美国有线新闻 CNN 特朗普视察波多黎各灾区 并赴拉斯维加斯慰问(在线收听

 

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, the scene of the deadliest shooting in modern American history. As investigators pick up pieces of evidence there and try to figure out the suspect's motive, residents of Puerto Rico are picking up the pieces left by Hurricane Maria, the devastating storm made landfall there on September 20th.

That's where President Trump was Tuesday, surveying the damage, meeting with Puerto Rican officials and discussing the U.S. government's aid to the island.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth. The island's 3.5 million residents are American citizens, but they don't vote in U.S. presidential elections.

They have no voting members in the U.S. Congress and most Puerto Ricans don't pay a federal income tax.

Hurricane Maria left all of them without electricity and most still don't have it. More than half of people there also don't have access to clean, drinking water. Some Puerto Ricans, like the mayor of the capital San Juan, have criticized the U.S. federal government for making an inefficient response to the hurricane. Others like the island's government have praised the government for quickly addressing the island's concerns.

The White House says thousands of members of the U.S. National Guard have been in Puerto Rico since before the storm hit and thousands of containers of food, water and medical supplies have been sent to Puerto Rico. But with the shortage of truck drivers, diesel fuel and working phone lines, officials have had trouble getting the aid to those who need it.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The thing about Puerto Rico is that it was already on the edge. Many here are sick, older and poorer than the mainland, with long waits and a severe shortage of specialists and an economic recession. There was no reserve here, nothing to keep them from toppling off the edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hurricane just causes a lot of stress. You have people, you know, coming late from work, trying to get gas, and stress builds up.

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/cnn2017/10/416392.html