now. >> leland: just before this labor day weekend, a fox news alert. president trump getting ready to head to texas. hard to believe we are now one week since harvey came ashore, the second hour of "happening now" on this friday. a speech of the president is set to land in the lone star state tomorrow, mr. trump tweeting today that there is still so much to do to help texas recove recover. the president also personally donating $1 million to the cause. >> leland: we have live fox team coverage. on the projected path of hurricane irma, now a category to go but gaining strength out in the atlantic. matt finn live on the ground

with fema cruise, i guess you are quite literally in the town. >> we are here with fema crews from california, new jersey. this town is underwater, another place in texas where there are active search and rescues. right now the storm hit about one week ago but there are still recoveries happening here in the state of texas. i want to introduce you to chris from los angeles fire, what can you guys potentially see out here right now as far as people? >> we are coming back again to finish up a wide area search, looking for people with medical needs that need to get out now, looking for folks that may be flagging us down and deciding it's time to leave. primarily people with pre-existing medical conditions. >> thank you for your service,

thank you very much. weeks after harvey made landfall, still a scene of devastation here in wharton texas, back to you in new york. >> leland: knew devastation with this town just flooding over night a week later, quick question for you. the cajun navy, all the volunteers we saw who did such incredible work that you reported on, are they still needed or are there now and not federal resources with fema crews that the volunteers are needed as much? >> right now i couldn't give the official word on whether they are needed but i will tell you, we have seen so many civilian volunteers, we have seen that cajun navy and i can only imagine there are officials in this area who are welcoming any type of civilian rescues but i couldn't give you the official word. >> leland: they are welcoming any kind of help in terms of water and food and of the cleanup is going to take months down there.

matt finn, great reporting as always, fema crews on the ground, let us know if you find anybody who needs help or pets that are rescued. >> we've seen people walking around already, we will keep you updated. >> molly: we've seen our reporters on these high water vehicles and boats, you can see this is not over but the remnants of hurricane harvey, they have soaked areas well into the ohio valley. meanwhile, hurricane irma is gaining strength in the atlanti atlantic. >> i tell you what, you see harvey continue to rotate their right across parts of the ohio valley, that is bringing some very heavy rain today. the eastern side of it, there is some rotation, watch for some tornado threats. still watching flooding concerns, obviously the flooding down across parts of the south,

now we have flood watch is in effect across parts of the ohio valley. some of the rain will be heavy, cannot rule out an isolated area, maybe we will see up to 6 inches of rain and that will cause some localized flooding. to mike tornado concerns, especially across parts of north carolina. we will watch for that today. you mentioned this, we have hurricane irma right now category 2. it has the potential out here in the atlantic to be one of the strongest storms we've may be seen in the atlantic anywhere, i will also tell you this generally when you see a storm this strong in the atlantic that far out, these storms curb up towards the north and miss land in the u.s. generally, that doesn't mean we won't have impact but i will tell you in the short term, next five days,

if you are in puerto rico, maybe you need to be watching for some impact of this. the bahamas will need to be watching this just after that. there is always the bermuda high-pressure out here in the atlantic, that's what stops the storm from immediately curving up towards the north. it continues to pull out towards the west, a little bit of weakening of the high pressure for it to move up towards the north eventually. i will tell you this, yesterday the european model, we talk about these models all the time. the european had been pulling this a little further towards the west and the american model curving it. a little bit of agreement here that the storm curves up towards the north and will not hit anywhere across the u.s. which is absolutely but we hope. take a look at the data on this. that's september 11th, we are

talking almost two weeks from now. hopefully there are indications that it will stay away from land, can't promise that at all but we have lots of time to track it. >> molly: that is what we are hoping, we don't need another hit right now. look at the live pictures we are getting in, these are houston arial, the view looking down from above, you can get a scope for how bad things are. a gentleman surrounded by water on all sides, you and i both stood in areas and watch floodwaters go down in the past, the danger really is yet to be over. >> it depends where you are, rivers have to move towards the ocean, some spots the rivers have crested already but that just -- it's kind of like a bubble in our river and that bubble just moves down so it's moving up in one spot and that bubble moves down. there you have your flooding, i don't know exactly where this is

and what body of water, obviously it's from a river or by you right there. some are still going to continue to rise, some are starting to go down already. a lot of the rivers in this area are well above their record stage. some rivers we've been seeing have had records that have been maybe 7-8 feet higher than they ever saw it in any previous record event. because of that, it's going to take a long time for these waters to even go below record stage, maybe a week or so. >> molly: thank you so much for the update, we will continue to watch all of these pictures. >> leland: meantime in washington, lawmakers are under pressure to do something about the so-called dreamers, ahead of a looming deadline in the daca program. this is the trump administration, expected to make an announcement come up a

possibly a controversial announcement that could affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants. special counsel robert mueller enlisting the help of a government agency in the trump-russia investigation, why would he want to talk to the ir irs? our panel on why and what it means. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people that actually have a genuine need. we're the webber family and we are usaa members for life. usaa, get your insurance quote today.

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>> molly: a fox news alert, increased pressure on congress to act quickly on so-called dreamers as the deadline looms for the trump administration to rescind the deferred action for childhood arrivals program or daca. the president has vowed to approach this issue with heart but critics say proposals to curtail this program and deport hundreds of thousands of people brought here as children, they call it heartless.

a democratic strategist and contributor for that hill, thank you for being here. a few moments ago, we had some video out in washington today, the president getting a briefing on harvey but he also had this to say. >> mr. president, what is your decision on daca? >> sometime today or over the weekend we will have a decision. we love the dreamers, we love everybody. thank you very much. thank you. we will issue it sometime over the weekend, maybe this afternoon. we are working on emergency funding, we are doing everything we can and we are working very well with the governor. who has done a terrific job. the dreamers are terrific. thank you very much, thank you.

>> molly: you heard him talking a little bit about harvey funding, that first part where he talked about daca, we will get some word. the expectation is that he will be phasing out that program in some way, we don't know exactly how it's going to go. your thoughts on what the president could potentially do. >> i think the president may curtail this program and use it as leverage for a greater purpose, comprehensive immigration reform. we have to secure the border but we also have to secure our nation. we have been encouraging people to come here, parents and have their children in america which creates a burden on our local and state and federal governments but the president will be compassionate, no doubt about it. we have to make sure our laws are enforced and that we have comprehension comprehensive immigration that is fair, just, and equitable for all americans. >> molly: the president said he loves the dreamers, talk

about going after this issue with heart, what actions do you think the president will be taking? >> i think the president will end it daca and i think that is not only immoral but not a very smart decision. it's hard to hear someone say the president's going to do this with compassion while talking about him attempting to remove millions of americans who were brought here by their parents as children. daca requires that any individual has to either have a job or be in school. these aren't people who are out breaking laws, they are trying to get an education, contributing to the country as a whole. this isn't just me saying this, this is paul ryan saying this, his own energy secretary rick perry saying to remove these individuals would be heartless so i hope the president changes heads mind. >> molly: to some extent the attention has turned to congres congress. do you think congress will be

pulled into this? >> there is no doubt but this may be the incentive, the leverage of the president needs in order to get comprehensive immigration reform. which goes beyond dreamers, ghost or green cards, how many people are let in, how are they going to be let in, for what purpose are they going to be letting? without the leverage of the dreamers, i don't think congress would have the incentive to act in accordance to the way they should be acting. in a certain sense, the dreamers are going to be an important part in my belief of overall immigration reform and it just might be to their benefit for that to occur. >> molly: this seems like a sticky situation for the president, he has promised to come down very hard on immigration, very well may have been a big reason why he won in this election cycle. looking down the road, how does he approach to this with heart to have heart for the dreamers and give those folks that are hard line on immigration what

they want to see? >> all across the country this week, hundreds of thousands of dreamers began college, something all-american -- we promote that all americans do. for the president to now go back on his promise to be fair to dreamers ice think that's a bad tone not just for the republican party but for the country as a whole, we need to be able to trust that with the president says is what the president is going to do. these people aren't just ponds and some political game, these are people who were brought here by their parents seeking a better life. we do have to fix our immigration policy but not at the expense of these people. >> molly: is there something the president can do with a sticky situation? >> we can deal with the dreamers that are here and deal with those who would like to be here. i think that's where the president and congress is compassion comes in. of the dreamers must be dealt with differently than those who

seek to come here, that is the whole point behind the future of the dreamers. that's going to be part of a comprehensive immigration bill hopefully that congress can pull together. this is just a small part in the overall package of immigration that must be dealt with sooner rather than later. we have 12 million people as it is undocumented in the united states and that has to be dealt with as well. >> molly: let's listen in for a moment, we want to listen to the president regarding a national day of prayer. >> during times of great need, to ask for god's blessing and god's guidance. when we look across texas and louisiana, we see the american spirit of service embodied by countless men and women, brave first responders have rescued those stranded and drowning cars and rising water and i have to tell you, i watch the coast guard, thousands of lives

have been saved by our great coast guard. they have done incredible work and the most vicious sees they have seen many years. families have given food and shelter to those in need, houses of worship have organized effort to clean up communities and repair damaged homes, people have never seen anything quite like this. individuals of every background are striving for the same goal, to aid and comfort people facing devastating losses. as americans, we know no challenge is too great for us to overcome. no challenge. we invite all americans to join us as we continue to pray for those who've lost family members and friends and for those who are suffering from this great crisis. behind me we have faith based, people who are highly respected.

especially so in their communities where they are not only respected but loved. evangelical leaders, christian leaders, many people of faith and i just want to thank you all for being with us today because we are going to be signing a day of prayer and it will be on sunday. it will be a very special day, i don't know when this was done last but it's been a long time ago, a long time ago. i'm going to sign it and you other folks will say a few words and we will say a prayer for not only the people so affected so horribly by hurricane harvey but for the people of our nation. and in fact the people of our world.

>> molly: we are watching president donald trump assigning just a few moments ago, declaring sunday a national day of prayer for the victims of harvey. he's asking all americans to join in that day of prayer to pray for those who lost family and friends and those suffering during the course of this great crisis, announcing that just moments ago. they are joined by some evangelical and christian leaders he mentioned, saying that that will be a very special day. i'm going to say good-bye to our guests now, thank you for your thoughts. great news is breaking in the political world as well, thank you for joining us today. still ahead, some new reports of turmoil in the west wing, howard kurtz on deck as some of the president's top advisors not shying away from what is seen as criticism of the commander in chief. we will also get a take on me to

media coverage of hurricane harvey is the focus shifts away from president trump to the disaster in texas and on the golf coast. >> we've received prayers from people across the entire world, this has been a unifying effort and it has galvanized the best of america. where things stand in part is that we are still involved in recovery and rescue operations. . with 9 grams of protein, and 26 vitamins and minerals... for the strength and energy, to get back to doing what you love. ensure, always be you. (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) (flourish spray noise) the joy of real cream in 15 calories per serving. enough said. reddi-wip. (flourish spray noise) share the joy. with the pole, and i had to make a claim and all that? is that whole thing still draggin' on? no, i took some pics with the app and filed a claim, but, you know how they send you money to cover repairs and -

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>> we've actually asked that i check with the folks in this room since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that are best and most effective in helping and providing suggestions from the folks here and i would be happy to take those of any of you have them. >> leland: that was

white house press secretary sarah sanders, cementing the press corps and saying president trump would like some suggestions from the media about the best groups providing aid to help them decide where to send his $1 million personal donatio donation. the media is not only covering the disaster but becoming part of it as well, during the first hour of "happening now" we showed you this reporter from fox 13 in tennessee, rescuing a woman trapped in her car as floodwaters surrounded it. that is not the only rescued by reporters. joining us now, fox news media analyst howard kurtz, nice to see you. pretty amazing, you think about since president trump announced his run, it has now taken an act of god to get president trump off the front page and off the top story of every major newscast and newspaper. >> he's not completely off the front page since a lot of the media are critiquing his handling of the hurricane but look, this is a great moment to

just pause and savor all the abuse journalists take, all the criticism, much of it well deserved. what's happened in houston and the surrounding area as we've seen journalists brave and very dangerous conditions, participate in rescues, work around the clock, some of the local journalists in texas, covering the story as their own homes are being flooded, a reminder of good reporting in times of crisis can really be valuable. >> leland: now that we have all patted ourselves on the back for a minute, we will get back to the president. president trump slowly creeping back to the front page, this is your headline. why top trump advisors are openly disagreeing with him, in the column you say trump has enough confidence that he's given them a an unusual amount of leeway to disagree with him.

he would say trump senior aides feel the need to distance themselves from him without fear of consequences. the question is, which one of those at two should reviews this in? >> the president could fire them all tomorrow if you wanted it to you but donald trump doesn't actually like firing people is much as the image on "the apprentice" might make the public believe. i think he is giving them space, particularly in the wake of charlottesville to disagree with him somewhat and if he thinks they are doing a good job they can continue. the mainstream media consensus say this is insubordination, he has to get rid of them, it shows how weak he is that he's allowing them to continue, that seems to be the media's take my view is the president doesn't have to prove his toughness to anybody and if he doesn't think they're doing a good job, he should dump them but if he thinks james mattis and rex tillerson are doing good

jobs, he has the right to do that. and not forbid them from ever offering a contrary opinion. >> leland: incredible interview by chris wallace on sunday, that moment with rex tillerson. the question going forward, is he giving them a lot of room because he has to because he knows firing his top economic advisor, shall we say, would be practically very difficult and politically extraordinarily harmful? or is he saying my ego has gotten thicker and my skin has gotten a little bit tougher over the past couple of months, people criticizing him is okay now. >> it's the interesting about the president having all those tweets about jeff sessions and not directly responding except for these leaked accounts.

of course political calculations must factor into this, where he should decide i have had it was rex tillerson and he is out, not only would there be a huge firestorm but it would take a couple of months at least to find a replacement who could be confirmed by the senate, so any president has to weigh the cost of firing someone versus the fallout, political and otherwise of taking such a drastic action. >> leland: your old newspaper did a great piece today, inside the west wing talking about how general kelly has really brought order back into the west wing and it has a much different discipline in different way of dealing with the president than anyone else has in the past. and there it said that a number of the president's top advisors were quite upset, said that the president was quite upset with the number of his top advisors. and then it got down to whether or not the president's, it

almost felt like a recitation of complaints of a sorority house, is that really what the american people care about? are the american people best served by journalists when we get down to those kind of weeds, that kind of inside politics? >> that degree of palace intrigue is mainly a fascination into 500 500 journalists lookig into the beltway, certainly not average americans who are a lot more concerned with health care and taxes. the take away from that piece is general kelly comes and imposes a lot more order, how long before we are saying the president is frustrated with him and there are some suggestions that trump doesn't enjoy it, he likes having old friends at stop by the oval office, likes being surrounded by people, he is a people person. it matters and that the president can obviously overrule general john kelly and go back

to the old system but most people seem to think that the west wing management was chaotic enough that this was a better system. >> leland: we don't know if the president read that piece but he didn't tweet "general john kelly is doing a great job as chief of staff, i could not be more happy and impressed as this administration continues to get things done at a record clip." >> he read the piece. >> leland: that's the interpretation and the read, a lot more of this on media buzz. thank you. >> molly: the impact of harvey being felt way beyond the states that storm actually hit, gas prices spiking across the country has high waters shut down refineries. recovery efforts began in texas and it will be a costly experience for many. a live report on that process as people in houston start to pick up the pieces.

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do not give linzess to children less than six, and it should not be given to children six to less than 18. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain, and swelling. talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess. >> leland: we heard the president in the oval office a little bit earlier talking about the national day of prayer on sunday. now president trump is asking for nearly $6 billion and that is just the start to help hurricane harvey victims. >> molly: has the water started to recede, we are starting to get a pretty good look at the storms devastating impact and just how washington plans to deal with it.

doug mckelway is live from washington with more on that. >> there remain a lot of questions as the scale of damages revealed. the comparisons to new orleans after katrina are being made every day, but the reality is there is little comparison, the nation needs houston like it needs few cities in the world. >> the port in houston is a very big deal, it accounts for $250 plus of economic activity. texas itself is almost 10% of u.s. economic output. when houston goes out, that's a really big a deal across the country. >> all the more reason why congress, the white house as well as state and local officials are planning to throw whatever is needed at houston's recovery. comparisons to new orleans and katrina may be misplaced.

"half of louisiana is underwater and the other half is under indictment." louisiana's reputation for tolerating corruption drove many companies away and kept them away. >> we will not see that in texas, the community leadership and political leadership in houston is far more effective in the political culture in texas is far more pro-market. >> hurricane harvey may be changing the entire agenda in washington days before congress returns from its august recess. >> i do not expect president trump is going to continue talking about a potential shutdown, i also think a lot of republicans will be eager to provide help alongside democrats.

>> harvey is a reminder of why it is important to have smaller data and smaller deficits to better handle emergencies like this. molly, leland, back to you. >> molly: we appreciate it. >> leland: as americans hit the road for the holiday weekend, everyone will see the effects of harvey as they fill up their tanks. at least two major oil pipelines have been slowed or stopped because of flooding and damage from harvey. a number of the refineries on the gulf coast are off-line. the current national price for a gallon of gas is $2.52. that's up $0.17 from the average about a week ago. an oil freighter, senior market analyst, also a fox business contributor joins us from the trading floor on what this means going forward. normally a trading floor on a

friday afternoon as the first quiet time before a holiday weekend, i imagine this could change things. >> it really has, we have traders up all hours of the night watching the developments here, probably getting a few hours of sleep because what happens in houston and port arthur affects the world. not only the u.s. economy but when you think about houston, we think of houston as the refinery to the entire world. gas prices are only going up in the united states, going up in places like mexico and europe because of what's happening here. it's critically important to really get these refineries and pipelines back online as quickly as possible. if they don't, we are going to continue to feel the pain. >> leland: from senior advisor to the president yesterday, he didn't know of any major damage to any refineries, that none were seriously damaged. what's the timeline on this to

get these back up online and therefore get fuel flowing again? >> even in the worst hit refinery in the country, with all the flooding you would think it would take months to get this back online but that is such good news because that refinery was not damaged so they are going to bring that refinery back in two weeks. that is a big deal, it yesterday there was panic in the market, at one point the price of gasoline was up $0.28 a gallon, today it's pulled back by about $0.06 a gallon. some of that is because of the good news we are getting this. also waivers from the government on gasoline prices. the trump administration really has done some good things to try to calm the concerns of traders. for example they released oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to help refineries who can't get the oil into get back up online sooner.

they waved to epa requirements, the summertime versus winter, mix it all together, get it in the pipelines of the pipelines can get going. they also are going to allow even more ethanol in the gasoline the refineries produce so all of this is easing concerns but we are not out of the woods yet, there is still a long road ahead of us. prices could still go up but some of the worst case scenarios aren't going to happen. >> leland: already the shortages in some parts of texa texas, people are trying to stock up. appreciate your insight and hope you guys get a little bit of sleep over the weekend. >> molly: some areas of southeast texas are still underwater, rescues and evacuation still go on. we will hear for an investigation coordinating thousands of volunteers in houston and dallas on recovery

efforts from this unprecedented storm. >> i just moved here to start a new life, i've got to move again. our house is definitely gone, cars are gone, we don't know what we're going to do. and make stuffing from scratch. so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor.

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decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. i don't even think about cigarettes anymore. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or $0 copay. >> molly: a fox news alert, president trump pledging a personal donation of $1 million to help those affected in texas and louisiana as he calls for billions more in federal funds for victims of this unprecedented disaster. he prepares to return to southeast texas tomorrow, the governor says it will take years to recover from this catastrophe. joining us now by phone, the vice president of u.s. disaster relief for operation blessing international, an organization helping to coordinate thousands of volunteers in houston and dallas, we are hearing you made

it to rockport, one of the communities hardest hit. they received the brunt of the storm. what are you seeing on the ground and how are you coping? >> thanks for having us. we have a volunteer base of operation set up in rockport and that area is absolutely devastated. what you would think of is category three, category four damages. the biggest thing that really captures our heart is that the people are in shock, they've lost everything, one lady returned home and looked at me and my eyes, full of tears and said "my home is gone." >> molly: i know you must be seeing those heartbreaking things, we are going to pause your interview for one moment. >> the latest will be monday.

thank you. we will be making a request, absolutely for the state of texas, yes. and louisiana. tomorrow i'm going to louisiana with the first lady, it will be texas and then louisiana. thank you. thank you, everybody, . >> molly: moments ago from the white house the president talking about his plan, traveling to the disaster area back to texas. he mentioned louisiana a moment to go to get an eye on the ground. you are talking about some of the stories you are seeing, the hardest hit area, what does it take to help people recover? >> obviously it takes financial support and human resources, we are going to need volunteers,

there is a long road of recover recovery. i am in beaumont in east texas, our teams had to drive through high water to get here, we wanted to get resources into the area. as of last night we had semi trucks, food and personal hygiene items, had to open our doors to shelter people being rescued in last night we opened up the distribution at 5:00 and we had hundreds of cars lined up for food, drinks, personal hygiene items, the basics. operation blessing is on the ground in rockport, beaumont and we are sending financial support to pastors at churches in rockport, corpus christi, this disaster is huge. you are seeing it unfold on the sad thing is we are a week out, still unfolding, still rescues being made and east texas is

really suffering right now. >> molly: what are the greatest challenges when you have thousands of people who want to come help, how do you coordinate that? >> some of the greatest challenges being able to get into the area, i know people are watching and ready to just jump in their cars and come down and help, but if you want to do that feel free to go to our rockport location. in beaumont and east texas we will be be receiving volunteers from out of town but right now we are trying to get the basic necessities on the ground and keep people safe. again, there will be time to come to east texas but we need your prayers and we need to wait patiently as we get ready to ramp up those volunteer opportunities to come in and help people with do not work on their homes. we will be providing lodging, take care of your logistics but give the emergency management and everybody here time to set up for that. the church i am ad is a huge distribution site. >> molly: we appreciate you sharing the information, your

view on the ground for operation blessing. our viewers can see on the bottom of the screen, there are multiple ways once you reach our web site that can direct you to how you can help with this disaster overall, it is going to take a lot to recover. the white house earlier this hour, we are seeing the presidents briefing on harvey. >> thank you very much, the first lady and i are pleased to welcome gail mcgovern of the american red cross, david hudson of the salvation army and kevin easel of southern baptist disaster release relief. these people have been remarkable in what they have done. sounds like a very innocent name but it is not an innocent hurricane, i can tell you, it is

of epic proportions. these organizations and the many other nonprofits involved represent the generosity, determination and unbreakable spirit of the american people. mike pence was there yesterday, he represented his country so well in the love and the care, i had so many great comments about your visit so i appreciate it. when a disaster strikes, the work to help others in the time of need, they've already provided tens of thousands of displaced gulf coast residents with meals, water, shelter, fresh blankets and clean clothing. when one american suffers, i say this quite a bit especially lately when you see what's going on, we all suffer. when one american family brought together in times of tragedy, by the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty that we have for one

another, there is a great love and a great loyalty in this country and i think we've all seen it, maybe more so than ever before over the last four days. i think we really have seen it. nowhere is our unity more evident than in the actions of our volunteer charitable organizations that rally for their neighbors aid in disaster strikes. the people of texas and louisiana were hit very hard by a historic flood. in their response, they have taught us all a lesson, a very powerful lesson. there was no outbreak in crime, there was an outbreak of compassion only. real, beautiful, strong compassion. they've really inspired us as a nation to be honest, they have inspired the world, the world is watching. we are pleased to receive an update from gail david and kevin under the work of the red cross salvation army in the southern baptist disaster relief, the federal government is on the

ground, bringing in significant resources and i want to assure these organizations and the others involved that we will continue to coordinate with them and bring all of the relief and the comfort and everything else that we absolutely can to the gulf coast. i want to also think the governor and lieutenant governor of texas, they have been outstanding. the coordination and the level of relationship has been i think pretty much unprecedented, i just want to think of them, i want to thank all of the folks working on the ground for the administration. tom is here today, thank you very much, we appreciate it. every american heart is with the people of texas and louisiana, they are strong and resilient and they have really overcome and we are in the process where i can just about say overcome, this horrible devastation. the coast guard in particular i

have two also think, they saved probably thousands of lives, we were just talking about it. going on to seize very few people would want to be on in the worst of times, they were saving a lot of people out there. together we will help them all recover from this tragedy, we will renew our hope and community and we will renew our hope and rebuild those homes and businesses and schools and places of worship where they do with a strength and vigor that comes from the love within our souls and i just authorized and signed a proclamation for prayer and we are going to have one sunday, a prayer sunday. that was something that was special, i think it's going to be something to see. and to witness, it's been a long time and our country deserves it, frankly. i want to thank my wife melania,

the first lady, she's been so involved in this, thank you so much. >> it's great to be here, i want to thank all the volunteers across the country that came to help to texas, fantastic job. we are going tomorrow to visit and i just want to tell them to be strong and everything will be okay. >> president trump: i didn't tell her i was going to do that and she did a great job. she has been so dedicated to this, this is very much affected her, what has happened in texas. and neighboring states, frankly. i want to thank you, first lady. thank you. salvation army. >> we are very appreciative of this opportunity, appreciative of our partners in service, we

are working hand-in-hand with the red cross, they provide shelter for people and we are a able to provide meals and even though we are limited, a lot of the infected areas, we have already served hundreds of thousands of meals and literally millions of meals will be served and we can only do this as we partner together. as i've told my coworkers, this is a time we are all texans. no matter where you are from we are all about serving americans in need. i like to thank you, mr. president, the red cross and the baptists and all the other agencies that partnered with us, together we can make a difference. >> we are three different organizations but we work best as one. we really do lock arms and have the capacity to feed over 400,000 people a day. mr. president, thank you for fema, they've been incredible through this.

we've come through many disasters and they've done just a fantastic job stepping up to the plate and being prepared and allowing us to volunteer. >> president trump: i think we should think brock long and all the people at fema and the people at homeland, i have to say, general kelly who has been so much involved, he is now in the white house but his spirit and everything else that's been evolved over the last few weeks, this has been probably now almost a week since we felt it was probably going to hit that area. general kelly has done a fantastic job. i want to thank all of our folks. tell me, red cross, how are we doing? >> first of all, our hearts go out to the people of texas and on behalf of the entire american red cross, so many people have lost everything and presented in our shelters with just the

clothes on our backs. i visited one of the shelters outside of austin and it housed about 200 people and i had the opportunity to talk to all the families. everyone from a 6-month-old baby to a 6'8" man, everybody in between. you heard stories of heartbreak and heartache, the one thing i have seen in the nine years that i've been with the american red cross is the incredible resiliency of the american people, they are bound and determined to bounce back and they are about 40,000 people in our shelters right now across the state of texas. our volunteers are pouring in, giving them comfort, hope, we served about 390,000 meals and snacks and the incredible thing is our partners are there, they are getting hot meals into our hands so we can serve them,

government has been phenomenal. we had a hard time getting our volunteers in, the city gave us dump trucks so we could get volunteers in. the department of defense gave us high water vehicles, 20 of them so we could break in and bring needed supplies. i'm just so appreciative of the teamwork, appreciative of the support and again, our hearts go out to the people of texas. >> president trump: >> the president receiving a briefing there. he's also joined by representatives from the red cross, the salvation army, and the southern baptist disaster relief organization, each offering praise to the other, how things are going, also offering praise to the federal government, to fema, and the disaster relief underway, joined by the vice president and the first lady melania, who talked about the amazing people, thanking the volunteers who have

shown up down in texas, across the kihn, saying everything will be okay. >> president trump heads to houston on saturday. that's with the first lady. also heading over to louisiana. also expecting info on the dreamers act. "america's news headquarters" starts right now. >> you're listening live now. we'll go back to the white house, listening to vice president mike pence commenting on rescue efforts still going on in texas. let's listen. >> we want to make sure disaster relief is available for individuals and businesses. literally the work of meeting people's human needs each and every day will take all of us, and these volunteer organizations need resources and people. i would just add, mr. president, that anyone looking on can go to nvod.org. it's our website, where all