You are down at midnight district of houston the ninth district of houston. Hows the city doing today . Guest good morning and thank you for allowing us to be on. Im appreciative to cspan and im very much appreciative to the people who have volunteered and literally come in from other states to help us out in houston. Samaritansod within the state and out of the state. With prayers i extend to those in harms way and those who have been victims of this horrible circumstance. Currently in houston, we still have rain and we still have people who are stranded and we are try to get help to them as quickly as possible. We have people volunteering with their own boats to go out and help retrieve people. The coast guard is out rescuing people. We have seen people rescued by way of helicopter and more helicopters available now, which was a concern i had earlier that there were people stranded on rooftops and places where they could be to get a helicopter to we have an area in the southern part of the and if it may flood does, it would engulf several communities. We have had to open an Emergency Shelter at the high school. Open and many shelters churches are opening up and allowing parishioners to come in. It is something that parishioners expect because the head of this place of worship and expect to be able to go there to get help in th and they do. Houston has been a city that has always responded in a time of crisis. When katrina hit new orleans, which is my hometown, we had people come here. We opened our doors and our arms and rolled out the red carpet. The kinding now that of behavior is being reported. People all over the country are helping us here in houston. For this, we are eternally grateful. Host i do not know if you will have time to visit the president s trip down to texas. What do you make of his visit . What do you want to hear from him . Guest i want to hear him talk how we are going to recover because this is not a matter of months, weeks, years. This may be more than a decade in the making, this recovery. Its going to be expensive. It will engulf the entire state of texas and into louisiana. This has been an epic event. This is something you just dont see in your lifetime if youre lucky. Unfortunately we are seeing it and i want to hear talk about how we are going to recover. I want to hear us talk about how we will fund the recovery. How we will help without hurting others. I am a believer in the notion that the federal government is supposed to step up and take care of its people in times such as this. I supported the help in superstorm sandy. I believe that was the right thing to do. This is what the government is for the security of people. My hope is that we will be able to provide the necessary funding. Im not talking about being extravagant. Im not talking about adding things to a bill such as border a border wall. I want to see a bill thats going to talk about helping people without hurting other people and without getting into petty politics about some jingle of whos going to pay for the wall. That is beyond the pale. This is Serious Business and we ought to keep it as such. Host as we get into that relief bill and when you get up to capitol hill, th do you have a ballpark figure in your mind of what youre going to need . Guest i can tell you this. I was in louisiana after katrina. I saw the devastation in the lower ninth ward. I saw where the levees breached. I saw the streets and the cars that were turned over and how homes had literally been moved from their slabs by virtue of the force of nature, the water. I have some sense of what the damages were there. I have traversed my district. I was out earlier this morning out on highway 288, which is more than 100 yards wide. It goes below grade level because the streets go over this highway and its a river now. Water is flowing through it very much akin to the way water flows down the mississippi. I have been out to the southern part of the city and i have seen where the tornadoes hit and how trees were snapped and homes have been damaged. My District Office in the Missouri City area has been damaged by a tornado. We are having to move out. We are looking for an office in a time of crisis when we need the office. We are out searching for an office. I have seen the people coming into the center that was opened just last night. 4 00 yesterday in the afternoon we opened up a shelter for people who are having to evacuate. Mandatory evacuation, i might add, because of the flooding. Within an hour or two the place was filled to capacity. People with their children and their animals. You saw people of all stripes. My district is so diverse. You saw all of the diversity there. My point to you is this having seen new orleans, having seen what has happened in houston and continually monitoring it, im convinced we are talking in excess of 100 billion. I dont have a yardstick to accurately assess the damages. I can tell you we are talking about the state of texas and we are talking about other areas that might be impacted. I think we are talking about damages in excess of 100 billion. Host congressman al green, i know its a busy day for you. We continue to appreciate you checking in with us on the washington journal. Guest thank you for allowing me to be on and i begged that persons in need of help continue to signal us by placing a white sheet or towel outside of your residence. So that we can make sure help gets to you. Help is on the way. I wish it could get there faster , but it is on the way. Host thank you, sir. Best of look to you. Book tv recently visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they are reading this summer. I just finished a book called the moral irishman, about thomas muller, a leader of the young ireland movement. He escaped to america and became a Brigadier General in the civil war and was the first governor of montana. Its an intriguing book and one i would recommend. I just finished reading born to run by Bruce Springsteen, one of my alltime favorite musicians and philosophers. Im also in the middle of the fredericksburg campaign. its a civil war book. The last book that i intend to read the summer is the new jim crow, about criminal Justice Reform here in the red states. What sparked your interest in the Bruce Springsteen story . Ive been a Bruce Springsteen fan since roughly 1978. One of my first concerts was the concert thanksgiving eve in 1980. It was one of the most memorable nights in my life. If printing back to my cousin who was killed in 9 11 and we played guitar together and learn ed springsteen songs. What shaped and molded that mind that created musical lyrics and music. I look forward to finishing that. Book tv wants to know what youre reading. Send us your Summer Reading list at book to be or instagram at book tv or posted to our facebook page. We are live this afternoon at the National Press club in washington for remarks from derrick johnson, the interim president of the naacp. He will talk about the recent travel advisory at the naacp issued for missouri. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the National Press club where we have trademarked a moniker of being the worlds leading professional organization for journalists. Also where i have been saying this year, in challenging times, the freedom of the press, that we are the constitution. I am the editor for Al Jazeera English and the 110th president of the National Press club. We are pleased to have as our headline luncheon