Hey there from CNN. I'm David Rind with the five things you need to know for Wednesday, May 20th.

Amid all the talk about Iran, you'd be forgiven for forgetting just how much pressure the Trump administration is putting on Cuba.

Its oil blockade contributed to rolling blackouts on the island. Basic services are scarce. People there are really struggling.

Well, today that pressure is expected to ramp up another notch. CNN Chief Justice

correspondent Evan Perez is here. Evan, what are we going to see here?

Hey, David, the Justice Department is preparing to announce criminal charges against Raul Castro,

brother of Fidel Castro, former Cuban president himself,

and who still very much is involved in running the Cuban government.

Now, this relates to the 1996 shootdown of unarmed civilian planes

just outside Cuban airspace.

This attack killed four people, including three Americans.

And really, this has been a case that's been 30 years in the making for the Justice Department.

And it's really also very much about the Trump administration putting additional pressure on the Cuban government to change the way it runs the island.

Castro so far has not commented on any potential charges.

Meanwhile, the Cuban American Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the Cuban people directly in Spanish

in a video put out by the State Department.

He said the Trump administration is offering to help, and that the only thing standing in the way of a better future are the people who control their country.

When we come back, China rolls out the red carpet again, this time for a major U.S.

adversary.

Stick around.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing today, meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

He was talking there about trade agreements between the two countries.

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