multi-tasking. you have the threat of north korea lurking as well. >> and tax reform in springfield tonight. >> more on this after the show show. don't be surprised if one of them is saying maybe or maybe not. >> bye. tomorrow's thursday. >> we're awaiting a news conference with homeland security officials as harvey makes a second landfall in louisiana. the danger is far from over in texas. 25 inches in 24 hours in the beaumont and port arthur areas. people are in survival mode there. i'm shannon bream. >> eric: i'm eric shawn in for bill hemmer this morning. harvey made landfall as a tropical storm hitting western louisiana and expected to donald trump heavy rains moving north. it's inundating the texas

cities of port arthur and beaumont. the floodwaters are rising and sadly there is no way for people to get out. >> this is all coming as rescues continue in houston. the red cross says 17,000 people are now in emergency shelters, two stadiums in houston, the toyota center and nrg stadium are taking in evacuees which houston convention center over capacity. it dumped 51.88 inches of rain in a suburb east of houston and unloading 15 trillion gallons of rain in texas. the amount of water is astounding and overwhelming. we're on the north side of houston near the reservoir that's overflowing. good morning, griff. >> good morning. rescue boats putting in under blue sky, something we haven't seen for five days here and

we're on the north side of the reservoir. two dams that were overflowing yesterday are going to flood the neighborhood in and around this area for are the next four to five weeks. expected to last until october. a lot to do here but they're also facing some new problems. that is looting. apparently the houston police department arrested 14 armed robbers. that's not the only incident that's been going on here. we talked to a gentleman on the way to work today. his name is earnest harris and he said what do you make of this looting thing? >> scared for me and my family. you have to protect yourself at the same time, too. that's what i'm doing. >> how are you protecting yourself? >> carrying a gun at all times. waiting for it to happen. >> authorities sending a clear message, the chief saying that they are not going to stand for this. in fact, the prosecutors are

stiffening the penalties to 2 to 20 years if you are caught burglarizing a home. under these circumstances in a disaster situation it's five years to life with a guaranteed prison sentence. i don't think down here in texas it will be tolerated very well, guys. >> eric: all right, griff, thank you so much. we're also now learning more about the victims of harvey so far at least 18 people have been killed and that number sadly, of course, could change as the waters recede. tragically one of houston's veteran police officers is among the dead. you're looking at 60-year-old sergeant steve perez. he drowned in the floodwaters while trapped if his patrol car. he was heading to work on sunday when he was caught in a highway underpass. houston's police chief says crews conducted a search when they realized the sergeant was missing. sadly, he knew they were too late. >> so we will find him and once

our dive team got there it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. we made a decision to leave officers there waiting until the morning because as much as we wanted to recover him last night, we could not put more officers at risk. >> eric: sergeant perez was with the houston police department for 34 years and now a symbol of the selfless courage of law enforcement and the first responders who are right now dealing with this disaster. at least 17 people have died since harvey first made landfall and sadly, that number could rise. we'll be watching it. >> president trump toured some of the hardest hit areas of texas yesterday. he and greg abbott praised emergency responders and the resolve of all the victims of harvey's destruction. >> we want to do it better than ever before and we want to be looked at in five and 10 years from now that this is the way to do it.

this was of epic proportion, nobody has ever seen anything like this. every step of the way as the hurricane came across the shore, as the flooding began in houston, texas, the president and his cabinet remain in constant contact with me and my staff and they all had one thing to say, texas, what do you need? how can we help? >> texas governor greg abbott joins us live. good to see you today. i have to say that the world has seen what the people of texas can do. it is not only your first responders, you as elected officials, everybody who is coordinated on this an official level but the see the volunteers and people helping each other, what does it say about the people of texas? >> listen, this is texas. it is texans helping texans. this is the everyday heroism we see across the state of texas all the time. it's just that when the worldwide media focus is on it,

the world gets to see what texans do every day and i'm so proud of the men and women not just in houston but all the way over to corpus christi and now in beaumont where these emergencies flair up, we see texans helping texans risking their lives to bail out the lives of others. that's just who we are. >> let's talk about port arthur. one of the critical areas now. we're told that nearly every house in that town has got some level of water in it and we've seen the pictures coming from inside the shelter where they're now flooded as well where people had gone to escape. here is the posting from facebook one of the officials there saying part of our rescue team is fighting an apartment fire and rescuing folks from the complex. the lightning has slowed up some rescues but not stopped. our whole city is under water right now but we're coming. if you call, we're coming. please get to higher ground if you can. please stay out of the attics, though.

it sounds like a dire situation. what can be done for these folks who now seem like they're just trapped? >> it's a huge challenge. we've seen this move from corpus christi to houston, now to beaumont. beaumont residents. not just there but the entire region around there. they're suffering the same challenges that houston was facing a couple of days ago, the rising water. what we're doing as we speak, we're adding more boats to the region, helicopters to the region, more people on the ground to the region to help them deal with these circumstances. we're opening up housing and emergency response centers that people can relocate to. but it is all hands on deck now in the greater beaumont region to help them deal with the same challenges. >> a lot of lessons learned from katrina that were spread throughout the south prone to this kind of flooding and it has been very helpful. no matter how much you've done and the feds are helping as well you are dealing with

something that is truly historic and that no manmade levies or plans would be able to overcome what's flooding if right now. >> you're right. it is historic the amount of rain that we've received. but also i think it is a fact that because of lessons learned in the aftermath of katrina we've been able to work far more collaboratively than we've ever responded to a hurricane in the united states before. a seamless and ongoing collaboration between the state and federal government and the state has been working with local officials from corpus christi to all the way to houston and beaumont helping our fellow texans respond. we've been pre-positioned and activated. more resources than ever before. we've unleashed the entire national guard in the state of texas. i have to tell you, shannon, i'm so thankful to states

across the entire country for sharing their national guard as well as other resources with us. this is a national effort where our fellow americans are helping texans respond in this challenging time. >> a lot of folks leaving their own families battling these conditions as well to help others. we understand the president will be back on saturday and will go to maybe more of the actual areas that are hit. he didn't want to complicate that effort in his visit yesterday. this all comes as he is saying congress will move quickly on getting emergency funding approved for this. there is already some political chatter back and forth about what happened with sandy, pork being loaded with the bill and people voting against it including people from texas. how dire is that need? >> listen, when you compare what happened just in houston to what happened in katrina, the cost and the magnitude is greater than katrina was. we were having a conversation yesterday with myself, the

president, with senators as well as members of the united states house of representatives from texas, and everybody is talking from the same page to make sure that texas will be able to get the resources its needs just like louisiana got it in katrina and new jersey and new york got it in hurricane sandy. >> there are short, mid and long-term projections that will need funding and volunteer work and help. the prayers of the country are with you. thank you, governor. >> eric: we have much more ahead this morning on tropical storm harvey. we're waiting for an update from fema and emergency officials. that just moments from now. we'll bring you that news conference to you live as it happens. also get reaction from texas congressman mike mccaul on how the operations this morning are going and coming up in the next hour of "america's newsroom," both louisiana senators will be here, john kennedy, bill cassidy. they'll join us on the impact

this is having on their state. plus this. >> i waited so long and my kids -- i mean, they were in danger. thank them that showed up now. i didn't know who to call. i didn't know if it would be too late. >> we continue to hear these shocking stories of survivals from people rescued. more what the evacuees are facing now. do you remember this? >> this stuff is destroyed and so you can't destroy stuff that's under a a subpoena, you can't do that. >> the f.b.i. it turns out is shutting down requests for files on hillary clinton. the bureau cites a lack of public interest. so what does that mean? former utah congressman jason chaffetz is not happy about this at all. he joins us next with his

reaction on where that investigation is going.

>> eric: the f.b.i. is rejecting a request under the freedom of information act for records related to hillary clinton and her use of the private email server while she was secretary of state. they are citing a lack of public interest as a reason not to release the information and the bureau released a statement saying you must show the public

interest is a significant one and the requested information is likely to advance that interest. what are they talking about? former utah congressman jason chafe -- chaffetz is here. david hardy, dissemination section of the f.b.i. dated august 28th. he says this is to a lawyer in brooklyn trying to file this. he says you can't get it unless you show that people care. >> david hardy should be fired or who his superior is who ordered him not to release the documents. this does nothing to help the public interests. the fact that the united states is different. we do release the documents. the american taxpayer paid for the documents, public records and the public has the right to see them. >> eric: he says you have to show that people care or there is a public interest.

let me read you a quote from the letter, mr. hardy wrote back to the lawyer in brooklyn, this. we've determined you have not sufficiently demonstrated the public interest in disclosure outweighs personal privacy interests of the subject meaning mrs. clinton. in the absence of a privacy waiver or proof of death you need to provide documentation about the public interest before records can be processed pursuant. what is he talking about? >> it's a joke. the reality is they do the exact same thing to congress. this sort of deep state will do everything it can to protect its own. there is no reason why those documents should be held from the public but they also aren't giving them to congress. i issued a subpoena on this information. congressional inquiries and they still didn't give those documents and now they're saying we have to protect the privacy of hillary clinton? i'm sorry, when she was

secretary of state creating this government records, that's in the public purchase view and we should be able to see those. >> eric: does she have privacy rights? >> no, these are documents that are federal records. the public has the right to see these. >> eric: what do you think is in them? >> we don't no. congress doesn't know. congress is feckless and infecttive. when you issue a subpoena it isn't worth the paper it's written on. you have to go back to the department of justice. you have to enforce that subpoena, go to the same department of justice that you are trying to do an investigation on. >> eric: who has the crowbar? >> the american people have to demand this. they are afraid of the courts. they aren't afraid of congress. use the power of the purse. guess what? the head of the appropriations subcommittee won't do anything on this. and they know that. so they don't do anything.

there is no repercussion. >> eric: do you think the public will ever see this information? >> unless we keep pounding the desk. this is what makes the united states different. we're open and we look at these things. stop hiding the documents. i thought it would change with the trump administration. it hasn't. it's exactly the same because the deep state just doesn't want to have this information out there. >> eric: david hardy section chief records management division is the letter from him. i'm sure he will hear more. >> shannon: there is new reaction from president trump as tensions from north korea continue to escalate. the regime says its latest missile launch is a prelude to what's ahead. the latest details and minutes away from a fema news conference on the latest information coming out of texas and louisiana.

all of that coming as we hear the situation in beaumont and port arthur. that area is getting more dire by the minute. >> coast guard crews continue to operate around the clock to assist residents of houston and surrounding communities. >> working alongside texans helping texans and americans helping texans. people would stare. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability

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>> eric: it turns out that north korea is not backing down. now saying yesterday's brazen missile launch over japan was a quote prelude to a launch toward guam. a u.s. territory that you know the regime of kim jong-un threatened to fire on last week. president trump fired back. the u.s. has been talking to north korea and paying them

extortion money for 25 years, talking is not the answer. much more on this and diplomatic efforts ongoing with ralph peters on where this goes next. >> shannon: we're just minutes away from a news conference from the department of homeland security and fema expected to give updates on the federal response in support of state and local officials in texas and louisiana. government workers at all levels including more than 8,000 federal employees are directly involved with the disaster. carl higbie is chief of external affairs for americorps. good to see you. let's talk about americorps and what they can do in a situation like this? >> it's made up of basic american citizens who want to give back and do their piece of service. a domestic service of the u.s. military. we have a youth program which right now has 300 people staged just outside the disaster zone and 700 on stand by.

the ones who responded to katrina and sandy and things like that. we're still down in louisiana helping the floods from last year and forward staged for what the hurricane may bring when it comes there. >> shannon: a force multiplier for the trained law enforcement officials and first responders and national guard and all those folks on the ground, this is sort of another batch to come in and help with their efforts as well. >> the best thing that we do is back up the local authorities. we take their guidance and especially through this disaster which has been fantastic as fema. fema at the direction of the -- the president has taken the lead and we take in and staffing right now. we have our americorps, it is something to come in on week two and see this machine rolling and getting to be part of it. >> shannon: in the midst of a horrible devastating situation

a beautiful thing to see volunteers and people who want to come into those areas. they are itching to get there and help these folks. tell us about the spirit of americorps. it can make a difference in a situation like this. >> these are people that come in and are essentially volunteers. they get a stipend. if you're 18 to 25 you can volunteer and they'll give you college grants for when you finish your year of service. which is a great program. and we would encourage people in the wake of this to get on national service.gov and join up. we'll be there for the next six years. once the floodwaterers recede we'll be there for half a decade cleaning up this situation. >> shannon: you've served our country in many ways and now with americorps. >> eric: an update from federal officials on the disaster response in texas and louisiana. we expect officials the take

that podium momentarily and when they do we'll bring it to you live. texas congressman michael mccaul will join us for the latest on the rescue efforts next. this is a diamond tracked on a blockchain - protected against fraud, theft and trafficking. this is a financial transaction secure from hacks and threats others can't see. this is a patient's medical history made secure - while still available to their doctor at their fingertips. this is an asteroid live-streamed to millions of viewers from 220 miles above earth. this is ai trained by experts in 20 industries. your industry. hello. this is not the cloud you know. this is the ibm cloud. built for your business. designed for your data. secure to the core.

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>> shannon: we are awaiting an update if fema and the department of homeland security on the disaster response in texas and louisiana. let's go live to catherine herridge live at fema headquarters. good morning. >> we've been given the two-minute warning here at fema headquarters so we'll hear from the fema administrator brock long as well as the secretary and the commandant of the coast guard. we're at the nrcc, the national response coordination center, the hub that is directing the federal response and to give you a sense of the scope of this operation, they have three smaller incident response centers to help execute the

operation and these incident response centers are closer to texas. we got a lot of numbers in terms of the federal response but i want to draw your attention to a handful of numbers which will really help you understand the scope of the operation. 8,800 federal employees have now been deployed to respond to hurricane harvey. number two, they have pre-positioned assets nearly three million meals and liters of waters in staging areas so they can surge them into texas once the lines of communication and transportation open up. so that tells you that this is going to be a long haul operation and they will be looking at this operation for several days. in addition, they have 1100 personnel who are part of these urban search and rescue teams and now have a swift water capability which means that they're able to move quickly into these areas to try and effect to rescues. we're a few seconds away from getting the latest update at

fema headquarters. based on my conversation with individuals here they say this is probably the greatest single response the federal government has had to launch to a natural disaster in the history of the united states and of course especially in the gulf coast with texas, shannon. >> shannon: catherine herridge live for us at the press conference. thank you very much. eric, we know even with everything they had poured into that region, the governor has said they've had to make more requests. the shelters fill up, they need more money and supplies of every kind. think about people he has talked earlier about people being away from medicine, dialysis, medical needs as well. they are incredibly great and growing. >> eric: that's shocking when you deal with the human dimension of this, although they have taken lessons from katrina and pre-positioning a lot of assets and bringing them in there. starting 48 hours before harvey even hit so they have taken lessons from what happened 12 years ago. hopefully that will continue to

play out as we see the rescue efforts going. >> shannon: it was amazing to hear from carl higbie with americorps and they are still in louisiana from last year's flooding. >> the first lady and members of the cabinet yesterday on our visit to corpus christi and austin, texas. we heard the experience firsthand of the first responders and volunteers that are helping in the texas area. we met with state and local officials to continue coordinating our response and identifying opportunities for closer collaboration. this was an important first visit to the area. i also want to reinforce the president's message from our trip yesterday. we expect a we expect a.m.-year

recovery and the federal government is in this for the long hall. we'll continue to support the people of texas as long as necessary. the president reiterated this again both publicly and behind closed doors yesterday. the initial word we got, people first is continuing through our response. while we continue to monitor the storm as it heads towards louisiana, we remain concerned about houston where catastrophic flooding is likely to persist days after the rain stops. this cooperation between fema, the other federal agencies, and state and local officials has been outstanding. and we're collectively focused on rescuing those in danger and providing housing and medicare for those who are displaced. resources from across the country have been dispatched to the area to aid in response and recovery. finally, the local officials in

texas, governor abbott, mayor turner, and all others are doing a tremendous job under considerable strain. what we must do in the federal government is to continue to support them and their teams. i want to also thank the men and women who are putting their lives on the line to help the people of texas. their heroism is truly humbling. homeland security's own customs and border protection, u.s. coast guard and others are working with the national guard and local first responders and have saved countless lives. yesterday we tragically lost one of these local heroes. houston police sergeant steve perez. our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to those who have lost loved ones in this terrible storm. while the focus has been understandably on texas we're working with the state of louisiana as the storm moves through their state.

to the people in texas and louisiana, please continue to listen to your local officials and heed warnings. we expect this storm to continue and our number one priority is everyone's safety. we'll continue with the life-sustaining, life-saving mission for the next few days and then move into recovery for the area. and the officials with me here today will tell you more about that. i'll turn it over to the commandant to talk about our continuing life-saving mission. >> thank you, madam secretary. we're very much in the emergency response phase of this historic storm. number one priority right now is recovering survivors. over thousands yesterday, these aren't numbers, these are people. and i just want to put myself in the shoes of these community members who lives have been turned upside down. so we will be there for as long as it takes. as the storm is starting to

shift to the east, we'll be able to shift our resources to the east as well. so we will be a able to stay in front of this. we're getting great support from the national guard, from the state of texas, the entire first response community. this has truly been a unified effort. i can't emphasize enough the great work our good samaritans are doing as well. back at coast guard headquarters i have watch standers around the clock because the 911 calls have inundated the call centers. we're taking the overflow and receiving over 1,000 calls per hour. we aren't out of this by any long stretch. we continue to watch this storm move on and then as we move into the long road to recovery. thank you very much. >> eric: so the whole community continues to descend upon texas. we've a massed federal government support.

over 12,000 staff members and it will continue to grow. not only are we pushing people forward through the dhs search capacity and secretary duke put into place and also the commandant's people risking their lives to state others but we're calling upon other states through emergency management assistance compacts and contracts where we're asking states to come down and they're continuing to amass in texas. the operation right now is clear. we're still in lifesaving mode. not only are we performing through our partners at the coast guard we're performing those life safety measures but the life sustainment mission is huge and will grow. we have over 230 shelters operating in texas with over 30,000 people. i don't want to get fixated on numbers. thefl -- they'll change in the next 30 minutes. we're providing mass care and

also medical care to those who have been displaced and we understand that this is going to be a frustrating and painful process but we're trying to do everything we can to alleviate the situation. overnight the areas of beaumont and port arthur got slammed with 20 inches of rainfall so while we're focused a lot of the effort on houston we have to also understand there are multiple counties, over 50 counties impacted right now and we're continuing to watch the situation develop. citizens of louisiana are not in the clear. you are still some evacuation warning orders. make sure you heed those warnings from the parish presidents and we're ready to support the governor in his efforts to take care of folks over there in louisiana. we've also turned on individual assistance. some of the most important information you'll hear about today is from our recovery director. we're providing essential

commodity distribution. it means we're already providing points of distribution in disseminating life sustaining commodities in areas not currently impacted by rainfall. we've been down in rock port where the rain has stopped but they sustained category four winds and storm surge. we're supporting those folks down there with life-saving commodities. power restoration is ongoing. infrastructure is the key to restoring routine to everybody's daily lives. we will try to help private power companies bring the power back on as quickly and as we can. right now many areas in texas aren't out of the clear from the threat as its ongoing. security is a concern. we've amassed federal law enforcement out of the department of homeland security to our state and local partners. they're working in conjunction with over 12,000 national guard members that have been deployed by the national guard in texas

as well as the true first responders at the local level. again, we're supporting medical support. secretary price is highly engaged. we're constantly watching the hospital situations and being able to -- we've evacuated several hospitals but we're also trying to sustain several hospitals to make sure they're up and operational and we're providing a standard of care that everybody deserves. with that, what i would like to do is continue to ask people to find ways to volunteer. you know, when it comes to basically going through texas, the state of texas's organizations to be able to organize the volunteer effort. the need to volunteer is going to take place over the next couple years, okay? the need to volunteer is -- let me remind you, 50 counties right now. not just in houston, but everywhere. so that mission is going to

continue to expand. but right now what i would like to concentrate on is how we get disaster survivors to start activating assistance for those that qualify. so alex, my recovery director will give us some very critical information. >> good morning. as of this morning we have over 195,000 registrations of individuals asking for assistance. we've provided over $35 million in financial assistance to those that have registered. so our message is clear, if you have impact damage from the disaster and find yourself in a shelter, first contact your insurance company. file your claim and immediately after that go to disaster assistance.gov and register from financial assistance from fema. what's important to understand is that our assistance is not designed to make you whole, which is why it's important to first register with your insurance company.

it's also important that you provide us your location of where you're at during the registration process. because we can provide you immediate assistance. we also have the transitional shelter assistance program. over 1700 families last night and over 2,000 rooms in five different states we're providing assistance to. so after you register, you will be assigned an inspector. that inspector will contact you to come out and view your damages. due to the volume, we are prioritizing inspections based off the greatest amount of damage and we'll be in contact with you throughout this process. and so if -- make sure that fema assistance can provide some rental assistance. we can also provide some assistance for repair. we can provide assistance for personal property. but it's important when you

register, your address, current location, how we can contact you, what kind of damage you have sustained, the insurance that you have, stay in contact with us. go to disaster assistance .gov. the thousands of employees are working to provide assistance to those in shelters and getting them out of shelters and getting them to a better place. working with government organizations as minister long had mentioned in support of the state of texas, these organizations like american red cross, salvation army, southern baptists are doing tremendous amount of work. this is an unprecedented event. we've seen our call volume increase and skyrocket larger than ever before. so has the registrations. and we are in the long haul to provide the assistance to every disaster survivor we can. >> eric: thank you, alex. madam secretary. >> take some questions at this point. are there any? >> do you have any estimate of how many homes have been flooded and how many people

will need assistance? >> right now it's a dynamic situation. we don't have an accurate number. i could try to put a number out there but i can tell you in 30 minutes it will be wrong. we try to use the best mapping capabilities that we have when it comes to understanding the flood zones, the floodplain mapping that we have. but the best indicator of individual assistance is what alex is just saying we have nearly 200,000 people registered. that number will climb. we know it. it will continue to project and we have to be ready to go. to support it. >> looking at some of the decisions the administration made ahead of this disaster, the proposed budget that would cut some fema grants and some other agency programs that are involved in this effort or rolling back the last administration's flood risk management, understanding that did not impact the response we're seeing right now, how is

that playing into the administration looking at how you prepare for these disasters going forward and reconsidering some decisions proposed? >> right now we're focusing on this specific disaster ensuring we have the appropriate funding and programs in place. i think the planning that the communities do has grown over the years and we're looking at having grant programs that are appropriate to have them continue their planning. but many of these communities, including texas, has made extraordinary progress in its planning for disasters. this particular storm was unprecedented in terms of volume of rain and that's what we're focusing on now. >> what does the temporary shelter look like? is it going to include trailers? what are the options that you're considering?

>> so very simply the goal is to sustain life. so we've already turned on transitional shelter assistance program. getting people into hotels and motels. getting out of those shelters. shelters are not ideal and unfortunately people will be there for quite some time as we're trying to mobilize people into hotels. how many people have we already moved? around 1800 people have been placed in hotels, motels. the vacancies that are there. that number will continue to grow as we do. the next goal is safe houses. as the water starts to recede we have to go in and this is where the volunteers need to be organized is helping people muck out their houses, get the wet carpet and wet drywall out and make simple repairs to hopefully get people back in their house at a very baseline level and sustain them there. then finally, you know, the fema manufactured housing and travel trailers, we pulled the

trigger. we have a limited amount. we have to implement what's called the defense production agency to buy this capability but also it takes time to produce those. slowly as a last resort we start to bring those in. it's a very sizeable mission. so what we have on the ground right now is what we call disaster housing assistance teams. this is a coordinated effort between not only fema but hud, it's also sba and, you know, the most important piece is working with our state and local partners and those counterparts down through to make sure we put together a comprehensive plan and clearly explain how the system works. >> the president said yesterday probably there has never been anything so -- anything so historic in terms of damage. is that true? where does this rank? >> you can't do a point by

point comparison of these storms. what's unique about this storm is the area of devastation and the amount of rainfall over 50 inches which is more than the annual rainfall and also how long it has been. so we've been -- we've been experiencing this rainfall over a long period of time even though the initial winds have subsided. the duration, we expect the floodwaters not to crest for another couple days. those are some of the unique things that were behind the president's comments yesterday. >> i also think it's important to point out that this is going to be an incredibly large disaster for the country. it will help us reshape some of the ways we do business. we'll learn from it and go on but it is important to recognize the cost of this disaster, the economic cost to measure the disaster versus our physical cost as the federal government family, we won't

know a true cost for that for many years to come as we work together to understand what the communities are entitled to from public assistance or hud community development block grants or reimbursement costs. it takes a lot of time to understand the true cost of this disaster but it will be a huge one. >> are there areas in houston still that you feel you don't have good visibility into and that there are individuals who are trapped and not able to communicate they are in an emergency situation? >> so we've been able to use google heat maps if you will and where the concentration of most of these calls are coming from. so even if someone can't communicate, we have 11 fixed wing airplanes that are doing surveillance as well. so we have a pretty good idea of where the concentration of those who are still in high water. and at the same time we're monitoring, as you heard from the administrator, the heavy

rainfall that occurred in port arthur and beaumont as well. this isn't like 5-year-old soccer everyone clustered around one point. we're looking across the entire metro area to make sure we have resources allocated. it is well coordinated with first responders and national guard and coast guard. >> the areas that they're clustered that people can get help and how many areas we're talking about? >> we're talking square miles, not down to blocks. so we're talking the entire houston metropolitan area. others more impacted than others but we are seeing a lot to the west and southwest of the center of houston proper itself. >> can you tell us what it will take to get the infrastructure coming and industrial facilities including the tem call -- chemical plant that had to be evacuated? >> they were able to restore

electricity. the tank cars are stabilized. it is 20 miles to the northeast of houston itself. from a coast guard aspect we're looking at reopening the ports. right now it's too rough for ships -- pilots to embark ships. we are working with the army corps of engineers and we'll have the inner harbor of corpus christi surveyed today. even when we open a port what we've seen in the past it will take several days before those facility workers can get back to work. when you can fire up the refineries. when pilots can safely get to the boats and then continue business as usual. we want to make sure those ports are open well in advance before the first worker can show up. so i can speak to the maritime. other infrastructure administrator you might want to address. >> we're in constant contact with all the critical infrastructure sectors in the

area. secretary perry is leading us on the energy sector. there are two pieces we have to keep in mind in recovery. one is getting distribution up and second is getting power to individual residents and homes. that will be challenging. the flooding requires quite a bit of preparation to make sure that it's safe as the electric companies connect their distribution systems to specific points of system delivery. additionally we're tracking the refineries and other gas and oil in the area. the very good news is we have seen no environmental issues at this point because that critical infrastructure did act pro-actively in shutting down so we're looking at getting those up and running to keep oil refinement and production going. but it is still a safety concern and they will be up as soon as possible. >> if i may add, too, emergency

managers around the country realize that restoring routine is the number one goal in recovery as well. it is not just keeping up the critical infrastructure but we also activate what's called business emergency operation center. we have one at the national level and typically all states have them at the state level to understand as well as when the private industry is coming back online. if we can get the roadways open and get the private industry back on to restore some of that routine as well as the schools, we'll be -- the department of homeland security also and fema will be working to help figure out how we'll do school and schools have been totally damageed and things we may have to set up temporary capability. it's in the front of our mind on the recovery side. getting the lights back on, getting the sewer system working. bringing up the private industry is the most important thing. >> eric: that is the challenge as we are listening to the news conference, the impact and

human dimension. a large disaster for the country. 200,000 being cared for by the government. officials reminding us these are people undergoing a crushing life changing emergency unfolding before our eyes. mike mccaul joins us now. our hearts are with you. are you confident that they have a handle on it despite the overwhelming challenge that they face? >> i do. i've been in charge of oversight of the department of homeland security since katrina, rita, sandy. this has been the worst disaster in the state of texas in terms of flooding. in fact for the entire united states. but i have to say it's been one of the best coordinated recoveries that i've seen. first of all my governor submitted a disaster to get fema pre-positioned on the ground early on to respond to

this enormous, devastating event that i think the state has never seen before. >> eric: the dimensions are beyond comprehension. but we also heard in the news conference something called google heat maps. there are people trapped. you have flooding in port arthur and beaumont and flooding in a shelter but using new technology to try to get a handle on it. >> a new color code. pink, 50 inches of rain. never contemplated before. i'm traveling from austin to houston to see the devastation. it's important to remember a lot of people are hurting right now and out of homes, flooding in homes, massive. it is going to out to port arthur, beaumont and now louisiana. i think the petrochemical industry was mentioned. that's a critical infrastructure asset for national security as it provides a third of the nation's energy supply. so there are a lot of moving parts here but i have to say

very well coordinated response to a very massive disaster. >> eric: going down the line as we look at this. will it cause a re-examination of the flood protection of what went wrong? you've got the gullies and the bayous and still you had this just overwhelming catastrophe. >> i don't think -- we've never seen a hurricane that's hit multiple times feeding in the ocean and returning and hitting again with this massive amount of rain. you are correct, i think we will look at the city of houston and its flood capabilities. i think obviously with a lot of the bayous and levies breaking, i've never seen anything like it going through the streets where people are up to their chest high in water. there have been 7,000 rescues, though. i have to say very important the fatality rate, we don't want to see one life lost, but

relatively low compared to say the 1900 hurricane where my grandfather was in where they lost 10,000 people during that hurricane. we met with the president yesterday. i was glad to see him come down to the state of texas and not get in the way of response recovery efforts but show his support for the state. listen to the people on the ground. and tell us that you know what, we'll give texas everything they need. >> eric: finally your thought. your reflections. you're a texan born and bred and you're seeing what we're seeing, how can the rest of us in this country help? >> i get that question a lot. this won't be a matter of days or months. probably a year recovery. i think the volunteers will be very important. i think people sending food packages. there will be all sorts of ways to help out. right now it is saving lives. we're still in the rescue and

recovery operation. and i've had outpouring of calls all across this great nation to help this great state of texas and i'm very appreciative. >> eric: congressman mike mccaul. this certainly when dealing with homeland threats, this has been a major one. congressman, thank you for joining us and of course our thoughts and prayers and best wishes are with you and the people of your state. >> thank you, eric. >> shannon: a dire situation in port arthur, texas, that city is swamped and the floodwaters keep rising. the mayor tweeted our whole city is underwater right now but we're coming. if you called, we're coming. please get to higher ground if you can, but please try to stay out of attics. right now we're making our way to port arthur, texas trying to reach the city limits. let's check in with matt. >> guys, we are on 287 south

pretty major highway heading into port arthur and we're stop by rescue and emergency crews trying to make their way in. this county just like houston is now calling for civilian boats that we're seeing lining up heading into port arthur. we just saw a few truck loads once again of people soaking wet, families being rescued on the back of pickup trucks up here in the far right you might be able to see an emergency chopper and boats and rescue crews. all reports and social media we have seen port arthur is totally devastating saying the entire city is under water and we've seen a ton of people being brought out of this town and we're still maybe a few miles from residential areas. this is a live recovery and rescue crews trying to get into the town right now. >> shannon: matt, it seems like so much of what you are encountering are average people, good people and good

samaritans out there. you have had a lot of experience seeing that. i know our first responders are doing everything they can working around the clock. it seems like everyday people are stepping in to do the rest. >> definitely. all these here are civilians. it doesn't necessarily mean they aren't officers but so far all these -- we're in traffic full of trucks, people with boats and we also saw kind of unidentified trucks, what appeared to be. here is a boat to my left cruising out of the water. we saw some trucks and pickup trucks and people in the back. we saw a family with some elderly people soaking wet with trash bags of what appears to be their belongings being rescued and based on all the reports we have seen, this area is very hard hit and i can only imagine that as we get closer into town, if we can, it will be much worse than this, shannon. >> shannon: what we've seen there from images coming out

from social media of the shelter there, very disturbing. people now on the floors it seems it is flooded where their cots were and they're in the seating. it looks like a gymnasium area that people are desperately saying in the port arthur area that matt is working hard to get to, they'll take any help they can get. the shelter is overflowed as well literally and figureively. is it more people heading in trying to help or more people heading out? >> a mix. we're seeing what appears to be civilian volunteers with boats. there is a line of boats as you just saw. people rushing in to help. beginning a few miles ago we saw people being rushed out in trucks and they were soaking wet sweatshirts and pajamas and had trash bags. some elderly people who -- here is someone in a truck.

probably a neighborhood. i don't know that. he could work for a county or something. but we saw people soaking wet clothing, elderly people who looked like they were shell shocked. we haven't really hit the residential areas so far. we've been on the highways where you see the car dealerships and fast food restaurants. they're all underwater. i can only imagine this is the far outskirts of town and this is what this looks like already. once we get into the residential areas that we've been people sending out soss on twitter and pregnant woman saying please help me. we're seeing those on social media. i'm sure the scene will become more disastrous. this is what we've seen. we've seen people with boats coming to the call here to try to help their neighbors. water is rising here. the highway that we just came in the water is slowly rising

and this is the scene, shannon. >> shannon: you're doing an excellent job and your crew as well-being there for days so the rest of the country is seeing going on. stay safe. they're bracing to be hit in louisiana because harvey is moving there. eric, there have been a lot of lessons learned from katrina in louisiana and beyond. it has helped them to be more pre-set with things they'll need as the storm rolls in now to the east. >> eric: they have learned that from katrina. what we just saw in terms of the blockage of traffic shows the dimensions of the challenge that rescue officials have to deal with. we heard from officials earlier saying they're pre-positioning more helicopters. they have google heat maps trying to deal with the situation. port arthur looks like it's an emergency situation right now. >> shannon: folks in western louisiana are bracing for more wind and water.

harvey will make a second landfall coming ashore in cameron, louisiana with winds of 45 miles per hour. joining us with an update how the state is faring now senator john kennedy joins us now. we know so many parts of louisiana were still trying to rebound from floods last year. we're told you have a lot of rain this summer and now harvey shows up. how are folks doing? >> we're ready. we're experienced. that's both good and bad. we're ready. we've been through this before. i was in southwest louisiana which is the area we were watching closely yesterday. we're prepared with sandbags and we have rescue teams ready. knock on wood so far so good. we've sent some of our resources to our friends in texas. right now it appears -- i don't want to jump the gun here, but it appears they need help more

than we do. we're ready. there is still some concerns about new orleans. it is below sea level and shaped like a bowl below sea level. our mayor let his guard down in terms of the pumping capacity of our pumps. he was busy taking down monuments. and we've had some flooding there in early august and we are concerned about any rain bands. but compared to texas, god smiled on us. i don't know why bad things happen to good people. if i make it to heaven that's the first question i'll have. we're trying to help the people in texas. >> shannon: they have praised you and thanked you for what you sent their way officially and unofficially. i have to ask you about the cajun navy. these folks are showing up with their boats traveling to the

most dangerous places willing to go in and help. i'm sure there will be some of them that will divert back to where you need help in louisiana. who are these guys? >> you've never seen anything like them. i think i'll suggest them to the president to send them to afghanistan and we'll clean it up over there pretty fast. they're average people who love the outdoors. they don't particularly trust government. government tries to get in the way and stop them they just keep going. they set up a special app to communicate with each other. you can look on one of their cell phones and see where every one of the boats are. they at one point yesterday i was at their command center had 400 boats in the water in the houston metropolitan area and their command center gives them assignments of who to pick up and where. it's really an example of what happens when you don't have a lot of red tape to cut.

they are just incredible. you would have to see it to believe it. they bring water, they bring food, they know what they're doing. they were active during our flooding last year in louisiana. had they not been active, we would still have people on top of roofs out here in louisiana from the floods last year. >> shannon: the good men and women of the cajun navy are appreciated along the south in the gulf coast today. senator, our prayers are with you as you take the brunt of this. we wish you all the best. thank you, sir. >> thank you so much. send some of those prayers to texas, as i know you will. >> shannon: we will. thank you, sir. >> eric: we shall do that. as the disaster unfolds and the effort continues president trump after visiting texas yesterday is heading today to missouri. that is where he will give a speech later this afternoon on taxes. it's an effort to try to kick start the plans in congress to reform the tax code. the president will head back to texas over the weekend.

chief white house correspondent john roberts is live on the north lawn with the president's plans. >> the president will be leaving about an hour with congress coming back next week he wants to lay down markers for what he expects will happen this fall. headed to the lauren cook company a blower manufacturing in missouri to talk about the need for tax reform. this will be a why not how speech. the president laying out the reasons he thinks tax reform is an important issue to tackle this fall and not specifically the mechanics how it will get done. the white house believes he can get bipartisan buy-in on the crushing burden of taxes on businesses and individuals in this country. he hands over the bipartisan congressional leader next wednesday to talk to them about the way forward. the reason, by the way, that he is going to springfield,

missouri, the birthplace of route 66 known for years as america's main street and this is where america's main street gets its restart and he also has not given up on the idea of repealing and replacing obamacare. not many people in the white house think that's probably possible this fall. >> eric: that certainly sounds like that. meanwhile the president will go back to texas over the weekend. he steered clear of houston not to interfere with the rescue efforts. do we know where he is going? >> we don't yet. he has said he will go back to texas and louisiana. potentially going to houston. depends on what the pace of the emergency response will be. and the president after getting dinged in a few articles this morning about seemingly showing a lack of empathy for the people who were harmed yesterday when he was talking outside the fire station tweeted this morning after witnessing firsthand the horror and devastation caused by hurricane harvey my heart goes out even more so for the people of texas. the one thing the president

doesn't want to do is get in the way of first responders. i think they'll take a look at the evolving situation on the ground and make a decision sometime in the next 48 hours as where they think the president can go without overly taxing the situation on the ground there. >> eric: that's certainly understandable. john roberts, thank you. >> shannon: state and federal officials heeding the mistakes of 12 years ago as they respond to tropical storm harvey. >> lessons learned in the aftermath of katrina we've been able to work more kol -- collaboratively. there is a seamless and ongoing collaboration between the state and federal government. >> shannon: what are the lesson and how do they apply to the disaster itself? we'll talk to mike huckabee about that. >> eric: harvey is barreling

towards louisiana. >> hopefully it will be a little city with everything they've got. places to eat. we've got a medical facility.

>> president trump: we love you, you are special. we're here to take care. it is going well and i want to thank you for coming out. we are going to get you back and operating immediately. thank you, everybody.

what a crowd, what a turnout. >> eric: that's president trump yesterday in corpus christi reassuring the folks there as he surveyed the damage from tropical storm harvey. he has been taking heat from critics who say his response to the disaster has not been compassionate enough. mike huckabee joins us a fox news contributor. he did visit the officials in corpus christi, went to the command center in austin. those are presidential duties showing that there is action and coordination with state officials. >> if donald trump got a drinking straw and personally sucked every drop of water out of the flood zones of houston the democrats would say that he didn't put the water back in the right place. there is nothing he is ever going to do to satisfy the critics who hate him and want him out of the office. but he has demonstrated the federal leadership with need coordinating with state and

local officials realizing they make the decisions on the ground. he has a support role and he has played that very well and he has had great communications with democrat governors in louisiana, democrat mayors in houston as well as republicans. this has not been a party issue. this has been a human life issue. saving people, rescuing people, getting them help. but he will never satisfy those who just hate him more than they love the victims of that hurricane. >> eric: critics are saying he didn't show empathy. he got up on the fire truck and talked about the crowd size. looking to the president as the comforter and chief. the oklahoma city bombing that helped resurrect bill clinton. are they photo ops or important messages to show that the president of the united states can have emotion or affection. >> i think those are important

moments when our officials show that kind of personal touch but when he was in texas yesterday, it was largely to meet with officials. he did not want to go to houston for the obvious reason his presence there would have disrupted an enormous amount of emergency efforts to save people's lives. i think that is showing empathy, eric. he is scheduled to go back this weekend and go to houston and to be able to see those victims and put his arms around them. so this is the early stage of what is going to be a very, very long recovery for the people who are affected by these floods. i think right now the criticism of any of the elected officials is misguided. i think whether it's the mayor of houston, the governor of texas, the president of the united states, they have all stepped up to leadership roles. it is easy to criticize. having been in the midst of disasters wouldn't it be nice to know exactly what the disaster was going to do before it did it? in this case they stood up

assets, they prepared and ready for a major storm and they have responded to it i think effectively. >> eric: that's a role of government. perhaps in response to the criticism the president tweeted this this morning. after witnessing firsthand the horror and devastation caused by hurricane harvey by heart goes out even more to the great people of texas. keeping up with the theme you say about the government the "wall street journal." the storm isn't over and some will find reasons to point fingers. at a time when americans have so little trust in government. it shows it can learn from previous failures. and actually show when things are being deployed. brock long, the new head of fema, he was the head of the alabama emergency state government for a while. he has been getting rave reviews for this. >> well, the president has assembled a great team. brock long at fema.

tom boss ert in the white house. they have been through many storms and know what they're doing and they've proven it this week. one of his greatest assets is melania. he has been sympathetic. bringing her is an enormous asset to show that sense of compassion. and i hope he takes her back saturday when he goes to houston. she has shown a enormous level of compassion for people but ultimately let's be very clear. no federal government, no state or local government can stop a hurricane. all they can do is help people pick up the pieces when it's over. and i also want to be clear the federal government can't fix it nor can the state or locals. this will be a long-term crisis for thousands of people and it is going to take years to get back to where people were. >> eric: major disaster for our nation, you're right, governor. we'll likely see some of those

pictures of the president and perhaps the first lady comforting some of the victims this weekend. governor mike huckabee, as always, thank you. >> shannon: a new report claiming the homeland security department actually warned virginia law enforcement to expect violence at that deadly rally in charlottesville earlier this month. it's raising questions about why local and state authorities didn't do more. we'll take up that conversation plus kim jong-un warning the recent missile fired over japan is just a preview over what's to come. why the u.n. is saying enough is enough. >> we are all denouncing north korea's ought rageous act against japan and demanding north korea stop any future missile launches. we are all demanding north korea abandon its nuclear weapons.

when it's time to get organized for retirement, it's time to get voya.

bookstores yesterday. lieutenant colonel ralph peters is joining us. >> it is always good to see you. >> let's start with what ambassador haley was saying there. the world has had enough. we won't tolerate lawlessness anymore. how do we stop this? >> we don't know. clearly at this point it appears that the only way to stop it is military action which no sane person wants. we've let this problem go on for so very long through multiple presidential administrations when it could have been stopped more easily that now you have a nuclear armed state struggling to get the delivery means to deliver the nukes to the continental united states. nothing we do. the possibility of talks, whether it's aid, embargoes, nothing has worked. and the bottom line on that is people don't understand how desperate kim jong-un is.

north korea is dirt poor. his military is not nearly as powerful as the south korean military or the u.s. he is struggling to hold this degenerate regime together and he sees nukes as his last resort, blackmail and threat. >> shannon: i get the same question when he does this about why we don't shoot them down. you've sent me notes on why it is not a good idea. >> you learn the most about their capabilities from the reentry phase. theirs tend to break apart and we find out how inaccurate they are. also, of course, shooting them down would cost us a lot of money to shoot them down. that's not the big reason. the big reason is we're thinking this through. now, if it were headed toward guam or toward a japanese city we would try to shoot it down. if the trajectory is taking it over the ocean, if we tried to shoot it down and our missile

didn't hit the target, then it encourages kim jong-un to believe the americans can't shoot them down. we've had successful missile tests, anti-missile tests and unsuccessful ones. the cliche is true. it's like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet. it is very complex technology and harder than what nasa had to do with the moon shot. so we don't want to encourage kim. in a crisis we would pull out all the stops and take out at least some of their missiles. whether we could take them all out we don't know. we're working on it. >> shannon: asked about this situation, senior advisor kellyanne conway had this to say how the president views this. >> the president says all options on the table. i think the president will do what he does and promised to do all along. consult with his larger security team and not broadcast ahead of time what he will do. >> shannon: all options on the table and he won't broadcast ahead of time. >> i don't want him to

broadcast ahead of time. that was a terrible mistake the obama administration made on almost every issue. at some point you may have to be more specific. the north korean problem has gotten to the point that it may take nuclear weapons to destroy their nuclear programs. they burrowed so deep underground and disbursed it so widely. there is no good solution, only less bad answers. and if north korea goes for guam, we may have to respond militarily. >> shannon: i want to make sure we mention your new book out about the civil war. you are a best selling author. a novel but you say with the current debate we're having, there are people on all sides who really don't know everything that they are attempting to talk about and debate and we can all learn a lot more. >> that's true. although it's a novel, it's very accurate. it's a fun way to learn your history in a narrative form. the important thing in this

debate about confederate statues, i'm a born yankee. i try to see through the eyes of the people at the time. they were complex human beings. it wasn't as no pun intended black and white as we make it out to be. i wish people on both the far left and the extreme right would just learn the facts. learn about the civil war before you lecture us all on it. >> shannon: we can all do better by that. it is an entertaining way to do it. colonel peters, thanks for coming in. >> eric: back to the top story of the morning. hurricane harvey making landfall again this time along the texas border with louisiana. coming right up, we'll have the senior senator of that state, senator bill cassidy will join us. >> shannon: over in texas we're hearing near all of houston's reservoirs are close to cresting as thousands of evacuees move to shelters and reaching the breaking point. >> this is a mega shelter.

it is large and so we basically have built a small town here in two days. it will be an extended period of time but we'll be here for as long as they need us.

>> shannon: tropical storm harvey making landfall for the second time this morning hitting southwest louisiana as the floodwaters m texas continue to rise. storm is being blamed for at least 18 deaths. 17,000 people have been forced into shelters some operating at double capacity. governor abbott says his state will continue to rise to the challenge. >> this is texas, texans helping texans. the everyday heroism we see across the state of texas all the time. it's just that when the worldwide media focus is on it, the world gets to see what texans do every single day. >> shannon: we're reporting

live from the george r. brown convention center in houston. what can you tell us about the numbers in the shelter there? >> 11,000 that's what they hit last night of registered people. people are trickling in and out. some folks getting out of the shelter because the sun is finally shining here in houston. the red cross tells us there are 32,000 evacuees in 230 shelters across texas run by the red cross and opened three more shelters in louisiana. senator ted cruz was serving food to evacuees last hour. earlier chris christie ripped into cruz for his vote against a package for hurricane sandy. he said he was disgusting and lies that it was filled with pork. cruz shot back at the shelter. >> it's really sad there are some politicians that seem very desperate to get their name in the news and are tossing around all sorts of political insults.

with people whose lives are in danger. >> president trump says he expects the federal aid package to get through congress quickly. he and cruz say they'll be putting it together no pork included. >> shannon: carolyn is live on the ground for us. thank you. >> harvey is making landfall this morning moving its way from texas to the louisiana border at this hour. joining us is the senior senator from louisiana, senator bill cassidy who helped out during katrina 12 years ago. that is so fresh in our mind. senator, good to talk to you. the good news this morning for your state, less rain is expected, one to three inches and six in some spots. are you confident that your state is prepared? >> yes, i'm confident. i hate to say it but louisiana has lots of practice with this since katrina. and we know what to do. now, that said, when what happens like south texas there

is almost nothing you can do except evacuate. we're prepared and have things forward positioned and shelters raefdy to go. there has been some rescues in southwest louisiana according to the sheriff. but we feel prepared. >> eric: there are 200 people right now in a shelter in lake charles. what do you see is the greatest difference between the response today and what happened 12 years ago during katrina? >> i think everybody has picked up their game. and we again forward position resources. things such as trucks carrying gasoline so if people have to evacuate, then we have the trucks ready to fill the gas stations so you don't run out. that's one example. i was -- last night i was with somebody from the health science center in shreve port and got word from the governor to create a shelter for 1300 people. these are texans. we could receive folks from

louisiana as well. if you will, whereas before it was done on an ad hoc basis now it's like we're ready. we have systems and put it in gear. we've learned our lesson. >> eric: port arthur and beaumont in texas underwater, a crisis there. are you prepared to except folks from those areas into the state in your shelters? >> absolutely. let me just say all across the nation after katrina people received folks from the flooded areas of new orleans and surrounding parish and we're very emotional and thankful for our fellow americans. whatever we can do to pay it back and pay it forward we'll absolutely do. >> eric: we have a fire truck here in new york from the great people of your state has the ig signe yeah on it. we talk about coordination and we look back to the former governors and mayor, it took a while for the national government to be deployed. do you see greater coordination

between federal and state authorities to try to prevent the worst from happening? >> totally. for example, congress has done, we've learned that after katrina when it took an emergency appropriation to give fema the resources it needed congress set up a fund fema can pull down dollars that doesn't need a special appropriation. we have forward positioned, if you will, the financial assets needed for fema to do its work. fema, which will just tell you they've always got more work to do to make it better but they've come a long way since that additional response to katrina becoming more effective. one of the phone calls i had was with an admiral of the coast guard who the coast guard again we in louisiana become emotional speaking about them. they rescued so many and they've continued to do their good work in the

galveston/houston area and given the resource efs they need to do the good work. >> eric: the sincere efforts by the first responders, volunteers and others trying to help out our fellow americans stricken at this time of crisis and emergency. finally, senator, you are a physician, tell us about your efforts back during katrina 12 years ago. you set up a hospital in an empty k-mart? >> yes. it was -- i recall it very well. the chancellor of lsu put out if you're a doctor or nurse come and help. i helped at one of the lsu facilities and i felt like my job was over i got a call from the governor's office asking if we would set up an emergency facility. folks from our community within i think 24 hours took abandoned k-mart dirty and grimy without electricity turned it into something clean, well lit, lots of electricity to receive those

folks being evacuated out of the flooded areas. hats off to our spirit of community that we were able to get that standing within 24 hours to serve our fellow man. >> eric: selfless giving and volunteering by the senator and by so many others during katrina 12 years ago. that's exactly what we're seeing that same spirit and faith today. senator bill cassidy of louisiana, thank you so much. good luck to you in your state over the next few days. >> thank you very much. >> shannon: we're getting an update on that riot that broke out earlier this year outside the turkish ambassador's residence in washington, d.c. who is now being indicted in connection with the violence there? >> eric: did charlottesville law enforcement give a heads -- get a heads-up from the feds before the white supremacists rally turned deadly? a report raising new questions about the police response. >> the city is hurting and i'm

not sure exactly how the healing trickles down from d.c. but we need answers.

>> eric: the grand jury indicting three more people for that attack against protestors last may outside the turkish ambassador's residence in washington that brings the total of people indicted 19. 15 of those alleged attackers were identified as security officials for turkey's president erdogan visiting president trump at the time. 11 people, demonstrators, were injured in that violence. >> shannon: as virginia law enforcement comes under fire for their performance at the protest in charlottesville we're learning the department of homeland security reportedly warned them to expect the violence at that event three days before it happened. politico obtaining a memo that

reads anarchists, extremists and white supremacists extremists are calling on supporters to be prepared for or instigate violence at the protest. let's bring in john mccormack and pablo manriquez. there are several law enforcement folks and sources briefed for their reaction. a recently retired f.b.i. agent said that with so much advance noticed of the intentions of the extremist groups from left and right that law enforcement was not better prepared. >> that's actually a good point to make. we're finding out more and more the people who monitor the hate groups were well aware this would go on in charlottesville for weeks beforehand. i think it's important the dhs is warning local law enforcement when these events will happen and they should expect violence.

three days heads-up they could do better than that. i'm glad they're doing what they're doing. the longer the runway the better. we knew charlottesville was going to happen for a long time. >> shannon: police and community leaders there are being asked questions about why they weren't better prepared for this? the city manager said the city and state prepared for the worst case scenarios. we were aware of the potential violence saying we hope the groups descended on our community would not engage in violence but they did but the police responded in an effort to restore order. john, is that good enough for you? >> no. it's not accurate. the police chief's defense of his officers, he says they showed up in everyday police uniforms and many had the leave the scene to change into riot gear. the memo makes it clear that many of these people on both sides were itching for a riot. police should have showed up in riot gear. i don't know if it was what motivated them but they needed to be ready to step in and stop

any violence whoever started it and they weren't prepared, not dressed in riot gear for the start of the rally saying they were disappointed that the alt right white supremacists and neo-nazis didn't follow the exact point of entry for this protest. these are not exactly good people and you shouldn't depend on their word. >> shannon: let's turn to berkeley this weekend. there were about a dozen arrests and plenty of violence and a lot of trouble there. house minority leader nancy pelosi that's her home state and put out a statement. democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts. the violence of such acts of people calling themselves antifa deserve condemnation and the perpetrated and be arrested. >> i've been critical of her

before. she did a good job here by calling them antifa and calling them what they are. it allows for us to talk about them as not anything that we want to be associated with, any violence at all at these ral eels is a bad thing. the same way i think too often the right is looped into this sort of false stereotype of hate. my fear was the same would be true of the idiots in antifa who need to chill out and go home. >> shannon: it is getting praise, it's rare for nancy pelosi to get it from a republican congressman. he thanks her for condemning antifa and the group's violence attacks. it has no place in our discourse and we have to stand together against this kind of thing. >> it was a good statement. it was specific. if you want to criticize her you could see antifa has been acting in a violent manner. she could have done it sooner but i won't quibble with that. the trouble was with donald

trump he didn't acknowledge that one committed a terrorist attack and one side was marching saying that we support donald trump and donald trump supports us. when a movement says they have your support and they support you, you have a special duty to condemn them as we know the president has in the past played coy with some of these groups in the campaign, was reluctant to condemn david duke originally. he compounded the error by saying there were good people on both sides. there weren't good people marching with neo-nazis. it was a dark moment for the president and i hope he doesn't end up in a situation like that again. >> shannon: it is important to know there are groups who show up that have nothing to do with either side. they want to spark chaos and anarchy and adds more gasoline to the fire. john and pablo, good to see you both. thank you. >> eric: straight ahead the rescue crews at this hour continue to search for more people trapped by the floodwaters. social media has been helping

in these rescues in a big way. that's new. we'll tell you how it is working and why it is important next. hey you've gotta see this. c'mon.

no. alright, see you down there. mmm, fine. okay, what do we got? okay, watch this. do the thing we talked about. what do we say? it's going to be great. watch.

remember what we were just saying? go irish! see that? yes! i'm gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote.

>> and that begins it with "happening now" right now. >> jon: and eight fox news alert, harvey slams the shores once again. houston, texas, still struggling with the flooding disaster unfolding right now. and more disasters right now inside texas. welcome to "happening now" ." >> and bringing massive downpours and catastrophic flooding in houston. and in the danger zone, beaumont pounded with two feet of wearing in 24 hours. in the sys