people down here including americorps, the national guard. we're there to save lives and get people out of their flooded hopes. president trump is holy invested in this operation and it's disgusting to see media politicizing this because they don't like the president. >> so in the end, it's going to be judged based on or should be based on how efficient all the programs that you just talked about turn out to be. whether or not the government and the capacity that is capable and this is an enormous task being undertaken here. it's not going to be perfect. how well you do the job in the end. how confident are you the systems in place are not going to produce -- they'll produce good stories coming out of this day after day after day as the president said they'll be there for? >> this is my second week on the job. so it was a nice warm welcome. the team at americorps that i have is phenomenal. we have been in and out of this. talk about people from all walks of life in this organization. nobody has mentioned that. the focus is on the mission. fem

tell us about the spirit of americorps. it can make a difference in a situation like this. >> these are people that come in and are essentially volunteers. they get a stipend. if you're 18 to 25 you can volunteer and they'll give you college grants for when you finish your year of service. which is a great program. and we would encourage people in the wake of this to get on national service.gov and join up. we'll be there for the next six years. once the floodwaterers recede we'll be there for half a decade cleaning up this situation. >> shannon: you've served our country in many ways and now with americorps. >> eric: an update from federal officials on the disaster response in texas and louisiana. we expect officials the take that podium momentarily and when they do we'll bring it to you live. texas congressman michael mccaul will join us for the latest on the rescue efforts next. this is a diamond tracked on a blockchain - protected against fraud, theft and trafficking. this is a financial transaction secure from hacks an

that as a result of the sheer revolution to share americorps. that and that means that a lot of new collection is not looking good on shore. at no production capacity that has moved from the off shore areas. where no platforms would have been shut down as a precaution plus you get and then come back online? to on shorter kitchen with that much more prone to flooding and long term damage. and then i can time became i've become much more integrated much more interdependent much more complex. so that means that areas that are not directly in the path of the hurricane. may be affected indirectly. particularly the permian share production area which is the most prolific part of the publishing industry. in the us that is not at risk of immediate flooding. but dependent on flood at affected areas to access to markets both did domestic refining market and the export market whom. am reloading export terminals and and so i i just because tom is amiss here just one also ask you i mean how is this. both the u. s. market and the global mock. so the short ans

americorps supports the work of 80,000 volunteers around the country. the group said if the funding is cut, national service programs will be extinct. (vicki) president trump's transgender military ban is meeting opposition from many sides.(grant) three different lawsuits have been filed and democratic law makers are speaking out against it alexandra limon spoke to a transgender veteran about the ban, and what it means for those currently serving. retired us navy commander shawn skelley dedicated two decades to her country, flying s-3 viking aircraft in the us navy. one day skelley came to a life changing realization shawn skelley / retired u.s. navy commander (abbreviation is cdr) :14-:262:40:37 that i myself was transgender, that i am. that i was in the wrong identitiythat was honestly the most scary period of my lifebecause i didn't know where to turn.in 2006 serving openly wasn't an option. she retired two years later.in 2016 after a review and study on the ban on transgender soldies, the obama administration annoucend. transgender americans could o

americorps offers amazing opportunities for these people to take a year off from whatever school theygoing to do, get some college credits or college grants and help out with recovery efforts and go back to your life. >> the website is national service.gov. it is on the bottom of the screen. what are the ways through your organization people can help? >> the charity we put on that are vetted, and things like that, don't go down with a chainsaw yet, send money to the appropriate charities that are vetted. the money is the biggest thing right now because it is used by supplies closer to the thing, too hard to ship supplies this way. >> and to make sure they are vetted through that organization, thanks for joining us. the time is 20 minutes after the top of the hour and the outpouring of support for the victims of hurricane harvey continues, how the nfl is doing it. >> some may blame god, some may blame the hurricane but the only thing standing our holy things. >> an electrical fire ripping through a texas home following the catastrophic flooding. coming up is the unexpected survivor. ♪

protesting the americorp budget cuts. jonathan: message out.he demonstrators warned against the distinction of the corporation of the community service. that is because president trump proposed eliminating funding which supports 80,000 volunteers. so let the dinosaurs run. michelle: they look like they are having a good time. they can hardly run but still. bobbing the heads and having a good time. >> 90 degrees. it wouldn't be fun at all. jonathan: coming up next at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- the president response to north korea's launch. sending missiles over japan. >> we all do it driving around and around. did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's up to 16 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to faster downloads with internet speeds up to 250 megabits per second. get fast internet and add phone and tv now for only $24.90 more per month. our lowest price ever on this o

. >> the americorps began releasing water from two flood-control dams in houston this morning to prevent an even greater disaster. many people are questioning why houston was not evacuated before the storm. federal officials will hold a briefing in the next hour to update all of us on their response to this unfolding disaster. as president trump says he plans >>> let's begin with cnn's alex mark cart live in houston. >> reporter: across the city, roads have turned to rivers, catastrophic flooding, as you mentioned. there's an suv is that is almost completely submerged. a truck right behind that that has also gotten stuck, just to give you a sense of the rainfall, 20 to 25 inches falling so far on this area with reports of 30 inches in harris county, the most populous county here in houston with much more to come. this is an all-hands-on-deck rescue effort. an additional thousand national guard troops has. the authorities have been telling people to shelter in place, if flooding starts in their homes. they are telling them not to go up in the attics because they skould get stuck there. th

those companies are the geogroup and course attack formerly corrections of americorps cca. we have an incredible panel joining us tonight. shane bauer is a senior reporter for "mother jones" that he spent or months as a private recent guard and brought us a first-hand account of what happens in these prisons. he's also the author of liver of life about his -- welcome shane bauer. [applause] next to shane is jeanne woodford former undersecretary of the california department of corrections and rehabilitation and a strong opponent of the death penalty. jeanne woodford thanks for coming. [applause] and alysia santo flew in from new york for this. she's investigative journalist for the martial projects and nonprofit news organization covering the u.s. criminal justice system. she recently wrote an extensive piece on the business of private transport in some of the horrific literally horrific conditions of people face as they are driven thousands of miles so thanks for coming alysia santo. >> thanks for having me. [applause] i want to start by giving the audience some context aly

we run americorps, senior core. we do a lot of the action arm and volunteer work for fema.e in and help clean up. steve: congratulations. what does it mean with steve bannon leaving. >> this is obviously separate from my duties which i start next week, you know, this is something that we have to look at very carefully because steve bannon has unique knowledge of the inside workers of the trump white house. establishment people that may have been working against president trump. steve: inside the white house or washington in general. >> mostly inside the washington but washington in general. you are about to put on blast right now. steve: lee. >> this is a good moment for the president. symbolically he had to do it. severing ties with the alt right. toxic to the image of the white house. there is about 70, 75% of americans who really didn't approve of him. part of your job when you are a senior leader is to gain respect and approval of and trust of the american people. when you are in that kind of a role. so i think that it is a good thing that donald trump has severed ties