New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez spent Wednesday touring parts of the Jersey Shore devastated by Hurricane Sandy, with a delegation of officials that included President Obama and Governor Chris Christie. After stopping in Brigantine, NJ, where the president and governor addressed the public, Sen. Menendez spoke with HuffPost Live by phone.
The senator described the destruction caused by Sandy, which made landfall on the New Jersey coastline Monday evening, as "the worst devastation I've seen." President Obama declared parts of New Jersey major disaster areas and told New Jersey residents "We are here for you, and we will not forget."
Menendez recounted a conversation with Governor Christie in advance of the president's arrival to New Jersey, during which the governor lauded President Obama for his cooperation. He noted that, "even on the caravan on the way to the site today, [Gov. Christie] was giving [Obama] specific requests, and had the president acting on it in his car."
The senator also told HuffPost Live host Jacob Soboroff that despite the damage caused by Sandy, his constituents were coming together -- offering places to sleep and help cleaning up. He called the outreach an "incredible, can-do, New Jersey spirit, taking care of our neighbors, standing up for our families and our communities, and really some of the most remarkable things you see at a time of such great difficulty."
Watch clips of the Bob Menendez interview above, and the full segment below.