welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thanks for sharing your day with us. beaumont is without water. short fuel, urgent, very much an understatement. a full week after harvey first pummeled texas. >> we must operate with a sense of urgency. we have to have the resources in order to assist people transitioning from a crisis state and getting them back in a much more stable situation. and we need the resources now.

in fact, let me back that up. we need the resources yesterday. >> president trump is crafting an emergency aid package and his team believing the long-term costs of harvey recovery are certain to surpass katrina's price tag. >> we are with you today. we will be with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every day until this great state and these great communities recover and rebuild to be even better and stronger than ever before. >> raw emotion as residents finally are able to return home, yet hit yet again. their homes are a mess, or worse. many of their most cherished possessions, ruined. >> yeah, yeah. it's -- i'm not an emotional guy and i'm pretty calm, and -- this has been too much for me, to be honest. i don't know if ai want to be here very long. >> it's okay.

it's okay. [ sobbing ] >> it's okay. it's okay. >> houston is open for business. those optimistic words today from the mayor as he and his city look ahead to a long and difficult recovery. the mayor says most of houston is now dry, but hurricane harvey and its flooding have left at least 47 people dead. the white house estimates the storm damage destroyed 100,000 homes. aerial footage, look here, shows a drastic change from before and after the storm. once green, thriving areas now washed out covered in mud and muck. many people finally able to return to their houses or finding they don't have much left. many homes still under several feet of water. >> the worst part, the personal stuff? >> yeah. i mean, this is the stuff you can't replace. right? i mean -- this is --

these are my son's birth announcements. right? >> this very, just very confused and can't get it wrapped up in my mind what's next and what i need to do. >> not even real. you see it on tv but this is total devastation in every way. physically, emotionally. >> speaking of emotional, look here. 14 babies airlifted from a hospital in beaumont, texas, forced to close because the city has no clean water. some of those babies' parents still stranded. haven't been able to see their infants in days. for so many people a nightmare for a long, long time to come. the army corps of engineer, get this, planning controlled releases from two major reservoirs. the process could take through months. hurricane harvey shaping up to be one of the most expensive natural disasters to ever hit the united states. sheila jackson-lee called for a record-breaking $150 billion aid

package. the president pledging to donate $1 million of his own money to help storm victims. we'll dodge more into the numbers later in the program. fema approved more than 100,000 people for emergency assistance already with tens of millions of dollars already distributed. so far the governor of texas, nothing but high praise for the federal government. here he is on fox. >> from the president to the vice president to the entire cabinet. there's been one of both compassion from their very heart by the way they've been moved to see the devastation and also a deep commitment to ensure that they will do all they can to help rebuild texas. >> vice president mike pence, his wife karen, leading a cabinet delegation yesterday to some of the hardest-hit areas. accompanying residents and helping in the cleanup efforts. president trump and first lady melania trump promised to return to the area tomorrow. the most dire situation right now -- it may well be in beaumont, texas.

people desperate for clean drinking water. and joining us from the water distribution site in beaumont. give us the latest. what are you seeing? >> reporter: john, you know, around 12:30 a.m. yesterday that the water stopped running here in beaumont. that's nearly 36 hours ago. no water to drink here. no water to shower with and the people i've talked to say it's feel it's been so much longer. this distribution point for bottled water opened up about two hours ago. when it first began, cars were already lining up. now they are lined up as far as i can see. they were initially servicing about five cars a minute. giving them each one case of water. now it's running more efficiently. servicing 11 cars a minute. that's remarkable, really, to see how efficiently this place is runs. i want to explain where we are. so people know where they should come. we're just about the 1700 block of i-10. they want people entering on the frontage road from i-10 westbound. circle up along saint helena and here into the parking lot of the

memorial stadium. john, in talking to people here, the circumstances are so dire. to hear the stories that people are fighting in the grocery store for whatever's left on the shelves. a local reporter told me when she tweeted there were still baby wipes and diapers available on the shelves. the most viral tweet she's ever had as people started making sure other was aware of that and rushing to the store where she mentioned that was the case. officials tell me they will be handing out water until supplies run out or dark. whatever comes first. this is the only state-run -- sorry, city-run site with state resources helping them. there's also a sdishdistributio point at the southeast food bank distributing from 12:00 to 3:00 and won't continue until supplies run out. they want to ration as need be. people going to every effort they can to get the water delivered safely. >> great to see people getting help to get through the day.

kaylee from beaumont, thank you. >> nick, are people still trapped? >> reporter: people are still trapped in this community behind me. a community that edges katy, texas, between katy and houston. two to four feet of water in points. a line of people waiting for personal, civilian boats that have come as far away from san antonio and austin to help the people as we work our way through the crowd's we want to introduce you to somebody here. these folks -- hey, guys. hey, how are you? you got your granddaughters after all. hey! how are you? just coming out. hey! how are you? >> good. >> reporter: you happy to be out? >> yeah. >> reporter: you look so pretty with your floaties on. so, tell us what happened here? >> there have been, evacuating apartments. they didn't get water in their

apartment. so they didn't -- should they leave, should they stay? >> strand the whole time. >> but it food and water. >> reporter: this is your daughter behind you? >> jaclyn. >> reporter: hey, live on cnn. sorry to -- talking to your father telling us your story. you're just getting out? >> just getting out. power went out. >> reporter: enough food and water? >> oh, yeah. a lot of people donating dropping things off. >> reporter: you seem to be in good spirits having a week stranded. >> it was fine. we had power most of the tile. the whole time. pizza delivered to us and a lot of people helped out. >> reporter: you don't want to pick that back up. >> yeah. >> reporter: what was it like? take viewers what you lived through the last seven days. >> we were very lucky. no water got into our complex at all. we were the highest elevation. like an island around us. no water got in. everywhere around us -- >> reporter: we'll pick those up in a little bit.

that's okay, sweetheart. and the mayor of houston was on saying parts were all dried up and you look here in barkers cypress. >> my mother-in-law's house is dry. no water at all. fortunately, that's where we all get to go. our house is eight inches in water still and we were there this morning. so we're very lucky to have our mother-in-law to rescue us all. >> reporter: how unreal is it? the storm hit -- the hurricane hit on friday of last week, and here we are still a friday later, still dealing with this. >> it's crazy. >> yeah. >> there's just no other way to describe it. it's crazy. it's surreal. you don't -- this is something. >> reporter: you don't want to get used to. >> never. >> reporter: thank you for taking the time. you literally just got out of the water from these boats here. get your toys right back. okay. so a little happy news in all of this, john.

a little while aweigh go we saw group of people, some of which like this woman here hadn't seen dry fland more th dry land in more than a week. many neighborhoods, at least this neighborhood specifically, still very hard-hit even a week later. john? >> remarkable that it is a week later, yet the spirit's pretty high. good spirits among those people. nick valencia on the ground. keep up the good work. and chad petteric owns an air boatky in corpus christi. he rounded up a crew of experienced boats and headed to houston. in a 72-hour period chad estimates they rescued more than 500 people. today a week later he's taking supplies including gas and diesel to victims in rockport. rockport, of course, the place where hurricane harvey first made landfall and he joins me on the phone from there. chad, god bless you for all the great good samaritan work you've been doing this past week. start with today. watching video of your boats doing some, the lord's work

early early in tier in the week. tell me about today first. >> today, we were up in houston three days, just because we dodged a bullet. i live in corpus christi and this storm came in just 16, 18 miles to the east of us, and a lot of friends and family that live in this area, and really wasn't a lot we could do while it was still raining, and the things that was going on. we saw the need to go up to houston and actually the katy, fort bend area. fort bend county area. crazy work there. i mean, some -- we were all terrified at times, and -- just to see the look in the victims' eyes. sitting there. flood victims. it was well worth our time there. now that we're back, we're back in this area. made a delivery to port aran us yesterday. delivered -- hauled diesel and fuel. water and ice over there.

and, really, the supplies -- the people have really pulled together. so many heroes that pulled together in the state of texas. in these areas. i mean, we actually went into town and no one needed the water. no one needed the fuel. actually they did need the ice. begging for ice and it's the other supplies that people are needing. you know? as far as food, as far as ice. as far as -- cleaning supplies. gloves. mosquito spray. mosquitoes are starting to come out in full force in our area, and it's those things that people are needing now. not so much the water and the fuel. >> you make a great point. end of the conversation, on our screen a number if you wall to call and contribute to help. talking to our audience around the country. often a cash donation. might have clothe, give cash, let people on the scene decide what is most needed in their area. chad, take me back to the early hours. some of the neighborhoods you were there well before the government.

looking at video from you, hearing people screaming for help. take us back to those early hours. >> yeah. we came -- we actually evacuated corpus christi. went north about an hour and a half with a friend of mine james schroeder's house and watched this, just, you know, all up and down the coast it was coming, and we didn't know if it was going to hit us. hurricane harvey went east, west, back and forth and finally made its path and caught the end of port aransas and went in that way and we watched the destruction, you know. being on live television, what was going on and actually returned home sunday afternoon and found minimal damage at my residence, and all of the friends that were around the area, you know, there wasn't a lot of damage in corpus christi. just a mere 15 miles down the road, the damage is -- no comparison. it looks like a tornado went through instead of a hurricane.

you know? and that afternoon we were getting, my house put back together. moving everything back in. the things, the items we took with us and got the inside of my home taken care of and i started listening to the, the cajun navy. on my phone. started hearing how they were getting all of these calls and 911 calls, needing rescues and people that were in dire need of help, and they weren't getting it. and i called the guy that we were with, james, schroeder, up in george west, texas, asked if he wanted to go. we pull add quick team together. there was six of us that loaded up. and we left here, probably, left corpus christi about 9:00 that evening. we got to fort ben county around midnight. and by 12:30, we were taking off and rescuing people off the harlem road area. we pulled up and there was a community fire department there, and they had plenty of people

but didn't have the equipment to get into the actual neighborhood, and we knew that we may have bit off more than we could chew at that time, but we went in there and the amount of people that needed rescued was, it was overwhelming to us. there was people screaming out of the windows. people flashing lights, flickering flashlights on and off at us. we did the best we could and were there a good, solid eight hours loading up. six, eight, ten people at a time and bringing them out, and they had a dump truck backed up because of the hot water. they couldn't just have any vehicle there. a ladder. people getting off the ladder, into the dump truck. the ones that couldn't, holding them there waiting trailers to bring them out of there. we stayed in that area until after daylight, and, you know, the fear of dark. being in the dark. you could tell the difference in the people. it was dark that night. the looks in their eyes, them not knowing what's going on. everybody had fear. even us going into there.

once daylight was there, everybody, you could tell, victims and the team that was with me, we all were a little more at ease. we relocated, because at that time they did have more people showing up. that we kind of, some good friends of mine actually came up from rockport, austin and that area. they had airboats and took off into the area and started saving people. we then moved over to the old katy area and helped those guys out for a while. and it wasn't probably three or four hours we there and all of a sudden one of the guys with me heard they needed a lot of help often of the frye road area, back kind of off of frye and i think it was mason road. i'm not real familiar with the area, but i know it was frye road. when we went in there, that was probably the -- the biggest crowd of people trying to pour out of there. i wrote a story on my facebook page. i have to commend, evelyn

schroeder one of our team members who left in the back because we were trying to haul out at many people. she stayed back there. rounding up the people while we were hauling them out and bringing them out and she had handicapped people floating on bean bags. it was -- it was something i would never forget the rest of my life. i can promise you that, john. >> well, chad, for the hundreds of people who may not get a chance to see you and say thank you, you're a hero this past week and you're continuing efforts today. you and dozens, hundreds like you, volunteers doing this at their own time and resources part of the great dramatic story of this past week. we just want to personally thank you and thank you for sharing your time today. you're in the middle of all this and hundreds of people who won't be able to thank you, but you've left a long trail of gratitude in your wake. god bless as you continue this work. >> thank you, john, and there's many heroes out there. just not me and i'd like to commend everybody for pulling together.

we've made a big impact along the whole state of texas and people from out of texas. a big thanks from me and hopefully we can pull our coastal areas back together and everybody get back to life soon. >> there you see, most grateful, and humble. chad pedderic, thank you for your humility and sharing your credit after an amazing week. those listening to this play out and listening to heartwarming stories, you want to know how to help go to cnn.com/impact. more on the aftermath of harvey in just a moment. with my moderate to severe crohn's disease,... ...i was always searching for ways to manage my symptoms. i thought i had it covered. then i realized managing was all i was doing. when i finally told my doctor, he said humira was for people like me who have tried other medications,... but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief... ...and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections... ...including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers,...

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spelling of healing. and likely to approach $6 billion, the package and the president wants congress to act fast. a quick history lesson. after hurricane katrina congress acted. the first package passed in just 11 days. the first piece. overwhelming bipartisan support ultimately katrina cost the federal government $120 billion. not all that in the first package. super storm sandy, different story. took 91 days for congress to pass that first installment and if you look at the numbers, there was a lot more partisanship in that debate. total bill in the end, $60 billion. the vice president, mike pence, down in the storm-affected areas yesterday says money will be coming fast and he says the political debate, he hopes, will be much more like katrina than super storm sandy. >> and no texan should doubt as they apply for available federal assistance, no small business or

business that's affected, should doubt that this administration, this congress will come together and make sure those resources are there. >> all public indications are, number one, the administration should have a proposal ready if not by today, broad outlines to send up to the hill early next week. somewhere in the ballpark of $6 billion. first installment. will get higher in the months and years to come. the mood, even among fiscal conservatives in the past, sure, deserve yir money, but have to cut from somewhere else. the mood, get done. get it done fast. will that hold? >> median, short term, perhaps we know now the president will see just a small installment of what they really are going to need. $6 billion is, from all indications just a fraction of the cost it's going to take to rebuild. some estimates over $100 billion. right now you may see quick action, just on that first aid package, but when you get into

the larger numbers, this is probably pushback. probably here from some conservatives who wanted cuts to offset spending. but really it's going to be in the small numbers of the people pushing back. the question, does the republican leadership ultimately decide to attach some of those must-pass items into this package as well including raising the debt ceiling and keeping the government open past september 30th. >> you mentioned. look at the history in the past, when these big packages came up, you've heard conservatives say of course we have compassion but we're like a family. washington does not have money to throw around. if you're going to spend this much we got to find a place to cut it. among those who said it during the katrina days was the now vice president. >> as we tend to the wounded, as we begin to rebuild, let us also do what every other american family would do. in like circumstances, and expects this congress to do. let's figure ow how we're going to pay for it. congress must ensure that a

catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren. >> again, the timing is the issue. more than a fair question for any member of congress to say, how will we pay for this? the question, what do you do in the immediate? interesting to me, people looking for members of the freedom caucus, southern conservatives in the house of representatives. most, not all from the south. saying, happy to give the money. got to find it elsewhere. their leader mark meadow, we've soon, his spokesman not our position. the disaster relief funding needs to be offset elsewhere. no. that seems to be a green light. at least the first package. >> it does and is really -- you know, the notion you just heard from the then congressman now vice president, mike pence, that emergency spending needs to be offset. at the time, it wasn't taken for granted at all. i mean, it wasn't that long ago that congress would pass big aid

packages like this in emergency situations, and there wasn't a debate about whether it would be yaw set. it was really just in the past, you know, i would say decade or so that even, and especially under republican rule in government, when spending was really sky high and the tea party took hold, that that was even part of the debate. and even to this day i think there are many democrats who believe that it doesn't have to be offset. you have to, you can figure it out later. the fact that you have somebody like mark meadows who is one of the most conservative fiscally conservative, kind of the classic freedom caucus tea party guy, who does seem to give a green light. it's a big deal and shows a difference. >> and you'll see a lot of geography competing with party in this one. >> yes. >> and mark meadows is from north carolina. a play that gets affected. texans, a lot of texas republicans saw the debate playing out between was it peter king and ted cruz over twitter and the air waves that you're going to have a lot of automatic

votes right now that are going to be from the gop and the conservative part of the gop saying, no. we have to do this without any sort of extra debate. what's going to be the question going forward. does it get hamstrung with other things? and what does it mean for the rest of the president's agenda? the next step, tax reform. not a lot of extra money to go around, does that change -- >> he wanted wall money. mexico would pay for it. a lot of people say that money goes to the hurricane now's talk to you make in december, mr. president, way down the road. a lot of republicans don't want to give him that money. how does the mood change? congress comes back to work in the wake of a national disaster like this. yes, concentrated in texas and louisiana but a national question now for the country to face. the president, as early as today we're told is going to do something about the dreamers. at a time when he himself is getting complimented. good reviews for the initial response to texas. the president was down there,

the vice president down there. a unifying moment, perhaps. we'll see. perhaps. the dreamers, being urged, listen to house speaker paul ryan. word leaks out the white house is about to pull back, revoke the obama -- that the dreamers can stay. trump administration about to change that. listen to the speaker of the house. a republican. >> -- actually don't think he should do that and i believe that this is something that congress has to fix. let me back up for a second. >> now, on the senate side, leading republican orrin hatch issued a statement, same thing. mr. president, don't do this. leave this to us. what's going on? >> in the white house driveway talked about this. this person casually referred to a congressional solution to the problem. a bunch of us perked up our ears. haven't heard much from this white house and promised to end this first day in office. it's clear enough they're going to piush this down the road.

i don't know how they're manage the state attorneys general lawsuits on this. but seems reasonably clear from these remarks the white house agreed to kick it down the road a little. beyond at least the fights over keeping the government open raising the debt limit and things like that. >> there's no question. this has been a quiet conversation going on. and heating up over the past week or so. with people inside the administration who don't want -- who agree with paul ryan. who don't want the president to have this on his hands. despite the fact his base very much wants him to do this. have been talking to key members of congress about finding a legislative way out of it. seems though maybe they've at least been able to kick the can a little bit. the goal being ultimately to kind of do a deal. okay. if we can deal with this legislatively, we'll give you something that you want in terms of border security, wall, you know, see if they even can get that kind of deal. >> the goal, ensure they don't

create another uproar that causes a lot of the elders in their party to get upset, to scream and what the white house is doing, clearly, this is an effort now that people are focused on harvey. keep the administration -- keep the congress -- >> where's the president on this in the sense during the campaign unequivocal. you mentioned, i'll do it day one. as i learn more, a heart and compassion. where's the president on this? will be to accept -- congress sends a bill. your wall money. increased border security. let the dreamers stay? is the president willing to take on his base essentially? take on the breitbarts of the world saying you broke a promise, sir? >> i don't know. hard to know. i'm skeptical any wall money will ever pass congress and skeptical any dreamer legislation will pass congress. ultimately they may have to decide what to do administratively. >> the problem has been for every episode of this. this is not the first time congress grappled with the dream act or a version of it. it's very hard to pass any

stand-alone immigration reform. people want to add other things to it and people in the gop in charge really don't want to give up this idea of border security first. of course, daca is down the line to craz to address. to change in a-of-that and the emergency situation and the defense fund. an easy way kicking it down the road, and also i just, i don't see how you can come up with even a combination bill that is that pristine and not -- doesn't get fatter and gummed up. >> one of the things to trust, driving people around the country crazy. have to deal with challenges every day. including surprises in washington. only a few legislative days left. can only deal with one or two things kn s not five. more on harvey's path. new tropical storms gathering perhaps out at sea and the week that was in the houston area. t! save 10 to 70% off on all clothing and shoes. and up to 70% off on outdoor life

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breaking news. firing of former fbi director james comey and the broader investigation into russia election meddling and whether or not the trump administration was involved in collusion or the president involved in after the fact destruction. the "new york times" reported the special counsel robert mueller obtain add letter president trump and a top political aide drafted in the days before the president fired mr. comey. now, not the letter used publicly to rationalize that firing. one of the reporters involved joins us on the telephone. talk to us about the letter that bob mueller has and why it's important. >> reporter: sure, john. thanks for having me. sorry i'm not with you in person. there was an early draft, at least one, of this letter that was ultimately the justification for firing comey, at least this is the, almost like the rosetta

stone of donald trump's thoughts on what had happened. you know? at some point i anticipate that the public will know what the contents were. it's not clear that it is massively different than what ended up in the final draft, or the final letter, that went to comey, from the president. and we certainly know that the president was frustrated that comey refused to publicly clear him in the russia investigation and would not say he's not under investigation, which the president was adamant and comey testified to that fact, but this was a raw, you know, sort of furious burst of sentiment from the president. stephen miller's main role was an indication of this, but a raw look at what the president was thinking before what turned out to be an incredibly momentous decision in his presidency. robert mueller, special counsel, appointed after that firing is

looking into this. has a copy of this letter. we will see whether it ends up mattering, but it was, the letter was, you know, sort of specific enough or explicit enough or raw enough that the white house counsel, whose job it is to protect the white house and the president had flagged concerns. >> and in reading that part of your story, i don't over simplify this. seems the president was venting. stephen miller, political aide, not part of the legal team at the white house, i was working with the president on this and the president's attorney said, no, sir. this is not the way to do this. then they went for a plan b. a fair way to put it? >> i think that's right. and i think that again, this happened between what was in the initial draft and what ended up being printed. i think remains to be seen. we certainly know that the president has been considering firing comey basically since day one.

of his presidency. the timing of this, remember, was right after comey testified before the senate judiciary committee describing that he had felt i think his words were "slightly nauseated" at the thought he play add role in influencing the election. knau >> discuss in the room. a key question for bob mueller, special counsel, what was the president's mind-set? firing james comey because he was mad at him for 6, 9, 10, 12 reasons or because he came to the conclusion i don't like what he's doing with this russia investigation and i'm going to shut it down. that's obstruction. >> the intend, mind-set, intent, by he did it. what this letter could shed light on. >> we know the president has

been meeting, his legal team meeting with bob mueller's office trying to say that he's totally within his constitutional rights to fire bob -- james comey. something that he can do as president. nothing wrong with that, even questioning his credibility. if this letter says anything different about why the president actually fired him, of course, that's an issue that will go to the obstruction case and mueller, he's clearly investigating. the one thing the president is pointing to, a new revelation from senate judiciary committee, the republicans releasing transcripts from fbi officials saying comey made a decision early on not to go after hillary clinton. and that at least gives them cover, but not exactly what the rationalization is. >> the big problem and huge miscalculation in firing comey in the first place. that the president had people around him who convinced him that there would be such

unanimous praise for firing comey from democrats, and from others, that it would be no problem. huge miscalculation. to point where somebody who really likes the president told me that this will be, go down as the single biggest political miscalculation in modern history. when i say "this" i mean firing james comey. mueller couldn't exist had comey not been fired. >> and still in comey's jurisdiction. the "new york times" story changes the dynamic, mueller has a version of this letter, political aide involved. white house counsel saying don't do this. adding to the complexity how and why this happened. otherwise, several other important developments in the russia investigation, whether the trump tower story, while a candidate for president. his personal attorney reaching out to at least explore the possibility of building a trump tower in moscow while he was a candidate for president. out there. donald trump jr. agreeing to give a transcribed interview to

investigators on capitol hill happened this week. a lot obscured by harvey this past week and understandably so. the headlines should be on people of texas. a few headlines, trump returns laying out arguments against obstruction against mueller. and trying to explain, no, wasn't obstruction. here's the reason. mueller teams up with new york t.j. tvrp and man forte probe. trump's business sought deal on trump tower moscow running for period. we'll come back to work in a few days for congress. again, the priority will, should, be overwhelmingly an aid package for texas, but a reminder. the conversation just about this "new york times" story and other things happening during the week isn't going anywhere. >> and the investigations on the hill are kicking into a new phase. you have talking to the judiciary committee behind closed doors. donald trump jr., and some came up for staff interviews before. now you have members getting access to them as well potentially. and it's -- it's a question of

all of these different news stories all of these different things we learn are clues of the puzzle they're pulling together and as they get more information, the inquiries are becoming more pointed. that's going to continue. never stopped over the summer but will continue unabatened and potentially benefit from the facts the headlines are focused elsewhere on the budget and -- >> looming over the presidency, it affects the president's mind-set and focus. clearly, focus now is on harvey but more and more leaks coming out. more and more allegations coming out. >> who's focus? there's a small audience for some of these russia stories including potential witnesses. potential people mixed up in this. what's the message to don jr. wh, a piece exploring in moscow? the message to paul man forte

sayiforte -- manafort? a message through these disclosures. >> important point. read the "new york times" story, welcome to what the president did say to you what didn't make the letter. take us inside that conversation. then the president's lawyer, attorney/client privilege to a degree but involved in this conversation, they're at least want to talk to him about it. expanding the circle of people coming into the scope of at least an interview if not a more, higher ranks conversation with the special counsel. >> and the point, when they go and have the interviews, maybe less so for congress, and more so if they do with the special counsel, then they're asked questions that maybe are directly related. maybe tangentially related but present answers with a whole new line of inquiry and investigation. >> and the most importantly, the last six months, line in appointment of bob mueller investigate this and also pursue things that arise out of this. super important. you can chase these down as far

as he wants. >> bringing every witness, not every witness, many other witnesses into other areas of legal trouble, if they're not -- >> plus we know from history. these financial investigations take forever. they just take forever. especially involving overseas. russian witnessesish and the likes. the point came up about the president's mind-set. a week he have an opportunity, don't want to make much politics out of harvey. to his credit, the president took a trip there, sent the vice president there. working on this. and critics out there anyway, potentially unifying. the president tweeting about, did comey already have his mind made up before he said that? tweeting to a "washington post" story about continued turmoil in the white house and some of trump chafing, it says, at restrictions put on by his new chief of staff. the president decides to tweet about that. people say, why? why would you do this in the middle of this where you're largely getting positive reviews about being a president. >> proving the "washington post" right. he is chafing.

he needs an outlet. needs a release valve. we know that from covering this guy two years. the release valve is twitter. and there's -- even kelly, desperately trying to, he believes he's trying to save the trump presidency and help the trump presidency with order, sometiming if you, if your boss is donald trump, maybe that order goes a little too far. you have to know your client. >> to the point about continued turmoil. we know how stories about the russia investigation get under his skin. you're right. the story in the "washington post" clearly he wanted to vent about that. about general kelly, he praised. how trump works. yes, likes some of it. then let's off steam sometimes. why he was in missouri on tax reform the other day. know he's been frustrating with the secretary of state from time to time. other members of the cabinet. chief economic adviser publicly critical of what the president said and did after charlottesville. so when in missouri the president did this -- >> i also want to welcome the

many distinguished guests here with us for this very important event. secretary of the treasury, steve mnuchin. secretary of commerce, wilbur ross. linda mcmahon, senator roy blount. governor greatens is here. lieutenant governor parsons. representative sam gray, vicky hartzler. billy. where's billy? blaine, where's blaine? representative jason smith. representative ann wagner. hi, ann. good job, ann. and -- i don't know. we have so many more. anybody i forgot? >> someone -- >> ah, gary cohn. chief economic adviser, a critically key player in tax reform debate is right there and the president knows it. >> yeah. and shows -- any criticism really gets under his skin. particularly his own people. reporting suggests that one reason why he's not getting rid of him, he needs cohn for the

tax reform push in congress. but doesn't mean he's not, doesn't mean the president's happy with his chief economic adviser. >> anyone i forget? ne never mind. thanks for coming. >> thank gary cohn, in you want. up next, turning back to the recovery in texas. fleeing waters in houston. talk to one woman whose unusual pet wa saved from the floodwaters. shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get. open your eyes to the city mini shadow palettes,

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coverage in the past week you know many fleeing the houston floods refusing to leave pets behind. one woman praising firefighters for treating penny the pig as a member of the family and helping haul her off to safety. and lisa calls herself penny's mother. thank you for spending time with us and i see your family behind you. your husband, four children, pip the dog and penny the pig.

take us through your ordeal. >> yeah. right. thanks for having us. >> so tell me how all of this played out, and -- how you -- i guess made the call and had help getting first the children but then your pets, including penny? >> yeah. well, no one expected our -- hour house filled up pretty high. about 13 feet up and no one expected the water to rise just as fast and hard as it did. so -- we were kind of -- neighbors were through this before and kind of told us, you know, get plenty of food and water and be prepared to be inside a few days but we should be fine, and so we did that. got the food and water and stayed here a few days, and then monday morning woke up and the

water was just crazy rushing, like coming up our stairs faster than we imagined. it was scary. so we -- i started to panic. i knew we could probably get out but we have penny the pig and our family is pretty unique. i was nervous how we were going to get out, and anyway, the fire department happened to pull up just a few minutes later, and -- just kind of showed up at the right time for us, and we're just so thankful that they -- that they pulled up when they did and, you know, i told them right away, we have a pig. we have a child with down's syndrome, a dog, they said, perfect, let's go and helped out. >> everybody looks like they're doing great. appreciate everybody stopping up and see how everybody's doing. a little hard on skype.

there's penny. penny looks calm. how is she handling it? >> penny's been amazing. she -- she really handled it -- so well. and the -- you know, she's never been in water before, and yet went through quite a bit of water. the firefighters helped carry her out, and she did awesome. calm and cool throughout the whole thing. >> were the firefighters surprised when you went through your list there of what you had to rescue? >> i think they were, but they -- they played it cool and they, you know, they made it so easy for us, and, but they -- you know. they admit that was quite an adventure and they'd never done that before. pretty cool for everyone. >> and the good, and heartwarpiheartwar heartwarming stories. best of luck in the days ahead. appreciate it very much you sharing your story. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. good luck. thanks for joining us on "inside

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albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. hello. i'm jim acosta in for wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in the u.s. wherever you're watching from, thanks for joining us. coming for desperate residents who lost they are homes and businesses, help. others are still under water. military on the ground helping rescue people trapped by floodwaters and seeing evacuation of the most fragile people in these communities like these tiny babies. look at this. a hospital neonatal intensive care unit in beaumont, texas, moved to hospitals not affected by the hurricane. the numbers are staggering. at least 47 deaths are blamed on the storm and flooding, more than 72,000