Dont have enough human powerwer there. E. People are still waiting to get the supplies they need, and to step over two weeks out. The federal response was underwhelming to say the least. Host as far as the ability to get supplies outcome is aes strictly a federal cause or other issues within the state itself on the island itself that couldve been tended to better leading up to the storm . Guest were talking about major challenges. Roads are blocked. The truck drives, many of them are still being with her own catastrophes at home. Now were talk about no cellobls phone service so its hard to commicommittee. Theres no streetlights so its hard to drive at night. It takes not only Major Military trucks but also helicopters. The type of infrastructure and equipment that most state let alone puerto rico has before hand. A lot of this shouldve beentic. Anticipated. Host using fema shouldve had decent pizza place before it . Guest or at least get them within day one, two or three. We saw obviously 3200 personnel were there on the ground readye after maria landed. I was happy about that. That was a great first response, but the end source started coming. We realized it was much bigger than anybody anticipated and thats when you send the planes, the ships, the copters, you senl it within a day or two. You dont wait until day seven, eight, nine and beyond. Thats the problem is that the Trump Administration has been slow off the mark and now we are paying for. Host federal response to puerto rico, our topic with our guest, darren soto. You can ask them questions. The president heads there today. What kind of information or would you like to see him say and you while he is there . Guest first thing if deposit fee is going. Very few president s have gone to puerto rico. President obama went. They have statues of those who went over and there are not thag many. Him being there is a positive but we need from the top down a message that whatever it takes, get it done. Ainly certainly hes going to be meeting with some veterans, something many people dont realize that a lot of veterans, even world war ii veterans retired down there pixel werere talking about a senior population that another president as ive been concerned about with regard to veterans and im hopeful that will help him recognize that this is a situation that is still getting out of hand. We need investment of thel federal government to get it back under control. Host we seen some dollar figures come out in light of the previous storms and particularle to what happened in houston, louisiana and other places. What you think as far as dollar figures except for puerto rico, what would you like to see . Guest i talk to fema, for them to operate the next six months they need 1. 7 billion. 1m going to talk to the governor, the loss to the state was between 40 70 billion. Imagine, they imagine, they cant communicate via cell phone or internet. Theyre assessing these things oldschool having to go to different areas. Its hard to really get a full hand on it but thats what itoks looks like, between 40 and 70 billion. Host any discussion on when that might be discussed on the floor of congress . Guest thats the positive thing. Weaver deposit statements forems appropriations chairman and leadership of both parties that expect to pass as we, maybe next week but will be on our deskee yelling until it happens because of what i saw down there. But im hopeful that notably get a package to help out the remainder in texas, my great state of florida, puerto rico and Virgin Islands but the puerto rico and the Virgin Islands will be treated as states per capita for funding because those are American Standard and are facing unthinkable tragedy. Host you heard and read about the backandforth the window between san juan mayor and the president concerning the relief effort. What do you think about both of those responses . Guest theres a lot of people who are emotional right now because of the situation down there, and certainly there needs to be a good cop, bad cop response. We have the governor who staying above the fray turkey needs to work with the administration to make sure that they get all the assets that they need down there, but there are mayors who are seeing the constituents dying. Dy so i dont blame her for being upset, p or certainly i was very disappointed with the president t tweets that are attacking people, American People at a time of crisis. But hopefully his trip today will tell him what i already saw firsthand, that the stories are true, that the damage is real and that they need our help. Host how did you get around . Guest the puerto rico government provided me with a g helicopter to fly over the whole island. To fly o o so we saw the water flowing out of the side and down, we saw one of the rural areas, thats with the biggest damage still is, these rural areas, no power, no water, rationing food. So that was helpful and then of course we drove to the port. I went to femas operations and if it is a look at san juan, most of the lights are still out. You have some buildings with generator. Out. Anybody whos been there before knows that skylight pops. Its very bright and it looks like a bomb hit it right now, i guess with us to talk about his experience just back from puerto rico, again you can ask questions on the phone lines. We will start with richard in austin, texas. Hes on a line for democrats. You were on with representative darren soto. [inaudible] yes, sir. Im kind of embarrassed about the news media and the White Christians that allow this to happen. I am back in 1978, and the tent city Team Spirit Leader there, in korea, we moved 58,000 people in four days, had to be notified. Ha they came from the puerto rico, not puerto rico but the philippines into korea to remove them with all the equipment inmo the country with no problem. Gue guest i can tell you the positive thing is that we got a lot of nonprofits including of all face down there, but thats the real point, you hit on the head, richard, that we needed an overwhelming humanitarian response, military assets like helicopters, like floating hospitals. We are finally getting the u. S. Comfort have the. In certain areas trucks can go to but other areas they can. Thats my concern is we have literally invaded other countries quickly that weve gotten our federal assets down to puerto rico. We felt that as you pointed out over in the asian rim and thats why think we can do better. Host this is washington, d. C. Dance up next, republican line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you so much for taking my call. First of all, thoughts and prayers of course go to the people affected by hurricane maria. Its a terrible disaster and im glad to see that people are focusing on it. I wonder if your guest can comment on, he talks about how there are trees down and the infrastructure is not there to get people around, yet he talks about how we need more resources down there. I think its a twopart system where you have the resources down there, then you actually create the infrastructure that has been so destroyed with the people that have been affected. Its absolutely terrible but i think giving more resources down there is just starting to be part of the solution. I think we really need to focus on infrastructure rebuilding and the fact that the infrastructure in puerto rico is lacking, even before maria came, and something that really need to focus on. Thank you. Guest certainly i agree. Theres the Emergency Response literally getting helicopters out to these rural areas to these towns throughout puerto rico that need supplies and dropping them into we did not see any helicopters in the sky when we were there. We didnt see trucks going around the different areas, ships going around to different areas. That part is what i mean by resources coming in for these emergency supply measures, medical supplies. Ly but i agree with you this going to take a long plan for the infrastructure to come back to normal. We have most of the grid out. 85 of the cell phone towers, sows going to be a longterm investment that will need different assets though, construction workers and different equipment to build that great back up a new cell phone towers. There are different types of research for different moments. Emergency resources and thenen these longterm resources that help get that grid back up and running. E host we have of you on twitter who talks about fema i asking if fema is fully staffed or if it is suffering from a lack of experience leadership . Guest theres no doubt that fema he did with literally two states and two territories were the disastrous. Or so i am sensitive to the fact that they are still helping a flood victims in harvey, still helping out victims of serious wind damage and flooding in florida in the devastation beyond one can imagine both puerto rico and Virgin Islands as well. There is some talk about whether we have the most experienced personnel in puerto rico because of the fact that we have two states that are also under siege. I know that i can tell you that they are moving things along, but it just seemed like there was an emergency, particularly from the top down to get everything that we need their to more physical situation with an island that just means we come up with solutions that fit that problem. Host such as . Guest such as getting ships down from day three and a four rather than waiting until day seven or eight. Ll getting more of her helicopters down knowing that we cant get trucks to all these different areas, then theres a need for all the certified Truck Drivers. Fema was very explicit about that and so having those folksve done after we know by day three, day for. The real issue is the delay, wait until day seven, eight, nine. I fear we will have a death toll that is going to surprise everybody by the end of this that couldve been prevented if we reacted more quickly. Highlighting people with acces to drinking water. They quote the death toll at 16. You say it is going to be more. Guest that is what we hear on the ground, until we know for sure, that is something we are keeping track of. It is getting better, no doubt about it. I saw people dedicated their to making sure it gets better. Host how far could people get on the island given the infrastructure issues you spokee about . T . Guest thats why you need at least a twopart way to do this. You need trucks you can getha through to, particularly the major populations around san juan and all these outskirt towns, but you also need air drops into these rural areas that youre not going to get to for months. Those folks need supplies. When i went, they had no electricity, no cell phone service, they hadnt seen any member of fema yet, and they had seen one or two military personnel at the hospital. And this is now two weeks later. And i asked openended questions to see what it was like for them, and they asked us when i first landed, are you part of fema . We havent seen them yet. Host from maryland, democrats line, anthony. Youre next up. Ing. Caller yeah, two quick comments. Can you hear me . Host yeah, go ahead. Caller two quick comments. Im from puerto rico, san lorenzo is where i used to live. I knew for a long time the Utility Company was only one company for the entire island, and it was controlled by, i guess, the puerto rican government there. And im just curious, number one, if that werent the case, could the outcome have been differently in the way we managed things down this . And number two, at one point can we have a conversation that, you know, should puerto rico really be a state at this point . I think were going on 100 years as a colony, or should we focus on puerto rico having its own independence, generating its owd government to be able to respond to these type of disasters rather than relying on the United States of america . Thank you. Guest so, first, i certainly agree that their energy should be diversifieded. In Florida Municipal utilities, we have investorowned utilities, rural cooperatives, and each of those fit well for different areas, and they create competition for each other. So im certainly open minded to looking at having Different Energy be Companies Come in, and this rebuild could be the opportunity. As far as statehood, ive always been a believer in selfdetermination. People of the island have to make the decision rather than some floridian who is familiar with the island but doesnt live down there, and they had a vote. They voted 97 for statehood. Is so im always supportive of it. Would it put them in a better position . Probably. We wouldnt need pro mesa anywhere, they could address these debts from a much stronger position or not pay them at all if they felt like it. So certainly when we look at both then with the debt and now with the response, having members of congress up here, having two u. S. Senators, i believe, would have made a difference in the urgency. Host our guest serves the 9th district of florida which includes orlando and kissimmee, representative darren soto, youre the first congressman of puerto rican descent electedy from florida . Guest thats correct. It was a long road to get there. Host do you still have family there . Guest you know, most of us are in florida now. My familys from a small town where we had agriculture for many years, but gosh, so many of us, were all many Central Florida and down from new york and new jersey. My familys really the tail of this robust central floridian puerto rican population that a lot of people have read about. Host the governor of your state has announced hes declared a state of emergency when it comes to Puerto Ricans coming to florida. Whats going to happen . Guest we expect tens of thousands if not over 100,000 os our brothers if sisters andnd sisters to come to florida. The weather is very familiar, and they have a lot of family members and were a bilingual area. Im sleazed that the state pleased that the state is taking it seriously. Ive talked to School Board Members who are ready for students to be enrolled, and were already seeing dozens of them as air flights are starting to happen. We expect that families open up their houses to the relatives. One of my Staff Members has two sets of grandparents and a great aunt all down in kissimmee, florida, and were going to have to be concerned about whether the hospitals are ready, because many seniors will be coming inrs with issues. And finally, s. N. A. P. Where well have to be prepared more our food banks to be able to o handle this load. But well do our best to help everybody. Host what do you think is the likelihood that those coming will stay in florida and not go back . Guest you know, thats the big question. A lot of folks have come here or have come to Central Florida and have stayed because it is a steady job market, although we could always use higher paying jobs. Et the weathers nice, the cost of living is inexpensive. But id say were still going to have some of our more senior, those who are seniors who will probably move back because thats all theyve known their whole lives. I use that basically from what im hearing already, grandparents are like i want to go back to puerto rico, and these family conversations where people say, not yet, its not ready. But young people . Maybe. Families who are raising kids, who have kids halfway through the school year already in florida could be a possibility. I guess well have to see how this trend moves. Host people leaving the island are the run or at least one of the reasons why puerto ricos current debt load, what do you think should be done with that debt . E guest well, certainly, we passed pro mesa to try to organize that. If they were a state, theyd be able to basically reject it ornk go into bankruptcy on it. I think they have to right now, until things change, fight each of the debts in Bankruptcy Court like theyre doing. And the governor asked me for several things, some having to do with this role of with mesa and the relief that we have to exempt the fema funds from creditors, otherwise were not going to get that to rebuild the infrastructure. He asked that lines of credit be backed by the federal government for the rebuild, flexibility in funds. The fact is puerto rico only has three or four weeks left of funding to operate governmentra right now because of the huge drop in revenue. So theres a lot of issues out there financially that were going to have to grapple withav and perhaps Going Forward a change in status would assist that. Ha host this is chris from racine, wisconsin, independent line. Caller hi, good morning, gentlemen. N. Can you hear me . Host go ahead, chris, youre on. Caller all right. On. I guess some people have it rated my point already, that being that im a taxpayer, been working 55 years and paying and watching puerto rico, the politicians taking the money off the top, the cream, and sticking it in their pockets. And now they didnt take care of their country or their whatever you want to call it, and now the infrastructures a mess. Well, obviously, and my heart goes out to the people. So im not talking about the people, im talking about the people at the top that stole the money. And, you know, i dont want to go into it and beat a bunch ofbe people up, but facts are facts, and ive been paying for a long time. Host okay, thanks. Guest so, essentially, puerto ricos economic woes have a lot to do with the fact that they had Economic Growth through a pharmaceutical and Large Company exemption called 936 that was phased out in the early 2000s. I so you had a lot of companies leaving the island. Ha you also had population loss. And at that very same time, puerto rico has, is the number one employer on the island and has robust benefits x. So this whole combination created this economic storm. And back to your question about the flight, we in Central Florida want a rebuild of puerto rico, a prosperous puerto rico is a prosperous Central Florida. We also know thats a detriment to the island, so thats why were so passionate about helping our brothers and sisterd out on the island, because we want people to stay if they want to stay. Thats going to be a big issue Going Forward. Host this is from orange park, florida, john on our line for democrats for representativo darren soto, go ahead. Caller yeah, representative soto, this is john wattly, a former member of the Virgin IslandsNational Guard, and id, be glad to come down there and help. One of the things i noticed when i served is [inaudible] is that many of the are probably stuck in their homes trying to take care of that business. H and i think you ought to put thu pressure on [inaudible] down there and having some transportation units. And i know the National Guard system have transportation units that could be air dropped ifes necessary. Go down and get those trailers off of that dock. The other thing is that this constant complaining about puerto rico being underdeveloped because of the 936 law which benefited American Companies who then left for china and left puerto rico holding the bag. I cant believe that you, youve got the worst poverty record under the u. S. Flag. I think that your youngerion, generation coming back and starting businesses on their own would do a great deal for the community. But immediately, youve got to get those guys out of those towns that are Truck Drivers or air drop all the new ones you think you need. Host john, thank you. Guest well, first, our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters in the Virgin Islands which is why i continue to talk about that. You pointed out what i started talking about before. A lot of these Truck Drivers on the island are dealing with their own tragedies with their own families across the island. Were facing roadblocks, were facing fuel shortage, and so all and then no power, no streetlights, no cell phone service. So thats why a lot of this has to drop in from the air, particularly the a lot of these towns to a lot of these towns in the mountain areas and other areas outside of san juan. And, yes, i agree, we have the assets to air drop these in, and i just didnt see it over there serving many of the towns on the island, not seeing humvees, not seeing air drop station, not seeing personnel around. Thats where the real issue is. We have the ability to do it. It was slow going and now we still dont have the assets in place that we need. Host representative, usa today highlights that 5 of electric customers are with power on puerto rico. How long before the power needs are addressed, and when is the expectation youre going to see more people on the island have access to power . Guest so the governor told me its going to take months which is why this supply chain is so critical, because many of the people in puerto rico cannot expect to have power back realistically based upon the estimations for weeks, if not months. And so thats why having these air drops, having the water run, the food run is going to be so critical. But they told me their Biggest Issue is communication for the commonwealth government. You cant run a government anymore without internet, without cell phones. And so theyre putting a lot of pressure on the telecommunications companies. Theyre starting to come in with these temporary towers to put across the island as they rebuild and fix some of the other problems. So they believe thess transportation problem and all these other problems will be t improved once the telecommunications problem is resolved. Host lets hear from judy in michigan, republican line. Caller yes, hello. O. Im 31. Jim ho, justice and Mental Health organization on Cherry Street in lansing, clinton, eaton and [inaudible] counties and nami. Puerto rico, it brings to my mind my personal im a female registeredded voter. Woman voter, todays my 70th birthday. Im headed for the senile 70s or super special 70s i call it. Host judy, your point on puerto rico, please. Caller yes, two movies on puerto rico, the west side story and the sound of music. Its a shame what mother nature, father nature or the whole family did to puerto rico, but were strong with the United States, and well come back. Host okay. Lets hear from pat then in south carolina. Democrats line, youre next. Go ahead. Caller yes. Ts i have, like, maybe two comments. First of all, i believe the federal government should help these people, but i want to know do the people in puerto rico pay federal tax to our to america . And the second thing id like to ask you they cut me off. Host go ahead, youre still on, pat. Caller im sorry. I thought you had cut me off. Second thing i want to know is you were flying around in a helicopter, youre Bashing Trump because theres not helicopters. How much stuff did you drop . Mui guest so, first of all, Puerto Ricans pay federal taxes. They pay Social Security, and they pay medicare. A lot of the companies on the island pay federal taxes as well, but they dont pay income tax. That dose directly to that goes directly to their taxing authority there. Certainly if they were a state, theyd be paying federal taxes too. I made sure as we saw these different issues to have the governor follow up on our trip, and we were told that where i just landed that they brought assets in after hearing directld from us since i was traveling with folks from the Governors Administration to help there. My main role in Congress Though is to tell the stories back here in washington because theres a multibillion dollar fema package we could be voting on this week or next week to make sure that we can help everybody on the island. I try to leave a lot of this hero work to our First Responders who are trained in and doing as good a job as they can, our cops, our firefighters, our fema employees. Anything i say here about the response, its certainly not them, its certainly not the heroic folks that are doing the best they can with the resources they have. The debate we have is with leadership and with funding. And so thats why im here on this show today, to make sure that we have the proper response. Host do Puerto Ricans have access to safety net programs . Guest so they have usually through their local programs access to safety net programs. And then theres very specific s. N. A. P. Rules. Were getting briefed on those today as we talk about an ag package. But they have access to and then they get Social Security which is, obviously, a big one and medicare are the two basic programs that they get like other americans. Host lets hear from connie, bakersfield, california. Independent line. Caller hi. What does the United States get out of helping puerto rico . Yes, they pay taxes, but still yet theyre getting back the money on their Social Security and medicare. I think the government should just let puerto rico let the United States have puerto rico, and then we should help them. I mean, its costing a lot of money for the United States to go over there and get nothing back in return. Yes, they get the Social Security taxes and the medical, but they also receive the benefit for paying the taxes. Its not right. Puerto rico should give more to the United States for more of their help because this is s costing the United States money. Yes, i know that people are there. I know theyre suffering. But still yet United States needs to get something back. Host connie, thank you. Guest i think this goes to the fundamental point. 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 were talking about, its not us and them. Were all americans. We all serve in the military. The folks of puerto rico pledge to our flag. They pay certain federal taxes. And so its 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 theyre 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, theyre 3. 3 million people. All the other territories are half a million or smaller, so theyre much smaller than states are. This island is bigger than more than a dozen states populations, so were talking about a lot of americans on this island including veterans who were born and raised on the mainland and chose to retire down there. Host representative darren soto from florida talking about aid to puerto rico. Before we let you go, representative, were going to ask people in the next hour or so what congress should do in response to what happened in las vegas and the shootings there. What are your thoughts . Guest well, we know tragedy in orlando. It was only over a year ago that we saw the pulse nightclub the l shooting, and it just amazes me the how terrible people can be in this world. Obviously, were going to be examining these highpowered weapons and the propriety of having them with people without background checks and whether or not people should even have them. We once didnt even have these available legally to people, and we see the huge damage that it can cause. I spoke with the congressman who represents las vegas, hes over there now, and i told him lead strong, be the voice of this community, and you have to be on the ground speaking with victims, speaking with families. I know firsthand theres going to be a long road to recovery, but right now they just have to mourn and respect the families and do the things they need to do to help those victims who are hanging on for dear life. Host representative darren soto of florida, thank you so much. Guest thanks for having me. President trump and the first lady are in puerto rico visiting with people there in recovery from the hurricanes. Hes expected to hold a briefing in his meeting with local leaders and First Responders. The president heads to las vegas tomorrow after the sunday night mass shooting there. And the senate currently in recess. Members return at 2 15 eastern time to continue debate on confirming lee cessna to head the u. S. Citizenship and immigration services. Hes currently in charge of the Immigration Policy Office at homeland security. Senators are attending their weekly party lunch meetings, and well continue our live Senate Coverage when they return at 2 15. Thursday were life in frank were live in frank further, kentucky, for the next stop on the 50 capitals tour. Kentuckys Senate PresidentRobert Stivers and secretary of state will be our guests on the bus during washington journal starting at 8 10 a. M. Eastern. And join us thursday for the entire washington journal starting at 7 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Earlier today several groups held rallies outside the Supreme Court as oral argument was heard or in a case dealing with partisan gerrymandering. The case, gill v. Whitford, coer