thank you for being with us and goodnight from nbc news headquarters in new york. i saw it a couple of times tonight when these first responders and the volunteers came back on the boats, you led the crowd in cheers. >> yes, i sure did. it's a blessing. it's a real blessing. we thank them so much. harvey has weakened, but the flooding threat in texas is still high as the death toll rises. brave rescues continue. this morning officials are keeping their eye on a dangerous situation at a chemical plant. plus, president trump pushes tax reform in missouri, but lays out a vague plan for the overhaul. defense secretary jim mattis contradicts the president on north korea as the u.s. launches

a show of force over the korean peninsula. good morning. it's thursday, august 31st. as the waters begin to recede, they reveal the sheer magnitude of destruction. the death toll has jumped up to 28 and the heroic efforts to rescue people continues dangerously on. by nbc's count, there have been 25,000 water rescues as of last night. this video came in off the coast guard beaumont, texas, and port arthur. another rescue attempt proved fatal yesterday. these men were operating a rescue boat and streamed this video on facebook live. it apparently hit a power line and was, unfortunately, electrocuted. two of the men were killed. two others missing. all morning yesterday we were telling you about coastal -- about the situation along the coast of port arthur,

texas, besieged by floodwaters. the county took 20 inches of rain overnight, and at one point the mayor wrote on social media our whole city is under water. >> people posted to his facebook page asking for help, and people found shelter including in this bowling alley. in beaumont they have lost their primary and secondary water supply. officials don't know how long it will take to get back on-line. to many in houston the weather is finally looking up. >> i think the worst has passed. the bad weather. i mean, look, it's beautiful right now. all i'm asking people to do is just to just keep their faith and stay close to their family, love on their family. >> of course, houston is known as a center for energy and petro chemicals, and now there's a potential crisis looming. a facility is likely to catch fire and explode in the next few days. they have "no way to prevent

it." the plant lost electricity on sunday are, and backup generators have also been flooded. the facility makes organic peroxides used in everyday plastics, and those materials must be kept at a certain low temperature or they could explode. a mandatory evacuation order was put in place for residents within a one and a half mile radius of the plant on tuesday. air traffic near the site was shut down by the faa late last night. standing by for us, nbc news reporter julia bag is joining us on the phone from crosby, as closes close as you can get to the plant. what's the situation? >> reporter: just in the last 30 minutes some deputies drove off from here. crews say they were complaining of headaches and dizziness. they didn't want to take an ambulance, but they took off to go get checked out. they have gotten closer to the plant, it appears, than we did. about an hour ago we were able to get a little closer on u.s. 90, which is northeast from houston on the way to beaumont,

texas, where the plant is. ing we were able to see a dark plume of smoke. it's definitely there. this is something that emergency crews have been planning for because we know that this plant was expected to potentially explode because these chemicals could no longer be refrigerated. now, the people who live within a mile and a half radius of the plant have been evacuated for days. it's been a wait and see scenario. there is a chance that perhaps the chemicals may not explode with six feet of water inside the plant. those chemicals may not ignite as they go into the water, but so far this morning the concern with that black plume of smoke and all eyes in the direction of the plant. it is hard to see what's in the plant right now because they all had to be evacuated as well. >> this is obviously a race against time for this situation. >> a really treacherous situation there. hoping for the best, of course. julia bag for us.

thank you. talk to you again later on in the show. of course, there are still concerns about the reservoirs we've been talking about all weeklong. joining us now from west houston near the site of the inundated neighborhoods, garrett haag. how are the water levels this morning and the concerns about the conditions of those reservoirs? >> good morning from a city still under curfew at this hour, and in too many places still under water. we're back actually at the same corner where we spoke this time yesterday, and the concern here is that the water level really hasn't changed here. we're in a place that's upstream from those reservoirs and dams, which have been venting out something like 60,000 gallons of water a second because they were so over filled. yesterday we were down in the down stream areas. those neighborhoods are starting to flood just by these controlled releases. this is not even an issue of any more rain falling. no rain has fallen here in a day and a half. now we've got problems from the attic stand. this was the concern yesterday. today it's the barker dam.

the other major dam in the houston area. we're being told that they're planning to do a mandatory evacuation of a few additional neighborhoods around that dam. even as officials say the dam isn't going to fail. they're quite confident in the structure of the dam and of the rez everybody war, but they're concerned that the dams and the reservoirs continue to overflow just because of how much water remains on the streets out here. it has to go through those reservoirs to get back out into the gulf of mexico. guys, the other change that we're seeing here overnight tonight is that there is -- has been an increased police presence. lots of police officers out on boats in these neighborhoods concerned about looting of some of the stores and homes. back to you. >> garrett haake, live for us from houston. we'll check back in in a bit as well. damage from harvey is also forcing the main fuel lines in the northeast to shut down temporarily. the colonial pipeline company, the largest fuel transporter in the united states. it closed its diesel and jet fuel lines yesterday, and today

will be closing its line carrying gasoline. the pipeline moves more than three million barrels of fuel from houston to the new york harbor every sickle d lsingle d. the cities along the east coast, including washington d.c. the news has already sent gas prices surging up 6 cents in just the last week. all of this because of oil refinery outages, including the nation's largest, motiva, which was forced to shut down because of flooding in port arthur. president trump closing out the turbulent month with a push on policy looking for a legislative win on tax reform during a trip to missouri. he began his speech with words for the victims of harvey. take a listen. >> to those americans who have lost loved ones, all of america is grieving with you and our hearts are joined with yours forever. the citizens of texas and the gulf coast need all the prayers, support, and resources our communities have to offer.

>> the president's aim yesterday was to promote tax reform promising cuts that are "the biggest ever," but the legislation has not been drafted, and the speech offered few specifics. trump said corporate taxes would drop to 15%, but placed. of the responsibility on congress. this is our once in a generation opportunity to deliver tax reform for real americans. i am committed to working with congress to get this job done. and i don't want to be disappointed by congress. do you understand me? >> the president also used his official trip to advocate for the defeat of claire mchaskell. the comments could be off limits if staffers legally barred from legal activity prepared them in his official remarks. >> we have no choice. we must lower our taxes.

your senator, claire mchaskell, she must do this for you, and if she doesn't do it for you, you have to vote her out of office. [ cheering ] >> she's got to make that commitment. she's got to make that commitment. she doesn't do it, just can't do it anymore with the obstruction and the obstructionists. >> despite the president's calls for democrats, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announced weeks ago that republicans will be going it alone on tax reform using reconciliation to pass it with a simple majority. minority leader chuck schumer said the tax battle will be the biggest fight of the next few months, arguing against cuts for the wealthiest. the president will meet with democratic and republican congressional leaders at the white house on wednesday. switching gears, the u.s. is carrying out a show of force this morning following north korea's missile launch earlier this week. a south korean official, military official, tells nbc news that the u.s. flew two

supersonic bombers and two fighter jets over south korea as a part of military exercises. this comes as president trump vows that a potential diplomatic solution to the escalating standoff with north korea is no longer on the table. now, the president yesterday took to twitter writing, "the u.s. has been talking to north korea and paying them extortion money for 25 years. talking is not the answer." meanwhile, in his latest break with the president, defense secretary james mattis rejected the idea that the u.s. was ready to take diplomacy off the table while meeting with his south korean counterpart in washington yesterday. >> the president this morning tweeted that talking isn't the answer. are we out of diplomatic solutions for north korea? >> no, we're never out of diplomatic solutions. we continue to work together, and the minister and i share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation, our populations, and our interests. this is what we are here to discuss today and look for all

the areas that we can collaborate with already very strong collaborations. we always look for more. we're never complacent. we find nbc news correspondent ron allen who has been following the story for you all weekend. we have heard the mixed messages come out of washington from jim mattis and the president on the issue of north korea. as we're getting word of this morning about the u.s. fleeing supersonic jets and b-1 bombers over south korea and a show of force, what can you tell us about how this is playing out to south koreans and the region? this mixed messaging. >> well, that fly over, as you point the out, included the two massive b-1-b bombers, signaling the end of two weeks of military exercises between the united states and south korea and something a very powerful warning to north korea. north korea has said they'll attack guam. the b-1s are based in guam. yes, everyone is still trying to make sense of the trump tweet about talking not being the answer and the mattis comment

that diplomatic solutions are always possible. remember, mattis made that comment while meeting with his south korean counterpart. the defense secretary from here. the south koreans, as you know, are adamantly opposed to any sort of military strike from the u.s. the south koreans are cognizant of the fact that their border is ten miles from the north korean border, and the north have the capacity to strike back. the new president here came into office recently promising dialogue with the north and reconciliation. that's the state of play here. many analysts think that mr. trump's tweet is a sign of frustration or perhaps a bargaining tactic, but the bottom line here is that many say that the north koreans are not backing down. sanctions aren't working. they say they're going to conduct more missiles. many feel that negotiation with a strong military presence is, in fact, the best way forward. >> ron allen live for us in seoul, south korea, this

morning. ivana trump gets behind an administration plan that seems to go against the issues that she is actually pushing for in the past. >> plus, harvey left a mess in texas, and now the storm is headed towards the northeast. we're going to have a full check on the forecast coming up next. ♪ we're drowning in information. where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters? the stakes are so high, your finances,

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so all you pay for is data. see how much you can save. choose by the gig or unlimited. and ask how to get $200 off the latest devices. xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile.com. >> the original executive action was meant to help address the gap between men and women's wages, but the office of management and budget is now reviewing it. the president's daughter ivanka trump who has pushed for equal pay for women in the past has issued a statement supporting the move, writing, "ultimately while i believe the intention was good and believe that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield

the intended result. we look ford to robust policies aimed at will he name naturing the gender wage gap." donald trump discussing the issue during his campaign. >> when it comes to categorizing people, men and women, into a group, it tends to get very dangerous when you have to categorize men and women into a particular groo up and a particular pay scale. people do different jobs. if they do the seam zwrob, they should get the same pay, but it's very hard togs what is the same job. it's a very, very tricky question, and i talked about competition with other places and other parts of the world. this is one of the things that we have to look at very strongly. let's switch gears and talk about the big story we've been following all week. the weather in texas. back with us now nbc meteorologist bill karins. what can you tell us about the conditions? >> i'm finally happy to say i don't have any breaking new news

that's happened overnight. there's no reports of any new levees or dams that have broken or anything like that. that's a good start. we've had showers overnight. they're heading towards 50 inches of rain, which is insane. this extends northward into southern missouri. we have a threat of thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes in alabama and georgia. we still could get some problems. we did have two tornadoes yesterday. one did damage a bunch of roof tops. flash flood watches are up for 12 million people, snowflaking up the mississippi here, and then it heads through the western half of tennessee and a good chunk of kentucky. again, memphis is the concern. later this evening we're expecting heavy rain to develop. once you get up here in to the

blue, that's two inches of rain. when you get to three inches, the river and the small streams start going up quickly. when you get to the five enchz of rain, that's when you start to have the problems. the forecast for memphis to jackson, that's where we could get the five inches of rainfall, and that's where they are most concerned we could have life-threatening flash flooding and maybe even some water in homes this evening. we actually have what we call a flash flood risk map, and that high risk is the area from memphis to paris, tennessee. we'll watch that this evening and see if that develops and happe happens. seven inches of rain is typically a big deal, but after what we just had we are, like eh, seven inches of rain. >> well continue to watch the situation. bill, thank you for that. still ahead, with tonight's preseason's game canceled -- >> in baseball disaster narrowly averted in the bronx. sports is next. when i received the diagnoses,

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then moved to at&t stadium in arlington after hurricane harvey made landfall. ticketholders, though, for the game can receive a refund or opt to donate the money towards hurricane relief efforts. while the texans deal with the storm's aftermath at home, the cowboys will televise tonight's practice and host a live telethon that will support harvey relief efforts. so nice to see all texan sports come together. meanwhile, houston defensive end j.j. watt's on-line fundraiser for hurricane harvey is nearing the $10 million mark. the campaign has far surpassed the initial goal, which was originally set at $200,000 since it was launched on sunday. watt said the supplies bought with those funds will be distributed this weekend. >> i want these people to know that their money is going directly to the people of houston. i want them to be able to see that their money is going directly to the people. i'll keep you updated the whole time. our first wave of things is hopefully sunday delivering things to the people of houston.

the celtics with finally completing landscape altering trades. after cleveland expressed concern over thomas's hip injury, the celtics added a 2020 second round pick to the deal in addition to the three players and the 2018 first rounder being sent to the cavs in exchange for irving. check this out. >> one-two. and a high fly ball center field. brockston going back at the wall. he leaps. oh, my goodness! >> i love the commentator in that. young brockston game-saving grab. he might have saved the brewers' season, to be honest with you. keeping their playoff hopes alive in the tight nl central. on the north side of chicago, some slick base running by the cubs javier baez against

the pirates in the second inning. that is serious speed there, where chicago goes on to beat pittsburgh 17-3. finally, after being swept in yesterday's double-header against the cleveland indians, the yankees gear up to host the american league's east rival boston in a four-game series starting tonight. we know where barnacle will be. maybe the most exciting call-out of the broadcast booth yesterday came from some action in the stands. check this out. >> no. help him. >> this could -- >> oh, this is awful. stop. >> no, don't do it. >> no. oh. >> let's take a look at the quick save. sliding. sliding. oh, yeah. much to the delight of the people that will eat them. >> efforts are underway to identify the mystery hand in that cookie saving effort. >> i love how they were so worried about the cookies at the

game. all right. still ahead, everybody, new reports seem to suggest that special counsel bob mueller may be zeroing in on former trump campaigner paul manafort. a plant may explode near houston. that's coming up next. my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldn't spend time with my grandson. now depend fit-flex has their fastest absorbing material inside, so it keeps me dry and protected. go to depend.com - get a coupon and try them for yourself.

welcome back. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories. the vice president is set to travel to texas today as the waters begin to recede in houston.

the death toll for the moment stands at 28, and worst fears were confirmed wednesday for six family members trying to outrun the floodwaters. sammy saldovar was driving a van with his relatives inside when it was swept into the water. he was able to escape through the window. his parents, both alzheimer's patients, and their great grandkids died. there are 32,000 people waking up in setters this morning and 210,000 have registered for fema assistance, and all this morning wred we were telling you about coastal port arthur, texas, besieged by floodwaters. the county took 20 inches of rain overnight, and at one point the mayor wrote on social media, "our whole city is under water." people posted to his facebook page asking for help, and hundreds found shelter wherever they could, including in this bowling alley, as you see right here. the long-term recovery expected to be daunting. austin and dallas school districts apparently to absorb students displaced by the storm, and the housing crisis could drag on for years. >> i don't know.

i guess there's some hope that fema can do something. i feel like we've had this wonderful mained. how are we all going to rebuild? i keep thinking about, like, what i could have saved. i could have taken more stuff up. i don't know. we'll be okay. >> obviously so many people in shock there. now to another crisis in the houston area. arkema, which has a major chemical plant just outside of houston in the nearby town of crosby says that it has been informed by authorities that multiple explosions have occurred at that facility with black smoke rising from inside. one sheriff's deputy has been taken to the hospital after inhaling fumes from the plant, and nine others drove themselves as a precaution. let's go there. joining us live from crosby, as close as she is allowed to get to that plant, although -- we did have julia bag, but we may have lost her. that's what happens in live television. we'll bring her back if we do get her. let's talk about another issue throughout the course of

the past week, and that is the 70-year-old reservoirs that have been inundated with water. back again from west houston garrett haake. what more can you tell us about the conditions of those reservoirs, officials, and their concerns about the water levels there this morning? >> reporter: when this is over we're going to remember the names of the reservoirs and dams. they were built in the 1940s. they weren't ever expected to have to handle this much water. the idea is that all these upstream, if you will, neighborhoods like the one i'm in now that have been completely flooded out, all this water is supposed to flow down through the flood plain and down through those reservoirs, and then be discharged out into the bayou. well, the second half of that has been sort of working over the last day and a half. we were in down stream neighborhoods yesterday that have, unfortunately, been flooded by the waters that are trying to get pumped out through the bayou and out to the gulf.

the problem is upstream here, there's just too much water. this water hasn't receded in 24 hours. now the guidance from officials is they're going to evacuate some of the neighborhoods in a mandatory evacuation around the barker dam. not because they think it might fail, but because there's just so much water there that it is overtopping its banks in some areas. we're going to be focused on those two dams all day today. again, officials say there's no indication that they might fail or that they're not safe in and of themselves. they're just overflowing with so much of this water still to work its way out of the system here in houston. >> all right. garrett haake live in houston with that update. we have julia back with us joining us outside of -- in crosby as close as she can get to that plant. talk to us about the situation there. we're hearing now that people are being hospitalized. what more are you hearing from the ground? >> well, this is something that we were able to see ourselves. the plume of smoke just early

this morning coming up from over that chemical plant, and i saw some of those deputies driving themselves off. they were here at this roadblock on the highway between houston and beaumont where this plant is. some of them did refuse that ambulance ride, but one of them was taken to the hospital. they were complaining of headaches and dizziness, we know. what's happening with this plant right now is something that the company says they can't do anything about. the chemicals inside getting too hot now after the refrigeration system failed because of a six foot flood inside that killed the main power source and two emergency backup sources as well. right now it's a waiting game. already residents who live within a mile and a half of this plant, they've been evacuated for days as firefighters keep an eye on what's happening here, and we watch through here this morning. >> we knowure going to stay on top of the story for us. hoping for the best. things could be changing as we

speak. julia bagg for us, thank you. throughout the aftermath of harvey we've seen countless images of people being rescued from south texas after they were left stranded by the rising water. >> hundreds of people were brought to safety after being plucked. brave crews race to find families needing help. >> reporter: harrowing moments as children, like 11-year-old joshua, his parents, and neighbors are plucked from fast-rising floodwaters. desperation turning to relief. >> we were like so happy, like, god had answered our prayers. >> reporter: it happened all day long. when we boarded a team of navy sea hawk helicopters headed to hard-hit beaumont, texas. within minutes tamika singleton was spotted with her family desperately waving a white towel. >> i thought y'all were going to pass us up because another helicopter had came, and they passed us up, and when we seen y'all looking at us, we thought,

oh, my god, we go the so emotional. >> the navy and air force working together, lifting singleton to safety, and this moment as her son joins her. finally, her husband. the family safely reunited. >> when you were in that helicopter, what were you thinking? >> thanks for saving us. >> i'm, like, so relieved now. y'all just don't know. we're on dry land, we ain't walking in water. >> this is my mom. >> reporter: singleton's mother, like so many others, is still stranded, desperate for help. >> safety almost seemed out of reach. whipping winds tossed rescue baske baskets. this family thought the worst had already passed. >> to actually have to go through it ourselves is -- life

can change in a minute. >> reporter: flooding has completely cut off the roads to beaumont. the city of 120,000 is now an island. >> it's being essentially into a military base. these helicopters have been landing and taking off all day long. >> because this is the only way out. within hours hundreds of people poured into this setter just outside beaumont. the frightfrightened, the shake elderly being taken in. newborns in the arms of rescuers. >> i got my life and my baby, my family. >> i lived there 34 years, and suddenly your life is destroyed overnight. until it happens to you, you can't explain it. >> these families leaving behind everything, but holding on tightly to what matters most.

houston mayor sylvester turner made a plea to the federal government to assist flood victims as quickly as possible. >> i'm hoping that people at the federal level, at the very top will understand that this was catastrophic and that they will be responsive and not put us on you do the cleanup and send us your bills later on. that would be totally, totally unacceptable. we need a whole lot of fema representatives on the ground now. >> the mayor is hoping fema will -- necessitated instead of ri requiring his city to push the bill. john cornyn is pushing for a supplemental bill to help victims of hurricane harvey. the ho us is looking to cut $1 billion from fema's disaster relief as part of a massive spending bill to help finance president trump's border wall. lawmakers are scheduled to consider the issue upon return from their august recess. it's worth noting the disaster relief cut was proposed well

before hurricane harvey hit and the house appropriations committee spokesman tells nbc news given the current situation the committee is reassessing the issue and remains fully committed to providing what is necessary for relief and recovery. skblienchts let's talk business. the main pipeline carrying fuel from texas to the east coast is temporarily shut down because of refinery outages related to hurricane harvey. cnbc's gemma atkin joins us live from london. good to have you with us. what will the impact be here as a result of this shutdown? >> it's an enormous impact. more than one-fifth of u.s. oil refining capacity has been knocked out by this storm. what we are hearing here in london specifically from a report by the financial times is there's a big surge in cargo ships set to come out to the u.s. around 40 cargos have set to be booked this week, which needless to say, is substantially higher than regular volume. those flotillas getting set to

sail at this time. what we've seen as a result of the storm is that wholesale petrol prices have spiked a lot higher. up around 20% in the last week. concerns about how much higher that's going to surge sf something isn't done to deal with the real shortage of oil in the states given the storm, which doesn't show too many signs of letting up. >> big business headline yesterday. president trump gave a speech on his tax plan where he made an announcement about the u.s. gdp. here it is. check this out. >> we just announced that we hit 3% in gdp. it just came out. on a yearly basis, as you know, the last administration during an eight-year period never hit 3%, so we're really on our way. >> so i got to ask you, not everyone is buying that, right? what can you tell us? >> well, i can tell you that that number was revised up from 2.7%, which is why trump was cheering about it and making a big announcement about it.

these are according to official commerce department numbers looking to be higher on the back of solid consumer spending and business investment, but no less than a legendary investor warren buffett has said that it does not feel like a 3% economy to him. it feels much more like a 2% economy. some economists have also been making the same comments recently and back up to what warren buffett has been saying. he does, however, say that 2% is okay. that's actually giving solid momentum to the u.s. if they can maintain that trajectory. back to you. >> it's all a matter of percentage points. gemma atkin live for us from london. still ahead, judge -- a judge hits pause on a plan by lawmakers in texas to crack down on undocumented immigrants. >> plus, bill karins will have the latest in the aftermath of how tropical storm harvey is going to take place as the storm makes its way further inland. baa baa black sheep,

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at least 1,200 people are dead. an estimated 40 million people affected from massive monsoon rains in india, bangladesh, and nepal. roughly 18,000 schools serving 1.8 million children have been destroyed or heavily damaged. according to one charity group, the u.n. says that one-third of bangladesh is now believed to be under water. on tuesday india's financial capital of mumbai had nearly a month's worth of rain turning roads into rivers and bringing the normally bustling city to a complete standstill. >> of course, that devastation just so startling as well. want to turn back to the u.s. now and get a check on the latest with harvey and nbc meteorologist bill karins standing by. >> we're not done yet. we still have concerns of what happens as harvey moves to the north. we won't get the crazy rainfall amounts, but it won't be in flat areas anymore. it will head to the hill country in tennessee. when you get heavy rain in the hill country, it accumulates in the small rivers, and we can get some problems, and we do expect that later tonight.

the center of harvey is now clearly over louisiana. it's been plaguing them for long enough now. we still do have some flash flood warnings right along the texas-louisiana border. now we're starting to see it filling in in areas of eastern arkansas and eventually this will move up towards nashville too. here's our latest rainfall projections. remember, this isn't flat like it is around the houston area and down along the gulf coast. this is where we get in the hills, and this is when we get the runoff that can be problematic as all of the water doesn't spread out. it really just concentrates in small areas. five inches of rain widespread this evening. this is going to happen pretty quickly too. heavy rain will develop during the day today, be very heavy tonight, and then by tomorrow morning i'll probably be talking about a lot of rivers heading in through flood stages and maybe even major record flood stages a few areas here in western tennessee. the rest of the map is kind of quiet. we have not talked about the rest of the country. one of the epic heat waves is going on. sacramento is having the warmest temperature ever recorded as we

go through friday. it's supposed to be 109 degrees in san meanto. this time of year, next week i think it's september 10th or 11th is when we consider the actual peak of the hurricane season, so it's not a surprise that we have and else out there. this is irma. almost a hurricane far out in the atlantic. 70-mile-per-hour winds. the latest update from the hurricane center just came out about 40 minutes ago, and that brings it to a major category three hurricane, and then takes it somewhere towards in the general vicinity of the an till liz and the lynnward islands here. it could be wednesday, thursday next week. about seven days from now in areas like the virgin islands and puerto rico. it's not set in stone. a week to watch that, but this will be a big storm. it definitely looks like a powerful hurricane. we'll have to wait and see. too early to say if it's going to threaten us in the united states. >> it's safe to say we rather irma go away. in text technical the state law banning sanctuary cities will not take affect after it was blocked by a judge in san antonio.

the law would have allowed police to acquire about immigration status during routine interactions like traffic stops. judge orlando garcia decided to spend parts of the law while a lawsuit against the state plays out. a blow for texas republicans and the trump administration, which has been targeting so-called sanctuary cities. texas says it will appeal that decision. still ahead, new developments in the probe into russia's possible ties to the trump campaign as the focus on former campaign chairman paul manafort appears to be intensifying. new poll numbers out on president trump showing a number of americans feel he is tearing this country apart. that's next. ♪ ♪ hi! leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. a personalized financial strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. hi guys! aw yeah!

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welcome back, everybody. new developments overnight with the federal probe into the russian investigation. paul manafort has denied any wrong doing. politico reports that working with a state department could get -- eric snyderman is a local critic of donald trump, whose

investigation into trump universi university. he told the "financial times," quote, i don't know what you're talking about anything and promised full cooperation." >> according to a fox news poll, 56% of people believe trump is dividing the nation as opposed to 33% who believe he is keeping the country together. and 49% of voters believe it is important that congress pass

legislation on the issue this year but only 14% of voters say that's likely to get accomplished. the voters who lifted president trump to a shocking electoral victory last year are beginning to show their frustrations in a focus group conducted in pittsburgh. >> it was more, to be honest, an anti-hillary platform. >> i liked his platform, keeping jobs in the united states. >> my vote was more i don't want more of what we already had. >> the thing that drives me crazy is all the tweeting he does. i don't pay attention to it but it's in the news, it's on the newscast every day, evening and night. my wife watches it, drives my crazy because the television is on all the time. >> crazy. >> why?

>> that was a lot of it, the tweeting has to stop. >> did you vote for him? >> unfortunately, yes. >> because regardless of what he truly wants to get done, whatever that may be, he has got to be his on worst enemy. he couldn't be any worse at achieving goals in politics. what most disappoints me is he's such an incredibly flawed individual that has articulated many of the values i hold dear and the messenger is overwhelming the message. i wish he was on the opposite side of where i hold dear because it would be better for the causes that i like. >> as much as i thought he would be a quick learner and delegate to top notch individuals, he hasn't done that. >> we know he's a nut. everybody knew he was a nut, but there comes a point in time

where you need become professional. he's not even professional, let alone presidential. >> learning a lot from that focus group, that's for sure. the ongoing struggle for secretary of state rex tillerson do not appear to be getting better. todd buckwall is set to step down in a couple of weeks. the magazine says the moves come weeks after they downgradeth the office of head of criminal justice. he was reportedly reassigned where he previously worked for most of his career. this fuels concern about his ability to keep some of the top officials. >> the very latest as tropical depression harvey moves inland.

>> we'll get a live report and talk to lieutenant governor about the impact on his state. >> and joe and mika will talk to christopher hill. "morning joe" moments away. nutritional needs... all in one. purina one. healthy energy, all in one. strong muscles, all in one. highly digestible, and a taste he loves, all in one. purina one smartblend is expertly blended... with 100% nutrition, 0% fillers, always real meat #1. lifelong smart nutrition. it's all in one. purina one. right. in. your. stomach! watch this!... >>yikes, that ice cream was messing with you, wasn't it? try lactaid, it's real ice cream, without that annoying lactose. lactaid.

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before we toss it over to "morning joe," vice president pence heads to texas today to survey some of the damage of hurricane harvey. he'll be joined on the trip by his wife along with several cabinet members. >> paul ryan set to hold a ro d roundtable discussion on the opioid crisis. he'll then turn his attention to tax reform. >> that does it for us. i'm yasmin vossoughian along with ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now.

♪ good morning. welcome to "morning joe." there's so much to get to this morning. in storm battered texas, a chemical plant that officials feared with catch fire has endured several explosions. >> and president trump said that the time for talk is over. but does secretary mattis disagree. >> and the russian investigation now has a new york twist. and a focus group of supporters told the president to chill out, quit tweeting, as his poll numbers take another dive. >> the political stories are significant. >> what we're finding out