continuing coverage of harvey continues. >> shannon: that's right, we'll keep an eye on a chemical plant. in the meantime, speech when one right now. >> leland: a fox news alert. more on the chemical plant in just a minute as harvey is moving on heading north and east, but the misery is far from over in the gulf states. at this hour, rescue efforts are akin to weighing net only in houston, but in east texas as well. welcome to "happening now," i'm leland vittert and for jon scott. >> molly: i'm molly line. harvey is being downgraded to a tropical depression. a chemical plant in the houston area lost power during the flooding. initially, it was reported as explosions, but now it's being called a chemical reaction that resulted in a fire and there could be more. although the plan produced no toxins, the feds are describing the resulting fumes as "incredible dangerous."

>> we had number of evacuations last night. we were trying to make sure people were safe in anticipation of any problems. we continue to push the life-saving operations. we are continuing to evacuate people out of areas where the rivers have not receded yet. >> leland: the flooding damage is staggering. neighborhood after neighborhood looks like this. a view from the air is even worse. tens of thousands of homes are underwater and they could stay that way for weeks. in some parts of houston, the waters have receded. as you can see in this neighborhood, not so much. in other parts of the gulf coast, they could get an additional foot of rain. >> molly: vice president pence

and his wife are now en route to texas and during our next hour of "happening now," they will be meeting with survivors and survey the damage where harvey first made landfall less than a week ago. the vice president to land at corpus christi international airport just minutes from now. we love team fox coverage with meteorologist janice dean, but first to matt finn and texas. >> we are getting some conflicting information right now, most important a where trying to determine just how dangerous the chemicals might be two people in this area. the arkema chemical company says there is an active fire on property right now. they say they close the property last week in anticipation of hurricane harvey. they brought in some backup generators and those flooded, then they brought in liquid nitrogen and that failed, so basically right now, these chemical compounds don't have refrigeration and are combusting. the share of heroes says the chemicals in the air are like breathing and fire -- smoke my

campfire, however, an executive from the arkema comical company says it's worse than that. >> are these nontoxic? >> their noxious certainly. the toxicity of breathing and the smoke, i don't know the composition of the smoke, but it's certainly noxious. >> so you can't say it's nontoxic. hold on, just answer the question. >> it's noxious. >> there is a 1.5-mile radius in this area because they say that chemicals are extremely flammable and there is a risk of a huge fire. traveling this area was difficult enough because of the flooding, i 90 behind me is closed and some portions, so you're seeing a lot of traffic come up 90 and be diverted. up here to my left is an exit ramp it is closed, police walking on and off to the

highway in many areas are closed right now. this is a developing situation and we will keep you updated from the day. >> molly: matt, the son may be out, but the problems are far from over, thank you. >> leland: the effects continue of harvey as forecasters have downgraded it to a tropical depression, but it is still packing a real punch. as much as 8 inches of rain have fallen near the louisiana/texas line all the way into tennessee, the north of kentucky. is there any relief for that? meteorologist janice dean. speak out here's harvey, the remnants of harvey. we saw potential for heavy rain in its path along the mississippi river valley. tennessee, ohio valley, mid atlantic and we have the potential for tornadoes as well. a tornado warning for west mississippi. rainfall, 4-6 inches, some isolated amount of 8-12, so we will continue to see this path north and east worried over the next couple of days into the weekend.

gulf coast, i need you to be prepared because we have some models that are now indicating we will have a tropical system, whether be depression or storm that could affect the gulf coas gulf coast. this is one of two reliable forecast models. you can see the rain moving up toward the eastern gulf coast. want to switch over to the euro once again, something potentially in the gulf of mexico. sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, and this one agrees that perhaps it's more of an eastern gulf of mexico situation. however, if that moves westward, it will be eight texas/louisiana problem and will be monitoring that. hurricane irma, rapid intensification, category two hurricane. this will be a very dangerous storm and potentially could affect the caribbean, puerto rico, daemonic in republic, potentially the east coast, and the gulf of mexico or florida. that's why we need to pay attention. heading into sunday, monday, category four, there is a potential for this to be a category five hurricane.

nothing in terms of intensification. this is the euro model, one of our reliable forecast models. tuesday, puerto rico, jamaican republic, cuba, and then, perhaps moving into the gulf of mexico. still a very powerful hurricane, moves towards the west. and then this one sort of takes a bit of a more northerly turn, let's see he vacuum my maps to work. there we go. that is a very dangerous hurricane rate there and it moves towards the east. this is next weekend, but what i can tell you is it lives along the east coast. if you live in florida, along the gulf coast, you need to pay close attention to this storm, as well as a potential storm in the gulf of mexico. also want to make mention, this is tropical storm lydia could potentially be a hurricane and effect combo on the next couple

of days. so busy, so crucial, i don't want to scare, i want people to be aware. we are in peak season, we could potentially have a very dangerous hurricane on our hands and 5-7 days that could potentially hit the east coast, florida, gulf coast, and then we are also watching the potential for a storm this weekend in the gulf of mexico that could potentially bring more rainfall to areas affected by harvey. we will keep you posted, listen to your local weather services, listen to your local officials, have a preparation plan. know what to do. back to you. >> eventually, one of the largest missions that's going to take place is mucking out how to help people save their homes. that's one of the biggest missions that's there. not only where the be a lot of debris and people need a lot of help. >> molly: that is brock long, the fema chief talking about

just one of the tough jobs ahead, but there are many others. joining us now, former -- thanks for being here. >> you're welcome. >> molly: you worked at the local level as well. you've seen things work at the local level all the way up to the federal level. i want to start by talking about these shelters. there are some 40 plus shelters, some of the big mega shelters, but there are a lot of smaller shelters in the communities where they've seen flooding. shortage of food, shortage of cots, but we saw the floodwaters come in, folks forced up onto the bleachers. what do you do in a scenario like this? >> you try to move those people to a different place. if not, then you have to shelter them in place and move people to the bleachers and to waters start to recede.

this is very temporary housing. the next step, and they're talking about mucking up the houses, the next big thing is finding some, what i call permanent temporary housing because people will not get back in their homes anytime soon. they need to be placed in an apartment until they can get back in their home. >> molly: one thing is logistics. the heart of a nation is pouring out to people, from boston to california, people are bringing supplies into that area, but how do you get it from eight from a2b and get it in the hands of people who need it? >> they need to work with the local emergency management

because they have places set up to store these things and to make sure they can get distributed. trying to distribute it yourself doesn't work that well. ask what they need before they come in. i know during hurricane andrew and others, people were sending blankets and heavy coats and things like that and we didn't need those down here and we had no place to put them. the best way to help is contact the red cross or volunteer agency because they're the experts at delivering supplies. they know how to do that, nowhere to put them and they know how to dig sure made them. >> molly: we're looking at these incredible live pictures of houston, the water is still so high. the mayor overnight saying they were still conducting rescues and that city, despite the fact that we're finally seeing some sunshine. when you're still in a scenario when lives are at risk, is that an added challenge? >> of course it is. of course it is.

they can't stop until they get everybody to a safe place and as the water recedes, that's when we'll start seeing some of the significant damage and unfortunately may be more loss of lives that we haven't found yet. we know the rescuers are tired, they've been working very hard and they need to get rest also, but they need to continue doing what they're doing until we get everybody out of the floodwaters. window they're receding, they're not receding very fast. >> molly: unfortunately, there are some despicable individuals out there who are committing robbery, looting, just waiting for the opportunity to take over these houses that unfortunately the owners have had to flee from. authority's are saying they're taking a tough stance on people who are taking advantage of others. what can you do to aid and security in the wake of a disaster that has covered such a huge area of land like this one? speak out this kind of stuff

breaks my heart. you have all these people trying to help, neighbors helping neighbors, people coming in from out of state bringing their own boats, bring in their own floats to help people and then you have the other side of it with these despicable people taking advantage, looting and robbing people, that's out of control. the national guard it was difficult to have enough people to provide security, that's next step. friendly, these people need to go to jail if they get caught. >> molly: hopefully their numbers are made far far smaller from the millions of people. thank you so much for chatting with us today. >> leland: meantime, the showdown with north korea has been ramping up. american forces now conducting a live fire exercises with two key allies. this was north korea's missile

launch. break down what it means for the rogue regime. plus, rescue teams are working nonstop today. we're going to show you how one group of dedicated veterans is using their military skills in the floodwaters of america. >> we called 911 at 11:30 and they said we're not doing night rescues until 7:00 in the morning and i'm pretty pregnant, so we got the little one in the water just kept coming in and coming in. when a fire is going on,

you're not thinking clearly, so they called the fire department for us. i could hear crackling in the walls. my mind went totally blank. all i remember saying was, "my boyfriend's beating me" and she took it from there. and all of this occurred in four minutes or less. i am grateful we all made it out safely. people you don't know care about you. it's kind of one of those things

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go on, try something fresh. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. >> leland: a fox news alert as rescues continue at this hour in houston and beyond, there are still people trapped by the rising waters. the harris county sheriffs office still in high gear pulling people from rooftops, vehicles, and going door to door

to check on folks. the coast guard is still in the air as is the u.s. navy and the the meantime, thousands of volunteers are also helping. one of the groups down there is team rubicon and they are using military veterans who use their skills to conduct sweats water rescues and pull people from rooftops. joining us on the phone, john connors. you sound remarkably awake for only two hours of sleep in the past couple of days, thanks for being with us. >> it's great to be here, thanks for having me. >> leland: you are doing incredible worked on there. we're looking at live pictures as one of our camera crews are making its way down flooded street. >> what we do is unite military

veterans and first responders and uses the skills of experiences that they get in the military and other stuff or situations and allows us to employ them and disasters safely and effectively. you take someone who has been in the marine corps or who has been a paramedic or an army medic and you put them in a situation like this where it is very chaotic and stressful. because of their experiences in the military, they are better trained and better prepared to handle these situations and respond effectively. >> leland: we talked yesterday with lieutenant general from the national guard" of that famous prussian general who said no plan ever survived initial contact with the enemy. was it possible to plan for this? when you deployed were you making it out as you went along? >> we always try to plan as best as possible, but that old phrase is complete lead true. what we do do is we're

completely flexible and completely fluid and we respond to the situation as it develops. >> leland: what are your responding to now question or career watching our camera crews go down would look second major intersection. there's a gas station, the stop lights are still operating, so our guys have stopped here at this stoplight in their boat. tell us, what's happening right now on the ground for your guys? >> the really interesting and positive thing about this experience is the community has stepped up and really responded spontaneously to help the community out. you have people who have no training whatsoever in a boat alongside a local emergency management and it's really exciting to see that kind of passion and helping to save the community. what we are adjusting to now is

there was a lot more rain in beaumont over the past 24 hours, so we picked up three of our teams and they're moving over there right now to begin rescue operations over there. it might not have been part of the original plan, but we see this situation as it develops and we make adjustments. >> leland: we're looking at pictures of team rubicon in the rain, and the floodwaters pulling people out. what are you you and law enforcement and the national guard saying they need their help with? >> right now, we are doing primarily water rescues and that's going door-to-door to find people who are trapped, but also bringing people who had to evacuate and hurried, helping them get back to their house and pick up medications or rescue pets. that's what we're doing now. right now we're making sure they're safe.

what we are looking for for the long term is we'll be setting up a long-term operation to assist the community and getting back on their feet and just before this segment, we heard brock long from fema talk about the need for helping to clear out homes from debris. that's what we do really well and we plan on being here for several months and bringing in 1,000 volunteers as best we can. >> leland: 1,000 marine veterans can do an awful lot of good, as you all have already done. really appreciate your work, godspeed to you and your volunteers, incredible worked on there, sir. >> thank you very much. >> leland: all the best. >> molly: president trump launching a new push for tax reform and putting heat on congress get it done and taking criticism for keeping the details under wraps. >> i want to work with congress, republicans and democrats alike for plan that is progrowth,

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>> molly: fox news alert, president trump launching a new push for tax reform aching his case yesterday at a factory in missouri calling it a once an old generational opportunity that he expects congress to take advantage of. chief white house correspondent john roberts is live. >> i will you that somewhere behind me, there is a white house. the president was in springfield, missouri, yesterday saying he wants to promote

economic growth for mainstream america. this was a centerpiece of the president's election campaign. he laid down to democrats saying don't disappoint me on this, congress, not just democrats, saying don't disappoint me on this, i want tax reform and i wanted soon. the president not giving a lot of details, but reiterating he wants to get the business debt down to 15%. he wants give a big tax cut to the middle class. listen here. >> first and foremost, our tax system should benefit loyal, hardworking americans and their families. [applause] that is why tax reform must dramatically symbol phi the tax code, eliminate special interest loopholes and i'm speaking against myself when i do this, i have to tell you. >> the president believes bipartisanship is possible, it's an issue on which they can come

together. democratic national committee chairman tom perez saying democrats believe that no one penny of tax cuts should go to the 1%. they should try to benefit themselves. trump and republicans should work with democrats to enact real, bipartisan tax reform for the middle-class paired workers, not the wealthy, deserve a break. special counsel robert mueller is working with noted trump foe, erica schneiderman who is a democrat, to look into financial affairs of paul manafort. he had dealings in ukrainian politics prior to joining the trump campaign. he previously told fox news there was nothing improper about his consulting work for the ukrainian president. on "fox & friends" this morning, for the said he's concerned that the investigation is straying into territory way outside the scope of whether russia tampered

in the u.s. election. listen here. >> it concerns me because a lot of the manna fort stuff happen way before the campaign. maybe he did stuff two or three years ago, but you don't need a special counsel for that. the deputy attorney general and new york is an archenemy of the president. mueller brought in these prosecutors to met many of them were big democratic contributors and of course, there's been a lot of leaking in this investigation. >> manafort was rated back in late july. a lot of documents and computers were seized. >> molly: the investigation goes forward. meanwhile, we'll see republicans get what they want on tax reform, john, thank you. >> leland: as we have been showing you, harvey has destroyed and damaged tens of thousands of homes. we may not even know how many

homes are gone. forcing people into shelters like the houston convention center which is now at double its capacity. what is the situation on the ground? back life to houston as folks are trying to find something to eat in a place to call home.

>> molly: fox news alert of

the challenges now facing the survivors who are flooded out of their homes more than 30,000 shelters across texas. >> leland: at one point there were 10,000 the houston convention center alone per that's more than double capacity. we have pictures of other shelters in port arthur texas. their shoulders themselves are flooded another trying to bust people out. finding real shelter that is both safe and has cots. peter doocy live. have things gotten better are they still in crisis mode? >> things at this shelter are still very organized, leland, but officials in the houston area are trying to streamline the shelters around here. there are more than 40 smaller ones are the most effective areas. they want everybody who needs a place to stay because their house is either damaged or inaccessible into two mega

shelters. this one, the george r brown convention center downtown and one at the and rg arena complex with the houston texans play. >> i have talked to the red cross about closing all of the shelters and consulting the them. it's got a medical facility, grocery stores, it's a place that can't be duplicated in small settings all around the region. >> leland: one sign that fema knows though be taken care of people in shelters for many more days, they've already got 14.6 million meals saved ready to send to harvey's hardest hit areas. in dallas, texas, there's only

but a thousand flood victims so far. they're expecting as many as 30,000 people to end up there when it's safe to cordate mass transportation to that state. dallas is spending about $100,000 a day on housing survivors so far. houston officials tell us they do not have a price tag available yet, but things are very organized here at the mega shelters. staffers are very knowledgeable and helpful to everybody that has questions. there is a heavy houston police presence both inside and outside the convention center making sure that order is maintained with all of these people, strangers who are now living under one roof and our experience here for the last couple of hours has been that everybody is getting along fine. this is not a permanent solution, so it's about to become time to try to figure out where everybody here is going to live while their houses are

repaired. >> leland: that's something the vice president will be talking about when he talks to fema folks and other who land in corpus christi i believe and about an hour and a half or so. peter doocy on the ground here, thank you. >> molly: as floodwaters receded houston, search crews are going block by block, house by house, they're hoping to find any more people out there that may need help. my next guest is a texas native. he'll be searching along with fema professional drone pilots. brett, thank you for being here. when all of us and come drones, we think of that thing in the sky that gives you a view that you might not be able to see. i'm sure it's more complicate it than that. what sort of technology are you taking down and how will we use these drones? >> first of all, our hearts and prayers going to the good people of texas. i personally can't sit back here and watch this any longer. the texas people, they need

every sigel resource available to them no matter how unconventional it is. in this case, we're going out there with a fleet of drones, we are mobilizing basically our army of drone pilots to help augment search and rescue efforts. that includes providing live video feeds to search and rescue crews that are in the field, providing services and using drones for what they can be used for and these type of disaster situations, which is feeding up the search and recovery efforts. >> molly: they've been used by intelligence agencies offer is my biggest concern, it would be useful here in a humanitarian crisis? >> yes, there are a number of applications that can be used. i was on the phone all last night with leaders of the drone industry who called me up and said how can we help? we've got an outpouring of resources including thermal imaging cameras, cameras that have the ability to provide things that can zoom out to long

distances and really help get to locations that physically rescuers cannot get to and provide information for potential victims that need help. there's a variety of applications that exist that allow us to really save lives and this is the point here not to be a burden on rescue efforts, but to go out there and help augment this effort and in the end, stabilize. >> molly: we've been watching this unfold, the deep waters, the view from the sky. knowing what drones we doing, and this particular crisis, what are you ready for when you get down there? >> we are ready for anything and everything. we've got a bunch of former special operations going out there, we've got some of the best drone experts in the queue unity. let me be clear, this is not a ragtag group of volunteers, these are professional pilots and there are thousands across the u.s. of certified drone pilots who are looking to get involved anyway they can. right now, our idea is to create

a centralized command center for volunteer drone pilots you can come in and get information, so we're using an app right now called drone up. if there are people up there who want to volunteer and are in the disaster area, they should get on drone on, donald the app and this is where we're talking about coordinating our drone efforts and providing messages to folks to let them know, this is where you can go to help out and bring your drones. this is information on the faa and essentially, all the information that's needed to help coordinate and create a centralized system for these guys. we can tell where drone operators are and where they need to be. we exited to go and do this and we just want to help where we can and do the best thing we know how to do. >> molly: thank you so much for that, we appreciate it. very much, good luck down there. >> leland: a fox news alert as

b-1 bombers flew over south korea again in a very public show of force. the u.s., and knees, and south korean warplanes conducted exercises just days after north korea launched a missile. this time, that missile flew over japan. jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. they launch a missile, we have one of these flights. >> it's definitely a dangerous game of cat and mouse. the pentagon usually says these exercises are preplanned, but today, the u.s. pacific command said the drill and eastern south korea was a direct response to north korea firing over japan. they joined and live fire exercises on a military field and eastern south korea. according to a joint statement

from u.s. pacific command and south korea defense ministry, the bombing raid simulated strikes against the north core facilities. the b-1 jets were flown from anderson air force base in guam, which north korea's leader has threatened to strike calling it a forward invasion base. 106,000 u.s. citizens live in guam. the f35 king from a u.s. base in japan. "north korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners, and homeland and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly." that according to general terence jay o'shaughnessy, commander of u.s. pacific air forces. he said that in a statement you're at that show of force came a day after the u.s. miller soul defense agency had targeted an intermediate range test missile fired from a base in hawaii, firing fm six muscles that could be fired from ships to intercept. that u.s. missile defense test was preplanned, according to the

pentagon. today, the u.s. and south korea and their annual ten day military exercises, it's the largest annual exercise and always angers north korea which describes it as a preparation for an invasion. expect more as quitting rhetoric and actions from pyongyang. >> leland: the north koreans always have a way with words. jennifer griffin at the pentagon, thank you. >> molly: the enormous damage done by harvey, vice president pence about to get a firsthand look at it all. he's such a land in texas minutes from now. the record-breaking landfall -- rainfall, the fierce flooding leaving misery behind. we are looking at the vice president in the second lady has a look the politics of all of this coming up next. >> for those affected by this storm, we are praying for you and we are here with you every single step of the way.

>> leland: a fox news alert as we wait vice president pence vice president pence's arrival in texas. he is traveling there with a second lady. he's going to survey the damage that harvey has left behind. white house pool is traveling with him, live pictures as they happen. the vice president has spent an awful lot of time. a fox news poll approve president trump's job performance, 55% disapprove. joining us now, brian maguire, former chief of staff to senator mitch mcconnell. thank you for joining us gentlemen. thank you. in fairness to the president, this poll was in the field, so

to speak before the nation had a chance to digest president trump's trip to texas and before the nation had a chance to digest the admin astray since response. do you expect these numbers to rise once that happens? >> no question. i think in situations like this, it's essential that the president be present and he has been present. the vice president is down there today, the president will return to texas on saturday. i think that's an important thing for the president to do. he hit all the right notes on tax reform which he continues to do. these numbers are about five points better than he was on election day and i didn't keep them from winning. all these things combined mean this is a situation of the president can and will improve.

>> leland: ed looks like the floodwaters have receded out of that neighborhood and other cleanup begins. we heard the vice president's went to spend a lot of time with the victims of this storm, mr. mr. trippi. it's the one thing we didn't see from president trump during his visit which is that overwhelming empathy. those prayers and those personal moments that happen so often with president obama and president bush. >> first off, our hearts go out to the people down there, they're still suffering, many of them still need to be rescued and clearly, all those different agencies stayed in and are doing everything they can to make it as good an outcome as possible. the one thing at this stage, we don't know -- this thing is still unrolling as we speak. i think the lessons that we learn from katrina are as well as things seem to be going right

now. beaumont is still in trouble. i think political assessment and even the hindsight second guessing right now is way too early. right now all we can do is whatever but else is doing, try to get as my supplies and things down there. people are rooting for the government to do a good job right now and they want to see the president succeed. >> leland: the entire country wants them to help. live pictures from one of our cruise in houston, a man walking out with a dog. we heard a lot of the rescuers out there that they are now taking people back to their homes to try and get pets out, to try and get medication that people may have left behind, to try and see if there's anybody else left inside that needs help. one of our cruise there during that water rescue.

we appreciate your insights, thank you. >> molly: new developments on the chemical plant northeast of houston without power to its cooling systems, some chemical reactions have sparked an early morning fire. that sent more than a dozen sheriffs deputies to the hospital and triggered a massive evacuation. what officials are now saying about the danger from smoke pouring out of that plant. you always pay

your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. >> molly: fox news alert, texas environmental officials are monitoring and chemical plant northeast of houston. it was rocked by an early meeting fire that trigger the evacuation of the entire area. joining us on the phone's matt

dempsey, he just reported on the investigative team at the "houston chronicle" ." things were joining us. i want to set with where that there were a number of share was to the hospital. we know how they're doing? >> i don't have an update as to how the sheriff's deputies are doing. i believe they were taken there as a precaution. i don't believe there in any imminent danger. >> molly: good. a mile and a half radius has been blocked off around this plant. how dangerous is this? the chemicals in the situation there. >> the primary danger that officials are worrying about is the explosion from the fire. there is a lack of clarity on how dangerous any kind of smoke or release from the chemicals will be. one, the sheriff's -- the harris county sheriff said it was like a barbecue fire, the

company involved, arkema, they described it as noxious but would not clarify whether that was toxic or not. >> molly: interesting. don't have a whole lot of clarification on what type of chemical this is or how potentially dangerous it could be? >> we know what type of chemicals are involved, it's a chemical called organic peroxides. those chemicals when they get warm, can you hear me? >> molly: yes. >> sorry, it gets hot and any kind of rising temperature and then they start to run away reaction and they explode. that's why they did the mile and a half radius because of those organic peroxides. there are other chemicals on-site that could pose problems, but the tanks for those chemicals are remote. they're far away from the organic peroxide.

one of the nine containers has exploded. they have eight other freezer trucks that are filled with these organic peroxides. i had one expert say we're sitting on a powder keg, but the county government officials are downplaying the long term of bigger implication risks of that mile and half radius. >> molly: matt dempsey, we appreciate it, think you so much for being on the ground. we're looking at a split screen here, but even once the water recedes, there are a number of dangerous scenarios that could play out in the days to come. a lot of infrastructure may have been harmed over the course of this storm, so this is one of them and he challenges ahead. >> leland: a fox news alert. we are seeing the vice president and his wife who will be talking and arriving in texas.

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>> leland: vice president about a touchdown in texas. we're back with you in an hour. >> molly: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> sandra: fox news alert, vice president mike pence to meet with flood victims today and get a firsthand look at the destruction left behind by harvey. this is the situation in the greater houston area. authorities monitoring a potentially dangerous situation at a crippled chemical plant where there were reports of explosions and fires overnight. the local authorities saying the smoke presented "no danger to the community at all. this is a "outnumbered," i'm turned to smith. here today, kennedy, also from fbn, trish regan is here, former deputy state department