FEMA big backs Trump on toll

FEMA administrator Brock Long defended President Trump’s recent statements about Puerto Rico on Sunday, claiming the numbers relating to the death toll from Hurricane Maria have been “all over the place.” Trump had mocked one study that said that nearly 3,000 people have died from the disaster. An initial estimate found that 64 people had lost their lives. “The numbers are all over the place,” Long told Chuck Todd of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “FEMA doesn’t count deaths. And if you take what’s going on with Florence, the deaths that are verified by the local county coroners are the ones that we take.” A study done by George Washington University found that 2,975 deaths were connected to Hurricane Maria. The study had been commissioned by the Puerto Rican government.