>> ♪ >> first up tonight on 5 at 6:30 talking about harvey's impact on the white house. the president is pledging $1 million to harvey relief efforts. >> harvey is once again the big story at 6:30. >> the coast is far from clear in texas. flood waters still at historic highs and the door to door searches for people lost or stranded continue. right now the death toll we've heard many different numbers along the way 31 at this point but it looks like that could climb as crews make their way into that neighborhoods that are virtually wiped off the map. >> there are reports of more dangers. two explosions at flooded chemical plants overnight. fox's allison barber with the latest.

>> this was the office. >> reporter: across houston door to door searches are under way. near the hard hit texas-louisiana state line officials are not sure when they will be able to provide residents with clean drinking water because flood waters are still rising and covering city water pumps. as a result, one beaumont hospital has had to evacuate patients. >> we had 193 patients in the hospital last night at midnight and we got a call about 1:00 a.m. this morning from the city telling us they had lost the city water. >> reporter: just outside of houston explosions at the arkema chemical plant added another worry for residents. the area closed forced evacuation as smoke trickled from the building. 15 sheriff's deputies were taken to the hospital after inhaliinhaling smoke at the pla. all have been released. vice president mike pence

visited. >> just know we are with you and we will stay with you until rockport and all of southeast texas come back. back. >> and that was fox's allison barber. vice president pence in texas today met with survivors toured harvey's devastation. he even joined volunteers and helped clean up debris. the trump administration wants to highlight its focus on the disaster. president trump and first lady are expected to return this weekend. >> maryland senator ben cardin joins us live from the campus of johns hopkins university. senator thanks so much for joining us. >> good to be with you. thank you. >> you guys have a lot to discuss when you head back to congress starting next week. number one, i'm sure will be discussing the relief fund for the harvey victims. there's been a lot of talk about how hard this was -- how hard t

passed. where do things stand or what are you hoping for? >> i didn't hear exactly what you said but i think you were talking about the challenges we have when we return on tuesday. >> yes. >> specifically relating to the harvey disaster aid. >> oh, yeah, well, you know, what happened in texas is horrific and we see the scenes of people who have lost their homes that are in shelters. we need to respond. the federal government needs to respond in a very robust way. this country needs to come together and help the people of texas to make sure they know their federal government is with them so i'm sure you're going to see bipartisan support for relief efforts. >> senator, i know we're comparing apples to oranges here when we look at hurricane katrina but how would you rate the trump administration's response versus what we saw in the bush administration back in 2005. >> well, it's too early to evaluate. i think right now what we want to make sure is that the aid gets there, first the relief aid, make sure everyone out of

they need to be safe. secondly when we start to rebuild, when we look at the damage that's been caused, this hurricane will be much, much greater in cost than katrina. it's going to be the greatest natural tragedy in the history of this country as far as the damage that's been invoked by this flooding. so, we're going to need a very robust federal response and one that not only helps the people who have been damaged but takes a look at our infrastructure to protect us against future type of weather events. >> senator, how is maryland helping out down in texas? >> well, we're very proud, we have maryland units that have gone to texas to provide relief help. we have marylanders who are a part of national efforts to provide private sector relief. so, we've seen governmental first responder units that have traveled to -- to texas as well as marylanders joining international humanitarian efforts and i can assure you that we're going to do everything to let the peoe

of texas know that we are all part of this relief effort. >> you know, i think a lot of people watch this and they say members of congress and the senate speaking out about harvey and you mentioned off the top a bipartisan solution. it's almost unfathomable to think that you would have two sides fighting over specifics to help all these people seeing the devastation yet sometimes that's how washington seems to work. >> well, you're exactly right. this is a tragedy that requires our country to come together to show the people of texas that we're all on their side, that we're going to do everything we can to help. we know that we can't replace everything that has been damaged. we know the trauma they've gone through, people have lost their lives put we -- but we wt to let them know people of this country want to help and do what's right for the people of texas. >> senator cardin i know you'll be focused on some of the other issues once you get back next week. what are some of the things that top that agenda. >> we have to get the budget

done before october 1, the beginning of the fiscal year to avoid any government shutdown. we also know that we have a debt ceiling that needs to be extended before the end of this month or we could default on our debt adding costs to our borrowing. we also have tax relief and tax reform that will be on our agenda. so, we have a very busy agenda between now and the end of september let alone the end of this year. >> we saw the senate vote in that so-called skinny repeal on healthcare that failed. the president seems to think that the fight isn't over for healthcare yet. is this going to come back before you this legislative session, the issue of healthcare reform? >> you know, we're going to be having bipartisan hearings coming out of our committee i serve on the finance committee that is going to hold hearings, the health committee is also holding hearings. we want to work together democrats and republicans and improve the affordable care act. we know there's ways to make it better. we need more

individual marketplace. we got to bring down the overall cost growth of healthcare in this country. there are things democrats and republicans need to do working together so i hope this is the end of this partisan effort that would have cost 10s of millions of people their health coverage. >> senator what about immigration reform? we heard president trump could come out as early as tomorrow to end daca or at least parts of it. what is the position and in congress i mean, you guys aren't in the majority. how likely do you think you guys can get something passed on that? >> reporter: well, you know, i've been in montgomery county all day. i had a forum in regards to immigration reform earlier today. we did talk about the daca children. we know we have about 10,000 in maryland that have registered under the daca program that protects them. these are our dreamers that have been in this country for a long period of time. we want to make sure they're protected. i hope we'll see democrats and republicans making it clear that these individuals need to know that we welcome them her

>> senator ben cardin we appreciate you joining us today on five at 6:30. we'll see you again soon. >> thank you. >> developing tonight fox news is reporting president trump will end what we were just talking about deferred action for childhood arrivals or the daca program. >> it was an obama era program used to be called the dream act they reformed it along the way. it halted the deportation of illegal immigrants who came to the united states as children. this is what the president has said in the past. >> this is one of the most difficult subjects. you have these incredible kids in many cases, not in call cases, in some of the cases they're having daca and they're gang members and they're drug dealers, too, but you have some absolutely incredible kids. i would say mostly. they were brought here in such a way -- it's a very -- it's a very, very tough subject. >> and fox5's ronica cleary is here with new developments. ronica, this was a topic today at the white house press briefing and a lot of questions on it but not many answers because we haven't heard anything officl

yet. >> reporter: that's right, jim and shawn. this is an example of another one of those leaks that they say they are really trying to crack down on. the news broke just before the briefing that a ■senior white house official informed fox news that this decision could come down as early as friday and i'll tell you there were whispers about it before today's briefing that it was coming and all week we've really been kind of waiting for this news and the white house continues to be very close to the vest saying that they are conducting a study saying that they don't have information. they were asked questions about whether or not dreamers should feel safe and the answers just weren't there, really resting on the fact that the announcement has not officially been made just yet. but really at this point it seems very likely there is a caveat though that has come out in the reporting that did say that it would allow dreamers to stay in the country until their work permits expire. those could be as lon

years, so that's one detail that's coming out, if you l now, let's take a listen. we took to the streets to get the pulse of the people for their reaction on this very likely change. >> i think it will be unfortunate. these are people who came here not of their own choice. they were brought here so it's kind of an unfair to kick them out. >> well, i really don't think it's such a big deal. i mean, this is the united states and we can do whatever we choose to please. we all choose to live here for a reason and on this situation i back whatever -- whatever happens. >> i think that's very unamerican, it's very unfair to the children i mean, this is supposed to be the home of the land of the free and they come here by any means necessary and we should offer them that benefit. >> reporter: of course we'll be waiting to see if that decision becomes official tomorrow or perhaps coming out after the labor day holiday. people will of course have much more to add if and when that

the white house. back to you jim and shawn. >> all right, ronica, thank you very much. >> the other big topic these days in the white house, taxes. >> uh-huh. >> we're going to take a look at the tougher choices congress has to make when it comes back in session. 5 at 6:30 coming right back. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> new study that shows the average american family spent more money on taxes last year than on food and clothing. the bureau of labor and statistics say americans spend an average of 10,500 bucks on state and federal taxes. they spent 7200 on food and 1800 clothing. the only household expense higher than taxes housing which averaged nearly $19,000. >> wow. that's a lot of money on taxes. president trump though is remaining focused on the nation's tax code. he starts to -- starting to give us a broad overview of what his new tax plan can be. congress is feeling pressure from the white house before they get back to work next week. >> alfredo ortiz joins us

via skype with more on the task ahead for lawmakers. alfredo thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. good afternoon. >> good afternoon to you. and your opinion piece that you wrote for the hill.com you seem pretty skeptical that the gop would be able to get their tax plan through as it stands right now. why is that? >> well, you know, when you look at the struggles that they had for the first eight months with the repeal and replace of obamacare, our concern is that they may have other struggles as well because at the end a full on tax reform is not the easiest thing to do so what we're saying is that we need tax cuts and we need those now. you just mentioned at the opening is we obviously don't have a revenue issue in this country. we have a spending issue with our government. in fact i believe we just hit a record number of revenue collections just this past month and so again we need to get these hard working dollars back to taxpayers and the hard working small businesses that we represent. >> you know, alfredo during the bush administration you had major portions when you had congress under the control of the

then obviously right now you have both chambers of congress under republican control. what's the main hurdle t looks like the president want a 15 percent corporate cut and the senate want a 20 percent. how do you reconcile things here. >> i think the idea we should shoot for the best lowest rate possible is really the way to go. that should be the driving factor here whether it's 15, whether it's 18, 20. lower than we are today is what we must do from a corporate standpoint we know that we have one of the world's highest corporate tax rates but on a small business perspective, small business owners, this is an amazing fact i have to say there are about 29 million small business owners in this country. they employ about 56 million people, that's hard working american taxpayers that they employ. that's 85 million people overall that are dependent on the success of small business and we're just not doing enough for them. we talk a lot about corporate rate reductions which are necessary but we've got to dry these rates for these small business owners that you and i

and everyone probably that's listening they've touched a small p business owner in one way shape or form. >> i know a lot of democrats as they listen to what the president laid out say the pieces of his proposal seem to benefit the wealthy and not so much the middle or lower class. what do we need to see to help that section of our country. >> well, in terms of the hard working taxpayers of this country, we'll talk the midsection basically, the middle class we do need to bring those rates down t-the individual tax rates are just too high but again our small business owners, those are the ones that need the biggest break. last year we traveled about 12,000 miles and we listened to hundreds and hundreds of small business owners and what they all said is three things. that our taxs are too high, too many allegations and we can't access credit. the number one thing was texass. taxites. we heard from representative o'brien in

he says we need to reduce rates on a corporate and individual basis and that will help our small business owners. >> here we are eight months into the administration. how long do you -- best case scenario as you look at this when would you like to see this passed? when would you like to see some sort of tax reform plan put into effect. >> we need tax cuts now is what we're saying and that's actually our web site tax cuts now.com. >> good plug. >> we would like to have it done by thanksgiving. >> thanksgiving sounds good to all of us. >> we would have a lot to be thankful for. >> you got that right in thanks for joining us. >> still ahead on 5 at 6:30. >> we are back after this. >> reporter: police search for whoever posted racist and anti-semitic signs in front of this church in dumfries the congregation is getting a visit from senator tim kaine. we'll hear what he has to say. >> ♪

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and anti-semitic fliers posted on its front door. >> lauren demarco was there. you talked with senator tim kaine just a bit ago. >> reporter: senator kaine message was pretty simple. it was that virginia will not be dragged backward into days of hatred. when he first arrived here he spoke with police and he pledged the full support of his office to help them find the people who are responsible. now, the hateful handwritten messages were posted on the front door here of the greater praise temple ministries church on main street in dumfries. they were placed there sometime saturday night into sunday morning. the fliers disturbing. there was one sign with swastikas and references to nazis. the sign with what appeared to be a person in a suit wearing a ku klux klan hood with the text now that's white power, day of the rope is coming n-word was also placed on the front door. senator tim kaine visited the congregation along with several local leaders and said while the number of people carrying out

relatively small he doesn't want to see them grow. he said people cannot be innocent bystanders when it comes to hate and government leaders cannot embolden these criminals. he spoke about the awful loss of life during the white supremacist rally in charlottesville and said many of these people are coming here from out of state but either way virginia will not tolerate these actions. >> let's all send the message to anybody who thinks that they can bring hate to this church or to dumfries or to charlottesville or to virginia, that we're not going to be turned around, if there's anyplace that knows through the pain of history and scar tissue what violence and hatred and bigotry will do, virginia knows it. been there done that, got the scar tissue. not going to go backward. >> reporter: i spoke with the family of the bishop who presides here and they told me that while they are very distraught to find these signs that they're actually praying for the people responsible because they say those are the people who need help and again, they are still out ther

try to figure out who is responsible for this so if you have any information they want to hear from you. live in dumfries, lauren demarco, fox5 local news. >> thank you lauren. after a lot of debate the question tonight will harriet tubman still become the face of the new 20-dollar bill. why the new treasury secretary says maybe not. we're back after this. >> ♪

>> ♪ >> welcome back to 5 at 6:30. we've seen -- remember the make america great again hats. there were a lot of knockoffs. if you want a hat just like the president go to wal-mart because it's cheaper there. it's selling on the web site what they call u.s.a. trump hats for $10. they go for $40 on the president's official online store. there it is. this is the one from wal-mart and it says u.s.a. and the 45 on the side and the flag. >> i wonder if it says trump across the back. probably not. >> no, because that's a -- here's the thing. technically, you know, if he

wanted to he could sue over this because trump is a trademark name. >> well, that's why -- i don't know if they have it on there. >> but you see in the description the web site. >> trump hat. >> very interesting. a lot of talk over this hat and whether it was ethical for the president to be wearing it and then selling it on his campaign web site because some critics were saying it was like advertising. >> so the official ones on the web site say they're proudly made in the united states. those are the ones you can get from donald j. trump.com. there's a little america insignia. i didn't know if in said made in the u.s. or not. >> wal-mart is trying to make some money and give you a discount. >> if you walk up and down anywhere in d.c. you see everybody selling make america great again hats. in many cases they're not made in the united states but those are the knockoffs. >> there you go. the president you figure he would get called out on that if the hats weren't made in the u.s. >> let's talk a little bit about money again. treasury secretary steve

mnuchin says his department could scrap plans to put former slave and abolitionist harriet tubman on the 20-dollar bill. in an interview with c nbc he admitted he's not focused on the planned currency changes. he said the primary reason the treasury changes the design of bills is to prevent counterfeiting and the bills will be changed when it's necessary for security purposes. the obama administration proposed replacing andrew jackson's image on the individual with harriet tubman and placing andrew jackson on the back. i can't remember what his name is, josh somebody, he used to be the vice president on west wing, he tweeted. >> joshua molina. >> he tweeted his 240,000 twitter followers and said write harriet tubman's face on andrew jackson. >> it seemed le

would see a counter balance to it so we'll see what happens with that. >> yeah, we'll see. >> ready for a holiday weekend. >> whoo-hoo!, yes, bring it on. >> caitlin roth standing by with a look at what we've got coming in over the next couple of days. hello there. >> hey, both you guys. we'll do a little weather here. the holiday weekend not going to be off to the best start. you know what the good news is, it's a long weekend and that means a lot of time for improvement which we'll see. turning pretty cool tonight. tomorrow friday it's going to feel like the middle of fall. it's going to be cloudy breezy high temperatures struggling to hit 70 degrees. it's ahead of tropical depression harvey which will be impacting us on saturday. a lot of rain. not a lot but an inch or two but it's just going to be a really soggy start to the weekend but the rest of the holiday weekend looks much better. i'll show you that on your seven-day forecast. 70 tomorrow. just 78 and a chilly rain on saturday. showers to sunshine sunday. real nice afternoon. labor day's fantastic. and then it's warm, guys as we head into next

shawn. >> thank you guys for joining us join us tonight at 8:00. >> join us tonight at 10:00 and the final five at 11:30.

>> today on tmz. >> congrats to leo dicaprio w wrote a whopping check for a million dollars for hurricane harvey relief and then partied with a bunch of hot chicks. is he going to get the chicks whether he gives a million dllars or not? >> giving is an aphrodisiac. >> is it justeo or any time any good looking gu-- when george clooney had a bullet proof vest on, like these are really going to be filling me. >> huge rapper from houston is organizing a big telethon to benefit flood victims. >> just really want to help as many people as possible to get the worout. >> says trump is not invited unless he comes with the other president. >> do you say no if says i want to do a recorded message? >> you just have bun b take a knee during the recorded