this, but they are devastated and disappointed and frustrated to some extent by the outcome of this trial because again, some of these allegations go back to the 1960s, 1970s. there are as many as 50 or more women who have come forwar constand's case was the only one recent enough to still be prosecuted in a court of law. so there are a lot of hopes riding on her allegation. >> ron allen from the steps of the courthouse in norristown, pennsylvania, thank you very much. joining me is msnbc legal analyst katie fong and prosecutor and legal analyst paul henderson. good to see you both. one of bill cosby's attorneys, i want to start right off the bat, said this. >> this is what happens, juries are stuck when a prosecutor seeks to put someone in prison

for things that are simply not presented in the courtroom. and the jury stuck to what they were asked to do and that is to review the evidence before them and there simply wasn't enough. >> katie, to you. it's hard not to watch bill cosby in the background as she was speaking. is she correct, was the evidence not enough? is that simply what this comes down to? >> that's not true. you can't say the evidence wasn't enough. the problem is you have to have a unanimous verdict of all 12 jurors so we need to actually hear from those jurors. we need them polled because i wouldn't have that level of arrogance that i feel is coming from the cosby camp right now. the combination of statements made by his wife, camille cosby as well as that of a spokesperson saying go back to law school, what if it turns out, jacob, that it's an 11 to convict to one to acquit vote, then was it really that bad for a prosecution case? obviously not.

>> i want to run a statement from camille cosby, who after the trial, released this. take a look. >> how do i describe the district attorney? heinously and ploitively ambitious. how do i describe the judge? overtly arrogant in collaborating with the district attorney. how do i describe the counsels for the accusers. totally unethical. >> that sounds like a direct attack on the justice system. that was an across the board accusation, attack. what do you make of that? >> that's not good. any time that you are calling the prosecutors and the judge and our judicial system arrogant and ambitious, that's not good. i think what they need to keep in mind is they are going to be appearing in front of all of these same parties very soon, in the next four months. so it's usually not a good idea to come out and attack the prosecution like that. it's absolutely never a good

idea to come in and attack the judicial system. i think that may come back to bite them, particularly since you are not seeing conferences and messages from the prosecutors because they are typically restricted even after a trial to come out and say here's what you didn't see, here's what you didn't know. you're not seeing those comments from prosecution. you are only hearing the comments from cosby's wife, from his attorneys, from side advocates. i think those comments may come back to bite them in the butt later on, especially because they are going to see all of these same people as they are making very important rulings about how that next trial is going to be framed. that's going to be absolutely crucial in the next trial affecting cosby. >> katie, do you agree with paul, this attack on the justice system following the results today was effectively a misfire by camille cosby and the cosby side? >> oh, absolutely. there's something to be said about the idea of being

gracious. it doesn't mean that bill cosby has to be grateful. i'm sure he has a lot to be thankful for that he's not being taken into custody today. but the reality is as paul said, there's going to be another bite of the apple as declared by the d.a. the d.a. ran on a platform that included making sure that cosby was prosecuted. he also made a post-mistrial statement, he being the d.a., saying andrea constand, the victim, deserves a verdict. he didn't say she deserves a guilty verdict. he said she deserves a verdict and that is totally true. everyone deserves closure. perhaps we will see it in round two of state versus cosby. >> paul, did bill cosby not taking the stand in his own defense play a role in the ultimate deadlocking of the jury we are seeing this morning? >> i think so. i think it contributed to it. i'm sure, you know, whenever you have a trial, jurors really want to see the person. they always want the defendant to testify. because he didn't, i think that helped his case, because we were talking essentially about a case

that is he said/she said. there's no forensic evidence and the he said/she said, most of that information was coming from years ago testimony that had been recorded either to the police department or in depositions. so that removed the jurors from being able to see the witnesses, the victims, and the defendant in real time talk about their feelings, what had happened, and the facts of this case. so him not testifying was a smart move by the defense and i would be absolutely shocked if in the next trial they put him on the stand. why would you? it worked for them once, it will work for them again. the only difference is going to be, though, now prosecution knows that he's not likely to take the stand. so in the next case you are going to see all of the same evidence but you will hear qualified statements mostly in opening statements from both sides as they gauge both their weaknesses and strengths from this trial we just saw. >> as the judge declares a

mistrial in the bill cosby case. thank you both so much for joining us. appreciate it. we are also following breaking news this hour off the coast of japan. seven navy sailors are missing, three others are injured after a u.s. navy missile destroyer collided with a container ship late friday. the collision caused significant flooding and damage as you can see there on the starboard side of the "uss fitzgerald." we have more details. what do we know about the search for these seven missing americans? >> reporter: the u.s. navy port is tucked in a cove behind the harbor here. it's where the "uss fitzgerald" arrived back 16 hours after the incident occurred. it has limited propulsion. it was towed to the dock. it has considerable damage, as you saw. it was on the forward starboard side above and below the water line. there was flooding in two berthing spaces, a machinery

space as well as the radio room. the divers were also having a look to see exactly what repairs were ahead but the focus right now, the main effort is toward accessing those damed spaces to try to recount for the seven sailors who are still missing. it really is unclear what has happened, whether they are trapped, whether they fell overboard. there are several japanese, u.s. boats and aircraft who are searching the area. it really is a race. the captain of the ship was evacuated to the u.s. navy hospital here and there were two others who were treated for cuts and bruises. there was a message from president trump on twitter sending his thoughts to the families of the "uss fitzgerald" as well as thanks to japan for helping in the search. but the president is coming under criticism not only for saying nothing for hours as the incident unfolded here, but also for the delays that have been experienced in filling key

diplomat ek positiic positions region including ambassador. >> i'm curious, looking at the pictures, what more do we know? tell us what we know about how this accident actually happened. the damage seems so extensive. it doesn't seem like this was some kind of light brush. it's really a terribly scary situation. >> reporter: there are several unanswered questions that will be the focus of an investigation. this is an area that is busy with sea traffic. but as you see from the damage, the "uss fitzgerald" took quite a hit. the container ship, a filipino flagged merchant ship is about four times the size of the "uss fitzgerald." marine traffic records show that that ship had made a sudden u-turn about 25 minutes before the collision occurred. it's unclear why. the "fitzgerald" for its part, is an advanced warship with sophisticated communications equipment so how these two large

ships could collide in calm weather really is the focus of the investigation. but of course, right now, the main effort is on locating the seven sailors trying to account for their whereabouts and well-being. >> thank you, janice, very much. another insider attack injures seven american soldiers in northern afghanistan. this is the second such incident this month as three u.s. soldiers were killed in a similar attack just one week ago. the american soldiers were shot and wounded by an afghan commando today in a northern city. reports indicate that one afghan soldier was killed and another was also injured. this attack comes as the united states is poised to add 4,000 more troops to expand the military presence in the region against taliban fighters. coming up, much more on today's result from bill cosby's sexual assault trial. a hung jury and a mistrial. later this hour, what these developments mean for his career going forward.

and what to expect if and when there is a retrial. but next, new developments in the investigation into wednesday's shooting at a congressional baseball practice. what police found in the gunman's pocket when it was all over. stay with us. (vo) pro plan bright mind

adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. ykeep you sidelined.ng that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time.

now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your vacation is very important. that's why booking.com makes finding the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah! i need the phone that's where i happen to be... to be the one that rings. i need not to be missed phone calls... to not be missed. i need seamless handoff... canyon software. from reception, to landne, to mobil

i need one number... not two. i'm always moving forward... because i can't afford to get stuck in the past. comcast business. built for business. welcome back. we're learning chilling new details about this week's shooting at the congressional baseball practice. nbc news confirms that the shooter had a hit list with the names of republicans on it. investigators say they have not found specific evidence that gunman james hodgkinson preplanned wednesday's attack. louisiana congressman and house majority whip steve scalise was shot in the hip and has undergone multiple surgeries and remains in critical condition at a washington area hospital. now more intrigue surrounding

president donald trump and the ongoing russia probe. word coming out last night the commander in chief has hired attorney john dowd to assist his personal legal team in its handling of questions related to russian interference in the 2016 election. this of course as president trump continues to tweet about the russia investigation, saying i am being investigated for firing the fbi director by the man who tol me to fire the fbi director. witch hunt joining us, foreign affairs reporter at politico and gabrielle leady from "u.s. news and world report." talk to us about why the president would bring on additional counsel for his own counsel regarding russia. >> well, it seems like things are getting serious fast in this investigation, because on the other side you have robert mueller bringing on what has been described as a dream team of attorneys and investigators at the justice department and trump's attorneys are not

necessarily the cleanest themselves. you have kasowitz, trump's other attorney, who is himself under scrutiny for his connections and so i think it's probably not a bad idea for the president to have some backup to his legal team. >> the president's tweets just like the one i just read, witch hunt again he says, and that's certainly not the first time he used that term, are they going to come back ultimately to hurt him? it's a question we could ask just about any weekend we sit here. >> you know, the white house spokesman sean spicer has said the president's tweets should be taken as official statements. so if i was the president's lawyers and from my understanding is they have been doing this, i would be asking him to please stop tweeting. because we have already seen court rulings that have cited his tweets when they make decisions about cases involving this administration. so even if the president looks at this as simply a political situation where he says look, twitter is the way i can cater to my base and reach the people directly, he does not seem to

understand the gravity of it on the legal front. his lawyers don't seem to be able to rein him in. >> he doesn't understand or does not seem to care. at this point, what are the odds the president, in your opinion, would fire, attempt to fire deputy attorney general rod rosenstein or special counsel bob mueller? >> it looked for a little while like that was the way he was going and of course, the white house has denied that. you had sarah huckabee sanders, deputy press secretary, the other day saying that was absolutely not something that was under consideration. that being said, i don't know that anybody expected him to fire fbi director james comey. we are in a scenario where i don't know that anybody but the president knows exactly what he's going to be doing. but things that we learned in the last week make it certainly more difficult for him to have deputy attorney general dr. for him to fire deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. it's possible or i think maybe more likely rosenstein would feel the need to himself -- to

recuse himself after some questions were raised about his role in comey's dismissal and so i think the question is we just don't know. if trump decides to do it, he's going to do it even if it's against the advice of everyone around him. >> yeah. nahal, i want to check out something the associated press is reporting, saying trump advisers and confidants describe the president as increasingly angry over the investigation. going so far as to say yelling at television sets in the white house, and insisting he's the target of a conspiracy to discredit and potentially end his presidency. this is serious stuff. who has the president's ear right now inside the white house? >> i think there are plenty of people who talk to the president but i'm not sure there's anyone that c influence him the way he just simpl influences himself. the thing they say about donald trump is that he's most influenced by the last person he talks to but this is a situation where i can't imagine there's

anybody telling him hey, go ahead, keep tweeting, keep doing what it is you're doing, go ahead and try to fire robert mueller. i can't imagine that's the case. at the end of the day it's the president's decision and whatever he ends up doing, it's going to affect other people as well, including many of the people who work for him who now are finding that they have to get lawyers of their own. >> thank you both so much for joining us. good to see you. we continue to follow developments in suburban philadelphia where a judge has declared a mistrial in bill cosby's sexual assault trial this morning. this after the jury could not reach a verdict in that case. up next, we head to georgia, the site of what is now the most expensive house race ever. a special election taking place there three days from now. the race tightening in these final days. what voters and candidates are saying when we come back.

♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. and it's also a story mail aabout people and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country,

we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you listen up, heart disease.) 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.

the state of georgia is in the home stretch of a special election that could signal a shift going into the 2018 midterms. democrat jon ossoff and republican karen handle are battling for the congressional seat left open by tom price, who of course left congress to become donald trump's secretary of health and human services. it is now the most expensive congressional race in american history. the price tag so far, nearly $40 million. beth foohy is in georgia as both candidates make their final campaign stops. beth, what are you hearing out there from voters with this really exciting election a few days away? >> reporter: yeah, just a few days away. yes, $40 million is what's been spent on this race so far. most of it by the democrat, jon ossoff, who has raised an extraordinary $23 million alone. i'm in one of his offices right now. a volunteer office where folks are coming in to go out and

canvass for his supporters, make sure they are going to vote tuesday. i caught up with him last night at an event he was hosting and i asked him, would he have any chance of winning at all as a democrat if trump weren't the president. let's listen. how much is trump going to determine the outcome of this race? >> i think this race is about who can deliver for this community more than it's about national politics. there are many in this community who do have serious concerns about the direction the administration's taken us in. i'm one of them. i think those concerns have only grown over time. >> if you win, is this going to send a big message about what the president, what republicans should expect in 2018? >> it will send a big message about what georgians expect from their representation and what georgians want is effectiveness, integrity, a commitment to results and not more of the same partisan nonsense. >> so there you have it. jon ossoff does not want to be seen as this big national proxy on the trump presidency and what's going to happen in 2018. he's trying to focus on local issues. and we caught up with the

republican candidate this morning. she's saying a totally different thing, saying he's just a national candidate funded by national interests who is coming in here to make a national statement about being anti-trump and she's not going to let that happen. let's listen to what she had to say. >> this election is close right now but i told you my money is on you and here's why. the people of the sixth district, they are not about to let nancy pelosi or the people of california, new york and massachusetts tell us who our next congressman is going to be. >> three more days and then we will know the outcome of this very long special election. >> beth, fascinating race because donald trump won that district but it was a really small margin of victory. the democrats may still have a shot. beth fouhy, appreciate it very much. thanks a lot. when we come back, much more on the hung jury and the subsequent mistrial in bl cosby's sexual assault case.

prosecutors vowing to retry the legendary comedian. how likely is that, really? and what impact will the mistrial have on cosby's career and legacy? i noticed it as soon as we moved into the new house. ♪ a lot of people have vertical blinds. well, if a lot of people jumped off a bridge, would you? you hungry? i'm okay right -- i'm... i'm becoming my, uh, mother. it's been hard, but some of the stuff he says is actually pretty helpful. pumpkin, bundling our home and auto insurance is a good deal! like buying in bulk! that's fun, right? progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto. before fibromyalgia, i was a doer. i was active. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves.

woman: for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. i can be more active. briathe customer app willw if be live moay. can at least analyze customer traffic? can weush the offer online? brian, i just had a quick question. brian? brian... legacy technology can handcuff any company.

but "yes" is here. you're saying the new app will go live monday?! yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to. with the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes.

we are continuing to follow breaking developments out of pennsylvania where the judgen the bill crosby criminal case has dlird a meclared a mistrial. the jury deliberated for 52 hours but was unable to reach a verdict. the district attorney says they are moving ahead with a retrial. cosby was charged with three fell and koupts ony counts of a indecent assault. he repeatedly denied these and all allegations of sexual misconduct. >> mr. cosby's power is back. it's back. it has been restored. the jurors, they used their power to speak and mrs. cosby's power is back. so the legacy didn't go anywhere. it has been restored and for all

those attorneys who conspired like gloria allred, tell them to go back to law school and take another class. >> that was bill cosby's spokesperson, andrew wyatt. joining me is trial attorney and legal analyst' ann bremner. take a look at gloria allred. >> the court only allowed one such prior bad act witness to testify. that was my client, kelley johnson. rather than the 13 such witnesses which the prosecution wanted to call. if the court allows more accusers to testify next time, it might make a difference. >> what do you think? would the outcome have been different if more accusers were allowed to testify, are allowed to testify next time around? >> absolutely. this is going to be a do-over.

everything, new judge, new rulings, everything starts over after a mistrial in a retrial. there's always strength in numbers. this is pattern or practice evidence. it's called other bad acts as gloria said. basically, there's a pattern here of nonconsensual sex, et cetera. one other victim, maybe. five other, 13 other, 50 other, 60 other, 61 other? at some point it becomes very compelling. one side note, i really want to know what the jury had to say. i haven't seen any interviews with them yet. to see what was really compelling to them and what wasn't. >> ron allen at the beginning of the broadcast said we have not heard from any of the jurors yet. they are on a bus back to allegheny county. bill cosby did not testify in his own defense weechlt didn't hear from him just like we didn't hear from other accusers. what about in the retrial? think he will testify? >> no. i would say a closed mouth gathers no foot. if you have nothing to say, don't say it.

unless all 60 other victims can come in and testify, then he might want to testify. but he runs the risk if he gets on the stand of opening the door to other bad acts, his other statements, his deposition testimony, et cetera and he did very well not to testify for this one reason. a statement he made before came in before the jury without him taking the stand. he said it wasn't consensual. that's all he needed to say. it was stated to the jury as fact but not from the stand. >> the defense asked for a mistrial, what was it, four times during the course of this trial. so how long, how much, i should say, did that play a role in what ultimately happened, the judge declared a mistrial? >> the judge had to do it at some point. at some point it becomes coercive and violation of due process rights plaintiff cosby to keep a jury coming back 9:00 a.m. until 9:30 at night and on saturday. at some point the judge has to say enough, they can't reach a verdict. he also used a dynamite

instruction which is disfavored in many states where you try and attempt to make the jurors really get together and reexamine their thoughts and deliberate. >> anne, good to see you again. thanks for joining us. i want to turn for more on what this means for cosby's career moving forward to social commentator john fuselang. john, two of cosby's accusers spoke out today. let's watch that. >> it is time for rape and violence to stop so the healing can start. >> he thought he could bury us. he didn't know we were seeds. we are sprouting up. we are looking for reform, uncovering the rape culture in this country where victims are blamed and shamed. >> they say they are sprouting up talking about rape culture in this country. hearing that, how do you think this case and the ripple effects from it affect the legacy of bill cosby? >> well, it's all about the

ripple effects, isn't it? you can look on it as saying this is tragic and if 61 women had been able to come in and tell the exact same story, none of them seeking money, this jury might not have had the mistrial. but at the end of the day, while cosby is one of the greatest comedians of all time, he's certainly the best standup comic i have ever seen and i saw carlin and prior, he's an amazing talent, the fact is this is where you separate the man from the artist. if we have a society where cosby can admit doing this in a deposition, where the president can boast about it, where somebody else can win an oscar after being accused of it recently, rape culture is a word that will become more prevalent. it will only stop when men start standing up and doing something about stopping rape. the good thing is it's never been harder for a man to get away with this sort of thing than it is today and again, mr. cosby's innocent until proven guilty. i respect that. but because so many women have come forward to be survivors and not victims, it's never been tougher for a predator to get away with it because people are

talking about it now and more will come out and talk about it. >> so john, bill cosby obviously won this round in the criminal justice system but how does it come down for him in the court of public opinion, in your estimation? >> i don't think we will be seeing him touring anymore. i'm sure any time this week we will get the miraculous news his eyesight has been miraculously restored. when cosby, with these accusations first started, secondly started gaining steam, no one paid much attention the first time, all of his gigs around the country were canceled at various performing arts centers two years ago. jay leno snapped up a lot of them and took the spots in his place. even if he were acquitted, again, they are doing a real victory lap on this but even if he were acquitted the court of public opinion is what it is. he could do sporadic gigging here and there with his eyesight restored but we are never going to see cosby touring again because the public is really upset and likewise, this can impact the actors who work with him on his shows that are now airing in syndication and reruns for the rest of time, if

networks decide to pull those as they did with "seventh heaven" after the stephen collins incident, you will see people who work with cosby expect they had a pension waiting for them that will now be taken away. there will be a lot of ripples. this case is not going away any time soon. >> you mentioned people working with him. how many people will want to be working with bill cosby after this? is he going to have a career as an entertainer, as a comedian after this, no matter the result in the criminal justice system? >> i think hive datlive dates i only sort of performing career he can have. i don't see any networks touching him despite his acclaim. i don't really feel he's acted in a way that will endear him. putting this woman on trial, all the denials, claims of blindness, it's not the sort of thing an innocent man who has been charged and again, it's 60 women. these women are not going to go away. their stories are not going to go away. i have a hard time thinking any network would risk their sponsors by giving cosby a lifeline. but we'll see. americans have forgiven much

worse behaviors in the recent past. >> john, good to have your perspective with us today. appreciate it. coming up, much more on bill cosby throughout the day. but up next, we will turn to politics and president trump's rollback of president obama's historic cuba policy. what are those changes meaning for the united states? we will ask a former assistant secretary of state and u.s. ambassador who was there when the president announced those changes yesterday. be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. ♪

everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. the opioid my doctor prescribed for my chronic back pain backed me up-big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. spent time, money. no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation-oic- and can help you go more often. number two? with my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them. movantik may cause serious side effects including symptoms of opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain and/or diarrhea, and tears in the stomach or intestine. tell your doctor about any side effects and about medicines you take. movantik may interact with them causing side effects.

don't back down from oic. talk to your doctor about movantik. remember mo-van-tik. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. therefore, effective immediately, i am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with cuba. >> that was president donald trump announcing rollbacks to the historic cuba policy established under president obama. diplomatic relations between the united states and cuba will continue but the new policy is going to restrict travel for

individual americans and ban commerce with state-owned businesses. the changes come as cuban leader raul castro announced his retirement effective next year and some are questioning whether this will mean a setback for improved relations with the island nation. >> i came here two years ago and i have seen a lot of change in the past two years. businesses getting a little more vibrant and i feel like it's really a shame and there's no reason for it. >> for more on this i'm joined by otto reich, former assistant secretary of state under president george w. bush. ambassador, good to see you. you were with president trump for his announcement yesterday. why the need for these changes now when castro is expected to step down next year? >> well, the principal need is because president obama's policy had resulted in providing a lot of money to the military in cuba, to the government. the government owns a -- most

people don't know this, but the government owns just about all the hotels on the island. they may be run by foreign corporations mostly from spain, canada, italy or other places, but the money that goes into every one of those enterprises ends up in the pockets of the military and not only the military, but the castro family. most americans don't know that the military enterprise that runs -- owns all of those hotels is run by raul castro's son-in-law. it's frankly i think unfortunately rather typical of the obama administration to have a policy which is so contradictory where they are supposed to be helping the people of cuba but they end up helping the military dictatorship. >> the president, president obama, argued isolation was a failed policy. so why go backwards? >> well, this is not going backwards.

first of all. if you want to change a policy there's a number of options. i worked for president reagan who changed the policy of containment with the soviet union which had also not particularly worked but he changed it in a way that liberated hundreds of millions of people behind the iron curtain. president obama's policy was the backward model. it was the model that put the united states as -- made the united states in effect a partner of the last military dictatorship in this hemisphere. >> ambassador, if ci could interrupt you, as i said earlier, the policy will literally reverse some of the things president obama put into place. it will restrict travel for individual americans, ban commerce with state-owned businesses, literally isolating parts of cuba from the united states. did isolation in your estimation help human rights in cuba? >> the policy is not going to isolate cuba from the united states. the policy is going to put the

u.s. government on the side of the cuban people and not on the side of the cuban government. the obama policy, i say again, allied the government of the united states with the last communist dictatorship in this part of the world. i don't think most americans want the united states to be a business partner with a communist military dictatorship. do you? >> let me ask you about the venezuelan president. he's spoken out against trump's remarks, calling them an offense to latin america. what is your reaction to the leader in that nation? >> the venezuelan president, the one who is killing his own people in the streets? 60 some people have been killed by his forces on the streets of venezuela in the last six weeks. by the way, those forces that are killing venezuelan civilians, unarmed civilians, every one of them, are trained by the cuban military who the obama policy was providing money for until president trump

reversed the policy yesterday. that's my answer. >> should president trump, if things are as they are, as reports say in venezuela, as you described them, should president trump not be focused more on venezuela than on cuba? >> president trump is focused on venezuela. first of all, i'm not in the administration. i'm a private citizen. but president trump has raised the issue of venezuela with every single latin american president with whom he has spoken. the presidents of the latin american countries have said that. he has called for the venezuelan dictatorship to be isolated from the world. the venezuelan dictatorship right now is being supported by cuba, russia, china, iran. that gives you a little bit of an idea of the nature of that regime. >> otto reich, thank you very much for joining us. stay with us. what's that?

p3 planters nuts, jerky and seeds. i like a variety in my protein. totally, that's why i have this uh trail mix. wow minty. p3 snacks. the more interesting way to get your protein. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq.

the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs.

it was 45 years ago today that watergate came into play, the biggest political scandal in u.s. history. nothing since has quite measured up and no president has been able to escape its shadow, including the present one. >> media outlets like cnn and msnbc are fake news. fake news. >> i don't respect the type of journalism, the shabby journalism that is being practiced by the "washington post." thanchlg >> that was president nixon's press secretary sounding not unlike donald trump but are the comparisons between these two very different men valid? joining us is rick pearlstein, author of "nixon land, the rise of a president and the fracturing of america" and doug weed, former senior adviser to the ron paul presidential campaign. welcome. here's what you told "the new

yorker" editor comparing trump to nixon. you said i actually think the comparisons at this point obscure more than they reveal. nixon was just so shrewd, so strategic it is inconceivable he would get caught with his pants down implicating himself on the record like trump now does almost daily. so it's not that you merely dislike these comparisons, you sort of suggest they distort our view of both the president and the past, correct? >> it depends on your angle of vision. fundamentally if you get back to the foundations of the scandal, it's about the constitution which very explicitly sets out the powers of three co-equal branches of government. in both the cases of nixon and trump, what we are looking at, what the scandal is, what the outrage is, is that the president, the head of the executive branch, abused his power to destroy the powers of the judiciary and the legislative branches so

ultimately, you really look down to the foundation, the big picture, we are talking about the same thing. the violation of the constitution and the abuse of power. that's what we should be remembering today. >> doug, it's a sore subject when republicans or anybody for that matter compares richard nixon to donald trump. what's your take on how republicans are processing that as a whole? >> we need to think -- i'm sorry. doug. >> go ahead, rick. >> i was going to say we need to think about the fact that after richard nixon, nixon was pardoned by ford, the next republican president. the next republican president after that, a law was passed saying the united states couldn't fund the contras and he did that using a secret office in the white house. the next republican president pardoned the people who were convicted of crimes including casper wineberger. we have a continuous pattern of obstruction of justice, of violation of the constitution, abuse of power of republican presidency after republican

presidency. >> doug, rick says it's continuous pattern here between republican presidencies. i see a big smile on your face. what's your take? >> you can't compare this to watergate. it's ridiculous. it just doesn't hold up to the facts. you can drag john dean out on the set, you can raise sam irwin from the dead but this is not watergate. in watergate you hrichard nixon using the fbi and cia to spy on political enemies. there's one line in the tapes where nixon says we need more wiretaps on our political enemies. even bill clinton had margaret milner richardson, his wife's best friend, become commissioner of the irs and audit the women who were accusing him of sexual abuse. you don't have anything like that, or the hiring of the detective that went to school with hillary to threaten these women. you had nixon at one point meeting with john dean saying a million dollars, we can get that, that was to cover the expenses of the watergate

burglars. there's no comparison. it's an insult to watergate to say what's happening now has any comparison at all. >> are you defending donald trump? a man who doesn't even seem to care that a foreign government who is hostile to us is sabotaging not only our election process but the election processes around the world? he never criticized that once. >> i guess at the end of the day my question is, doug, is the idea of obstruction of justice not obstruction of justice? is that not what we are seeing? when we talk about a parallel, how is that different? >> i don't see the firing of jim comey, for example, as obstruction of justice. the fbi has an $8 billion a year budget, it has 35,000 agents. john mccabe, the acting director of the fbi, is a democrat whose wife ran for office in virginia and got $700,000 from the clinton machine, $500,000 of

that came from terry mcauliffe, chairman of hillary clinton's 2008 presidential election. to say the firing of jim comey is an obstruction of justice, that wasn't even a road bump. william mccabe can do just fine as director of the fbi. >> somehow, we started talking about the clintons in all this. unfortunately, we have to leave it there. there certainly are parallels between donald trump and richard nixon. historians both, we thank you for joining us. if you want to hear more, don't miss msnbc's special presentation of "all the president's men revisited." the documentary narrated by robert redford offers a comprehensive look at the infamous watergate scandal, weaving first-hand accounts from those at the center of the story with scenes from the movie. watch that tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern only right here on msnbc. tomorrow, be sure to catch a special edition of "the point" with ari melber.

that's sunday at 5:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. much more ahead this saturday. we will go live to pennsylvania where a judge declared a mistrial in bill cosby's assault trial after the jury couldn't reach a verdict. will he stand trial again? [ america by simon and garfunkel ] ♪ let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together ♪ ♪ i've got some real estate here in my bag ♪ ♪ so i looked at the scenery. ♪ she read her magazine... the all-new volkswagen atlas. covered from coast to coast with america's best bumper-to-bumper limited warranty.

and it's also a story mail aabout people and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis,... isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... with reduced redness,... thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts... or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight...

and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea,... nausea, upper respiratory tract infection... and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. ykeep you sidelined.ng that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over 200 sites to find you the hotel you want at the lowest price. grazie, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. dental professionals recommend using an electric toothbrush. for an exceptionally fresh feeling choose philips sonicare diamondclean. hear the difference versus oral b. in a recently published clinical study,