Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / In Wake Of Helene Preston's Visit With U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack

Transcript

In Wake Of Helene Preston's Visit With U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: No time to waste. Five past the hour, third hour
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Here the Morning Show with Preston Scott. That is Jose
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: running the program in Studio one AM here in Study
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: one B. Great to have back with us. US Congresswoman
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Kat Camick, Florida's third district, Cat, how are you good morning?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: We are tired, but we are. We're getting ready to
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: get back out on the road today.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us what you've seen in your district. The
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: impact of this storm across your entire district has been
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: pretty phenomenal.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty devastating for sure. This is the third
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: storm in thirteen months and pretty much that same path
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: where it comes in at the Taylor County Dixie County
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: line and representing Dixie's East. We tend to take the
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: dirty side of the storm, which is the tougher side
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: of the storm with higher winds and bigger storm surge.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: So in places like Scene Hatchie, they saw an eighteen
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: foot storm surge in Horseshoe Beach, we saw fifteen feet
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of storm surge in ceedar Key eleven feet of storm surge.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: And even inland Jasper, Live Oak, you know that area, Mayo,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: It's pretty devastating We're talking over one hundred pivots that
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: have just been mangled in the storm, Trees down on homes,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: chicken houses that have collapsed, dairy barns that have collapsed.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: It is truly catastrophic. And we've been out every single
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: day since the storm passed, and everywhere I go there
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: are people who don't have power, don't have water. It's
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: truly devastating, overwhelming, I would say, And you know, we're
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: used to be storms in Florida. I look to the north,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: our friends in Georgia and the Carolina's in Tennessee, and
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: they got rocked very, very hard as well. So I'd
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: say the Southeast is in for a long road.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: What is the estimates that you're beginning to get kat
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: on recovery? And let's start with power.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: So I know that this is going to sound a
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: little silly, but I would put our utilities in our
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: line men and women up against really anyone in the nation.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Our folks, Duke, FP and L all of them. They
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: were pre stage with mutual aid in place, but the
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: storm was so significant that a lot of the substations
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: were damaged, right, So that tremendous work just to try
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: to get power back on, and there are still a
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: lot of people who don't have power back on right now.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I think we're in the ballpark of twenty to thirty
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: thousand in the district that don't have power right now.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: So we're anticipating by tomorrow and Thursday we should have
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: pretty much everybody reconnected. Then it is a matter of
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: getting the utilities, the water back on. Places like cedar Key,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: their list station and waste water went down immediately and
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: so that has there has to be extensive repairs on
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: those systems, so that's going to be a big thing.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: We've been working with the state on the housing for
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: people who lost their homes or who suffer tremendous damage
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: and letting people know that those those RVs are coming
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and we should be seeing those deployed here by the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: end of the week. In terms of damage, the estimate,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: we are still a ways out for really understanding the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: depth of how much this is going to cost. I
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: can tell you from the ag standpoint, we're anticipating about
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: double what Idelia was, so we'll be probably pushing a
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: billion plus just in agricultural damage from infrastructure like fences
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: and packing houses to loss of livestock to of course
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: crops that are total law. It's gonna be tough, and
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: we've been on the phone. I spoke with the FEMA
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: administrator myself as well as this Undersecretary of USDA, and
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: we're working to get some waivers. There is some assistance
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: out there right now for people in certain counties that
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: FEMA they're eligible for FEMA assistants. But we're still working
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: to get other counties added that have kind of been forgotten,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: and that's really a challenge working with the administration. But
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: so far, we're seeing an incredible all hands on deck
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: effort from nonprofit organizations, localities, mutual aid from other counties
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: around the state. There are strike teams coming in from Washington,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: and of course the state has done a great job.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: She represents Florida's third congressional district US Congresswiman cat Camick
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: with US Kay, you mentioned the WAW I'm just curious,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: let's set aside the the repairs that are needed. Is
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: the water supply based on the storm storm surge and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: the flooding going to be safe for a while.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I know a lot of people are under especially you
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: know from the water intrusion, the salt water. If you're
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: on a well and you're you're on the coast, you're
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: definitely going to have salt in your well water. And
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: then there's a lot of folks that are under a
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: boil notice advisory. So that's that's just something to be
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: mindful of. And that's why we always say please sign
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: up for your local advisories. You know, I'm in Alatua
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: County and I'm signed up for THEIRS as well as
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: a bunch of counties in my district. And they're very
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: good at putting out information that's real time rather than
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: waiting for the state or anyone else to put that
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: information out. And so if you're under a boil advisory,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: you're gonna hear that, and you're going to want to
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: know that, of course. And and of course we've seen
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: from so many different directions these types of resources. So
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: people are getting pallettes and pallets of water delivered, and
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: then comfort stations have been set up in all of
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: these areas that have taken pretty substantial damage, So laundry showers,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: they're set up in these communities all the way from
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Taylor County, you know that Waculla le Fay at Dixie, Levy, Madison, Hamilton.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: They're comfort stations established in every single one of these towns,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: So people who don't have water, you can still do laundry,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: you can still take showers, and for drinking water, all
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: of that is on the ground and ready to be provided.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Kat that brings me to an unsavory But it is
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the biggest story going short of these recovery efforts, and
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: that is this this strike now along the East Coast
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and the Gulf Coast with the ports, it will impact
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: recovery efforts, and it will do so in a dramatic way. First,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: just your thoughts as a sitting member of Congress, and
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: it appears as though the President is unwilling to force
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: them back to work, and I think he ought to.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, this has been something that just in
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: the last you know, twenty four hours, because I've pulled
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: my head up from disaster recovery, I realized last week
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: that this was something going on. Typically, it always comes
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: down to the eleventh hour and then one side caves
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and everything goes fine. Now that we're officially in a strike,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: you're one thousand percent right, We're going to be seeing
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: massive impacts to the supply chain across the East Coast
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and the West coast ports. And also something that no
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: one's talking about is the impact that that's going to
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: have on our on our agriculture in this because forty
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: six percent of our ad products in the country are
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: exported out of East Coast ports, and that is going
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: to be an in credible hit to our local economies
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: and communities. So it's not just the price of everything
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: is going to skyrocket and you're going to see a
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: shortage in the stores, which by the way, this is
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: my psa. Go buy toilet paper and paper towel and
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: whatever you need now because who knows how long this
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: is going to go on. But this is exceptionally frustrating.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Americans across the country and every city, every community are hurting.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: We are feeling the real inflationary effects of the Joe
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Biden Kamala Harris regime. And if you look at if
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: you talk to folks, they say things are just too expensive.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: We don't have enough money to make ends meet. When
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: you look at what these workers are making, they're on
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: average making one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: plus forty thousand dollars in healthcare benefits and retirement benefits.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: In many cases, these off workers are making more than
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: ninety percent of Americans. And I'm not saying that they
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: don't do a good job. I'm just saying that when
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: you compare it to what some other folks in the
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: country are making, it's tough. It's a tough pill to
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: swallow for sympathy. And you know, I approached this from
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: the standpoint of the wife of a first responder. I
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: watched my husband for years and years and years go
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: into burning buildings and not making mirror what these dockworkers
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: are making. Yep. And their union has just come to
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: an impact because the city doesn't want to agree to
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: a cost of living adjustment despite the fact that we're
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: under historic infallation. So my sympathy is running very, very
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: thin for folks like that, especially in the face of
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: a disaster like we just faced here in Florida and
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: of course in Georgia, Carolina's and Tennessee.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: USLA on your phone with the iHeart radio app and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: on hundreds of devices like Alexa, Google Home, Xbox, and Sonos,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: says Chrysler and Iheart's radio station. Final segment with US
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Congresswoman kac Camick, Florida's third Congression will do district and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: right in the middle of a lot of the damage
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: from Hurricane Leen Kat. I want to circle back to
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: this longshoreman's strike and the president's in action. What role
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: can Congress have in this, because I got to believe
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: this is one of those issues that cuts across party lines,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: because there are a lot of Democrats and Republicans, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a bunch of people up for reelection, everybody in the House.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: And I'm not sure that Democrats can afford to let
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: this sit and go un you know, unattended, and let
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: this strike drag on in the.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: Midst of all this. Yeah, I mean, and it's like
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: you said, you know, people in the country have already hurting.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: People aren't paycheck to paycheck, their paycheck to Wednesday, and
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: they're borrowing the rest. And you know, it's one in
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: three Americans or behind on a utility bill. And then
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you have the chief negotiator from the longshoremen come out
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: and say I will cripple you. I mean, come on,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Biden has every capability under the tes Hardly Act to
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: actually require them to go back to work. But I
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: don't think that he's going to because for them it's political.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: They've already seen where the Teamsters aren't going to endorse
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: for the first time in a couple of decades, and
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: so they're feeling like they can't rock the boat when
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: it comes to the unions. And so that just speaks
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: volumes in my opinion of Biden and Kamala Harris, who
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: are continually willing to let Americans suffer and put the
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: pain on the American people rather than risk a political
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: misstep in their mind. I think that this is going
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: to be actually, in the long run, very telling that
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: they did not force them to go back to work,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: and it's going to hurt them more than help them.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Because Americans, it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrats,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: everyone's going to be affected the same. And I can
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: tell you I know I am speaking to people around
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: the district, around the country. They're sick of this crap,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: absolutely sick of this graph. So I think this is
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: going to backfire spectacularly.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: You know, I got a statement here that was sent
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: from the Florida Ports Council and they talked about some
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: of the areas that are going to be impacted here
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: in Florida, and you mentioned agriculture, but we're talking pharmaceuticals,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: we're talking about consumables. We're talking I mean, when moms
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: that have babies can't find the diapers, and they can't
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: get the formula, and they can't get as you mentioned,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the paper towels and the toilet paper, and the people
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: that are on medicines can't get those medicines. That totally
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: transforms this issue and it becomes now a main street issue,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: not a dock and a coastal issue.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: M You're one hundred percent right, I mean, and this
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: is going to one hundred percent expose the dangerous underbelly
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: of having all of your critical elements of your economy offshore.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: When ninety eight percent of all of our pharmaceutical compounding
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: and taking place in mainline China, people are going to
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: start panicking really really fast. When we are so we're
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: not able to sustain ourselves here in the United States
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: and you're not able to bring things in the ports,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: people are going to start panicking very very quickly. So
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I think that this is the October surprise. I don't
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: think it's even surprise. I think they're just going to
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: say this is October chaos leading into the election. Yep. Again,
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: we're not surprised that Biden's not doing much because as
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: we speak, while we have millions of people without power,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: multiple states affected in a massive emergency, he's on the beach.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: He's on the beach getting his hand. So no one's
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: surprised by this. But I think again it comes back
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: to they don't want to rock the boat with the unions.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: That's why they're not going to invote them to come
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: back and force them. So that's going to be an
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: interesting thing to see how this plays out in the
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: next few weeks. But I give it until the end
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: of the week when people start panicking, then you're going
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: to start seeing action.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Do you expect conversations between Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to take place from quickly on this issue?
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we're are. There's already discussions about a
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: disaster supplemental because there's just Congress has not done its job,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: and when you operate under crs, which are total nonsense, yep,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: and you're not going to be able to meet the
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: needs of what is actually happening in the nation. So
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: I think there's already a conversation happening. I think that
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: that will continue to happen and we may see Congress
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: called back.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: And for the lay people out there, when when congress
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Woman Camick refers to CRS, she's talking about continuous ridiculousness,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Congresswoman is always you're the best. Thanks for coming on.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you guys, Thanks so much, Thank you.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Congress Woman Cat Camick with us this morning here on
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: the Morning Show with Preston Scott. Always a candid conversation.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I call them cat calls. She's she's a delight and
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: kind of a no nonsense. If you look up her lifestyle, worrying, yeah, yeah,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: you'll understand. Twenty seven past the hour