about this. people are tweeting to me it's a vegan option, i'm not a vegan i just want sure i wanted a steak dinner. >> we have to stick to me? >> just not on saturday. but on saturday i will be on tv with you. >> we can have lunch. >> 12:30 eastern right after you're on tv. right now it's "andrea mitchell reports" with a special guest host -- >> chris jansing. >> i'm not sure allie is going to show up but i digress. stranded by the storm, what's left behind as the waters recede? 100,000 homes affected by harvey. an unknown number of people trapped and 32,000 others in shelters. >> if you stop, you'll just cry.

you know? so you just keep moving forward. >> i'm grateful we're here and all alive. >> an unprecedented response by fema burns through cash at a record pace. washington is preparing a $5.5 billion aid package. vice president mike pence in the storm zone, promises to help needy for the recovery. >> president trump sent us here to say we are with you. the american people are with you. we are here today. we will be here tomorrow and we will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuilds bigger and better than ever before. [ applause ] the heroes of harvey. we end the week with some of the stories of kindness, selflessness and bravery that has captured america's hearts.

>> need to stick together, man. at the end of the day, politics can talk about race and creed and religion and all this other stuff all day long. here's proof right here that none of that matters. coming up we'll talk to the man at the center of now iconic image that inspired us all, good day i'm chris jansing. we're starting with more breaking news on harvey and the ongoing push by rescue teams across southeast texas to find residents who have spent days trapped in their flood ravaged neighborhoods. the focus is on the communities. we've been monitoring it for days. thousands of people in need throughout houston, port arthur and beaumont. beaumont has no clean water and no answer to the question of when things will be up and running again. the storm related death toll stands at 38. local officials believe the number will rise in the coming days. some survivors are leaving shelters and returning to homes damaged by days of persistent rainfall. president trump will return to texas tomorrow to get a closer look at the devastation.

ahead of a critical week in washington, where a massive aid package for victims will be priority one. let's get to our team in texas. mara rodriguez is in houston. texas republican congressman joins me now? do we have that? i'm going to go to maya rodriguez in houston. >> reporter: we're in kingwood, texas, that is part of the northeast section. you can see people are putting out their belongings here. it is a mess, frankly. people have been pulling out carpet as you can see, furniture. this area had four feet of water. >> maya rodriguez, we're having

connectivity problems, not surprising because this horrible situation is ongoing. let's go to another area hard hit area, beaumont. what's the latest from there? >> reporter: you mentioned it in the intro to the show, there was no running water in beaumont and that was our impression just driving into the city a couple hours ago. you can see the natchez river behind me. it has really creeped up on to the water treatment facility. you can see the fence over there as our cameraman pans. just to see how far this river has risen. it's created all sorts of problems, because some city pumps that bring the water into this treatment facility, they are completely flooded and underwater. so when we got here, we saw lines of cars, desperate families at these water are distribution shelters trying to get any running water. when we got to the treatment facility, we ran into these

groups, city contractors and different companies that are basically installed -- i want our cameraman to pan once more -- these temporary pumps we see over there. we saw oil and gas guys with these basic oil pipes that are trying to relieve the situation. that you have been able to pump a good percentage of the volume of water into the water treatment facility. they tell us that's 30%. not enough for the people of beaumont to take a shower, but enough for them to flush a toilet. it's a piece of good news we can report from beaumont today. they expect to be able to pump more volume of water into the water treatment facility, alleviating the situation for so many families here that have gone through so much. another challenge, of course, is that the city is completely surrounded by water at the moment. so it's pretty much an island at this point. some good news in the midst of this tragedy. >> that is good news. beaumont, texas, though with a long road ahead.

as does port arthur. that's where we find blake mccoy. what's the latest where you are? >> reporter: at least this community is accessible, unlike beaumont which has been one of the huge problems there. here you can see one of the last remaining flooded neighborhoods here in port arthur. thankfully as the sun has been out for a second day, the water has receded quickly here. this is one of the last flooded neighborhoods. we drove around the city today, neighborhoods that were covered yesterday have now dried out. residents were able to return home. we spoke with the police today, they said they have 100% fully operational water and sewage, power is coming back online in this city. here in the last remaining flooded neighborhoods, you can see people with boats who have been coming. some of them with the fire department. some of them volunteers. they've been going door to door, prying them open to make sure there is no one inside those homes still. so far, we can report that there have been no deaths here in port arthur, texas, despite this being one of the hardest hit

towns. some good news in light of the tragedy we have seen here. and i can tell you that louisiana has sent a lot of resources to this town just to help out. we saw a lot of them filing out this morning. there's a sense that the emergency teams in the city can handle it themselves. >> thank you so am much for tha. we want to show you pictures we have, aerial views, sort of the before and the after above texas. and what it looked like. take a look, you can see the green, you can see that is what that houston area looks like typically. and then on the right you see how much it was inundated with water. so many of those areas still underwater. the places where the water is leaving, there you see the before and after as well. the places where the water is leave, what is left behind is just damage. uninhabitable homes and businesses and thousands and thousands of people still in those shelters. i want to talk to texas

republican congressman theirenhold. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. i want to start with the people of your district. we've seen devastation in victoria, corpus christi, in rockport. what's the status and what can you tell us about what's being done to help? >> we're working hard to get things back to normal. the biggest step to getting back to normal is getting electrical power in your home. in south texas and the middle of august, 90 degree temperatures, are not uncommon. patience is starting to run them. we've got neighbor helping neighbor, still dragging trees out of a lot of areas, the happiest sites most people see is a bucket truck with an electric crew in it. >> one thing vice president pence said yesterday was that harvey victims were the

administration's top priority. what are you seeing when you look beyond electricity in terms of helping individuals who have lost their homes, who have lost their property? how does the whole region move forward, congressman? >> the biggest challenge throughout the region is going to be rebuilding and housing. you can't rebuild a house in a matter of days. you know, some of these houses in places like rockport have had three of their walls and their roof blown off. it's just amazing to see the devastation. many of these houses are going to be uninhabitable for quite some time. we're going to have to get the work force in here to do that and we're going to have to get them rebuild. that's not going to be done overnight. which means we'll need temporary housing, you know, lots of folks have friends and family they can stay with. others don't. plus, there are some businesses that are closed or damaged. folks who live paycheck to paycheck, are going to have a real problem paying their rent and their mortgage. fortunately, there are some

programs the federal government has to help folks with that. but housing is going to be the biggest challenge. >> there's a lot of money that this is going to cost, there have been estimates of $150 billion. to start with, they're looking at pushing through very quickly, maybe as soon as tomorrow by some reports, $5.5 billion, sort of as a down payment on that aid. are you confident that's going to happen very quickly? >> it's going to have to happen very quickly. fema has exhausted their disaster resources. so congress is going to have to come and help fema out so they can continue to provide the immediate aid that's needed. the long term aid is going to be another big, big ticket item. >> well, as you look at that long term aid, would you be opposed to combining that with a broader package, or adding it to the debt ceiling, an increase in the debt ceiling? how do you see that playing out? you know very well and most of

the texas delegation voted against funding for sandy. you know how complicated it can be. what do you see happening here? what would you be okay with? >> congress has a bad habit of lumping a lot of unrelated things together. that's why i was originally opposed to the sandy bill. disaster relief is something that is -- has brought bipartisan support. i think the sheer magnitude of this is going to push us up against the debt ceiling. and that discussion of the debt ceiling i'm afraid is going to have to be part of it. >> you think it's -- that will make it more complicated, congressman? >> again, it could potentially make it more complicated. but i do think that this is something that will get through, the american people have a big heart. i don't think they would stand for a congress that would leave people we've seen in these videos you're showing now suffering and homeless. >> well, one would hope so, although some folks, including

governor chris christie post sandy might disagree with you about that. congressman, the most important thing is that lives be saved and then moving forward that people do get the help they need. we thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. >> thank you, i wish it were under more pleasant circumstances. >> as do i. let's go to wnbc meteorologist steve saucea and take a look at another storm in the atlantic. what's mother nature got in store? >> unfortunately, the weather is following the news cycle these days. we have another big storm to talk about. first i want to tell you about harvey. this is the eighth straight day that we've been talking about this storm. and it's leaving its watermark across areas of kentucky and tennessee now with flash flooding. not done with the system just yet. but by the time the weekend is over, harvey will be gone. but on to the next big system, and this is irma, irma now a category 2 hurricane. it's stepped down in intensity briefly. however, it is expected to

restrengthen over the next few days. the good news, the storm is still almost 2000 miles away from the islands. the bad news is, the storm is not going away. we'll be tracking that all the way through the weekend. current wind speeds are 110 miles per hour. again, it's moving to the west northwest at 13 miles per hour. expected to turn to the west and then eventually to the southwest. you'll see that here on our track. as a category 3 storm and, again, sometimes these intenseties are underdone and overdone. either way, focus on the trend. it's towards the islands. the big question is what happens after that. two scenarios on the board here. this big area of high pressure basically blocks the storm and pushes it further to the south or it's weaker and goes up to the north. we'll be tracking the two scenarios throughout the weekend and giving you the latest on irma. >> it sounds like you've got your work cut out for you yet again. and coming up, we'll continue to

follow the aftermath of harvey and turn to another big decision on the president's plate. that's the future of nearly 800,000 young people known as dreamers. that's next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. it's time to rethink what's possible. rethink the experience. rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief uses unique mistpro technology and helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. rethink your allergy relief. flonase sensimist. ♪ when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. i just snapped a photo and got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance.

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there are reports that president trump will very soon announce he is ending an obama era program that allows children brought to the u.s. illegally to

stay in the country. during the campaign, the president referred to deferred action for childhood arrivals as illegally amnesty. shortly after the inauguration he appeared today soften. here's what vice president mike pence had to say yesterday. >> president trump has said all along he's giving careful consideration to that issue and that when he makes his decision he'll make it as he likes to say with big heart. and i know that he will. >> joining me now janet napolitano former homeland security security, former arizona governor, now president of the university of california. you helped enact daca in 2012 during the obama administration. so the president has not made this announcement yet. if he were to call you and say, go ahead, make your argument, what would you tell him? >> what i would tell the president is that daca is well-founded in the law. it's an effective program. it's consistent with our values.

and it's consistent with good immigration enforcement, which is based on setting real priorities. these young people who were brought here as children, you know, they've done everything we have asked them. they've gone to school, they've graduated, they've served in our military. they've purchased homes, they've started businesses. there is no good to come of ending the program. >> there are republican, as you know, state attorneys general threatening to sue president trump if he doesn't repeal daca by september 5th. when you look at that legal argument, and you see the president getting a lot of pressure, especially from some of the more conservative members of the republican caucus what do you think the chances are that the program stays? >> well, as i said, we wouldn't have started the program unless we were confident it was well-grounded in the law. and it's not a blanket amnesty has it's been characterized.

it requires an individual case by case review of each applicant. they have to produce evidence of how long they've been in the country, what they've been doing in the country. they have to have a clean criminal record. and then it's up to cis officers to grant daca or not grant daca. and work authorization. so it's really a procedure by which those cases can be reviewed and reviewed on an individual basis. and so because it's designed that way, it's firmly rooted in the law of proscutoreulate discretion. you don't see the justice department prosecuting bad check cases or small drug possession cases. it's why the police don't stop every jaywalker, it's a matter

of prioritizing resources for the most important cases. and these young people who are caught in our broken immigration system of any individuals shouldn't have to pay the price of deportation. >> a couple of things i want to point out, paul ryan the speaker of the house was asked about daca, let me play that first. >> there is a lot in the news right now that the president might be looking at pulling back daca, the dreamers act. >> yeah, i mean i actually don't think he should do that. and i believe this is something that congress has to fix. >> so he says this is something congress has to fix. mark zuckerberg, of course, the ceo of facebook, just posted on facebook. i stand with the dreamers. these young people represent the future of our company and our economy. he's not alone in the business community. apple, microsoft, amazon, all calling on the president to keep the daca program. if he does go forward, as these reports have said, and at least

roll back to some extent the daca program, you know how washington works. what kind of fight do you see setting up? >> well, i think, unfortunately, as in all things immigration related, you run the likelihood of having other issues brought to the fore. and for example, i heard the president quoted the idea of a dream act, which would put the daca program into statute, being tied to funding for a border wall. and thereby using the young people as trade bait. that would be the wrong way to approach it. congress can put the dream act into statute and remove any uncertainty that exists regarding daca. that would be the ideal situation. but i think the politics of immigration may interfere with that. >> i do want to ask you before

you go about more than half a million undocumented immigrants that live in houston. many people have been afraid to go to shelters. one of our correspondents spoke with a woman who was undocumented, but is now a citizen about her fears. i want to play that. >> what do they tell you that people in your community about possibly seeking help in a shelter? >> they don't really want to do that because they are afraid that if they ask you for documents and you don't have any, they're going to put you in a different group. and then afterwards, they can be -- give you the help right now, but afterwards they're going to turn you in to i.c.e. >> here you have a situation where people, when they are faced with either getting help to avoid potentially being in a life-threatening situation because of a natural disaster, and being caught up in the immigration system, are choosing to put themselves in a

life-threatening situation. how much of a problem is this ongoing uncertainty that america still doesn't have a clear and decisive immigration plan that people who come to this country can understand and live under? >> well, i think it's tragic to say the least that these individuals find themselves in really having to make a hard choice. do they stay and endanger themselves, or possibly subject themselves to being turned over to i.c.e. i think what should be happening is that a clear message should be given that -- for these purposes, for coming into a shelter, for saving yourself, for saving your children, that there will be no interaction with i.c.e. >> we should say --

>> no movement of any documents over to i.c.e. >> we should say the mayor of houston and others have said they were not going to use this as a way to round up people who were here illegally. having said that, do you understand why they don't believe it? >> well, i certainly understand that, given the way i.c.e. has been operating and the media attention paid to, you know, the raids and the other things that have been undertaken. and, again, you know, good immigration law requires you to have not only effective border security, but an effective means by which people can legally immigrate into this country. by the way, as the houston area seeks to rebuild and there's massive rebuilding that needs to go on, we know that in the construction area in particular, it depends on many undocumented

laborers. and so you're going to have that tension underway as well. all the product of an immigration system for our country that doesn't meet our needs or our values. >> janet napolitano, good to speak with you again, thank you for coming on the program. >> thank you. brigadier general patrick hamilton is commander for hurricane harvey recovery. the national guard that have been brought in from across the country, the job they've been doing is extraordinary. i want to start with your focus today. where are the critical areas? where is your focus? >> yeah, thanks. the critical areas today are in beaumont. the water source was turned off the other day. right now we've got the corp of engineers repairing those pumps, we're still doing ongoing rescues and evacuations.

we're beginning to bring in -- because the water system was down, bringing in large quantities of water where they're needed. staging them and bringing them into those areas. >> this is still very much a rescue operation? >> absolutely. and beaumont, port arthur, orange, those areas in east texas. it's very much a rescue situation. we're transitioning in houston going door to door making sure the houses are cleared out. we're providing recovery operations in the houston and even down south in corpus christi, victoria, where the storm impacted the most. >> it's been astonishing to watch the selflessness of the folks that are out there, thank you very much. coming up the heroes of harvey, deputy rick johnson, we can show him in a memorable photo, said he was doing his job when rescuing the two children from the floodwaters. he'll join us next.

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it's an understatement to say we've seen true heroes emerge all the chaos caused by hurricane harvey. neighbors helping neighbors. strangers jumping in to rescue people. taking personal risks because it was the right thing to do.

and law enforcement officials like deputy rick johnson of the harris county sheriff's office carried two small children in each arm through the water to safety. this photo of him has gone viral, a symbol of the best of humanity. deputy rick johnson joins me now from houston. or as i'm told you're called deputy j. first of all, you have inspired so many people. take us through what was happening sunday when that photo was taken. >> well, when that photo was taken, i was going through a neighborhood called the black horse subdivision. we was going home to home, checking to make sure everybody was out. if they wanted to leave the home, we were assisting with that. and i approached the neighbor's house to the right at first. we got that family out. after getting that family out i went to that house and as i was approaching the mother came out. she advised that her and her family did need assistance. i grabbed a couple -- she was grabbing bags and i told her just to focus on making sure she

get the essential things like ids, money, and i told her i would take her kids. she didn't have any problem with that. i grabbed both kids so she could focus on other things. when i was walking out the door, another deputy snapped a pictures of me and sent it to another guy. and they placed it on our harris county facebook page. from there the picture took off on its own. >> i think one of the things that's so compelling about it is these kids look so comfortable in your arms. i wonder what it was you said to them or how you made them feel so good. did you have a conversation with them while you were carrying them out? >> yes, ma'am. the area around us was underwater as you can see in the pictures. so i tried to make light of the situation by telling them jokes and focus on other things. keeping them happy and not looking around and whatnot. so i started joking with them about going swimming using intertubes to play in the water.

the young man in the photo, he started laughing because he was saying his feet was cold from the water. that's when the picture was taken. that's how i kept them motivated i guess you could say. >> you are someone who has spent your adult life in service. you served in iraq, you served in kuwait. now, obviously, serving in law enforcement. i'm sure facing one of the biggest challenges that you have ever faced. give us a sense of what this last week has been like. >> well, this last week alone has been really -- a really rough week for me. out here, you know, i had a tornado that came through, the tornado passed in front of me house. the hurricane tore through the community, made it pretty bad for everybody out here. it's really horrible. but as of right now, you know, we made it through. and everything is changing. it's getting better out here. the best i can describe it out

here, just very, very rough. >> and i also understand that your grandmother died this week and we're so sorry for your loss. and i'm told that you're not going to go to her funeral, you're not able to go to her funeral. you're going to continue to serve your community. so i wanted to, if you don't mind, give you an opportunity to tell us a little bit about her. >> well, my grandmother, she lived the majority of her life in a place called tuskegee, alabama. she's a god-fearing woman. spent the early part of her life helping others as well. she was a teacher. when she retired she stayed in the area and helped out in the church. she worked in the church for the later half of her life. she had 13 kids. some and just a nice lady all together, god-fearing woman to be respected. >> i want to say that all of us understand completely that she

must have been so proud of you and all of your service throughout your time overseas, now the time that you are serving closer to home. what do you think that the next days and weeks hold for you and for the others who are caught up in this and understand that there is still so much ahead, so much that has to be done in the wake of harvey? >> well, from here i just intend to keep serving my country. everyone around me is doing the same thing i'm doing. they just happened to catch a picture of me that went viral. we love everybody the same, equal opportunity out here. unity is amongst us. that picture means a lot and it's going viral for many reasons. but the most important thing of it is that we're all the same. we're all equal. we just here to help out. there is no ulterior motive of anything. >> have you had a chance to be

in touch with the family at all? have you heard from them since the photo was taken, deputy? >> the family in the photo, no. last i saw them -- i helped them and a couple other families in the neighborhood out. we got them all on the truck we were driving. we went through the neighborhood, we went to a nearby gas station. when we got there there was a lot of helpers and volunteers, e.m.t.s, fire department. they were out there. i helped them got off the truck, you know. after i helped them get down there was buses waiting to transfer them to nearby shelters. that was the last time i saw them. i haven't heard from them since. i wasn't able to capture their names. >> well, i have a feeling that at some point, if not in the coming days, then the coming weeks and months they are likely to find you. because you saved them. and we are also grateful, deputy johnson, for you and those like you who are giving so much at this time. thank you, thank you sir, so

much. >> yes, ma'am, thank you guys for having me. i appreciate the support. thank you. and we also have another remarkable story now. it's the story of a family, manuel and bailey who lived in one of the bayous that threads through northeast houston. their story is remarkable and we just had a chance to sit down and talk with her, take a listen. >> i want everybody to know that they were very happy kids. the time they had here with me, they were happy even though it was just -- we always had financial problems, but we always -- we were very happy, even though i couldn't buy them the things they wanted. when they were with me, we were happy, we would make it happen. even though they couldn't get what they really wanted. we always made something. >> what type of kids were they? >> they were very, very noble. they were bubbly and social

butterflies. always wanted to talk to everybody. they wanted to -- my son would ask a million questions. one more question. i was like i'm going to make sure this is a one question guy. >> what about daisy? >> daisy, she's a princess, she always wanted to wear princess dresses. even her big fluffy christmas dresses she would wear a lot in the summertime. she loved the cats. she would feed them. my daughter, debra, she wanted to be a veterinarian. she would feed all the cats in the neighborhood. i would have like, 20 cats outside my house. i'm like stop feeding them. >> so why don't you show me pictures of each one. you have daisy over there. she's the youngest. >> debra right here. >> debra. >> that's her right there now.

>> this is what she looks like now. >> avery. >> and daisy. >> and daisy. >> this is dominic. >> so beautiful. >> he was the musician of the family? >> yeah. >> football player. >> football player? >> yeah. he was in the rotc. he was excited because he wanted to be a soldier. so for xavier, for haul ewellow that was his soldier costume. >> when was that taken? >> we were actually at a walmart. we were at walmart and they just put on the masks. here's a picture of my son with his rot carol costelc costume.

>> he liked the military? >> he wanted to go into the army. he told me, i want to go to the army. i said you can do whatever you want. >> mona, i think a lot of people around the country are looking at the pain you've had to endure by losing these four beautiful children. a lot of people are asking how are you getting through this? >> it's hard. i have to keep all my family with me all the time. just make the day go by. it's hard to wake up in the morning and not see them. they would come every morning when you wake up early in the morning and we always eat breakfast together before we have to leave wherever we have to go. just very hard. very hard. hard, the grandparents, my mom, and dad and regina and daniel are very devastated. their grandparents haven't been able to come out of the house.

it's really hard. that was nbc's gabe gutierrez who just sat down exclusively with mona. that mother lost four children, six family members in total, when their van was swept into flood waters during the worst of this storm. what a beautiful tribute to that family. we'll be right back. pampers. unlike ordinary diapers with two layers, pampers have three absorbent layers to stay up to three times drier, so babies can sleep soundly all night. wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers.

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the trump administration and congress are moving quickly to help those affected by harvey. two republican congressional sources tell nbc news the white house is expected to send an initial request for at least $5.5 billion in aid and that could come as soon as today. joining me now former spokesman for house speaker john boehner and wendy davis. mark meadows is the chairman of the influential house freedom caucus, he's warning republicans not to attach aid to an increase in the federal debt ceiling. he says -- and i'm going to quote him, this is out of a washington post article -- the harvey relief would pass on its own and to use that as a vehicle to get people to vote for a debt ceiling is not appropriate. we have seen money for victims used as a political football in the past. we were just saying this at the

break, when you look at that young woman who lost four children. when you see someone like deputy johnson who has given his life to service but has done incredible things over the last week, what do you think the chances are that never the less, this end up in a fight. >> i don't think it will. when you look at these scenes of devastation, when you hear the stories of heroism, anyone who seeks partisan lervverage out o this is going to look small and awful. i hope as members come back next week, as we see this request, the leadership chooses the best possible, quickest possible path to get this done, whether that's adding it to a funding bill, including the debt limit or the stand alone and the members come together as the best as the country can in order to get the people what they need. >> if you look at this widespread devastation, what comes of it? will there be aid? will there be changes to help

for example, urban planning, for starters? >> well, you know, listening to what michael said, i completely agree with him. i think you're right, chris. the testament of that young woman and her loss, of deputy johnson and his sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many people who are working to help to be there for folks who need it. they are reminding us of the human consequences of our actions in the political realm. and the fact that we do owe an obligation to each other, to make sure that we are prepared and that we are putting in place the kinds of regulations and safety mechanisms to avoid the kind of tragedy that we've seen in the wake of this particular storm. >> speaking of tragedy, michael, and i was talking about this to janet napolitano who was involved in crafting daca.

as the president considers what he's going to do about that, you have people -- including people who, frankly, now are legal who have said they'd rather risk drowning than getting caught up in the immigration system. will what we're seeing in texas have any impact as congress looks at what they need to do to stop having this eauncertainty? >> i hope so. >> realistically, immigration has confounded administration after administration. >> and i think that part of the problem is we've tried to do it whole hog, a big comprehensive, all or nothing attempt on this issue. i think that what you could see now under this president and with this congress, is step by step reforms that address some of these problems in a discreet fashion rather than making things worse for some people in order to try and generate leverage for this big deal that never seems to come together. for decades now. >> as you well know, there are members of the texas delegation,

who have been some of the most hardline on these immigration issues. does what we're seeing in texas in their own backyard change the conversation at all in terms of immigration? >> i certainly hope so, chris. again, if we take this back hop. again, if we take this back down to the very real human story that we're seeing across our state right now, this is an issue that calls upon all of us to set politics aside to think about keeping families together, in the wake of a tragedy like this. family needs to be there for each other. we have heard many stories of families relying on each other through the wake of this particular tragedy. and any kind of conversation about unwinding daka or building that wall when we ought to be focusing on how we strengthen our communities. in texas, we rely very heavily on our immigrant community, both documented and undocumented, as a very important part of our

economy. and like the consequence of hurricane katrina and the rebuilding of that afterward, we know that we're going to be relying on our immigrant community to help move our economy forward, to help us rebuild from this storm. and who is illustrahostility at ought to recognize the important contributions they play here in texas simply isn't appropriate, and i hope that our politicians here will leave posturing aside and put real people forward as the most important thing in their focus going forward. >> there are a number of people who have made the point in the last 24 hours or so that it does seem that this tragedy, unfortunately, maybe it took this tragedy to sort of seem like there's a regular order to things, right? the president, the vice president, doing what presidents and vice presidents do. going down. we've heard from members of congress that they plan to move swiftly to get aid. of course, fema, doing what it does and needs to do.

so many different parts of the administration working. john mccain penned an op-ed, and i only have a few seconds, that said it's time for congress to get back to regular order. and to respect the authority and constitutional responsibilities. what do you make of that? >> i think it's a great goal. i think it's the best way forward. >> working with the president. >> to address the needs of those in the path of harvey. i think we need to fund the government. we need to make sure we don't default on our debt and then we can move forward with things that can make our country even stronger and better. things like fixing our outdated tax code. improving our crumbling infrastructure. we have that opportunity. >> thanks to both of you. we appreciate it. we have seen so many heroes. one of the biggest names making a difference, texas superstar defensive lineman, jj watt, using his social media platform to raise millions for flood victims. jj gave us an update this morning. a staggering $14 million of donations for the relief fund. his original goal was $200,000.

now he'd like to hit $15 million. and we're pretty sure he'll get there and then some. this is "andrea mitchell reports." only on msnbc. hey grandpa. hey, kid. really good to see you. you too. you tell grandma you were going fishing again? maybe. (vo) the best things in life keep going. that's why i got a subaru, too. introducing the all-new crosstrek. love is out there. find it in a subaru crosstrek.

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white house chief of staff, john kelly, was brought in to bring order to the white house. is he doing his job too well? the "washington post" reporting that the president chafes at some of the retired marine

corps. let's get the inside scoop from "new york times" political reporter, nick confessore and political reporter, carol lee. good to see both of you. as we get this headline from the "washington post," that president trump is pulling back his threat to shut down the government over the border wall, at least for now. you know, michael and i were just having a conversation that maybe regular order could be starting to move back to washington after what we have seen happen in texas. what do you think this is about? >> well, this is the second time that the president has moved away from pushing -- being very forward on the border wall and his demands. this obviously -- if this is backed holds, and we have seen the president go back and forth a number of times, this would obviously take the drama out of this fall, as we were all expecting. and as you were talking about with michael steele, the funding for disaster relief in texas is also -- adds an element that could ease some of what we thought was going to be a very

chaotic fall. >> but, nick, we are also reading from the "washington post" that the president is really missing the way the things used to be at the white house before john kelly got there. he liked people wandering in. he liked being able to, you know, chat up. and he liked people actually coming to him with things that maybe were conspiracy theories. is john kelly in any trouble? has there really been a change at the white house? what's your reporting tell you? >> well, look, i think that, you know, surely the president prefers to be an improviseario. i think you should keep in mind because of john kelly there is now a group of people who can no longer get in to see the president at their whim. and that ticks them off. and it reduces their influence, and they are complaining about it to reporters and others. so part of what you're seeing is an effort to blacken kelly a

little bit and put him on his heels by the same people he's pushing out in an effort to restore some order to the white house. just keep that in mind as you're reading some of these reports. >> and while all of this is going on, there is still a russia investigation that's moving forward. i'm afraid, carol, we only have final 30 seconds. but you and our ken dilanian have news on that. >> this is the inma mouse don jr. meeting. we have learned why there is such a focus. the congressional committees have gotten notes to paul manafort, and there are questions about why, what does that mean, is there something more there. >> carol lee, thank you. nick confessore, i understand you have the cover of the weekend magazine. >> lobbying in the age of trump. >> well done, my friend. thank you. that's going to do it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." craig melvin is up next here on

msnbc. hey, craig. >> hey there, good to see you, chris jansing. good afternoon to you, as well. craig melvin here in new york, picking up the pieces. literally. thousands of texans are returning to their homes for the first time since hurricane harvey crossed their shores one week ago tonight. we are live in houston as they try to figure out where to start rebuilding. also, dream deferred? president trump is expected to soon announce whether he will be ending the obama era policy that allows nearly 1 million young, undocumented immigrants to live in this country without fear of deportation. why republican leaders are now urging him not to touch daka. and wild, wild west wing. reports of growing tensions between president trump and his new chief of staff, john kelly. is kelly's clampdown on the oval office setting him up for a showdown with the president? we'll get to that story in j