CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Troy Carter
Interview
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TAPPER: Interesting.
Brian Todd, thanks so much.
Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Troy Carter, who represents much of the greater New Orleans area in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congressman, thanks for joining us.
President Biden is going to visit your region Friday. You have been out touring damage all week. Describe what you're seeing and what you're most worried about. REP. TROY CARTER (D-LA): Well, we had the opportunity on yesterday to
travel the state via helicopter with the Coast Guard, witnessing much of the horrendous sights of homes that have been demolished, homes that -- neighborhoods that are underwater, trees that look like they were snapped like pencils.
The devastation is dire and it's deep. We're very happy that the president will be joining us on Friday to see firsthand the conditions, which demonstrates his commitment to rebuilding and, quite frankly, building back better.
[16:35:02]
TAPPER: I am sure you have heard this yourself firsthand, but I want to share with our viewers people in food and water lines tell us that they are running out of options for these critical resources.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: What is the water situation? Are you getting water at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No. No water, no power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this point, there's no more food. The water is tasting kind of funny. I don't know what's going on with the water. But my roof is caved. My furniture is all messed up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: No water, no power, no food. In Baton Rouge, only half of gas stations have fuel if they're open at all.
How long can the people of your district survive like this?
CARTER: Listen, it's dire. And it's very difficult to survive this way.
We know that the power that's out, nearly a million people without power. And the month of August, it's sweltering. It's very difficult to survive inside a home or anywhere with the heat being as much as it is in the month of August.
But we have Red Cross on the ground. We have got National Guard on the ground. And we have got individuals going into the neighborhoods with search-and-rescue missions. We have got food, water, ice on the way. We've got generators coming.
It's one of those things that it's never fast enough. And it needs to be faster. We recognize that. We know that people are really hurting. And as fast as we can get out, we need to even be faster. We're very, very, very understanding of the issues and are very aware of it.
We have got people on the ground in all of the parishes. I represent 10 parishes in Louisiana. All of our local, state and federal partners are engaged. I'm at the EOC right now in St. Charles Parish, where we're meeting with all the officials, working on execution of getting resources out to the people.
TAPPER: Are you satisfied with the degree of urgency that Entergy, the main utility company in your district, is bringing to this crisis?
And they say they have restored power for about 11,000 customers. But some customers have been told to prepare to go as long as a month without electricity.
CARTER: Jake, when you have a storm the magnitude of Ida, and you look at the level of damage that was caused, it's never fast enough for the person that's at home in heat, and we understand that.
But the power companies have literally 25,000 line men from all over the country working around the clock. Obviously, we'd like it to be faster, but we understand that they're working under extreme conditions; 25,000 line men throughout the state of Louisiana working 24/7 is something that that's horrendous.
We know how big it is. We know how necessary it is to get power back on. But we wish it were faster. But I think they're working within strict confines. And there's a lot of boots on the ground.
TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Troy Carter of Louisiana, thank you.
Please stay in touch with us. Let us know if you need us to bring attention to anything, to light a fire under the federal government. Sometimes, it works that way.
CARTER: Thank you very much.
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