good morning everyone. i'm dara brown in new york msnbc headquarters. breaking news overnight in houston after hurricane harvey dumped months of rain. >> we rode it out as long as we could. stuff started falling on top of us everywhere. >> those who lost everything trying to figure out what to do next. home after home demolished.

politics and a new backlash, new questions whether the president undercut the rule of law for the controversial sheriff, joe arpaio. >> we begin where tropical storm harvey is bringing record levels of rainfall. one death has been reported so far in houston, and in rockport where a second death has been reported. officials are dealing with devastation so widespread they're trying to figure out the damage. we're getting new look at footage before the storm hit rockport. the area is being called ground zero for the storm. many parts of texas the search and rescue efforts are just beginning. rainfall is expected to reach

historic levels totaling as much as 40 inches in some areas. let's go to the flash flooding in houston, nbc's jacob bras koe joins me by phone. what are you seeing? >> we've been driving around all morning and right now we're heading to an area we know rescue teams have been hard at work because in the southeast areas of harris county is where we hear they have the most rain. this is the worst case scenario. this is what houston feared. its a catastrophic deadly flooding, tornados, that was a surprise there were a lot of tornados. houston is under water and hafr is not nearly finished.

bayous and creeks and rivers run throughout the city with m of them filled up with the storm and now this rain that overfilled neighbors and roadways. up to 5 inches of rain per hour in some areas. i'm watching meteorologists on the local channels. they're stunned at house fast it's coming down. the newest numbers are more than 1,000 people that were rescued overnight and that was when they reported more than an hour ago. so they continue to rescue people. we've had more than a dozen reports of tornados. you talked about one person who died. they drove their car into the bayou. this is as bad and worse as they thought it was going to get. we're only hours into day two of

what is going to be at least a noo five-day storm. so just imagine the water has nowhere to go. there's just too much. >> we're looking at pictures from the affiliate in the houston area. you mentioned this is what was feared and expected, but what was done in houston in an infrastructure to help this go along? if you have four more days of rain, how is it going to be possible to get this water out of the area? >> there are disagreements about what should be done about infrastructure because they actually -- it -- they are able to get rid of and handle -- more water than i think any major city i can think of. >> jacob -- >> here they can handle well -- >> hold on one second. we have people at kprc that are

survivors let's listen. >> they banged on the door, i thought it was the national guard. >> no one could come get you. >> we tried to call all the hot lines and no one answered. it didn't ring to anything. so we came. >> what was going through your mind? it's chest high you're saying. >> it's chest high, freezing. snakes were on our mind. i don't know the adrenaline was pumping so it wasn't anything. we were get ago workout, ocalve were burning. >> how about the rest of your neighborhood. >> there are people in their homes. no one's really left. >> this water walking through it? tough to walk through. >> there was only one current over there but it's not that strong. didn't take us away. probably would take kids away. >> how long did you watch the storm and did it take to fill t up into your home? >> i was watching -- the water

started to rise about 10:00. 10:00 i noticed it started slowly rising. and then stuff started floating. it was just -- it was crazy. water just kept rising. i called my son and said you have to come get us because i had the kids. they came and used the raft and here we are, we're getting out of here. >> now, we're going to our house because our house is flooding, too. >> to save her parents. >> be careful. how are you getting there? >> you have a truck. >> they waited. >> a lot of these roads are impassable. do you have a plan? >> we don't know. >> we're going by prayer and sticking together and survival mode. all the settlers are flooded. >> i'm just happy to be out of the house. the water was up to here in the house. i'm happy to be out of that.

wherever we go from here, as long as it's dry. >> the constables told us they could not go -- the high water rescue trucks could not go down the freeway because they can't turn around that way. so can keep that in mind. you can't turn around, it looks like that. and they have these big, big massive trucks. you guys have kids. i would say stay put, honestly. >> do you know if they've set up any kind of emergency shelter? >> i'm going to look that up. if you can hold on tight for a little bit. >> they don't know what shelters are around or anything because no one has put out any information about shelters. we heard about abundant life but i don't know how to get in contact with them. >> thank you for sharing your story. gill -- >> just listening to a rescue from people. we are watching a live video as people are walking across the

water in houston. and what they're talking about is they don't know where the shelters are. they don't have any information as to where they can go because their house has flooded and now they're stranded. is this a common scenario in houston right now? >> well, to be honest, even if they knew where the shelters were, there's no way anybody could get there. you'll get there only if somebody picks you up and takes you there. the city and county have been proactive about putting information on web sites about shelters and social media, but none of that matters because you can't get there. they don't want anybody to leave their house. they want people to get on the roofs if they can. they don't want anybody to call unless your life is in danger. they said if you have flooding in your house, they don't want you to call. they only want you to call if it's an emergency. we were talking earlier about preparing for this kind of thing -- >> jacob, we have the affiliate

talking to two more gentlemen who just waded through feet of water let's listen in. >> i called for them, they didn't stop. >> your wife is still in the house? >> yes, with my other child, my oldest. >> how far, sir? >> about three blocks down there. >> is it still rising in your home? >> yeah. it's bad. i ain't never -- this is way bad. i ain't never seen it like this. it's neck deep right there. right there like driving into that, it's neck deep. >> i saw you struggling a little bit to get out of the water there. you slipped a bit. >> the current across that bridge where i live is real strong. >> sir, what do you think you're going to do. >> i'm going back to my wife. i thought i could get the water rescue people here to bring

somewhat up here to where it's safe, but they passed us right up. >> how old is your other child? >> he's 17. >> just be careful. >> i'm good. i'm a expert swimmer. i'm like a fish. >> you're like a fish. okay, sir. he's heading back. he was hoping that he was coming out here and he would see the high water trucks. he said he did see them at one point. apparently they didn't see him or maybe they had to turn around and come back because the water was too high. but he and his son are going to go back he's telling us his wife -- >> we're listening to krpc the affiliates there. they're catching pictures of families warneding through the water. people coming out looking for rescue teams. we're going to the go to mia rodrigu

rodriguez, he's joining us by phone in victoria, texas. what can you tell us. >> i can tell you it's been raining since i've been here and there are tons of trees and limbs from trees and debris strewn around the town. because of what happened with hurricane harvey, this is a town dealing with the effects of the wind damage and now we have the rain coming down. there's a concern there could be some flash flooding here. we were under a curfew, it just ended at 6:00 local time. officials are telling them, if you left, don't be in a hurry to come back, don't come back. there's a couple reasons for that. they want crews to come out and asisz the damage and remove trees blocking streets, some of them completely blocked off. they're trying to remove some of the debris in the sewage grates

here just in case the rain does cause flooding, the water needs to go somewhere. so there is concern about the storm debris blocking where that water would be able to drain out. the town is also under a boil water notice on top of that. it turns out the city is having trouble pumping water into the five water towers that service the town. they are working on that, but at this point it's not happening. 20,000 people without power, it's dark and dangerous. if you can't see the debris in the road that's toot reason they don't want people who evacuated to make their way back. we're seeing these sheets of rain coming in and all the water has to go somewhere. there is a concern about the river that runs through the town. the concern is there'll be a buildup of water and the river

might begin to flood some of the town. so that is a big concern as we begin to see the rain falling. >> are you seeing the rescue teams around and the helpers there trying to block off roads or stop people driving on the roads. are they trying to keep people out of the weather and inside. >> we are seeing barricades that have been set up across certain roads that are clearly impassable because of the trees that are down. there doesn't appear to be the flooding you're seeing in the hue ton area, at least not at this point in victoria. that is something they're keeping an eye on because there is the fear it could happen here today if they get the forecasted rain here. >> thank you so much for joining us. be safe. the rain will continue throughout the region for several days. the national hurricane center says houston has received almost 20 inches of rain.

it will continue through tomorrow with rainfall totals of up to 30 inches perhaps 40 inches by midweek fp flash flood warnings are in effect for portions of the region and a tornado threat will continue. next we head back to a critical situation in houston and what's being done to save those in the floodwaters. hear from those who survived hurricane harvey and what they plan to do next. how their neighborhoods have been destroyed. ♪ sailin' away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic ♪ ♪ rollin' and ridin' and slippin' and slidin' ♪ ♪ it's magic introducing the all new volkswagen tiguan. ♪ higher and higher, baby the new king of the concrete jungle.

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don't listen to them. not appropriate. now i'm mashing these potatoes with my stick of butter... why don't you sit over here. find your awesome with the xfinity stream app. included with xfinity tv. more to stream to every screen. . welcome back. turning out of politics, a new washington post report is shedding light on what led to president trump's pardon of sheriff joe arpaio.

sources say president trump a askas asked jess sessions about dropping the investigation into sheriff joe arpaio. shawn, let's start with this report, when did this conversation take place and walk us through president trump's next steps and his calculation when he was told that it would be inappropriate to drop the case. >> this is something he started exploring back in the spring. so this is something he's been eyeing for several months and he wanted to see if the government would be able or willing to drop its case against arpaio and went directly to his attorney general, to jeff sessions, to explore that possibility. he was advised against that. so he waited. so this shows he has been looking at this for several months. this is somewhere where it's not as if this is a recent development he's considered should i make this pardon or

not. this is what he wanted to do months ago to help joe arpaio and he did it to help fulfill something on his to do list for quite some time. >> might this have been part of the attacks on jeff sessions a couple months ago? >> that's what's interesting is the attorney general said wait a minute, not sure this is the best route to go. we should note top prulks including the two republican senators from arizona have said that they disagree with this pardoning, including jeff flake and john mccain. so it's been interesting to watch the political shifting dynamics here because not all republicans, including house speaker paul ryan, are in agreement with this. this is adding more controversy for republicans as they are about to head back from recess next week. they have to raise the debt

limit, the shutdown, the wall could be in that which means there could be a government shutdown and they want to add to tax policy too. >> dan pfeiffer tweeted asking the attorney general to drop a case is something people get impeached for. >> do you think officials at the white house are worried about where this would lead since it adds to the president's attempts to interfere in the russia investigation. >> it's an image people around the president have been concerned about that he's using his position of power to advance a political agenda that may not be -- or that may be at odds with the criminal justice system. that may be at odds with investigation. so i think it does not help this image they're trying to counter act, and it raises questions in people's minds about what he thinks about the bob mueller

investigation. people are starting to speculate if he was willing to par don joe arpaio in this case what is he going to do when somebody or multiple people are charged or accused of certain things as a result of the mueller investigation. so it raises questions about how far he is willing to go to navigate these ongoing investigations right now that we're seeing. >> i want to stay in that line kevin. par donning joe arpaio keeps people happy but was there a strategy to ousting gorka? >> it's like a "game of thrones" episode with all of 2450ez stories but i think there is something to be said in the sense you have a situation where steve bannon was let go last week and his political wingman, so to speak, getting the ousting on friday during that friday hurricane news dump. so i think that this is a

situation with the par donning of sheriff joe where this could definitely be perceived as red meat for the base while they lost two top aides inside the white house. >> great to have you both this morning. thanks so much. the situation in houston, going from bad to worse. hear from more people stranded by the floods. an update on hurricane harvey next. comfortable you are in it. so find a venus smooth that contours to curves, flexes for comfort, and has a disposable made for you.

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we are following the flash flood emergency in houston and in texas where we're seeing hundreds of rescues. this one occurring a few minutes ago. mia rodriguez is in victoria, texas. tell us what it's like. >> we've had sheets of rain moving over the area in the last hour or so that we've been here. but it's not exactly what we're seeing in houston. there is raining here, lots of debris. they went through more of a wind damagean event here. but the concern is as the rain

continues to fall throughout today and the next several days it could not just overwhelm the drainage systems but also the nearby river that runs through down. that is the concern that the water might back up into the river, the river would breach its banks and it could flood this city. city officials are asking people who left to stay away for now because they don't want people coming back with so many power lines down, trees down that are blocking the roads right now. they've did their best to put up bare kids on streets that are not passable. but this is a serious situation here and one that is continuing to unfold today. >> we are going to continue with the latest developments out of texas as this flooding continues.

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