Transcripts For FBC Cavuto Coast To Coast 20170829

If either of these reservoirs were to breach their berms, look what is out there . 3,000 homes and residences out there, all in jeopardy. That is what is threatened at this hour. Already water is going out the spillway, crossing what is route 6 out there. That road out there is route 6. Already water overbreaching that. And headed into those homes. Theyre hoping though, that is as bad as it gets. It is pretty bad. Well show you next hour what that looks like. For now, it holding. They hope it continues to hold. Neil jeff, thank you, very, very much. By the way to jeffs point, it rice it is really not just houston but Hillary Vaughn is here. Hi, hillary. Reporter they got off one of people just rescued. They were waiting since 4 00 a. M. For a response. What did you feel waiting for the rescue crew . Obviously keeping the girls safe. Luckily were in a second story home. We hunkered down there. We wanted older neighbors to get out first. Were ablebodied, so. Reporter what did you decide to take with you . How much time did you have to make the decision . We had ten minutes. We had our stuff upstairs and passports and clothes for the girls and we were out of there. Reporter neil, one family rescued at this point right here. More people getting off the boats here. Many with backpacks and bags of their things. One woman told me she lived in this neighborhood. It backs up to the river. That is why we see the water so high. She said, at 4 00 a. M. This morning there was about six inches of water in her home. By 7 00 a. M. , it was several feet high. So that is how hard and how fast the rain is really pouring down. And this entire operation, here, is volunteer. Everyone you see here, not a member of the coast guard. Not a member of the police force. Everyone came from different parts of texas, volunteering their time and really getting people out of these neighborhoods. They have had about 50 run this is morning. Theyre going right back out to get more people. Many more people are in the flooded neighborhoods. You can see, right here. It is up to my knees. Further back there, it is over waistdeep. Neil . Neil thank you very much, Hillary Vaughn. To put in perspective the enormity what youre looking at. This is americas fourth largest city. A Major Urban Center accounts for half a billion dollars a year on behalf of three million residents. Most have a tough time, getting around, even if theyre around at all. All this at a time the president of the United States is visiting to see what the federal government can do to work with state and local officials to make sure they get through all of this. President trump is due there later today. Corpus christie will be the place and saturday he will return. Blake burman is in the white house. Reporter President Trump and first lady are expected to land in Corpus Christi next 30, 45 minutes. They are joined by several members of the administration. Cabinet members. Chief of staff john kelly, congressional liaison, and hud secretary, dr. Ben carson, Small Business administrator linda mcmahon, give you a sense how broad the government effort is with this storm. Whenever the president travels they are normally highlyscripted affairs. Press secretary sara sanders saying bored air force one that the conditions will dictate this one. The plan is for the president to go to a fire station there in Corpus Christie, get a briefing, firsthand account on what is going on the frowned and head to the state capital in austin to the Emergency Operations center there. The plan in texas very fluid depending on situation on the ground. Of course one of the big concerns here is for the president and his security detail not to disrupt or not to distract from any of the ongoing recovery and Search Missions there in Corpus Christie. Sanders saying a little while ago, and i quote here, she said the president wants to be very cautious about making sure that any activity doesnt disrupt the Recovery Efforts that are still ongoing, end quote. She says what theyre doing today, is laying the foundation for what they know is going to be a long recovery effort in terms of that long effort. Neil, were also being told that the president is planning to return to that region on saturday, possibly texas, and louisiana. Neil . Neil do we know what the return visit, blake, where that will be . Could it possibly be houston . Is that too dangerous right now, for anyone . Potentially houston. I mean clearly they can not go there right now because of the flooding. Corpus christie was hit friday night into saturday and sunday. That is, a much safer environment for the commanderinchief, for the president of the United States to be. The conditions are really going to dictate this one. I would think the president and his staff at some point would like to get there. This is one of those they can not control obviously at the white house and they will play this day by day. Neil it is a separate issue, one i wanted to bounce off of you, blake, i dont want to hit you broadside, but this disruption of harvey, will lessen likelihood of a potential government shutdown, whatever reasons or virtues for the argument not hiking the debt ceiling you wouldnt risk something that would potentially freeze fund to the folks who need it here. So it could actually work to the advantage of keeping the government lights on, raising the debt ceils, continuing to fund the government, et cetera. This is in a weird way has kind of improved those odds. Reporter there was article out there in the hill saying just that, neil. The aid that will need to be passed by congress, many billions of dollars likely, could be potentially be tied to the Government Spending bill. Could be potentially tied to the debt ceiling. When you wrap that up, the question, how could you vote against spending for harvey or aid for harvey . As you know, funding for Hurricane Sandy became a political football. Now that is being brought back to many folks, saying remember what happened with sandy. Lets not go through that again. Even while it seems like a nobrainer that funding for harvey would get passed, you got to turn back to what happened with sandy, how that devolved into a political situation there. But certainly, neil, one of the possible scenarios, believe it or not, that is rising to the surface on this day, is whether or not they could tie this harvey funding potentially into the spending bill, potentially into the debt ceiling. So that this is something that nobody can turn and eye to. Neil thank thank you, blake bu, thank you very much. Blake harkening back to the sandy funding, better than 60 billion, had a lot of things added to it, at the time stuck in the craw of john boehner, speaker at the time, who was concerned what they were doing pouring a lot of needless spending in order to get this through on the backs of sandy. It enraged new Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was looking for relief from his state. He criticized the speaker by name. That is then. This is now. Not quite the same amount of grief on both sides as was the case back then. But again, some fear in this environment that using this as the catalyst, and maybe some say the excuse, will see a lot more spending going on. That does not appear to be the case for now but that was certainly the case with sandy back in 2012. In the meantime this issue whether youre covered or not what is happening right now, via Mother Nature is an issue topic one for, certainly for a lot of these texas homeowners. Only one offy which have some coverage for Flood Insurance. But even that, as i came to find out talking to a houston resident yesterday, doesnt cover nearly everything. Take a look. When were you told you would get a quarter of what you thought . Last night, we got a call from the insurance brokers. She even said, i have good news from you, you will get the maximum amount. Im like, going, great. When she tells me the maximum amount is less than a quarter of what our home cost, im going, i hand the phone to my husband. I couldnt even believe she was telling me that. Neil all right. To the Insurance Information institute, Vice President of media relations, michael barry. Michael is that true . A lot of people undercoverred . They might have the coverage and Flood Insurance, but reading the fine print theyre not covered for full value of property. First off im very sorry to hear about that womans plight, neil but i can explain a little bit probably what happened here. Femas National Flood Insurance Program caps coverage for dwelling damage to 250,000 per home. 100,000 per, per homes contents. What sound like happened hear, there was some kind of communication breakdown where this homeowner was not told about the private sector offering excess Flood Insurance coverage. There is coverage kick in after the fema National Flood Insurance Program policy limits were met. Neil so, you would know what youre signing, right . People would know whether they, this is the full replacement value of the home, god forbid destroyed by a flood. Do you know offhand, how many houstonians are in that position that they will be fully covered or the numbers are stark as we hear, 4 to 5 are not, one of five that are, might not be covered than the full coverage of property. Harris county has more people than any other area in the country. The bulk of insurance are in three states, theyre in florida, louisiana, texas. But when you look at houston, there is a lot of homes that are not so much the market value, were looking at as you correctly indicated. Were looking what would to cost to replace these homes in the event of a total loss . So for high, higherend homes in floodprone areas, their insurance professional whom theyre dealing with, should have spoken to them, or homeowner should have looked into, is this fema National Flood Insurance Program policy cover me in event after total loss . For a highend home were talking about here, that home is going to need some excess Flood Insurance policy to cover it beyond the 250,000. Neil how many of these people are just going to be out of luck though . In other words when all said and done after this storm coverage they thought they had they dont . Since the storm is going on it is unclear at this point how many homeowners were talking about here, the key thing to keep in mind, win caused damage it will be caused by home ownedders insurance coverage. Tornadoes came as part of harvey. That will be caused under homeowners policy wind covered damage under homeowners policy. Standard Business Property insurance, flood caused damage is covered under fema National Flood insurance policies as well as those who got excess Flood Insurance policies in the private sector. Neil thank you very much. Well see if it sorts out for these homeowners. Life and debt issues are priority now. Insurance and settlement costs something they worry about in the future. Exxonmobile is shutting down yet another refinery, another operation. This is a following the beaumont shutdown. This follows on the heels of the baytown refinery. Baytown was second largest in the u. S. Beaumont i believe is close to the largest. It has Refining Capacity now hinders what is coming out of that region, the gulf region, now north of three Million Barrels a day, or more than 16 of u. S. Oil capacity is shuttered for this neck of the woods. Maybe for quite some time to come. 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He wants to get an update along with several key cabinet officials, what they can and will do to help out in the Recovery Efforts going on there, both state and local level. On this issue here. One of the biggest storms damagewised, happened at least since sanday back in 2012, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie dealt with the crisis. Had fights internally with local residents and officials who were not towing the line or urgency of the line, the pair parallels he sees. All that exclusive interview with the new jersey governor coming up 4 00 p. M. Eastern time on your world. Flooding continues in houston where a lot of home values are dropping substantially. Fox businesss Tracee Carrasco with the very latest. Reporter for americans who own their homes that is where most of their value is. Most homeowners seeing flooding for the first time based on harvey. Values typically drop at least 15 . Homes with water damage from harvey, could see their valuations by drop as much as 60 . The good news, if there is really any, flooded homes tend to regain the previous value within four years on average. Meanwhile fannie mae said it guaranties loans on 36,000 homes in harveys initial impact area, with 5. 1 billion in unpaid principle balance. Freddie mac says so far it counted 167,000 homes with mortgages it secured in the 18 counties affected by harvey. Under fannie maes Disaster Relief guidelines a mortgage servicer may suspend or reduce a homeowners mortgage payments up to 90 days if it believes the Natural Disaster has adversely affected value and habitability of the property. If the Natural Disaster had impact on homeowners ability to make mortgage payments. They will provide whose places of employment have been impacted by the storm. Neil, these figures are all preliminary as more homes will likely be impacted this week as harvey is forecasted to bring more flooding to these areas. Obviously inspectors have not been able to assess the homes. Neil all right, thank you very much, tracee. Weve got 9,000 individuals in the Houston Convention center. The red cross saying texas shelters are housing more than 17 evac you es right now. More likely on the way, 17,000 evacuees. How is it looking . Thanks for having me, neil. It is a very active situation as you mentioned. Close to 9,000 people staying in the Brown Convention center. Were moving them to some other locations. Our priorities is making sure everyone has a safe place to stay. 80 tractortrailers of supplies, six mobile kitchens that can serve 10,000 meals a day. We have 72,000 meals ready to eat. I say that because this is an unprecedented massive effort for the red cross. Just from my perspective on the ground here in san antonio, im about to head to houston. Im just amazed by the rush of resources coming into this community. Were focused on getting help as distinguishly as possible to as many people they know they need it. Neil how do they decide or you decide, jonathan who goes where in some evacuation facilities . Earlier yesterday san antonio volunteered to help out where it can. Dallas, they were looking at ways they can help out any way they can. How do you decide who goes where and when . That is where we work closely with our federal, state and local partners. Were attached at the hip communicating with them around the clock, to determine first and foremost safety of red cross staff and volunteers. Put them in safe location, get a hot meal. Rest for a while. Take a deep breath which many people need. That is collaborative effort with all of our partners. Were working closely with government officials and everybody to put as many people as possible in a safe location as possible. Neil thank you, sir. I want to switch. Governor greg abbott of texas is talking to reporters ahead of the president. Likely doing the same thing. What do you want to tell them right now to people who are listening . Everyone in the state of texas is focused first on saving every life that we can. Then we want to help in the evacuation and transition process and in typical texas fashion we will rebuild and make it better than ever. What about a aid package plan, that in the works and what is the status of that right now. The president and his team have been talking to us about providing tremendous aid. It will be one of the things we talk in more detail about today. It will be something that the president is able to provide from his resources but also part will be an appropriation from the United States congress. What else in the fayway of fema can fema do . I know they have done a lot so far. There are a whole lot of different tools fema has available and that will be one of the things we talk about. Let me go. What do you hope the president takes away from what he sees out here . We want him to see and understand, of the enormous challenges that texans have faced and the need for the aid he provided. He is a champion of texans and a champion of helping us rebuild. Areas that have been dealing with all of these problems as well. There is talk as well this has found a Silver Lining here. That a lot of what has been going on in washington could be affected by this. A measure that would combine aid to texas, and emergency relief to the gulf would be part of a keeping the government lights on, a funding measure, called for increasing debt ceiling, that the government continues to remain funded. The debt ceiling is hiked. All is okay. Because of these developments in texas. So the one good you could say could come out of it, is the fact that urgent funding need will be met. This will be the way they will be met. We should be hearing shortly from the president of the United States after he gets off of air force one. Well have more after this. Poor mouth breather. Allergies . Stuffy nose . Cant sleep . Take that. A breathe right nasal strip instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than allergy medicine alone. Shut your mouth and say goodnight, mouthbreathers. Breathe right. Neil all right. President trump has arrived in Corpus Christi, texas. He will be greeted by Texas Governor greg abbott. The latest rundown on what is going on in the state right now. Any and all help the state needs via the federal government. The president has been talking to him. He has his cabinet secretaries in toe. He will get a tour of the Corpus Christie area. Not like japan tom itself more than already has. We would like to provide the Nuclear Umbrella to our japanese ally there because we dont want to increase nuclear proliferation. So not only north koreans watching to see how japan responds, but certainly china is watching to see how japan responds as well. To reiterate how dangerous this was. This missile flew over japanese airspace. Neil right. In 2009 it was a space launch and in 1998 it was a space launch that went over japan. This was an actual missile that flew over japan. Very serious, very provocative. It reinforces missile defenses. We can all see ramping up of missile defenses in japan and south korea and u. S. Homeland which would be incredibly prudent at this point. Neil can you think of possibly an accident or going astray, possibilities are endless. Rebecca, thank you very much. Youre looking at ongoing rescue and Recovery Efforts right now for vehicles stuck in the water. This is the scene in houston. You have heard these analogies about biblical floods and the rest. They are already recordsetting floods. They stand to get worse. Keep in mind what became a Tropical Storm, more like a swelling now in the gulf later tonight is returning to houston later tonight. It does not end. The president will be updated on all of that after this. Can be. For fastacting, longlasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. It quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. Relieve heartburn with fast acting, longlasting gaviscon. And helps keep acid down for hours. From godaddy in fact, 68 of people who have built their. Website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. Build a better website in under an hour. With gocentral from godaddy. con artists. theyll try anything to get your Medicare Card number. So they can steal your identity, commit medicare fraud. What can you do . Guard your card . Guard your card . Just like your credit card. Nobody gets my number, unless i know they should have it. To protect your identity, new Medicare Cards without Social Security numbers will be mailed next year. Visit medicare. Gov fraud stay sharp people neil all right. Rescue efforts are continuing right now. This is how they do it. On the lefthand side of your screen. They come in by boat, if youre stranded in the water and the waters are getting higher. That resulted in one familys death in a van. Theyre trying to avoid that repeating itself. They come in boat, or urge residents with a boat, anything they can to rescue them. That is the only way you can be rescued. Outside the Houston Convention center, well over initial capacity right now. One of the places that evacuees are going. The more evac you es are coming, at this point, better than 30,000, not just there, spread out in the greater houston area. Fox news Caroline Shively with h the late in houston of the caroline . Reporter hi, neil. The max capacity was supposed to be 5000. They busted through that yesterday. The latest count, 9,000 this morning, they keep on coming. No longer accepting buses. If you come on foot, they will let you in. You may not get a cot but a place to stay with a hot meal. Look outside, the not just evacuees arriving, people maybe their homes are not together but they want to get in here. Taking a look inside, this is what they are doing. These folks are sorting clothes and getting donations, formula, food, cups in place, putting all together for people arrived here barefoot. Some dripping wet. This is what they need. This is what the volunteers of houston bringing them. We shot video earlier today. Look inside of the shelter itself. Yesterday it was lunch room, a place to get donations. A place to watch a little tv. Today it is turning into a dormitory. They are laying out cardboard. Theyre swaddling up in blankets. Whole families lying on the floor. That is not what they wanted to do. The red cross have more cots, they are staged outside of houston. The water is too high to get in. The mayor last hour announced he is looking to fema. He put an official request in. He wants another 10,000 cots and food and supplies. He wants it by tomorrow. Of the things are getting a bit more desperate here. Theyre not running out of food and not running out of volunteers. Neil, back to you. Neil caroline, want to thank you very much. Update this from righter, exxon is indeed shutting that beaumont refinery due to harvey. In case youre counting two major refineries affecting close to 20 of the Refining Capacity in the gulf and that is stymied maybe or a while. Energy analyst Stephen Schork joins us. How long do you think it goes on, and i longer it goes on the the on more disruptive it could get and disruptive for gas prices . Certainly. Refineries from Corpus Christie and houston shuttered a good deal. That represents more than a third of Refining Capacity linked to the New York Mercantile Exchange contracts. Now that the storm is moving as you noted to the louisiana, texas border, we will shut down beaumont, looks like, and big fear of port arthur, in the same vicinity, largest refinery in the United States. That area accounts for another 1. 5 Million Barrels a day of capacity. As we continue to move toward east, louisiana, mississippi border, were talking another 3. 7 Million Barrels a day of production. Clearly were not out of the woods. You can not put a time frame. The rain hasnt stopped. We still dont know the extent of flooding damage. This is clearly setting up to be an ongoing bullish event for the product markets, especially gasoline but i want to point out as bullish as this event is for the gasoline market. It is that much bearish for the crude oil market. Neil you read my mind. What i wanted to ask. Why does oil continue to go down . Gasoline futures are up another 4 or so today, up five cents today, about a buck 77 per gal hon. I always remind people that is quoted in pure gasoline prices without the taxes thrown in which maybe remind you how much taxes are. Of course. Neil what is going on here . Well in the crude oil market we have the biggest difference between now and the last time we had a significant event in the gulf, that was twit with hurricanes ike and because starve, in 2012 we reverse ad major pipeline that used to take oil imports into houston and shipped them up into the middle of the country. With the growing growth of u. S. Production and canadian production. That pipeline was reversed, netnet, we move more oil from the midcontinent down to houston than the other way around to the tune of 200,000 barrels a day according to the figures from last year. So that is 200,000 barrels of oil coming from the mid United States down to the houston market area. Now typically that oil is either going to be boiled at refineries there in the houston market area into product or it is going to be exported because the United States is now a growing power in the export market but when we have that many refineries shut down you cant boil the crude oil. The ports are all closed, so you cant export that oil. Were Still Producing that oil. So that glut will continue to build the longer those ports and those refineries remain closed and the best way to look at this, look what is happening between the wti, which is the crude oil contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchanges, and brent crude market based in the north sea in britain which is prompt for the global and there is a tremendous chasm growing with brent prices well above wti, simply because the wti Grade Crude Oil can not get to the market. So longer these refineries remain closed, again it will be very bullish for the product markets, very bearish for the crude oil markets. Neil real quickly on gasoline, were not seen it at the pump just yet. I like to remind people, we overobsess about storms in given region because of pictures, video, what have you, it does affect them whether they like the attention to it or not. What will be the pickup that weve seen in the futures markets . How soon will they show up at the pump . Well, i should say the one caveat, one good note is that the strict epa laws that garner speck of gasoline different parts of the year have been lifted. They will get what gasoline they can to the market. Certainly well see shortages in the texas area. The Colonial Pipeline that takes gas and diesel from houston up the east coast to new york harbor, so lets go on history. During katrina, worst of the worst we saw a 40cent rise in the price of gasoline but it was very shortlived. In 2008, we saw 20cent rise in the price of gasoline but once again it was very shortlived. Why was it short lived . Because in economics 101, high prices are the best cure for high prices. When you create that huge regional arbitrage with one price so above the other you are incentivizing market in this case a lot of gasoline from europe to make its way over the atlantic to alleviate any sort of shortages. Lets not sugar coat this you will see certainly a rise based on history, could be anywhere up to 20 cents. I dont think well see a 40cent rise we saw during katrina but certainly near term, a 15, 20cent rise is possible. I think it will be shortlived. Keep in mind, this weekend is labor day holiday. Were through the peak holiday season. Gas demand through september and october will begin to ebb. As the demand begins to ebb, we supplement supplies coming from abroad we should keep a reasonable cap on gasoline prices. Neil thank you very, very much, stephen. Very good to know. A lot of you listening to that, fearing that possibility, shortlived it might be to stephens point, i think these people in this neck of the woods are worried about far more serious things, like their lives, like being safe. Wondering when these floodwaters ever go. Wondering whether the fourth richest, most successful city in america is virtually stopped. They want to start again. Right now, they cant. 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He is being briefed on the storm relief efforts. On the right, rescue efforts that continue across pretty much the greater houston area. Talk that the president will visit that as soon as saturday when he returns to the state. To the independent journal reviews erin mcpike, Washington Examiner erin how the president is dealing with his first Natural Disaster crisis. Gabby, what do you think . This is milestone in his presidency. Certainly something his predecessors didnt have to face until well into their first or second terms. He has handled it well. They worked with local and state officials to insure not only is the president uptodate what is happening in houston and other areas impacted by storm but what other officials need to rescue people and begin to rebuild these areas. This trip, certainly marks, set as different tone for this president. It will be interesting to see how he handles it. If he returns later this week, whether he is still disciplined on message, able to show off his leadership. Neil erin, one of the thing he talked about, he will provide any and all resources texans need to be okay. And that is, raised the possibility that he will go ahead and hike the debt ceiling attaching, probably a rescue effort plan to keep the government open. What do you hear about that . Well, neil, i think that is one of the most important things in terms of his response. Can he get that through . Can he get it through cleanly . Will he follow through . I think gabby is right. Going back on saturday will be very important. This is really the beginning of the response. President trump is on the ground with several other cabinet secretaries. Neil right. This looks as though this administration is taking this head on and very seriously, putting a full throttle effort, forward. At least today, if they continue that into saturday. Maybe President Trump comes back on in a month and has the followthrough. Neil gabby, the katrina enormity came after the fact and flooding and levees breached and all this. Were seeing the flooding is an ongoing problem, maybe days or weeks. Then peoples patience might wear thin. Obviously the president might be looking at this to remind people, this is a long slog, right . Absolutely. Fema administrator brock long was on television this week saying this will be a years long effort to rebuild parts of texas devastated by this catastrophe and i think the president realizes the graph very of the situation. Weve seen that both in his remarks yesterday and the fact he is trying to push two visits in texas into one week. He is really committed to showing that his administration will be there, but his actions have to meet his words. I think that is what will be important to take a look at next week when Congress Returns to see if he continues to push his rhetoric on a government shutdown. Whether his administration continues to push for cuts to fema. That will be interesting as well. But certainly, if he is saying he is committed to one thing but urging the government to push for funding for his border wall and simultaneously approving a government shutdown, it will be really be difficult. Neil that might not happen now. This event could change it. Obviously event to go on to remind people. Ladies thank you both. Breaking news. Rescue effort continues. People getting out with their lives and anything they can, their pets, their belongings, anything, after this. Neil all right, President Trump is about to receive a briefing on whats going on in or Corpus Christi and throughout the state. Speaking of which, state farm the Insurance Company already says its received more than 15,000 claims thus far. You can bet there will be more, and other Insurance Companies will be reporting what could be the biggest insurance disaster in American History in terms of just sheer total cost. Harvey already setting a record of 49 inches of rain southeast of houston, more coming as well. Hillary vaughn in kingwood, texas, where a lot of these rescues that youve been seeing including this one live are ongoing. Reporter thats right, neil. Were hearing that most people have been clear ared out, at least the ones that wanted to leave, and now theyve heard theres more people waiting to be rescued. So a lot of these boats heading back out. But i do want to walk you through the amazing effort by the team here on the ground. These are all volunteers, some who grew up here, some from other parts of texas. The boats will come in, and theyll wade in this water up to, you know, chest deep. Theyll intercept the boats, guide them in, park them, help the rescuees get off the boat and bring them to the Higher Ground over here. Theyre meeting these boats, though, with buckets, measuring cups, anything they can use to bail out the water that these boats pick up while theyre rescuing people. Right now the rain has stalled a little bit, but earlier it was coming down really hard, so so thats another challenge, making sure the water stays out of the boats so they can pick up more people. A lot of them having to manage how much weight they can take on. They also said when theyre done clearing a house, theyre spraying it with spray paint so that they can cross it off and crews know that house is clear, no one is inside. They also tell me that people have been listening to the mayors calls to hang a white sheet. They said theyve seen a lot of white sheets on mailboxes, and thats really how theyre identifying what homes have people inside, what people need to be rescued and where they are. But theyre also encountering another problem. Those houses dont have any power, but some people dont want to leave. They are having a hard time convincing some homeowners to leave their belongings and houses even though they dont have power, and the water is rising fast, and its going to continue to rise throughout the day. And another challenge that we heard about the boats, a lot of them dont have lights. So now is the window of opportunity to get out of your neighborhood and out of your home. Once the sun starts to set, theres no garon tea theres guarantee theres going to be any boats available to safely navigate through these neighborhoods. Neil. Neil all right. Hillary, be safe yourself, in the middle of it all, quite literally. President trump, governorring abbott, ted cruz and other local officials, senator cornyn, are all there, and the president might speak, might not, but well be hearing more from what hes learning on how to handle this incredible storm. On the phone with us is joe alba, former fema director under president george w. Bush from 20012003. I believe, joe, your problems included an incident called 9 11, to say nothing of a couple of storms. And the one that was similar to this was allison. That was a Tropical Storm but caused a heck of a lot of damage in rains because it hung around a long time just like this one, huh . It certainly did. And as a matter of fact, many people evacuated inside their house into their attics, and that accounted for the bulk of the deaths. Neil is that right . During Tropical Storm allison. So if anybodys listening to neil today, do not go to your attic unless you have a safe way out. Do not go to your at you can. It is attic. It is problematic. Its not always, you know, the lightning, the storm u. S. , its the rising water the storm itself, its the rising water that causes death in storms like this. Neil yeah. I know weve chatted, sad lyrics on developments like this. Its after the initial hit, two out of three deaths, and the lions share of the injuries and problems start afterwards, right . Right. Neil the biggest thing to look for now is rising flood waters. And their continuing theyre continuing to rise, so what do people do . Thats right. They stay where they are temporarily, listen to local media, local officials. Follow their instructions. If Sylvester Turner tells you to put out a white sheet on your house, please do it so thatll help the search and rescue teams know where people are housed currently. The tough part is, as your reporter talked about, was getting people to leave their property. No one wants to leave their home, because they dont know what theyre going to come back to. But at least these things are replaceable. Lives are not replaceable so, please, follow search and team rescue and local leaders advice. Neil i just want to listen in, President Trump might be speaking on this, this briefing hes getting on the latest Recovery Efforts in texas. Our fellow texans and especially the people of Corpus Christi for giving the president such a warm welcome on his ride over here, showing the gratitude that we all have for the president. I want to express my deep gratitude to the president for him and his entire cabinet and staff for what they have done over the past couple of weeks. A lot of people see what happens in front of the camera. However, im going to reveal in just one minute thats been going on behind the scenes, behind the camera for the past two weeks. About ten days in advance of the hurricane even coming into the corps opus be christy area Corpus Christi area, members of the president s cabinet and the president himself were in contact with me and my office prepreparing for this catastrophe that was coming our way. And every step of the way as the hurricane came across the shore, as flooding began in houston, texas, the president and his cabinet remained this Constant Contact with me and my staff, and they all had one thing to say texas, what do you need. How can we help. You can count on us. What ive learned is we can count on the president of the United States and his staff for helping texas. Texas has been tested, but our response to this challenge has been made much more effective because of the very effective way the president and his staff have helped texas respond to this challenge. So, mr. President thank you. Thank you. Welcome to texas. I appreciate it. Its so nice, governor, and its really my honor. This is a very special place and a special state. And senator cruz and senator cornyn, thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it. I know its hard to get here for both of you. You were trapped in various locations, but we appreciate you both being here. I want to thank my staff, my cabinet. We have quite a few of our cabinet here. You know ben carson, obviously, from hud and tom price and linda mcmahon, Small Business. Small business which is now big business, because when you add em all up, youre going to be helping a lot of people in texas and doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much, linda. We have had a tremendous group of folks, our acting director, elaine, thank you very much for the job youve done. And a man whos really become very famous on television [laughter] the last couple of days, mr. Long. We appreciate it very much. You have been just outstanding. And i could tell you that [inaudible] is telling me how great your representatives have been in working together. Its a real team, and we want to do it better than ever before. We want to be looked at in five years and ten years from now as this is the way to do it. This was of epic proportion. Nobodys ever seen anything like this. And i just want to say that working with the governor and his entire team has been an honor for us. So, governor, again thank you very much, and we wont say congratulations. We dont want to do that. We dont want to congratulate. Well congratulate each other when its all finished, but you have been terrific. And overbeen my friend youve been my friend, too, for a long time. With that [inaudible] mr. President . So the whole community is coming together. You know, right here where the brunt of the category four hurricane came in just north of Corpus Christi, were already starting to affect recovery. Recovery is a slow process, but rest assured that were doing everything we can to unify our efforts down to support, you know, the local responders, the First Responders that we have here. Yesterday i put out a telegram that in rockport, we already have points of distribution flowing, were work aing in conjunction with the Governors National guard where femas supplying meals and water, and the National Guard is helping to run this distribution point. Thats how this system workings. All eyes are on houston and so are mine, weve got a long way to go, and were going to have to set up expectations, and were going to have to continue a unified effort down to help the state of texas ultimately recover. So very quickly, the objectives stay the same. The event, unfortunately, to the north of us is not over. Were still in a lifesaving, lifesustaining mission. Let me be clear, this is not the superdome. The Convention Center, we are sustaining food, they have food, security, i have an Incident Management Team inside the city of houston as we speak. And more and more people are being moved to shelters to stabilize the situation. The next thing is, is that were pushing commodities. Once the water goes down, well continue to push not only commodities, but also help to get people registered in the system to receive assistance from all of us, you know . Assistance doesnt just come from fema. It comes from Many Organizations who are represented here today by secretary price, secretary carson and others. The next thing is that were looking at, you know, power restoration. Were maintaining security, you know . Mobilize the Homeland Security Search Capacity force. With that comes Law Enforcement to make sure were overcoming and anticipating any security needs that we have. And then also with secretary price over here were working with not only the governors disaster medical teams, but were also sending federal disaster medical teams in not only to the Convention Center today, theres already some on site, but theres going to be multiple areas not only for crisis counseling, but also to make sure were meeting access and functional needs. The access is a challenge to getting all the supplies in once the Roadway Systems come out. Weve amassed quite the federal force to be able to support the local and state effort. For example, the governor pulled 12,000 National Guard troops in. Were pulling units out of fort hood and the federal government, federal do to d forces are coming in as well. Several hundred staff just from assets right here in the state of texas, and thats how the system works. This recoverys going to be frustrating. Were going to be here with you to help you guide through it. Its going to be tough to navigate all of the programs that come available, but were here to help. So with that, id like to pass it along to our friends with the coast guard. Mr. President , good afternoon, sir. This is where your coast guard, sir, is at its best. We are here in the state of texas to support the state of texas, federal Emergency Management [inaudible] we have men and women across the country, capabilities with helicopters [inaudible] and theyre on deck, sir, in texas getting after the task at hand. Id be remiss, sir, to not tell you as you look, obviously, landfall here phase one is down here [inaudible] local folks speaking more about that. Up in houston we are all challenged there. We brought everything [inaudible] the weather for the next couple of days is going to remain challenging. Well probably see average rainfall for the year, and i dont think we know what that looks like. I can tell you, the coast guard, department of Homeland Security team, dod force, National Guard has spent sunday and monday with the governor in different locations. We are [inaudible] with the state. Were Getting Better every day. This is a problem of catastrophic proportions, sir, i dont think weve done before, but we are all in, were aligned, and im very encouraged about how [inaudible] with that, sir, id just like to give captain tony han a couple moments here [inaudible] morning, mr. President. Captain tony han, second in command [inaudible] incident commander, unified command comprised of over 150 federal, state and local agency, and we also [inaudible] i want to walk the timeline of our activities that weve done over the course of hurricane harvey. Just to you know where were at. On tuesday the storm shifted and became a hurricane. Our job is to [inaudible] and thats what we started doing on wednesday. We started making preparations. We locked down facilities, we did [inaudible] evacuating all get our forces out of harms way and our people so we could come back in after the storm to help [inaudible] as soon as we can. On friday we move our boats and aircraft away from the storm to [inaudible] so now were, harvey was upgraded to a category four hurricane, our team [inaudible] continuity of operations about 20 miles or so from here [inaudible] ready to do that. When harvey made landfall, several ships in the port of Corpus Christi broke their moorings, and mariners in distress [inaudible] at that point we set our helicopters north and [inaudible] later on saturday morning we began our port assessment. Conditions werent good for putting boats in the water. Among the damage, we noted [inaudible] the front of the Corpus Christi channel. We continued with search and rescue saturday. The weather conditions wouldnt allow for us to be on the water [inaudible] were working on that. So sunday, now the storm shifted up to houston. So we surge all our search and rescue up to houston. And were helping every way we can with that effort by [inaudible] were using our [inaudible] down here to all over the saw state to make sure that the operations [inaudible] additionally, we brought our boats up from the south so we could start our operational activities here. So monday we started our Water Operations its a huge effort, all the activity [inaudible] the army corps of engineer began a survey of the channel, checking for obstructions, and our Navigation Team started their evaluation channel markers, just to make sure we open the port and its safe. So far weve found 180 grounded vessels, those are Major Concerns [inaudible] last night tide came up, winds came out of the [inaudible] the storm had actually drifted over to the other side of the channel. Additionally, were working with the texas General Land Office on [inaudible] so far the good news is weve not seen anything [inaudible] so to chose, about onethird were done with our Channel Survey with the army corps. Well be in good position to open the port. Right now our biggest challenge right now is [inaudible] and thatll be [inaudible] were really looking at [inaudible] well, i want to tell you, and i can speak for the governor because we spoke about it, we are very proud of the coast guard, the job theyve done, the lives theyve saved. Were very, very proud of you. Thank you very much. Mr. President , about a couple thousand rescues a day rolled up with everybody else [inaudible] we are in with the Border Protection agency, with the pilots on the waterways. Conditions right now are not amenable to getting the ports open. We recognize thats a National Priority and [inaudible] thank you. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Mr. President , before the press pulls out, theres some information that id like to share in regards to how citizens can get involved. Here again, its the whole community, neighbor helping neighbor is going to be needed in helping texas overcome. So very quickly, if you, if you would like to register for assistance underneath the governors declared counties, theres 18 declares counties for individual assistance underneath the president s disaster declaration. Thats disasterassistance. Org. Thats excuse me, disasterassistance. Gov. I apologize. Disasterassistance. Gov. Thats the fema individual Assistance Center system. Theres also ways if youre looking to volunteer, nvoad. Org. Theres also within the state of texas one star foundation. Org. Theres also and well redcross. Org as well. Thank you, and at this time well just conclude the press briefing. Thank you very much. Thank you. Neil all right. Youve been listening in on a briefing with the president of the United States with all the rescue personnel there, the fema administrator saying this is not the superdome, this is not new orleans, this is not katrina, that we are on top of this. People and evacuees are being protected, and we will not forget that. This will not be and that seems to be something that was first recommended by senator grassley and a number of others who have urged the president not to let this turn into a disaster for this president. And so far that does not appear to be the case at all on the phone. Back with us, joe alba, the former fema director under president george w. Bush. How do you think the coordination is going, joe, right now . Well, i would tell you its textbook so far. The governor is in charge locally, the president s now engaged, and as he was last week declaring the emergency in advance of the storm actually hitting. Brock long, ive known him for a long time. Hes grown up in this business with tenure in mississippi, tenure in georgia, and you could not have a better individual leading this on the ground. This is exactly what should have happened at katrina, didnt happen, and the strength goes to the the state organization. St the responsibility of the state to have a response, an Emergency Response mechanism in place. Texas has one of best. California, florida, new york. But the states that have weak organizations there, thats where disasters tend to get out of hand. We saw that 12 years ago today. Neil whos in charge, joe . It seems like a simple kind of a question, but there was confusion as to jurisdiction over what. I notice federal authorities constantly say they defer to the local authorities right. Neil but, of course, they provide the federal government muscle and help and even up to troops that they need. Explain how that works, because in katrina it didnt. Well, it didnt work because it was a newlycreated Organization Called the department of Homeland Security. I used to report directly to the president in my role as fema director, and my predecessor reported to the president. Thats the way it needs to be done. And im hoping brock can rise out from that role as the director and report directly to the president. It is a relationship between the feds and the state and local. Threeway, a tripod, if you will. But all three have to be in the room at the same time pirginging out how figuring out how things operate. And i commend fema and the president and Governor Abbott for looking forward, looking ahead, far forward out of that fox hoel before the foxhole before the storm hit. And thats why you have the close coordination and corporation you have today, and thats the way its supposed to work. Neil how does it work when there are differences between Governor Abbott and the mayor of houston over evacuations . The houston mayor wasnt keen on it, said it would cause more problems than it was worth, millions of people leaving en masse at the same time. He had a valid point, and the governor wasnt about to second guess him is and even in interviews since has not. How do you handle that, coordinate that, avoid overlap with that . Its called communication, you know . Its real simple. You cannot have a failure to communicate. And everyone has to be on the same song sheet. They may have started out wrong, but or on the wrong foot, but now theyre together. And i understand why mayor turner made the decision he did. I dont agree with it neil right. But its water under the bridge. We shouldnt relitigate it. The governor of the state did exactly what he should have done. Governor abbott is a great individual. He said listen to your local elected officials. Thats exactly how it should work. Those people on the lines, those First Responders have the best information available, not some bureaucrat this washington. In washington. And i am, i am pleased with the way this is unfolding percent state for the state of texas and the citizens of our country because we are demonstrating how this should happen, it is happening, and everyones going to be safer as a result, and more lives will be saved as a result during this response time. Neil real quickly, joe, just on the president visiting, there was even criticism much as there was of president bush going down to louisiana after katrina. You come too soon, people say youre getting in the way. You wait a while, they say youre heartless. The president always has to have that balance. How is the balance for this president visiting Corpus Christi today . He did avoid houston today so far, but what do you make of that . I dont take, i take all that criticism with a grain of salt. I mean, any president s going to get criticized, particularly this president who has so many people upset, and it really doesnt matter in the big picture of things. Whats important is that we have a good, coordinated effort on the ground saving lives, trying to protect property. Its still raining there, so i think all those naysayers need to shut up [laughter] and back off and let people do their jobs, which is saving lives. Neil that is well put, joe. Thats what i missed about you in your press conferences. You would say stuff like that. I found them very direct you saying you miss me on national tv, neil . Neil i do. I got a kick out of those blunt moments. Well, you need someone blunt neil you do. Youre absolutely right. When life and property is at risk, either step forward, step aside or get the hell out of the way. And criticizing, you know, with monday morning quarterbacking neil absolutely. Does not work when someones life is at risk. And weve got plenty of people till . Harms still in the harms way. This is going to come back to shore with more power and hit louisiana next. Neil yeah. Its not done, to your point. Joe, thank you very much. All right, neil. Neil joe alba, former fema director. I do miss his directness. Of course, you never ask him a tough question in person, because hes ruthless. Jeff flock is on the ground in houston. Of course, they are looking now at still more flooding to come, to joes point. What are you seeing there right now, jeff . Reporter well, thats the scary part, neil, and that we talked to you earlier at the start of the show about the reservoir thats up there, and some people decided finally, you know what . I think i might just cut bait here. Mary jackson is one of them. You were here until the power went out, and then i stayed my power went out last night about five, and so i stayed overnight because i didnt want to nobody was going to come and get me at night, and i didnt want to. Also my neighbors, who were in a singlestory home, i had contacted them, and they were in the process of coming over to my house. So i didnt want to leave until they got in and i i knew they were safe reporter speaking of safe and help, you know, theyve done a great job, neil, in this. People rescuing pets as well. Katrina that was one that didnt go so well, and i dont know if hey, dave, can you come over here . Weve got a couple of rescuees. Evacuees . Reporter some volunteers took the pets. Yes, some volunteers took the cats first, took my dogs, then took my belongings and came back and got me. Reporter well, i dont know what we said to set them off, but there you go. Maybe another dog. Hows this been so far . You know, president was just on. The response, have you gotten any feel for the response . Because i havent had power, i havent watched any of the national response. I can tell you that in my neighborhood i am overwhelmed with the response of neighbors. These are neighbors. These are people who live here coming out to help. And thats overwhelming. And the love i feel from friends who are, who have opened their homes to me, to three cats, two dogs, you know . Its pretty remarkable to know that people are willing to do all that for you, because ive never been through when i lived in indonesia, we went through the overthrowing of that regime, and i had to pack a bag and not know if i was coming back, but ive never had to just look at my house and know its gone. So that kind of love and support means the world to me. Reporter yeah. This is going to to be a long haul though for you. Yes. Yes, it is. Its going to be a very long haul. I mean, its going to be im sure quite a while before the water recedes enough before i can get back in my house and do the work that needs to be done. Reporter some cars totally underwater. S this is serious. Yes, yes. Yeah, i had a friend who was just moving in with me, and this is the first weekend she was going to be here. She lost her vehicle in the tax day floods, and now shes lost her other vehicle. So it is, its just been reporter well, maybe she should get a boat. [laughter] im thinking i might get a boat. Reporter i appreciate you sharing. Thank you so much. And the dogs seem to have quieted for the moment. There you go. Its playing out like this, neil, all over houston. And as mary pointed out, just the response of everybody, i mean, volunteers out here. These people you see sol isen tiering volunteering, bringing pets out, theyve had boats out, you know, its been a great response. You know what . The government cant do it all, First Responders cant do it all, theres not enough of them. But there are resources here in the community, and thats who has been saving houston. Neil amazing. Amazing. Jeff flock, thank you very, very much. Neighbor looking after neighbor, even if you dont know your neighbor that well, if at all. But in texas, this has played out to jeffs point again and again and again. Playing out now for those not even from this neck of the woods, a cruise now in miami was redirected from galveston, texas, just arriving there right now. I believe in excess of 20,000 cruise passengers who were supposed to get off in the gulf had to be repositioned, miami, points in mexico, elsewhere. So they had an extension on their cruise. Good for them. Well have more after this. You know how painful heartburn can be. For fastacting, longlasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. It quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. Relieve heartburn with fast acting, longlasting gaviscon. And helps eep acid down for hours. [brother] any last words . [boy] karma, danny. Karma [vo] progress is seizing the moment. Your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here. Audi will cover your first months lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event. Neil all right, the nation stands be the state of texas. Of stands with the state of texas. This is outside the New York Stock Exchange in manhattan, thats the texas flag saying we are with you, supporting you. Theyve been raising a lot of funds as well for texas, as has the entire country. Donations, some coming in at 1, 2 at a time, kids collecting nickels, dimes, quarters, whatever they can to help texans who they see in a world of hurt, a world of flooding. And now a former navy seal saying im here to help as well, carl higbie helping to coordinate that relief effort in washington. Carl, good to have you. What are you doing . Thanks for having me back. I was recently appointed to chief of external affairs for aher core. We have troops on the periphery and another 700 or so ready to go. Were just waiting for the local authority toss say its safe to go in. Neil so the ones who come in will work in conjunction with guardsmen, troops who are there already, or what will they do specifically . Were letting local authorities take the lead because a they know the area best, they know whats safe and not safe. Right now were helping staff or we will be helping staff in some of the shelters that are just way overpopulated. Were going to help with resources and things like that. Were asking people right now not to give actual resources themselves except for money, and you can go to nationalservice. Gov, and well point you to the femadirected web site where you can contribute and help buy supplies locally. Neil how, how do you avoid some of the conflicts or turf battles that have happened . I notice even among different parties and officials, the local and state level or the federal level unless im missing something, carl im not seeing that. Im not seeing any of the conflicts we had with katrina. Maybe we learned from that, i dont know. What is it . We learned a lot from katrina. And ive been on the phone with fema officials, local firms, the federal officials, everybody is on the same page. There is no egos within departments. Everybody is working at the same goal at the same time. And to be honest, we point our nationalservice. Gov over to a lot of the fema resources because we just want to get job done. We have tens of thousands of people out of homes. The federal and state government, we work for you, and thats the message were getting. And President Trump has done a great job making sure thats the universal message across all departments. Neil the fema administrator, brock long, said this is not the superdome, referring, of course, to new orleans where it had maintained such damage, there were horrific thingses things going on inside there. But when facilities become crowded, what do to you do . Well, you know, thats interesting that the situation he was referring to is a stadium thats designed to hold 5,000 people. Right now they have over 9,000 people in that area. Were looking for you know, if youre in the surrounding area and you have safe areas, get in contact through our web sites and volunteer to help take in people. We need all the help we can get right now. Fema has open channels to do that, nationalservice. Gov does, we need people right now just to house people, and were asking people dont go in there if youre not an emergency worker, because youre just going to make the situation harder. Neil thank you, carl higbie, for what youre going doing to get people back up on your feet. Strong support for an area that is about to get hit yet again, tonight Mother Nature playing her way will once again hitting this area. Not at hurricanelike strength, but harvey as a storm remerging and sort of repacking its winds in the gulf and hitting the very same areas already hit. Well have more after this. Its a highly contagious disease that can be really serious. Especially for my precious new grandchild. Its whooping cough. Every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. Potsc in unison drive russ, leland, gary yes. Gary i have a ford f150. Michael ive always been a ford guy. Potsch then i have a real treat for you today. Michael awesome. Potsch im going to show you a next generation pickup. Michael lets do this. Potsch this new truck now has a cornerstep built right into the bumper. Gary super cool. Potsch the bed is made of highstrength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. Jim aluminum is great for a lot of things, but maybe not the bed of a truck. Potsch and best of all, this new truck is actually gary all laughing oh my. Potsch the current chevy silverado. Gary im speechless. Gary this puts my ford truck to shame. James ill tell you, i might be a chevy guy now. laughing neil you know, it just gets more bizarre when you think of what happens when you have flooded conditions, leading cattle across flooded areas to safety, pets that were abandoned, a lot of their owners looking after their welfare and rescuers coming in and rescuing them, this plays out again and again across this battered state. Meanwhile, storm aid package which could be in the offing, congressman randy weber joining us right now. Congressman, where does that stand for the time being, do you know . Well, neil, were weve been to all the shelters here throughout the area. Were watching people get rescued, were seeing people brought in, seeing animals brought in, so theres just a lot going on. Im sorry, my line beeped in right in the middle of your question. Neil theyre talking about coming up with a package to aid the state, and your name came up because i know you were against, originally, the sandy aid package that got the likes of new Jersey Governor Chris Christie criticizing you and other members at the time for rejecting that. But apparently open to. How do you answer that . Well, its pretty easy, neil. I was never against sandy aid, being from the texas gulf coast, ive lived here 64 years, i started with hurricane carla and been through a lot of neil but you did vote against it, did you not . I did, and the reason is because they had put things on the bill that i felt needed to be a standalone appropriation. I had that conversation with leadership. Neil i see. I was very up front with all of my colleagues. I said, look, i cant vote for that. You put it in one, single standalone, im good to go. I think we ought to vote on the merits. If you check my voting merit, ive voted against every c. R. And every omnibus save one, and that was because it lifted the oil em bar doe in december 20157 embargo. So ive been pretty consistent about it, pretty up front with my colleagues and had a lot of thoughtful discussion with them. Neil and, by the way, you were not to the technology not the only one. Speaker john boehner said that was his problem, it wasnt only for sandy, and it was earmarked for other things that he thought were offensive. So you were not alone with that. But congressman, let me get your take on a measure they are apparently cooking up now that would be attached to a hike in the debt ceiling. That would include funding for this sort of thing, funding for aid and might include funding for a wall. In other words, it would all be lumped together to get the debt ceiling increased. How would you feel about that . Well, of course, youre dealing with hypothetical. Well see neil true enough. When we get back. Ive always been opposed to increasing the debt ceiling without some kind of tradeoff where we can reduce spending that helps cut the deficit. You know, well have to see what they bring up and take it step by step. Neil all right. Now, what i wonder about hear, and you hearken back to the sandy example, that was originally started i think, and refresh my memory, congressman a 10 billion aid package that, ultimately, you know, grew to 60 billion plus. Clearly, not all for just sandy a aid x. And im wondering whether the same temptations might exist here on the part of your colleagues to put together a rescue measure or a relief measure more texas that will hide a lot of other goodies. If it does, if it does. But included in that package is all the aid that texas would need, would you vote for that . Well, again, youre dealing with hypotheticals. It would depend exactly what all those other measures are, neil. Dont discount the fact that hurricane, now Tropical Storm harvey is taking dead aim on louisiana. And so were going to have to see when its all said and done and all the flooding is over and everythings dry, itll take weeks be not a month or better. Right now the focus is on saving lives, get people out, get shelter and housing, getting back to some normalcy, and then well say, okay, what does that look like are, whats it going to cost, who alls involved, whats the price tag and how are we going to manage that. Once we get all of that behind us, take care of our citizens first, then well start looking at the dollars. Neil congressman randy weber of texas, thank you very much. Keeping a close eye on this situation as is, well, pretty much the rest of the nation. One of the things that always happens after a disaster like this is real estate doesnt look like too much of an allure, right . It happened in the new york metropolitan area after 9 11. It happened, certainly, in the louisiana area after katrina. These things tend to be shortlived events, but right now it is happening with harvey throughout much of the houston area. Home values dropping and expected to drop a lot more. What to do. And lessons to learn, after this. Rethink whats possible. Rethink your allergy pills. Flonase sensimist allergy relief helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. Most allergy pills only block one. And 6 is greater than one. Flonase sensimist. So we need tablets installed. With the menu app ready to roll. In 12 weeks. Yeah. The world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. Data, applications, customer experience. Which is why comcast business delivers Consistent Network Performance and speed across all your locations. Fast connections everywhere. Thats how you outmaneuver. Your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance. Neil all right. How in the middle of this would you like to hear news like this . Harris county Flood Control joust saying on the radio apparently in texas that subdivisions around reservoirs will experience flooding for the next four to five weeks and last until at least october. Could you imagine that . That this will be an ongoing thing forget a few days, an ongoing problem for residents in that neck of the woods to deal with til october. Texas homes that took in water and could for the time being, maybe for a while could see their valuations drop. That would be probably an understatement, but as much as 60 . To housing expert tim rood who is not surprised by that. Does it bounce back . Hi, neil, how are you . Theres no shortage of questions that need to be answered. The good thing is youve seen houston, obviously, theres been texas has been growing gangbusters over the past three or so years, houston especially. So weve already had trouble kind of keeping up with the pace of immigration, if you will, or migration to houston for a number of good reasons. So there is no shortage of demand for all the things in its place, and i would imagine while theres clearly, you know, catastrophe is not good for any market, theres no doubt going to be recovery, probably two or three two years and change down the road as you make these reinvestments in the Housing Stock and the commercial enterprise neil when you say two to three years, right . I remember after 9 11, much of downtown new york was considered a real estate ghost town. Not only did people flee there, but they certainly werent moving in, now its just the opposite, its as hot as hot can be. In katrina, in new orleans people were leery of moving there, and the risks of being there, of course, now much, much stronger. So we learn that markets that were battered or considered pariahs come back, but again, a lot of that depends on, you know, whether the business returns it usually does and the interest returns. It usually does. What do you see here . Yeah. I mean, new orleans has got a couple unique features to houston. One just in terms of orders of magnitude, right . Houston new orleans is about a sixth of the size of houston, and houston has real industries. Neil very good point. Theyve had to shut down 16 or 10 refineries, but there hasnt been any real damage, so they expect them to be coming up and going in the near future. Also youve got to remember, new orleans was like a soup bowl. Neil youre right. The water hung out a lot longer. Houston is relatively flat. But what youre seeing now is it is going to persist for some time because you have these controlled releases. I mean, so these poor families who have probably lost their job or, you know, and their neighbors have been impacted and they take a deep breath thinking that their houses are safe, then you have these controlled releases, and the next thing you know theyre under eight feet of water just to kind of save neil incredible. Weve shown a couple of communities in danger of that. One thick i do remember, tim, and maybe we were talking at the time about 9 11, i remember there were some very brave Real Estate Investors who came in and were buying a lot of Distressed Properties or Properties Even after the financial meltdown that were given up for dead, and they were the equivalent of vulture investors. They made their money back and then some. Ill just leave it at that. When people judge that, when you see that people who sort of come back in and dip their toes back in markets that look like theyre, you know, theyre bad sorries key markets, what bad or risky markets, what do you look for . In houstons case, in the texas economy itself, you have energy, technology and a host of things you might not have in some of these locales, would that convince you when valuations get hit 50, 60, 70 , that thats overdone . Yeah. Its well, its going to be interesting to see, because one other thing to think about too, one of the reasons new orleans was so unique and that got hit is they had, like, generational home ownership. A lot of these homes were owned free and clear. So they didnt have what mortgage youd require in terms of Homeowners Insurance and Flood Insurance. So they took a long time to come out, and these people were so displaced and dispersed, there wasnt a lot of industry to bring them back. I think houston, quite the opposite. Its a lot more affluent. You have legitimate industries that are there. Youve already seen infrastructure spending, private investment there. I dont think theyll have any trouble recovering, its just, you know, its yet to be determined how big the problem is. Is it going to be 25,000 homes, 50,000 homes,100,000 homes that have been impacted . Neil yeah. Thats going to to be a big determinant, i would think. And the sad reality is in real estate as long as theres ever been real estate to buy, you know, one persons misfortune is another persons opportunity. Neil but if homes are physically destroyed or deemed uninhabitable after a disaster of this magnitude, flooded out or destroyed and they have to be rebuilt, that does change the equation a little bit, right . Well, the hard thing too, lou neil, sorry is labor, right . Neil right. You already had 400,000 open construction jobs out in the marketplace. Houston, again, has been growing gangbusters. So they didnt have a lot of capacity there to build. Theres not enough sheetrock on the planet to cover all of the things that are going to need to be taken care of in the commercial space, residential space and what not. Wheres that labor going to come from . Once they get there, where the heck are you going to put them . Neil tim, thank you very much. A little Historical Perspective here. Just a final thought before we take a quick break. Ive been covering this long enough to know that everyone who has a depressive or cynical view of the potential for coming back, whether i heard the depression talk after 9 11, well never get out of a multiyear recession after the meltdown, after the first 87 stock market crashes, the big one in our lifetimes that the markets themselves would never come back and real estate would never come back, if i had a dime for every time someone said this was it, this was over, everything was finished, id have a lot of dimes. Each im, every time, it each time, every time, it came back. Everyone came back. Well have more after this. When they actually did start saving. This gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us arent prepared for retirement. Just start as early as you can. Its going to pay off in the future. If we all start saving a little more today, well all be better prepared tomorrow. Prudential. Bring your challenges. Neil all right. Before i hand it off to trish President Trump continues to get briefed on hurricane hair very efforts. The president doing everything he can to avoid a katrina thing. He has certainly done that the government with cabinet secretaries in tow doing everything to coordinate with state and local officials to make sure the aid they needed is the aid they will get. Different with the kind of cooperation weve seen sometimes in past disasters. Speaking of which new Jersey Governor Chris Christie, how similar this storm is with something he dealt with, sandy. He worked closely with the democratic president , barack obama, lessons that could be applied from then that can be applied now. My special guest at 4 00 p. M. On your world. Trish regan has another crazy hour ahead. Trish weve watch at 4 00 for governor christies. President trump and First Lady Melania Trump are in texas. Already. Harvey has dumped 50 inches, just think of that, 50 inches of rain south of houston and forecasters are warning that more rain is on the way. These poor people, the poor area we have it all covered for you as the president makes his way throughout texas today to find out what it is that people need most. Im trish regan. Welcome, everyone, to the intelligence report