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NEWS STREAM
Beijing Targets Existing North Korea Ventures; Parents Of President Moon Were North Korean Refugees; Hurricane Battered Puerto Rico Braces For Floods; Uphill Fight Deliver Aid Around Puerto Rico; Patients In Puerto Rico Can't Get To Hospitals; Rohingya Child Refugees Hungry And Traumatized; California Prepares For Next Big Quake; San Juan Mayor On The Crisis In Puerto Rico; Update On Puerto Rico Hurricane Response; Elon Musk Announces Plan To Colonize Mars. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 29, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:00] KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: China is taking a top line on North Korea. One of Pyongyang's main allies orders all North Korean's businesses in China to close their
doors.
Heavy rain and floods over forecast where hurricane hit Puerto Rico, as authorities on the American island struggled to deliver aid to those who
need it most. And Elon Musk unveils a new vision for the future. Rocket powered travel to anywhere on earth in under an hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: China is rushing at the pressure on North Korea is ordering all North Korean businesses operating inside the country like this restaurant
right here to close by January.
Now the decision is part of the U.N. sanctions on North Korea adopted earlier this month that China says has a buffer period to implement this
ban.
It unexpectedly started buying North Korean coal last month. The commerce ministry says cargo already at a Chinese port would be allowed in. CNN's
Matt Rivers take a closer look at what this round of sanctions by China entails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This latest announcement by China targets joint ventures between North Korean and Chinese companies primarily
operating here within China, and the move is in line with the latest sanctions that were levied against North Korea by the U.N. Security
Council. It's fulfilling it's obligations that it to sign on to what it read to those sanctions in the first place.
What is going to happen is China has already ban new joint ventures between both sides but this particular announcement targets existing venture,
things that are already operating here in China that will now be forced to close within the next couple of months.
And one of the cities that will be hit hard by this is where we are right now, the city of Dandong. It is a -- it is a border town on the Chinese-
North Korean border.
Infact North Korea is just a couple of hundred meters from where we are right now. And when were talking about the kind of businesses that would
be affected by this, North Korean businesses operating in mainland China, we're really talking that kind of business right behind me.
That is a North Korean restaurant. It has operated by North Koreans, the people who work there are North Koreans. And most of the profits that they
make get sent back to across to help fund the regime. There are dozens of restaurants like that all over China.
And if this goes forward as expected, all of those restaurants will be forced to close within the next couple of months. It's a really symbolic
move by the Chinese to say, we are ready to do the kind of concrete step but the international leader is requesting to try to put more pressure on
Pyongyang.
It's also probably not a coincidence that this announcement comes just two before U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were expected to land in
Beijing for a day of meeting with top level Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump expected a state
visit in China that will happen in early November.
But I think it's safe to say that North Korea and the business surrounding the Korean Peninsula will be fine on the agenda. Matt Rivers, CNN,
Dandong, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: A new poll for Quinnipiac University says that Americans are less optimistic about finding a peaceful resolution with North Korea.
The poll suggests 50 percent think it will be resolved diplomatically down from 64 percent in August, 35 percent said that they think the U.S. will
have to use military force.
In addition, over two thirds of voters polls say President Trump's threat to quote totally destroy North Korea is not in the best interest of the
United States.
South Korea has remained open to having dialogue with North Korea and the unfolding crisis on the Peninsula have strikes of personal note with South
Korea's President Moon Jae-in and is because his parents were North Korean refugees. Now CNN's Talk Asia Paula Hancock sits down with President Moon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're very uniquely placed in thinking about North Korea in being able to deal with it with the issue as you are
the son of North Korean refugees and your parents fled North Korea during the Korean War. What did your parents tell you of the experience of their
escape?
MOON JAE-IN, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA (through a translator): My parents fled from North Korea during the Korean War because they despised the North
Korean communist regime. They fled to seek for freedom and came to South Korea.
And in this process, they also received assistance from the U.S. troops. However, my parents lived as people who fled from their hometown.
[08:05:00] And always long to go back in again, have reunion with their families. However, there were not able to realize this dream. So I
believe with North Korea and South Korea, we need to develop a relationship and move toward economic co-prosperity to move to an economic community.
We need to move into a relationship where we can seek reunification but through this process, we also need to defend and secure our freedom and
democratic system, democracy, freedom and human rights are the core principles that we need to defend.
I don't believe my position towards North Korea that we need to have dialogue and also we need to respond strongly towards North Korea's
probations.
I don't think this challenges each other. This is because we cannot allow another war from breaking out on the Korean Peninsula. We need to work
towards in to create cooperation, work towards free exchange of people between the two Koreas and also eventually move towards reunification.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: South Korean President Moon Jae-in there. You'll hear more of that in-depth interview with Mr. Moon on Talk Asia. It's next airing
Saturday, 12:30 a.m. eastern time, that's 12:30 p.m. here in Hong Kong.
Turning now to Puerto Rico, the island is bracing for even more misery. Just over a week after was hit by hurricane Maria, heavy rain and possible
floods are forecast for this weekend, and that's will likely further complicate the relief effort.
Everywhere, roads and bridges are badly damaged or blocked. The Pentagon has appointed a Three Star General Jeffrey Buchanan to lead all military
hurricane efforts on the island. He spoke to our Alisyn Camerota just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. JEFFREY S. BUCHANAN, COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY NORTH: Well, we work in direct support of FEMA so it really depends on what the -- what are in
those containers. And the things like food, water, and fuel are desperately needed by all the people and that's where our priority is to
move.
But a lot of those containers are just regular commercial goods -- TVs, things like this, and so it's not our priority and it's not FEMA's priority
to move those.
So we work to help FEMA which is all really in direct support of the commonwealth. And we're working together as a team to help the people get
back on their feet.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now that you've seen this with your own eyes, now that you're on the ground, do you think that the 10,000 federal
responders that are there are enough?
BUCHANAN: Well, we're certainly bringing in more. For example, on the military side, we're bringing in both Air Force, Navy, and Army medical
capabilities in addition to more aircraft -- rotary wing aircraft, helicopters of different types and a lot of logistical support. So, you
know, the answer is no, it's not enough and we're bringing more in.
CAMEROTA: When will those arrive?
BUCHANAN: Well, they really start -- we get some of our logistics capability and more aircraft start arriving tonight. The medical
capability, depending on the service, arrives over the next two weeks and it starts as early as this week and stretches over the next two weeks.
I mean, one of these is as large -- we've got the Navy ship comfort coming. We've got an Army combat support -- or combat support hospital, which is a
-- think about it as a mobile tent-based, power-generated, 44-bed hospital.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BUCHANAN: So it's all coming, it's just going to take time to build up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan there, the U.S. military on US territory assisting with the relief operation. Let's get the very
latest.
CNN's Boris Sanchez joins us now from the capital San Juan. And Boris, the Federal Government says aid is being delivered but what is the reality?
What is the situation on the ground?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, I have spoken to several people, parents especially who say their concern because they don't have
some very basic needs. I will paint a picture of where we are right now.
We're at a gas station in San Juan where there have been huge lines going, since very, very early this morning. As a matter of fact, I had a chance
to speak to the gentleman that was at the head of the line. He told me that he got here at 9 p.m. last night and they ran out of gas.
So he simply parked his car, shut it off and went to sleep waiting until very early this morning, until they reopened the gas stations. So he can
get some gasoline, not only for his car but also for a generator that he has at home.
You could see hundreds of people here. It's not street parking, is literally a line of cars waiting to get gas. They will be waiting for a
very long time. Here on the left you see, people with various containers, and a -- looks like a small motorbike.
So people are filling up everything that they can, not only to be able to move around in Puerto Rico but also to keep energy flowing through their
homes -- electricity flowing through their homes.
It's not just gasoline that is locking though. I spoke to a woman here who told me that she spent several hours in line yesterday outside a grocery
store and when she finally got inside she was extremely disappointed to discover that they run out of water and she didn't have the food there that
she was looking for.
[08:10:00] So it really is difficult for families that are here especially with young children trying to get them what they need and there is a
logistic bottleneck right now in Puerto Rico. You heard someone earlier talking about the supplies that are at the port.
There are some 10,000 shipping containers that we are told are stuck there that have commercial good that would be filling out those grocery store
shelves but there aren't enough truck drivers available to get them out of the port.
There's not enough fuel to get supplies to where they need to go. So there's a tremendous amount of frustration among the people. We've been
asked several times where can we find FEMA, where can we find that help from the Federal Government. People here on the ground are getting
desperate. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Right, there is this long line for fuel, a gas station where you are. You just said what holding up the delivery of aid is not enough fuel
and not enough truck drivers to deliver the aid. So what's being done to end that logistical nightmare, that backlog of aid is more fuel coming in?
SANCHEZ: We understand there is. On top of that, there were also working to reestablish communications throughout the island. Part of the problem
is communicating with these truck drivers.
There was a massive call to truckers across the island to try to get them in and get them again shipping out those containers. I was told by the
vice president of Puerto Rican operations for Crowley, the company that operates those shipping container at the port.
They were up to 25 percent out boarding capacity yesterday. That's up from 10 percent and 5 percent in previous days. So there is some progress being
made. The problem is, it's not being felt everywhere by common people on the island.
LU STOUT: Yes, it's being felt. So the situation remains just desperate and frustration is setting in. And how we have learn that Puerto Rico is
under flash flood watch, heavy rain expected this weekend, are people prepared for more misery ahead?
SANCHEZ: Absolutely not. It is heartbreaking to hear that there's more rain on the way to Puerto Rico especially after we visited our community
yesterday in which we saw dozens of roofs just ripped right off of homes.
In some cases, the second story of homes flattened onto the first story and people are still living in those neighborhoods, specifically that
neighborhood we were and it is called Cano Martin (ph) and basically there is a channel that runs through the center of that area.
And it is so polluted that it often floods even with a regular rainstorm. It overflowed with hurricane and since sewage flowing into the streets of
that neighborhood and now with more rain coming, they are expecting more flooding there.
LU STOUT: Boris Sanchez reporting live for us from San Juan. It is the community there. Just continues to struggle with the aftermath of
hurricane Maria. Boris, we thank you for your reporting and take care.
As you heard from Boris, the entire island is still struggling and the situation is even more difficult for people there in Puerto Rico with
chronic illnesses. And it's not just because of the lack of basic intensities. Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta finds out, they are also up against a
frustrating bureaucracy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSEFINA ALVAREZ, PATIENT: (Speaking Foreign Language)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is 62-year-old Josefina Alvarez's reality. Look at what happened to us, she please. Nobody has taken care
of us.
For two weeks, Ms. Alvarez has been here in the shelter. An hour outside of San Juan but me as well be on a different island all together. Like
thousands of others, she has become really sick.
DR. ASTRID MORALES, VOLUNTEER: We have no hospital to get her because all the emergency are closed because they have no electricity and we have no
place to get her. She's getting more complicated.
GUPTA: Doctor Astrid Morales volunteer at the shelter has tried everything to get Alvarez to a hospital. The ambulance we just saw just left.
MORALES: Yes, because they have no authorization from their boss.
GUPTA: That seems -- that seems ridiculous.
MORALES: Tell me about it.
GUPTA: We're in the middle of a disaster, in the middle of a crisis and you're waiting for paperwork?
MORALES: Yes.
GUPTA: This is a very treatable problem under any other circumstance.
MORALES: Yes, sure.
GUPTA: Get her to the hospital, put her I.V.
MORALES: Probably a few hours or so, I'll be back and she then she can go home.
GUPTA: What happens of she doesn't get this?
MORALES: Well, she might get her infection to the blood and got complicated with vaccines and even death.
GUPTA: There's no communication anywhere here. So we give her our satellite phone to try and call for help.
MORALES: (Speaking Foreign Language)
GUPTA: Puerto Rico's secretary of health finds a hospital for Alvarez but then the same problem, how to get her there.
[08:15:00] We can take the patient. I'm a doctor. We can take the patient ourselves. We have to no time to be asking if there -- although a
secretary is there.
MORALES: Well, he already accept the patient, so she...
GUPTA: We can do that. You can't even believe what's happening here. I mean she's -- there's no power, there's no water, she's a diabetic, she
have insulin, she has an infection that could threatened her life. No ambulance will take her to the hospital. That's what's happening here.
ALVAREZ, PATIENT: Oh, lord.
GUPTA: It's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
GUPTA: It's OK.
ALVAREZ: (Speaking Foreign Language)
GUPTA: There's nothing about this that make sense. I mean look what we're doing here, we're transporting a patient, this not an ambulance but it's
the only thing that we really have right now to get her to the care that she needs.
There are probably thousands of patients who are in the similar shelters, no power, no water, no medications, no way out. There are probably
thousands more who are still in their homes that haven't even been able to get to a shelter. So she is just -- she is one example of what is
happening here. We have been setting a bit her into three hours journey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. One more.
GUPTA: OK, one more. Watch out. Watch out. Doctor Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Loiza, Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: There is still so much suffering in Puerto Rico. Now CNN has learned that Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner did not tell the
Senate Intelligence Committee about a personal email account he use to conduct some official business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now, the committee actually found out about it. Some news reports after the discovery, CNN has learned that the committee's chair and
vice chair wrote a letter, asking Kushner to double check that he's turned over all documents relevant to the investigation into Russian election
meddling including from his personal email account.
Now this is News Stream and coming up, the United Nations is steeping pressure on Myanmar as Rohingya refugees continue to fort into neighbor in
Bangladesh. Plus, getting quake ready, Californians are preparing for the big one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, welcome back, this is News Stream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now at least 22 people were killed in a stampede at a railway station in Mumbai early on Friday, 35 people are injured. It happened
during morning rush hour at Elphinstone Station on the footbridge. Here you can see people hanging onto the railing, submit the crash.
[08:20:00] And government spokesman says it appears as someone slipped in the middle of the crowd and that's what trigger the stampede. And the
railway administer expressed his condolences and promise a high-level inquiry into this incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now Myanmar faces growing pressure to stop the violence has led to that mass exodus of Rohingya. The U.N. Security Council held its first
public meeting on the situation more than years eight years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: At least 500,000 civilians had fled their homes and sought safety in Bangladesh. Although
the total number of those displays these unknown, it is estimated at 94 percent of them are going there.
The devastating humanitarian situation is not only a breeding ground for radicalization, it is also indomitable people including young children at
risk of criminal elements including trafficking.
LU STOUT: Now that meeting at the U.N. in New York came as 15 Rohingya including nine children drowned trying to cross into Bangladesh. Myanmar
denies it is persecuting the Rohingya saying it is just cracking down on terrorists.
U THAUNG TUN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, MYANMAR: I wish to say, there is no ethnic cleansing and genocide taking in Myanmar. Ethnic cleansing and
genocide are serious charges, and they should not be used lively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now earlier, CNN spoke to Unni Krishnan from Save the Children and he described the harsh reality facing hundreds of thousands of young
refugees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNNI KRISHNAN, DIRECTOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN: We are going to just come back to DACA and roughly so, it's very difficult to explain in words. We are
talking about hundreds. We are talking about half a million people who have moved into Bangladesh during the last one month.
And children -- if you talk about children, they are sick, they are hungry and they are traumatized. They have very limited access to healthcare and
they have very limited access to shelter material.
You know, they're going there, emitting where will go ahead. (Inaudible), and they don't have much help for physiological care and support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: A desperate situation for the child Rohingya refugees. That was Unni Krishnan from Save the Children. Two volcanoes are causing chaos as
they threatened to erupt in Bali more than 144,000 people have been evacuated around Mount Agung, residents taking shelter in makeshift
evacuation centers outside the explosion zone.
And meanwhile in Vanuatu, the entire population of Ambae Island is being moved. Around 11,000 people are being picked up by boats or airlifted to
other islands.
A flyover of the Monaro Volcano shows it is already spray volcanic smoke and ash. Now it will take Mexico years to recover from that recent deadly
earthquake that hit the central part of the country last week.
The terrifying aftermath was closely watched by people across the border in California. And experts warned that that state is overdue for a powerful
and potentially devastating earthquake. Kyung Lah shows us what California is doing to get ready.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is nothing they can do, except watch things break, across Mexico City, building after building collapsing. At
the magnitude 7.1 quake, struck. A chilling reminder for Southern California and a race to prepare for Mother Nature's ticking clock. Do you
think it's coming?
MARK SCHLAICH, VICE PRESIDENT ENGINEERING, ALPHA STRUCTURAL INC: Well, statistically it's coming. If you were playing your cards, time now to
fold.
LAH: The Devastating 6.7 magnitude Northridge quake was 23 years ago and numerous experts warned not enough has been done since then. The U.S.
geological survey says California is due, the chance of the state will be hit by a quack just as powerful in the next 30 years is greater 99 percent.
A 7.8 magnitude quake along the San Andreas fault will cause an estimated 1800 deaths, 50,000 serious injuries and $214 billion in damage crippling
the region.
The City of Los Angeles is ordering some 14,000 vulnerable buildings be retrofitted but the lifesaving process will take years to finish.
SCHLAICH: You can see the difference here. This one is made to resist any lateral motion from an earthquake.
LAH: It is thicker.
SCHLAICH: It's thicker. It's bare thicker, heavier.
LAH: What does this column give the people who are living right above it?
SCHLAICH: This column keeps them alive were the building where the building won't collapse.
[08:25:00] LAH: Just as important, Mexico's earthquake early alert system, giving people up to a 30 second warning to head to some place safer like
the square. Why Mexico has it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earthquake. Earthquake.
LAH: The Caltech Seismology Lab is still developing the U.S. system, rolling out slowly not because they can't do it but because of a lack of
federal funding.
TOM HEATON, PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY, CALTECH: If look at the countries that do have this system, they got the will and the message after
important big earthquakes.
LAH: On a personal level, Californians are preparing for quick sale of the supply store double since the Mexico City quake, good news says Caltech.
Comprehensive changes like too slowly for scientists who see what's looming. What kind of disaster level are we looking at?
HEATON: It could be a very bad scenario. I honestly don't want to live to see that thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earthquake. Earthquake.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: We will return to one of our top stories next on News Stream. In fact, we're going to hear from the capital of Puerto Rico, the hurricane
hit island is still struggling to recover from the impact of hurricane Maria.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong you. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Heavy rain and possible flooding for forecast for Puerto Rico this weekend that could further complicate relief efforts already, while
down after hurricane Maria.
The Pentagon has named a three-star general to oversee the military response and the, criticism about the pace and the scope of the operation.
Beijing says all North Korean businesses operating in China like this restaurant, they have close by January. Now the move is part of the new
United Nations sanctions on North Korea. China has been under pressure to do more to try to halt Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Iraq is stepping up pressure on the Kurdistan regional government after voters approved and independence referendum, international flights from two
major airports in Iraqi-Kurdistan had been suspended. Turkey says, it has been told that border crossing, airports and oil pipelines are now
controlled by Baghdad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Let's get some perspective on the latest situation on the ground in Puerto Rico. The mayor of San Juan just spoke to CNN a moment ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ (D), SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO: Today I got a call from White House staff on day -- immediately deployed FEMA people to our
facilities at the (Inaudible) and we seem to be getting some headway.
[08:30:00] Someone competent that by today or tomorrow we are going to start getting somewhere very fast, we are forcing that we had a logistics
team of New York narrative will also send us and let me tell you something at the reality of it, sometimes and I don't know whose voice I head that
said logistics has been a problem.
And that is exactly what it is, 3,000 containers and 10,000 container standing out dock, when I hear from the town of Comerio coming to me last
night crying, saying I have no food, no water and no medicine for my people, can you spare me whatever is left over from San Juan.
So I walked towards the FEMA employees that are now deputized in San Juan and I said look, if I gave them a portion of what you gave me and I just
want to let you know that yesterday, we got three pallets of water, four pallets of food, 12 pallets of baby food and baby for San Juan.
That was the first meet I have ever seen of FEMA and we are very grateful for that but these people were drinking out of water -- out of a creek
where they're washing their clothes and where their bating also.
So I said, if I give them a portion of that, will you phase that for San Juan soon enough? I was told by those two men, yes, they report to John
Raven who was kind enough to come visit us yesterday and they took one shot and that's all they can take last night that was better than having
nothing, and this is replicating all throughout the island of Puerto Rico.
LU STOUT: Yes.
CRUZ: Road is a problem, we know that then how do get around it? This situation at well there is no energy at the ports, so we can not lower the
containers. We do with the old the fashion way.
We open the doors, we have a line of people you just whatever you can move with people to arms. You just move it back and forth and make sure that
that supply chain starts running -- starts running steadily in a town of 20,000 people. When you get two pallets of rations, that is not going to
do much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: OK, we were just hearing from the mayor of San Juan just describing just the nightmare on the ground there. Let's take you to San
Juan, Puerto. Now officials are giving an update on the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. RICARDO ROSSELLO, PUERTO RICO: FEMA with the National Guard, with the military, so that we can create a singular effort that can produce the best
results for the people of Puerto Rico.
Right now, we are deploying all of our assets human resources including some of our heads of agencies, so that they can be all around the island.
I will give a more detailed updates, a little bit later on as Spanish.
But I want just state certain announcements that I've, you know, decided. First of all, the curfew and then we had from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., now will be
from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. giving two additional hours as out from the curfew.
The provision for selling alcohol in establishments has been lifted as well. So those two components have been altered and so all the businesses
and the people Puerto Rico know that these are some of the action that we are taking.
We also have empowered a substation -- a train substation in Sagrados Corazones. So that anybody that wants to -- from the private sector wants
to get somebody in the transportation truck driver and so forth.
We can merge those together, if you have a need to go over, there will be transportation fully fueled so that we can get fuel across the island or
other goods that are of necessity.
Let me also let you know that we have established a website called status.pr.gov (ph), here we want to update you continuously and as close to
real-time as possible until the data that we present typically in the morning.
But you will have a dashboard with all that data that you can follow during the day, you will be able to see some of the details within those -- that
website and that'll be a helpful tool, not only for the media but for the people of Puerto Rico. I stress the importance as we start increasing our
capabilities that the media is our main line of communication.
We hope that these messages can be portrayed effectively to the people of Puerto Rico letting them know where for example the gas stations that are
open, the capabilities that we have accessible.
[08:35:00] Where the food is being deployed so that different municipalities can go and get them, and so that website will be a powerful
tool.
I would also like to announce that seeing that we had many, many crates in the ports and understanding that a lot of them where from the private
sector but they still do have some important first necessity goods.
What we have decided to do his we're calling upon to all private-sector personnel that have those grades with water, goods, supplies, food,
medicine and so forth, and were letting them know that we understand that probably based on the limitation on transportation, you haven't been able
to pick them up.
We are going to get them. We're going to buy them and we will start deploying them to the people of Puerto Rico, so that we can get all of the
resources that we have sold.
During the day, our team is making contact with the private sector that has purchased food for example and we will purchase those -- those items so
that we can start distribute them to the people of Puerto Rico.
Several missions have soon and with the collaboration of FEMA and the military, and the National Guard, let me just pause there for a second and
welcomed Three-Star General Buchanan over to Puerto Rico.
His leadership is important -- very important to our efforts has a vast wealth of experience. We just had a briefing and we talked about some of
the capabilities that are moving to Puerto Rico.
We are happy to report that now from Title 10 efforts and the combination of Title 10 and Title 32, we are up to 4600 personnel that that will be
deployed and that will be focused here on Puerto Rico.
So we welcome the general and we thank him for his leadership in Puerto Rico and we will have continued information about the missions that FEMA
has been establishing, Alejandro de la Campa will give a brief update but just to let you know, with the help of the military, National Guard and
FEMA, we have been able to create access to all of the municipalities in Puerto Rico.
So whether it's limited access or complete access, certainly some areas have still limited access but the National Guard, military and FEMA have
been able to get to all of the areas in Puerto Rico as well.
We informed that more than 675 gas stations are open. You can go to status.pr.gov (ph) and you can see where those stations are going to be at.
You can look at them from municipalities perspective and so forth.
We have 36 hospitals that have been open that are either powered by generator or powered by diesel with the effort of HHS and the leadership of
FEMA, diesel has been able to be distributed to all of these -- to these hospitals.
They are in a rotation going around, so that we make sure that we can empower them and FEMA forces have been established and in some of these
hospitals.
We also report that 34 dialysis centers have been identified and are being powered with generators, so that you know, the patients need the treatment
have a sustainable level of treatment as well. Banks, we have opened 89 -- I'm sorry, 90 banks in Puerto Rico so that people can have access to those
banks.
Again, that data and that information is the established in the website status.pr.gov (ph). So I just wanted to give a brief in English.
Afterwards I'll go a little bit into more detail when we do it in Spanish to let you know that we recognize that this is an unprecedented situation,
that we are gearing to have all hands on deck that this team on stage is working with one mission and one mission only.
And that's to make sure the people Puerto Rico are safe, that they can get food, water and provisions, that we can start establishing communications
and normalcy, that we can prioritize hospitals for more vulnerable.
And that we can get continued reporting on the personal -- personnel and the assets that were going to be having on the ground. I would like now
for the regional director of FEMA, (Inaudible), address you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:40:00] LU STOUT: All right, we get the latest from officials in Puerto Rico. They are on a desperate situation after hurricane Maria stuck.
We just heard from the Governor of Puerto Rico Ricardo Rossello. He said that the curfew has been extended just. He also offered a status update on
where residents can find much needed supplies including fuel.
Now he and additional officials are addressing the coordination of response efforts right now. We know that federal officials are saying that aid is
being delivered across the island but we've seen pictures of the aid log jam at the port of San Juan.
There has been a logistical nightmare of resulting in a backlog of aid into the U.S. territory. Now across Puerto Rico, many residents are so
desperate. They are waiting for food, for fuel, for water and for critical medical supplies and we'll continue to monitor the story and the situation
there for. You are watching News Stream, we'll be back right after this.
(COMMECIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: All right, welcome back. This is News Stream. Time to take Elon Musk is no stranger to big ideas. His latest might be his most
ambitious yet. His rocket company SpaceX is aiming to launch cargo ships on Mars by 2022, laying lane the groundwork for humans to land on the red
planet just two years later.
That's just around the corner for us. Now envisions the creation of an inhabited city on the planet and to do that, SpaceX will develop a giant
reusable rocket nicknamed the BFR. B, stands fir big, R, rocket, and the F, stands for -- well it's a word I can't really say on TV right now.
Now, Elon Musk says that the rocket would also revolutionize earthly travel and be able to carry humans anywhere north within an hour. New York to
Shanghai, that according to Elon is going to take just 39 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now as grand as this all seems, Mr. Musk is often quite optimistic with his promises. In 2015, he said SpaceX could take
astronauts to the international space station by this year.
But NASA is not expected to certify the company's spacecraft until 2019 and his big rocket, The Falcon Heavy was supposed to debut in 2013 but its
launch date has been pushed back since then. Now Musk says that he is still hopeful, he could fly in November.
And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, World Sport with Christina Macfarlane.
END
