his base. the president has made clear he'll come back and campaign for whoever wins this race. this is a test of the president's power of persuasion. >> that base which is of course so crucial to him. thanks so much alexis. moments away from the polls closing. anderson's next. good evening. new reporting from puerto rico where the human need is so great in scope and urgent it is written on the street in bold letters. today both the president and fema administration answer tough conditions about the ground. more on that shortly. exclusive cnn reporting on the russian probe. now wording of corporation between counsel mueller and what could bring him closer to that red line. we begin tonight keeping him honest, with the president's latest take on the wave of protest sweeping the nfl. his attempt in football terms to

claim credit for moving the ball when in fact he was on the opposite side of the play. specifically, this moment. >> cowboys players wanted to show unity but were very adamant about wanting to separate that message from the national anthem. shawn. >> all right lisa, as they take a knee collectively, boos can be heard from this sell-out crowd in arizona. >> the dallas cowboys last night, owner jerry jones taking a knee before the playing of a national anthem. the president tweeted about it today. quote, the booing of the the nfl game last night when the entire nfl team dropped to its knees. the loudest i ever heard. while dallas dropped to its knees as a team they all stood up for the national anthem. big progress being made. they all stood up for the national anthem. being progress. keeping it honest the cowboys have always stood when the

national anthem has played. jerry jones may have found a way to split the difference between protest injustice. for the president to call it progress, it ignores the key fact, what sparked it in the first place. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. he's fired! >> the president from an overwhelmingly white crowd in alabama, football players protesting. that's what it took for a movement that has been simmering for months to boil over, the president's words. that's what made a team from not protesting anything to protest this, the president's own words. you can agree or disagree with how or why the players are

protesting but for the president to claim credit for big progress about made, lately what's happening is progress is like cheering on the bomb squad after lighting the fuse. jim acosta joins us now. the president addressed this today during his press conference with the prime minister, what did he say? >> he's denied he's obsessed with this issue of the nfl players and patriotism. he's been asked if he was preoccupied with this since friday. the president's tweeted about this some 24 times, compare that with his five tweets on puerto rico since friday. here's more of what president had to say earlier today. >> i wasn't preoccupied with the nfl i was ashamed of what was taking place because to me that was a very important moment. i don't think you can disrespect our country, our flag, our national anthem, the nfl situation is an important situation, i've heard that today about what i preoccupied, not at all. i have plenty of time on my

hands, all i do is work. >> we should point out after the president made those remarks the white house became preoccupied with the devastation in puerto rico. not only did the white house issue several pictures of 'president talking to officials on the ground in puerto rico. they also sent the fema administration and the department of homeland security to talk to the reporters about what the administration is doing. in the last several minutes the warehouse is issuing a statement, read outs with the president with the government of puerto rico. >> the president is at a fund raising dinner tonight in new york, has he said anything about this at all? >> we don't have a read out just yet what the president said at this fundraiser in manhattan. we should know more later on tonight. we can tell you last night he did have a dinner with leaders of conservator movement over here at the warehouse.

it was during that meeting by one of the attendees in the room that the president said a couple of times, this has really caught on, this is really caught on. he wen on to say he's essentially saying what a lot of americans are thinking, according to this person in the room who was at this dinner last night with the president. he seemed pretty pleased with the uproar he's ignited. >> appreciate that. wherefore you stand on the issue including the president's views are deeply rooted. it's hard to forget the photo of two american medalist raising their fists with black power salute. john lewis tweeted out, protesters led by andrew young taking a niknee. the refusal to stand for the anthem is nothing new. this is what was wrote, i cannot stand and salute the flag i know

i am a black man in a white world. joining me to talk about it seattle seahawks head coach pete colorado carroll. >> do you feel that's what's really going on here? >> absolutely not. i don't see it anywhere pointed in that direction. what's happening is prayers are rallying to protest and sit out a message that they want to send out. it has nothing to do against the flag or against the country or anything like that, it's the opposite. i think they're talking on behalf of freedom of speech and the constitution and having a message they really want to impart on the rest of the people in the country. >> what your team did sunday on nationals deciding not to go out on the field during the national anthem. can you explain what you meant but it was the right stage for that moment? >> we had to figure out what we wanted to do, we wanted to do something and wanted to make

sure it was unified and really wanted to dig fie the moments as best they could. there's so much here to say and that was the way that they decided to do it, they felt collectively about that and that was the way we went about it. i know other teams and organizations did things differently, that's the way our guys thought was best to do. >> mike tomlin said his team, quote, we're a group not interested in making statements but impacts. i'm wondering what you thought of that, does that supply to seahawks as well? >> i think it's a very good statement that mike makes there. our guys in all of their efforts seen on or off the field our team is very driven. the last thing they want to do is be offensive to the country, flag, military, they stand in total support, they understand that and know what they're doing. they wanted to make sure and start the dialogue and messaging and work to a greater opportunity that's coming

because of the protest that has taken place. >> do you think the president understands that? >> i don't think so. i don't think -- i think it gets put back into other references, i don't think at all. i think if we had the opportunity to share this new dialogue and this new conversation about freedom and about inequality and freedom of speech and he could see and feel what our players feel, i think it would make all the difference in the world. could he, i don't know that's up to him. there are guys willing to try and share the message. there's an everyon think here t needs to be understood and our guys are tuned into that and ready to do whatever it takes to get that done. >> how do you see this playing out? i mean the weeks and months ahead do you say players and teams to continue to protest like this before the national anthem before the game and would you to support your players if

they want? >> well, first of all this is an opportunity for us to create a new dialogue. anderson, there's so much here and need to be talked about that's been a drieg that's been uncomfortable. one that people don't know how to venture into. our players clearly understand inequality, they clearly understand what it is to be marginalized. they know when they're not football players and off the field in their every day lives. they know their children how they have to prepare their children to act properly and be safe because of the the things they're up against. this is the dialogue that's so important. what ever evidence whatever we o to to the next step we're willing to do that. >> if you could just say something to the president what would you say? >> i wish i had a chance to sit down and talk with him, i'd love to do that. basically right now i just wish that he would understand that this is a moment to be even

thetic and listen and listen to what everybody's saying and have a chance to feel what that's all about without passing judgment. that's what needs to happen. people from all different walks and all different opinions, we need to give ourselves the opportunity to hear the other side. that's the first step in creating change. this is about change and i'm hoping we're able to make progress and what ever it takes to get that done from the president on down we're all ready to work at it. >> finally, we had somebody on the program last night in support of the president who said they believe the protest they saw this weekend were more protests against president trump than they were protest against racial discrimination or allegations of police brutality or racial inequality in this country. do you believe that it was about the president or was it about the issues that this all started? >> no, no the issues have been here for a long long time.

the opportunity was presented and i think that's what you're seeing happen. because of the statement said or made, the opportunity to go ahead and okay, let's go for it right now, this is the time that maybe we can make a change and make a difference. this discussion's gone on for a long time now but right now is maybe the best opportunity that we've ever seen to really accelerating the discussion and accelerating the openness and creating the new dialogue that can create the change so necessary. >> carroll i appreciate the time thank you. tomorrow night talking to some of the best and brightest of all sides of the issue and taking your question. it's a cnn town hall event, patriotism, players and the president. 9:00 p.m. eastern time right here. maggy habermann with new reporting on this issue. cnn exclusive new details from russian investigation, a development that could take it where the president wants toyota

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"new york times" amy habermann she joins us now. takes us back from his speech in alabama where he relives this thing will be nfl. >> what we learned in the course of reporting the president literally did just throw this in at the rally. >> it was not planned out in yeefts. >> nope. >> or aids or in the teleprompter. >> nope. he threw it out there as he did during the campaign. he like the way the crowd responded. on the plan ride back he liked the way it did and basically he was going to stick with this throughout the weekend. he talked with a couple of people, he had a small group of advisers in bed minister, and he asked a few members what he thought of this nfl issue. every single time it was nope, this is great with my base, i think this is a good thing i'm going to keep doing it. he did it again at a white house dinner with attendees, he said

this is quote/unquote caught on. helpful good about it. >> he was talking about everything at the event about crowd size. >> yes, he was reliving all of the physical attributes related to both himself and the rally. it was sort of an appearance at this rally but it was mostly about trump. trump was talking about what the crowds were, it was not as being as he'd hoped. he questioned whether his pink tie was going to play well in alabama with this crowd and reliving all of these greatest hits moments before this southern audience. he also, very important context noted. in alabama that was where he saw his first big outside of the east coast rally, outside of iowa rally, so in his mind he had some special connections. >> is it fair to say he felt like his nfl comments were the

highlight. >> oh yes. >> of the evening? >> oh no no he felt that -- i mean for him, i don't know if this was the stand out on his own but it was the thing he felt play it had best with the crowd. >> do people you talk to in the white house around the white house, do they talk about this as the president pushing culture wars and igniting his base? >> they do and pretty bluntly. people both inside and outside of the white house who are in contact with the president or know him very well, all put it pretty simply this is somebody who is focused on stirring up his working class white base and he thinks this is the way to do it. he did this once before in a campaign, at least once in began of 2016, during height of the primary season when the votes were about to begin and he made reference to this issue. he decided this is a way to stir people. it's interesting, because you see him do this time and again

where he rebels against the norms being put in place around him. john kelly his new chief of staff has put in some symbol lance of order in the white house. he's gotten the president some symbol answer of -- but the president took a very very baby and nonpartisan step by non-partnership and he is rebelling against that because he's getting concerned. even if he hadn't done the nfl thing, during that rally he was very equivocal, he made sure he was not going to win, basically said a bunch of nice thing, undid it quickly so the headlines in alabama were trump hedges on strains. you can see the president beginning to balance his own closure and what it meant for him. >> it's fascinated to me people you talked to are very open and this is about appealing to white working class base and getting people raled up. >> there is not a lot of the

near on the white house about what they're up to and what the president is up to. it's one of the areas where they're for better or worse. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. joining us paris denard, and also cornell west, a professor. dr. west, the president says his comments has nothing to do with race. how do you see it? >> well, no i think the president needs to get off the symbolic crack pipe and have a sense of reality. the reason why these co-ranges young people are standing up because they have a love for black people, justice and fairness and they're concerned about a racist criminal justic system. it's a beautiful thing to see this moral and spiritual thing

taking please among the athletes. they're experiencing more excellence. excellence is about unarmed truth, unapoll jettic love, you step down to let the world know you have a love for these people who are not being treated right and unfairly. as you know i'm a christian so every flag is under the cross for me and the flag signifies armed truth and unapoll jettic love. but when escape gets, arabs, jews, train, when a scapegoat black people, there's a truth to be brought in the name of truth and love. it's clear president trump has a disrespect for the american people, he has a disrespect for the flag when he scapegoats american people and when he lies

to the american people. mendacity is a form of violation in patriotism, it's a form of violation in the face of truth and in the face of love. so the question becomes, how wonderful to see the white brothers and sisters, all the different colors standing up out of a love for black people who are being victimized too often by a racist criminal justice system. beautiful thing to behold. >> paris i want you to be able to respond to what the doctor said. do you see this standing up against racism? >> no, anderson. i said it before, a year ago i didn't see pete carroll on your program talking about this issue as it relates to racial injustice or brutal of police department and white supremacy of that nature. i didn't see the steelers or dallas cowboys taking a knee in solidarity with colin kaepernick. they were silent, the nfl was

mute on it. now, what you see is president donald trump at a rally in alabama raise this issue. and there are certain things calls con attended consequences. as dr. west pointed out the beauty he articulated, white brothers and sisters joining together locking arms in the name of what colin kaepernick originally doing because i believe the president is challenging the norms. he has become a catalyst for this conversation. so it actually is to dr. west's point an unattended consequence of his statement which i still believe to be factual. i have no problem with colin kaepernick or the rest of the people that are protesting, wanting to and sand and solidarity with those people who have been victimized repeatedly by the system. that's why a lot of republican servants have joined hands to talk about reform because it's a bipartisan issue that said i

don't see how their response a year ago matches what the response today because it wasn't there. >> dr. west what about that, colin kaepernick was the one doing it for a long time. >> no -- no. >> a football player i should say and didn't get rehired. >> that's unfair of brother colin. brother paris has a point, there's no doubt an awakening has taken place in the last 12 to 18 months. just because people are in solidarity now in a way they weren't before doesn't mean -- it's still wrong unjust and required somebody to stand up. at that time we had a brother in the wilderness, brother colin. sometimes it's just a few who are speaking the truth, sometimes the truth catches fire and that's what's happening now. so brother paris you're right a year ago they didn't stand up

they were still sleep walking. now i say to you brother paris, are you sleep walking? are you going to deny the victims of a racist criminal justice system are not part and parcel of the reasons why these brothers are kneeling down? you know that racial injustice is an intracall part of why they're expressing the way they are. >> and doctor west i've never denied that. i question with the matter they are protesting, i think because they have done in in a way, that in my opinion and many of the americans feel is disrespectful to the flag, to people the national anthem and thungs like that, it is a distraction. i do not deny these injustices happen, it happened to me. i just don't like the tactic. >> my deer brother all i'm saying is your president that he has this liking for he denies it

and if you defend him you're defending the denial. you and i know it happens all the time, you and i know these brothers are standing up as they kneel in order to put a spotlight on this issue, that means race is very much -- not just race, fairness. treating black people with dignity and decency, that's a fundamental issue as to why they're doing what they're doing. the president denies it, you support the president therefore you support the denial, as i understand it unless you're breaking with the president publicly at this moment, that'll be a beautiful thing too my brother. >> paris respond. >> no i'm not breaking on the president at the moment because i agree with him -- >> time to break. >> it's not time to break i think he's right. they are disrespecting the flag. they have the right to protest and be upset with the justice system and be upset with the thing they see that are happening to people that look like me and you but i think

they're going blb it the wrong way. the examples that anderson put out, the videos he played before this, none of those incidents involves people disrespecting the flag. >> wait a minute, paris, at the time -- get accused of being unpatriotic. it's only in retrospect that people look back and say, oh yeah i would have done the same thing. when those athletes held up a gloved fist they were penalized for that. you're not saying that disrespected the flag but it was penalized as disrespect. >> all i'm saying is that the action we're seeing right now of nfl teams -- look i think the dallas cowboys, jerry jones is a smart man, they have it right, they took a knee because that's what they wanted to protest before the national anthem and then they stood before the

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a few moments ago we showed you a photo that john lewis tweeted. a civil rights -- have you ever wonder what it will be like to live in civil rights movement and what role it will play you're in it right now. back with dr. west and paris denard. doctor, i'm wondering to paris's point that this is disrespectful to the flag and unpatriotic to do this during the national

anthem what do you say? >> well, it's important thing brother cooper you got two things being admitted by the president, one is race has nothing to do with it, that's a lie. my father served in a jim crow army so he served in a area of truth and freedom that flag signifies the freedom people with descent if they can do so with a love and concern with the least of these. there's many people in the army in no way feel disrespected people are fighting for justice because the flag is not the monopoly of one group it's for the expression of those fighting for truth liberty and freedom across the board. so this idea that somehow disrespect is a motivation for stepping -- for kneeling, good god in the 1960s we had a whole host of folks who turned their

backs on the flag because for them it signified criminality, ze vietnam, a whole host of things that were violation. so in this idea of disrespect especially coming from donald trump he's the disrespecter. so by what moral or spiritual authority does he have to talk about disrespect. he's been disrespecting the more than people and the flag every since he won in many ways when it comes to our precious mexican, arabs, jews and gays and and others. so let's be honest mr. paris. >> paris you heard magi habermann reporting people around here the president say this is appealing to working class base and getting people raled up. is that respectful to the flag,

you use patriotism if that's what the president is doing to rile up people? >> i remember when president clone wou clinton would go to black issues and bring up issues that were particular to that crowd because they knew their base. that's what politicians do. i think what you saw what president trump did is he knew that in alabama at a state that takes football very seriously, and a campaign rally, that was going to be a sound bite that was really going to gain transaction because he knew the base at that time in that place really took the issue of american patriotism very seriously and the flag very seriously. and so, he was playing to his base -- >> do you think there was a racial component by saying, "those people," "our anthem"

calling them sons of bitches before a white crowd in alabama? >> i think for now until the end of the year if the president has a political rally the majority of the people are going to be white. we have to get used to the fact that only 8% of african-american people voted for him. >> so you're saying race has nothing to do with it? >> i don't think race hadding in to do with him calling out the fact that they were kneeling and had been disrespect ft to the flag. i believe if there were white athletes doing it it would still be wrong and disrespectful. and dr. west with all due respect my grandfather from port field georgia served in the military and he died the flag was put across his casket because he was discharged from the military honorably. he taught me and many of my family when you walk into a restaurant you take off your hat. when a women gets up from the table you stand up.

with the flag is thrown you stand up and show respect. i was at an event when i used to work for president george w. bush for history month he did not know at the time when the black national anthem to stand up, he stood up because it was the respectful right thing to do. i think what we have with this conversation has nothing to do with the ethnicity of the people doing the act, it is the act itself which i find to be disrespectful. >> dr. west. >> yeah the idea that it doesn't have to do with race that's what we're talking about. god bless your grandfather i know he deals with dignity in his own way. you and i know when it comes to the black national anthem, if that anthem was associated with a black supremacy that mistreated white brothers and

sisters that had police, that had economic, civic, educational expressions that somehowive subordinated other folks many black people wouldn't stand at that anthem either. any anthem if it stands in the way of truth and love it ought to be criticized. it's a question of morality and spiritual yalt, the problem is president trump no moral sub stan, cold hearted, mean spirited, he's involved in scapegoating asthma in my opinionlating and dividing american people and now he's locked into it. and there are no grounds my dear brother paris for any kind of serious offense of such behavior. i think ten years from now when you watch yourself on television, god bless you, you're going to say oh my god

was i defending this kind of behavior of this kind of president, this kind of president stirring such contempt toward the weak, such contempt toward the vulnerable that has no spiritual and moral grounds what so far, i don't care what color the president is or who it is, it just happens to be president trump. >> dr. west i appreciate you being on the show and paris thank you very much. new details about what robert mueller may be getting from the investigation. when we come back.

breaking news, admit koe reporting. admit koe says prices took two dozen work related trips since may that caused tax payers around $300,000.

the reporter who broke these stories, dan diamond joins me now. so, he not only took these jets to private places but he was doing government and personal business there? >> there was blending of the trip. price took a trip to georgia, he and liz wife went to every week in august. this time he one on the tax payer dime. also took a trip to nashville, a $18,000 round trip for six hours on the ground and also had lunch with his son, despite having only 80 minutes of meetings around national. we drilled in and attract more than 2 dozen of those cliegts and drilled in and found his blending is more common than we've seen with any other secretaries. >> the idea that secretary price would use a private jet to travel to st. simon's island in georgia on friday wen his official business wasn't until sunday, it does -- who suggested

his use of private planes are based on how unreliable helpful commercial flights are. >> exactly. obviously it's not to be at a resort a few days earlier but if we're talking about tax payer funded trips it's hard to justify. >> it's important to point out, price's use of private jets isn't illegal but it's ethically questioned, right? >> once upon a time that used to be enough for a scandal in washington, d.c. we've seen a shifting for what's out of bound, not only for price but for the entire organization. we were told president donald trump does a shifting between personal and private business wen he is traveling too. what's important with tom price is that the story had shifted. first he was only traveling for the emergencies for the hurricane and opioid crisis. we've been able to fine these trips are not emergencies.

>> and secretary price over the weekend admitted that quote, the optics of some of this doesn't look good. he also said he doesn't thing he'll be taking any more of these chartered trips until -- >> we asked about these chartered trips and before our story came out he then took another charter flight and another one after that. so, even though they were aware this was under some scrutiny, price has still been flying on charters. i don't know what's good or not good i'm just a reporter here, i do know the inversion from the org and the white house says they are looking into it too. i figure there'd be more to come over what price did. >> dan diamond from politics koe thank you i appreciate it. the russians has an cnn exclusive. we've learned information

sharing with robert mueller. this comes after the irs and special counsel team clashed this summer over the scope of the investigation. the new details also raise questions about whether the irs will turn over tax returns from mueller's investigation. joining us now is pamela brown. what have you learned? >> we've learned that the irs is sharing information after working with robert mueller. they went back and forth over the scope of miller's investigation into russia meddling. mueller's investigation it'm told -- and we're told by sources, anderson, that the irs had concerns, reservation initially because of what they saw as far-reaching and broad request for information for

mueller's investigators. for manafort this include property tax and financial crimes that date all the way back to january of 2006, ten years before the russian meddling in the election last fall, anderson. >> the dispute also speak on july, the raiding of manafort's home? >> that's right there were also tensions between the irs and special counsel. you'll recall this happened late july, multiple sources tell us that the irs didn't participate in that july raid because of irs observations the search would destroy feinterfere with a separate investigation before the election. this is of course before mueller was appointed to special counsel's office and they went ahead, anderson, we're told with the search on manafort's home, despite the objections, that only the fbi carrying this raid

out. that is unusual for the irs to sit out a search and investigation that centers on tax and financials. >> does the mueller have information on the president's tax returns? >> that's what everyone's asking. if they does have the return then rod rosenstein will need to sign off on the sensitivity regarding the matter. as for manafort and flynn it's more than likely mueller has obtained the tax records. i spoke to a high-ranking justice informant today he tells me tax reformes are still regarded, the information shared about this would require a lot of working. normally a subpoena would have to happen for the irs to turn it

over. some of the information to be shared is banking records, metadata anything that has to do with tax returns. we still don't know whether mueller has obtained the president's tax returns. ? when we come back the crises in puerto rico. when we come back the crises in puerto rico. that's right, netflix on us. get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now, netflix included. so go ahead, binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network.

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president trump has been facing criticism of the amount of time he's been spent tweeting about the nfl compared to what he said about the humanitarian dpriesz puerto rico. he said helpful travel to the island next week, an announcement that came as a surprise to some aides. a press conference with the prime minister of spain this afternoon. >> the governor of puerto rico is so thankful for the great job we're doing. waerms great job in texas, a great job in florida, a great job in louisiana, we hit little pieces of georgia and alabama. and, frankly, we're doing -- it's the most difficult job because it's on the island. it's on a island in the middle of the ocean. it's out in the ocean. you can't just drive your truck there from other states. and the governor said we're doing a great job, he thanked me specifically for fema and all the first responders in freak. >> even with fema and first responders, on many parts of the

island the situation is cairo. >> reporter: besides a highway this is the most dependable utility in rural puerto rico these days. a pipe to server community of over 30,000. >> it's a natural spring. >> it's always here. >> are you boiling it or drinking it straight? >> just clean it. >> that's good. >> this is cleaner than that. >> how's everything else in life? you got enough food? >> awful. there's people that have a shortage of food. the national guard is not working out the way it should be. they're standing there doing nothing. no electricity or water for the city. it's going to take about maybe six or seven months for anything to happen here. >> reporter: while safe from coastal storm surges, maria brought hellish mud slides cutting off families for days

and forcing desperate decision making. do you burn precious fuel searching for supplies or stay put and pray for help? lydia has two cars with no gas, two grandkids to keep alive on a ration of crackers with no way to reach the highway pipe they drink rain water. no water, no food she tells me. it's nobody's fault. it's the weather. you have to go on. my heart breaks for you. what worries me the most is my family doesn't know how we're doing, she says. we don't have cell phone connection. >> reporter: on a scale before it one to ten, ten being horrible, desperate, where are you? >> eight, yes. eight -- >> and getting better, the young mayor tells me. if the gasoline arrives it will help us because people are starting to get desperate. gas more precious than water up

here. national guard vehicles can't move. worst ambulances sit idle. the hospital was one day's worth of generator fuel left and one volunteer doctor because the rest of the staff has no way to get to work. >> reporter: are people starting to turn on each? yes, he says. there's situations where people are stressed out crying, folks with dial sis, patients with cancer, patients who need vent laytors. >> i need gasoline and diesel. >> i will tell the world. >> reporter: the fuel shortage is even more evident in san juan where lines are miles long. >> they opened this particular service station at 6:00 in the morning. they run out of gas by 3:00 p.m. so some people at the end of this line may not get the fuel they need. the folks here are telling me that a local ring of gangsters

come and took over two lanes so their guys could get the fuel. >> how would you describe the desperation? >> the highest, not only here this area, but the other areas. it's very, very bad. they are suffering. everybody's suffering. let's see how we can work it out and begin again. >> you're putting a big smile on. >> i will always do that, of course. >> reporter: and someday after the most primal needs are met, parents will have to figure out how to send their kids back to school and at this academy, this is what awaits. there is so much to rebuild and so many now considering leaving this island for good. >> reporter: what message would you have for folks back on the mainland? >> we have to keep calm. that's all i can say.

keep calm because, i told my family if this week we don't see anything getting better, i'm going to have to leave the island. i've been here 20 years and i'm going to have to leave the island. i don't have a choice. >> what are you hearing about gas coming to the island, gas stations opening up? >> we're getting such conflicting reports, anderson. the governor down here said that there were 185 open yesterday, but that's grossly inflated according to our colleagues at cnn español. they said 108 gas stations operational today. beyond the fuel, it's more about security. a lot of the drivers either accountant report to work because they don't get there or they don't want to go out unless they have someone riding shotgun. a police officer. the good news is 90% of puerto rico's cops are reported for

duty, although five of the usually 13 command centers are operational. but that's a police force that's probably taxed on a good day. i can't overstate the level of need on this island. i know i covered a lot of these over the years, and this one just in terms of pure logistic cal nightmares, the fema guys who are staying in this hotel, they want to help, but they're still working on search and rescue while others are hoping to file for claims and get their life back in order. this is a months-long recovery process on the horizon for a really hearty people, but increasingly desperate people. >> bill weir, appreciate you being there. you know who likes to be in control? this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy!

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