Naomi Klein: A Year After Hurricane Maria, There Is Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster

One year since Hurricanes Maria and Irma killed thousands in Puerto Rico and caused the longest blackout in U.S. history, we are joined by Naomi Klein, author of “The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists,” whose recent report for The Intercept is titled “There’s Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster.”

Last week, President Trump generated widespread criticism when he falsely claimed on Twitter that thousands of people did not die in the two storms, even as a Harvard study estimated the death toll may top 4,600. Meanwhile on Monday, President Trump declared himself an “absolute no” on statehood for Puerto Rico as long as San Juan’s mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a major critic of his administration’s response to Maria, is in office. We also discuss the role of the unelected PROMESA fiscal control board in the island’s unfolding economic crisis, with co-host and reporter.