Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

President Trump is wheels up headed for Asia; The Russian investigation rocked by another development; President Trump made a bold assertion about the U.S. military hitting ISIS in the wake of Tuesday's attack in New York City; U.S. Senator Rand Paul was assaulted at the senators' hall; Secret document related to Martin Luther King Jr. was among scores of new documents that were just released yesterday; San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz says the death toll from hurricane Maria could be ten times higher than what has been reported; Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 4, 2017 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:06] ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You can meet all of this year's top 10 heroes. You can vote at CNNheroes.com to help decide who should be our CNN Hero of the year. All ten will be honored at the 11th annual CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute but only one will be named CNN hero of the year. Join Anderson Cooper and special guest, cohost, Kelly Ripa live Sunday, December 17th. It is going to be an extraordinary night.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. So glad you are with me. I am Ana Cabrera in New York.

And right now President Trump is wheels up headed for Asia with stunning developments in the Russia investigation threatening to over shadow. This historic trip, the stakes could not be higher. Beijing is facing a show down with President Trump over his campaign promise to crack down on China's trade practices. Another big topic, of course, North Korea and its nuclear program.

Back in the U.S., the Russian investigation rocked by another development. Former campaign adviser Carter Page is now backing away from earlier denial and confirming a meeting during the summer of 2016 with Russia deputy prime minister. Even more significant takes us a few people on the campaign knew about his trip.

We have a lot to cover. Let's get to Ryan Nobles in Honolulu.

And Ryan, what does the administration hope to accomplish on this trip?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, this is a long trip for the President, the longest of his administration. And they have a number of objectives that they would like to accomplish over this 12-day trip to the Asia Pacific region.

But you hit on perhaps the most important issues and that is the growing attention with North Korea and the Kim Jong-un administration. The President is going to be visiting five different countries in this region and meeting with the leaders that are perhaps most affected by the rise of Kim Jong-un and his full operational of nuclear weapons and his at least attempt to go in that direction.

Among that, the leaders of Japan, Shinzo Abe. He is also going to be meeting with the leaders of South Korea. He will be meeting with President Xi Jinping from China and also the controversial leader of the Philippines.

Each one of these leaders comes to this situations with North Korea from a different perspectives. Obviously, Japan, a direct enemy of North Korea. But China has a bit of a relationship with that regime. And China could be the key to try to figure out some sort of an end to this conflict.

While there is obviously a military component to this trip, there is an economic one for the President. This part of the world lives on an important trade partner for the United States on a number of different fronts. And of course, the relationship with China is something that the President focuses on quite a bit during the campaign, accused China being a currency manipulator and also claiming that they were dealing with the United States unfairly.

But the relationship with the President and the Chinese President soften quite a bit right from the very start when the President and President Xi met in the United States. They seem to hit it off on a personal level. And that's really what the White House hopes the President could accomplish over these 12 days.

One on one conversations with these leaders and talking to them on a human level. The President is charming in the settings. And that offers the opportunity for some success. That's going begin right away when he lands in Tokyo here in a few hours. He is going to have a long really social day with Shinzo Abe and his wife, the first lady Melania Trump. They will have - they will share couple of meals. And then the President and Abe will actually hit the golf course where they will talk about some of the big issues.

Of all the leaders that the President meets with over the next 12 days, Ana, the relationship with Abe is perhaps his closest and maybe even the most important as he confronts many of these big issues in the region here over the next few weeks.

CABRERA: You will recall that Abe and the President of this gulf back here in the U.S. when the leader of Japan visited us.

Ryan Nobles, thank you for that report.

Meantime, back here at home. The Russia probe is heating up. This week alone, there have been two indictments, a guilty plea and now new questions over why both President Trump and his attorney general said they were completely unaware of any meetings with Russian officials when new court documents show otherwise.

Here is CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pressing question, were President Trump and attorney general Sessions misleading when they denied any knowledge of campaign content with Russians?

Here is Mr. Trump in February.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts of Russia during the course of election?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I told you, General Flynn, obviously was dealing so that is one person. But he was dealing as he should have been.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the election?

TRUMP: No, nobody that I know of.

SCIUTTO: And here is Mr. Sessions in testimony just last month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't believe that surrogates from the Trump campaign had communications with the Russians. Is that what you are saying?

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I did not and I am not aware of anyone else that did. And I don't believe it happened.

[16:05:02] SCIUTTO: In fact, the court filings unsealed this week shows that former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos who pleaded guilty to making false statements to investigators suggested that on a March 2016 meeting that Trump met Russian president Vladimir Putin. JD Gordon, a former national security advisor to the campaign who was in the room for that meeting Tell CNN that Trump heard out Papadopoulos. And another source tells CNN that Sessions, a top campaign national security adviser and surrogate rejected the idea.

The President responded by saying he does not remember much of the meeting.

TRUMP: I don't remember much of the meeting. It was a very unimportant meeting took place a long time. Don't remember much about it.

SCIUTTO: Another former campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, tells CNN that he testified before the House Intelligence committee behind closed doors Thursday that he informed his Sessions. He was travelling to Russia the 2016 presidential campaign. Though he said that the trip was not tied to his rule with the campaign.

Papadopoulos' account is placing another Trump's adviser under scrutiny, Sam Clovis who served as deputy campaign chairman. Court document showed that Papadopoulos contacted a campaign's supervisor who the "Washington Post" has identified as Clovis about a potential trip to Russia to meet Russian officials. The supervisor responded encouraging Papadopoulos to make the trip. Papadopoulos' account was unsealed as the same day as indictment. So former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates in relation of their lobbying work in the Ukraine government.

In the indictment, the government alleges that they receive tens of millions of dollars for their work. And to hide that income, launder the money through quote "scores of United Stated and foreign corporations, partnerships and bank accounts."

Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty to charges which covers activities prior to Trump's presidential campaign.

There is a proposed start date for the Manafort and Gate's trial on May 7th, 2018. The trial is expected to last more than three weeks. That'll take us through the summer of 2018, just before key midterm election.

Jim Sciutto, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Thanks, Jim.

Joining us to discuss these developments and more "Time" magazine contributor Jay Newton-Small and CNN political analyst and historian and professor at Princeton University Julian Zelizer.

So Jay, I want to begin with this new revelations about what Attorney general Jeff Sessions knew they didn't mention. He did not mention Papadopoulos' pitch or Carter Page's trip when he testified to Congress. Is it going to be easy for Republicans in Congress to simply write this off?

JAY NEWTON-SMALL, CONTRIBUTOR, TIME MAGAZINE: Absolutely not, Ana. And I think you already have seen Democrats certainly saying this is unacceptable. They want to call him back in and testify before the committee again to say - to explain these lapses of memory. Because, look, he either has the worst memory in history or he knowingly misled his former colleagues in the senate and lied to them about these campaign contact with Russia.

CABRERA: Julian, as President and Republicans, a lot of them, have tried to discredit Mueller's investigation. But there is the new pull out that shows most Americans believe in this investigation. In fact, let me show, here we have it, "Washington Post"/ABC News poll, 58 percent of Americans approved the Mueller investigation. And in fact, 49 percent believes it is likely that President Trump himself committed a crime compare to 44 percent, that's unlikely. What does that tell you?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it is very damaging to the administration. The President and his allies clearly would like to discredit Robert Mueller. They would like to discredit the investigation. But a poll like this show, the strategy is not working. And right now, Mueller holds a lot of support in terms of the integrity of the investigation. So if the findings are not favorable to the administration, that will

make it much harder for him to push back the President, to push back against opponents in Congress. So this is I think a very important poll to give us a first sense of what the public is thinking.

CABRERA: One of the ways he is pushing back this week has been to point fingers at Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

And Jay, we now have some additional information that has just come out that is apparently part of Donna Brazile's new book. A stunning report in the "Washington Post" claiming former DNC chair Donna Brazile considered moving to replace Hillary Clinton with Joe Biden after Clinton faded - fainted at that 9/11 memorial service last September. These new details, again, are apparently in the new book which they have a copy ahead of its release. What do you make of it?

NEWTON-SMALL: We have heard a lot of pushback, Ana, from Clinton world on this point saying, first of all, Donna Brazile did not have the power to replace Clinton on the ticket and wouldn't and such a move would have been incredibly unprecedented.

Secondly, Joe Biden didn't even run for President this time around. So why would consider replacing the duly elected nominee of the party for somebody who didn't actually run? Why would you then perhaps turn to Bernie Sanders who did actually run and came in second place?

And so, that - the Clinton world has really pushed back hard on this today saying that this is complete (INAUDIBLE). That it is just, you know, crazy speculation she is doing this to (INAUDIBLE).

[16:10:19] CABRERA: A DNC official in fact tell CNN that this would have been possible because the DNC chair does not have that kind of authority, first of all. And again, there is no vacancy, Julian. So why not put it out there.

ZELIZER: Well, I don't know. I mean, the speculations will run from selling books to venting about his ongoing frustration with Democrats as about what happened in November. Why did the Democrats lose? Why couldn't Hillary Clinton defeat an in experienced and erratic candidate?

But the problem is, this kind of complaining and infighting coming now as Democrats are really in a pretty good position against the Republicans can be extraordinarily damaging. It would take over the news as oppose to these multiple later issues that are problematic for the administration and it really increase the tensions among Democrats over what happen rather than what's on the horizon.

CABRERA: What do you make of the timing of this, Jay? Is Brazile just trying to sell books?

NEWTON-SMALL: I mean, it is hard to tell. Obviously, it is attach to her book rule out and she does have some incentives to sell books. And this also what is in the book itself. So is she really just unveiling what she has written here? So that makes a lot of sense. At the same time it does play really well as Julian was saying into Donald Trump's, sort of scheduled, you could say. I mean, otherwise, we would be talking about Russia. We would be solely focus on that investigation. And so to come out instead of how about this come out now, really some

degree bolsters Trump's sort of Trump's claims that we should focus on Hillary Clinton. We should be focusing on what was going on on that side of the isle during the campaign and less about what was happening with his campaign and Russia.

CABRERA: Trump has been accused or by others are criticized for rehashing the 2016 election. Now that we are whole year past, would you argue Democrats are just as guilty?

ZELIZER: Absolutely. That's exactly what they are doing and they are doing it the wrong time. But President Trump has a lot more to gain if he goes back or he focuses on his former opponents. The Democrats have a lot more to lose if they start to re-litigate 2016 and bring up all these fights. It is going to go in the wrong direction for them.

They have a President who is in deep trouble as this poll show they have a Republican party that is struggling with zero legislation at this point and weak polls. And if they start to reargue, who should have been the nominee? They are just not looking at this the right way.

CABRERA: Julian Zelizer and Jay Newton-Small, thank you, both.

Coming up, the Presidents said the U.S. military hit ISIS back ten times harder in response to The New York terror attack. But Pentagon (INAUDIBLE) to really shown uptick in strike than the days after the attack, but will that stop ISIS inspiring attacks happening in the future?

We will discuss next live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:12] CABRERA: Yemen has ran back houti government is now taking credit for a long range missile fired at Saudi Arabia. Saudi government says it intercepted the missile over capitol city at Riyadh as it made its way towards Saudi Arabia's King Khalid (ph) international airport. Now the Houti ministry called the mission successful because its attack shook the Saudi capital.

Tensions are already high between these two countries which are at war even though this attack came from Yemen. The war is considered a Saudi Arabia-Iran proxy war.

Now, before leaving on his Asia trip, President Trump made a bold assertion about the U.S. military hitting ISIS in the wake of Tuesday's attack in New York City. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So when we had an animal doing an attack like he did the other day on the west side of Manhattan, we are hitting him ten times harder. They claimed (INAUDIBLE) soldier good luck. Every time they hit us, we know it is ISIS, we hit them like you folks won't believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The pentagon's records don't seem to show any uptick in U.S. military hit on ISIS in days following the attack.

Let's talk it over with Robert Pape, ISIS and anti-terrorism expert at University of Chicago and author of "Dying to Win, a strategic logic of suicide terrorism." Colonel Steve Warren is with us, former spokesman of the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq and Kimberley Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst and executive editor of the cyber brief.

So Robert, just taking a look at the President's rhetoric alone, just what he is saying, does that sort of talk work in battling terrorist?

ROBERT PAPE, DIRECTOR, CHICAGO PROJECT ON SECURITY & THREATS: Probably point to inspire them even more. ISIS has revolutionized the use of video propaganda to inspire people who are already in the home country that they are targeting and attacking. And a lot of that rhetoric that Trump is using is probably going to filter its way into future videos. And it is the videos that are doing the damage. So pounding them over there, if necessary, but it is not sufficient. We got to really come to grips with ISIS video revolution.

CABRERA: Colonel, the Pentagon says nothing has changed in terms of the physical fight following the terror attack. How do you think our leaders feeling about the President saying what he said?

COL. STEVE WARREN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think the military leaders are most like focusing very sharply on what their job is. I don't know that mine is in order or, you know, some direct guidance they are going to really react too much to what gets tweeted out or what kind of that is casually said in the press conference. These generals understand their mission. They have been fighting this war against ISIS now for many years. And they are going to continue to be focused and they are going to continue to do what they have to do to keep America safe while striking the enemy far away.

CABRERA: Kimberley, we are seeing huge ISIS defeat in Iraq and Syria. But at the same time, there was this successful terror attack that was at the very least, ISIS inspire on New York soils, an American soil. What does this tell of how the threat is evolving?

[16:20:16] KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the key there was probably ISIS inspired in terms of this particular attack which is exactly what ISIS have hoped to cause, it promised. And we heard from international and U.S. intelligence that ISIS have sent fighters back especially Europe and is also trying to inspire people in the United States.

But what the President has done by in the sense raising the profile of the attack in New York is he has confirmed that some low level guy who was inspired by the group but apparently did not have any direct orders from the group is in a sense a major figure. He has raised his profile.

The state department under the Obama administration have found that when it was tweeting at terrorist, all it was doing was giving them what they wanted, pushing back and giving them a higher profile. And one of the things that consciously decided to do was to ignore ISIS tweet as much as possible. The President is doing the opposite of that. And he, in the sense, giving them what they want, just what Robert was saying, giving them the rhetorical win they were looking for.

PAPE: Yes. Part of ISIS' video revolution is to not just inspire people before the fact but to glorify them after the fact. We saw this with the Mateen, the Orlando shooter, and Kim Dozier is exactly right on point. This rhetoric is going to feed directly into how militant groups can glorify these attackers as murders, as heroes. And in fact, the videos are ready, are so heroically oriented.

You see, ISIS has been making videos targeting (INAUDIBLE). They have been targeting other sub populations. And when you watch those videos and the actual content, you see they paint them as heroes. Well, then, now that they are inflated with President Trump's rhetoric, they are heroes to many people.

CABRERA: And yet, ISIS didn't officially take credit for this attack until many days later. Colonel, does that surprise you?

WARREN: It does not surprise me. I don't think any of the ISIS leadership had any idea that this attack was about to happen. This is one guy who has been self-radicalized. He was inspire by these videos that Robert has been mentioning and he will operate on his own. So it took them.

Keep in mind that ISIS now in Iraq and in Syria has really shell that's old sell. So a lot of their released communicate, a lot of their ability to have global situational awareness, that's been degraded. So it took them a few days to even figure out what happened. But of course, they want to step up and try to take some credit.

They are going to continue to do this. This is going to be part of this ongoing battle we have with this jihadist over the year. And Robert and Kim are exactly right. We have to figure out a way to crack this nut while we can fight them both physically, where they are and then fight them kind of in the ether whether it is video or other capabilities.

CABRERA: Kimberley, I want to read you this from Mitch Silver. He is the former NYPD director of intelligence. And now is saying that this New York City terror attack quote, "pierces the shield of in vulnerability which NYPD has been able to establish since 9/11. Now that NYC has shown that it can be hit successfully, I do expect more attempts against the city in the near term especially as we enter the holiday season. That is a quote, Kim, and that's chilling.

DOZIER: Yes. That's the quote he gave us at the site for brief. What he and other security professionals I spoke to worried about is that air visibility around New York has been punctured. People realize that it can be done and other would be copy cats out there have just learned just about no matter what kind of attack they are able to carry out will likely get the attention of the U.S. President. And that's probably the most dangerous sort of come onto them of all.

CABRERA: All right. Colonel Steve Warren, Robert Pape, Kimberly Dozier, thank you so much for that discussion. We really appreciate your time.

Coming up. A secret document of Martin Luther King was release as part of the JFK files. The details of what thought they had on the civil rights icon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:29:07] CABRERA: We have some breaking news out of Kentucky, a bowing-green man is now been arrested for assaulting U.S. senator Rand Paul at the senators' hall. We are learning from police that 59-year- old, Rene Busher, the suspect, they say he intentionally assaulted Paul causing minor injury. The man was arrested. He was charged of one count of 4th degree assault. He is now in jail.

Senator Paul's Kentucky communications director issued the following statement saying Senator Paul was blindsided and a victim of the assault. The assailant was arrested and is now a matter for the police.

Now, we don't know what led to this attack. Police not yet talk to a motive at this point. Obviously, a developing story. We will bring in you new details as we learn them.

Meantime, a secret document related to Martin Luther King Jr. was among scores of new documents that were just released yesterday having to do with John F. Kennedy, the former president. Now, the king's document includes an FBI analysis that paints a negative picture of the civil rights leader and find King had ties to communist leaders and assertions of extramarital affairs.

Let's go to CNN Kaylee Hartung. She has been looking over these documents. She is joining us from Atlanta.

Kaylee, what more are you learning?

[16:30:17] KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, well, Ana, this 20-page FBI document, they were just seeing for the first time portrays Martin Luther King Jr. in a harshly negative light. It was written just three weeks before Doctor King was assassinated in 1968.

As you mentioned, there are attempts to tie him to various communist influences. There are allegations of financial improprieties at the southern Christian leadership conferences. That is the civil rights organization he led labeling it, attacks dodge. And the document delves into doctor King's personal life as you mentioned.

There are insinuations of extramarital affairs and other sexual improprieties that would have undoubtingly been embarrassing to the icon at the time. And so the conclusion of this analysis by the FBI questions how deserving doctor King was of the Nobel peace prize. He was awarded in 1964. It has been long known that the FBI under Edgar Hoover had an interest of King's possible connections to communism and to his personal life.

Hoover, he authorized an extensive surveillance program on King in the '60s. He had investigators trailed him and spy on him. And we should point out that it is not clear in the document how or if the authors here verified any of the information included. And last night Clayborne Carson, the director of Martin Luther King Jr.'s research education institute spoke with Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAYBORNE CARSON, DIRECTOR, MLK JR. RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INSTITUTE: What's striking about this is that this was a file that would have, that could have been released in 1968. And in that climate, it probably, I can hardly guess how people would have responded to it because it is simply an allegation by an unnamed person, an informant. And it is striking that I have gone through some of the JFK documents that were released. The FBI and other federal agencies go to great lengths to keep out the names of informants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARTUNG: Carson went onto say what he sees in the document is a person, director Hoover, who was trying his best to damage doctor king.

CABRERA: All right. Kaylee Hartung, thank you very much.

Still ahead, as the President tout the government response to hurricane Maria as a success, six weeks later, much of the island is still without power. We will show you how Puerto Ricans are surviving next.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:59] CABRERA: San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz says the death toll from hurricane Maria could be ten times higher than what has been reported. Officially, the Puerto Rican government reports 55 deaths caused by Maria. But the San Juan mayor told our Jake Tapper yesterday the number could be as high as 500 if you count those who have died perhaps the result of power outages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ, SAN JUAN: What we do know for sure is that people re been catalogue as dying out of natural deaths when they were, for example, hooked to a respirator, there is no power. The small generator that they have gives up. And then of course they died of natural causes, but they are related to like about just --.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Now, Puerto Rico's public health secretary says the mayor has not presented any evidence to back-up that claim and calls her remarks irresponsible. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's leader still don't seem to know just how many of their citizens are still in the dark. A reminder, it has been six weeks since Maria made land fall.

CNN correspondent Leyla Santiago has been following the hurricane's aftermath ever since. She is joining us from San Juan.

Leyla, how can they fix the problem there? They don't know how many people are without electricity.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So that's a fair question, Ana. And that certainly is one of the question at the center of all the frustration. People who are saying look, we are six weeks out on an island of 3.5 million U.S. citizens and so many still don't have power. And now we are learning that they don't even really have an idea of how many that is. But at the end of the day, there are so many people still literally living in the dark here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANTIAGO (voice-over): What I can't see across the street, people. Life. Without power.

This is the only light that he has. And you can see that its a little light from like a Christmas tree, it looks like. And it's powered from a car battery, which I know it's difficult to see so I'll actually light it with my cell phone.

Six weeks after hurricane Maria, (INAUDIBLE) now sleeps next to the open window in his home to get through those long hot nights with no power. He is one of many. Satellite images show the island before Maria, after and now. Not much has changed, and Puerto Rico's power authority claims there's no way of knowing how many people like Rivera are in the dark.

So we called each municipality, that's 78 of them. We couldn't reach most. Communication still not reliable. But of those reached, the overwhelming majority say most people do not have power. Nearly a third say the entire town is in the dark. And yet the power authority and the governor's office insist they are on track.

When it comes to power restoration, they say they're at 37 percent on the island. But that's the percentage of power generation. How much power is being produced, not how much is actually making it to homes and businesses. A big difference when you ask one of the unions at Puerto Rico's power authority.

[16:40:11] EVANS CASTRO, PRESIDENT, UEPI UNION: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: He said he can technically have no one with power but still have 100 percent generation. That's why he thinks the numbers are questionable.

We noticed government officials changed how they report the numbers on power, initially using the percentage of clients with power, something they denied until we reminded them of this tweet by the governor's mansion, retweeted by the power authority listing clients with service two weeks after Maria. The governor's office said it was a mistake. The tweet was deleted shortly after CNN asked about it.

When we first approached the governor's office and (INAUDIBLE), we were told by both that they have always reported generation, not clients.

FERNANDO PADILLA, DIRECTOR, PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE, PREPA: I'm not sure on the facts. But (INAUDIBLE) what I can state is when we started restoring critical loads, it's more you can identify better who are the clients. That's as much -- as I can say. It was during a very limited period of time.

SANTIAGO: Since the power authority says those numbers are no longer available, we asked their workers. Their estimate, about five percent of customers may have service, not nearly as high as the percentage of generation. And Rivera worries a bad situation may be getting worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: He believes that because the contract was canceled this is only going to take longer.

Puerto Rico has now announced it plans to cancel a controversial contract with a company hired to help bring back the island's power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: He has no idea it would last this long.

As he sees it, politics may now be another reason he and countless Puerto Ricans may not be getting power any time soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Tough to see what they are having to deal with there, Leyla. What are you hearing about the process of cancelling that Whitefish Energy contract? Where are we on that?

SANTIAGO: Well, you know, when I read the contract, they said that they have 30 days, the government of Puerto Rico to cancel or give notifications of that. So already Whitefish, given they have announced it, said that it is starting to whine down its efforts here on the island. Again, 30 days of work that will continue for them. But they are starting to whine down. And that's the frustration, that's the concern for many as to what the delays will be in getting that power back, getting that power back to people like Lewis who just want to be able to turn the lights on in his home six weeks after hurricane Maria struck.

CABRERA: Such resilience they are showing.

Leyla Santiago, thank you.

Still ahead with the President headed to Asia, amid the high tensions with North Korea, we will hear what life is like for American military families living on the Korean peninsula.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:47:41] CABRERA: The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan have sadly claimed another American life. A U.S. service member died today from (INAUDIBLE) during an operation in Lugar Province. Now the NATO live coalition announced the death but do not provide any details about how he died. In a statement, the military offered it deepest condolences to the service member's family.

Now an hour, a President Trump will and in Asia for the very first time since taking office, South Korea spy agency is warning the U.S. that North Korea is preparing a soft test of nuclear weapons.

CNN's Broke Baldwin recently visited South Korea speaking with U.S. service members and their families who are stationed there. Some living precariously close to borders with North Korea. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in camp Casey. We call this my house and we call we (INAUDIBLE).

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because it is where your family is?

LT. COL. AARON BRIGHT, COMMANDER, 1ST BATTALION, 38TH FIELD ARTILLERY: Right. In a word's matter of kind of way. Here in Casey, I'm most called area one. They have South Korea divided into areas based on how faraway you are from North Korea. So this is as close as you can get. And then area two encompasses Seoul. And they live in (INAUDIBLE) which is the base right there in the central of Seoul.

BALDWIN: When did he have a conversation with you? Honey, we are moving to Seoul.

SHARON BRIGHT, WIFE OF U.S. SERVICE MEMBER: We knew that we were finding out soon. So we know he is going to (INAUDIBLE). We were so happy about that. He called and he was like OK, we know. So I knew like it was one of those I am going to ease into it kind of thing, you know. So he told me South Korea and I was like whoa.

A. BRIGHT: The training exercise is all rocket pods. And each one got a total of six rockets in it or you would have one big missile. And then he will take up the whole thing.

BALDWIN: How much of your day is consumed by thinking about North Korea?

A. BRIGHT: Quite a bit of it, just trying to think one step ahead, step ahead of the enemy.

BALDWIN: Do you worry?

A. BRIGHT: Terms of worries, I don't worry about myself or my unit because it is ready. It is trained. We need to do our job. That part does not worry me. The only part that worries me is just --.

[16:50:12] BALDWIN: Your family.

A. BRIGHT: Sure. And getting them out in a timely manner.

S. BRIGHT: We know that is a family of four, you know, I would know that his job would take him one way and I would be responsible for me and the girls and the dog.

BALDWIN: What is the plan if you were to get the call?

S. BRIGHT: We would have a meeting plan with the rest of the host. And we will have our family that we have been kind of encouraged to have, whatever you want to take with you and then you go through a process of they would fly you here, they would take you here, they would take you there and then eventually you would be safe and maybe back home.

BALDWIN: How would you describe a typical day in South Korea?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is pretty normal.

BALDWIN: Pretty normal.

PRISCILLA BRIGHT, DAUGHTER OF U.S. SERVICE MEMBER: Yes, I go to school and we all go to school for seven hour and we come back and do homework. On the weekends, we can go out. There is karaoke thing that we do with our friends and barbecue dinner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes we have like sleep over with our friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a park there and we go there a lot.

BALDWIN: What is it like when you are waiting for your dad to come home on a Friday?

ANNABELLE BRIGHT, DAUGHTER OF U.S. SERVICE MEMBER: It is kind of like, is he home yet?

A. BRIGHT: It is the ticker tape parade every Friday. And it just started to wear on both of us.

S. BRIGHT: It did feel like a lots of home party every Friday and I was like, OK, look. I need some normalcy. I personally ask on a Friday night, let's keep it light on Fridays. It just gives us a minute to stay connect again, to ease back in, to being around each other. And then on Saturday mornings, we try to have our moment because then on Sunday morning, I feel like that's the girls' moment with pancakes, I stay out of that. I usually partake in the pancakes, it is all them and daddy.

A. BRIGHT: It is pretty delicious.

S. BRIGHT: So. And then we see what we have. A lot of times is just we want simplicity. BALDWIN: We cover so much of the heated up rhetoric, right, between

Washington and Pyongyang, can you feel that day to day over here?

A. BRIGHT: A little. The South Korean people are very, you know, it is just another day they see worst and it is infectious to us. We know what to do if it does happen.

BALDWIN: What's the "if"?

A. BRIGHT: Just, you know, full on war. And we know and my soldiers know, we know exactly what to do.

BALDWIN: If and when that call came into you and you are ready to roll, what is the call looks like between you and your wife?

A. BRIGHT: I don't want to think about that. I guess is a phone call. Hey, see you later. Get out.

BALDWIN: Get out.

A. BRIGHT: Yes.

BALDWIN: Is it tough to think about?

A. BRIGHT: Yes, it is. Of course.

BALDWIN: Why?

A. BRIGHT: Because I am their protector.

BALDWIN: It is your job to protect your family.

A. BRIGHT: Right. And I cannot. They have the go and I have to protect these guys. It is hard. To think about that part is hard.

BALDWIN: What does your dad mean to you?

P. BRIGHT: It means a lot. He is a great father. Sometimes when he's around with us, he is an amazing person to have in our lives. He works and makes sure that we are safe and we are good.

BALDWIN: Tell me about your mom.

A. BRIGHT: She helps a lot. She has to put up so much like taking care of us during the week when daddy is not here.

P. BRIGHT: We move so much and family is the thing that keep us constant. We always have mom and dad. We always have each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Not a dry eye in that room. I am so grateful to Colonel Bright and his beautiful family for, of course, their dedication to this country especially in times like this and really just for allowing me into their home and sharing those emotional moment. If you would like to learn more about our trip to Korea, including the DMZ reporters. No book. There is a link on my twitter @brookeCNN.

By the way, the Brights have lived in Korea for one year. They have two more to go, Ana. So talk about bringing a story thousands of miles away home.

CABRERA: Brooke Baldwin, what an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing that.

Coming up, we will talk about the President's trip to Asia. The diplomatic stakes that plays and what allies in the region need to hear from the President. Tensions now over North Korea.

But first, the founder of Harry's wanted to make razors more affordable. Here is how a frustrating experience at a drugstore inspires the innovation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:55:02] ANDY KATZ-MAYFIELD, CO-FOUNDER, HARRY'S: Harry's was born out of a personal experience that I have, just a really frustrating experience going to a drugstore finding the razor blades, lock behind in the case, spending $25 per razor blades and some shaving cream.

JEFF RADER, CO-FOUNDER, HARRY'S: Today, we sell online, you can subscribe to Harry's, you can just order whenever you want to, we sell it retail stores, we bought razor blade factory in Germany. We go figure out how we can make those products better. We have invested tens of millions of dollars and continuing to improve that process.

KATZ-MAYFIELD: The actual name was the grandfather, (INAUDIBLE). We sort of like the idea of shaving being passed down from grandfather to father and to son, you know. A lot of the ways guys are marketed into this category is broadly, is like very sort of traditional view of what it means to be a man which is sort of rooted in like sports or sex or bathroom humor or whatever which for me as a guy, like it does not fascinates that much.

RADER: We want to be a brand that shares the beliefs of our guys that is able to sort of have an honest and warm conversation with her about what is it like to be a guy and what is it like to shave and get ready?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)