MSNBC: Study Finds Puerto Rico Hurricane Death Toll 70 Times Higher than Gov’t Figure

EXCERPT:

MELVIN: "A new report on just how devastating and deadly hurricane Maria was and how eight months later the official government death toll could be so wrong. When hurricane Maria hit, we know it was bad. The official government death toll was 64. While tragic, turns out it was likely far, far worse than that. At least 4,645 people died in Puerto Rico. That’s according to a study out today from Harvard University. A reminder, president Trump last October specifically noted the low death toll at the time comparing it to hurricane Katrina."
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TRUMP: "Every death is a horror. But if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous — hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that die, and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overpowering, nobody’s ever seen anything like this, what is your death count as of this moment, 17?"
UNKNOWN MALE: "16."
TRUMP: "Sixteen people certified; 16 people versus in the thousands. ... In Texas and in Florida, we get an A+. And I'll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.
REPORTER: "How would you rate the White House response so far?" [crosstalk]
TRUMP: "I’d say it was a 10."
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MELVIN: "By the way, fact check, according to FEMA, 1,833 people died in the aftermath of Katrina in 2005. Today's report show that Puerto Rico lost more than twice that number."