MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: "Hurricane Dorian death toll rises."

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

O`DONNELL: The destruction caused by super storms and hurricanes like Dorian costs the United States billions of dollars in damage every year. But when it comes to escaping, surviving and recovering from a natural disaster, it`s like everything else, poor people suffer the most. A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research states the obvious. There is a broad consensus that the wealthy can access a wide range of protective strategies from owning a second home to accessing better quality medicine, food and medical care and housing. The poor are thus more likely to bear the incidents of natural disasters. Our next guest has had hard experience dealing with the catastrophic effects of super storms on poor communities. Cory Booker was mayor of Newark, New Jersey, when Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey in October of 2012. Sandy had just been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit New Jersey but it still left millions without power and without a place to live. Mayor Cory Booker invited members of his community to eat and sleep-in his home in the aftermath of the storm. Now, United States Senator Booker is a Democratic presidential candidate and he joins us tonight from Newark, New Jersey. Senator Booker, thank you very much for joining us tonight. I want to get your reaction to what we just heard the minister tell us from the Bahamas, that it death toll has risen by seven tonight. It was down in the low 20s, went up to 30 and we`re told it`s going to probably rise dramatically tomorrow. And I want to get your reaction to what`s happening in the Bahamas and what we should be doing to help.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, number one, my heartaches watching the photos and videos and seeing what`s going on there. But you really hit the nail on the head. When the storm passes, the danger persists. We lost people here in the city, lost lives in the days after because of things that folks often don`t think of. Remember Hurricane Sandy hit in October. It was cold. People often make mistakes running generators indoors and we`ve lost people to carbon dioxide poisoning. People need medicines and access to drugs that sometimes need to be refrigerated or you have no power. Your drugs can get spoiled. There`s so many life threatening things that happen in the aftermath of a storm that they are not out of the crisis yet. And this is a test of our compassion and our empathy right now, and I`m hoping that folks are finding the right places to go to contribute to this effort because we here in the state of New Jersey, believe it or not, have still people who are recovering their lives after the devastating loss. And again, Lawrence, I appreciate you on so many levels but pointing out the resiliency to people of wealth who often have but low income families, poor families can be tragically, tragically devastating to their lives. And the impact can be lasting and traumatic and last for years.

O`DONNELL: No, listen, I know people who in the aftermath of hurricanes simply pulled up and went to a hotel, just to a hotel. And I also know people who lost their homes and had nowhere to go. After Sandy, I didn`t get to New Jersey, but I was out in Staten Island which was absolutely devastated, and you`re not surprising me by saying there are people in areas and housing situations that have not recovered, have not been made whole since Sandy. What is the -- what is the government`s responsibility in the aftermath of one of these storms?

BOOKER: I think these are moments where we have to understand it`s all hands on deck, that responsibility -- everyone has to take responsibility. And, Lawrence, you and I lived in the New York, New Jersey area. We have seen 9/11 to Hurricane Sandy where I saw the best of humanity come forward, where people were there for their neighbors, there for their community, never stopped working. And I know first responders in the aftermath, my team was going days with very little to no sleep whatsoever, but I`ll tell you what, we setup a hub in Newark to receive resources, and we`re getting truckloads of food and water from states around us. People sending their emergency crews here doing sort of joint rescues because we had people stranded. It was an amazing moment where I saw people ask what party you`re in, what background, the best of who we are. Well, I think that`s patriotism, I think that`s love of our country, but love shouldn`t stop at our borders. This is the same time we need that same kind of grace to the Bahamas and what they`re going through. In America, we`re one of the best nations if not the best nation often for showing support to a lot of our neighbors especially in the Caribbean from Haiti to the Dominican Republic to obviously in this case the Bahamas. I`m hoping more and more Americans will think maybe I can`t do everything but I can do something even if it`s a small gesture to help that incredible nation recover.

O`DONNELL: That grace and the aftermath talking about I saw, I witnessed it up close in Staten Island, truly inspiring after Sandy. What made you decide to take people into your home?

BOOKER: Look, I -- I love where I live. I live in a low income, below the poverty line community. You often see folks with little who consistently show the most. I`ve learned about the definition of grace from living here in Newark from people who I`ve seen rise to challenges. Sometimes, it`s a murder in the community, a family that`s been evicted over frankly B.S. And so, I just feel blessed to have opportunities to return to a community that`s done so much for me. So, in that aftermath, I was in the command center and literally running around the city, and got a text from one of my neighbors who just said, look, the power on our side of the block is out, your side is not. I go look, I`m not using my house, I`m going constantly just here`s how you get in, anything that you need, I`m going to send food and resources. It became a hub. The problem is that I got a lot of attention from doing that maybe because I was the mayor, but it was going on all over Newark, all over New Jersey just to see the deep decency and goodness in our country when there`s crises that happen. I have to say sometimes when a visible storm passes, I hope that empathy can often continue to deal with other crises we have, whether it`s environmental injustice or scourge of gun violence, because we are at our best as a community, as a country when we don`t let the lines that divide us ever stop us from tightening those bonds that hold this country together. And we need more of that. I was in the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. I`ve never seen anything like it before. This happened during the World Series, horrible devastation. I`ll never forget that was the first major natural disaster I was in that weeks after, you could go to gas stations, to restaurants, there was this kindness in the air that was so profound. I saw America at its best, and I hope we can continue especially this era where we see demeaning and degrading happening -- behavior happening at the highest office in the land, I want to see it in our country and this is one of the reasons I`m running for president a revival of the civic grace. So, the spirit we often see come out when we`re at our worse can also come out during times of relative calm or without these kind of natural disasters that remind us about American goodness. We need more of that now more than ever. Especially as you see more partisanship or I would say more - more just divide in our nation.

O`DONNELL: Senator Cory Booker, thank you very much for joining us tonight. We really appreciate it.

BOOKER: Lawrence, I just want to say one more thing. That story about your uncle really moved me, and, you know, there are heroes like that that we don`t celebrate and we`re talking about them right now, first responders in crises. But the heroism you talk about in your uncle we don`t know and I now know this, I`m dealing with it more as United States Senator whether it`s rangers or ceils, they`re Special Forces people out there right now as we speak out there doing incredible things. I give honor to your uncle and to all of those Americans who are continuing in his tradition. So all the best to your family`s legacy.

O`DONNELL: Thank you, Senator. Really appreciate it. Thank you for joining us tonight.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source