>> crowd oil above $50 a peril -- barrel. i love lxe. >> i'll see you on fox business 3 p.m. eastern. >> secretary of state rex tillerson has revealed there are open lines of communications between the united states and north korea. this, as he tries it lower tensions with kim jong-un's regime. we'll get the latest. leland: plus, fallout from president trump's tweets on puerto rico this morning, calling the mayor of san juan leadership skills poor. what she has to say about that. gillian: a day after health and human secretary price resigns over a travel scandal. what's underreview for other white house officials. ♪ . gillian: welcome to america's news headquarters from

washington d.c., i'm gillian turner in today for elizabeth prann. leland: great to be sitting with you on a day when we have so much from north korea. secretary of state rex tillerson acknowledging for the first time, the u.s. has direct channels open to the north korean regime. the secretary making the announcement while in beijing meeting with the chinese prison. kristin fisher on the ground in new jersey where the president is spending a working weekend at his golf club there. kristin, this broke a couple of hours ago. how big of a deal is the white house making of this direct link? >> well, so far the white house has not publicly commented about this, other than what tillerson a few hours ago. make no mistake, leland, this is a very big deal because, you know, after weeks of all of this name calling, weeks of all of this talk about using potentially the military option. this is the first real sign that

we have, first real proof from somebody in the trump administration that they're seriously trying to flush out a diplomatic solution to this ongoing nuclear crisis in north korea and it's coming from the secretary of state himself, rex tillerson while speaking in china few hours ago, he confirmed for the first time that the trump administration has open lines of communications to pyongyang. so, a big development, but today president trump seems to be very focused on puerto rico. now, you know he's going to be travelling there on tuesday. the vice-president is going to be going there later in the week, but this is shaping up to be an increasingly awkward trip because of this growing spat between president trump and the mayor of san juan, a spat that only intensified this morning with these tweets from president trump. here is a few. quote, the mayor of san juan, who is very complimentary only a few days ago has now been told by the democrats that you must

be nasty to trump. poor leadership ability by the mayor of san juan and others in puerto rico who are not able to get their workers to help. they want everything done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 workers now on the island doing a fantastic job. right now there are millions of people in puerto rico without food, clean water, power, access to medical supplies. the mayor of san juan says that people are dying and for that reason, that's what led her to make these comments last night, the comments that then led to president trump's tweets this morning. listen. >> i will do what i never thought i was going to do, i am beggi begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. if anybody out there is listening to us we are dying and

you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucr y bureaucracy. >> well, the mayor of san juan has directly responded to president trump's tweets this morning. she says also on twitter, that the goal is, one, saving lives. this is the time to show true colors, we cannot be distracted by anything else. today, president trump is going to be taking a series of calls about the ongoing crisis in puerto rico. he is going to talk to the government of puerto rico and fema administrator and at the same time mike pence is going to be receiving a briefing on the hurricane relief effort at fema's headquarters, but for a lot of the folks on the ground in puerto rico, the optics of president trump spending his third weekend in a row at his golf club in new jersey aren't great, even if he's taking all of these calls and having the briefings and has his trip to puerto rico planned in just a few days, leland. leland: noteworthy, the governor

of puerto rico says he's getting everything that he needs from the federal government. more on this in a few minutes. we are going to head down to puerto rico and get a sense what's going on on the ground. thank you. gillian. gillian: direct contact between the united states and north korea could be a promising step forward in terms of relieving tension between the two nations, but a fox news poll shows the majority of voters find president trump's name calling and threats against kim jong-un to be unhelpful. former undersecretary of defense for policy, brian mckeen says the president's tweets could have several negative consequences. he joins me live. welcome. thanks for being here brian. >> thank for having me. gillian: before we get into this, i want your quick take on the news from secretary tillerson, a sort of directed mission that we've got three separate diplomatic channels open with north korea at the moment? >> it's a potentially important development that we're talking to north koreans. i think the most important thing here, the secretary said it himself this morning in beijing, we need to bring the temperature

down a little bit. the rhetoric has gotten a little overheated and that could lead unintentionally to a military confrontation or escalation. so, there's time to address this issue diplomatically and i'm encouraged to the possibility that they're talking directly to the north koreans. gillian: it sounds like we're not necessarily escalating militarily, but the president's rhetoric and kim jong-un's rhetoric poses a risk that we would eventually get on that track and might inadvertently escalate. >> if there were a military plan underway, you would probably see some evident of that which we are not. what i would worry about is if the megaphone diplomacy across the pacific between the president and kim jong-un continues at the pace it's gone, the north koreans may misinpret what the president is saying and they could launch first, either

against south korea using artillery against seoul or god forbid the inter-continental ballistic missile or the medium range, which they have a nuclear weapon they could put on top of it and attack our allies in korea or japan. we need to take the temperature down, i think that's a useful step that the secretary has made. gillian: it sounds like if military options are sort of the worse case scenario or the least favorite option here, the administration has put the focus on sanction,. just two weeks ago, unsc introduced a new round of sanctions and some are saying it's the most punishing leveed against any country. what is your feeling about where we can go from here? if this is indeed the harshest round of sanctions that north korea is going to face, does that mean that it's this or bust? or do we still have some more options going forward? >> no, i think there's time to

continue to develop both the sanctions policy and the diplomatic policy. we should congratulate the trump administration for the sanctions that they've gotten through the security council in the last couple of months. they definitely do ratchet up the economic pressure on north korea, but it will take time for these to be implemented and we've got to watch our chinese friends and see how much they actually enforce these sanctions and restrict the trade against north korea. they probably don't want to cut off trade completely because they don't want to see a collapse of the north korean state and have a flow of refugees across their border. there are encouraging signs that they're taking these measures seriously and putting the pressure on north koreans. they also have a diplomatic card it play to push the north koreans harder to take this threat seriously. they're playing a little bit of a double game because they don't want to see the north korean state collapse. they don't want to see the south koreans take over the peninsula with the americans with them on their border. gillian: so if the north korean

economy is something that matters, the stability of it to the chinese, what do you think the prospects are for success with this round of sanctions? quickly, a few seconds left. what's your over/under for prospects of success? >> i think we have to give it a chance to play out and we should work hard with the chinese and the russians have a role to play, too and the sanctions squeeze the north koreans more tightly and a diplomatic track that the secretary apparently says we've started and see where to take it. it's hard to rate it. north koreans are unpredictable, but it's worth pursuing. gillian: it sound like the message is give sanctions a chance. thanks for joining us. we hope to have you back soon. >> thank you. leland: relief supplies continue to pour into puerto rico, but ten days after the island took a direct hit from hurricane maria, markets, gas stations and lines of communications are only slowly reopening. mike tobin live in san juan.

now, mike, we hear these conflicting narratives. the white house and the puerto rican governor on one side and the mayor in san juan on the other. what is the ground truth? >> well, according to governor the top priorities today are food, water, getting diesel to the hospitals. you see the standing water behind me. this is common place across puerto rico. and according to the administration at the san jorge children's hospital, that's why the island here is going to make a transition from humanitarian cries cities to a health crisis. initially the crisis at the hospitals is power. the emergency generators have kicked in, but those are only temporary solutions and ultimately they will fail. according to the governor you've got 51 hospitals across the island serving 3.4 million people, but only nine are permanently reconnected to the grid. while we're at the san jorge children's hospital, crews connected the power there just

in time because the administrator says things are going to get worse. standing water breeds mosquitos and they're worried about denge fever, and hygiene. >> patients coming in with dehydration and we need to treat diabetic patients out there at home and diabetic patients, nobody is dealing with the crisis at home. >> and you've heard the mayor of san juan, carmen cruz has had the nasty back and forth. if it doesn't speed up it will be close to a genocide. the president slammed her on twitter. you've heard kristin fisher's report and now the mayor has responded to that. >> i am not going to be distracted by small comments, by politics, by petty issues.

this is one goal and it's to save lives. that's all that matters. >> and governor rosao says now is not the time for petty differences, now is the time to save lives. leland: we'll check with members of the u.s. military down there saving lives in just a minute. mike tobin, thank you very much. gillian. gillian: the department of health and human services has new leadership today following the resignation of former secretary tom price embroiled in scandal over the use of his-- over the private use of planes for official government travel. we'll turn to elinore in the studio with us. >> 11:59 p.m. last night there's a switch. the new acting secretary, don wright, he's now the acting secretary. all of this began a little over a week ago.

politco said he used the flights. and price says he returned the price of the flights about $52,000. >>, but they found more flights at least half a million dollars because he flew in a military aircraft to europe and asia. it was official business, but past had. hs secretaries took similar trips and usually flew commercial for both of the flights, there were cheaper commercial options available. trump called price a good man, but said he was disappointed in him before stepping on marine one yesterday. the president hinted that price could be on his way out. >> probably sometime today, yeah. >> and i'm not happy, okay? i can tell you, i'm not happy. look, i think he's a very fine person. i certainly don't like the optics. >> hours later the white house announced that price submitted a letter of resignation and the

president accepted it. now, the travel habits of other cabinet members are under a microscope. according to reports, interior secretary ryan zinke took a number of flights on private or military planes, one from nevada to airport near his home in montana. reportedly cost taxpayers more than $12,000. yesterday staffers, even senior officials received a memo from the white house budget director, chief of staff john kelly, now needs to approve travel before anyone gets on a government or chartered plane. of course, there have been a number of people that have left this administration in the past, gillian, whether it was on their own or just under a cloud of sort of were they pushed out from anthony scaramucci to reince priebus. this, however is the first cabinet official to leave the administration. gillian: thanks for tracking that for us. leland: it was last week at this time when then secretary price came on our show for a part explanation, part mea culpa of

his travel habits. even they the man who spent years in congress railing against wasteful spending by the democrats and private jet travel by nancy pelosi knew he had a problem. >> how is this any different? i'm wondering if you were thinking you would making the charter flights thought to yourself, gee, the optics wouldn't be great especially as hhs a cutting your budget,cutting programs, cutting staff. >> and i appreciate that. and the optics in some of this don't look good and that's why we, again, have taken this criticism to heart. leland: all right. congressman mark wayne mullen of oklahoma joins us now, congressman, nice to be with you. i want to get to tax cuts in a minute, which we will, but the issue of congressional oversight here comes into play. you've got three more officials there, scott pruett, ryan zinke, and steve mnuchin under the

spotlight for their use of private aircraft. how concerned are you that this is more than an isolated incident with tom price? >> i'm not saying what tom did was right, but i've known tom to be honest and hard working guy. the optics are not good and we want to be resourceful with every taxpayer dollar coming to washington d.c. this brings us to the point why we're trying to cut taxes. i think that people locally can spend money lot better than washington d.c. we kind of get lost. when we don't earn it, we don't appreciate it as much as those that earn the dollars and when washington d.c. gets a whole lot of money sent there, it tend know the to be as personal as spending your own money and that's why we want to do the tax cuts and get them back in the local government. leland: well, fair to say that if you're going to cut taxes, you've got to cut spending at some point because there's less money to spend. >> sure. leland: quickly, on this point

though, do you feel as though congress needs to hold the administration's feet to the fire on things like zinke's travel. steve mnuchin's travel? or are you confident how the president has handled this? >> well, i'm very confident in the president and the way he ha handled it, you saw how quick he reacted to secretary price. washington d.c. has an oversight issue and that falls in the hand of congress. we control the purse strings and we should know where every dollar is going to be spent so we can do a better job, much better job of paying attention to dollars spent which is why we're in-- i don't mean to keep going back to this, leland. this is one of the rones reasons why dollars can be better spent at home. leland: before you came to congress you were a small business owner. >> absolutely. leland: and you talked about the taxes you paid.

it's this very broad frame work that we have of the president's tax plan. the passthrough rate for small business owners goes to 25%. >> sure. leland: what does it mean real world for your small business and for others? >> you know, we -- in washington d.c., leland, we always want to talk about creating jobs, this creates this many, this creates this many jobs. washington d.c. never creates jobs. we can create an atmosphere for job creators to create jobs. when you cut taxes for small business owners for us, when my wife and i were started we were struggling. we were able to invest more in the business and able to create jobs that people in washington d.c. are talking about. it means the world. when you're cutting taxes roughly 40% on job creators, that's huge. when you take us from a 40% tax bracket down to a 25% tax bracket on dollars going into the business that would be able to be better spent going back

into the company instead of getting lost in this concrete jungle in washington d.c., that means we can invest in local economy, buy more equipment, we can invest in technology and expand our job force. leland: real quickly, the knock on that. >> sure. leland: you know this is coming and it's come from democrats, is this is republicans just offering more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, that's defined as broadly as you want to define it. what do you guys have up your sleeve and how hard are you willing to fight to keep these tax breaks on the upper end? >> well, this is how in touch the democrat party is with the average american. when i started i was no millionaire or billionaire, i was flat broke. in passthrough companies, small business owners create 63% of all the jobs created year to year and inside the united states. we're cutting taxes on those

individuals. the people that are creating jobs, plus, the middle class. everybody underneath this trump tax plan receives a tax cut. even in oklahoma, the average household in oklahoma is going to see a $4,000 increase in their bring home pay over a year from these tax cuts. so, everybody. we have four tax brackets. we have a zero percent tax bracket. we have zero, then 12, then 25, and 35. leland: a hard break. >> from the top to the bottom. leland: we've up against a hard break, we've got to run. appreciate it, sir. gillian: gillian. gillian: coming up, football fans are watching as players take to the field. will there be more mass demonstrations during the national anthem. plus, praise today for a speech against racism that's gone viral. right here from america's air force academy. we'll go back to puerto rico to spoke to an army lieutenant part of the effort underway to help those in desperate need. stick with us.

g new cars.

you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar.

>> the political war of words over puerto rico continues. the mayor of san juan and the president in a near twitter war over the federal response.

this as thousands of americans troops are on the ground with more on the way to the island providing everything from food and security to internet, gasoline, and air rescue. joining us now on the phone, army lieutenant david martinez. lieutenant, we understand you're on the east side of the island that was hardest hit. help us understand, how bad is it down there? >> well, sir, thank you for having me on today. right now, once we landed, it was like you said, it was the hardest hit area. there was a lot of debris in the roads, power lines were down. communications was lost be it phone lines and internet. right now during the time that we've been here, we've seen a great increase of power being coming back on, phone services turned back on, during the time that we've been here, sir. leland: help us understand, lieutenant, you know, you signed

up to the u.s. military to serve and protect. typically that involves things overseas. instead, now, you're back in an american territory. what's that been like? did you ever think you'd be using your skills to help your fellow americans, rather than to fight for our freedom? >> well, sir, here my unit the 35th signal brigade, we have a mentality of being ready for any scenario whether it be during war time or back here in the united states. our training has us ready to be able to go out the door at a moment's notice and provide this communication support, again, at any moment, sir. so, this is-- we've trained for this, this is not something out of the ordinary for us. the 35th signal brigade has been a part of every hurricane disaster thus far and we're just continuing that effort, sir. leland: it's got to be different

though to show up back where your family is and be there helping them so directly, and your family and your friends and relatives. give us a sense, have you been able to connect with them? are they okay? have you been able to help some of their friends in need as well? >> well, sir, it gives me a great sense of pride to be able to support not just my family, but the puerto rican citizens here on the islands. i did make contact with my family prior to arriving here, just had a quick conversation with them to-- for them to let me know that they are okay, and that they are proud that i am coming to the island to support. they're actually on the west coast in a city and the city of selena. as you said i'm on the east coast, even though i'm not supporting directly with my

efforts, i feel the work that my team here and the larger fema team here on ground is directly supporting their rehabilitation after a disaster like this. leland: they're proud of you and we're all proud of you. god speed. stay safe, and evidently, the cavalry is on the way down there as well. we've heard that interest-- from the president and among others. all the best to you and your men. >> thank you. gillian: tough word against racism are going viral from the head of the u.s. air forces academy preparatory school. lieutenant general silvera, he gather gathered faculty and talked about the racial slurs on the doors of some of his black students. vice-president joe biden tweeted, there's only one way to head thisoff, head-on.

>> and an important sament statement by the general, there's no place for bigotry in our military or in this great nature. an investigation has been launched. leland: it was powerful to watch the video from the general and important to know he called together his entire corps of cadets, everyone from the preparatory school and made everyone line up that includes the faculty members and at one point he said pull out your cell phones and record this and i want you to remember it. here is what he wanted everyone to remember. >> that ikind of behavior has n place at the prep school, has no place in the united states air force. you should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a human being. if you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. leland: and he echoed that you

need to get out couple of times. some people are so scared to make a strong stand. you have a general after often times it's been the u.s. military that's led the effort in civil rights. i think of the integration in the 1950's. gillian: it's an important message for americans to hear and especially important message coming from our military leaders. >> and we have avenue seen a little of the same message, the times we live in from him and from his boss secreta, secretar mattis. sideline protests stretching into week two. we'll go to the heartland where colts fans are sounding off on thenal and president trump. what they're saying ahead of sunday's game. and a different show of solidarity on the gridiron. we'll tell you how one football team is bringing an entire

community to its feet. . >> i feel like once that people see us do it, they're going to think, oh, well, maybe since they're doing it, we should do it, too. remember that accident i got in with the pole, and i had to make a claim and all that? is that whole thing still dragging 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... they took forever to pay you, right? no, i got paid right away, but... at the very end of it all, my agent... wouldn't even call you back, right? no, she called to see if i was happy. but if i wasn't happy with my claim experience for any reason, they'd give me my money back, no questions asked. can you believe that? no. the claim satisfaction guarantee, only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it.

>> well, nfl fans and owners alike are bracing for another sunday, wondering what would possibly come of side line protests? of course, president trump says it's not acceptable to kneel during the national anthem and a majority of americans agree with him. a new fox news poll show that 55% of voters think kneeling during the anthem is an inappropriate form of protest. the debate as you might imagine is lighting up phone lines at radio programs across the country. nice to see you, sir. >> a pleasure. how are you. leland: doing well.

how are your listeners doing? 56% seem like a fair number to you or were there more people upset about this calling in? >> if you're talking about wibc, it was definitely a larger number. 56 i think is small over the top. and there's a difference between upset about it and whether or not they think it's right. i think majority think it's wrong to take a knee during the anthem. upset about it might be different, but it was absolutely the talk of thetown and the problem is nobody knows what the nfl players are protesting. if kaepernick is about injustice. that got lost in the watch and many took the knee to side with kaepernick and they didn't know. and others are hating president trump and what he's saying about taking the knee. and odell is giving the black panthers salute. they're trying to get out to the fans. all you know, you're taking a

knee for the anthem and i'm spending money on the jerseys, and people set-- like in indianapolis setting their season tickets on fire. that's amazing stuff. leland: especially in indianapolis they're crazy about the colts and season tickets are pretty exexpensive. that money goes into the pocket of the owner there. i'm wondering, do you get a sense for when the owners, specifically the colts that's where you're an expert, is there a tipping point that the owners are going to start taking a stand because it affects their pocket book? >> i'm assuming that they have to. now, when the packers played the bears, no one took a knee. the denver broncos put out a statement saying they will stand. here in indianapolis, jim ersay, the family thurned indianapolis around when the team game from baltimore, the mayflower trucks in the night. i can't imagine he's happy with people taking a knee. but he's also known as an

unbelievably loyal guy and he'll see these guys as his players, his team, his people. i can't imagine that he's going to publicly go on any admonishment kind of spree, but i can't imagine he's happy about it if they do it again in seattle on sunday. leland: it brings up an important point in terms of sort of the public versus the private view of this. take a listen to bryant gum ble. he's done a lot on this. >> the current occupant of the white house energizing the social conscience of the american athlete. comments through stunning rebukes and actions which suggests that jocks realize after they don't cut it anymore in conjunction with that i remember fame, they have important roles to play especially now. leland: this goes back to your point. we're locking arms in unity, unity is a noun. it means a state of being

united. the big question united against what? this seems to be a protest without a leader and without a theme except that they want to protest something. >> well, so if you take at whole locking arms and aaron rogers and the packers serious about everybody locking arms and wanted fans to lock arms which they didn't do in the main. they're talking about players being united against the president's going after players. but the idea of the social conscience, i don't think that fits and i think that bryant needs to go back and take a look at it. it's the same nfl that will allow you to abuse your kid and abuse your wife and still play the game. this is who they are. when we talk about the racist comments or childish comments, there was a town hall on a competing cable news network where spike lee referred to the owners as plantation owners i'd like to hear bryant gumbel talk about that. leland: bryant gumbel has never been shy to share his opinion. we're waiting for his response

if he's watching. tony, thank you. >> good to see you. gillian: a high school football team is making headlines for locking arms in solidarity with local police officers and first responders and veterans. this was in illinois when the indian took to the field. hand in hand with local heroes for their annual homecoming game and they all stood together during the national anthem and the school says it was planned even before the nfl protest and is not about politics, but rather, bringing their local community together. leland: you know, it used to always be, it was supposed to be the older professional athletes who were the role models and setting an example. all of a sudden we've got high school kids showing the nfl players how it's to be done and they say the best thing to wish for someone is to live in interesting times. gillian: well, it's certainly interesting times and you know, i'm really delighted to see the younger generation lead. one of the things i've been saying all along during this

controversy why are we looking to professional athletes to inspire and guide us anyway? it doesn't make sense to me, but here we go. some high schoolers can do it, so. leland: think what you want of them. it was charles barkley who said i'm not a role model. maybe he was right on a larger basis as well. steve bannon and other conservatives talked about draining the swamp. the republican race they could focus on next and what that could mean to the g.o.p. postal al. >> the muscles of the grass roots versus the money of a corrupt and incompetent permanent class that rules washington d.c. like a new aristocracy. in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember.

...has grown into an enterprise. that's why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. now, i'm earning unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase i make. everything. what's in your wallet? only new tena intimates has ♪ it'pro-skin technologyiend designed to quickly wick away moisture to help maintain your skin's natural balance. for a free sample, call 1-877-get-tena.

g new cars.

you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar. nice man cave! man. oh! nacho? [ train whistle blows ] what?! -stop it! -mm-hmm. we've been saving a lot of money ever since we switched to progressive. this bar is legit. and now we get an even bigger discount from bundling home and auto. i can get used to this. it might take a minute. -swing and a miss! -slam dunk! touchdown! together: sports!

>> this week's victory by judge roy moore in an alabama senate primary sent shock waves through the republican establishment and potentially shows the way for

other outsider candidates like him to challenge incumbents across a variety of states. what sort of a picture does that paint for the g.o.p.? i want to bring in larry powell from birmingham to give his opinions on this. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. gillian: thanks for being with us today. i want to first get your thoughts on the primary that we just saw. to some the outcome was rather surprising and a heated contest until the very final day. what do you make of what happened? >> well, it was a situation that neither candidate was particularly liked, even by republicans, and it was a matter of not who you were going to vote for, but who you would vote against, and there was more anti-votes going toward roy moore than luther strange was able to get. gillian: doctor powell, i know you don't believe this primary was a referendum on the

president, but was it in some ways a test of his political prowess, for lack of a better word, at least with his base? at least with his most ardent supporters who showed they weren't willing to go along with him on this? they weren't willing to go with the candidate he endorsed? >> he didn't have an impact. he had an impact on the first primary because he allowed luther strange to make the runoff, but in the process they made the roy moore supporters mad and they shifted to roy moore in the runoff and that doomed luther strange to defeat. gillian: the special election itself is coming up in just a couple of months in december. can you break down for us what you see as the judge's prospects for beating his opponent in this? do you think they're over or under? what's your best guess for us? >> judge moore is in a strong position to win the special

election. republicans have a 20 point advantage in the state. now, the democrats have a strong candidate in doug jones and he's going to get some republican defectors who don't like either one or other of the candidates, who didn't like either one of the other candidates in the runoff. so he'll pick up some of those, but can he close a 20-point gap? that's going to be tough. gillian: if he does manage to close the 20-point gap and come out on top. what do you think he can expect in washington? i mean, in some ways, if you think about it, it's a comparable position to the president in the sense that he's anti-the establishment. he sort of bills himself as the nonpolitician, politician. he uses the rhetoric that he pleases and doesn't bend to pressure. do you think he's going to have a tough time making it in the u.s. congress? >> roy moore will not sit well within the u.s. senate. he will not be comfortable there and the republican senate leaders will not be comfortable

with him. they're going to have trouble working with him and he's going to have trouble working with them. gillian: thank you, dr. powell for those suscinct words for us on this day. we look forward to having you soon. >> thank you. leland: ahead, the lonestar state made another big contribution to help one of their own recover from the destruction of hurricane harvey and the work continues.

>> the recovery from hurricane harvey in southeast texas is far from over today. governor gregg abbott was in houston and friday to present a $50 million check to the mayor who says the damage from the storm is so extensive, so great, that the total cost can't even yet be calculated. as texas cleans up after hurricane harvey, there's a new problem, which is what to do with the trash. how to haul it and where to take it. fox news correspondent casey stegall reports live. >> 125 football fields, that's how many stadiums could be filled with all of the debris left behind by hurricane harvey. long lines are reported at landfills. the texas commission on environmental quality has set up

166 special debris management sites inside the disaster zones. because while there is a push to get the piles and piles of debris that litter neighborhoods, the push is to get them out as quickly as possible, groups like the epa have teams on the ground making sure it's all done safely. trying to ensure hazardous materials are also properly taken care of. but patience is wearing thin in some neighborhoods. some three weeks after the storm. residents say not only have they waited forever for those trash trucks to arrive, but once they do, there's a long list of rules they have to follow. >> the rock and the hard place is out there and we can't get it out there. they cleaned up this, but only pick up ten feet and that's it. and then the home owner's responsible for getting it pushed out there. how do you do that? >> home owners are frustrated because many of those debris piles are still soaking wet,

making them breeding grounds for disease and mosquitos, but help is on the way. other cities have sent staff and trucks to help lend a hand. dallas and san antonio, and austin, deploying workers and trucks. independent contractors are also working nonstop, as we're told heavy equipment like tractors or front end loaders are impossible to buy or rent in the region because demand is in the roof. >> and people are flagging us down, a gentleman right here, hey, come move my trash, i went down there and the neighbor came out, hey, come move my trash, so we're just getting neighbor after neighbor. >> the city officials in houston say only exacerbating the problem, many of the subcontractors went to houston and left to florida for hurricane irma recovery and haven't returned so there's talk of trying to make higher bids available to those workers to get them back to help here in

texas. in dallas, casey stegall, fox news. leland: another man in the president's inner circle out. how tom price's resignation affects the president's promise to repeal obamacare. plus, the president taking aim at san juan's mayor over hurricane relief as he plans a major visit there on tuesday. when you've been making delicious natural cheese for over 100 years like kraft has, you learn a lot about what people want. honey, do we have like a super creamy cheese with taco spice already in it? oh, thanks. bon appe-cheese! okay... when food is good and clean and real, it's ok to crave. and with panera catering, there's more to go around. panera. food as it should be.

whoamike and jen doyle?than i thought. yeah. time for medicare, huh. i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. choosing a plan can be super-complicated. but it doesn't have to be. unitedhealthcare can guide you through the confusion, with helpful people, tools and plans. including the only plans with the aarp name. well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. aarp medicare plans, from unitedhealthcare.

♪ ♪ there are. ♪ ♪ leland: welcome to "america's news headquarters" from washington on this saturday. great to have you here, i'm leland vittert. gillian: and i'm gillian turner in for elizabeth prann. here's what's making news right now. secretary of state rex tillerson says lines of communication are open to north korea as he travels to china to get help loring tensions across the region -- lowering tensions across the region. leland: plus, president trump gets into a twitter war with the mayor of san juan. live to the city for the ground truth. gillian: and fallout, the day after health and human services secretary tom price resigns over a travel scandal, the effort that's underway mow to curb other officials from making the same mistake. leland: secretary of state rex tillerson says the united states, get this, is in direct communication with north korea's rogue regime over its repeated

nuclear tests that, of course, defy international sanctions and the united nations. he made the announcement while in beijing meeting with the chinese about their neighbor. kristin fisher in new jersey where the president is spending this weekend. obviously a bombshell from the secretary of the state this morning. do we know any more, kristin, about this communication other than that it exists? >> reporter: well, what we know so far, leland, is that these are direct lines of communication between the trump administration and pyongyang, so that means they're not going through china. we're also learning these lines were instigated by the trump administration, by the u.s. government and not north korea. here's exactly what secretary of state rex tillerson said just a few hours ago. he said, quote, we asked them would you like to talk? we have lines of communication to pyongyang. we're not in a dark situation or blackout to. we have a couple of channels open to pyongyang, we can talk

to them, we do talk to them. so after months of name-calling, months of all this talk about potentially using a military option down the road, this really shows you that the trump administration is serious about pursuing a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the korean peninsula. leland: yeah. we've heard that from the secretary of defense, now hearing it from the secretary of state. great data point. >> reporter: right. leland: okay. so now in the midst of all of this, it was the couple of weeks ago that the president coined the phrase rocket man, now it's the mayor in san juan, puerto rico. how is the white house looking at this? >> reporter: they're not happy about it. and, you know, this really came to a head last night when the mayor of san juan accused the u.s. government of killing her citizens because of its inefficiency and bureaucracy. that, of course, did not sit well with president trump, so what did he do? he took to twitter to respond,

and here's what he said in a series of very provocative tweets. quote: the mayor or san juan who was very complimentary only a few days ago has now been told by the democrats that you must be nasty to trump. sump poor leadership -- such poor leadership. they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 federal workers now on the island doing a fantastic job. now, that phrase right there that they want everything to be done for them, as you might imagine, that's not sitting well with the millions of people in puerto rico who are still without food, power, clean water and medical supplies. the mayor of san juan has responded by saying that she won't be distracted by, quote, small comments, politics and petty issues while the governor of puerto rico, well, he's striking a slightly more conciliatory tone. will be to this -- listen to this. >> recognize what the important issue is, helping the people of puerto rico. everything else is just fodder

to the side. so my invitation to all of them and my message to the mayor is i am here to help you. >> reporter: now today president trump will be speaking on the phone with the governor of puerto rico. he's also going to be speaking with the fema administrator. he's got a series of calls planned to talk about these ongoing hurricane recovery efforts across the u.s. territory. and then, of course, on tuesday he's planning on heading down to puerto rico but, leland, of course, i'd imagine this is going to be a slightly more awkward trip than it would have been -- leland: yeah. >> reporter: -- 24 hours ago. leland: you have to wonder, typically, it's the mayor and the governor who meets the president at the bottom of the steps of air force one. >> reporter: right. leland: that'll be a handshake to watch for sure. >> reporter: no kidding, even if she shows up. leland: that's an important point. she did say she would meet with any duly elected leader, forget

the fact that it's the president who's giving her all this money in hurricane relief, but good point though whether she actually shows up to meet him on the runway. thank you, kristin. gillian? gillian: despite logistical difficulties, the hurricane recovery efforts in puerto rico are finally beginning to gain momentum. markets and gas stations and lines of communication are slowly beginning to come back online in san juan, but there's still a very long road to recovery ahead across the island. mike tobin joins us live now for more on this. mike? >> reporter: hi, gillian. the governor says food and water to the people, diesel to the hospitals are the top priorities, yet taking center stage is this twitter war with the president and the mayor of san juan, christine cruz. she complained bitterly yesterday about the federal response saying if it doesn't speed up, you're going to see something close to a genocide here. the president, as kristin fisher mentioned, slammed her on

twitter. here's the mayor's response. >> i am not going to be distracted by small comments, by politics, by petty issues. this is one goal, and it is to save lives. >> yeah. >> that's all that matters. >> reporter: meantime, the administrator of the san jorge children's hospital says this island is about to transition from a humanitarian crisis to a health crisis. the immediate problem is, of course, power. emergency generators have some 51 hospitals running across the island but only nine of them are connected permanently to the grid. those generators are meant to be used for emergencies, they are temporary. eventually, they run out of fuel. we were at the san jorge hospital when it was reconnected, still, the administrator is concerned primarily about people off schedules, talking about diabetics and asthmatics who are not taking care of their medical problems. >> we need to treat dehydration,

patients with dehydration. we need to inspect diabetic patients that are out there at home, asthmatic patients that are out there. nobody's taking care of their conditions. everybody is dealing with a crisis at home. >> reporter: behind me you see standing water, that is common place across the island. one whiff tells you that it is putrid, yet you have people here in puerto rico using this for their basic needs. because of that, the hospitals are expecting to see wave after wave of people with gastro intestinal problems. beyond that, standing water breeds mosquitoes. you have people worried about the spread of dengue fever in a u.s. province. gillian, back to you. gillian: thanks, mike. leland: and also the threat of zika. tom price is out as the head of health and human services, becoming the first cabinet secretary to leave the trump administration. his resignation, of course, comes amid fur record over his -- furor.

ellison barber, when the president said he thought secretary price was a fine man, you knew his career could perhaps be measured in minutes. >> reporter: right, because it came with a caveat, and then it was not a whole lot of words beyond we'll see later. if you're part of the trump administration and planning to travel, there are a few new rules you will need to abide by. the white house budge director told agency heads apart from a few exceptions, commercial planes are how government employees need to travel. the memo, which you see here, came the same night hhs secretary tom price resigned. about a week and a half ago, politico reported on the now-former secretary's use of private planes. they said price used private charter planes 24 times beginning in may costing taxpayers over $300,000. price said he'd pay back the cost of his seat on those flights, around $52,000, but after that politico found more

questionable flights. price reportedly cost taxpayers at least half a million dollars because of overseas trips where he flew in a military aircraft. it was official business, but past hhs secretaries took similar trips, and according to politico they usually flew commercial. price defended the flights on "special report" the day before he resigned. >> these trips were approve through the normal process, so it was deemed appropriate and that that was the necessary way to be able to make my other obligations within the department. >> reporter: the president publicly expressed disappointment in price. reporters asked if he would keep his job, the president hinted at price's future on the south lawn yesterday. >> not happy, okay? i can tell you, i'm not happy. i certainly don't like the optic. >> reporter: about an hour later, price submitted a letter of resignation, and the white house said the president accepted it, but now the travel habits of other cabinet members are under a microscope.

according to reports, interior secretary ryan skin key took a number of flights on private or military plane, one to an airport about 30 minutes outside of whether he lives in montana costing taxpayers over $12,000. a flight like that may not happen now according to the memo from budget director mick mulvaney. any travel on a government or private plane must first be approved by chief of staff john kelly. leland: about to travel steve my newspaper chin as well, scott pruitt, the epa administrator. ellison barber, thank you. gillian's got more. gillian: for more insight into tom price's resignation and what this all means for obamacare repeal and replace efforts, i want to bring in sun with politico. thanks so much for joining us here today in studio. >> thanks so much for having me. gillian: i want to start with your take on what this is all about. is tom price's resignation or firing really about his use of, you know, private jets for

official government purposes, or is it more from president trump's perspective about his failure to produce on obamacare? >> well, i think there's, first, no doubt that the president campaigned on so-called draining the swamp, and there's something a little swampy about using a lot of taxpayer funds more these private flights and military jets. but there's no doubt that there is also simmering anger from the president about the failure of congress, his administration and his white house to repeal obamacare. we just saw the senate fail again this past week, and a lot of reporting from my colleagues at politico and also at "the new york times" talks about this anger over, you know, tom price's role in that failure. he has been, my colleagues reported last night that he had been cut out of value office strategy meetings, we saw the rally a few months ago where the president said kind of in jest that if you don't get the job done, you know, secretary price, you will be fired. but look what happened, i mean, the job was not done, and someone's head had to roll, and

perhaps that was secretary price. gillian: it would make sense that he would be -- he is the guy, the head of hhs, part of the responsibility to lead this effort falls to his shoulders. what about the media's reaction and the american public's reaction to the revelations about his use of these flights or misuse of them? do you think this is overblown? do you think it is something that is serious and requires the rigor that people are approaching it with? lay this out for us a little bit. >> i think that whenever there is a misuse of taxpayer dollars, this is your money that is being not efficiently spent by the u.s. government, i think it's welcome attention to those that kind of spending. but we see it's not, you know, it's not necessarily just the media, we see a lot of concern coming from congress as well -- gillian: but i guess specifically are we demanding more transparency from the trump administration than from previous administrations, say as compared with president obama or

president bush's administration? >> i think we can just look at what congress is demanding of the president, and we have a bipartisan -- we have bipartisan leaders led by trey gowdy of south carolina and elijiah cummings of maryland demanding information not only on secretary price's travels, but from leaders of 23 other agencies. so i think it's a sign, you know, whether -- how it compares to oversight of president obama's spending, i can't directly speak to that, but i think there is a very serious concern, bipartisan concern coming from congress and the public. gillian: so it's not about where we've been, it's about where we're going, what we want the new direction to look like. >> sure. gillian: in this vein, the omb director, mulvaney, has issued new guidance, and it stipulates that all white house personnel, before they travel on a noncommercial aircraft, have to get permission directly from chief of staff general john kelly. is that something that is -- i mean, it's obviously a response to what has happened, but is

that overboard? is that realistic? are we asking the chief of staff's office to now set up a travel agency inside the white house? >> i think it was definitely a welcome step from the white house's view considering they established these new procedures because we know now as we talked about earlier that it wasn't just secretary price, it was the interior secretary, ryan zinke, the epa administrator, scott pruitt, and there may be other examples. i'm sure reporters are out there digging right now to see if there was any other misuse of taxpayer dollars for these private flights. so i think that they are, they do see this as a necessary task both from chief of staff, the chief of staff -- actually, from the president on down at the white house. gillian: well, seung, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thanks for having me. gillian: the debate over tax reform is heating up here in washington. chris wallace speaks with omb director mulvaney tomorrow on fox news channel, check your local listings. howie kurtz are tackle coverage

of tom price's travel on private planes. also coming up tomorrow at 11 a.m. eastern to time right here on fox news channel. stick with us. ♪ ♪ leland: coming up, republicans have propose ad a plan for tax -- proposed a plan for tax reform, but members on both sides of the aisle have serious concerns. up next, senate majority whip john cornyn on lessons learned from the health care fight. and news that russians are not only trying to influence the elections of the united states, but now they're trying to impact political debates via social media and not just with topless pictures of vladimir putin. we're going to talk with an expert who has some advice for lawmakers. >> vladimir putin cannot beat us on land, he can't beat us on the sea, he can't beat us under the sea, he can't beat us in the air, and he can't beat us in space. but he can beat us in cyber. ♪ ♪ g new cars.

you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar. it's ok that everybody ignores me when i drive. it's fine, 'cause i get a safe driving bonus check every six months i'm accident-free. and i don't share it with mom. right, mom? right. safe driving bonus checks, only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it.

only from allstate. want sure!ck? alright, looks like we've got chips, popcorn, pretzels? pretzels! plain, sourdough, spicy, sesame, honey mustard, chocolate covered, peanut butter filled, this one's in german, it says, "reindfleisch?" plain. great. so what are we gonna watch? oh! show me fall tv. check out the best of the best hand-picked fall shows on xfinity x1, online, and the xfinity stream app. thirsty? leland: at this hour, two separate prott movements joining forces and marring through the -- marching through the streets of washington. the destination for both the march for racial justice and the march for black women groups is the national mall, and that's where a joint rally is scheduled at the top of the hour.

we'll watch it live to there if news develops. ♪ ♪ gillian: the debate over nfl players protesting the national anthem is heating up and dividing fans and maybe each tailgate bud keys. we also -- buddies. we also know that bots have a role to play that are helping to fuel the flames and stoke the debate with targeted hashtags on twitter. national security experts say this is only the latest example of cyber political warfare and that the united states needs to be proactive in fighting it. mark jacobson is an associate professor at georgetown university and co-author of a new report called "shatter the house of mirrors." it looks as russian influence, operations and the united states response. he joins me now live in studio, good afternoon. >> thanks for having me. gillian: i want to ask you about this latest revelation which is that the internet research

agency bought about 3,000 ads that target specific groups of americans based on their profiles and their demographic data. this was during the 2016 election. does that ring true with you and what you know? >> absolutely. in fact, i think you made a great point before that there are some real divides amongst the american people. what the russians are tryinged to do is deliberately target specific audiences in order to exacerbate that divide. frankly, during the cold war what the soviets tried to do was outright start a race war in the united states. but by targeting groups and exacerbating the racial divides, what they can do is create such division that the united states can't help but to just look internally and ignore what's going on in the rest of the world. gillian: and what about american social media platforms? they're in the private sector. do you think they share a similar kind of responsibility? is it up to facebook and twitter to really step up and prevent things like this, foreign interference in a u.s. election from happening, or is that more

something that they should do if they want to? >> short answer yes but, and so let me explain. on the one hand, one of our great strengths is our freedom of expression. in fact, i think it's the foundation of all of our strengths, our ability to have a free exchange of ideas, our ability to dissent which is, i think, so incredibly patriotic. but at the same time, i think there's a responsibility that social media platforms have to comply with what are longstanding federal regulations when it comes to political campaigns. so we don't suggest regulating social media. what we're suggesting is take a look at advertisements that are bought, paid political advertisements and make sure there's the type of transparency required so that you and i as observers, as viewers, consumers of social media, can know when something's a paid political advertisement versus someone's subjective opinion or a stated fact. gillian: that's a really important distinction for, i think, all internet users,

myself included. >> absolutely. gillian: when you talk about transparency now, if this is true and the russians were able to target americans based on particular demographic data, how did they have access to in? are the social media companies sharing this with the russians? are the russians hacking into some somebody whereby they can get it? are they purchasing that information from other private sector operators? give us a sense how that would work. >> so i think the russians -- let's just take black lives matter and the alt-right as examples. what they do is request an advertising platform that allows them to target black lives matter activists or alt-right. so what they do is they try and find things that are going to appeal that they know naturally would appeal to one side or the other, and then the marketing experts at a social media company like facebook, for example, can help them tailor the ads. there have already been some press releases from facebook, and i'm glad so far with the level of transparency they've

had. they have to do more, but in terms of explaining, well, we know people wanted to buy these ads on twitter or facebook and go after these specific audiences, so another way of putting it, it's no different than if you're marketing a product -- unfortunately, this time the product is hate-filled and is disinformation. gillian: and it can be misused, you know? >> absolutely. gillian: as with all information, it can be used for good or evil, and we still have yet to discern how it was used in this election, but i think the important thing is we now know there was ap attempt by the russians. >> yes. gillian: that's something i think in this political climate we can all unify around. thank you so much for being with us. >> my pleasure. gillian: hope to see you soon. >> thanks. leland: coming up, president trump looking to salvage his legislative agenda, calling his tax reform plan rocket fuel for the u.s. economy. when we come back, senate finance committee member john or cornyn on what tax cuts would mean for your pocketbook. plus, hurricane-ravaged puerto rico now bracing for flash floods as if it could get

worse. adam klotz with us now. adam, it could get worse, right? >> reporter: more rain on the way. we've got a large area of low pressure moving across the island. i'm going to be talking about how much more rain is on the way. that'll be coming up after the break. ♪ ♪ exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto.

the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ when can we do this again, grandpa? well, how about tomorrow? ask your doctor about entresto and help make tomorrow possible.

-ahh. -the new guy. -whoa, he looks -- -he looks exactly like me. -no. -separated at birth much? we should switch name tags, and no one would know who was who.

jamie, you seriously think you look like him? uh, i'm pretty good with comparisons. like how progressive helps people save money by comparing rates, even if we're not the lowest. even if we're not the lowest. whoa! wow. i mean, the outfit helps, but pretty great. look at us. ♪ ♪ leland: coming off the health care failure, there is increasing pressure on republicans to get tax cuts through congress and to the president before christmas. one of the men key in thats process is senate majority whip john cornyn, responsible for getting to 51 votes. i caught up with him on capitol hill just before he left for the weekend. >> well, one of the most important lessons learned was that we all need to be on the same page, and there's been a lot of consultation back and forth between the white house, the house and the senate to come up with a blueprint that the

president announced this week which will be the starting point for the bill that will be introduced in the senate in october. we'll mark it up, and then hopefully pass it by the full senate and then reconcile it with the house version hopefully before the end of the year. leland: we've seen the timelines slip a couple of times, for sure. how much of this is a blueprint, how much of this is rough sketches? because we don't know where the income brackets are, we don't know what constitutes middle class, what constitutes rich, what constitutes poor. >> well, i'll try to fill in some of that. when it comes to businesses, right now we have the highest tax rate in the world which means many businesses who earn overseas income leave the money there rather than have to pay twice. we're talking about reducing those rate toss 20%. for people -- rates to 20%. for people who pay pass-throughs, we're talking about roughly equivalent about 25%. and then lowering individual rates to a zero rate for a

family who earns $24 ,000 or less, a married couple, and then a 12, 25 and 35% rate. but basically what this means together with the doubling of the standard deduction, it means that everybody will enjoy a reduction in their tax burden. hopefully, this will create an incentive for businesses to invest and create more jobs because they can keep more of what they earn, and it's going to improve standard of living across the board. leland: where do those brackets break down by income levels? we keep hearing from the president and also from republicans middle class, middle class, middle chat. what is the income brackets -- middle class. what is the income brackets for the middle class? you can't just put middle class in a bill, you've got to define it. >> well, everybody claims to be -- support the middle class because most americans define themselves as middle class. what i would say is we plan to reduce the tax burden for everybody, including the middle class. i can't give you the precise

numbers because many of these provisions are dialable depending on the financial targets we have to meet, and that work is going to be hashed out starting in the senate finance committee in mid october. leland: it seems as though republicans were pretty quick to give up on tax cuts for the rich. have republicans decided that tax cuts for the rich don't help the economy, or is it just a bad pr talking point, therefore, it might come back later? where are we on sort of upper income earners who are the life blood and fuel of the economy? >> well, we anticipated the criticism even if not justified by the democrats and, of course, they -- we anticipate that argument. and it really made it even more important for us to demonstrate our desire to cut taxes for everybody, because we want a pro-growth tax code, we want it simpler -- leland: all right, i'm taking it that we haven't begin up on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans yet, but it's

negotiable, which brings me to my next question. what are the red lines for republicans? everyone agrees tax reform's important. as you mentioned, you can dial things. what are the red lines for you in a bill that have to be there in order for you to start whipping votes for tax reform? >> well, i think we need to know on a dynamic basis that whatever tax cuts, whatever rates we reduce which means commensurate reduction income to the federal government, that that hole gets filled by die incomic growth in the economy -- dynamic growth in the economy. for example, a $1.5 trillion deficit in a projected tax code, just four-tenths of 1% growth in the gross domestic product will fill that hole and result in not deficits, but deficit reduction because of the increased income coming into the federal treasury. leland: last question for you. you are the senate whip which means you're the man responsible for getting votes. the math is tough on the republican side. we've learned that through health care. >> right. leland: nobody can tell you that better than you.

is there any chance of, realistic chance of getting democrats? if so, what concessions do you have to make, and have you already started making those calls, or are you trying to do it all on the red team? >> well, the joke here in the senate is if you don't need those votes, then you may get a few democratic votes -- [laughter] none will be the decisive vote. in other words f we get 51 republicans, we might get a few red state democrats running for re-election in 2018 in states that donald trump carried. that's just the practical reality of it. but we're going to invite everybody to participate in this process. so far based on our experience during the first eight months or so of the trump presidency is, i'm not optimistic, but i am hopeful. gillian: it's been more than a week since hurricane maria battered puerto rico, but as people clean up from the delaware stating storm -- devastating storm, now another weather front threatens to make this already dire situation even

worse. meteorologist adam klotz is tracking all of it for you from the fox news weather center. adam, what can you tell us about what's brewing now? >> reporter: hey there, gillian. it's just a very large system. this is a look at the tropics, and you're looking at rain and thunderstorms from the leeward islands up through puerto rico, the dominican republic. this large area does have a chance of becoming a tropical storm, just a 10% chance, but whether this becomes a tropical storm or not, there's a big, broad low pressure system, and it's bringing rain to an area that desperately needs a break. we could be talking about 3-4 inches more rape across portions -- rain across portions of puerto rico throughout the course of the weekend. you are looking at some of those heavier rains up to the north, but these could come down anywhere. they're going to be isolated, very heavy showers and as a result, flash flood warnings across the entire island but widespread, wouldn't be surprised to see 3-4 inches coming quickly, and there's still plenty of areas with standing water so that is bad

news for those folks dealing with already a tough situation. the forecast for today does have off and on thunderstorms across the island. pay attention to the temperatures as well. remember, a lot of folks don't have power, and we're looking at temperatures in the lower 80s today with some of those thunderstorms, but i take you into tomorrow's forecast, we continue to see a possibility of some of those pop-up thunderstorms and very heavy rains and those temperatures climb running up to 86, 87 degrees. it's going to be sticky, humid, no air-conditioning, more rain, things just continue to be very tough for puerto rico throughout the rest of the weekend. the other story across the tropics, we have a broad area of low pressure spinning just off the west coast of florida. now, this has a 30% chance of developing here within the next couple of days. this may, this may not develop, but the thing that is going to happen is this is going to bring rain -- whether it develops or not -- up and down florida. florida is in for a very rainy weekend running early into next week. this is what that's looking like. your forecasted rainfall here

areas, yes, running up into daytona beach maybe 12, 18 inches of rain. so each though we're not talking about big hurricanes, the tropics continue to be busy here, gillian, as we're tracking a couple of systems that whether they become tropical storms or not, they're going to be bringing a lot of rain from florida down to puerto rico. gillian: that's adam klotz live from the fox news weather center. thanks, adam. leland: overseas the u.s. is worried that the kurds in northern iraq have voted for independence from that middle eastern nation. the u.s., as you know, is a close ally of both the kurds and, to a certain extent, baghdad, and officials fear the vote could lead to violation. the main iraqi government says it's determined to prevent a break-up of their country. it has stopped all international flight from serving the kurdish territory's airports, and their military, they say, is prepared to take control of the international borders. stay tuned. gillian: parents and students are open occupying schools in the spanish region of catalonia

to insure that voting on a referendum for independence can take place at schools that are designated as ballot stations. courts have ordered police to cordon off these schools in an effort to prevent the vote from taking place. catalonia's government is pressing ahead anyway and usualing the region's 5 -- urging the region's registered voters to make their voices heard. leland: coming up, how nfl owners and management are trying to return to some kind of normalcy after last week's mass national anthem protests on the field. ♪ ♪ ♪ it's me and my best friend

only new tena intimates has pro-skin technology designed to quickly wick away moisture to help maintain your skin's natural balance. for a free sample, call 1-877-get-tena. but on the inside, i feel chronic, widespread pain.like most people. fibromyalgia may be invisible to others, but my pain is real. fibromyalgia is thought to be caused by overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i'm glad my doctor prescribed lyrica. for some, lyrica delivers effective relief for moderate to even severe fibromyalgia pain.

and improves function. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can do more with my family. talk to your doctor today. see if lyrica can help.

for tech advice. dell small business advisor with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. ♪

♪ ♪ gillian: after saving countless lives in iraq and afghanistan with the united states army, lieutenant colonel jason sousa is now working with his fellow veterans to make a difference at an orphanage in kenya. he join me with more on how he's creating a better life for an entire group of children. thanks so much for being with us today. >> thanks for having me. gillian: we really appreciate it. what i want you to explain to the viewers is, first of all, how did you connect with kenya? what drove you to be so interested in the children of this nation? >> originally, we were doing work with the kenyan defense forces, and as we were going back and forth to work, we are noticing kids with no shoes.

so we did a small shoe drive in fredericksburg, virginia, collected about 600 pairs of shoes, and that's what connected us to the orphanage. really what they needed was sustainable food sources, you know, chickens, milk and goats to help the kids. with that little get-together, we've started building a bigger and better compound for them because the facility they were in was rundown. so that was the main reason why we were over there, building a bigger building for them. gillian: so it started off with helping to deliver shoes to these kids who need them to go about their daily lives as we do here in the united states, and it turned into something more. it turned into you and your colleagues helping to really encourage families there to grow their own stock and maintain their own livestock. it's an incredible gift to give to people so that they can provide for their families. can you tell us how often you're able to get there, to be on the ground with folks, to keep an

eye on how things are doing, to talk to the folks that you're working with? >> sure. so we had people on the ground for nine months straight. they were working there back and forth. the team has since left. we partnered with a program that has project managers in country, so they're able to check on them while we're not there. we'll also be going back in january through march and making routine trips back and forth into kenya to check on the family. gillian: and what about, i heard that you're now partnering with a local project to help do even more, to help affect things like drinking water for families there. what's, what is the new direction you're now taking? >> we're still going to support the children's home, but one of the things we're looking at is putting a well in that local area. the water there is very salty, so the new well will give them fresh drinking water, and the project has put in p i believe, 85 -- put in, i believe, 85 wells in that local area. so we'll be able to provide them

better drinking water. gillian: does it surprise you to take a step back and look at the work you're now doing? do you ever think to yourself, you know, i joined the united states military, and i have become this incredibly important humanitarian helping people in a faraway nation? is it something that surprises you or is it something that you feel is really inherently a part of your duty to the united states and to the wider world? how do you look at this? >> it's definitely part of something you should be doing. i wasn't expecting to be doing this. i think it really hit home for me the day that we opened up that first dorm and the little girl was running around saying, hey, jason, look, this is our new home. so was it something i expected to do? no, but it's just something you felt you had to do in the end. gillian: we thank you for the work, colonel souza, we hope to see you again. >> thank you for having me. leland: coming up, will more protests break out during the national anthem at nfl games this weekend? and the big question, how much

longer will fans put up with it? we'll see bryan llenas on the other side of the break. ♪ hi. so i just got off the phone

with our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight... four weeks without the car. okay, yep. good night. with accident forgiveness, your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it.

♪ ♪ leland: all eyes will be on the football field tomorrow, perhaps more so for what happens before

the game than during it. so who will take a knee tomorrow? that is, of course, the question so many are asking after over 200 nfl players knelt last week during the national anthem. bryan llenas from new york with more, and, bryan, is it possible to answer that question? have players come out and said yes or no, or is it all speculation right now? >> reporter: well, it looks like at least one team has come out from what we've seen and i think, ultimately, it's going to be a game time decision for many. all eyes will be on how the players and teams will respond after last week's displays of unity following president trump's disparaging comments about players who decide to kneel in protest of racial inequality and police brutality. we are hearing from jerry jones, dallas cowboy withs' owner, who spoke about his team's decision to kneel before the national anthem last week. he confirmed that president trump called him this week to discuss the protests, jones saying, quote: he did call. he was complimentary which doesn't mean that in any way we

acquiesced to what he was implying. what we wanted to do was make a statement and certainly not dishonor the flag. the debate is whether you're dishonoring it or not, and to stand up there and say a group such as the nfl and our players are doing anything that doesn't respect the flag is just not something that could be accepted. now, no word as to whether the cowboys will do the same this week. dez bryant says that they will stand, but we'll see. and new orleans saints' quarterback drew brees tweeted yesterday his team will adopt the cowboys' method of kneeling in solidarity before the anthem tomorrow. meanwhile, legendary college football coach lou holtz on "fox & friends" this morning says coaches could should not allow politics inside the locker room. >> the first thing, we'll not use our team to promote any cause. we're here to promote this university, and you're not going to bring girlfriends, a slogan, you're not going to bring a cause onto our football team.

>> reporter: ratings are down 11% compared to last year, and a recent seton hall sports poll shows the protests during the anthem are the main reason fans are watching fewer nfl games. and we are even seeing some restaurants are choosing not to air games because of the protests, and directv is offering refunds to fans who want to cancel their sunday ticket packages because of these protests during the anthem. leland. leland: some people even burning their nfl jerseys or season tickets as we heard from some. bryan llenas in new york covering this through the weekend, bryan, thank you. and, gillian, it brings up an interesting point. tony katz out in indianapolis in our last hour was talking about this. now it's sort of unclear what this protest is all about. you know, we're going to lock arms in unity or solidarity. of what? and that's -- gillian: and with who? who is unifying? what are you unifying in the face of, and who is involved? unclear. leland: it's totally unclear. it all started, of course, with

colin kaepernick about the black lives matter, and now it's morphed all the way across, and you do get the sense there are at least some players who have a sense of regret over how this has all played out. because it is undoubtedly affecting the way the world looks at the nfl. bryan made a number of points about that, data points that have happened. whether or not they can come back from that is to be seen. he also made a good point in end yap lis that he didn't -- indianapolis, and it may be owners are not publicly coming out and saying you must stand up, but it could be privately that it is being made very clear what the expectations of the players are. gillian: right. and i think the big thing that's unfortunate here is that this has all been galvanized a hundredfold since president trump's remarks, right? i mean, i wonder if the president himself may second guess or feel some regret about how forcefully he spoke out against -- leland: well, there were only

six who took a knee the week before, then 200. now we'll take a count tomorrow after the show. all right, coming up, hundreds of wounded warriors from around the world are giving it their all at the invictus games. i bet they all stood up, if they could, for the national anthem of their country. we're going to bring you the highlights. ♪ ♪ when you've been making delicious natural cheese for over 100 years like kraft has, you learn a lot about what people want. honey, do we have like a super creamy cheese with taco spice already in it? oh, thanks. bon appe-cheese! okay...

♪ stare with me into the abyss ( ♪ ) g new cars.h me into the abyss you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar.

leland: former president obama joining britain's prince harry at the invictus games to cheer on the wounded and injured service members competing in a variety of sporting events. the games were founded three years ago by prince harry, a veteran himself, raising awareness of servicemen and women injured in combat. hundreds compete in swimming, wheelchair basketball, rugby, archery and much more. earlier this week first lady melania trump led the u.s. delegation to the games' openinger ceremony and, boy, what a contrast between the nfl protests and these brave men and women who gave so much and are now showing so much. if you think about role models for young kids, there's your role models. gillian: and prince harry, you know, he had a shaky teenagehood, but he's turned out all right. and this is something the whole world can rally around. leland: now doing so very much.

it was great having you here. gillian: thanks, leland. it was great to be here today. leland: shockingly, we might have some more north korean news tomorrow. we'll see you tomorrow, 1:00 eastern. meantime, our friends in new york have more. julie: president trump firing back at the mayor of san juan after criticizing his administration's ability to get vital supplies to puerto rico, decimated by hurricane maria. hello and welcome to a brand new hour inside "america's news headquarters," i'm julie banderas. kelly: i'm kelly wright. frustration is boiling over as much of the island is still without power, and the long wait for life-saving supplies still drags on. mow the president is lashing out just days before he visits the storm-ravaged island tweeting this: the mayor of san juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the democrats that you must be nasty to trump. kristin fisher joins us l