Hourlong watch the interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow at 2 15 p. M. And 11 05 p. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan2. On thursday, President Trump met with Governor Ricardo Rossello of puerto rico in the oval office to discuss the federal governments response to hurricane maria. After that meeting, they talked with reporters. This is 35 minutes. Pres. Trump thank you very much. Its great to have the governor of puerto rico with us. Weve gotten to know each other extremely well over the last couple of weeks. And i can tell you, you are a hardworking governor. Its a tough situation. So much has to be rebuilt, even from before. The difference between texas and florida and various places is were looking at designs of a new power plant, a big electrical plant, and many different designs and concepts, which, of course, is very unusual because it was in pretty rough shape prior, and now its in even rougher shape. With that being said, i think weve done a really great job and weve had tremendous cooperation from the governor. And we are getting there, and people are really seeing the effort thats been put into puerto rico. Its been a very, very difficult situation for many people, i will say that, and especially the island nature. If you look at getting food there, we did. The distribution was very difficult because the roads were blocked and even the people of puerto rico couldnt get to their food, in many cases because of the distribution centers, and the roads were in really horrific shape because of the storm, and sometimes because of before the storm. But with that being said, step by step its taken care of. And i say we have a wonderful, and the people of puerto rico have a wonderful representative with respect to themselves in this governor. This governor has worked as hard as anybody ive seen, and getting done. So i want to just thank you for all your help. Thank you very much. Fer cello golfer cello rosello thank you, mr. President. Thank you for setting this opportunity. Its a catastrophic situation in puerto rico, as you know. It is the only time where two category 4, category 5 hurricanes have passed back to back in a jurisdiction in the United States. But certainly working in a united front, we are going to beat this, and we know were going to build better than before. And today, its an example, mr. President. I dont think in the history of puerto rico weve had the opportunity we have today to sit with members of your cabinet, decisionmakers, and not only talk about what weve done but also the path forward, to establish our commitment to treat the citizens of puerto rico, the u. S. Citizens proud u. S. Citizens of puerto rico equally. So while there has been a lot done and i want to thank you personally, mr. President you answered our call for the preland emergency declaration, you declared puerto rico a disaster area very quickly at a verbal request we made because we did not have electricity at that moment. Andgive us the waiver for a b for fema, and staunch communication with all of your members now. We recognize that a lot of business has been done, but a lot still has to be done. So we are hopeful that with this meeting that we are going to have, we are going to talk about the immediate needs for puerto rico, what we need to do to get out of the lifesustaining phase , what we need to do to stabilize puerto rico, and, of course, what we need to do to build puerto rico stronger and better than before. I am confident that, with your commitments and with your support, mr. President , and with your teams support, we will be able to come out of this in the long haul, together with puerto rico, and give the u. S. Citizens of puerto rico the adequate resources, treat us the same as citizens in texas, in florida, and elsewhere. And we will come out of this stronger, and we will make it innovating, mr. President. I know you are a proponent of publicprivate partnerships, and i think there is an opportunity here to leverage growth in the Energy Sector and to be innovative not only rebuild what we had in the past but also, with the aid of the federal government and with the private sector, rebuild a much modern, much stronger platform, and not only have puerto rico have energy but actually be a model of Sustainable Energy and growth towards the future. Those are our aspirations. I think we can talk about that in the education sector, in the healthcare sector. And those are all of our aspirations. We are confident that within this group we will start addressing those poignant, shortterm needs, but also talking about the long road ahead working together, working together with your administration. And again, i want to thank you on behalf of the people of puerto rico for your leadership, for your teams leadership, and for having a commitment to stay with the people of puerto rico, with the u. S. Citizens of puerto rico, here for the long haul to not just put things back together again but to rebuild them as it should be. Pres. Trump well, thank you, governor. One of the things we have done is delivered to the island massive numbers of generators for electricity, because with the power plants down and in such bad shape, we really had to find some way to get it, especially for the hospitals and certain other areas. And we have i dont know if its record numbers, but its got to be pretty close record numbers of generators so that we have electric in the most important locations, and step by step bringing it back. But you cant really bring electric back until you rebuild the power plant, and thats obviously a different level of subject. With that, i will say that i have given my blessing to congress, and congress is working with you and your representatives on coming up with a plan and a payment plan, and how its all going to be funded because you are talking about some substantial numbers, and i guess you knew that. But i know you were talking about rebuilding your electric plant long before the hurricane; youve been wanting to do that for a long time. So maybe this is a reason that we can do it. And well help you and well all do it together. But i will say this, the people of puerto rico are amazing, just incredible people. The spirit they have, the strength they have. What they have gone through. Many were isolated in areas where there were no roads, there were no bridges, the bridges were wiped out. It really was incredible to watch this spirit that they have, and they did it with grace. They did it with a smile, in many cases. It was really something beautiful to watch. So just please extend of our warmest regards. And were with you. Gov. Rossello thank you so much. Pres. Trump thank you very much. Mr. President , last week in a tweet, sir, you suggested that there was a limit to the federal emergency involvement in response to the puerto rico hurricanes. How long are you willing to commit federal resources to not just the recovery, but the rebuilding of puerto rico . And what do you and governor rossello know about reports of widespread corruption among local officials in the distribution of emergency supplies . Apparently the fbi pres. Trump well, im working very closely with the government on that because there has been corruption on the island, and we cant have that. You know, were sending a lot of supplies, were sending tremendous amounts of food and water and everything. And i know your folks are working on that very hard. But we just cant have it. When it comes to texas, as an example, and florida, you know how smooth thats been. Its operating like a welloiled machine. They are really going well, and the people are working very hard. And in puerto rico, theyre working hard too, but we have gotten some of those reports from on a local basis. And i think the governor will be able to do something about that. I hope youre going to be able to something about that. Gov. Rossello yes. Of course, sir. If you want, i can brief you a little bit on what were doing. Weve gotten some reports that food was getting either from fema or from the private sector or notforprofits, to the different municipalities and they werent being distributed appropriately. So we did three things number one, we got the National Guard to go over to all the municipalities and help with the logistics in case it was just a matter of not knowing how to execute. Number two, we had auditors from our Treasury Department go so that we can have accountability on what food goes in and what food goes out to the people of puerto rico. Number three, very importantly, we had our department of justice go and is investigating whether there has mismanagement of foods because it is unacceptable. And as i stated the first day pres. Trump by the way, not by the federal. This is local were talking about. Just so we all understand. I think brock is here and tom is here i think theyve done an incredible job. But were now talking on a local basis, and i think, john, that was your question also. It was. Gov. Rossello yes. And we are following up on that. And as i stated the first day, if there is a public official that is purposefully mishandling the food that should go to the people of puerto rico, there is going to be some hell to pay. And then, mr. President , the length of time youre willing to commit federal resources to the recovery . Pres. Trump well, i can say that for anywhere. I can say that for any place we go. You know, at some point fema has to leave, First Responders have to leave, and the people have to take over. Puerto rico is a more difficult circumstance, as you can understand, john. But at a certain point, we have to leave the various locations that we are in. We were in louisiana, and they have done a fantastic job. They were sort of grazed, but lake charles and the various areas were hit pretty hard. But it was a grazing hit. We worked there, and theyve taken over and been fantastic. In texas and florida, its been incredible to watch. Its really been incredible to watch how quickly things are coming together. But at a certain time, fema and First Responders, and, by the way, the military we have close to 18,000 people in puerto rico right now. We moved a hospital ship. I believe its the largest in the world. Its there now. You know, you dont want to use it as much if you can have the local hospitals, that is better in many ways. But we have tremendous assets in puerto rico. You know, at some point, no matter where it is, whether its texas or whether its florida, you know, it ends. But i can say in the case of texas and the case of florida and the case of louisiana, some areas also got grazed, and they have been incredible in the response and incredible in how fast its coming back. And in many cases, areas that were devastated are already back. In this instance, its a more difficult situation. But i think the governor understands that fema, the military, First Responders cannot be there forever. And no matter where you go, they cannot be there forever. Gov. Rossello if i may just briefly add to that. That is the importance of the shortterm and longterm packages that will be in congress, right . Were going to need some resources. Of course, fema is there for the initial response. There is some rebuilding to go through. So thats why were thankful to the president for supporting these petitions to congress so that we can get the resources, liquidity to kickstart the economy, and, of course, the longterm rebuilding process. And this is very important. You know, the president has been clear on stating that no u. S. Citizen will be left behind. We will be working. And this is the way we work towards making a better america and a better puerto rico. Collects but what about pres. Trump excuse me. You have areas in puerto rico where we literally had, and still have to but its getting less and less deliver food and supplies by helicopter because the roads have been wiped out and the bridges have been wiped out. Theres no way to get there except by helicopter. And those are difficult situations, and were working with the governor and the folks on getting it taken care of. But we are literally delivering supplies dropped by helicopter. And with that being said, i have to also say our military and our First Responders, and brock long and fema and tom, the job theyve done has been incredible. But we are delivering very essential supplies by helicopter because theres no way to get to the area of the island. And the folks have done an incredible job. Brock, would you like to Say Something . So every day we continue. Right now, the focus is on restoring essential services. Weve stabilized a lot of the emergency power needs of hospitals, and were starting to focus and work with the governor today on rebuilding power grids going forward, as well as water treatment, waste water, roadway systems. So were going to continue to support the governor. Were looking at trying to specifically restore the essential power, or the essential functions to six major municipalities within puerto rico that service about 80 of the population, starting there, and then working our way out. So the traditional recovery is going to require a solution far greater than what fema typically puts down. But thats why were here today working with governor rossello and the president and all of the cabinet members to figure out what the best way forward is for the longerterm solutions. Pres. Trump theres never been a situation where power and energy have been so devastated never you know, where you dont have a power plant. Because power plants you dont fix them up, and were not just putting a pole up in the street, like in texas where youd put up the poles, and then florida actually had a lot of underground wire, which is great. It would be wonderful if you could have underground wire. It makes it a lot better in these storms. But theres never been a situation where the energy and the power has been totally destroyed. And part of the problem is that it was pretty well destroyed before the storm, and we are working together to get that back up, but also to make it longterm. They were working on longterming it prior to the storm, so now they really are working on it. Gov. Rossello and thats part of the mitigation strategy. Again, i cant stress enough how important it is that we keep this on the long haul for the long haul, that we Work Together so we can make sure we dont just put things back again as they were but that we make it better than before. And i think that is critical it is better for all the u. S. Citizens that this happens. I think in puerto rico, again, looking at the long term, recognizing that were still at the emergency phase, this could allow puerto rico to be a showcase in terms of Energy Production and others by way of mitigating and innovating. Mr. President , between one and 10, how would you grade the white house response so far . Pres. Trump id say it was a 10. Id say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved. If you look at the number i mean, this was i think it was worse than katrina. It was in many ways worse than anything people have ever seen. They got hit by a category 4 grazed but grazed about a big portion of the island, but it was grazed. The rest of it hit florida, as you know. But that was bad. But then they got hit deadcenter if you look at those maps by a category 5. Nobody has ever heard of a five hitting land. Usually by that time its dissipated. It hit right through and kept to a five it hit right through the middle of the island, right through the middle of puerto rico. Theres never been anything like that. I give ourselves a 10. I think that, locally, there i really think, locally, they have in this gentleman great leadership. I have to tell you, its a tough job. But we have provided so much, so fast. We were actually there before the storm hit. We were there before the first one, before the category 4 hit. Brock and the military and a lot of people were there before the storm. We had the coast guard waiting for the storm just outside the storm, and following the storm in. Many lives saved. The coast guard in texas saved 16,000 lives. The coast guard is incredible, incredible the job theyve done. But all of the armed forces, what theyve done has been army, navy, the marines, the air force all of the goods dropped in. Helicopters that werent even meant for this purpose, all of a sudden theyre delivering food and services. I would give a 10. I would say, locally and i understand locally. A person loses his or her or their house, and then they cant go to work. If you lose your house, its hard to go and be a policeman for the day. Youre trying to have your family live, frankly. This is what happened to so many people. You read that they had no Truck Drivers in puerto rico. Well, they have a lot of Truck Drivers in puerto rico, but many of them lost their houses, so they had to be with their families. So we would have the military driving trucks. Theyre not supposed to be driving trucks. Its not their its not even their aptitude. Some of them didnt really know how to drive trucks, but they learned very quickly. They are smart. But we had the military, in many cases, driving trucks because it is not the peoples fault. They lost their house, they were devastated. And i think we did a fantastic job. And we are being given credit. It was very nice that the gentleman who worked for bill clinton, when he was president , gave us an aplus, and that included puerto rico. Gave us an aplus. And i thought that was really very nice. And i think i really believe hes correct. We have done a really great job. Texas, again, really very far along. Florida very far along. And puerto rico is a different kind of a situation because it needs so much infrastructure. But over a period of time, that will happen. Do you think puerto rico should become a state . Would that make this easier . Pres. Trump well, were not talking about that now. Youll get me into trouble with that question, right . Well hold that one for how about we hold that one, mike, for a later time, right . [in spanish] gov. Rossello in spanish . Pres. Trump and then you can interpret. Gov. Rossello [speaking panish] i will say a brief version in english. Pres. Trump i like it better in spanish. [laughter] pres. Trump that was beautiful. Gov. Rossello i like it, too. So my job as a governor is to state what the facts are, number one, and to establish robust expectations for the people of puerto rico and for the u. S. 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 thats why were 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 system for puerto rico. This is you know, mr. President , the United States has been characterized for taking extraordinary measures in extraordinary times. These are extraordinary times in puerto rico, therefore these are extraordinary times in the United States. [indiscernible] predictions for the budget pres. Trump i think well be successful tonight. It will be possibly sometime in the morning, maybe sooner. I think we have the votes for the budget, which will be phase one of our massive tax cuts and reform. But i think well be successful tonight with respect to the budget. I think you probably know you can count the votes, maybe better than most people. But i think we have the votes, and, frankly, i think we have the votes for the tax cuts which will follow fairly shortly thereafter. So we will see what happens. But i will tell you, our country needs tax cuts. I mean, these are examples, when you look at what we just went through with texas and florida and louisiana and puerto rico and Virgin Islands. You look at, you know we need growth. We need people who are going to be pouring into our country. And we have that now. You know, were starting to have that. Were starting to have that even on the prospect of tax cuts. We have companies you saw last week car company massive improvements and expansions and, in some cases, brand new plants. They are coming in. Foxconn is building a as you know, they make the apple iphones and more. Theyre going to build a fantastic plant. I think its going to be in the state of wisconsin. And hopefully, its going to be there. Weve been showing that land. Its a beautiful piece of land. I hope they like it. But that will be one of the biggest in the country. I think apple is going to be building some very, very big plants. People are starting to say, hey, this is where we want to be. And you see the stock market. We hit an alltime high yesterday, and i think weve hit it about 49 times, mike. So were really doing well, but we can do something very, very spectacular if were given the tax cuts. Were one of the highesttaxed nations in the world. You look at our taxes compared to other competitive nations, or competitor nations because i think nothing is competitive with this, but im a little biased, but thats the way it is. But you look at how high we pay and how much we pay. And our companies, they leave because the taxes are so high. If we get this done, it will be historic. It will be bigger than any plan ever approved or ever. It will be the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country. And i can tell you, we have tremendous support for this. So the budget is going probably fairly late tonight. Theyll be working late tonight. Could be one of those morning calls that youll be watching your television at 3 00 in the morning. And it could be sooner than that. But i think we have the votes. And right after the budget, we start with a vote on as you know on the tax cuts. And i think were in very good shape. Mr. President , whos going to pay for the infrastructure recovery in puerto rico . Pres. Trump in puerto rico, were going to working systems, were going to be dealing with congress, were going to be coming before meaning, far before any existing debt thats on the island, because as you know, the island has massive debt. Just their as we talk about the electrical facilities, i think they have 9 billion in debt. Well, any debt thats put in will be coming before that debt. We want to make sure we put in debt and that debt is absolutely protected. In addition to that, were providing tremendous relief and services right now, and well continue to provide that for a period of time. And then a new group will come in, and the new group will be more buildingoriented when things are perfect. But we do have to come before the existing debt. They have, i guess, by some counts, 120 billion, if you add everything probably about 120 billion. Certainly any money thats put in by people, whether its public or private, theyre going to want to come in first position. And thats very important, and i think the governor understands that. I would imagine pretty much everyone understands that in puerto rico. So no bailout for bondholders . Pres. Trump were helping right now. Were helping a lot. This is costing a lot of money, having fema, having the military, having the First Responders. And were doing that because we have an obligation to puerto rico, to humanity. We have an obligation to ourselves. We want to continue to do a great job on that, and were doing it. No, but at some point youre going have to theres going to have to be reconstruction. And again, the biggest thing is the power plants. But theres going to have to be and its pretty pretty bad when you have to say power plants are almost coming before bridges. But you have power plants that are needed, you have bridges that are needed, and you have roadways that are needed. Thats something you dont see when you go into areas hit by hurricanes or disaster of almost any kind. Mr. President , how much longer before the electricity is fully restored to the island . Pres. Trump excuse me . How much longer before electricity is fully restored . Pres. Trump well, its you know, its a very, very good question, actually. As you know, much of the electric is done by generators that have been brought to the island, in massive numbers, as i said before. The plant itself is going to take a while. We have to build a brandnew plant. Or we have to do, essentially, a renovation thats so large its going to be like a brandnew plant one or the other. Were looking at both right now. But theres never been a case where power plants were gone. So this isnt just like you know, as i said, i dont want to just fix poles you cant just fix the poles. Theres never been a case where power plants were gone. So its going to be a period of time before the electric is restored. How about one more . Governor, between one and ten, how do you grade the white house response . Gov. Rossello as ive said, the president has answered all of our petitions, and this is still ongoing. So we expect that thatll continue. Were being very diligent, giving all of the data. And what we want to do and i sort of want to circle this this is a stormcentric approach to what happens. There was a massive devastation and catastrophe in puerto rico, and our response should be to that. And thats why the First Responder effort was there, and thats why the stabilization effort is there. Thats why we set some very aggressive milestones, to restore energy in puerto rico. Theyll have about 30 percent of the energy by the end of the month. By the middle of next month, about 50 , and so on. Because we want to make sure that people have that knowledge of where were going to go, that they can stay in puerto rico, and they can be part of a rebuilding process. What keeps whats going to keep the people there and whats going to keep this going is knowing that we have the backing of the white house and knowing that were going to have the backing of congress so that we can have the resources appropriate to attend to the storm and then be smart about it, be innovative, and restore puerto rico to a better position than before leveraging other stakeholders, private stakeholders, nonforprofits, people that want to innovate. This is our opportunity, again, to showcase that puerto rico of puerto rico can come out of this catastrophe stronger than ever before. Pres. Trump governor, i just want to maybe ask you a question. Because for the spirit of these people that have worked so hard and so long, like tom and like brock, and like so many others, did the United States did our government when we came in, did we do a great job . Military, First Responders, fema did we do a great job . Gov. Rossello you responded immediately, sir. And you did so tom and brock, they have been on the phone with me essentially every day since the disaster. We recognize that there are some logistical limitations that we have in puerto rico. We didnt have the ports open for a couple of days. We didnt have the airports working at full capacity until about a day or two ago. So that was always a very limiting step. Buy if you consider that weve gotten even with those obstacles weve gotten about 15,000 dod personnel in puerto rico, about 2,000 fema personnel, hhs and others the response is there. Do we need to do a lot more . Of course, we do. And i think everybody over here recognizes theres a lot of work to be done in puerto rico. But with your leadership, sir, and with everybody over here, were committed to achieving that in the long run. Administrator long in the last in the long run. Mr. Long in the last 50 days, though, to put this into context for america from the Virgin Islands to california, weve been working in 20 different states disasters in 20 different states. In the last 50 days, under the president s administration, weve registered close to 4 million americans for individual assistance. Thats more than katrina, rita, wilma, and sandy combined. Its been a tremendous effort. Pres. Trump this was actually bigger than anything weve seen, and yet i think our response was better than anyone has ever seen. And again, we were given an aplus by the man who did this did what you were doing for the clinton administration. And while i dont know him, i would like to thank him for what he said. You were talking about government loans to build the power plant, right, not government grants . Pres. Trump were talking about possibly combinations of both. Congress is working right now with the people and representatives of puerto rico, and were talking about potentially combinations of both. Any thoughts on president bushs speech . Pres. Trump i didnt see it. I didnt see it. On healthcare, sir inaudible in the rose garden you talked about the alexandermurray Healthcare Plan as a good shortterm solution, and then you seemed to back off in your evening speech to the heritage foundation, and your press secretary said yesterday, that you opposed it. Pres. Trump no, i like people working on plans at all time. I think ultimately block grants is the way to go where we block out the money to the states. You get Better Health care, you will get it for less money. It will be more specific. A state is a Smaller Government and it can take better care of its people, especially where you have wellrun states. We have governors that do a great job and, you know, states that do a good job. If you look at florida, if you look at maine maine really was very much anxious to do that. Various states kentucky various states really wanted that block grant money. And for the most part, i think we have the vote for that. There will be a transition period, so anything theyre working on will be short term. It will be absolutely short term, because ultimately its going to be repeal and replace. So i have Great Respect, as you know, for both of the senators that you mentioned, and if they can come up with a shortterm solution. What i did say, though, is i dont want the Insurance Companies making any more money than they have to, because if you look at the stock prices of the Insurance Companies from the time of the creation of obamacare with 300 and 400 percent and even more than that increases in their stock, they made a fortune off obamacare. The people that need obamacare are decimated. Premiums are up 40 , 50 , 60 , in some cases over 100 . In the case of alaska, premiums are up over 200 . So anything that they are working on is a very short term meaning one year to two years, max. Because i think we have the votes, or were certainly within one vote. And when youre within one vote, were able to get a vote. Senator cochran, as an example i have such respect for him because he is not feeling great, i can tell you that. And he got on a plane in order to vote for the budget. And i have Great Respect for that man. I think its incredible. But votes are very fragile, we found that out. Weve seen that ive learned that. I thought we had it the last time, and somebody came out of the blue and voted against it. So now we start the process all over again. But the block grant the concept of blocking it out, block grants to the states, thats what people want and thats what the states want. And thats especially what the wellrun states want, because they will have healthcare thats so good, far better than anybody has ever even thought. So again, i respect very much the two senators youre talking about. I love that theyre working on it. I want them to be careful with respect to the Insurance Companies. Insurance companies are extremely good at making money, extremely talented at making money. And i want them to be careful with that. We will probably like a very shortterm solution until we hit the block grants, until that all kicks in. In other words, it doesnt just kick in the following day. Theres a transition period. And if they can do Something Like that, im open to it, but i dont want it to be at the expense of the people. I want to take care of our people. I dont want to take care of our Insurance Companies. Theyve been very well taken care of over the last number of years, believe me. Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. [indiscernible] pres. Trump uranium is a big subject. If the Mainstream Media would cover the uranium scandal and that russia has 20 of uranium for whatever reason and a lot of people understand what those reasons may be i think thats your russia story. Thats your real russia story. Not a story where they talk about collusion, and there was none. It was a hoax. Your real russia story is uranium and how they got all of that uranium a vast percentage of what we have. That is, to me, one of the big stories of the decade not just now of the decade. The problem is that the Mainstream Media does not want to cover that story because that affects people that they protect. So they dont like covering that story. But the big story is uranium and how russia got 20 percent of our uranium. And, frankly, its a disgrace. Its a disgrace. And its a disgrace that the fake news wont cover it. Its so sad. Thank you very much everyone. [indiscernible] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer cspans washington journal congo live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Sunday morning, former House SpeakerNewt Gingrich will discuss President Trump and his relationship with congress. A Georgetown University associate law professor will explain his path from prison to georgetown law and his fight for justice reform. And then a university of texas professor will talk about the real reason nfl players kn eel during the national anthem, to raise awareness about Police Brutality and racial injustice. The sure to watch washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Join the discussion. Close your eyes for a moment. And stretch. Close your eyes. Y9ou. I see [laughter] trust me, empathy. And i want you to stretch your imagination. Open your eyes. Thats how fast it happens. In a blank, no warning. Announcer sunday night on q a , executive director of paralyzed veterans of america and a retired marine Corps Officer talks about his own paralysis and his work to help paralyzed vets. I am trying to tell them, this is the problem, this is what i see from a patients perspective, a policy perspective, an advocates perspective. You have to empathize. That is what will make it the ideal provider for veterans who have gone to combat and sacrificed. Announcer sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q a. Announcer earlier this evening, President Trump and the five former president s took part in a Hurricane Relief concert at texas a m university. Here is the portion of the concert featuring their remarks. What you want to do with your cell phones is help your fellow americans with their donation by anding one america to 55555 donate 10 box, or visit oneamerica. Org. We will take any amount. Now a few words from the 45th president of the United States, donald j. Trump. [applause] fellowrump my americans, the heartbreaking devastation caused by hurricanes ,arvey, irma, maria, and nate along with a terrible wildfires in california, have impacted many of our fellow americans. For thosen, we mourn who died and pray for those who lost their homes or livelihood. In the aftermath, the American People have done what we do best came together, help one another, and through it all we remained resilient. We came together as one as we rushed to the aid of texas, louisiana, florida, puerto rico, and the u. S. Virgin islands. As we begin to rebuild, some of americas finest Public Servants are spearheading the one America Appeal. Through this effort, all five living former president s are playing a tremendous role in helping our fellow citizens recover. To president s jimmy carter, george h. W. Bush, bill clinton, george w. Bush, and barack ia and milani a melan i express our deep gratitude for your tremendous assistance. This effort reminds us that we truly are one nation, under god, unified by our values and our devotion to one another. I also want to thank every person, including everyone here tonight, who has contributed to this vital effort. There is a lot of work ahead of us, and i want to thank groups like the points of light for making such a big difference in the Disaster Response efforts. Together we will recover, we will rebuild, and we will come back stronger and better than ever before. Thank you, god bless you, and may god bless the United States of america. [applause and cheers] Lee GreenwoodPresident Trump. As texas, florida, and puerto rico face the aftermath of harvey, irma, and maria, points of light is honoring everyday citizens who stepped up to serve their community during the immediate response, and to embark on the long road to recovery. Here to talk more about the foundation and to present awards is president and ceo of points of light Natalye Paquin, and chairman neil bush. [applause] neil bush thank you so much, mr. Lee greenwood, for your outstanding patriotism and for being such a great mc tonight. Thank you to all the artists here tonight for volunteering your time and talent. I am proud to cheer points of i am proud to chair points of light and to support my fathers legacy of service and volunteerism. It is our privilege tonight to share the moving stories of Everyday Americans who acted on an impulse to help others. In my hometown of houston, a halfmile from our home, entire neighborhoods and entire neighborhoods, like so many communities near a bayou, were flooded. My wife and i went down the street to help with the cleanup, and we were inspired by what we saw, a neighborhood darkened by flood damage shining with the bright light of neighbors helping neighbors, of Community Rising up. We worked sidebyside with groups from the First Baptist church, ernst young, and 400 samaritans purse volunteers. Corporations, churches, Service Clubs all across the city. The mayor saw this happen, all proactively helping their members, parishioners, and employees and many others to clear contaminated flooring, walls, and property. Volunteers all united in service. When it came to pulling people out of homes and pulling up damaged floors, no one cared whether you were rich or poor, white, brown, christian, jew, or atheist, gay or straight. The truth is service unites. [applause and cheers] neil bush and people committed to serving others unite around our common humanity. Natalye paquin strength, resiliency, and generosity flows from those simple acts of service. The inclination of one american to help another creates kinder and gentler communities, and it binds us together as a nation. The recent natural disasters have shown us that yes, neighbors help neighbors, and fellow americans help each other regardless of where they are. Deetchorleans, sherry led a group of volunteers to houston, where they conducted rescue efforts to save animals trapped in homes. Rafael from his home in organized airginia group that collected and shipped 120,000 pounds of relief aid with the support of the 113th air National Guard wing. These stories show how individuals translate common interests into a common cause, making a difference in the lives of others. [applause and cheers] points of light are the souls of america. They are ordinary people. Who reach beyond themselves. Reach beyond themselves to touch the lives of those in need, bringing hope and opportunity, care and friendship. By giving generously of themselves, these remarkable individuals show us all not only what is best in our heritage, but what all of us are called to become. We were seeking refuge at a center. We heard it was a shelter. When i walked to the doors, it started the power was out, ceilings had fallen, sewage running in and out of the bathrooms. We have about 250 people here. Youngoticed a couple of kids, ages 16 to 19, they knew they wanted to help were not sure how. I asked, who is ready to work . They all raised their hand. When you are in a position to help others, when they cannot help themselves, it is your duty to do so. It is no longer a me situation, it is a we situation. Seeing the storm as it was coming and having been through hurricane andrew, i remember what it was like. I just didnt want someone else to kind of go through that. Utilizing social media, putting , saying hey, we have a group of veterans who are looking to help. Who needs help . I was nervous about individuals who did not have the means to put up shutters, clear debris, do any of the dirty stuff a lot of people would shy away from. If you just put it out there and ask others around you, how can we do this . That gets you started. The story begins with me being a wedding planner and having a couple that was getting married on september 3. And a text that i sent to them with a photo of downtown, which was where our location was, submerged. From there, i asked them if they would like to spend their weekend doing a recovery initiative. They loved that idea, and they thought they would have 100 people at their Wedding Party that would join them. This was a selfless act that ignited an incredible idea. So i am calling out with a pledge to find you and to pair you up with an initiative. That went viral. 250we have now cleared homes and moved thousands of volunteers to help houston recover. There were moments in the middle of the night that i thought about, how do we do more . How do we engage more individuals quickly, help those hundreds of thousands of families . We were able to mobilize 700 parishioners to serve at food banks or 800 at the Georgia Brown center. We were able to send truckloads of milk and water. We were able to mobilize people to rip out the carpets, the sheets. Whatever we can do to ensure that we help human beings, to ensure that we can improve their quality of life, that is truly a blessing that god has bestowed on all of us. This kind of volunteer work is different than traditional volunteer work. We built these tools and resources that are really helping people with relief, with recovery, with rescue. If it was not for the rescue act, people would have been stranded. There was flooding, there was rising water. So it was really, really impactful. Volunteers, being the one there for somebody in their time of need, matters. In the spirit of point of light, you are that point of light for someone else. We just did what we needed to do, because that is what humanity does. To help a fellow brother and was a just be one celebration that love is stronger than water. A lot of what we did, i like to believe helped people make it through this difficult time when they were just looking, hoping, praying for there to be a little bit of help. Oftentimes people just get overwhelmed with thinking they have to do something huge to have an impact. It really is just something as small as going to your neighbor and asking if they need help. If today i am able to help one person, one fellow being, but it was great to see that tomorrow, when i need help, i can count on my neighbor, my community, my city, and my country to be able to help. [applause and cheers] jimmy carter howdy. Howdy. Jimmy carter we say howdy in georgia also. It is a great pleasure for me to be here with the other president s to carry out this project. I have just enjoyed seeing what the points of light does for the country. I have seen it for many years. I like to remind people that habitat for humanity is located in georgia. My wife and i have worked with habitat now for 36 years, at least one week each year. America is known for volunteer work. In fact, we are ahead of any other nation. Last year there were 67 million americans who volunteered to help other people in america. That came to 8 billion hours of work, worth 184 billion, so that is what volunteers did last year. I hope this year theyre going to do a lot more. [applause] jimmy carter thats about one out of five of the total population of america. We will see what the other four people do. Habitat has agreed to build 6000 houses in a devastated area, and [applause] jimmy carter and to do this, all of us habitat volunteers will raise 100 million. And we have already raised 20 million, so we have got a long way to go. This is a wonderful project, and if you want to contribute, obviously, the one america, that is fine. If you want to contribute to habitat, you can remember this 1800habitat. So lets all Work Together. Lets all Work Together and make america still a greater volunteer nation. Thank you very much. [applause and cheers] bill clinton when president george h. W. Bush was trying to persuade the congress to pass one of his noblest endeavors, the americans with disabilities act, he said, our problems are great, but the heart of america is greater. That is what we are here to celebrate. We were all citizens, even us, before we were politicians. And after our time was up, we became citizens again. We have been volunteering since before our constitution, when Benjamin Franklin organized the First Volunteer Fire Department in philadelphia. Our neighbors, our friends have gotten an enormous amount of sweat equity from these volunteers, and a lot of money, but make no mistake about it. These were grievous storms back to back. There is still work to be done in texas and in florida, and our friends in puerto rico and the american Virgin Islands have only begun to dig their way out of what could be still a calamitous disaster. But can be a new beginning if we just do what we ought to do and prove that the heart of america, without regard to race or religion or political party, is greater than our problem. [applause and cheers] barack obama howdy, texas. [applause and cheers] barack obama so all of us on this stage here tonight could not be prouder of the response of americans when they see their neighbors and they see their friends, they see strangers in need, americans step up. [applause and cheers] barack obama and as heartbreaking as the tragedy tragedies that took place here in texas, in florida, in puerto rico, in the u. S. Virgin islands have been, what we have also seen is the spirit of america at its best, when ordinary people step up and do extraordinary things. The one America Appeal is a part of that process. I want to thank president s george w. Bush, and most of all, an outstanding american, somebody who has always shown grace and character and courage, and served america nobly throughout the years, president george h. W. Bush. We are so proud to be with you tonight. [applause and cheers] barack obama he sets an example for all of us, as does first lady barbara bush. [applause and cheers] barack obama and that spirit of volunteerism, that spirit that says we are all in this together, that in dire times and that in dire times ignores all the differences we had before, that spirit is exemplified by the five points of light recipients whose stories you just saw on the screen and who are here tonight. So it is my great pleasure to bring these outstanding americans to the stage so that you can acknowledge the extraordinary work they have done, and i hope everybody who is watching is inspired by the work they have done. [applause and cheers] Natalye Paquin in 1989 in 1989, president george h. W. Bush created the daily point of light award to celebrate the power of an individual to make a difference in the lives of others. He was the first president in American History to institute a daily president ial Recognition Program from the white house. The work he began has taken root in americas fabric and has been built upon by every succeeding president. Stewards light proudly his legacy by continuing to honor individuals with daily point of light awards, over 6000 to date. We are grateful to have president carter, president bush 41, president clinton, president bush 43, and president obama [applause] stand with us. Thank you, as we recognize and honor the following individual points of light. Zachary bering, for his volunteer leadership at an evacuation shelter. [applause and cheers] Natalye Paquin leah halbina for using her Technology Skills to be a virtual volunteer for storm survivors in texas and her home state of florida. Murad ajani for mobilizing 2500 members of the islamic imam fleet and volunteers. Pat skreech for using her professional skills as a wedding planner to organize volunteers to begin rebuilding more than 250 homes. And Derrick Okeefe for organizing volunteers to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Irma and for coordinating the supply shipments to puerto rico and after hurricane maria. Congratulations, and thank you for all that you do. [applause and cheers] [applause] thank you. Im proud to introduce 34 into the United States. [applause] urge you to get to this, and i want to thank all of our volunteers. Im here for another reason. We really admire and love george h. W. Bush. [applause] [applause] on friday come as hes been set down with Hillary Clinton to discuss her recent book what happened . She spoke about the 2016 president ial campaign. You say in the book, the immediate the media needs to do its homework. I do. Of the things about cspan, and not just fluttering coverut you guys everything, lets people draw their own conclusions. I understand the pressures of the people undergo, and certainly online. Bad dollars,o get or eyeballs, clicks, whatever they are looking for. Get that the election is a big deal. Now, we see what happens when somebody is not accredited. We talk up the hollywood access tape, and how much continuing coverage you give to the more than 12 women who followed up with personal stories . Not much. It was a was on to something new. Think trump campaigned a really in changing the subject. Watch our interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow at 2 15 p. M. And 11 05 p. M. Eastern on cspan two