FEMA Chief: 'You Can't Blame Spousal Abuse After a Disaster'

Embattled FEMA Administrator Brock Long made a side remark on the Sunday talkies that kinda outshone the main conversation, the Hill reports. Suggesting that the reported 3,000 extra Puerto Rico deaths—a number President Trump is heavily disputing—may have been byproducts of Hurricane Maria beyond anyone's control, he said on NBC's Meet the Press: "There’s all kinds of studies on this that we take a look at. Spousal abuse goes through the roof. You can’t blame spousal abuse after a disaster on anybody." Asked about byproduct deaths, Long says they may happen "because people have heart attacks due to stress, they fall off their house trying to fix their roof," or die driving through "intersections where the stop lights aren't working." For more around the Sunday dial, including Brett Kavanaugh, Paul Manafort, and Democratic Socialists:

• More Long: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen "has never asked me to resign," says Long on Meet the Press about his job security amid allegations he misused government vehicles, per CNN. "We have a very functional and professional relationship. We talk every day. We are both solely focused on Florence."

• Pie in the sky? "These systems are not just pie in the sky," says Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on CNN's State of the Union about her proposed plans, including housing as a federal right, a federal jobs guarantee, tuition-free public college, and canceling all student-loan debt, per CNN. "Many of them are accomplished by every modern civilized democracy in the Western world." But host Jake Tapper wasn't satisfied by the difference between her proposed $2 trillion tax hike and her plans' estimated $40 trillion cost over 10 years. "We'll have you back and go over that," he says.
• Too late? "[Paul] Manafort, if he was going to make a deal, should’ve made it before he was convicted," says Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Meet the Press, per the Hill. "He would’ve gotten a better deal." He says Trump and Manafort "acted too late."
• Sorry, no: "Well, I never say never to anything but no," says JP Morgan Chief on ABC's This Week when asked whether he might run for president, per ABC News. He also repeated his backtrack from an earlier contention that he's smarter than Trump: "I shouldn't have said it. ... It also proves I wouldn't be a good politician."
• If we meet: "Oh, I'm sure I will, if I get a chance to meet," says Sen. Doug Jones on State of the Union when asked if he would question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about sexual-assault allegations against him, per Politico. "It's a very serious allegation, but at this point, it’s an anonymous letter. ... If I get a chance to meet, obviously I obviously would have to bring that up."
• The Koreas: "We were really close to having to make that hard decision," says Sen. Lindsday Graham on CBS' Face the Nation about pulling troops out of South Korea, per the Hill. "Now we have some time. Are they playing us? I don’t know. If they’re playing Trump, we're going to be in a world of hurt because he’s going to have no options left. This is the last best chance for peace."
• The terror: "Clearly the Trump Team is terrified of what [Manafort] has to say," says Rep. Adam Schiff on Meet the Press about their reaction to Manafort's plea deal, per NBC News. "I’m surprised that we are where we are, that Manafort is cooperating." Did Schiff think Manafort would flip? "I thought he would hold out for pardon."

(More Sunday morning talk shows stories.)