with more complete relief you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. flonase. 6 is greater than 1 changes everything. the rath of hurricane harvey has knocked out power to more than 200,000 customers in the texas region there. firefighters have been risking their lives responding to this fire in corpus christi. the winds whipped the fire, engulfed three homes, fortunately no reports of injuries at this point. 20,000 cruise passengers are stuck at sea as their ships are routed away from port on galveston island. nbc's joe fryer is in galveston with more on all this. first of all, what's it like out there? it seems to be not letting up at all? >> reporter: in fact, the conditions are probably worse right now than earlier this morning. now that it's daylight, we can get a better look at what's happening around here, including

taking a look at the gulf of mexico where the waut rers still choppy because the wind is coming in. so is the rain. the rain is the big concern in galveston because it's not supposed to let up for a few days. it could be from 15 to 20 inches of rain which would definitely affect low lying areas. we're already under a flash flood warning this morning. i expect many more flash flood warnings in the coming days. here is the thing, that warn extends much farther inland than you might expect. this is not just a coastal issue. that might explain why in galveston a lot of people decided not to evacuate. they didn't evacuate because if they went to houston, houston is still facing this torrential downpour and there could be flooding there. at least here they're at their homes and more comfortable and can keep an eye on their own property which is important to them. a lot of these folks were here nine years ago during hurricane ike. that was a stronger hurricane that hit the galveston area, whereas this time around what

hit goll f stop is more like a tropical storm. the flooding from ike was still severe. the surge is a reminder what could happen in the low lying areas. with all the water coming down in the coming days, a lot of folks sticking around to keep an eye on their properties. they stocked up on water and food. we went to the target last night. still a good amount of supplies there, but very low on water and completely out of bread. i also noticed peanut butter was disappearing quickly. that gives you an idea of what people are stocking up on, knowing they might have to stay inside for a few days. a lot of folks have generators in case the power goes out. we lost power here for a couple hours. we could see sparking going on in the background during the heart of the storm. still a dangerous situation here, but now all eyes are on the skies to see how much water falls here. >> you talk about ike, as you said nine years ago. that is certainly something etched in people's minds.

stats from ike, that was a category 2. harvey is a category 4 when it hit land. 74 deaths in texas because of ike. for those people in galveston who remember it well, you've got to wonder what they're thinking and hoping it doesn't get worse because of the storm surges and all that that could be expected. it's significant right now where you are, joe. can you step out of screen for a minute and let's take a look at these palm fronds that are swaying. can you give us a look at what you can and cannot see there? >> reporter: i can't hear you terribly well, here, if you look out here on the water, definitely the clouds are thick. if the sun were to come out a little bit, we probably wouldn't get a very good look at it. the waters remain choppy. yesterday the situation throughout the day was off and on. we'd have rain and it will would clear up a little bit. then we'd have rain and wind, it

was back and forth. think about it, if this is what's going to happen, this is what it's going to be like with all this rain coming down, there's not much any community could do. you'll have streams and buy yous and things like that that will hit their limit. the worry is not so much on the gulf side of everything. they've got a seawall here. they put that seawall in after a huge hurricane here in the year 1900. it was a devastating hurricane that killed thousands of people. at the time galveston was lower to the sea level. they build things up, put up this seawall. the seawall did a decent job of keeping things back with hurricane ike. when the storm surge came in, it wrapped around the narrow island and came around the back side where the bay is. we were driving around goll f stop yesterday, last night as things really picked up. you could see the water levels were definitely rising and other parts of this eye wland away

from the gulf side. that's where they get really nervous about the flooding, especially in low lying areas. >> i'm looking at cars behind you. i saw one police car. there are a few people driving around right there along the water and along that seawall that you're describing. is it just regular citizens' cars, news crews? what is that that's happening behind you on the roadway? >> reporter: these are pretty normal cars driving around here. people have confidence in the seawall because the surge wasn't supposed to be as high here. even the mayor will tell you, they weren't really worried about the tropical storm, the hurricane, the surge, the wind. their concern, even yesterday afternoon, it was raining and windy. we could see people walking up and down the shore, taking pictures, sometimes dipping in the water a little bit. we went to a restaurant last night to grab a late dinner. it was still open. along the seawall people aren't terribly concerned. they have to be concerned

because the roads are slick and rainy. their concerns are when you get to the lower lying areas of galveston. >> joe fryer, extraordinary pictures. thanks for staying with us for this live shot. joining me once again in the studio, bill karins. before we do that, galveston, i was surprised seeing people driving on the road. >> some of the areas, it has a little elevation. if it's just raining, they're okay. no storm surge really anymore for them. they're okay with that stuff. the thing they do have an issue with is the possibility of tornadoes. they're in some of that banding that's going to be there. i want to go to a wide view of the storm. this is now not going to move much. i could show you this image two days from now and it will be located in this same spot. zooming in on the houston area, the feeder band on the outside of this is very strong this morning, centered right over the top of downtown houston. if the storm doesn't move, the

feeder band doesn't move, we call it training. if these storms train over the houston area for two or three days, this is when we can get epic rainfall totals. i want to head back over to the weather maps. i was hesitating to show this. it was a more reliable weather map. our european long range map. there's different caveats, this is not the official forecast. the official forecast is causing for a possibility of widespread 20 inches, maybe a little more. this is the european model for the same area. pink shows 20 inches of rain. i saw this 56 inches and i thought it must be a misprint. i went and looked at a closer view, there are spots to the south of there up to 60 inches. it wasn't a misprint. this isn't the official forecast. this just shows you and sets off huge alarm bells that this is the potential. it doesn't mean this is going to happen. it does happen widespread 20

inches, we know that. that's why the three to four feet if possible. who knows? someone could get more than that. that's what happens when you have a tropical stims for four days. one spot in victoria, texas, already had 16 inches. if it's going to rain for four more straight days in a tropical storm, who knows? maybe they do get up to those crazy totals. our flash flood warnings are from just outside of victoria all the way through the houston area and our river flood warnings are only going to get worse. i can't stress enough, alex, forget about the wind. the winds aren't doing anymore damage. that part of the storm is over. now we're getting to the part that's going to be catastrophic, the fact that's going to make this a multi billion dollar weather disaster. >> when you said 56 inches, i thought how is that even possible? we'll go to kerry sanders who is in victoria. we'll give him this news after this break and get his reaction there and get a sense of what's coming. that is kerry sanders' camera right there. there's a lot of rain his way.

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welcome back. i'm alex witt at msnbc world headquarters. hurricane harvey has weakened to a category 1, but the biggest danger may still lie ahead. forecasters predicting up to three feet of rain in some places. we have the latest for you here. covering hurricane harvey, a lot of indications out of washington for you. the president signed a disaster declaration for texas as hurricane harvey loomed offshore, but also announced a controversial pardon. nbc's kelly o'donnell is standing by at the white house with more on this. kelly, good saturday morning to you. tell us more. >> reporter: -- political news

to talk about as well. first on the hurricane, the president is already tweeting the day about the coordinated response between federal, state and local officials, praising fema, talking about the fact that he's closely monitoring all this. there isn't much the president can do at this stage, but he has signed a declaration. he says that unleashes federal help. the president plans to travel to texas sometime next week according to white house officials. given the duration of this storm, that could be difficult. the president also had something else in mind that got a lot of attention overnight. when the first family left for a weekend at camp david, hurricane harvey was not the only storm brewing. a legal lightning bolt from president trump late friday, a presidential pardon for arizona's controversial anti immigration hard liner sheriff joe arpaio, a move the president teased at his tuesday rally in phoenix.

>> by the way, i'm just curious, do the people in this room like sheriff joe? >> reporter: long accused of using racial profiling and tough tactics against undocumented immigrants. >> i'm not going to stop. >> reporter: 85-year-old former sheriff was convicted of criminal contempt for failing to follow a court order to stop the patrols. >> was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job? >> reporter: cheered by some conservatives, but critics in both parties say the pardon only inflames divisions and discrimination against latinos, and undermines the rule of law. arpaio spoke to nbc news by phone. >> i have to thank the president for standing by me and standing by law enforcement. >> reporter: still more news as the hurricane soaked up coverage. national security aide sebastian gorka says he resigned, but a

white house official disputes that. gorka's nationalist views made him an ally of ousted strategist steve bannon. perhaps the biggest test for president trump, managing his first natural disaster. >> this is right up president trump's alley. >> reporter: homeland security adviser tom boss cert says the president is ready. tweets show mapts on his desk in the oval office. >> talking directly with them or the governors. if they have any unmet needs, the president won't tolerate that. >> reporter: last year candidate trump toured louisiana flood damage and blasted president obama for remaining on vacation. for presidents, disasters can do political damage. >> brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. >> reporter: in 2005 george w. bush's misplaced praise of his fema administrator kpat bated criticism of bush's handling of the katrina crisis. president trump made his first

visit to fema headquarters just three weeks ago. >> reporter: and still another topic that is hotly contested, the president sent the official policy over to the pentagon regarding the transgender military ban. he will give the secretary of defense six months to look at this and try to determine what will happen for those who are already openly serving in uniform as transgender. the policy would stop recruitment, it would stop making payments for medical care that is related to sex reassignment and gender reassignment surgery or treatment, and it would also be something that we think the president may have some latitude for this secretary of defense, to allow the careers to continue for those openly serving, but it's unclear. there's so much controversy around this, this is another one of the issues before president trump enacted this on a friday night in august with the storm bearing down. alex? >> exactly, kelly o'donnell. we thank you for keeping a close eye on things from the white

house for us. hurricane harvey is weakening, the dangers of the storm may only be getting worse. a heavy rain poses catastrophic risks of flooding throughout southeastern texas. we'll follow that for you. former fema director james lee wit about what may be on the way to southern texas. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember.

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honey...our turn? yeah, we go left right here. (woman vo) great adventures are still out there. we'll find them in our subaru outback. (avo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. get 0% apr financing for 63 months on all new 2017 subaru outback models. now through august 31. >> fist past the later. the latest on hurricane harvey, it's a sustained storm of winds of 91 mild an hour. it sets the stage for heavy rains and life-threatening flooding to come. the national weather service says some yards could see as much as 40 inches of rain. let me bring in attorney general ken paxton, thank you, sir, for being here. do you have updates on the conditions and the efforts you can share with us? >> first of all, encourage the viewers to pray for our people. my concern is a lot of people

stay behind. as daybreak comes, we're starting to assess what's going on. i know that even last night, there were ambulances leaving corpus christi. i don't know where they were going. it's going to be an interesting day. especially with the continuing rain. >> i know your office, in particular, you are worried about things to come, like price gougeing, about scams, other crimes of fraud, people are trying to recover from what's hit them as a natural disaster. what is your biggest concern? >> we have legislation that would pass that penalizes price gouging. we already know a retailer was charging very 42 for a case of water. a gas station charging $99 for a case of water. we are out there, we have people sending us information. penalties are huge, $20,000 for one incident, few do this to somebody 65 or older, the penalties can be up to $250,000.

went people to know, if you are price gougeing, we're going to find you. >> we are asking residents to help with that. there is a count seumer protect hot line they can call? >> they can get on it and let us 2340e what they see. you can report any incidents of price gouging that you see. >> in terms of the cost of this storm, sir, i look at the experience return rita, return ike and damage can be into the billions of dollars and take weeks to recover. some places months. what are your expectations? >> so i've lived if texas for over dedecade. this is by far the worst storm i've ever seen just because of the lingering effects and staying in one plates. i think we're well prepared. we do well with handling natural

disasters. we've had a lot of practice dealing with them. i think this is an especially dangerous storm. i am worried about the next few days. >> i bet you r. with regard to loss of life, have you we heard any of that is this we haven't gotten in the news division loss of life. have you we heard anything that made you concerned? >> i have people in corpus christi, they were concerned. they had we heard rumors, there were a lot of people that stayed behind on the island, obviously, that was a concern. so obviously, we den know a lot until daybreak. and we'll see what happens, but there is some concern that many people stayed behind that shouldn't have. >> all right. texas attorney general, ken paxton, our thoughts and prayers are certainly with you and the good people of texas, thank you, such, best of luck. >> thank you, we appreciate those concerns. >> all right. right here into studio, i am joined by the director of the national center for disaster preparedness in columbus, university. thank you so much for being here, sir.

we have more than 700,000 people in the direct path of this hurricane. >> right? when you look at a state like texas, you think you learn lesson, but can you ever be fully prepared for a hurricane of this macmy tude? >> it's like a lack a mole. we hit a, then b, when it happens, i think we think for one thing there has been a number of people injured in a nursing home in rockport. why are those people still there? and were they asked to evacuate? were they told to evacuate? the problem is they were left in harm's way. i think among the issues we have to think about now. i think we may be finding out that theed a viets to leave was too soft and too late and we'll see what happens, but now, there is going to be an enormous job of keeping people safe who didn't leave. that's going to be a tremendous challenge for the officials down there. so. >> the winds. people think oh, it was a

category 4 a few hours ago, now it's a category 1. >> that isn't anywhere near the truth. >> i don't think we've ever experienced rainfall like we will experience if texas. and it will affect a large city of houston, it will affect a lot of rural, more isolated yaemplts it will be very, very difficult to make sure the people in in those areas, nursing homes, facility, hospital, were they evacuateare they safe? i think the word is beginning, it's beginning under incredibly difficult circumstance. all thissed intoing will make it quite difficult for people to go on search and rescue and so on and so on. it's a lot of work under the worst possible conditions down there. >> we think of what happened in hurricane katrina. i know it's been said people that perished died alone. so you got to think about those rescuers, first responders, but there is also advice, try to keep an eye on your neighbor. but very, very safely do that. >> right.

and particularly so. when we have this massive rainfall coming. you know, even theed a viets of keeping an eye on your neighbors. you may not be able to get to your neighbor. you are working on whether you and your family are safe. the problem is they are still there. there are areas that are isolated. i think. we'll see what happens when the investigations and the searching is ongoing right now. >> well, as you said, hindsight is 20-20. they were spot on with their prediction, we've weathered this okay. thank you so much. we appreciate your time. hurricane harvey the strongest storm in 50 years to hit texas. it is now a category 1. how long will it say that way? we have an update by bill karins coming your way at the top of the hoyer.

and 6 is greater than 1. with more complete relief you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. flonase. 6 is greater than 1 changes everything.

the whole country booking on choice hotels.com. four words, badda book. badda boom... let it sink in. shouldn't we say we have the lowest price? nope, badda book. badda boom. have you ever stayed with choice hotels? like at a comfort inn? yep. free waffles, can't go wrong. i like it. promote that guy. get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. when you book direct at choicehotels.com. book now. . daybreak in texas, as

hurricane half-i have sweeping through the at this time at this hour, after first tracking late friday and right now, we are giving you the first real look at damage from these slowly evolving disaster. it is a category 1 storm right now as we look at live radar an harvey covering parts of texas. but the battering began in the overnight hours. >> it's going to rain and rain and rain. >> reporter: it's not going to stop. it may be days before it ends up finally stopping. >> the winds also remain the story this hour, but longer term it is what you see here and we heard just there. flooding. the national hurricane center is saying could be cat strock. some counties are already under water and without power. >> reporter: my gosh, what a fix we will be in here for days at a time. we are blasted back to the stone ages. >> reporter: there are developments this hour on all those fronts, including the latest for you, from projections to the national weather service out ju