your screen. there are multitudes of ways that you can help. thanks for joining us. >> great being with you at home. there are so many folks who need help. trying to give you a look -- >> happy birthday, leland. >> you got it in. "america's news hq" starts now. >> sandra: all right. we're watching multiple breaking news events in texas as we begin the 2:00 hour on the east coast. hello, everyone. i'm sandra smith. right now patients are being evacuated by air from a hospital in beaumont in southeast texas. this as vice president pence is on the ground in that state as well. here's a live look on the left. you can see the vice president along with the governor, greg abbott, are meeting with victims, as well as those helping make rescues on the ground in rockport, texas. the vice president saying texas is in the thoughts and prayers of everyone. listen. >> i talked to the president on

air force two this morning. i asked him what he wanted me to tell ya. he just said, just tell them we love texas. you've inspired the nation by your resilience and your courage. >> sandra: we have fox team coverage for you spread out across the state of texas. griff jenkins. we begin first with matt fin live in crosby, texas. matt, we've been following so many developing events, especially that hospital evacuation on our thoughts right now. >> reporter: sandra, that beaumont hospital not far from here. the baptist hospital of the southeast posting to facebook a short while ago that it has no other choice but to perform those emergency operations right now because of a lack of water pressure in the town that is affecting that hospital. we have some of difficult video to show you. one by one patients being

evacuated and air lifted. cameras being kept back. 200 patients in total being brought out of that hospital. some going by ambulance and helicopter to hospitals. others being discharged if they can be. beaumont texas was hit very hard in the past few days after harvey headed east. we drove through that town in that area. it was basically under water. cars entirely submerged. a disaster there in beaumont. now imagine the added difficulty loved ones or even ambulances might face locating these patients with flooded roads or no power for the past couple of days. this is obviously a developing situation. we will be sure to keep you updated on that hospital in beaumont. we are also monitoring another story here on the ground in crosby, texas. there were reports overnight of an explosion overnight at a chemical plant. this morning we learned that county officials and the executives at that chemical plant saying it was more of a chemical reaction. now we're working to determine how dangerous some of that

material might be in the air here. the county sheriff saying the chemicals are similar to breathing in smoke from a campfire. however, a short while ago one of the executives said it might be worse than that. >> when you have a fire where hydrocarbon chemicals are burning, sometimes you have incomplete combustion and you have smoke. and any smoke is going to be an irritant to your eyes or your lungs or potentially your skin. so if you're exposed to that, we certainly are encouraging anyone that may be exposed to the smoke coming from this fire to call their doctor or seek medical advice. >> reporter: there is a 1.5 mile radius around that chemical plant that you can see. interstate i-90 closed in directions. lot of streets closed. chemical saying it closed down in anticipation of hurricane

harvey. it brought in backup generator, but those failed. then it brought in other chemicals to protect. but they are sitting in this heat without electricity and they are basically combusting. >> sandra: thank you for all of that. as those evacuations continue from the hospital, we're gonna stay on that story for you as well. meanwhile, these are live images after the vice president mike pence and his wife karen pence are on the ground in texas. landed in corpus christi. they then went to rockport texas by their motorcade and are meeting with survivors of this horrific event. that is a live image of one of the areas really hard hit where the vice president has decided to visit. all of this coming on the heels of president trump's recent visit on the ground there and then the president planning to return there this weekend. the vice president on the ground in texas. meanwhile, let's bring in casey

steegle. casey? >> reporter: sandra, all of the action not happening far from here. the vice president and second lady touched down here at the corpus christi airport about two hours ago where they were greeted by the governor of texas, greg abbott, and his wife. in addition to some u.s. coast guard officers who are assisting with some of the operations here on the ground. the motorcade then headed about 40 miles north right up the coast to rock port texas, as you said. that is right around where hurricane harvey made landfall nearly one week ago as a category four storm. they stopped by a church ripped apart by harvey, greeted by the reverend franklin graham and other faith leaders. vice president pence held a prayer vigil and declared this sunday as a day of prayer for all of texas. listen. >> we are with you.

the american people are with you. we are here today. we will be here tomorrow. and we will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuilds bigger and better than ever before. >> reporter: now let's take you to live pictures on the ground now from rockport, texas. from that location, the vp made his way not far from that church to a hard hit neighborhood where he has been meeting with storm victims and volunteers who are working around the clock with first responders. the vice president and second lady will then tour the area by chopper once they leave that location and get a bird's eye view of harvey's wrath. the damage is vast. they will land in neighboring victoria, texas, another community impacted by this catastrophe. we understand they will then

chopper back here to corpus christi where they will hold a media availability with a whole slew of his cabinet, president trump's cabinet, including the secretary of labor, transportation por , veteran affair, homeland security. very busy day on the ground here. of course we now know president trump has made plans to revisit this area on saturday. texas, possibly louisiana. coming back, as we know. most of americans have been gripped by this story and our hearts and prayers are with everyone impacted. >> sandra: you've been there from the beginning. thank you for your conned reporting. rescue teams are hard at work pulling people out, still. pets are still in the way of danger. griff jenkins is live with one of those teams that has been going, griff, door to door and still are doing so in houston. >> reporter: that's right,

sandra. mandatory evacuations here where the reservoir was threatening homes. they're going to face three, four feet. we are here where sheriff nail, troy nails, has been at it since before dawn. taking this homeowner, his name is jack, and there is no stone that won't be overturned going door to door with the sheriff because jack is -- we just rescued, i'm hoping, we have rescued a her mit grab. what did we rescue? >> a her mit crab. >> reporter: is it alive? all right. what is its name? >> i think we call him hermy. >> reporter: this is your son's? >> yeah. he'll be very happy. how old is your son? >> 9 and 11. >> reporter: 9 and 11. can we even see this crab in there? yep. there you go. the reason the sheriff is doing this is because pets mean so much to their owners.

we are in such a devastating situation. it's a bright spot. you've been at it all day. you've been kind enough to let us on your boat. a hermit crab. >> we don't want to belittle the point of pets. i'm sure his two boys will appreciate the fact that we stopped here to pick up that hermit crab. we have two others in the boat. we're going to get some cats. we are doing everything we can to rescue family pets. we'll be wrapping things up here soon. we've been at it all morning. like you said earlier, not leave any stone unturned. but we've seen the line now up front has diminished. there's very few people left that still have pets remaining in this subdivision. >> reporter: while we happen to have rescued a hermit crab, a happy moment, there is still danger. yesterday you lost two of your residents. it's still dangerous driving, even with the sun out.

you even faced more problems when a river south of here may really bring damage to your county. >> with the sun being out, it's a false sense of security. we're not out of the woods. the west side of this county, the river has not crested. 55 feet. by tomorrow morning it will go to 50 which is record flooding. we've never experienced that. so we're asking people, if you see water, we're asking you to turn around. two individuals yesterday saw water across the road but they tried it, started taking water, dialled 911. just unfortunately couldn't get to them in time. >> reporter: that's just a reality. not out of the woods yet, sandra. that's what's going on as continued flooding happening. back to you. >> sandra: thanks to that team for their dedication to the rescue efforts. you've been traveling with them throughout the day. griff general kin, thank you. one big question remain, what is next for the gulf coast?

adam clapp joins us. adam, where does this go from here? >> it's still going to be a problem for some folks as this system continues to lift its way up into the heartland, running up the east coast. here's what we're looking at. there's your center of low pressure. lots of rain still falling. it's cut off from the gulf moisture which does mean it is going to wind down a bit. there's still plenty of spots that will see the rain. still a chance of some severe weather. everything there in that red box, that is an area where we have a tornado watch in place. tornados have been spinning throughout the morning hours now into terl evening through the memphis area down through tupelo, mississippi. all spots is a small tornado spinning up. this happens a lot when you get a tropical system. it has happened a bunch with this particular one. rain still going to be an issue. memphis stretching up to nashville and lexington. areas may see 6 to 10 inches of rain, not nearly what we've been

seeing. this is heavy rain. you see it spreading across the entire southeast. going to be a rain maker as we head into the weekend. other things we're paying attention to, this one is intimidating. back in the gulf of mexico. just a 20% chance of forming but that's what we'll pay attention to. it could bring a new round of rain to the gulf coast. otherwise, and this is the real big one, we're paying real close attention. hurricane irma. this is way out in the atlantic. it's forecasted now to become a category four storm. that's taking into early next week. this is a big one, one we'll be watching closely. >> sandra: adam, thanks for the update there. by the way, we've got new pictures coming in. want to show you this. our camera is now on a helicopter that is right now doing rescues in the beaumont texas area. that is where we just announced to you that a hospital has had to evacuate nearly 200 of its patients that have been

receiving emergency services because the water system in beaumont texas has failed. they're evacuating there. we've got a camera on a chopper making rescues. we're going to have more on this in just a moment. plus president trump promising money for harvey victims but will congress come together to pass a much needed package? we will speak with congressman sessions and what houston's neighbors to the north are doing to help out in just moments. ste when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. new deep hydrating eye gel with hyaluronic acid born to outperform the #1... prestige eye cream for better hydration. and your best look yet. olay eyes collection.

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now through august 31. >> sandra: congress will have a very full plate when lawmakers return next week. now topping the list will likely be federal money for harvey relief. joining me now is republican texas congressman pete sessions. congressman, thanks for joining

us. >> thank you very much, sandra. >> sandra: first of all, can you give us an update on what you know and what you've been told by relief efforts? >> well, two on going important factors are occurring as we speak. one in tyler county, which is north and west of the area that's impacted. still well within the rain area. there's a large reservoir with huge gates that they have now had to open to avoid some sort of reservoir collapse. it means that there will be rushing huge amounts of water that will now be coming downstream. they have described this effect as catastrophic because of the speed of the water and the amount of water. and so they have told anybody that is in that way, you need to go immediately a long way away and to higher ground. that is an urgent message that's

coming. we are told out of tyler county. secondly, because of the failure of the water system from the collapse of 50 inches of rain, beaumont, texas, has a hospital that can no longer generate its own water supply. and so they have 200 people. you just can't pass out bottles of water. they are going to abandon the hospital. this will put mediate pressure -- >> sandra: congressman i want to jump in. we have images of doctors, nurses, military personnel helping evacuate those patient, 200 of them. one by one, putting them on stretchers, carrying them to helicopters. that's not beaumont area where we have a live aerial view of what is happening in that town. where might those patients be headed? because we had a general statement put out by the hospital, but it was not specific to where those patients

may be headed. do you know any more ab the area an where they may take them? >> well, perhaps i do, but it depends upon their needs. if they were in emmediate surgery, if they are needing immediate help. i will anticipate they will try and get them out of the area, which would mean heading directly up 45 or to dallas or austin, texas. they are the next largest facilities. bryan texas has college station, has a large facility there. the largest facilities are in areas couple hundred miles away. >> sandra: all right, congressman, as we look at this daunting task of first rescue, which is still happening. there are people in the way of danger as we speak still. these rescue efforts are under way. the recovery efforts. when you talk about what kind of federal aid is going to be needed in relief of these harvey victims.

what are we looking at dollar wise? >> well, the director of omb met with our majority leader yesterday. they told the texas delegation that, for the time being, they have enough money to pay for these operations and there was not an immediate stress or need immediately to come up with an initial package. i found that interesting. we will continue to monitor that. i think that we're going to have to look at this matter. that it's louisiana. it's gonna come straight up to the north, through the south to the north. >> sandra: congressman what, are we looking at? congress returns next week. this is obviously top of the agenda. i understand this morning on fox business you eluded to a trillion dollars is going to be needed. is that still something you stand by? >> what i do stand by that it's a trillion dollar episode. but we probably, without knowing

what i'm talking about, would be looking at in the neighborhood of less than $100 billion that the government would pay. but the entire effort would be a trillion dollar effort, which means about $900 billion that other people are gonna have to pay. the insurance, the people. that's what i said. >> sandra: okay. wow, congressman, thank for jumping on with us and also giving us an update. as you said, tyler county is going to be one to watch. thank you for the update. >> you bet. >> sandra: emergency crews in the houston area now going block by block as they enter a new fay in the rescue an recovery mission. plus houston's police officers going above and beyond the call of duty. one officer of 34 years died in the flooding. more on how you can help his family next. >> his wife told me she asked him not to go in. steve is one of the sweetest

people i have met pitch only been here nine months. we've got 6500 employeesnd i knew who steve perez was.

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>> sandra: vice president mike pence right now live pictures of him aiding directly in the cleanup of this storm and all the debris. pence will soon get on a helicopter to get an aerial view, we're told, of the damage in the corpus christi area. you can see his wife there in the blue, karen. she is on the ground as well helping out, patting folks on the back that are down there working endlessly in this cleanup effort. the vice president himself there picking up debris and, he's got gloves on. he's digging right in. we'll keep watching these live

images for you. he is about to get that aerial image. he is joining right in with the cleanup efforts with those good people. houston's police department earning praise for their heroism shown during the disaster. one officer, steve perez, lost his life, drowning in the floodwaters trying to get to his station earlier this week an emotional police chief described the moment he realized there was nothing they could do to save him. >> so we did find him. it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. we made the 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. >> sandra: joining me now by

phone is doug griffith, vice president of the houston police officers union. thank you so much, sir, for joining us. how do you plan to honor the loss of this officer? >> yes, ma'am. we are gonna have services, hopefully within the next two weeks, to honor him and his sacrifice. >> sandra: of course, obviously, that will be an emotional day. it already is for all of the first responders down there, as many of them are still working tirelessly to help people out of harm's way. this is one instance of heroism that we are learning has happened on the ground there. could you share with us any other stories? >> yes, ma'am. we have just literally hundreds of stories of rescue, of officers putting their lives in harms way to try to rescue these folks who had no idea how bad this was going to be. we had estimates of what the rainfall was going to be like,

but nobody believed it, that this kind of devastation that has just been incredible. >> sandra: we're still looking at these pictures of these rescues by boat. it's been unbelievable to watch. overnight houston police made water rescues of 18 people. but this is far from over. we know that there are still many people in harms way. how are your first responders doing? how are your officers hanging in there? obviously many of them are not getting sleep. hard to get food and water. they are still out there trying to save lives. >> yes, ma'am. these guys have just been working on pure adrenaline. we were comandeering dump trucks. we had officers rescues people with dump trucks in houston for hours on end. we have thousands of rescues with these dump trucks. they were doing what needed to be done to rescue people. it's starting to calm down.

we're still having rescues. we just came off a 24 hour shift, went to 12 hour shifts. guys are able to grab a quick shower, grab a quick nap. let me just say the citizens of houston and texas have been fee gnome nall. they have loaded us with so much food, so many toiletry, extra clothes. we have over 200 officers that have lost their houses and cars. the outpouring of support has been wonderful. >> thank god for them. thank god for their family, many of whom are so worried about them. sar general perez wife said shortly before he left, she didn't want him to go. he said, i have work to do. we have a picture of some of the police officers that saved the rain soaked texas flag that was flying over sergeant perez station. we are told they will present the flag to the per refamily in honor of his and their sacrifice on behalf of the people of houston. doug griffin, thank you for

jumping on with us. >> thank you, ma'am. you have a great day. >> sandra: we are remember sergeant perez and others who are risking their lives to help others. sarah huckabee sanders will be taking the podium. live when she gets started. and vice president mike pence. we've been seeing these images. he put the gloves on and he's picking up debris. he is beginning his tour of the damage in rockport, texas. he is joining the people down there. we will show you pictures of what he is seeing and currently doing. keep it right here. mike and i are both veterans, both served in the navy. i do outrank my husband, not just being in the military, but at home. she thinks she's the boss. she only had me by one grade. we bought our first home together in 2010. his family had used another insurance product but i was like well i've had usaa for a while, why don't we call and check the rates? it was an instant savings and i should've changed a long time ago. there's no point in looking elsewhere really. we're the tenneys

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>> sandra: want to take you to, this is a patient. we can't specifically identify that this patient is being pulled out of the beaumont hospital that we just said was evacuated that had nearly 200 patients in it. bun of our producers just got that video of a patient in the helicopter, as you can see, the wind is blowing. you can see the military helping out and transferring this patient onto the helicopter. they're all being air lifted out of that hospital after the water system failed there. there was no safe water. they had to get all of those patients out. that happening in beaumont hospital down there in texas. rescue teams now going door to door as texas floodwaters have

people still in imminent danger. peer ducey is at the houston convention center where thousands of flood stricken residents are waiting to go home. probably anxious to do so. we begin first with jeff flock live south of houston on a jet ski it appears. unbelievable. what are you seeing out there now, jeff? >> reporter: all matter of transportation has come out here. folks just volunteering like this team we're with. we're in a neighborhood where most of the people have gotten out. these are lovely homes here that are now at least halfway up on floodwaters. most of the people in this neighborhood now are out. lot of people have come back in because they went out in an emergency situation, have come back in to get medication. some people left their animals. so volunteers have been coming in, number one, making sure anybody who is still here int d intends to be here and enkourpbing them to leave. beyond that, anybody that needs

to get medication, whatever they need to get out of the house, doing that. jet skis. these guys, if they find somebody that needs help, they'll jet city in and then ask for a larger boat to come and get the folks. i tell ya, this has been an extraordinary sight to me, sandra, of how first responders have been supplemented by volunteers and working together. we had a dea team out here signed to the flood who had been coordinating volunteers. this really has gone as well as a disaster can go. i have been to a lot of disasters. it's clearly a disaster. this one has not gone badly so far. >> sandra: it's amazing to see these people who are willing to make these rescues. getting ahold of any resource they can in order to help out just like that, jeff. >> reporter: incredible. >> sandra: the images continue to be so shocking. those trees completely

submerged, cars. those homious were just showing. >> reporter: beautiful houses. they're gorgeous places. i mean, this is -- you talk about the insurance cost of this. it's gonna be pretty hefty. >> sandra: it doesn't get any less shocking. >> reporter: take a look. wow. >> sandra: all right, jeff flock, thank you. more than 200 shelters housing at least 32,000 people in texas. many waiting for a chance to return home to see what's left. peter ducey is live at the convention center in houston. why is it that families of that shelter are still having a hard time finding their loved ones, peter? >> reporter: it's because, sandra, nobody has had time yet to put together a coordinated database of who went to this shelter or that shelter, who ended up at that hospital or this hospital. and so right now officials are trying to find out the where abouts of hundreds of survivors.

>> i think the red cross is working on it. there's no centralized database that we can go oh, joe this and we can start to go, he's here. it's one of those things, when you're doing triage, that's further down the road. we're waiting on that. we're doing sort of a 1980s process. >> reporter: so a lot of paperwork today. right now survivors are spread out at dozens of shelters throughout harris county. officials are trying to get everybody who needs a place to stay into two megashelters. this one, the convention center. then the nrg center next door where the nfl texans play. as for where survivors will live after these temporary shelters reach tend of their usefulless, fema said nothing is off the table. hotels could be a next step, apartments could be a next step. there are big question marks

about things longer than a lease or hotel room. fema says 325,000 survivors have already contacted them asking for federal help. at the end of this main hallway at the convention center here in downtown houston, there is still a long line of survivors at a fema registration table trying to get in here. they're looking for a place to stay. they're looking for food. they're looking for gear. they came here to try to get it as instructed by authorities. and, again, the water is starting to recede. the rain stopped days ago. it is ab khactually pretty nice outside. sandra. >> sandra: getting in touch with their loved ones is still difficult. that's got to be difficult for everyone. peter ducey, thanks for the update from there. we want to show you these live pictures. the emerge air lifts that continue out of this hospital in beaumont. baptist beaumont hospital.

victims in texas are getting help from all over the country. we want to keep on this image for a second because this is just coming into us. this is a live picture. remember, a majority of the patients in this hospital are being treated for emergency services. the water system failed there in beaumont. they could no longer operate this hospital without safe water. safe drinking water and obviously safe water to be used in the hospital. the statement from the hospital has come out, but they have not made it clear where these patients are going. in the meantime, nearly 200 of those patients being air lifted one by one out of that hospital and being taken somewhere else. god bless that patient. that's got to be an unbelievable situation to be in. hopefully they get each one of those patients to safety soon. victims in texas are getting help from all over the country. someone specific is standing out. his name is jett.

he's 5 years old. jett decided he wanted to help. he decided to start a lemonade stand to help raise money to help the american red cross. so far he's raised at his little lemonade stand, a whopping $400 plus. joining me now is jett along with his mother margret brown. thank you very much for joining us. the breaking news is coming in from the efforts in texas. we're gonna stay on that for everyone. we're waiting a briefing for the white house. but we want to talk to jett. jett, what is it that you decided to do to try to help out with all of this? >> well, we just -- our hearts go out to the people in texas and to jett's home town, houston. we just wanted to do something to help everyone down there. we have family down there. something that we could do to

get jett involved by having a sweet tea and lemonade stand. just with the outpouring of support from people around the country. >> sandra: can jett hear me, mom? >> yes. >> yes, ma'am. >> sandra: jett, what is it that you're trying to do? you set up this lemonade stand. you're trying to help. >> yes, ma'am. >> sandra: that's so nice. have you sold a lot of lemonade? >> yes, ma'am. >> sandra: and so are you originally from texas, jett? >> yes. >> sandra: and you told your mom that you wanted to do what? trying to help out all the people that are in need? >> yes. >> sandra: so, mom -- how did this all come together? >> jett's grandparents are down there. we had just been talking to papa

t for the past two days. so, of course, jett was concerned. we just wanted to do something to help out. so we thought that the lemonade stand would be something that he could do. what started out as a simple little lemonade stand has grown. we just want to help anyway we can the people down in houston and all over texas. >> sandra: it's a beautiful story. anybody trying to help out, i'm sure is being welcomed with open arms. and jett is so generous of you to do what you're doing. thanks for coming on. >> thank you so much. thank you, ma'am. >> sandra: thank you. thanks to his mom as well. we are awaiting the white house press briefing to happen as sarah huckabee sanders steps up to the microphone. we are going to take you there live when that begins. we'll be right back.

2:43:00 p.m. eastern time.

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>> we will talk to a father frying to get his wife an five little children to the roof of a home after the floodwaters took over. and we're watching the white house, where the briefing is set to begin any minute. that is all coming up at the top of the hour where we con our breaking news coverage live from houston. >> sandra: all right. trace just mentioned, we are awaiting the white house press briefing to begin any moment now as vice president pence is currently on the ground right-hand side of your screen in texas. even rolling up his sleeves to help out. two days after the president paid a visit there. so how is the trump administration responding to

harvey? richard fowler radio show host is here an kristen tate contributor to the hill. kristen, i'll start with you first. as we continue to watch the vice president on the ground there, we saw him picking up the mess and jumping right in along with his wife karen to help out. some nice moments in all of this. >> yeah. no, i'm so happy to see pence doing that. i think the trump administration has done a phenomenal job dealing with this crisis. offering support, doing anything they can to help people in the houston and surrounding area. texans appreciate that. they appreciate the aid. but here's the thing. there tends to be a mind set in texas that is government is not the solution to all of life's problems. so while federal aid and while leadership from the highest levels of government is great, texans are doing a lot more to help other texans than any federal government agency ever could. people down here tend to be very independent, hard working

people. they know how to help each other out. it's beautiful to see. i'm a proud texan. i think the rest of america can take a page from the texas play book. >> sandra: richard, before i go to you, i want to point out that this is the baptist hospital in beaumont texas. evacuations continue to be under way there. nearly 200 patients the hospital put out publicly that they had to evacuate the entire hospital and get these patients to safety. they no longer had clean drinking water or usable water in general. and we have been seeing doctors, nurses, military, loading up those patient, one at a time and bringing them to safety. that is a live look at one of the helicopters. i don't know if there are multiple hel helicopters involved. i would assume so. there's another one. they are continuing to evacuate that hospital in beaumont texas. richard, stories like these,

it's hard to believe this is still happening and these people are still in danger. >> i mean, that is the hard part. i have lived through one of thaoe storms. i lived through hurricane andrew which is almost a couple decades ago in the 1990s in miami. my mom is a registered nurse. i know what some of those doctors and nurses are going through. my mom would be the nurse that would stay overnight and take care of patients. big shout out to all the nurses and doctors throughout the texas area who are working sometimes 16, 18, 24 hour shifts to make sure their patients stay safe. and shout out to the families because their mom and dad aren't there, they're at the hospital taking care of patients. i think sometimes those stories are never told and those stories are lost. they're not forgotten by me and americans who have very thankful for their service. >> sandra: that's a fair point. great perspective on that.

kristen, we've got to leave it there. i'm being told breaking news. we've been getting so many of these live pictures. if you could though, by the way, stick around for us, that would be helpful. we're awaiting the white house press briefing to begin. mike pence is on the ground there. it's time for the biggest sale of the

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>> sandra: as we await the white house press briefing we are looking at live pictures. you just saw jeff flock on the ground. town flooded. a couple high schools turned into shelters there. on the right side, beaumont texas. we've got a live camera on a helicopter there that is one of the helicopters that is helping evacuate patients from the beaumont hospital and trying to get them somewhere safe as the flooding caused the water system to fail there. no safe water. they're getting 200 patients out

of that hospital and to safety. we'll keep looking at these live pictures and bring back richard fowler, kristen tate, contributor to the hill. kristen, that white house press briefing should be starting in just moments as vice president mike pence and his wife continue to tour the flood damage down in texas. we are going to wait for the white house press briefing. what are you expecting to hear from them as next week congress returns? >> you know, i think we're all going to be talking about tax reform. i think that the american people really want and need tax reform. this is part of what they voted for when they voted for president trump. i'm optimistic that something will get done by the end of this year. we probably won't see comprehensive tax reform, but i think we'll see something. republicans know that if they can deliver on this next year will be a messy year. they need to get people a reason to vote for republicans. i think the focus in politics moving forward is going to be on

tax reform. >> sandra: we also have an image now of a helicopter landing in kasper, texas, with one of those patients being evacuated from the christ beaumont hospital. richard, i'm going to keep you here, as we look at some live images coming into us. this is one of the cameras on the chopper. it's a huge effort to get nearly 200 patients evacuated from a hospital. many of which were there for emergency services. no more water. hospital says we've got to get them out now. military stepped in and they are getting these people to safety. and going back to your point, richard fowler, as we await also the white house press briefing to start in just moments, thinking about the hospital workers themselves, the nurse, the doctors. they were out in scrubs and their doctors' coats. they were helping lose these patients on that chopper. >> this is a really really

taxing job for these individuals, i'm telling you. my mom witnessed this firsthand. they care for their patients beyond belief. my mom is an nicu nurse so she's dealing with babies. they put their lives on the line every day. and in natural disaster, even more so. a lot of times bagging the babies by hand when the power goes out. so this is something that these people, they train for their entire lives. they practice drills for this. and when this -- this has sort of become muscle memory. they put their lives on the line every day to make this a reality. when members of congress come back and they'll have a harvey relief bill, they need to remember these workers and make sure when they rebuild, we rebuild the hospitals, rebuild the infrastructures so if a flood like this happens again, these workers have the supplies they need to get the job done. we don't want it to happen again, but katrina happened almost ten years ago and we're witnessing this again.

make sure the resources are there so these doctors and nurses and first responders can save the lives they need to. >> sandra: according to the texas website, we don't have a lot of details on this evacuation. we know what the hospital has told us. they put out a public statement saying that they just had to get these 200 -- that every single patient out of there to safety, that they would be air lifted. they didn't have safe water any more. but no specific details on the patients themselves or where they were headed. of course that will come in with time. i will let you guys know, again, that we are awaiting that white house press briefing any moment now. we will go to that when it begins. but kristen tate, if you could shed some more light on this moment and the administration's handling of all of this. i expect that we'll hear something from sarah on that in a moment. >> absolutely. the nation is watching houston

in awe right now. i'm actually from houston. we're seeing people there who have lost everything. they have nothing to their names anymore. but they their families. they have their friends. they are so thankful to be alive and have each other. we've seen so much heart and spirit coming out of this city. it's the best of america. the trump administration, they've been doing a great job. it's so nice to see mike pence down there, you know, leading by example. this is what america is all about. this is what texas is all about. i'm so proud of houston. >> sandra: all right kristen tate and richard fowler, we thank both of you for joining us, for chiming in. interesting to get your perspective on that as well. by the way, mike pence is down there, and his wife led many of the residents there and many of the survivors in prayer just a short time ago. and he continues to give us a tour of the damage down there.

i'm sandra smith. continuing coverage with trace gallagher in for shep live from houston. >> trace: it's 3:00 in the east, 2:00 p.m. on the texas gulf coast where an already miserable situation is getting worse. one town filled with filthy flood water now without any clean tap water. and a blast at a chemical plant. in houston, people are desperate to get back to their flooded homes and see what is left. one man said the water in his home is chest high. he's taking the valuables out before anybody else can get to them first. all that as the weather center tracks the next big storm already hurricane