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Trump administration sets sights on Cuba · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's Venezuela, then Ron. The question now is could Cuba
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: be next? It looks like there has been nothing subtle
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: right about the hints that President Trump has been dropping,
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  Speaker 1: telling another media outlet today that Cuba is going to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: fall pretty soon. They want to make a deal, and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: so I'm going to put Marco Rubio over there to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: see how well that works out. All of that, echoing
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  Speaker 1: what he said here yesterday. Listen to this.
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  Speaker 2: But what's happening with Cuba is amazing, and we think
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  Speaker 2: that we want to finish this one first, but that
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  Speaker 2: will be just a question of time before you and
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  Speaker 2: a lot of unbelievable people are going to be going
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  Speaker 2: back to Cuba, hopefully not to stay.
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  Speaker 1: And joining us. Now is NBC News analyst and former
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Congressman from Florida, Carlos Corbelo. Carlos could to see you.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: So Cuba going to fall pretty soon? I mean, what
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: do you think pretty soon means? And what do you
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  Speaker 1: think that Rubio's visit is going to look.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Like, Yattie? What it likes? The means is that the
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Cuban regime is at the table and that they are
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  Speaker 3: actually willing to give some concessions to the United States,
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  Speaker 3: maybe for the first time ever in terms of meaningful concession.
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  Speaker 3: So the president very bullish. In terms of the prospects
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  Speaker 3: for change in Cuba. The rumor on the hill and
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  Speaker 3: people expect news as early as next week out of Cuba,
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  Speaker 3: is that most of the changes for now are going
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  Speaker 3: to be economic in nature, meaning that the regime will
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: remain in place, so perhaps something similar to what we've
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  Speaker 3: seen in Venezuela. Of course, that's going to make some
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  Speaker 3: Cuban Americans in South Florida and throughout the country frustrated
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  Speaker 3: because what the community wants to see is the regime go.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: But it seems that for now the President might be
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  Speaker 3: content stopping just short of that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and NBC is reporting that the Trump administration exploring
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: filing charges against either members of the Cuban regime or
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the Communist Party. What do you think is is this
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: more likely to be a Maduro snatch and grab situation
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: if it happens, or like a bomb and kill the
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Iatola situation.
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  Speaker 3: No, Gatti, I think this is a negotiation tactic by
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  Speaker 3: the administration. The example of what they did to Nico
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  Speaker 3: las Malulo based on a United States indictment is there
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  Speaker 3: for the whole world to see. The Cubans know it
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  Speaker 3: extremely well because thirty two Cubans died in that Operation's
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  Speaker 3: Cubans who were in Venezuela protecting Maduro. So this is
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  Speaker 3: a way to increase pressure and to tell the Cuban leaders.
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  Speaker 3: We could indict Raoul Castro Rol Cashro, who's ninety four
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  Speaker 3: years old, Gaddy, he does not want to spend what
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: remains of his life in an American prison. So this
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  Speaker 3: is a way to increase pressure and to show the
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  Speaker 3: Cubans that if they don't negotiate in goodwill, if they
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: don't agree to whatever terms the United States is putting out,
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  Speaker 3: their leaders could face a similar fate as Nicolas Maa Lulu.
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  Speaker 1: Let's say they kept up the rhetoric though, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: the Cubans president has been ramping up military exercises amid
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: some of these threats. What kind of defense could Cuba
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  Speaker 1: actually put up, Well.
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  Speaker 3: Gotti, it wouldn't be much of a contest. The Cuban
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  Speaker 3: military is not what it used to be thirty years ago,
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  Speaker 3: when they still had a lot of more modern Soviet
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  Speaker 3: era weapons. The soldiers, I mean, the generals do very
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  Speaker 3: well because they're very wealthy, they're tied into the economy,
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  Speaker 3: but you know, lower officers and a Cuban military aren't
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: well compensated, so there wouldn't be very much resistance. If
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  Speaker 3: the United States decided to pursue some kind of military action,
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  Speaker 3: it would probably be a very short and expedient operation.
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  Speaker 1: And you know better than I do out there in Florida.
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  Speaker 1: Cuba is famously less than one hundred miles away from Florida.
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  Speaker 1: We saw so much telegraphing with the movement of troops
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  Speaker 1: into the Caribbean before Venezuela. Then we saw the same
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: type of telegraphing very early on things headed out to
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the Middle East, and then we saw the attacks on
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  Speaker 1: Iran start. Does that same telegraphing have to happen or
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: can a strike, a surprise strike be launched from American soil?
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  Speaker 3: It would be very easy gattie for the United States.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, there's an Air Force reserve base and Home said,
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  Speaker 3: there's a naval air station in Key West, very very
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  Speaker 3: close to Cuba. So the United States does have significant assets. SOUTHCOM,
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  Speaker 3: the command center for the Latin America South America, is
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: in Miami, so there are a lot of military assets
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  Speaker 3: here if the United States needed to respond, if at
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: some point that decided that military option was the best one,
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: they could easily execute that with assets that are already
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: here in this area. But Gaddy, I highly doubt it
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  Speaker 3: is going to get to that point. There is so
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: much economic pressure on Cuba, fuel is running out on
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  Speaker 3: the island that they are very likely to reach some
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  Speaker 3: kind of an agreement at least to buy the regime sometime.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's hope something peaceful happens. Carlos Kurbello, thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much for joining us.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you for watching, and remember stay updated on
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app
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  Speaker 3: or watch live on our YouTube channel.