On CNN New Day, Alysin Camerota asked San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz to comment on the statement yesterday from Homeland Security spokesperson Elaine Duke.
"Hold on, and let us play this for you and our viewers. Listen to this," Camerota said.
Duke's statement:
"I am very satisfied. I know it's a hard storm to recover from but the amount of progress that has been made -- I really would appreciate any support that we get. I know it is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people, and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane."
The stunned mayor responded.
"Well, maybe from where she's standing it's a good news story. When you are drinking from a creek, it's not a good news story. When you don't have food for a baby, it's not a good news story. When you have to pull people -- i'm sorry, but that really upsets me and frustrates me," Yulin Cruz said.
"I would ask her to come down here and visit the towns, and which frankly it's an irresponsible statement and contrasts with the statements of support that I have been getting since yesterday when I got that call from the White House. This is -- this is not a good news story. This is a 'people are dying' story. This is a life or death story. This is -- 'there's a truckload of stuff that cannot be taken to people' story. This is a story of a devastation that continues to worsen because people are not getting food and water.
"If i could scream it a lot more louder, it's not a good news story when people are dying when they don't have dialysis, and when the generators aren't working and the oxygen is not providing for them.
"Where is there good news here? The good news is we are getting heard. The good news is there's boots on the ground. The good news is people from FEMA have their heart in the right place and the HHS people know what to do. For heaven's sakes, somebody let them do their job. Let them get the food in hands of the people and then talk about good news."
