hey there, everyone, alex withba witt back. the president and first lady are on the ground in houston. they're meeting with hurricane victims who had to evacuate their homes. mr. trump has officially requested almost $8 billion in emergency funding from congress. meanwhile, the death toll from harvey has risen to 41 as return to their homes to assess the damage, miles away, responders are wading through murky waters to rescue families that are still trapped in their homes. how will he fulfill a promise to end the obama-era care. robert mueller now has a

letter drafted by the president that could shed light on his intentions for firing former fbi director james comey. but first, right now, the president is in houston, texas. air force one arrived earlier this afternoon at ellington field. and within just this past hour, we've been showing you the president meeting with flood victims inside houston's nrg stadium. a bit later this afternoon, the president and first lady are planning to stop in lake charles, louisiana, to survey the damage there. >> just a message that things are working out well. really, i think, people appreciate what's been done. it's been done very efficiently, very well. and that's what we have found. we're very happy with the way things are going. lot of love. >> what did the family tell you earlier. >> they were just happy. there was a lot of happiness. it's been really nice. it's been a wonderful thing. as tough as this was, it's been a wonderful thing. i think even for the country to watch and for the world to watch. it's been beautiful. have a good time, everybody.

i'm going to be doing a little help over here. >> what have people be saying to you. >> they're really happy with what's going on. it's been something i think -- it's been very well received. even by you guys, it's been well received. >> did you look out the window at all? did you happen to see any flooding. >> no, i didn't see -- you mean the flooding? oh, yeah, there was -- there was a lot of water but it's leaving pretty quickly. but there's a lot of water. a lot of water. but it's moving out. but i think most importantly, the governor, the relationship with the governor and the mayor and everybody, it's been fantastic, and with the federal government, it's been brilliant. and we're signing a lot of documents now to get money. >> what documents? >> $7.9 billion. we signed it, and now it's going through a very quick -- hopefully quick process. >> how are those contakids doint you were talking to. >> i think they're doing great. they're really good. >> last night, the president

requested $7.85 billion from congress for disaster relief. joining me now, niles, white house columnist for the hill and sara westwood. nile, i'll reach out to you first. what do you think the white house hopes the president accomplishes with his visit today? >> basically, alex, i think this is about showing empathy. it is about showing the president from -- can feel their pain to adapt a phrase from the clinton presidency. this was one of the criticisms that had been made up to this point, even in his earlier trip to texas, he hadn't met with people who were directly affected. that's different today. as the clip you just showed displayed. so really showing that human touch, and more broadly, i do think that the response to hurricane harvey has shown president trump in a more orthodox or conventional role than we sometimes see, and i think that is, frankly, to his

political benefit. >> and you, sara, i know you've been watching the president as he interacts with folks there at the nrg stadium. we should say up to 10,000 people have been housed there in the wake of hurricane harvey. interpret what you're saying there. >> well, i think it shows a lot of competence on the part of the white house that they broke president trump's trips down to texas into two, that earlier this week, he did not go into those areas that were most affected by the hurricane, that he stayed away from areas where rescue operations were ongoing, so that he didn't direct resources away from that and to deal with his visit. but that he went back again several days later to produce those images of him meeting with flood victims, of him being a more hands-on leader in this moment of crisis. he didn't wait a week to get down there, which would have drown criticism, and yet he also didn't get in the way of rescue operators by going down too early. so i think the fact that they broke this up into two different parts that served two very

different specific purposes showed a lot of pre-planning on the part of the white house and they deserve credit for that. >> so the president has asked congress as we've been saying for almost $8 billion to help with the aftermath of harvey, kind of a down payment considering what they're going to need. but what do you think the chances are, niall, that congress approves that funding quickly. when can we expect that vote. >> i think we'll expect that very fast. there's no political incentive to delay. there's certainly no political incentive to vote against aid for people who are in such dire circumstances. so, i think this will come together fairly fast. obviously, there is broader talk of wrapping up aid for harvey victims with issues to do with funding the government or perhaps raising the debt ceiling. that's a bigger discussion. but i think we'll see congress move pretty fast to get funds to the people who need it. >> yeah. so, texas, of course, a state where the president is right now, one of nine states

threatening to sue the federal government over daca. that is the program that's allowed nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants to remain in this country legally. the white house says that the president is going to announce whether or not he terminates that program, whether he allows those that stay on their visas until they expire now or gets booted altogether. what do you think the president is contemplating? what are the factors going to make this decision. >> obviously, president trump is under a lot of pressure, like you mentioned from conservative attorneys general who have threatened to mount a legal defense against daca. that would be awkward for the trump administration to defend, given that president trump has called this program unconstitutional, given that he promised to rescind it on the campaign trail, and so anything less than getting rid of this program would leave him vulnerable to being accused of going against something that he promised voters while he was running for president. now, that being said, the approach that we're hearing he's

leaning towards is letting this program expire naturally by just freezing new applicants to daca, but allowing undocumented immigrants who are now protected by the program to keep their work permits until they expire naturally. that could give congress time to come up with some kind of deal that protects the d.r.e.a.m.ers. the problem is there's -- it's not clear that there's an appetite for a deal that includes some of these stronger security measures that president trump wants, like funding for the border wall, like money partner for detention centers. it's not clear that democrats would sign on to that. it's not clear that republicans would sign on to a legislative fix for daca that grants this blanket amnesty. there's a lot of moving parts to that approach and we just don't know how president trump is going to deal with that. >> very quickly, niall, with regard to texas itself, how much do you think hurricane harvey is going to factor into this decision? because we have been told that there are about 28,000 workers in the state of texas alone that would lose their jobs and the income that is generated were

daca to be repealed. what do you think? >> i think that is a big point, alex. obviously, where daca is concerned, it's the people who really humanize the issue that are effective, and that is one of the reasons why there's a large majority of people in this country who support daca, even people, conservative on illegal immigration broadly, feel that these people are among the most sympathetic or sympathy-inducing cohort of the undocumented population. i think that case is particularly strong when it comes to people who are working, perhaps, in rescue or relief operations in the state of texas. >> okay. niall stanage and sarah westwood, thank you so much. i'm joined now by district attorney of harris county, texas. kim, welcome to you. how important is the president's visit to houston? how much have you seen and what's your take on it? >> we welcome all federal support as we welcome the governor and his state support.

harris county has almost 5 million people here, less than 20,000 law enforcement officers, recently joined by 1,000 federal officers so we're glad to have the help. >> and i know, kim, that you've taken a pretty hard line against price gouging and looting. how big a problem has this been so far? >> given the sheer numbers of people, 5 million people in the greater houston area, or so, it's been de minimus. we've had about 65 looting cases, many of them by organized crime crews, professional criminals. we've had about 347 complaints of price gouging go to the attorney general of the state. again, given the scope of this disaster, the bad apples are really pretty few and far between. but we've also got that extra law enforcement out on the street and we've got a citizenry that is used to being the eyes and ears for law enforcement, and you know, a few of those citizens are armed.

so while we've seen some looting at businesses, burglarizing of individual homes, impersonation of officers, infrequent. it's happened, but so far, so good. the streets are safe. >> okay. we are also getting word from some residents that officials are checking for proof of residence. there was a specific subdivision we heard about near the buffalo bayou to prevent looting. do you know what kind of proof you're looking for from residents as they try to get home. >> my guess is anything with your address permanently affixed to it. since i'm not out there with them on the street, i can't say, but it's normally a driver's license or perhaps some kind of bill showing that you live at the place that you're going into. i know that law enforcement's taking as many precautionary procedures as they can to keep impercenters and looters out and with it being a small population, we're also looking at the neighbors to report anything afoul or unusual, but

in whole areas where they are -- have been evacuated, there's a concerted effort to make sure only the home or property owners get back into those areas. >> yeah. very quickly, i know gas gouging is something that has been top of people's minds, particularly as there's been some mad dash for fuel, some of these refineries have had to shut down. is that something that you're keeping a real close eye on and have you heard reports of that. >> our law enforcement working groups certainly is monitoring the situation with complaints against -- about price gouging for gas. so far, all of our vehicles, law enforcement's vehicles, we've been gassed. our operations have been running up to snuff. so, we will certainly work with the attorney general's office on price gouging complaints, especially about gasoline. no run on gas -- no wholesale run on gas, but always we're open for complaints if people are experiencing that problem in

their area. >> all right. harris county d.a. kim ogg, very busy time. thanks for spending part of your afternoon here with us on msnbc. in hard hit places like beaumont, texas, the flood waters are still problem and in many places power has still not been restored. mariana is on interstate 10. you had this great point that you looked at, and i guess they had measured the water, how far it was, and it had gone down just inches, if even that much. how's it looking now? >> reporter: i'm looking right in front of me at that very same mark that officers made today at 8:18 a.m. our cameraman is panning for you, alex, and you can see the water hasn't really receded much at all. i am sitting in the middle of the interstate for you to get an idea just of how an interstate

like this can flood on both sides. the amount of water to my right has receded a little more than the one to my left. let me just get off here real quick. the reason why the waters here rose so much is because you have the neches river about four miles away that is completely overflown. so imagine a river four miles away from this, it completely flooded sort of the service road to my right, and that is cascading into this interstate right here. i can also hear a chopper flying over me. we have seen sort of this activity, this kind of activity all day. it looks like a black hawk chopper from what i can tell from down here. we have also been running into people who are trying to conduct rescue missions. one of the people that we ran into was the deputy marshal of rose city. rose city, alex, is the city after beaumont, correct? >> yes, ma'am. >> reporter: and what kind of operations are you hoping to conduct in there right now?

>> today, we're standing by. we're going to do a recon, more of a surveillance of the city, the entire city's under water. >> reporter: have you heard of any people needing rescuing, supplies, we know there's a water shortage as well. >> no, as far as civilians, we've gotten them all out, probably two days ago, so there's nobody left inside the city of rose city. >> reporter: alex witt was just talking about the president's visit to texas. were you aware that this was happening? what are your thoughts on it? >> i personally had no idea. we've been out in the water most of it. kind of out of communication with a lot of people. >> reporter: deputy, i want to thank you for your time. and alex, this is what we've heard from several people that we have spoken to. they have just -- they're so immersed in these rescue missions and taking aid to people, that many of them aren't even aware that the president made a visit to texas today. deputy, thank you for your time. i want to walk over here to my left, alex, because just as we started our conversation with you today, we saw some people on this boat, and they had just

rescued this man from a yacht. he had apparently been there for several days. let me just get around our light over here. sir, i understand you were just rescued from a yacht. >> yes, ma'am. my brother-in-law, i called him today, and told him i had been down there for eight days, and he said i'll get to you. so, he did real good because everything's in total chaos down there. >> reporter: you were out there for days and were you running out of supplies no. luckily when the storm started, i stocked up everything and i went down there last friday because they said it was going to look bad and when i got there, everybody was leaving. and i said, oh my god, i mean, this is unbelievable. and out of 100 boats, i guess probably close to 50 are sunk now. >> reporter: just coming out of the water, i just want to show you, alex, the boat that this man was rescued on.

how lucky do you feel right now, sir? >> blessed. the lord will bless you. you just keep your faith in him. >> reporter: did you think you were going to get rescued? had you sent word out. >> no, i haven't really needed to be rescued. i told my brother, i've had enough, come get me, i need to go home and check on my place in town. >> reporter: did you imagine things would look this bad. >> no, i did not. we was coming through, it's unbelievable. it is very unbelievable. >> reporter: what are your thoughts on just these everyday people, civilians that are out making sure everyone's okay and getting people like you out of the water. >> oh, the people that's helping other people, they're just outstanding, and i had people come down here and check on me, and bless them all. bless every one of them. >> thank you for the piece of good news today, sir, and good luck to you. alex, you're seeing these folks that went to rescue this man who was out on his boat. they're trying to pull the boat out, and as i mentioned, you know, this man just so thankful at these good samaritans who went out, checked in on him, and

brought him to dry land. >> i think there are a lot of families out there that are going to be extending family invitations to people when you've helped people like that, you become family and it's been pretty inspiring. >> it looks like i lost communication with you, alex, so i'm going to let you go but as we've been seeing all day, this is the situation here en route to beaumont and i'll keep reporting for you guys on msnbc. >> mariana, thank you so much. as the flood waters recede, texas now faces a new danger from mold and mosquitos to contaminated waters, the health risks that families could be exposed to in the coming weeks next. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap to friends at more banks than ever before. from mold and mosquitos to

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the fear of multiple fires

at this chemical plant in east texas, as you can see, there's very little that can be done to stop the flames with squuz continuing in more than 40,000 people in shelters, there are increasing concerns about the health dangers after hurricane harvey. standing flood waters, cramped shelter conditions, the muggy southern heat, all of it together creates potential problems for the displaced, along with volunteers and first responders. joining me now is dr. irwin redlander. it's great to talk with you again. you heard all my listings of things that are the problems. >> i heard them. >> and i'm going to tell people during the commercial break, you said this is going to go on and on. >> i'm looking at a 10 to 15-year recovery period because there's been so much damage, so much assistance that people are going need. this is an extraordinary, unprecedented crisis, and this may be the longest, most costly and complex recovery in u.s. history is what i'm thinking. >> okay. let's take a look. we're looking at water right now. what are the concerns that you

have about the standing water? is it mosquitos? is it contamination? is it someone, you know, cuts themselves and -- >> yes. it's really all of the above. i mean, there are so many things that can transpire now. the standing water is always a bad thing, especially in that particular community which is in the south, it's in the heat. the issue about mosquitos and mosquito-borne diseases and other infectious diseases in the water. b this is also a unique environment in that there are chemical plants and all sorts of other things we have to worry about. we had big explosions at one of the kplel planchemical plants, come, unfortunately. and then people trying to fix their homes, people on roofs that are going to fall off. this is what we see in the aftermath. people trying to take care of business, because the recovery efforts are going to be complicated. they'll need the individual citizens plus all the relief they can get from organizations and the government. so, more injuries, illnesses that have not been followed up, people can't get their medication, and then all the

issues you're talking about in the environment. a big, big challenge ahead of us. >> you mentioned the chemical plant, the arkema chemical plant there in crosby, texas. they have a mile-and-a-half perimeter, but there are reports that when these fires erupt and there are six more trailers, sir, filled with the kind of material that could combust, and start these fires, people get a little bit of a sore throat, there's probably an acrid odor in the air. is that the kind of thing that you think once it dissipates people are going to be okay or can it leave a residual effect. >> we don't know all the elements that have been released by this. the company has been extremely reluctant to be transparent about this. there's no rules -- in fact, there's rules against the public knowing what they're being exposed to in the state of texas. lots of issues like that. so, i'd have to answer that the reality is that it's unknown what people will be facing. hopefully it will dissipate and be fine but we actually do not know and what's going to be left in the soil that's been

contaminated is another whole story that we have to think about going forward. >> sou much to talk about, i knw we'll be seeing you again. we'll have you weigh in on future issues we're all going to be grappling with. to keep a promise or extend a dream. president trump is expected to make a decision on the future of nearly 800,000 children protected by daca. we'll speak with a daca recipient and texas paramedic who's been working nonstop to rescue victims of harvey. >> we're literally on the ground helping people get back up and we're getting our, you know, our butts ha handed to us by people upstairs in the white house and the president. where are we?

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so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor. we love the d.r.e.a.m.ers. we love everybody. >> that was the president speaking to reporters on friday. on tuesday, he is expected to make a decision on whether to keep or end an obama-era policy shielding thousands of young immigrants from deportation. now, that time frame coincides

with the deadline set by ten republican attorneys general threatening to sue if the administration does not scrap the deferred action on childhood arrival, or more commonly known as daca. it allows nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children to work and go to school. with the future of daca uncertain, thousands of lives are hanging in the balance and one search d.r.e.a.m.er is jesus contreras, a paramedic. the end of daca could spell the end of his american dream. jesus contreras is joining me now. big welcome to you, and right out of the gate, i'm going to ask you, are you worried about your future in this country? >> i'm definitely worried, concerned, and more than anything, disheartened, because we're just -- i'm just here, the rest of us d.r.e.a.m.ers are just here trying to work and give back to our community, especially in a time of need

like this. we're not doing anything but giving back, being model citizens, and you know, like i said, trying to give back. >> you're certainly doing so in your job as a paramedic, working on the front lines there with regard to harvey. but if the daca program gets scrapped, jesus, what does that mean for you, personally? what does it mean for your family? >> it means splitting up from, you know, people that i've known my entire life. it means leaving my friends, my girlfriend, coworkers, just everything that i have here, you know, my church, my opportunity to volunteer, to help others. i've made good relations with patients that i've met. i've, you know -- i feel like i've been a big part of our community and to take me away from that, it's going to shatter my world. it's going to shatter the world of many other d.r.e.a.m.ers. and it's tough. i don't know what to say.

when i heard the news, actually, i was just getting back from a six-day stay at work, helping with the relief, and i got back and i thought i was going to be able to get some rest, and now i start hearing things about me potentially being kicked out of the country, and it's just crazy. it's been a long -- it's been a long week, not only with hurricane harvey but with the storm that, you know, this is bringing to us. but we're going to stand here and we're going to fight and we're going to show the country that we're here to work and that we're here to be a part of everything. >> jesus, tell me what you were doing there as you were helping out those afflicted by hurricane harvey. >> yes, ma'am. so, i'm a paramedic for a county service just north of houston. we, just like the first responders here in houston, we were responding to medical calls, assisting with, you know, evacuations and such, because even when disaster strikes,

people's medical needs don't stop. you know, people who are on insulin, machines that need power, needed to be evacuated and transferred to medical facilities that were going to have generators and the ability to do these things for them. so, we were just doing a little bit of everything, giving courtesy rides to certain places and just helping our community out. i really, really love montgomery county. they're really supportive of our first responders, and really supportive of my situation and i've -- it wasn't until today that i -- things started getting really emotional because people were, you know, just showing their support online, you know, personal messages, and it's amazing to see how strong the community is, not only through the hurricane, through hurricane harvey, but through this thing with daca. people were just showing their endless amount of support and i

really do appreciate that, and i hope that we can work together to fix this. >> well, jesus contreras, i got to tell you, in the brief time i've spoking with you, you have my admiration and i wish you the very best. please let us know what's going on with you because we want to follow your story, okay? >> yes, ma'am. and thank you. and i just want to say one thing. i want to express my condolences to the family of sergeant perez and to all these other families that lost family members and homes and thank you for having me, and giving me the opportunity to be here. >> okay. we're glad to have you here, jesus. good luck, dear. for more on daca, lets bring in garrett haik who's at the white house. can i just get you guys to react to that, particularly you, victoria, how many times have you and i talked about daca. you hear someone like jesus contreras, an impressive young man. >> alex, i have students like jesus in my classes.

i see these young women, these young men who have -- who are incredibly bright, and they have aspirations, they want to go into the medical field, they want to go into law, they want to help their communities, and they have this little glimmer of light which is daca and they're clinging on to that, and now we're on the cusp of daca being taken away, so it affects me very much on a personal level, because these are students that i've known to come and care for. >> so, i'm curious, i'm going to stay with you on this, the president has been conflicted over the daca program, victoria, and even in the past, we've heard him say that he loves the d.r.e.a.m.ers, so why would he end the policy? is it all political? >> it's political, but also there is the legal pressure that he knows coming from the attorneys general led by ken paxton here in texas, and you know, i'm not a legal scholar, but it seems that daca would not hold up in court because as we saw, dapa was not held up and

also jeff sessions just does not have the appetite to defend it. so, there's a political aspect, but there's also the legal aspect to it, and saying you know what, they're going to force my hand, i might as well let it go. the real question is, however, is he going to completely terminate it and say, 800,000 of you d.r.e.a.m.ers, that's it, you're done, or is he going to let it phase out slowly. >> many in the president's own staff advising against scrapping daca. in fact, let's take a listen to what speaker ryan said last week. here it is, everyone. >> there's a lot in the news right now that the president might be looking at pulling back daca. the d.r.e.a.m.ers act. >> yeah, i actually don't think he should do that, and i believe that this is something that congress has to fix. >> garrett, are you aware of any ripple effects speaker ryan's comments have had on the administration in the white house there behind you. >> reporter: well, there is some concern that unwinding daca could make their legislative agenda for the white house a

little bit more complicated in the fall, just because this is something now, a program that for different reasons is popular, certainly on the left and with some republicans, saying it needs to be kept in place or adjusted. but you know, it's interesting to hear those comments from paul ryan because if paul ryan believes this is an issue that needs to be addressed legislatively, paul ryan is the speaker of the house and has all the tools necessary to address this issue legislatively so we're now a few days away from this, especially what amounts to a deadline of this threatened lawsuit by these states attorneys general and while there are lots of legislators saying we need to address this, they've been aware of this same deadline too and there's not been, at least from leadership in either house, any effort to provide that kind of legislative relief on this issue until now all of a sudden. >> all right, listen, guys, i'm told we have to wrap. i'm sorry so brief because it's an important conversation, but i know i'll speak with you both again first. victoria and garrett, thank you both. well, the president and the

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york at 39 past the hour, here's what we're monitoring for you right now. the president and first lady are on their way to their next stop in houston. after what you see here, which was visiting victims of hurricane harvey at the nrg stadium but later on the trumps will head to lake charles, louisiana. mr. trump has officially requested almost $8 billion in emergency funding from congress. and residents near the arkema plant in crosby, texas, are still out of their homes as more explosions and fires all caused by the degrading chemical

products and trailers outside that plant are expected. plus more than 300 firefighters are battling a rapidly growing wild fire in southern california which has spread to more than 5,000 acres. that fire outside of burr bank is only 10% contained. and a salt lake city pretol detective is on administrative leave after a video showing him arresting a nurse who refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient. the officials have apologized for the incident, calling the body cam footage alarming, but they say they are waiting for investigators to -- for the investigations to play out. she survived katrina only to be hit again by harvey in texas. we're going to speak with one woman who's reliving a nightmare eight years later. and for the next hour, my colleague melissa rehberger will have more on the president's visit to texas and louisiana.

actually, it's going so well that it's going fast. >> all right, everyone, let's take a listen to the president, who's visiting a church in houston, which is functioning as a distribution center. let's take a listen. >> i want to tell you that tomorrow we have national prayer day, and that was an official proclamation. so, we have a very special day. they haven't done that, ted, i don't think they've done that for a while in our country, but now we've done it. so tomorrow's a very big day, so go to your church and pray and enjoy the day. and congratulations.

congratulations on that. i want to thank ted cruz, senator ted cruz for working so hard with us. and ted doesn't know but his work is just starting now, right? we have to push that stuff through. but we will. we've signed some very big authorizations last night, and we'll get it through. and brock, come here a minute, brock. what a job you've done. what a job. thank you very much. thank you. and the water is disappearing and we do have a long way to go, but the water's disappearing and you look at the neighborhoods and you see it's -- we just road through this and two days ago, even yesterday, they had water and today it's all swept up and cleaned up and you've got a lot of hard-working people, i'll tell you that. lot of hard-working people. so i want to thank everybody for being here, ben carson. come here, ben. the great ben carson. and elaine duke. and who likes schools? because we have the finest

person in the world for schools. come here. she just had a full page story today in the "wall street journal," which was actually a very good story. did you like it? and david, thank you from the va. david shulkin. and most importantly, the real boss of the family, right? come on up here. come on. this is the real boss. thank you. i just have to say, and i was just telling ted, you have a great governor and a great first lady of texas. special people. they have worked so hard, and the coordination between the federal and the state and the local has been terrific, and we're going to keep it going that way. if anything, we'll even get it -- i don't know if it gets better but we're going to try and make it better. but i just have to say this. the cameras are blazing. i have to say it. you have a great, great governor. and he's done a fantastic job.

so, on behalf of melania and myself, i want to thank you, governor, for everything you've done and first lady, thank you very much. so nice, so good. thank you very much. i appreciate it. and it's really, david, seeing something like has happened here, you know, david has taken the veterans administration, the va, and he's done so many things for the veterans and such. we've really been here eight months if you think about it. and they now have choice, which is such a big thing. you know, you used to read and for those of you what aren't vets, frankly, we have a lot of vets in the room right now, but you used to wait in line for nine days, 14 days, ted knows very well, and now ted, as you know, he has a program of choice where they don't have to do that. they go to a doctor, and we take care of it, but it's faster. it's actually probably, in the end, it will be less expensive if you think about it. and people that can be fixed up perfectly in a matter of

minutes, i mean, in some cases, bad, bad things happen to them because they couldn't get to see a doctor. now they see their doctor, they see a doctor of their choice, but they go out and they get great medical care quickly, governor. it's the way you would do it. i know that. and really, for years, as a civilian, i don't know if i've ever said this, i used to sit back and say, i wonder why they don't do this. it's not like so complicated. i'd read these horrible stories about our great people, our great veterans standing on a line and waiting for weeks to get to just see a doctor. and they have some great doctors in the va, some really talented doctors. the problem is you just can't -- somebody said, thank you. sounds like -- are you a doctor in the va? you see what we're doing. thank you, i appreciate that. but we're doing it. and we're really proud of it. and ben, you are doing a spectacular job, really spectacular with hud. and brought a lot of spirit. ben has brought a lot of spirit

to hud, i can tell you that. i know it very well, and betsy, again, thank you very much. thank you, everybody. and governor, congratulations on doing a real job and i'll give you another congratulations in about one week because that will be that other. and then it's a long-term -- i mean, we're talking about -- they say two years, three years. i think that, you know, because this is texas, you'll probably do it in six months. i have a feeling. you know, i think for a lot of places, maybe it never gets done, right? i think in your case, it will get done very quickly. thank you, everybody. again, national prayer day tomorrow. and a real honor to be with you all. thank you, thank you. thank you, ted. thank you, brock. thank you. >> are we out of here? >> we're out of here. >> we love you too. thank you.

>> and there you heard the president there. he's at a church in houston, one of a couple of stops before he heads to lake charles, louisiana, though notably, recognizing everybody that he brought with him on air force one and those that he met there on the ground in texas. he brought out secretary devos, education, secretary carson of hud, also secretary of veterans affairs shulkin, the acting secretary duke of homeland security, and i know the chief of staff, john kelly is with him as well, though not recognized, what we were able to hear. also texas governor greg abbott and his wife certainly instrumental in the recovery and implementation of the expected fema funds which the president has asked for and that -- that's a number of up to $8 billion thus far to be immediate heyer brought -- immediately brought to those folks there. that texas delegation working to try to bring relief to those

victims of harvey, rebuild and recover from this natural disaster of epic proportions. let's bring in nbc analyst, former senior adviser to the bush/cheney reelection campaign and also democratic strategist who has worked on three presidential bids. as i welcome you both to the broadcast, robert, it's a much different tone that we've gotten from the president. we saw a little bit of his appeal to television and you know, just acknowledging the good and talking about the crowds that were there. but that said, i don't know if you caught it earlier, he was really great with the people in the nrg center there. he was unexpectedly tactile. people did not expect that from him. he also had been accused of having an empathy chip earlier this week. talk about what we're seeing today and how it may go to repair the initial image following hurricane harvey of this president. >> yeah, i think it's much better. there's no doubt about it. ironically, after the first visit that he and the first lady had a couple days ago, we saw mike pence and the second lady

have much more empathy in jeans and sweatshirts, touching the people, helping, you know, haul debris away and then you had the president and first lady now come from the second time and you can see them interacting in a little bit more empathetic way. i thought it was much, much better, no question about it. i didn't hear the whole entire speech, alex, but i was hoping, and i want to give him credit, maybe he said this, but i wanted him to also speak to -- let me back up. the president speaks in superlatives, there's no doubt about it and i was hoping that he would have spoken to the folks in houston and in texas by saying, it's going to be okay. your federal government is here to help you, and here is how we're going to help you. call the american red cross. call the social security office. we have people manning, you know, in other words, speaking to the people out there that are not in the audience, that want to hear from their president that tomorrow is going to be better than today. i didn't hear that from him and i would have hoped that he would have said that. >> christy, give me your read on the president in texas thus far today. >> well, he surely knew that he had to do some damage control. look, this isn't a president

that takes to criticism very well, but i do think that he knows when it's something that he has to clean up. just like when he was apparently caught saying that the white house was a real dump, i think that's the kind of thing where he knew that ultimately that's going to be something that's going to really turn off his core supporters. and this too, right? the idea that he doesn't have to be the most empathetic person in the room. that's obviously not why the people who voted for him are in his camp. however, if he seems actively, you know, unempathetic to the real plight, if he seems out of touch during this national disaster, then that actually will hurt him with his core supporters so i think we saw here a little bit of damage control and, you know, that sort of forced empathy. >> yeah. robert, i don't know if you heard my interview preceding you with jesus contreras, he is a d.r.e.a.m.er. he is a young man who is a

paramedic that's been or the front lines helping people recover from harvey and rescuing people. and i spoke to him about daca and his fears that he's going to be ripped away from everybody that he knows and loves as a result of whatever decision the president makes on tuesday. what caall do you think is goin into this decision making? do you have any indication of where it's going to go? >> well, everything that i've read so far is that the president is leaning towards reversing the daca, provisions that president obama put into place a couple of years ago. i also know politically, but also from a humanistic standpoint, that a lot of republicans, including speaker paul ryan, have lobbied the president himself and said, mr. president, this is a bad thing to do, not only politically because of the optics of this, but this is a bad thing to do because you're ripping families apart. and this is not -- this is much, much different from the wall. this is much, much different from illegal immigration. this is much -- this is much more complicated than that. please do not apply those same

xenophobic standards, if you will, or thinking to threese grp of d.r.e.a.m.ers because that's not the case. and i'm told that his staff is very empathetic to that, they get it but the question is whether or not the president gets it and i don't know. >> sometimes appealing to this president or looking from an economic perspective, the fact is these d.r.e.a.m.ers like jesus i spoke to, they bring in a lot of money. they pay taxes. they help support the infrastructure. they are responsible for contributing to their state's economy and again with the taxes, federal economy. how much do you think that might -- if that's articulated properly and particularly in the state of texas right now, when you have so many of these, i think there's 28,000 d.r.e.a.m.ers living in the houston area alone, as we watch the president leaving that church there, how much do you think that's going to factor into the president's decision making, that there's an economic contribution with having these d.r.e.a.m.ers in the united states. >> you would think that it would, right? you would think that this would be an argument that appeals to

the businessman in donald trump. you would think that he would listen to groups like the u.s. chamber of commerce that has been strongly in favor of a comprehensive pathway to citizenship and, you know, really reforming immigration. but in fact, no. there's also the, you know, the nativist part of his base that i think he just listens to even more. >> hang on. >> this is a man who -- >> christy, hang on just a second. apparently we're able to hear the president, guys. let's take a listen. >> loading it up, huh? good job. >> one more. >> you got it? okay, fellas. you're all set. thank you for your time. beautiful. all right. it's good exercise.

some of these are floating. >> all right, you guys. there you see not only the president but also the first lady and they're helping to deliver supplies there to those in need as is often the case, churches, as the cornerstone of communities, particularly in the south, they can be places that are converted from being a church of worship to a place that can be a rescue recovery or just an aid center, and there

you see the president, again, becoming very, very tactile. he had not necessarily done that before. there was a lot of that on the campaign trail. we haven't seen a lot of this, particularly, while in office. you know, christy, i was watching the president earlier, and when he first got to the nrg center, it was touching, the way he was touching people. i mean, he almost put on the grandfatherly veneer. we've seen it many times as he's walking hand in hand with one of his grandchildren, you know, down the stairs there from air force one or on the obamacabalc there at the white house. so talk about how this has been interpreted and how this goes to remedy his image. >> even if he was not actively aware, then certainly his staff is aware of the historical parallels of disaster response, doing it well, let's say, george bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 or barack obama with

hurricane sandy and george bush doing it poorly after katrina. his first instinct was not necessarily the one to be on the ground, touching people. he said that he had had, you know, firsthand witnessed the destruction, which of course, he had not. so now, i think, you know, after having criticism for that, rerlzrerlhe realizes he's going to have to get in there and actually touch people. obviously, we can think that trump isn't a very warm person, but there are clearly people in his life that he feels much affection for. he's obviously capable of showing affection. you know, it's something that, you know, he's going to have to draw out of himself a little bit more in his presidency. not all the time. but again, many rain rare momen this because if he doesn't, it will haunt him. >> your thoughts on this, robert. >> he's never done this before, let's be honest. let's cut to the chase. this is his first elected --

this is his first elected office. usually, presidents have been governors or members of congress and they've done this before. i hate to say this. but you know, this is new for him. that's number one. number two, the within why this is new for him is because he grew up rich. he grew up in midtown, manhattan, and so the last time i which he couchecked, most mil don't do this that often so he's learning on the job here. what we're seeing is a president who's learning on the job, this doesn't come natural to him, and that's no fault of his own, and so to just cutting him a little slack here, he's learning on the job. he's winging it. >> yeah. and he's got a pretty hefty on the rad-- entourage with him. is this all about the president and first lady, christy? >> well, there's two messages that he wants to put out there, right? there's the message of warmth and touching and being in the people, and i do think that having melania with him and maybe other members of his family, obviously humanizes him

in this way, but then when you also see members of his cabinet there, that's, of course, to remind people that he's still the president, he still has a job to do. >> that he's working. >> that he's not father in chief, that he is also working, that he is commander in chief. so that's why you're going to see both of those images. >> alex, very quickly. >> sure, robert. >> i'm thinking the reason why the staff is there is because they normalize him. they're familiar faces to him. he's much more comfortable around people that he knows and what they're doing, it's very obvious. they're putting very familiar people around him to reenact a natural setting so that he can appear to be natural. that's what that's all about. >> you know, i have to just -- i'm just wondering, this lady who's pulling away in her minivan, she came to the church to try to get some supplies, we see red cross markings and the like, and then the president loads up her car with stuff, gives her a pat, and you know, says, good luck. i mean, what kind of stories are

these folks going to have to tell, robert? you know? it's quite remarkable. >> they're going to be surprised. i mean, look, we are used to the donald trump response, his version of generosity that we have seen up to this point is what he did a couple days ago when he said i'm going to give $1 million of my own money. that is how we understand trumpian generosity. we don't have a lot of these types of images, so yeah, i think they're going to be pretty surprised. >> you know, robert, i have to ask you, as a republican, and many times you've been on the broadcast and you've been pretty critical of this president, along with many of your other republican colleagues. that said, when you see this side of the president coming out, he seems engaged, he seems earnest, he seems to be heartfelt with all of that, how much do you think this is going to go to changing some people's opinion of him? >> very little. because i think what we know about this president is that he goes back to the norm, and the norm is probably, i hate to say

this, but probably monday, maybe tuesday morning, he'll start tweeting again. he'll probably say something very offensive at some part during his presidency over the next month or two months and he'll start throwing republicans under the bus, so that's the norm. unfortunately. and i hate to say that. look, he's my president just as much as he is yours and i want him to succeed but time and time again, he disappoints me, and i hate to say that, but i think i'm on solid ground when i say that. >> all right. well, let's just hope that he gets some good marks for this and enjoys the positive press and maybe takes a lesson and thinks, i can do this a little bit more often. i mean, you know, hope springs eternal. you never know. listen, you two, thank you for this breaking news and i know it was a different discussion than we anticipated having. christy and robert, appreciate it, guys. that's a wrap for me, everybody. alex witt here, i'm going to toss it to my colleague, melissa rehberger, who's going to continue with the president, breaking news and all