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Local Political, Religious Leaders Demand Help For Puerto Rico

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Rev. Jesse Jackson joined local religious and political leaders in calling for private and public sector to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.

He prayed with members of Chicago's Puerto Rican community at Resurrected Life Church International on the city's west side after demanding help.

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(Photo: Nancy Harty/WBBM)

Vilma Colom with Casa Puerto Ricana is calling for airlines, the military and the private sector to step up their efforts to distribute donations collected for victims that are sitting in a warehouse.

Rev. Jackson says Puerto Ricans should get a free tank of gasoline as they await supplies, and the military should bring in more helicopters to bring aid to remote areas of the island where roads have been destroyed.

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With so much devastation, Jackson says Puerto Ricans -- who he reminds us are American citizens -- should be evacuated to the mainland.

As for his reaction to President Trump's tweets about relief efforts and his fight with the mayor of San Juan -- Jackson says the people of Puerto Rico should be "treated, not tweeted."

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(Photo: Nancy Harty/WBBM)

Ald. Milly Santiago says her sister, who lives in Vega Baja, begged Santiago to get her a generator.

The alderman says her sister is worried that her family's current generator will die, and so will their mother, who relies on it for medical care after suffering a stroke last year.

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