hello. i'm jim acosta in nfor wolf blitzer. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. watching a legendary storm devastating a large swath of texas and threatens to cause more damage and devastation in the region. the rain from harvey the once category 4 hurricane continues to batter southeastern texas, and now threatens louisiana. we've seen more than two feet of water with another two feet

likely before it's all said and done. 2,000 people in houston rescued by first responders. now tens of thousands of people huddled in shelters forced out of their homes by rising floodwaters. >> it was over five feet in our house. we barely made it out. i'm just so grateful that they came. >> but what might be even worse, houston sheriff admits victims trapped in submerged cars under up to 15 feet of water may still be found when the waters start to recede. out to reporters in the fields. the catastrophic flooding is devastating communities from meadville to blessing and to houston, roads are raging rivers. brian todd and also ed lavandera in dickinson with members of the national guard. go to ed first. ed, you were on the back of a truck, seeing some amazing rescues over the last 24 hours. what can you tell us now?

>> reporter: hi, jim. we are in this convoy in dickinson, texas, along interstate 45 with the national guard unit out of dallas, calmed the wolf pack. they are headed into some of these neighborhoods that have been hardest hit by the floodwaters here on the south side of houston. so this is kind of like north galveston county and southern harris county. and we are about to venture into these neighborhoods. not exactly sure exactly what neighborhoods we're going to be hitting, or a combination of reconnaissance and some of the neighborhoods, and some soldiers told us perhaps making our way into leak city as well along the interstate and it's been really difficult to make our way into the neighborhoods. sit down as the convoy starts moving. trying to get to a town called fredwo friendwood for several hours. became difficult. the road's impassable. impossible to get into the neighborhoods where a lot of

rescue missions are taking place. about 1,000 people in that particular town had been evacuated in friendswood just yesterday and those efforts are continuing today. down here on the southern side of houston communities like dickinson, leak city, friendswood, you can just see the devastation from these floodwaters. the good news is, here in dickinson where we've reported much of the day yesterday, we've significantly seen the water levels and the floodwaters drop significantly over the course of the last 15 hours. so that is a sliver of good news. however, jim, we're told, i was talking to a state trooper ay while ago who said in areas it's going to take a long time for the water to go away, because a lot of the water is channeled through bayous. according to that trooper explaining to me because of that it's going to take a lot longer for that water to run off and get out of these neighborhoods and allow people to get back in and survey the damage. so that is the situation as you can tell, we're moving at a good

clip now. look off to the side. the area we reported from quite a bit yesterday. one of these neighborhoods, jim, about to see, i believe we'll about to drive past it. it's still under water. in the next 30 seconds or so, we're going to hit that area. here on this road where we're driving on now, we were actually floating along on a boat yesterday. this is the neighborhood we're about to hit. an area known as, subdivision called bayou chantilly. into this neighborhood, we had to use a boat yesterday. the water is still rather high, but you can get a little closer, but sense there, a quick look inside that neighborhood. people are launching boats into this neighborhood. this is where we reported from quite a bit extensively yesterday, jim. you can see here. this gives a better indication of the amount of water from these water systems that just continues to make it impossible to get through. with these trucks and this convoy, this national guard

convoy, we'll be able to make it a bigger distance. not clear exactly if we're going to a rescue situation, soldiers going house to house or find people already evacuated and move those people to higher ground, jim. >> ed, we should point out to viewers now you're on the back of a truck there with this rescue team live on the air now. rolling through a community much more under water than it is right now. i suppose as these teams go in there, there's just no telling what they'll find as you were saying a few moments ago. water is receding quickly in that area? >> yes. that's been kind of the good news. some of the--this particular road we were on yesterday, i believe it was pretty much impassable. and the big con voice and trucks, it's easy. a much more clearing. easier to make our way through. this is some of the area where people have been launching from and they continue to make their

way through some of these neighborhoods, and we are definitely -- we're heading noth no north towards that area of leak city. not sure how long it will take to get there, but these are all kind of shopping centers just along the service road of interstate 45. you can -- see what the parking lot conditions are. and this gets much worse once you get beyond this road. buildings and into those trees you see in the distance, that is the areas where these bayous and these creeks run through in the southern houston county area. and that is wa all of that water's rushing through there, coming out of its banks and making it, causing a lot of devastation, moving the camera to get you a better shot. you can see there as you look on the interstate on the left side of your screen, this is interstate 45. the number of boats and then as i mentioned, described to people, it's amazing to see that the interstate here has -- an

interstate usually jammed with car traffic, has essentially been turned into a boat launch for volunteers launching air boats like the one you see in front of me. flat-bottom boats as people make their -- out there in the draft of that airboat here one second. hold on. got the mist. >> obviously -- cars shouldn't drive through this sort of floodwaters, but you can with the team that you're with right now. tell us about that. how are you able to do that as these folks are going on and checking on people? >> reporter: no. it's very difficult. we've seen, lost count how many cars we've seen stranded. even high, trucks, big suvs, stranded in these waters. but these big military-style trucks can definitely handle and move around in higher water. so that is -- easier and gives them much more capability to get

closer into these neighborhoods to relieve some of the, you know, a lot of these volunteers, these boats, getting into these neighborhoods pulling people out. these trucks can get closer and can bring them back to the interstate where they are then put on buses or other private cars and then folks have been taken to shelters, is all that's happening. we'll see exactly -- i'm not exactly sure what it is we're going to stumble upon. the soldiers are inside. obviously, inside the truck. getting calls, and have been on the radio throughout the moments we've been on this truck trying to figure out exactly where they'll be deployed to and where they need to help out. so you know, tagging along for the ride on this one, and haven't been told exactly where these two trucks will end up. they're making their way through the service road. leak city, the area i believe we'll end up in, is back over here to the right side of the interstate where we're going.

so you will -- monitor that situation, and try to update you guys exactly what we come across. but even the soldiers told us they don't really know exactly what it is they're going to find or where exactly they were going to end up. so -- making their way through this area now. >> all right. ed lavandera, stay safe. thank you very much. folks doing brave work there in your parts. and we'll check back with you. keep us posted as things develop as you check on neighborhoods. appreciate it very much. texas governor greg abbott says he sent in hundreds more boats and high-water vehicles to help out in houston. rescuers pulled 2,000 people 2, 000 people, out of the water so far. more still waiting. houston's police chief telling track residents to not give up. right now 12,000 national guard members are helping in the efforts. joining me on the phone, harris county chief executive ed emmitt. he's also director of the harris

county office of emergency management. have you, ed, on the phone with us now. have you seen any of this new equipment being brought in by the governor? is that making a difference at this point? from what you're seeing? >> yes. it certainly is. the problem, the state presents, as rapidly as expected, but they couldn't get all the way in. couldn't get to the normal stages area on the first day because so many of the highways were closed. that is -- that situation's unraveling, and in a good way today. those assets are being deployed. for example, now, we're -- desperately in need of the national guard to help take supplies to the shelters so that when we put people in the shelters they have food and blankets and all of the things that are necessary. >> and i remember from katrina, ed, there was a problem in terms of the federal response. local officials, state

officials, felt they weren't really in good contact with federal emergency management officials. how have those contacts been like for you? do you feel as though you are hearing enough from the federal government at this point in terms of assets being brought into the area? help and assistance being brought into the area? >> yes. those contacts have been fine. we've done this, i was not here for rita when it kim through our area, but i was here for hurricane ike, and we've been through many, many floods, and fema has been here. so we know each other. we have a very well-defined plan where the state, federal and local governments, not just harris county but all of us work together. and then with our private partners in our emergency operation center. >> and do you have any idea how much longer it's going to take to rescue some of these people with the rising floodwaters? our ed lavandera was on the back of a truck with a volunteer team and seeing in areas, looking at actually his camera right now.

making their way through dickinson, texas, ed, and you can see many of the roads are still covered with water. although our ed lavandera said the floodwaters are receding. do you know how long it's going to take to get into these communities? why are some communities seeing that water receding faster than others? what can you tell us? >> of course, we're on the gulf coast of texas. so it's a low-lying area generally and depends which watershed is, has been affected. the waters are receding and it really is going to depend on what happens to the remnants of hurricane harvey. good news is, it appears to be moving farther to our east. that's good for us. not necessarily good for the people over in louisiana. but if we don't get significant amounts of rain and i think you'll see the water go down fairly rapidly, xexcept in thos areas we have watersheds, rivers, for example, that drain from the area originally hit by

the hurricane, because that water is still going to be coming downstream. >> and -- i guess -- how are you going to cope with the weather forecast? they're talking about a lot more rain coming in to the area. is it just a situation you just have to really bear this out? and hunker down and try to get through it? >> well, hunker down's the term. i mean, that's something we've used down here certainly back during hurricane ike. but that's what i said. the good news is, it appears that now the forecast is shifting harvey a little bit to the east so that we're not getting those training bands coming off the gulf. i hoe it stays that way, because if so, that will make our life a lot easier. i will also say that a big difference that people haven't really talked about. now that we're in the cell phone era, we're better able to hear from folks that are trapped. that's important.

we can't get to all of them as quickly as we'd like, but we have been able to initiate rescues where people call and said we have a group of people, a lady's in labor. those kinds of things, and it allowed us to deploy resources perhaps in a more misht manner. >> ed emmitt, director of the harris county office of emergency management. we appreciate your time and do hope to that that weather forecast gives you relief as well. thank you very much, ed. by air and by boat, more than 2,000 people rescued in the houston area, the coast guard plucking people off of rooftops. we'll take you inside that mission just ahead, and more than two feet of rain from harvey and counting. tracking the storm's path. that's coming up. phone with our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight- four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it. we believe in food that's anaturally beautiful,,

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while the hurricane force winds diminished harvey is still a dangerous and historic storm. the numbers. federal emergency management agency expects more than 30,000

people in the texas flood zone take ton shelters. 450,000 victims will seek some sort of disaster assistance. dallas is opening a mega shelter, capable of accommodating 5,000 evacuees and 12,000 national and state guard members on duty helps communities affected by hurricane harvey. the coast guard has nine boat teams and 18 helicopters conducting search and rescue operations we should point out in the hardest hit areas of houston. for more joined by the commander of the coast guard, commander schultz. admiral thanks for joining us on the phone. appreciate it. how are operations going now? we've been watching dramatic rescues going on. how is everybody holding up and how are these operations going? >> good afternoon, jim. the operations are going, you know, very steady. very strong. the weather remains challenging. it is just, i just left from houston a little while ago. set down a route to go to this

location, but our men and women are flying. we got about 12 aircraft in the air when i departed here briefly a while ago. the bands from the weather system are continually impose challenges. flying around them. we have boats on the water. you indicated. what we call slug teams on water. two yesterday and today responsible for over 1,000 rescues. aviators, i don't have specific numbers where we are today, jim, probably from yesterday to today, 24-hour period, probably close to 300 people rescued from the air what are you telling people to do if the water levels start rising rapidly in the area they're in? how can they make themselves more noticeable by air, if one of your teams are in the area? or if they're on a boat? i suppose that, you know, there are dos and don'ts in this area. what can they do to speed up a rescue operation, if it's at all possible, i suppose? >> well, jim, as you can

imagine. the volume of calls coming in to the 911 centers of the coast guard are staggering. in the tens of thousands. i would triage that sow say, folks first trying to call 911, call their state emergency operation centers. call the united states coast guard. we have some monitoring social media but not the bandwidth to monitor that all the time. so -- 911, reach out to local authorities. emergency operation centers. call the coast guard. your best way to get help. stay calm, if you're in your home and your home remains safe, get to the higher levels. the residents do know go into your attic. we don't have visible of you being there. hard to come find you. if you can get to your roof, wave a towel. leave a marking on the roof so helicopter crews can see you. that's my advice, jim to that question. >> and you mentioned the staggering number of calls you're getting at this point. do you have enough equipment and

manpower, enough personnel there to deal with all of this? i suppose you could use more assets? how are things going on that end? >> yeah, jim. we're down here supporting the state of texas, the federal emergency management agency. speaking specifically to the coast guard. you mentioned a number 18. we have 18 helicopters in houston right now. obviously, different cycles and pla maintenance to keep them in the air. flying about 12. additional helicopters coming into the area tomorrow. we have the lion's share of coast guard operational helicopters from across the country down here flying in is a prompt of this mission. our counterparts and cbb, data control and marine operations, they have helicopters here. the guard and the department of defense. helicopters from the state, sort of a -- a critical mass here that you can put in the air given the visibility and weather conditions as were el. i think we've got a pretty robust footprint in terms of air

capabilities right now. we're surging in additional boats from various regions. you know, we here before the storm. pre-positioned outside and flowing in, and brought in additional capacity. we're working lard to throw everything we have at it. rescuing texans, those folks with watercraft and personal knowledge and experience on the water are helping residents in the neighborhood. that's a very, pretty positive thing and i injure more of that. people have to be savvy about their capabilities and not get in over their head out there. >> very good advice. okay. vice admiral karl schultz, appreciate your time. good luck to you and your teams and doing important work on the gulf coast. thank you, sir. >> thank you, jim. floodwaters rising. thousands of people stranded and some of them are separated from their families and loved ones as well. ahead, we're show you how one father and son reunited after their home was wiped out by the storm.

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happening soon, texas governor abbott holding a news conference about the latest on tropical storm harvey and highlighting what texas faces in the immediate threat. our reporters are with us. polo sandoval what can you tell us? >> reporter: i can tell you the real flooding threat is just getting started the outside of houston. in richmond, texas, behind me the river that reached record levels memorial day of last year reaching about 54 feet. today that record will shatter according to predictions from the national weather service. expected to reach throws to 59 feet. the result, mandatory evacuations up and down this river. i visited one riverside community a little while ago, jim. a mobile home park.

a virtual ghost town. one person packing up everything the rest left behind was placed on top of furniture. the reality at waers levter lev continue to rise and this river expected to reach record highs later today. hundreds perhaps thousands of people that could be displaced. the county judge told me a little while along, jim, this is an 800-year flood that they're expecting not far outside of houston. >> certainly looks that way, too. polo, thank you. and rosa flores, i'm sure you're hearing from people displaced by all this. sounds like an alarm is going off behind you. what can you tell us from where you are? >> reporter: you know that alarm, jim harks been going off since the water started rising. it's from one of the buildings you see behind me. because that water rose so quickly, i mean, we were here doing live shots yesterday. we had to keep on moving our position, because the water was

moving so quickly and was rising so quickly. here is the mind-boggling thin, jim. yesterday as about this hour, i couldn't walk down this pathway. i wouldn't be able to stand right here where i'm standing, because i would be completely under water. let me show you some debris so you can see. there's barricades, people's belongings. a rug. i mean, all sorts of things. a lot of debris that's been flowing through here. this walkway turned into a pier while that water was raging. now, behind me is -- well, i mean, it's an overflowed buffalo bayou. now, this is where two bayous meet, supposed to empty into the gulf of mexico. you know houston is a bayou city. and these waterways are designed to drain all of the water. now, we just heard from city officials today that they are going to release water from a

reservoir that's about 30 miles west. and they are saying that more water is coming through buffalo bayou. all of that water has to flush through here. so we're expecting at any point for this water level to rise again. we just don't know the timing of that. it's impossible to predict, really, how quickly that water is going to flow. but, jim, look around me. it is still raining, and -- >> wow. >> reporter: we're expecting another 15 to 20 inches of rain. on top of all of that water flowing this way from a reservoir, we're getting more from old mother nature. >> well, we certainly hope things get better down there. sounds like folks will have to brace for more of those conditions you were just talking about. obviously, shows just what a mess they'll have down there in houston to clean up once these floodwaters finally recede. rosa flores, thank you, and polo

sandoval, appreciate your contribution as well. survivors just trying to make sense of what's left behind from harvey. nick valencia met a man who lost everything and reconnected with his dad for the first time since harvey hit. look at this extraordinary footage. >> i'm scared. seen a lot of things, that terrified me. >> reporter: i see the look in your eye. you look shocked. >> yeah. i don't -- just lost everything i worked for. ah -- everything. the only thing i got is the clothes on my back and hopefully my dad got out somewhere. and -- ? know. maybe i should have left. maybe i should have left. okay, dad. i'm going to jump on the bus. i'll be there. are you okay? yeah. i'll jump -- i'll jump on one.

yeah. i'm in rockport. okay. dad, i love you. okay. all right. i love you. i'm going to get off here and i'm going to -- ah -- i -- i'll be right there. >> a sense what people are going %-ps we've seen unfold before us, thousands devastated by harvey searching for a safe haven. joining me, san antonio's mayor. thank you so much for joining us, mayor. it's heartbreaking to hear those stories. how are you responding right now to your fellow texans? >> well, our situation has turned from a preparation effort to now rescue and relief of our

coastal neighbors. you know, we're a compassionate city here in san antonio. we're a compassionate people here in texas, and so we will rise to the occasion to make sure that we help our neighbors in need. it's a tough situation down there. we have been a staging location for a lot of the search and rescue operations you're seeing right now. that have taken place along the coast. we will continue to be prepared for evacuees. we've taken it over 1,000 folks into local shelters and currently increasing capacity so we'll be ready to do more. >> if there are folks in that area, that hard-hit area of houston and so forth, if they want to come to san antonio seeking relief, seeking shelter, they can come to you and what will san antonio do for them once they arrive? >> absolutely they can come here. no one turned away. we will do whatever it takes to make sure needs are met. we have an outpouring of support

from volunteers through the red cross. citizens who are absolutely willing to donate items that will be needed to keep their stay here as comfortable as possible and we'll be there for them when they're ready to rebuild their lives but want to make sure that san antonio is here to help our neighbors no matter ho greno matter how grea need. >> your city had practice doing this. san antonio received 25,000 people back in 2005 during hurricane katrina. i remember that storm well. we'll were going to all parts of the country to get away from that area and seems to me you may be facing a similar situation in that these folks may not just be coming for a couple of days. they may be coming for some time. >> yeah, and will find open arms here. i'm pleased to hear that same sense of compassion from other cities around texas, but certainly we know that we're very close to the areas hit.

in fact, very fortunate not to be hit ourselves. so we're ready to help, and our shelter capacity is increasing as we speak. no one will be turned away no matter their circumstance or how great their numbers. san antonio stands ready to help our neighbors in need. >> okay. mayor ron nuremberg, appreciate your time. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, jim. special coverage of this historic storm continues, right after this. and i've never seen a better time to refinance your home,

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and president trump is closely monitoring the situation in texas, and the devastation from harvey. we're expecting to hear from him later on this afternoon. the white house says he and the first lady will travel to texas tomorrow to take a look what's

happening there and an administration official says they are taking specific steps to mitigate interruption and recovery efforts when president trump travels to texas and essentially doesn't get in the way. first, learning more about how west virginia, a man proposed setting up a meeting with the russians in president trump's campaign and how campaign officials responded. senior congressional official manu raju first reported this and joins us. what can you tell us about a mystery person from west virginia? >> new details. discovered by congressional investigators, said an individual from west virginia sought to set up a meeting between vladimir putin and the trump campaign. since we broke the news last week the man's name is rick clay, who's a former contractor during the iraq war who privately reached out last year to rick dearborn, a top aide in the trump campaign and now the president's deputy chief of staff. mr. clay told me he was passing

along a meeting request from one of his friends who came into contact with russians during a christian function. saying mr. dearborn rejected the request and thought serious enough that it should go through the proper channels of the state department instead. also, jim, another twist. a republican source tells me mr. clay informed his senator, the republican senator shelley moore capito about his desire to talk to the campaign about his russian contacts and the senator's office confirmed she passed along his contact information to the campaign and said, that was the extent of her involvement. >> this is obviously going to be of interest to investigators. these congressional committees looking into this. and i suppose it adds another layer to this investigation for these panels to look at? >> absolutely and raises key questions and that russians

sought to employ covert tactics in the trump campaign and more broadly, russian intelligence services talked to conservative organizations including religious groups to build align alliances in the united states. it's unclear whether this meeting amounted to a tactic or just an innocent request for a meeti meeting. it's something investigators have to look at. >> what has the white house's response been? doesn't sound like we'll have a briefing today. the president is holding a news conference. what are they saying? >> last week when we presented them with the story he declined to comment on the dearborn email. and they wouldn't confirm clay's account or discuss who the russians were he wanted, set up this meeting with. but ty cobb, president's senior legal counsel dealing with the russian issue said that the facts i presented to them have now "vindicated" dearborn and

accused the media of salacious speculation following the first story. we now know this is at least a second time trump campaign official rees ject rejected a meeting after meetings were suggested with senior russian officials not acted on by the campaign. but this memo came around the same time of the june 26th power meeting with officials donald trump jr. and russian operatives after trump jr. was promised dirt on the clinton campaign and that meeting, too, jim, also under investigation. >> the russia investigation continues. manu raju, thank you very much. back to our coverage of harvey. get more on this developing situation in texas. i'm joined on the line now by texas senator ted cruz. senator cruz, you're in houston right now. i understand you were just working with some volunteers a few moments ago. as you're looking at the situation there right now, what are you seeing? what's the greatest need? >> well, jim, it's good to be

with you. this storm continues. rain and flooding is still happening and houston is reeling, and all of the gulf coast in texas is reeling. and houston, we've had over 2,000 high-water rescues and i got to say the first responders, police officers, firefighters and the national guardsmen and coastguardsmen have been incredible, and every bit as amazing has been just the incredible generosity of ordinary men and women. neighbors helping neighbors. we've had hundreds of individual texans get in flat bottom boats and rescues their neighbors from high-water threatening situations. and we're grateful for the coordinated response of the federal, state and local government and everyone coming together focused on saving people from this terrifying storm. >> and senator, what is your sense of, i know that texans are always incredible about helping texans. we've seen that unfold over the

last couple days. it's been extraordinary. what is your sense of the federal response so far? i'm taking it by your comments now that it's been pretty good. and we know that president trump and the first lady are coming down to texas tomorrow. >> right. >> that's fairly early on after a major storm like this hitting part of the united states. is it a good idea, do you think, for the president and that entire entourage to be coming to the state of texas right now? >> well, the federal response has been very strong. i spoke with president trump and spoke with the vice president and with several cabinet members over the course of the last several days and, the consistency from the administration, what does texas need? we are leaning in and leaning in hard aggressively and swiftly. the president in a cabinet meeting a couple days ago, a videoconference instructed each of the cabinet members to move as 1wi69ly as possible providing

everything needed, and that has been conveyed at every level. the cabinet, multiple cabinet secretary, they've reached out from head of dhs to the head of health and human services to the secretary of education, to the secretary of labor. across the administration, the federal government has been working to provide resources, and one of the things i've spent a great dealen time on trying to coordinate that federal response with our governor, who i'm talking to regularly and then our local officials. our mayors and county judges. and the collective response has been very strong. when i visited with the president he didn't want to come so early to distract from relief efforts. that's why he delayed to trip to tomorrow. my understanding is where he's going to be traveling will be away from where the direct life threatening challenges are right now. but i think he wants to just to be here and to fleen with

federal resources and here in texas we're grateful for the national outpouring of love and support we've received the past several days. >> and senator, i know because you've been in washington for some time now, that these debates come up over relief for disaster areas and so forth. i'm curious. if your perspective changed at all when it comes to that need for quick disaster relief for a hard-hit area? i know during hurricane sandy, superstorm sandy, this became an issue. there were some republicans in texas opposed to that funding, and now many of those members of congress would like to see help come in as quickly as possible, and i know at that time you were one of those republicans opposed to that emergency funding. what is your sense of it now? is your perspective different now, now that you're seeing this happening in your home state? >> well, jim, it's not accurate there was republicans opposed to

hurricane funding. every republican including texas republicans agreed that hurricane funding is an important and critical role for the federal government, and that hurricane sandy, a great many people were hurting from it. now, there were a number of us concerned that that particular bill became a $50 billion bill filled with pork and unrelates spending that wasn't hurricane relief. it was simply local members of congress spending on their pet projects and two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with hurricane sandy. of course, the federal government has a critical role in disaster relief. it has before and should continue to, but you should not have members of congress that are exploiting disasters to fund their pet projects, and so there will be time for all of those debates in washington. right now, jim, the immediate focus is on preserving life and saving lives that there are still substantial numbers of people in texas experiencing

but let me say to the folks at home, if you're in an area that flooding is threatening your home, keep safe. don't go up in the attic. a number of folks have done that. if you go up in the attic, you need to make sure you have an ax or some other way to get out. because the attic can be very dangerous, you can get trapped and rescue works can't get to you. if water is rising, you're safer on the roof than in the attic. secondly, if you're in an area where the floodwaters are rising, if at all possible, don't go in the car. unless it is an absolute emergency. the most dangerous thing you can do is get in your car and drive into moving water. moving water is deceptive, you think you can make it through, and yet moving water can carry the car away. and it is the easiest and fastest way to risk the lives of you and your family. listen to the local authority, stay high and safe and don't take a risk. >> that's all very good advice. and senator, this debate that i guess is happening in texas right now over whether houston should have evacuated, i know

the governor has said, well, maybe people should have been evacuating even though there weren't evacuation orders. the mayor of houston said, we could not have evacuated all those people at once. that would have caused other problems. what is your sense of this, this happens storm to storm, we have these discussions, what was the sense of that discussion being made? >> i think there's plenty of time that has subsided as we look back with hindsight and to debate what was done right and what could have been done better. i will stay, we have an active disaster unfolding. this is a 500-year storm. we are seeing flooding that has never before occurred in texas, the magnitude of it, the damage from it, and i think the focus of everyone, from the president to the governor to all the local officials and first responders, is right now quite rightly on preserving right. yesterday when i spoke to the mayor of houston, he raised

significant concerns there were not enough boats and helicopters and high-water trucks. so i spent much of the day yesterday on the phone with federal officials trying to mobilize more assets to the area. and, you know, we have seen a number of whether it is national guards being mobilized, whether it is texas, dps troopers being mobilized or border control agents with high-water rescue capability coming up from the border to assist. we have seen an incredible outpouring. >> senator cruz, i know you're staying on top of it as we are, and we appreciate your time and calling in and talking to us about this. and all of our best, of course, to everybody down there in texas and who you're in contact with as well. and we'll try to keep tabs with you as this develops. obviously, this is going to be something that texas is going to be in need of in terms of help and assistance for some time now. we'll be following it as you are as well. thank you, senator, for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you, we appreciate it so much. and we're so grateful of the

people across the country and the support they're giving to the red cross, the salvation army and all the incredible volunteers standing with texas at this time of need. >> all right, senator cruz, thank you so much. harvey is headed east to louisiana right now. the state has already declared a state of emergency. just ahead, we'll talk to the state's lieutenant governor about how they're preparing for the storm threat. s'cuse me. mind if i sit here? not if you want your phone to work. let me guess, you can't livestream your lobster roll. and my mobile pay isn't connecting and i just got an unlimited plan. right plan, wrong network. you see verizon has america's largest most reliable 4g lte network and now unlimited plans start at $40 per line, you know what i am saying? (laughs.) oh this is your seat. definitely. yep. just tucking it in. nah, i wasn't going to pull it out. when it really, really matters you need the best network and the best unlimited. now plans start at $40 per line for four lines. but he hasoke up wwork to do.in. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill.

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harvey has already dumped more than two feet of rain in north texas. and as the heed ad of fema warn this may not be over. >> this is a landmark event. you cannot draw this forecast up. we've been telling people this is coming, it's still ongoing, but you couldn't draw the situation up. the bottom line is that it is going to continue on. we need the whole community, not only the federal government forces, but this is a whole community effort from all levels of government. and it's going to require the citizens getting involved.

>> now, as the storm moves eastward, a state of emergency was declared this morning in louisiana. i want to bring in billy none nungusser. a state of emergency has been declared for louisiana. what does that mean in terms of resources for your state? >> well, if we need federal resources, they will be available. unfortunately, we are very good at this kind of response going through the flooding last year in louisiana, and we prepared for the worst and hope for the best at this storm moves closer to louisiana. >> and we heard the fema director say that citizens need to get involved. we have seen plenty of examples of that in houston. you just said a few moments ago, obviously, people in louisiana are very accustomed to jumping in and pitching in to help their neighbors. what are you seeing in terms of those assets coming together, should we hope to see basically the same response of volunteers

in the so-called cajun navy in houston to help with rescues? >> absolutely. you know, we're trying to kooshd night the efforts, coordinate the efforts through louisiana.gov. all the volunteers, when the time is right, to go over and assist in mucking and gutting homes, which we absolutely are very good at here in louisiana. it's going to take a lot of volunteers moving quickly to help these people mock and gut their homes to get into their homes quickly. we started here in louisiana with our veterans and our seniors and really the faith-based groups step in big time in coordinating the efforts. and we hope to assist texas in doing the same. >> and when people think about doing big hurricanes, obviously, they think of katrina and what happened in new orleans, being the lieutenant governor of louisiana, you must be thinking back to that time. has your state, has that city fully recovered from katrina?

can it take a punch like this from harvey here in the next couple of days? >> well, of course we're concerned about the southern part of the state. and now the storm looks like it will cross louisiana somewhere north of toledo bend between shreveport and toledo bend. so we are concerned for those areas. we do come back quickly. last year we had flooding across louisiana equivalent to dumping the mississippi river for 18 days into the middle of the state. erer -- we are still rebuilding from that flood and hope to see rebuilding in louisiana. >> but it could strengthen there in the gulf, that is something unpredictable at this point. >> that's what keeps us up at night. i ran for office after katrina and seeing the response to plaquemines parish. any time there's a storm near the gulf, we all sleep a little lighter. and this thing is dragging out for many days and could be as

much as a week before we know we're out of the woods here in louisiana. >> all right, billy nungusser, lieutenant governor of louisiana, we'll be thinking about you over the next 48 hours. we appreciate your time. that's it for me. the special storm team coverage of hard voovey continues right . stay with us. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn special coverage of the storm that make landfall as a category 4 hurricane and now has turned huge parts of texas including houston into an inland sea. and the threat from this storm rose with each and every passing hour. the rain from harvey continues to batter southeastern texas and now threatens the state of louisiana. this storm front isn't going anywhere. this is what we're hearing from forecasters, that it could dump 15 to 25 more inches of rain on the upper texas coast by friday bringing totals in some places to more than 4