Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20180109 : vimarsana.com

And robbed of justice. Why her powerful words have sparked calls for an oprah presidency. But first, the nightline five. Jimmy has gotten used to his overwhelm room smelling like odors. Hes gone those blind. He thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this. Luckily theres febreze fabric refresher for all the things you cant wash. It finds odors trapped in fabrics and washes them away as it dries. And try plugable febreze to continuously eliminate odors for up to 45 days of freshness. Plugable febreze and fabric refresher. Two more ways to breathe happy. Number one in just 60 turning 65. Downsizing. Enrolling in Medicare Part d. These are moments when people realize that where you get your medicine matters. And they come to cvs pharmacy. For advice and ways to save money. Including copays as low as zero dollars. Switching is easy, call 1833cvsmedd and transfer today to cvs pharmacy. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. We begin with the personal journey back to puerto rico where tens of thousands are still reeling from hurricanes irma and maria. Now superstar power couple Jennifer Lopez and al exrodriguez are lending their time and their voices to the people who they feel have been forgotten. Tonight jennifers sister, linda lopez, from abc radio, takes us on their voyage. It was a onetwo punch that crippled an island. Catastrophic damage in puerto rico. Hurricane irma followed by hurricane maria. Maria, its 154mileperhour winds bat rtering the island, flooding homes, leaving millions of americans without adequate food, water, or electricity in puerto rico. Theres debris all over the city. This is the biggest catastrophe in puerto rican history. Whats out there is total devastation, total annihilation. Now 110 days later, much of the island still trying to recover. My sister and i traveled to puerto rico along with her boyfriend, alex rodriguez. Im a little bit scared of what im going to see. Trying to assess where help is still badly needed. Theres houses with no roofs. Theyre all blue. They all have the fema tarps on them, and theyre everywhere. Theres so many people still without a roof. For us, this journey is personal. Our parents were born and raised in puerto rico. Ive always felt a strong tie to it. Its like when something happened to puerto rico, it happened to me. It was important for us to follow up and come down here and see with our own eyes how things were going, what else we could do, where the help was needed. One of the areas where help is most needed, power. Officials say about 50 of Puerto Ricans are still without electricity. That loud, constant hum of generators that are powering so many houses that still dont have electricity. Puerto rico is part of america. Everyone you see thats an american citizen. Its an important fact and it cannot be overlooked. From the moment the storm hit, jennifer and alex have been fighting for the island. Tonight we are here as one voice. Wanting to help however they could. Jennifer and alex rallied other performers and friends to host a special concert called one voice. I called everybody i knew, and i said, please come out. Please lend your voice. Lend your talent. Lets try and raise some money. They raised 25 million for the relief effort. This trip, a start to allocate funds to some of the islands most devastated residents. Were here again to remind people here that this wasnt a oneday show, and this wasnt a concert. Were here because we care about them. We want to hear them. We want to meet the people, talk to them. Their words put into action here. One of the first stops, the home of 77yearold Porfirio Torres in san juan. Still a hole in the roof. Weve got one of the blue fema tarps thats covering this opening right here. He has no front door. His door has blown off. Its leaning right here on the wall of his home. Hes overcome with emotion after learning some of the relief money raised by jennifer and alex will help to rebuild his roof. [ speaking Foreign Language ] what does it feel like to know that you can do that . You know, its funny. You do what you can, and you know you hope its going to help. The mayor of san juan, carmen yulin cruz. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying. Has been a voice for the voiceless. Cruz was highly critical of President Trump after he threw paper towels to people during his one visit to the islands. He was insulting to the people of puerto rico. You can never be inside someones head and know what their intentions are. But at the end of the day, i feel that could have been handled with a little bit more tact. It was a disappointing visual to see. You cant clean this up with paper towels. More than three months after trumps visit, the mayor is still frustrated by what little progress has been made. In the house that were in, we havent had energy since irma. So the world counts frommaria, but we count 2 1 2 weeks earlier from that. Even when the roof gets placed, he wont have any energy. Many homes are still surrounded by polluted water and downed power lines. The residents tell us those blue fema tarps represent a lackluster response on behalf of the federal government. About a half a million homes have been partially or completely destroyed. So theres a lot to do, but i should say that my main concern is with congress right now. There needs to be some action taken. Puerto ricos governor is now pleading for congress to send more financial aid. Were asking for them to consider puerto rico, to give us the proper assets so that we can rebuild properly. But even puerto ricos own local government has been accused of falling short, for not being able to provide an accurate death toll. Their official report states that 64 people have died, but some media outlets, like the new york times, have done their own investigation and have found that the death toll may be well over 1,000. I know youve put together a commission to find out a true death toll as a result of maria. What do you believe that is right now . I want to leave that to the experts. The way we did it from the onset is we took notice from the doctors. We got the death certificates, and the doctors said they were natural causes. We had to sort of abide by that. But we took all of the death certificates, and we asked our team to call back the doctors. And even if they said natural causes, we wanted to recheck if that was the case. Jennifer and alexs next stop is to a Womens Health center, responsible for delivering hundreds of babies after maria. Pregnant women were out there without the care that they need because the lack of electricity and the lack of, like, power and water. So all the offices were shut down. Access to equal health care is a cause close to jennifer and alexs hearts. Theyve allocated 2 million of the funds raised to Different Health Centers Across the island. Does the center have everything it needs since the hurricane . Well in the process. One of the midwives at the clinic, rita, tells us she hasnt had power in her home since hurricane irma. We go home with her that night, and the reality of the storm hits even harder. If you look way up here, there are actually light bulb sockets that would light her porch outside. She tells us that the light bulbs were blown right out of the sockets during maria. Inside, her home is completely dark. Rita must carry light around with her and light candles to see. Thats when the candles come in handy. Right. Were seeing how incredibly pitch black it gets here. Are you scared at all to come home . Youre not, why . Im never scared. Ive been living here forever. I know my neighbors. They take care of me too. What are the residents here hearing from the government or from the local muptities that you will have power back and it will be at x time . In the beginning they were saying january. Right. Then now its march. Mmhmm. Then other people say may. Its clear that theres still so much more problem that needs to be made here. Theres know question that theyve taken a massive heavyweight punch. You cannot deny that. Theres no question that these people are fierce, and they will come back bigger and better than ever. Across the island, that spirit of hope and resilience reigns true. So in one word, whats your emotional state at the end of the day, after meeting all these people and seeing what youve seen . Im hopeful. I feel hopeful. I feel that they gave me hope. For nightline, im linda lopez in puerto rico. Next, just honored for a lifetime of achievement, but is it only just beginning . Why millions are now calling for an oprah presidency. 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The only way this problem is going to be solved is if we raise our voices. Choose help over helplessness, hope over hopelessness. Make sure that the lives weve lost will not have been lost in vain. Addiction is a disease. When you ask for help, help is there for you. radio playing in background it was a Golden Moment of unity last night. Hollywoods most powerful united in black dress proclaiming times up on sexual harassment. While it appeared standing up for women was finally in fashion, the star of the show was the woman who has been doing it her whole career. Oprah winfrey rocked the Golden Globes with an acceptance speech so bold, its sparking rumors of a president ial run. A president ial run is a possibility. Our stop story, the Golden Globes big night in hollywood. An empowering night all around. Oprah winfrey actively thinking of running for president. A chorus erupting overnight after Oprah Winfrey delivered a speech of president ial proportionate the Golden Globes. So i want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon it was the main event in a different type of awards show for hollywood. One where activism became the accessory. A sea of black dress reflecting the tidal wave shift of the me too and times up movements. Ive never seen a show of solidarity from women and the men who support them and encourage them. Its extraordinary. And then oprahs speech was just like the apex. She gave a master class in oratory that brought hollywood to its feet and the status quo to its knees. And when that new day finally da dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say me too again. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. It was very powerful. It was very impactful. It was theres no one else who does oprah like oprah. Oprah is the greatest communicator in television of the last 50 years. Its one of the many things that hollywood admires her for. They recognize that oprah is the best storyteller of her generation. And where that comes from is this phenomenal ability to communicate, this amazing capacity for empathy and for displaying it on television. As me too and times up sweep hollywood, they echo a message that oprah has been fighting for throughout her career. I wanted people to be responsible for the energy they brought to me. We all have hopes and fears and dreams. We all want to be our best selves. We want to live our best lives. And oprah reminds us of that. A living example of overcoming obstacles, the power of one voice and what can happen if you dare to dream. Happy new year, everybody. Im Oprah Winfrey. She began to articulate last night, you know, a path that involved rejection and bullying and seen as being insufficient. She was constantly marginalized and put down as a young person. And she strove to change peoples minds about her, and she succeeded. As oprah became the first black woman to receive the cecil b. Demille award, she reflected on history as she made it, recalling herself watching Sidney Poitiers 1964 oscar win for best actor. It is a long journey to this moment. His tie was white, and of course his skin was black. And i had never seen a black man being celebrated like that. When she talked at the Golden Globes last night about Sidney Poitier and seeing this moment of him receiving the Academy Award and what it meant to her, i think that shes been that same figure for a lot of other men and women. Shes the host of the podcast making oprah on wbez chicago. Behind the scenes look at winfreys groundbreaking talk show. When youre a young person and you see yourself reflected on television, you see yourself reflected in media or in science and technology, business, finance, whatever, it opens a door of possibility for you. Seeing yourself reflected has a real power, and it makes you understand that you have a place in the world. Recy taylor. A name i know and i think you should know too. Recy taylor, a young mother, a black woman who was abducted walking home from church in alabama in 1944. A story long buried in history. I was begging them to leave me alone. Dont shoot me. Recy taylor is a pivotal link in a long chain of sexual abuse against africanamerican women. It goes back to slavery, and it continues today. Taylor, who died 11 days ago, now the subject of a documentary, the rape of recy taylor, directed by nancy burski. How did you react when you heard Oprah Winfrey say recy taylor . I was speechless at first. Then i started screaming. And the longer she talked, the more i screamed. We didnt know she was going to talk about her. We knew it was a gamechanger. It said what to you . Oprah winfrey would mention this woman from alabama . It goes back to the day that recy taylor was raped. She spoke up, and it started a chain of events where she was trying to get justice for this. And after justice failed for her, she was forgotten. But forgotten no more. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. The issue, a deeply personal one for oprah. Herself a victim of Sexual Assault when she was a child. And i had been left with a 19yearold cousin, and he raped me. Long before the speech heard round the globe, Oprah Winfrey was pushing boundaries. Im Oprah Winfrey, and welcome to the very First National Oprah Winfrey show the first africanamerican woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show, she connected to audiences with a realness all her own. But two things have bugged me for years. The first, my thighs. The second she was exactly who she was on the air. She didnt feel the need to present a veneer of this perfect woman who doesnt have any struggles. Shes very mom. Shes very auntie. Oprah is very powerful. Shes very much a very wealthy woman, but shes also, you know, going to be at the cookout doing the potato salad. Her show reflecting and propelling the National Conversation at times into complex and uncomfortable topics. And this child rape epidemic in america doesnt end until we all are willing to do what these young girls have done. I think oprah has always tried to use her show and her platform to empower and to bring voice to the voiceless. Each one is holding a picture of themselves at the age when they say they were first sexually abused. These themes and oprahs power on full display last night. And oprah brought it full circle from where we were to where we are to where were going in the future. But will that future include a president winfrey . Shes denied it in the past, speaking here to jimmy kimmel. Its the one thing i know for sure, sure, sure is i will never run for office. But longtime partner Stedman Graham told the l. A. Times its up to the people. She would absolutely do it. Thank you. And there seemed to be no shortage of potential supporters last night. Next, congratulations to the new National College football champions. The electric gamewinning moment. Announcer abc news nightline brought to you by the lincoln continental. With 33 individual vertebrae and 640 muscles in the human body, no two of us are alike. Life made more effortless through adaptability. The perfect position seat in the lincoln continental. ltry align probiotic. N your digestive system . In the lincoln continental. For a nonstop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. Get 24 7 digestive support, with align. The 1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. Also in kids chewables. Feel the power of thenew power. Smax. To fight back theraflus powerful new formula to defeat 7 cold and flu symptoms. Fast. So you can play on. Theraflu expressmax. New power. Okay, iunderwear thatsd say this, bactually pretty. 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