we have puerto rico is in the island and we have puerto rico outside the island that are ready and eager to jump and and help in any way possible it could be with their connections it can be with their know how and what i have what i am expecting and what i'm seeing that's going to happen is that civil society think towns nonprofits are going to come together and want to work together as a team to rethink puerto rico in a sustainable way and so it is about what you were talking about there i'm just going to i'm going to hold this up and i had it right here and i hear you have turned i'm going to go to you but i want to explain for our international audience what is about mentioned comments from this week trying to wipe out puerto rico's debt in an interview on fox news then this happened this is via the hill though a lot of other news organizations have it just in budget chief contradicts trump on puerto rico debt and this is the white house budget director mick mulvaney who on wincey said we're absolutely not going to bail them out this headline is he walking back trumps comments on wip

assist puerto rico. president, the united states has been characterized for taking extraordinary measures extra ordinary times. these arts extra narrow times in puerto rico, there's 4 -- therefore, these are extra narrow times in the united states. timesse are extraordinary in the united states. president trump: we will be successful tonight. it will be sometime in the morning, maybe sooner. we will have the votes for the budget, which will face one of our massive tax cuts and reform. it will bewill be -- successful tonight, with respect to the budget. you can count the votes better than most people. the votes,have frankly, i think we have the votes for the tax cuts, which we will follow shortly thereafter. we will see what happens. these are examples, we need tax -- what weat we need went through. you look at -- we need growth. we need people who are going to be pouring into our country, and we have that now. we are starting to have that, even on the prospect of tax cuts. we have companies you saw last

puerto rico with us. we have gotten to know each other extremely well over the next couple of weeks and i can tell you, you are a hard working governor. it's a tough situation. so much has to be rebuilt. even from before. the difference between texas and florida and various places is we're looking at designs of a new power plant, a big electrical plant and many different designs an concepts, which is very unusual. because it was in pretty rough shape prior and now, it's in even rougher shape. with that said, i think we've done a really great job and we've had tremendous cooperation from the governor and we are getting there and people are really seeing the effort that's been put into puerto rico. it's been a very, very difficult situation for many people. especially the island nature. if you look at getting food there, we did. the distribution was difficult because the roads were blocked. the people couldn't get to their food because of the distribution centers and the roads were in really horrific shape

rico on puerto rico. we've prioritized those facilities. in terms of how we've thought about our mission, we have prioritized manufacturers who supply critical products to the people of puerto rico. there are some local manufacturers that provide sterilization for hospitals, follow regulatory scope. early on we worked to prioritize getting those back online. >> one more question. medicalported that oxygen and access continues to be a challenge in puerto rico. could you please update the both the actions the fda is taking to ensure that all patients and facilities that require oxygen are able to receive it as well as the agencies actions to guard against potential shortage of medical oxygen. >> we've worked with partners at hhs. i'm going to defer to them because they have played a more active role with these facilities. >> sir, there are two principle suppliers of oxygen on the island. both of them are back operational on the grid right now. there was a smaller supplier and large supplier of oxygen. they

rico and in new york hector figaro a puerto rican activist and president of thirty two b.j. service employees international union welcome everyone to the stream we also invited the mayor of san juan on to our show she originally agreed but later declined due to scheduling conflicts so let's start in san juan where our a.j. plus colleague and occasional co-host on the stream have a dean was on the ground when the category four storm hit take a look. just ride some lawn and it's very difficult to drive around because fifty percent of the city was flooded and it's not water that's preventing you from going from one place to the other it's broken power lines trees debris. this mess. with their doors. hers. are mysteries that people are really going to cost over to another neighbor so she lost her house completely . renee two weeks later what is your area of san juan look like. hi renee thanks for being here thank you for joining us it's two weeks after the hurricane what does your area look like. down and melich and thank you for the opportunity to be here talking about puerto r

rico you mentioned the fiscal oversight board that is probably sort of puerto rican puerto rico overside management and economic stability and that's the board that's. by congress the u.s. congress in twenty sixteen to oversee the island detonates about seventy billion and a little over that dan i know the community has thoughts on that that they have not been because of that but one of the also one of the things hector mentioned that puerto rico needs a marshall plan we're seeing concerns that things might not go the way that he would like it to go over and i want you to listen to these tweets we had natalia she wrote as she said certainly expecting big contracts to be parceled out to politically connected and after hurricane katrina will happen again and that also goes into the question renee that you mentioned of disaster capitalism of privatization happening after the shock of the hurricane this is something that naomi klein scholar has referred to how would you oppose that. well the only way to. suggested for for there to be investing in puerto rico but by by the u.s. government in

on behalf of the 3.4 million american citizens that lives in puerto rico, nearly the 5.5 puerto ricans that lives in the mainland, i rise today in strong support of this disaster supplemental appropriations bill. they have been focused on puerto rico since before the arrival of hurricane irma, and then during hurricane maria. i want to thank all my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who has reached out during these past three weeks to express their encouragement and actually offer their assistance during this process. for that and my constituents we will always be grateful for all members of this house. as you may know right now, puerto rico was hit by two major hurricanes irma, which cost significant damage in the eastern part of the island, that was on september 6. then on september 20, a few days later, we got hit by hurricane maria. that caused unprecedented destruction throughout the whole island and which many people considered that hurricane to be the most catastrophic natural disaster ever in u.s. soil. today, 22 days after the storm hit, nearly 85% of our population remai

fuentes he's with the puerto rico state council he says puerto rico destruction gives the u.s. a chance to do the right thing we build the struggling territory as a strong state and the long term recovery of puerto rico that does not resolve its status in favor of the statehood would be incomplete isabel are you in favor of statehood for puerto rico i am not going to get into state status conversations right now i think that that's what i've been a part of the problem that process when we keep talking about the status and not about what are the best solutions for puerto rico in terms of economic development what i would say about that that is that. president trump said yesterday and fox news said he was just going to wipe away the dept i don't know what that means until we know what that what that statement means we can start understanding what are our cards on the table and what are our options and i also want to say in terms of rebuilding puerto rico we do have an amazing talented and knowledgeable human capital and that's our biggest asset and we have puerto rico is in the island and

puerto rico is an island. people with common sense realize there are only so many trucks and pieces of equipment on that what is neededld to provide power. there are only so many concrete trucks. mean, mean, these people aren'n using their head when they say -- they could do more to get water on or power on or clearing roads. you know, equipment -- it is essential to do all of these things. and then you have to have qualified people. and when you only have so many poor's, you are only able to offload so many ships with so much equipment. it is ridiculous to say that the american response has been sluggish. i think they have been doing a fantastic job. they have thrown quite a few people at it. professionals. you just have to use common sense when you look at this. there is no way that puerto rican people are going to get power back on tomorrow. host: thank you for the call. story,ly mail has the the mayor puerto rico responded by posting photos when it was devastated last week saying "we must be united in offe

rico after what is a top priority for puerto ricans on the u.s. mainland in sending things back to puerto rico when i think they're to pay or it is the priority of sending goods and he says it is you know about that is a purchase where they go in the beginning i think those things are still very very necessary and you know we also need to send foodstuffs and things that people family members will need but i actually want to challenge that notion that this is a time for us to leave politics aside i actually seen the opposite i've seen that kind of five four but it's now not later we all need to unite to save lives and we need to have an understanding of this cult of these the idea that we also need to be fair and demand for the federal government the kind of respond that is needed and resource it. estimates of these all calamity to be between forty to eighty five billion dollars being insured losses by air and core logic you know the amount this event has requested from kong is much less than that and he's intended to cover all the unit came the so

rico, what we need to stabilize puerto rico and what we need to do to build puerto rico stronger and better than before. i am confident with your commitment and with your support, mr. president, your team's support, we will come out of this in the long haul to get puerto rico and u.s. citizens of puerto rico the adequate resources, treat us the same as citizens in texas, florida, and elsewhere. we will come out of this stronger and make this innovating. i know you are a proponent of public-private partnerships. i think there is an opportunity here to leverage growth in the energy sector and to be innovative. not only rebuild what we have had in the past but with the aid of the federal government and with the private sector rebuild a much stronger platform. not only have puerto rico have energy, but actually be a model of sustainable energy and growth towards the future. those are our aspirations. we can talk about that in the education sector, in the health care sector. those are our aspirations. we are confident in his group we -- in this group we will start addressing those short-t

citizens in puerto rico. the facts are that every petition we've made to the president of the united states until this moment, it has been answered. it has been answered. the reality is that we still need to do a lot more for the people of puerto rico. and that's why we're meeting here. this is not over. not over by a long shot. and, again, it is the president's commitment to work with the u.s. citizens of puerto rico, to treat us equally in this event, to make sure that those 250,000 that have lost their homes get equal treatment. that we can start restoring the more than 42 roads that have been destroyed in puerto rico. that we can lift up our energy grid. that is something that needs to start happening now. i petitioned the core of engineers. i petitioned fema and power authority to work together so that we can be aggressive and we can get results for the people of puerto rico in restoring energy as soon as possible while keeping an eye on having the opportunity to have a better system for puerto rico. thi

so, look, the people of puerto rico are dying. they want the puerto rico without puerto ricans. so from contaminated water to mothers who are not lactating to abc to each mashed bananas because baby food cannot be found, to people getting in eyes lines waiting for two bags of a massiveis violations of human rights. this is a colonial problem that began 119 years ago. in my opinion from what we have seen, the government has collapsed in puerto rico. we were able to get to places that the military said they .ould not get to people have not even seen 1/10 of what is happening in all these places. itself a superfund site? >> that was a little easier to get to. the fact that we got to another one, i'm sorry -- amy: adjust the place their drinking farm. >> the water looks clean, but the hoses they took a part in the ground. it is completely black. we have people who say "pull up your socks" because of the chemicals. he is a veteran of afghanistan and iraq and has never seen the level of incompetence coming from the top all the way -- there wasng katrina, a lot of criticism of the loca

our opportunity to showcase puerto rico, the u.s. citizens a puerto rico. that we can come out of the catastrophe stronger than before. pres. trump: for the spirit of these people that have worked so hard and so long including tom did theany others, united states, our government, when we came in, did we do a great job? military? first responders? fema? governor: you responded tom and others have been on the phone with me, essentially every day since the disaster. we understand that there are thatlogistical limitations we have in puerto rico. the ports were not open for a few days and the airport was not at capacity until a day or two. , that even with those obstacles, we have done personnel indod puerto rico and 2000 fema personnel. the response is there. do we need to do a lot more? thinkrse we do and i people over here recognizes there is a lot of work to be done but we have leadership and with everyone here, we are committed to achieving that. >> to put this in context for america, from the virgin islands to california, we have been working in 20 differe

puerto rico is the united states. they are part of the united states much like the virgin islands and american samoa and guam and other territories. so when we're talking about, it's not us and them. we're all americans. we all serve in the military. the folks of puerto rico pledge to our flag. they pay certain federal taxes. and so it's not something that the united states is going too get back or not. now, you are advocating, like many others have been advocating today, that they should be a state so that they're paying federal income tax on top of ity 97% of the folks in the last election agreed with you. but congress has yet to hear a bill about admitting them into statehood. and much different than other territories, they're 3.3 million people. all the other territories are half a million or smaller, so they're much smaller than states are. this island is bigger than more than a dozen states' populations, so we're talking about a lot of americans on this island including veterans who were born and raised on the m

puerto rico. wewe havto remember we fit saw rma fir..first -sasaw it has beenelell f everyone in ertoto ro. we are still very stranded. there is electrityty for only less tha20% of topulation so.water for around 30% or difficulthave very communications using cellular phones in puerto rico. you can do it only mostly in san juan, the capital. you know, mostly people are without food, without water -- especially in the mountainous region of the island. they lost their homes. they have no roofs. veryhelp has been very, slow in puerto rico. stillou know, we are clearing the roads in some places. ask: carla, i would like to -- to go back to your report and to list some of the firms that you highlight in the report. i'm just looking at the list of the new york-based firms, which is most of them. autonomy capital, monarch alternative investments, gold entry asset management, tilden park, stone lion capital, and fundamental advisors. interestingly, as you know in your report, these vulture funds are in dif

of puerto rico. let's watch this together. >> is a tough situation. so much has to be rebuilt even from before. the difference between texas and florida and various places as we are looking at designs of a new power plant, big electrical plant in many different designs and concepts. which of course is very unusual. because he was in pretty rough shape. that's an even rougher shape. with that being said, i think we've done a really great job and we have tremendous cooperation from the governor and we are getting there and people are releasing the effort that has been put into puerto rico. it's been a very, very difficult situation for many people, i will say that. especially the island nature. if you look at getting food there, the distribution was very difficult because the roads were blocked and the people of puerto rico couldn't get to their food in many cases because of the distribution centers and the roads were in horrific shape because of the storm. sometimes because of before the storm. with t

the governor of puerto rico, as you know, promesa really devastated puerto rico. and now we are really concerned about what naomi calls disaster capitalism. the truth is, we are hearing that there are conversations being had with the governor of puerto rico and with private investors to privatize entire communities in puerto rico. that is why we're so concerned 55,000 people have left. we are afraid the same thing is going to happen to puerto rico as happened in new orleans, where people never came back and their communities were gentrified. in puerto rico, we're concerned entire towns and community's will be privatized. we have also been watching his reaction to what the president is saying is a great recovery. we have been wondering if his reaction has to do with the fact he is afraid to upset this president and not get any relief at all or does he really believe this? it is -- we're actually demanding transparency. we want to find out who these relationships are with. we want to find out where the relief is happening, for example. which are the community set of

in in puerto rico another is to revive the puerto rican agricultural sector in the united states when in the early one nine hundred agriculture was seventy percent of the gross national product of puerto rico it is now point eight percent less than one percent so it's still that same island with the same fertility the same climate and libya would be on a great path of sustenance if it could revive some of that agriculture so between now the culture alternative technologies corporate reinvestment and relieved from the jones act all of those are in indigenous. very very empowering or resources that can be employed in puerto rico without having to break free in the foreign capital and the speed threes so all of those i think should be included in the mix not just have foreign investment under the guise of pete's reese. there is one source of pollution as an existential threat to the multitude of wildlife in an environment but leave until a couple of annoying surfer assault bangs to tackle this global problem and now we have a solution on our hands good solid school and enter turn to our

development in puerto rico in new york hector figaro a puerto rican activist and president of thirty two b.j. service employees international union also in new york kate aronoff she's a reporter with the intercept and a writing fellow at in these times welcome everyone to the stream now we also invited the mayor of san juan on charge show she originally agreed but later declined due to her scheduling conflicts so let's start here on my laptop with this headline via the washington post when hurricane maria hit puerto rico everything collapsed simultaneously well renee with a disaster of this magnitude where does the recovery even start to start with roads electricity grid water. well first of all we have to work to get through. the commit i don't think that we'll be back to normal anytime soon but at least. i have a country that has drinking water. electricity that has been talked about this mass communications we're going now most people can't even communicate with each other or messages to people that are accounted for like. or was talking about earlier but i think that the biggest

rico, his ten-point plan for puerto rico recovery. here with us till about 8:30 this morning. independences 202-748-8,000. we'll start on the line for independents. david springfield, vermont, go ahead. >> hello, c-span. thank you for your service and hello. >> you're talking to the congressman. >> hello, sir. appreciate your service. just wanted to leave the suggestion for the rebuilding of puerto rico. number one, the grid needs to be made underground and number two, the biggest problems we've had with these twos hurricanes was is the fact of electricity and water. and i would suggest building into puerto rico around the country desalination plants that could run on high pressure or forced water. turbines for hydroelectric power that could run through the water system. could you have an open underground cistern in puerto rico in certain areas where you could have electricity that could be run off the desalination plants with turbines and hydroelectric power and you could also desalnate water to provide for fresh water for the island

puerto rico. wewe havto remember we fit saw rma fir..first -sasaw it has beenelell f everyone in ertoto ro. we are still very stranded. there is electrityty for only less than % of topulation so.water for around 30% or difficulthave very communications using cellular phones in puerto rico. you can do it only mostly in san juan, the capital. you know, mostly people are without food, without water -- especially in the mountainous region of the island. they lost their homes. they have no roofs. veryhelp has been very, slow in puerto rico. stillou know, we are clearing the roads in some places. ask: carla, i would like to -- to go back to your report and to list some of the firms that you highlight in the report. i'm just looking at the list of the new york-based firms, which is most of them. autonomy capital, monarch alternative investments, gold entry asset management, tilden park, stone lion capital, and fundamental advisors. interestingly, as you know in your report, these vulture funds are in dif

troops for puerto rico. what about militarization, both needing help and your concern about the u.s. military moving in even more? -- they're not the people just are getting help. aey might be tomorrow after visit. so, we willens, if have confirm this is a public relations trip and not a trip to assume responsibility for a place that is part of the united states, not because of our choice but because we have been submitted to that. so the people for real were doing the work are groups that are feeding 500 people in the public plaza every day. since last friday. people, organizations that distribute 300 lunches yesterday. we are not waiting for his help. the military is not helping. the military right now, what it is doing is occupying puerto rico. it is making it even more difficult to get help on the ground. we have even heard a story from a comrade who came to san juan and told us that citizen brigades were helping to clean a street and rebuild to create a new way to cross a river and police local military

the governor of puerto rico, as you know, promesa really devastated puerto rico. and now we are really concerned about what naomi calls disaster capitalism. the truth is, we are hearing that there are conversations being had with the governor of puerto rico and with private investors to privatize entire communities in puerto rico. that is why we're so concerned 55,000 people have left. we are afraid the same thing is going to happen to puerto rico as happened in new orleans, where people never came back and their communities were gentrified. in puerto rico, we're concerned entire towns and community's will be privatized. we have also been watching his reaction to what the president is saying is a great recovery. we have been wondering if his reaction has to do with the fact he is afraid to upset this president and not get any relief at all or does he really believe this? it is -- we're actually demanding tnsparency. we wanto find ouwho thes relationips are th. weant toind ou where the reli is happing, for example. which are e communy set of them priitize forelief?

rico after what is the top priority for puerto ricans on the u.s. mainland in sending things back to puerto rico well i think there are two priorities the priority of sending goods and he says it is you know about that is a purchase where they go in the beginning i think those things are still very very necessary and you know we also need to send foodstuffs and things that people family members will need but i actually want to challenge that notion that this is a time for us to leave politics aside i actually seen the opposite i think that kind of five for puerto rico is now not later we all need to unite to save lives and we need to have an understanding of this coat of these the idea that we also need to be fair and demand for the federal government the kind of respond that is needed and resources it. be made of these all calamity to be between forty to eighty five billion dollars in insured losses by air and core logic you know the amount this event has requested from kong is much less than that and he's intended to cover all the unit came the so

i am mad as hell. >> that was san juan mayor, carmen yulin cruz, puerto rico -- of san juan, puerto rico, begging for help. how did president trump respond? he had a series of tweets. quote, such poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help. they want everything to be done for them, when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job, unquote. let's pause it, before we begin this discussion. there are a number of federal workers on the island of puerto rico working very hard and doing everything they can and any criticism of how the response has not been able to get to different pockets is not meant as a criticism of their efforts. but there have been issues with the recovery and relief. ana, i'm eager to hear your thoughts on the president's tweets. >> i think the tweets are unconscionable. i think they're unacceptable and there's no justifying them. these people are in great distress. what the mayor of san juan is doing is voicing the frustration, the anger, the desp

citizens of puerto rico. the facts are that every petition that we have made to the president of the united states until this moment -- it has been answered. it has been answered. the reality is that we still need to do a lot more for the people of puerto rico, and that's why we're meeting here. this is not over -- not over by a long shot. and again, it is the president's commitment to work with the u.s. citizens of puerto rico, to treat us equally on this event, to make sure that those 250,000 that have lost their homes get equal treatment, that we can start restoring the more than 42 roads that have been destroyed in puerto rico, that we can lift up our energy grid -- and that is something that needs to start happening now. and i petitioned the corps of engineers, i petitioned fema and our power authority to work together so that we can be aggressive and we can get results for the people of puerto rico in restoring energy as soon as possible while keeping an eye on having the opportunity to have a better sy

rico after what is the top priority for puerto rican from the u.s. mainland in sending things back to puerto rico well i think there are two peyote it is the priority of sending good to necessity that is a purchase where they go in the beginning i think those things are still very very necessary and you know we also need to send food stuffs and things that people family members will need but i actually want to challenge that notion that this is a time for us to leave politics aside i actually seen the opposite i think that kind of five hundred is now not later we all need to unite to save lives and we need to have an understanding of this core of these tragedy but we also need to be fair and the man for the federal government the kind of respond that is needed and resources it. estimates of these calamity to be between forty to eighty five billion dollars being insured losses by air corps logic you know the amount this event has requested from kong is much less than that and he's intended to cover all the euro came the south there's and the fires in

troops for puerto rico. what about militarization, both needing help and your concern about the u.s. military moving in even more? -- they're not the people just are getting help. aey might be tomorrow after visit. so, we willens, if have confirm this is a public relations trip and not a trip to assume responsibility for a place that is part of the united states, not because of our choice but because we have been submitted to that. so the people for real were doing the work are groups that are feeding 500 people in the public plaza every day. since last friday. people, organizations that distribute 300 lunches yesterday. we are not waiting for his help. the military is not helping. the military right now, what it is doing is occupying puerto rico. it is making it even more difficult to get help on the ground. we have even heard a story from a comrade who came to san juan and told us that citizen brigades were helping to clean a street and rebuild to create a new way to cross a river and police local mililita

also pulling out of puerto rico. the president threatening to pull out the military and federal emergency resources from the hurricane ravaged island. will the president turn his back on puerto ricans? >>> and hostages released after five years in captivity, an american woman, her husband and three children are now free. the latest on their harrowing ordeal and that stunning release coming up and new details this afternoon on why the husband is refusing the military's offer to get them out of the country. but we start with president trump going to alone on health care, his party tried and failed repeatedly to pass repeal and replace legislation, so today he did something for the 50th time since taking office. just a short timing ae ago, pret trump signing an executive order. critics worry that this one could ultimately unravel obamacare. >> today is only the beginning. in the coming months, we plan to take new measures to provide our people with even more relief and moore freedom. and by the way, on another subject,

the governor of puerto rico, as you know, promesa really devastated puerto rico. and now we are really concerned about what naomi calls disaster capitalism. the truth is, we are hearing that there are conversations being had with the governor of puerto rico and with private investors to privatize entire communities in puerto rico. that is why we're so concerned 55,000 people have left. we are afraid the same thing is going to happen to puerto rico as happened in new orleans, where people never came back and their communities were gentrified. in puerto rico, we're concerned entire towns and community's will be privatized. we have also been watching his reaction to what the president is saying is a great recovery. we have been wondering i if his reaction has to do with the fact he is afraid to upset this president and not get any relief at all or does he really believe this? it is -- we're actually demandingransparenc we wt to find t who the relatiships arwith. wanant finddut whe t th relili is happening, f exame.e. whh are thcommununy set of them priorite for reli?

rico with andrew cuomo two days after the storm hit. >> we need to make puerto rico whole again. are 3.5 million citizens. these are american citizens. amy: all of thatat and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in puerto rico, more than 90% of the island still does not have electricity from the power grid and half of the island does not have clean drinking water. now more than two weeks after hurricane maria. on wednesday, the director of office of management and budget, mick mulvaney, has contradicted president trump's comments that he would wipe out puerto rico's billion dollar debt amid the catastrophic aftermath of hurricanane maria. with the challenges ththat puerto o rico hasas, thed is at least $7272 billion in de, before the storm.. regaless focusus our attention right noww i''m -- - we're g goo focus our attetention on making susure everyone isis safe and tt we get through this difficulult times.s. we're not going to deal rigight now with thohose funundamental didifficultities that puerto rio had before

in puerto rico another is to revive the puerto rican agricultural sector in the united states when in the early one nine hundred agriculture was seventy percent of the gross national product for eco it is now point eight percent less than one percent so it's still that same island with the same fertility the same climate and libya would be on a great path of sustenance if it could revive some of that agriculture so between now the culture alternative technologies corporate reinvestment and relief from the jones act all of those are in indigenous. very very empowering or resources that can be employed in puerto rico without having to break free in the foreign capital and the pete three s. so all of those i think should be included in the mix not just have foreign investment under the guise of pete's reese. there is one source of pollution as an existential threat to the multitude of wildlife and vironment but leave until couple of annoying surfer assault bangs to tackle this global problem and now we have a solution on our hands who are going school and return to australia it's our per

i did go to puerto rico. and a half weeks afterwards. my initial response, having flown over a quarter to a third of the island, i was first relieved the property damage was not as extensive as i was expecting it to be. i have seen pictures of st. maarten. stats, courts have been opened, 70% of gas stations and grocery stores opened. a third of the roads were opened. clear,lew over, 90% were but blocked in certain chokepoints. cell phone companies responded appropriately. burden, fixedthe each other's towers. it will be interesting to see what percent of cell phone service is back and operational. two municipalities were accessible by road. logistics problems was being eased. the biggest problem was 12% of the electrical power had been brought back online. i returned, convinced, and i continue to be convinced, the primary problem in puerto rico, the power grid. it was weak and fragile before the hurricane, now it is off-line. it is a complex problem. be spending an awful lot of money. that has got to be controlled. what money we spend ho

this is happening in puerto rico. you'll remember, that he's helping hand out supplies at a church there about ten miles north of -- south of san juan. let's listen in. >> i see an incredible job done by fema, the coast guard, the army, the navy, the air force, the marines. the job of the first responders has been something like i have never seen before. what fema has done, what the people that got here before the hurricane have done -- and the governor is with us. your mayor is with us also, the governor. what has happened in terms of recovery in terms of saving lives, 16 lives. that's a lot. but you compare that to the thousands of people that died in other hurricanes and frankly we're not nearly as severe. i just have such respect for fema and all of the people that got here early. governor, you may want to say something. >> we're grateful for the president, grateful for the efforts that the federal government has embarked. this is a team effort. we have all the way from mayors to fema, the dods, general buchanan i

rico on puerto rico. we've prioritized those facilities. in terms of how we've thought about our mission, we have prioritized manufacturers who supply critical products to the people of puerto rico. there are some local manufacturers that provide sterilization for hospitals, follow regulatory scope. early on we worked to prioritize getting those back online. >> mr. got ltlieb, one more question. medical access continues to be a challenge in puerto rico. could you please update the committee both on the actions the fda is taking to ensure that all patients and facilities that require oxygen are able to receive it as well as the agencies actions to guard against potential shortage of medical oxygen. >> we've worked with partners at hhs. i'm going to defer to them because they have played a more active role with these facilities. >> sir, there are two principle suppliers of oxygen on the island. both of them are back operational on the grid right now. there was a smaller supplier and larger supplier of oxyge

place in puerto rico. we know about so many of the people that are -- you know, american citizens. their families are living throughout the continental u.s., along the coastal communities of florida, but also out in california, what are your folks hearing about what's going on with family and friends back on the island? >> well, we're hearing that people are suffering. the magnitude that's hard for most of us to understand. i mean, 55% of the people without drinking water. hundreds of thousands without food. without electricity. people whose homes are destroyed. people whose lives depend on the medicine that you just covered a few minutes ago and the fact of the matter is, this is an untenable situation. i know that there's been a lot of noise around what the mayor, mayor cruz of san juan had said. but it's hard for anyone to say that this is a great story, the way donald trump has tweeted over the last few days. >> so when we think about the kind of public attitude that the president has taken, certainly

i am mad as hell. >> that was san juan mayor, carmen yulin cruz, puerto rico -- of san juan, puerto rico, begging for help. how did president trump respond? he had a series of tweets. quote, such poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help. they want everything to be done for them, when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job, unquote. let's pause it, before we begin this discussion. there are a number of federal workers on the island of puerto rico working very hard and doing everything they can and any criticism of how the response has not been able to get to different pockets is not meant as a criticism of their efforts. but there have been issues with the recovery and relief. ana, i'm eager to hear your thoughts on the president's tweets. >> i think the tweets are unconscionab unconscionable. i think they're unacceptable and there's no justifying them. these people are in great distress. what the mayor of san juan is doing is voicing the frustration, the an

domain over puerto rico. prof. martinez: this sign right here, "no white person, no rich person represents us. go to hell, the fiscal control board and the gringo government," that is the american government. sharyl: the head of the fiscal board is making $625,000 a year, which is roughly 50% more than the president of the united states. what do you think of those criticisms that they have about the cost of this? rep. rob bishop: that's one of the things we will be looking at in oversight hearings as time goes on. this is not an easy process. sharyl: as puerto rico grapples with its double disasters, the hurricane and fiscal crisis, governor rossello warns there are lessons for those of us on the mainland. gov. rosello: there needs to be a continuous question asked on any country, the united states or any country, if i continue this rate of debt or fiscal liabilities, where am i going to end up in ten years? what is that going to have in terms of the impact to services we can give our communities and our citizens?

virgin islands including the governor of puerto rico, a former governor of puerto rico, the member of congress that represents puerto rico, and the governor of the u.s. virgin islands. after those phone calls, he fired off a series of tweets, a readout of those calls, speaking highly of those leaders and also talking specifically about the work of those first responders on the ground. u.s. military forces and fema employees that are a part of the effort to try and restore some sort of normalcy to puerto rico. meanwhile, vice president pence announced in an interview with a television station out of florida that he would visit the u.s. virgin islands next week. pence visited the headquarters of fema on saturday, and he said in that interview that he believes that the mayor of san juan is becoming a political distraction to the cleanup efforts there, supporting the president's criticisms on twitter from earlier in the day. this is what he said, well, it is frustrating, i expect, to millions of americans to hear rhetoric coming out of some in puerto rico, particularly the mayor of san ju

that should be the primary focus , to make sure that puerto rico has liquidity, that puerto rico can have safety and security that is needed, and also provide access to health care, to the health services that are so important, particularly in the aftermath of this hurricane. amy: the jones act. are you calling for an extension? there was a waiver for 10 days after enormous outcry that texas and florida had gotten it, but puerto rico hadn't. explain it significant and what you're demanding now. why is the joan act so important, -- jones act so important, what it is? >> it is important because it is not only about putting together relief effort in trying to remove the debris and to all of the cleanup that needs to happen, but it we want to put puerto rico back on track in terms of economic recovery, the jones act really is an obstacle. ability ofinders the transporting all of the supplies and all of the materials that we need, including oil and fuel. not only that, but it makes it more expensive. , put iti'm asking is away for at least one year. i'm working with members to introduce l

rico on puerto rico. we have prioritize those of facilities. in terms of how we thought about our mission, we have prioritize manufacturers who supply critical products to the people of puerto rico. early on, we worked to prioritize getting those back online. >> one more question, it has been reported that medical production continues to be a challenge in puerto rico. too do please update thehe committee both on the actions the fda is taking to ensure that all patients that require oxygen are able to receive it as well as thel agency's actions to guide against potential shortage of medical oxygen. >> we have worked with our partners at hhs. i will defer to them on this because they've played a more active role with these facilities.. >> so there are two principal suppliers of oxygen on the island. both off them are operational on the grid right now. there was a smaller supplier and then a very large supply of oxygen and they have both suffered loss of electricity in the immediate aftermath of the storm. a

a lot of money on puerto rico and that's fine. but if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina and you look at the tremendous -- hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overpowering, nobody's ever seen anything like this, they would go right into the middle of that, i don't know. i wouldn't want to be doing it but i want to thank everybody, i want to thank the coast guard. would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women? >> i'm representing the air force. >> i know that. your governor who has been, who i didn't know, i heard very good things about him, he's not even from my party and he started right at the beginning appreciating what we did. governor, i just want to tell you that right from the beginning this governor did not play politics. he didn't play it at all. he was saying it like it was and he was giving us the highest grades. >> it's not about politics. >> thank you. thank you, everybody. >> you put it in dirty