♪ ♪ >> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia we welcome our viewers in the united states an around the world as harvey's devastation becomes clear, what lies ahead.

and happily the storm has brought out the best in people. setting aside all political squabbles, but of course there are always a few bad apples who have sought to exploit the situation with fraud and price gouging. i'll talk both sides with the texas attorney general. and after tens of billion dollars in damage and at least 50 deaths, will hurricane harvey cause houston to turn away from its fair zoning or perhaps be a turning point in the national debate over climate change. and the president visited texas again today. how best does a commander-in-chief play a consoler in chief. i'll ask president george w. bush's head of advance who dealt with hurricane katrina. but first, arguably the best movie of summer, director christopher nolan's dunkirk foreshadows the events of last week in texas, a situation that would have been far worse were it not for the human spirit.

in may of 1940, it was the english citizenry who rallied to the rescue of more than 300,000 troops who were trapped on a beach in northern france in the early days of world war ii. those soldiers could almost see home but the shallow waters prevented rescued of warships but instead it was 700 civilian crafts, the little ships of dunkirk that made their way from england to assist in the rescue and so it was in texas this week. in houston, on wednesday, civil yap volunteers captained bass boats and jet skis and dingies that ferried hundreds of residents to safety. a man named jeremy sparkman told reuters, quote, i usually just use this boat for drinking beer. but we come together when we need to, that is what texans do. indeed, after the harris county department of homeland security

asked for volunteers last sunday, hundreds of boat owners called and supplied quickly outstriped demand, the resulting flotilla was an american dunkirk, minus the aerial bombardment. nearly 50 have dialed and so many are still in harm's way and i don't seek to minimize the emotional nor physical damage that will take untolled billions and years to repair. but just for a moment can we celebrate the human spirit that we've all watched play out over the span of the last seven days. the first responders, those who risked their lives for strangers, neighbors who opened their homes to those who required shelter from the storm. heroics to save the lives of pets. the many who undertook fundraising tasks and the many more who are responding to those calls. or how about these people, who formed a human chain to save an elderly man trapped in his car

on the interstate. here is the thing about that rescue and many more like it. nobody asked him, how he was registered to vote, nobody wanted to see his immigration papers for that matter. if there is one thing missing or diminished this last week, it is partisan rancor. not even the trumped amount over evacuation took hold, politics was secondary to saving lives and protecting property. the wind and the waters of hurricane harvey, they didn't discriminate. they lashed republicans and democrats and independents and the young and the old and the rich and the poor, the black and the white and the arisian and t hispanic. here is a legacy that all that unite us. while we all wish the storm brought only such tor stories, when catastrophe strikes, it also brings out bad actors.

like the convenient store in houston that cnn found charging $20 for a gallon of gas. $8.50 for a bottle of water and $99 for a case of water. as of friday afternoon, reuters reporting almost it 2-thousand complaints of price gouging and fraud. joining me now, the person in charge of pursuing such behavior, the texas attorney general ken paxton. where does free market economy and price gouging begin? how duo you know it when you se it. >> thank you for your opening monologue. that is right on point and really captures the spirit of texas and all of these volunteers. >> thank you. >> not only risked their lives for other people. thank you for that monologue. it was excellent. i would say we don't have a market. we haven't had a market in houston over the last week and so the legislature and in those certain situations when we are

dealing commodities or things that are -- that are necessities to people, during a crisis, you can't overcharge. and so those are things that we are looking at. whether it is water, fuel, food, hotels when people start to overcharge, that is when we come in. >> and have the -- the reports been pronounced in any one area. i've heard of the gas -- i've heard of the water, and we have images of people lined up waiting for gas. so it is an easily exploited situation. we're showing cases of water there on sale for $42 and change. where are most of the complaints coming. >> so interesting, at first they were coming from the houston area. it was a -- it was water, it was fuel and hotels. we have many instances of hotels tripling and and quadrupling charges. those have died down. we've getten most complaints in dallas about gas. i'm expecting now that people realize there is no shortage in texas of supply, that that is

going to diminish as well. but over the laugh couple -- la couple of days we've gotten over a thousand complaints in dallas. >> and what is the worst of the reports you've heard. how high have people been charged for a gallon of gas? >> well, i think you hit it. it is $20 a gallon. we've seen other instances between $4 and $10. price gouges, and those are perfect examples. and i want to say we are not talking about normal market fluctuations. we've seen the price of gas go up a little bit and that is normal. that happens every day in texas and in america. so we are not talking about normal market fluctuations we are talking about clear price gouging. that is what we're interested in. >> how important is it that you prosecute someone and do it sooner rather than later so as to send a message this isn't going to be tolerated. >> oh, believe me, i've already many my unit out investigating some of these. so they were out immediately.

some of them we couldn't get to because the businesses were shut down and they are in access able to all of us so we sent those through the mail. and i mentioned best western i guy that overcharged three or four times and they'll pulled his franchise. we've had an impact talking to major corporations where they've had isolated incidents where they've found it and corrected it. best buy and home depot and others have stepped up to the plate and fixed small problems that we've seen. >> so this is the consumer side of it. that we've been discussing. now i worry about the fundraising size. what concerns do you have as to scammers who might be out there and trying to take advantage of the situation. >> we have a lot of concerns. my officer oversees charities in the state any way. so we have a particular expertise in dealing with this. so we are very concerned about people donated to causes that are illegitimate or made up and charities suddenly being created. so i would really encourage people to focus on charities

that they know about that are legit. that we know are on the ground, working like the red cross or samaritans purse or the salvation army, og something like that that you are confident is a real charity. >> hey, let's go back to good news. talk to me what about you as a texan stands out this week that you saw in your mind that you want to salute. >> a couple of things. one is just the coordination with our local officials, with governor abbott and what a great job. they were ready for this. and despite this being something that really you can't get ready for, this is a largest storm i think we've ever had in the history of texas and lasted longer and had the most devastation and you saw democrats or republicans they were working together along with the federal government so i'm grateful, because it saved a lot of lives and when you were talking about in your monologue, it is priceless, people jumping in and volunteering and risking their lives to save other people and not thinking twice about it.

so it is really hard to describe my feelings toward these people that took their time and they could have left the scene and instead they were risking their lives. >> i they'll it fr-- i feel it afar and i salute those actions you are suggesting and how do we make it last and remember it silver lining from a catastrophic situation and put aside the partisan differences going forward. you get the final word on that. >> you know, there is always going to be challenges and differences of opinion. but what i really do hope that people will remember is this fundamental sort of togetherness, this idea that we are all texans an americans and that ultimately we live in the same country and the same state and that ultimately we're a lot more alike than we are dissimilar and so it is so easy to focus on differences but hopefully going through something so difficult, is something that will draw us together as texans and americans so that we could work on our

differences and not criticize each other so harshly, rather know that we have our differences but we still have this basic love for each other. >> attorney general ken paxton from the lone star state, thank you so much for being here. >> glad to do it and keep us in your prays. >> thank you, sir. we will. what why your thoughts? tweet me or go to my facebook page. what do we have katherine. what you saw in texas is america. not the toddry game show that runs nonstop in side of the beltway. my role here is to react to your tweets in realtime and say something pif, i have nothing to say to that. i am 100% in agreement with you and let's just ride at that. and still to come, president trump on the way to visiting houston. when it comes to the timing of official visits to natural disasters, are presidents damned when they do and damned when they don't.

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joint base andrews awaiting the president of the united states who is headed back to texas, ellington field, to survey the devastation brought by hurricane harvey. when he first visited on tuesday, there were some who questioned the timing. proving he is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. and then beyond the timing there were others that wanted to have conversation about the first lady's heels and the president's comments about the size of the crowd and lack of interaction with actual flood victims. here is my question. was that criticism fair? how do you orchestrate a visit of this kind? how do you turn a commander-in-chief into a consoler in chief. you recall that president george w. bush dealt with repercussions for how he handmed hurricane katrina in 2005. who better to ask today than spencer geisinger, who headed the presidential advance team for president george w. bush and was there during the whole katrina flap. hey, spencer, thank you for being here.

where would you send the president of the united states today? >> good morning. michael. it is good to be with you. >> thank you. >> the president -- the president has he's wearing two hats today. he's commander-in-chief, and he's con for thor in chief. i would -- comforter in chief and when he lands there are three or four or five things he needs to do while in houston. number one, i think needs to meet with the victims. and he can do that in a number of ways. he can go to a shelter, he can go to do a street walk. in neighborhoods where the folks have been allowed to go back in and salvage what they can from their homes. he could walk down the street and greet them. what he needs to do today is -- is he needs to give a collective hug to the city of houston behalf of the american people. they need -- the people of houston need to know that the federal government is there to help. and that the american people are supporting them and thinking

about them and praying for them. secondly, i think he needs to -- he needs to go and thank the first responds. they've been working around the clock, rescuing people, providing security and so an and so forth. so he needs to thank those folks. and i think he also needs to visit with the volunteers. i mean the volunteers that turned out to save these people and to help the citizens of houston is phenomenal. and that needs to go -- i think he ne hes to -- needs to go and spend time with the volunteers and the ngos that helped hand out the water and dry clothes and hand out supplies and handed out the supplies and that what is america is all about and get an in depth briefing at the joint operations command and i mean a detailed briefing on the entire rescue and relief operation. and where it stands.

not just a photo on but get down in the weeds on what fema is doing and what the local authorities are doing and where we can improve things. so that is sort of where -- >> it seems -- >> i would like to see. >> it seems like the most analogous situation is katrina. if you had it to do over again, what did you learn from the katrina experience with w. that you would have done differently? >> well, i wasn't actually in charge of the advanced office at that time but obviously like all americans, i worked -- i witnessed it and i watched it and was serving in the administration. the issue of the original of the fly over was done with all good intent. it is very difficult to, as you know, to bring the president of the united states into a situation where there is a lack of resores where road -- resources or where roads are close and they are maxed with

recovery and relief efforts to get in there too early and cause the resources to be pulled off of what they are doing to assist with a presidential visit. those sorts of things you have to be mindful of and so the initial fly over of new orleans, we wanted to see the -- the president wanted to see the extent of the damage. but didn't want -- the decision was made not to land in order to not take those resources away from the recovery and relief effort. and later, the president went -- i think at some point he was making a trip once a month throughout the whole process. so he made many, many trips to new orleans during katrina. >> i guess, spencer, my -- my point was that -- and we're showing an image now of the fly over you are referencing. you are kind of damned when you do and damned when you don't. president trump was subject to some criticism this past week relative to the timing and i have to say, in his defense, had he not been there, those same

folks would probably be saying, where the hell is he. >> exactly. and so i agree, you are damned if you do, damned if you don't. and the bottom line is these stories or occcur fufls that happen, if a certain audience views that came too early versus another audience that thought he should have been there sooner, those things blow over rather quickly. this is going to be a long-term venture down there in houston. this is a -- there is a hundred thousand homes that are uninhabitable which means hundreds of thousands of people have nowhere to live. this will take a long time to get people housed and back in their homes and the president will make many trips, the vice president will make many trips to houston over the next year. and so these little short-term stories i think will fly -- will blowing over. but i think today is a perfect timing. people are being allowed to go back into their neighborhoods. some are still being evacuated, obviously. but some are being allowed to go

back in. so it is a perfect time to get down there and get your feet on the ground and figure out exactly where the recovery and relief effort stands and really allows him to interact with the people who are suffering the most. and that is the most important thing. you know -- >> one other observation, if i may. i like the fact, obviously that he's gone and going back and agree with spencer guisinger, he will have to go back more in the future. but some of the criticism this past week and believe me, spencer, if and when there is a time to criticize the president for his reaction to hurricane harvey, he will be at the leead of the pack and but we are not not there and here heels when she walked out of the white house, or him wearing khakis, to my recollection he was wearing the same uniform as president obama, there is the image. there is president obama greeting chris christie in sandy attired in the same way as

president trump. you know, taking his first look in texas. >> yeah, and president bush wore khakis too and wore an open collar shirt. >> what else are you going to wear? >> yeah. that criticism is ridiculous. and that -- that stuff is not helpful. that kind of criticism is not helpful in a situation like this. i mean, the president and first lady went down there, they did the right thing. they're going to go down there many more times. they're going to visit with people. this is a long, long road to hoe. so i commend the president and the first lady for getting down there. the president has an excellent operations team. this trip is -- it is different from a political trip or a policy trip, this is a operations trip or a reactionary trip where the president and first lady are reacting to a national -- a national disaster. >> may i ask you -- may i ask you a final question. because i -- i'm proud of this.

i did advance por poppa bush, for bush 41 back when i had hair. and i'm wondering about the trump advanced team because they ran a lot of rallies in campaign season, are they up to the drill for this sort of work? do they have an experienced team when it comes to, as you put it, presented the consoler in chief. >> absolutely. the individual who is in charge, the deputy white house chief of staff for operations had the same position and the same person that had it during the bush administration. and he was my boss in the white house. mr. joe hagen. and so he's put together an excellent team, the advanced -- the advanced guys that will be down there on the ground, worked under me in the bush administration. so i'm confident they know what to do. these are all seasoned pros. and they'll do the right thing. and they'll make sure that the president gets where -- gets to see what he needs to see and does what he needs to do while he is down there.

so i have complete confidence in that whole operations -- operation at the white house. >> thank you, spencer. i remember joe hagen. from bush 41 days. thank you very much. >> you got it, michael. thank you. let me see what you are always saying on my twitter and facebook pages. what do we have? i'm not a trump fan. but when people criticism melania on her footwear way as pauled, she and bar ron should be off limits. and i agree and that is what i said to spencer. again, if the relief efforts fall down, let's have that conversation. but let's skip the footwear in between. she's could be bare foot for all i care, as long as the relief supplies get where they need to go. one more katherine, if we have time. texas accepted needed aid from mexico. would that have happened if the wall was built? paul, i think that is a good observation. you know, the response even from our southern neighbors in addition to that from the

citizenry that i saluted at the outset of the program was terrific. still to come, the latest from houston where the mayor is urging those who stayed behind in flooded homes to now evacuate. blowout event! save 10 to 70% off on all clothing and shoes. and up to 70% off on outdoor life for him and simply styled for her! plus hot deals on jeans for kids, starting at 8.99. hurry - sale ends september 4th. ♪ ouch! new band-aid® brand skin-flex™ bandages. our best bandage yet! it dries almost instantly. better? yeah. good thing because stopping never crosses your mind. band-aid® brand. stick with it™ outer layer of your enamel tooth surface. white, the thing that's really important to dentists is to make sure that that enamel stays strong and resilient for a lifetime the more that we can strengthen and re-harden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients' teeth are going to be. dentists are going to really want to recommend pronamel strong and bright. it helps to strengthen and re-harden the enamel.

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and live sports on the go. included with xfinity tv. xfinity, the future of awesome. the statistics of harvey's d damage are still being tab you' you'll ated. and in houston harris county, about 136,000 structures were flooded. 10% of all of the billings in the county, for the latest joining me now is vernon lobe. the managing editor of the houston chronicle who wrote this column in the washington post, harvey should be the turning point in fighting climate change. i'm trying to stick with some

good news and deal with the bad. so let me begin with asking you, what makes you most proud of what you've seen in texas these past couple of days? >> well, it would be the way people have pulled together. you have seen it is a tough city and unpretentious and to see the volunteers pouring out at the shelters and neighbors helping each other and inflating rafts and saving each other was an amazing moment for houston and the city came to t-- came toget in a way that did lift everybody's spirits. >> and one of the things that i appreciate is posting and we have the images of the most moving photography that has been shot by your folks in the last couple of days. you want to say anything about the pictures you've been publishing? >> you know, from the really dramatic aerial shots of entire

neighborhoods, subdivisions flooded out to the scene at the george r. brown convention center with just cots and people as far as the eye could see, which really reminded me of katrina, to the rescue shots, to just -- we have a picture on the front page this morning of an 80-year-old woman being advise visited by meals on wheels and just surrounded by stuff in her living room. they are all just incredibly moving. >> you wrote a piece for the washington post and i will put some portions up on the screen. not known for hyperbole, the national weather service tweeted during which some parts of houston got more than that 25 inches, all impacted are unknown and beyond anything experienced. it is catastrophic, unprecedented, epic said patrick blood, the national weather service meteorologist. whatever adjective you want to use and then you quoted brock

long from fema, this is a storm the united states has not yet seen and what you say, they are all talking about, albeit not identifying by name, is climate change. will hurricane harvey, when we look back, represent a turning point relative to the way we think about that subject? >> well, who knows. i certainly hope it will. i mean, it is not something you can prove and i don't think people today in houston as we starting to rip out soggy drywall are thinking about climate change. but something is going on here that we've never seen before. houston is a city that is used to be flooded. i've worked in houston for almost four years and we've had three epic one in a hundred year flood events and this is by some estimates a one in 800 year flood event. something is happening here that we haven't seen before. i mean, i take brock long's quote at face value. this is a storm america has

never seen before. on sunday, the first day of the storm, bush airport recorded 16 inches of rain. the prior record had been 8 inches, 70 years ago. rivers are cresting above their record levels by eight, ten, 12 feet. one -- in one place in houston, it rained 13 inches in an hour. the science issin controvert able and it wants the ocean and creates more extreme weather events. what we're seeing here, probably it will be repeated and this is just as brock long said, the most extreme storm, the most extreme hurricane, the most extreme weather event the country has ever seen. >> vernon, we're showing a live shot now of marine one landing at andrews. the president of course headed back in your direction today.

assess what is known of the federal response thus far. >> well, several hundred thousand people have already signed up for fema relief. yesterday, as we wrote about this morning on the front page, people were starting not to be able to get threw to fema. they were calling and -- and not getting through. i think it is too early to assess the federal sponsor certainly to start blaming anybody. i think the response has been pretty good so far. there is a lot of fema people here. the state and the city seem to be coordinating pretty well. one thing people don't realize about texas is all of the cities in texas are liberal and democratic, the state as a whole is very conservative, all of the state wide elected officials are republicans. there is the potential here for political rancor. we haven't seen that yet. people are working together. and i think this is a real

moment for politicians of both parties in texas to come together and say, you know, we're going to provide the relief people need and we're going to start taking climate change seriously. it shouldn't be a partisan issue. science is science. we don't debate medical science. houston has the largest medical center in the world. the science there is -- is accepted by all and think climate change should be similar and the response to the hurricane should be similar. both parties should come together and say we're going to help people out here. >> vernon lobe thank you so much for being here and for the great job that the chronicle is doing for the last week. >> thank you. my pleasure. cnn will of course continue to cover the president's return to texas throughout the course of the day. as you could see, he's now landed. marine one has landed. and soon will be taking off for texas. what do we have katherine in

terms of social media? can i deal with any tweets? no social media, she said. okay. and she is the boss. up ahead, harvey has transformed the landscape of houston. was that due in part to houston's lack of zoning laws and will this shift the debate as i just referenced with vernon on climate change. listerine® e strengthens teeth, helps prevent cavities and restores tooth enamel. it's an easy way to give listerine® total care to the total family. listerine® total care. one bottle, six benefits. power to your mouth™. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap to friends at more banks than ever before. you got next?

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and join the summer weekenders. you are looking at the president moments ago going from marine one to air force one for his return trip to texas. to survey the flood damage from hurricane harvey. as the water starts to recede in houston, how should the city rebuild? harvey leaves behind tens of billion dollars of damage, 73,000 people rescued.

100,000 homes either damaged or destroyed. 50 dead. a half a million cars destroyed and tons of blame to go around. so what lies ahead given the lack of zoning regulations in houston. and the ongoing battles over climate change that some say energized the storm. well, these two articles on bloomberg caught my eye. harvey wasn't just bad weather, it was bad city planning. by peter coy and christopher flavel and harvey could reshape how and where americans bill their homes. joining me now, bloombergs climate policy reporter and business week economics editor peter coy. peter, any city regardless of the zoning standards and regulations would have been devastated, i know we can agree on that. you said so in your piece. but what is the question that you think needs to be addressed now before we move forward? >> the immediate action is obviously to save people who are

still in stress, to get the emergency aid in there, to get people's lives back together. but very soon after that, there has to be a serious conversation about how houston rebuilds. so this doesn't happen again. now, there are two solutions basically. the one is the gray solution that is concrete. that is -- that culverts, drains, trying to get the water out of there when it lands and the other is the green solution which is to say you can't flush all of the water away. more storms like harvey are coming. you have to have a solution to involve catching the water, when it comes down, and allowing it to be gradually absorbed and gradually flushed out to the gulf of mexico. this is the green solution. that is the -- the detention ponds, flood control reservoirs and so on. it is expensive because it involves setting aside precious land and that it can't be developed and can't collect property taxes on.

but ultimately, in the long run, it is probably the better solution. >> christopher, you have written that texas is really houston, in particular, a microcosm for a much larger debate that pits the interests of in surers against those of home builders. explain. >> what we're seeing in texas isn't new. a version of this happens every time there is a big storm. home builders or developers said the priority should be building as affordable and widely as possible because people need homes. that is true. but ensurers say think of future risk. if we build too cheaply, the next storm will be more devastating. the consequences aren't as sweeping in houston or texas and this is an old debate and hopefully this time we'll find a better answer at the end of it ishlgs and we're having this conversation as air force one which contains the commander-in-chief, also a builder and developer himself is headed back to texas.

christopher, on to which side does he fall if we yet know, the unsurer side or the builder side. >> it is unclear. and that is the big questions we have to try to ask. his fema director brock long told me just before harvey hits that this administration wants to push local officials to make bett better choice and better protect us against extreme weather and this is the chance to follow through on that and whether they encourage and insist that the texas used the tens of billion dollars in federal money in a smart smarter. and i would like to know if president trump will say we will help you but help with better building codes and planning better for the next time. >> peter in my last segment i began a conversation about the role of climate change in hurricane harvey. and i want to put on the screen something that you wrote. for houston, the cruel irony is that the greenhouse gases that

contribute to superstorms are connected to the oil and petro chemical economy on which the city built its fortune. will this be a turning point of sorts relative to that national conversation? >> yeah, well nobody can blame houston itself for a global warming. >> of course not. >> the oil and gas that houston -- that texas produces is consumed by all of us. but it is true that something has got to change. i mean, nobody knew when they built miami where it is or houston where it is that we were going to have something called global warming, that we'll have rising sea levels, worsening storms. but it is a reality. and it is inescapable. people talk about something like harvey being an act of god. well the lord helps those who help themselves. and if the society doesn't respond to the worsening damage caused by storms such as harvey,

if it tries to go on with life as usual. we're going to have even worse consequences in the decades to come. >> christopher, it is really not the insurance industry that is taking a hit for harvey, at least thus far. ultimately it is taxpayers. through fema, through national flood insurance, but not private insurance per se. explain the difference. >> that is right. think of it this way. you have maybe half -- roughly half the risk along the coast is insured and people call it the coverage gap and that gets filled by you and me and when people make claims and say i have lost my house and there is no insurance. that is a safety net. and for the next time let's shrink the coverage gap and have more people covered by private insurance and better building and i want to touch on the theme you've had this hour, the good news, there is a can-do spirit and you could apply it to

protection. to building better and saying we're going to do the best job we can. there hasn't been a lost that yet but that is one of the sort of better outcomes of this whole mess. >> christopher and peter, i've got to watch the takeoff because it is in progress as we speak. don't lose my live shot yet. president trump headed back to texas. to survey the hurricane damage. meet with folks in houston and in other areas. as i say, throughout the course of the day, right here on cnn, we'll keep you abreast of the safe developments. safe takeoff. still to come, your best and worst tweets and facebook comments. hit me, katherine. should american taxpayer pay for folks that live in flood prone areas. mary, that is exactly the conversation that i just initiated with those last two guests. and i think it is one that we frankly haven't had on a national level thus far and it is not necessarily climate

change dependent. houston is built on a coastal prairie, any city would have been ravaged. please don't misunderstand what i'm saying. by 50 inches of water. falling in its local. but addressed the right issue. back in a moment. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ if you could book a flight, then add a hotel, or car, or activity in one place and save,

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i am a first responder tor and i'emergencies 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. my children and my family are on my mind when i'm working all the time. my neighbors are here, my friends and family live here, so it's important for me to respond as quickly as possible and get the power back on. it's an amazing feeling turning those lights back on. be informed about outages in your area. sign up for outage alerts at pge.com/outagealerts. together, we're building a better california. if you ever miss any of the program, you can catch us any time on cnn go online and through your connected devices and apps, remember to follow me on twitter and facebook. here's some of what you thought during the course of the program. 7.85 billion in harvey aid? that money should only help

democrats because republicans hate big government. hey, chicko, i'm paying close attention to the debate that i thought was fascinating between golfer christie and senator cruz and remembering what the relative positions were of the parties when it was sandy. and not harvey. and i think people need to be consistent, right? if you're going to take a position relative to one storm, it will be interesting to see if it's the same position when now it's your home state. what's next? smerkonish, why does the media criticize the president of every little thing including his post-hurricane harvey visit. hey, kevin, were you paying attention? i'm the guy who said i thought the critiques were bogus, i don't give a damn what melania was wearing when she went to texas. i'm thrilled they made the trip and he's going back. he was wearing the same khakis as president obama and george w. bush during hurricane katrina, you're getting me all worked up and i'm the one who said so.

take it up elsewhere. next? smerkonish, not global warming, don't build homes under sea level, new orleans nor in flood plains in houston. this is ridiculous. that may be a valid comment. but the rise of extreme weather, even in our lifetimes, i think is undeniable. and we do need to have the conversation. maybe a week in is not the appropriate time, but sooner rather than later. next? it was fair criticism of trump and melania, six-inch heels to disaster and no victim touched? what a -- come on, jeremy, jeremy? today he's going for that purpose. last tuesday he couldn't get in the way of the delivery of relief. you're turning me into a an apologist here for the guy because i feel i need to throw a flag when the criticisms are unfair. have a wonderful labor day weekend, see you next week.

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good morning, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today, i'm christie paul. >> and i'm victor blackwell. president trump and the first lady are on air force one. returning to the gulf coast a week after harvey slammed into texas. thousands of homes have been ruined, the city there is still without running water and we know that at least 50 people have been killed. >> we also know the president and the first lady are boarding air force one at a rainy joint base andrews. in fact they did this a short time ago. here's some video coming into us. they are s