I don't know about you, but this is the story that really caught my attention this morning -- the story of how chef José Andrés, owner of 20 restaurants, took time off to feed the people of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. I figured we could all use a little sunshine today, so here you go.
"Yes, that was White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last September speaking to supporters while Trump visited Puerto Rico for the first time after five days after Hurricane Maria hit," Mika Brzezinski said.
"Our next guest who arrived in San Juan the very same day calls her comments a fantasy. The author of a new book, 'We Fed The Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal At A Time.' He's the founder and chairman of the World Central Kitchen and it's great to have you on with us this morning."
"How bad was it when you got there?" Scarborough said.
"As you learn, all of a sudden you see an island that was green is gray, like Virginia in the middle of winter and that moment you know that something bad was going on," Andrés said.
"We began driving. People in long lines at the gas stations, long lines in the supermarkets that was day three, day four, the worse is, the the water is still coming."
"The worst was yet to come. weeks, months, the island, half the island without energy. half the island without a drink of water. What did you do? It's so hard when you go into a disaster zone like that, because it's so overwhelming.But you decided to contribute in your own way," Scarborough said
"We do what chefs do, what cooks do. We find food, we began cooking. What happens, I tell my wife, give me five days. Five days later, I tell her 'I don't know when I'm coming back.'
"How did you do it?"
"We opened one kitchen running efficiently, do we need a second one? Every hospital is calling for food, we open a second. The mayor she needed help, second biggest city.
"So scaling doesn't just work for entrepreneurs. Scaling works for saving a hungry island," Scarborough said.
"Let me tell you, it was not a feeding plan," Andrés said. He pointed out that North Carolina doesn't have a feeding plan. (That's why he's there now.)
Watch this to learn more:
