Year, earlier this year, he was in missouri when there was that Jewish Cemetery that was desecrated, kind of out there trying to be a healing voice, and i think a lot of people want to see trump step up more to that test. I mean, this is a very important moment for him. Obviously, we all know, you know, that president bushs presidency was in many ways defined by that moment in Hurricane Katrina and youre just seeing these haraeartbreak images so it will be a really lets go to the white house. More importantly, the American People have many questions related to hurricane harvey. And as you all know, the president was in Corpus Christi and austin earlier this week, and today, at the president s direction, the Vice President , mrs. Pence, and five cabinet secretaries are back in texas meeting with local officials and storm survivors and thanking many of the First Responders and other volunteers. The president s team here has been working around the clock to support state and local authorities, following the storm, and now im going to bring up the president s Homeland Security security adviser to provide an update on the administrationwide effort to support the recovery and relief efforts in the wake of hurricane harvey. Hell make a few opening remarks and then stay to take questions specific to the storm and what the administration is doing to help the state and local authorities and the people of texas and louisiana, and as always, after tom speaks and takes your questions, ill be back up here to take questions on other topics. Thanks, guys. Thanks, sarah. Let me see if i can start by addressing some different audiences. Weve got international audience, national audience, state and local audience, let me see if i can speak to them. From the international perspective, weve had heads of state from a lot of different countries, in particular i would stress today, yesterday, the heads of state of mexico and canada called to express their condolences, their prayers and thoughts but also assistance if they could lend anything to the effort. We very much appreciate that. And the president was deeply touched by those phone calls. I joined him for the call from Justin Trudeau just moments ago and we appreciate the neighborly gesture. Quite seriously and its an International Expression of what were seeing here at a very local level. Weve got neighbors helping neighbors in texas and louisiana, but also neighbors that arent in close proximity, internationally, expressing help, so our International Neighbors of canada and mexico are also offering their condolences and we very much appreciate it. Were seeing deployed assets now from a lot of states. I know weve got 28, for instance, search and rescue teams and task forces from, i think, 16 different states, all sending down their support to texas. Thats a pretty large activation. In fact, i believe thats the first time weve activated all the task forces since 9 11, so this is an all hands on deck operation, and its not just a federal one. There are state and local officials from all walks, even from pennsylvania, where im from, there are people now addressing this problem by getting their hands dirty and going right down to texas to help. So we want to stop and say thank you to them for that. And then, if i can move to the nation, many of you are watching this and you want to hear from us what were doing. I want to make sure you understand that you should continue to have confidence in what were doing as a government. There are significant commodity numbers and numbers of personnel and material moving into this affected region and its an increasing number every day as we move forward. But i would be remiss if i didnt stop and say that none of that matters if youre an affected individual. So, 10,000 liters of water doesnt matter if i dont have the one liter i need to drink right now. If i could, id like to stop and give a message or two directly to the people who need the assistance, and if i can, this might sound a little bit mundane from a white house podium but if youre in need of assistance and you have access to a functioning computer, if you can get to a shelter or some place where you can do this, its very important that you go to www. Disasterassistance. Gov. You can find what you need there to register for the assistance that you might need. 18004627585. Again, 18004627585. Theres another number that femas given us after 6213362. I think 621 18006213362. Id like to give them the advice that its never too early to call your insurance adjuster. If you have property loss on damage, its going to take time, theres going to be a high volume of calls and we want to make sure that your needs are attended to as soon as possible. So thats where we stand right now. Id like to go through a few additional messages, life saving Life Sustaining operations are still under way. We have seen hospitals suffer damage in beaumont. The d. O. D. And the hss officials responsible for coordinating the federal response here are actively figuring out and deploying resources to help move those patients to better definitive care locations. So we will see probably upwards of 7,000 estimated patients moved into better and safer definitive Care Hospitals elsewhere in texas. And well see that happen expeditiously. Im quite comfortable of whether Russell Wilson those operations stand. Secondly, a little word of caution. A lot of lost lives end up in this time in this time zone right after a response. We lose, unfortunately, some lives and an immediate disaster, but then in the Immediate Response and recovery phase, people will use chain saws, people will remove debris, people will be stressed. The elderly, when theyre stressed, you heard the doctor say, tend to get sick. That sickness can lead to death, unfortunately. And so unfortunately, we will see additional losses of life if history is any precedent here or if precedent if that history is any prologue. We will see an additional loss of life. So please try to avoid that. Try to avoid strain and stress. Try to get to where theres food, water, and shelter, and take care of yourself so that you can then take care of others. With that, id like to suggest that from the fema perspective, theyre continuing that operation, but from the white house, its important that we look at the cost of these events and look on the horizon of whats next. As we look into it, these are estimates at this point, but it looks like round about 100,000 affected homes. Thats a big number. Were going to have 100,000 affected homes, all with different degrees of insurance, some with Flood Insurance, some under insured, some uninsured. Well have to address those on a case by case basis as we move forward but i want to put a scope of magnitude on this. Were going to have damage to publicly owned infrastructure so what whether he do as an administration is put together a responsible supplemental request for congress, appropriations request. I will make that request shortly. Well make that request based on the information that we have now, and what well do then is come back later for a second supplemental question when we have Additional Information that would make a more informed total for congress to consider. I would like to stop on that point and take a few questions. Obviously, after hurricane sandy, some money flowed fairly quickly but the big bill didnt get signed until months after. How important is it, do you believe, with texas for congress to get that money through faster . The president promised it would happen quickly. So, three things here. First you have to look at the health of the Disaster Relief fund, which is funding most of this operation. That was a relatively healthy fund. It had about 3. 6 billion in it heading into this storm. That allowed us to get through the initial Response Operations. That drawdown rate, though, is something we keep a close eye on. Were going to need to go up and ask for a disaster supplemental shortly. We are also secondly heading up into the end of a fiscal year, and so any available money from a regularly appropriated perspective at a department or agency is running out. The end of the fiscal year is upon us. And so congress had already planned to provide us some replenishment into that fund through the regular course of operations. And then thirdly, if there are, and there will be, needs for additional funding in the future, as those drawdown construction numbers become more clear on the recovery phase, well be able to look at them and ask for a third, you know, kind of bite at the apple on this. Thats where we stand and im not worried at all that we dont have the money right now for the operations under way and the operations that we foresee in the next month. Thank you. You mentioned the office of assistance from the leaders of canada and mexico. Will the president be accepting any of those offers of assistance . The answer here is that the president didnt get into the specifics and neither did the heads of state calling so i think their primary purpose was to express and extend their prayers and thoughts and their condolences to those that lost their lives. What well do is turn over to fema, the department of state, to accept that request for additional actual concrete, you know, or tangible assistance. Fema, then, as an office of international affairs, theyll figure out how to integrate that with the operators. If we have unmet needs that they can offer some valuable supply for, well take that but theres no reason to not take that assistance. Can you get back to us and let us know exactly what you guys said yes to. I would say yes but i would highly encourage you to ask fema how thats unfolding because you have to look at that from a very specific perspective. Ive done that before and the operators had to integrate something very carefully into a logistics chain that is very complex. You talk about whats next for the recovery thats obviously going to be not just months but years in the making. The administration has proposed significant cuts to fema. Are you given, are you encouraging the president to rethink those budget cuts . Youve been in Emergency Management a while. Do you think he should reconsider that. Theres a number of misnomers on that. The core operating function at fema is going to be well funded. The Disaster Relief fund, which really provides the money for these events that you dont plan for but that you prepare for, those things will be all well funded through that Disaster Relief fund. But what you will see are responsible proposals in the president s budget for reduction in some Homeland Security grants. Those grants, i was around for their creation, those grants were never meant to be permanent and what we need to do is reduce state and local dependency on some of that money but we need to do that in a responsible way. Youll see not just a request for a cut in money but some Additional Details that allow the states to responsibly develop a glide path to get off of those grants and their dependence on them. So i would say understanding thats important for the American People to know that the president wasnt irresponsibly cutting any money. In fact, he was doing something that would further empower state and locals and then i would come back to reiterate that the Disaster Relief fund is strong. Its got plenty of money in it now and were going to have for some very responsible surplus supplementals. Could you talk to me about the issue of those who are displaced. Temporary housing is a big issue. What can you tell us about whats happening over at hud, whats happening with this administration as it relates to this. It was a big issue during katrina, and it was a major problem. Are you looking at issues of finding and designating vacant locations for some of these people to some of these victims or survivors to go into. So, i met with the chiefs of staff of all the cabinet today, and we talked about housing quite a bit, whats happening now is hud in cooperation with fema and state and local officials are starting to get together the available Housing Stock, both available rental stock, manufactured housing, which often fits a need in this type of disaster, but also available Housing Stock for those who receive assistance under hud programs, section 8 in particular. So, were trying to put all those Housing Stock solutions and all those Government Programs together, think through whats available and how people might utilize that. Femas doing that in a Planning Section but their operators are focused on saving lives. One additional point there. This will be a housing challenge. But i dont want to concede any kind of housing lack of kword neigh. What we have to do is allow a lot of this to unfold so when i say 100,000, some portion of those homes were affected with two foot of water or less. Some were affected with eight foot of water or more and youll have to look at a case by case basis, the people and their whether theyre under water financially, under water actually and well have to work with mortgage lenders and others as we address those problems. During katrina, there was a big issue of when the people received housing separate housing, rent prices went up dramatically. Is there any kind of safety net that that will not happen, that the survivors will not be gouged when they go into these temporary housing situations. Yeah, you just used an important word and ill make a really clear point right now. Gouging will not be tolerated. Jeff sessions and the president of the United States will not tolerate gouging. Anybody thats going to go out and try to take advantage of a disaster victim ought to expect Law Enforcement to come down on them with a hammer. Its not acceptable on a regular day and its certainly not acceptable when people are suffering. What well do is use the latitude that we have under the law and provide a fair market value rental rate thats a little bit higher than 100 to accommodate the natural demand and supply tensions. The followup on aprils question about gouging and housing, what about gas prices . Is the administration looking at that in terms of National Pricing against gouging for profit. Gouging is a problem. If it exists and if it happens at all levels and every vertical market and every horizontal but i think the idea here on fuel is a good question. We had at one point in the peak somewhere around 4 of our oil shut in, in the gulf, due to the rigs having to pull themselves in. That numbers going to come back online. To bring all the Business Operations in the houston petrochemical triangle, we need to make sure employees have housing. While there might be some affect to fuel prices, right now were hope its not a large or sustainable fuel price at the pump problem. What well also do is look for the health of the pipelines so remember theres still rain falling. States exhib texas is not experiencing any rain today, not any major storm. Now louisiana and the rest of the Tennessee Valley and the middle of the country are starting to see rainstorms. Colonial and the plantation pipelines, well keep an eye on that. We talked about that today in our meeting and if we have any update on that, well give it to you the rest of the week. On this crosby chemical plant, the local sheriff says the plume is not dangerous to the community. The fema director says by all means, its dangerous. Which is it . So, if you were there, it would be dangerous, but the good news is that the people around the facility have been evacuated already because of the storm and because of the notice that we had on the pending explosion. Some really responsible reporting, private, Public Partnership took place on that facility, and what we saw was that the electric power that went to the pumps and to the Maintenance Systems shut out. We couldnt responsibly get that power back. So the temperature rose in a concealed tank or confined tank a we ended up having explosion. They dont know of anyone yet thats in that area of plume that would be affected. If they were there, it would be dangerous, but for right now, the people dont seem to be there. So a free falling in the woods, if you will. I have one more question. There are 575,000 undocumented immigrants in houston, one of the largest populations in this country. Does this white house believe they should be eligible for longterm federal recovery assistance. I think Illegal Immigrants and that issues come up a number of times, if youve committed a crime, thats the priority for the department of Homeland Security. I think youve heard john kelly say that pretty clearly. What i would say, though, is in terms of immediate lifesaving, no individual human being should worry about their immigration status unless theyve commit add crime on top of coming here illegally. When it comes to getting food, water, and shelter. So the authorities wont be conducting any routine swipes or searches inside those shelters. Those are shelters for food, water, and providing kind of insulation against exposure. So that will happen and we wont go start rounding people up there. We dont want to discourage that. Subsequently, our priority will be Illegal Immigrants that have committed crimes, theyre going to be rounded up as they always are and taken out of this country if we find them. I think thats pretty clear. 15 Oil Refineries went offline as a result of the hurricane. Is it your understanding that theyve gone back online . Is this a concern for you . Are there any thoughts of tapping into the spr because this represents 25 of the u. S. Oil refining capacity. I dont have an answer for you on that right now. Certainly the president will make that decision if necessary. You dont want to tap into the Strategic Petroleum reserve if you dont have the refinery capability to handle that. So i havent checked today on the status of the refineries but i know people have. And i can get that answer back to you. We worry about that, but for right now, im not aware of any major damage to the refineries and so thats why i suggest that to the earlier question, we might have an effect to fuel prices but it shouldnt be a huge one. Dont hold me to it. Well come back tomorrow and give you a better answer. Two questions. First up, super storm sandy, the federal recovery package was around 60 billion. Governor abbott has suggested this might exceed 100 billion. Does governor abbotts estimate sound reasonable that this will exceed 100 billion, and the second question is, weve received a lot of sanguine reports about coordinations between federal, state, and local agencies. Can you give me a sense of one or two challenge areas where that coordination may require some improvement. Okay, so on the first question, theres nobody thats wrong on estimates right now. I dont have any information to challenge anyones estimate, and i dont think that they have any reason to think their estimates are wrong so were in the estimate game right now and as a result, what wed like to do is not get into second guessing anybody, in particular the governor, whos got the firsthand knowledge of whats happening. But what wed like to do as a strategy is figure out the predictable burn rate for the Response Operations and puts up a responsible supplemental request to congress. Well give them a sound supplemental request number. Well add to it i think weve got some internal numbers but i dont want to get out in front of director mull mulvaney. Well have a supplemental request later when we have better understanding and when we get a better handle on the damage, we can come back with a responsible last, so to speak, supplemental request supplemental requeand get the congress to give us an informed amount of money. The second part of the question, tom. Were there any areas where coordination has been wanting, where youve seen a need for improvement. No, you know, i think at this point, the menl is that coordinations happening better than any storm weve seen before so stressing on anything thats not working well really is, especially from this podium, going to be ill informed. Im seeing nothing but positive. Im seeing nothing but appropriate coordination. If theres a problem somewhere, brock is going to get his handle around it and dpiks fix it. Not to be political on that answer but i dont have a negative word on coordination right now. Let me ask you about the Strategic Petroleum reserve, 500,000 barrels were pushed out today. The Energy Department says that during katrina, on a loan basis, it was nearly 10 million barrels, so were talking so far just a fraction of what was put out during katrina. What is the administrations thinking Going Forward as to how the spr will be used and is what we saw today just a start of what might happen Going Forward. Yeah, as i said, ill come back to you on where we stand after talking to secretary perry. I dont have the numbers right now and what were going to do and why. Again, though, id caution comparisons between storms. Every disaster is different. Every emergency manager is different. Where the storm hits, what it hits and who it affects constitute massive changes in how we respond to those storms. So in terms of your structural question, though, i think if any need for that Strategic Petroleum reserve manifests, i think wed be very comfortable in tapping into that providing that alleviated resource. Theres some talk about attaching supplemental to the debt ceiling increase, some talk about rolling a supplemental debt ceiling increase into overall continuing resolution. From an Emergency Management standpoint, how important is it to your thinking to get a clean supplemental . Well, i think Everyone Wants a clean supplemental, and so as we tie the hopefully we get a responsible budget, right and that the Congress Comes together and finds a way to take the president s requests and meet it. That would be an ideal answer. Your presupposing that were going to have a continuing resolution. Thats not the best way to run a railroad but based on your question, we might have a cr. If that happens, its fine. Not fine but less ideal but nevertheless fine. To my needs as a emergency manager here looking for a drf supplemental. The drf supplemental should focus on replenishing the Disaster Relief fund and any other ancillary and obvious needs that might come for other departments and agencies for repairing roads or highways of that nature. But i think that will be separate and distinct from the debt ceiling. I think we have every reason to believe thats going to happen in a responsible way as well and ill allow sarah to amplify that if you have additional questions but from my perspective now and from the Planning Session we had this morning, i dont think theres going to be any particular problem in our approach to the congress in this fall. Thats at least my sense. Can i ask you about im just a little confused about your answer to see seon undocum immigrants. Is that a yes or no . Does the Administration Support funding. On the undocumented immigrants, eligible for longterm relief, help. What happens once they leave will undocumented immigrants will able to get eligibility standards range across a number of different programs and if you are an immigrant that has commit add crime, youre going to be removed. I guess the question is if youre looking for assistance thats eligible for citizens, youre not eligible in that case but that doesnt mean were going to let somebody starve or die of thirst or exposure. I dont think theres too much of a problem there. Im not sure where they were living before they got into the shelter. Id be making some pretty gross suppositions at this point. But i understand the hypothetical youre driving towards, just not looking to deal with it. Coming to the u. S. Legally as a crime and that they it is. And deported them and said youre saying that the priority is still to deport people who have committed a crime on top of that. Thats correct. And so if you are an undocumented immigrant and you did have a home and the home was destroyed in flood and you are in a shelter, what happens. Theres a lot of ifs there and ill figure that out as i deal with them by bu the priorities couldnt be any clearer. I dont think that i even know how to going answer that question but i will say that theres no real wavering here. Its pretty clear our position on immigration. Hopefully that answers your question. I dont think theres going to be a lot of benefits going out to Illegal Immigrants in terms of the american taxpayer but hes also made the point that those who have come to the country and then commit crimes constitute the priority we need to focus on and thats not a victimless crime. And so i think that the focus on gangs and other things have everybody pretty well busy right now and the focus on saving lives and providing food, water, and shelter have everybody pretty well busy right now and i think what youll find is the good men and women of i. C. E. Are providing assistance not only to the men and women of texas and louisiana that are american citizens but also in the interim to people of any immigration status that need food, water, and shelter. So, if i could, id like to leave it at that because thats the clear message id like to leave behind to somebody that might otherwise, no disrespect intended, be discouraged from going in and finding something that would save their life. Thats the message for today. Flood insurance programs. Before this year, it was 25 billion. Now this. The question is, should homeowners who are in flood zones have to pay even more than they already have been paying in premiums to fund the program or should this be a problem that taxpayers help solve. At this point, this disaster proves that even if youre not in a floodplain, you still run the risk of having your house flood. Couple of questions here and ill give you a couple of answers. First, just for clarity, because there are people suffering looking for immediate answers. For claritys sake, if you have Flood Insurance policy and youve been paying your premiums, call and get your claim in. There is no problem, there is no shortfall. We have enough money to meet those claims and youre going to get what youve got coming to you under your policy. So thats the first, i think, answer here for the national Flood Insurance program. The second one for people watching this, you have to understand that that Flood Insurance program is coming up to be reauthorized. Its about to expire. Its going to have to ri authorized and i have every confidence that congress will reauthorize that program. And the third part of your question is, how much money is left under that Borrowing Authority and the answer is, enough, i think, 8. 6 billion to get through this round of claims and then some. It will push us into the late fall, wintertime frame when we have to get into projections ar. Future policy discussion, i think this administrations been pretty clear wed like to see responsible reform to the national Flood Insurance program. I dont think nows the time to debate those things as we need to help people that have pending claims but well debate that late fall here as we come up with good policy ideas to help move that back into a risk based private sector hopefully supported solution. But femas been pretty clear about how to do that and to do it responsibly so as to not throw anybody off thats on that current program. You cant buy a Flood Insurance program in this country thats not underwritten by the United States of america. The agent that sold it to you might be a private agent and thats a Public Private partnership thats been working since the Reagan Administration but at the end of the day, that standard Flood Insurance policy that you have, sfip that you have, is underwritten by the federal government. Can guy back in the back. Question about undocumented. The president is reported to be poised to make a decision about the daca program. Right now, the d. R. E. A. M. Ers who were in that program believe that they are documented, that they are documented to work, have work permits, etc. There are those in the pipeline who have applied for extensions or new applicants. In the time Going Forward, what is your advice to them about their risks of being deported in any of those three categories under the daca program. So the questions on deferred action against childhood arrivals. And i think what youll see is that the my position today is that the Administration Still reviewing is policy on the second parts of your question, what happens to people that are in an illegal status that require assistance, id refer you back to how i answered the first question. Anybody needing food, water, shelter is going to get it anybody here illegally that subsequently committed a crime is going to get caught and thrown out and anybody in between has to wait for a decision or at least a policy announcement from the administration on how were going to handle deferred action moving forward. Do you believe that is likely to be revealed in the days that are coming up now in which youre trying to manage an emergency. I dont know the timing of that. But as soon as the president s ready to announce the result of our policy process, hell do so. Have you been consulted on the decision. I have. Just want to ask, will the threat of lawsuits from the state of texas is that affect the decision or influence the decision at all. Say that one more time. The threat of a lawsuit from the state attorney general that sent the letter to the doj, will that affect the decision. It wont affect the policy decision but it will affect the timing of it. We have to watch the lawsuits and how they me trick late through the courts and when the deadlines will be imposed. It wont affect the policy decision. If i could now, i think its been ive been ive been told to turn to i think we have skype questioners. Not that you folks in washington, d. C. , dont matter to me. Weve got skype questioners. Where do i go . So, i think first is it somebody from texas thats going to ask a question from skype and how do i get that, sarah . Here we go. Sir, youre on. Go ahead. Greg grugen, fox 26 in houston. Greg, we got you loud and clear. We have, in the houston area, army corps of engineer reservoirs that are frankly failing flooding, examining that situation, is the administration considering adding additional sources to the i think did everybody hear that question . I think just to repeat it in case were not wired up right here, i think the question, good one, was that people in houston are worried about the two systems, the two reservoir systems that the army corps of engineers maintains. Theyve been pictured on television over topping, theyve been in a controlled release environment, allowing a lot of water through the affected Populated Areas of houston and you want to know if theyre safe and if theres any additional funding needed. Was that the question . Okay. Im going to answer that question. I think thats a yes. Exactly. So, the answer is, and its just so happens that earlier this morning, almost just before i came out here, i was in contact with the general in charge of the army corps of engineers and three answers here. First, hes got engineers monitoring those systems right now for Structural Integrity so what you dont want to have happen is water come over the top and then eat away at the other side of the wall and have the Structural Integrity undermined in that fashion weve seen in previous events. As of an hour ago, there was no Structural Integrity determined by any of the engineers that are standing there watching the facility and so that means that nobodys in immediate damage or im sorry, in immediate harms way of damage and additional property loss. But then, lastly, the question is, do we need any additional noun shore those facilities up so i would turn and answer that a little bit differently. Were not going to get into a position of saying theyre safe or not safe, or asking for more money or not right now, what well do is continue the controlled release. The reason a controlled release is good is its the alternative to an uncontrolled release. If you dont do that, youll end up with the Structural Integrity failure i referenced a moment ago so as soon as the water goes down, were going to have flooding for some time, but the big, large, heavy masses of water that are going down and out right now are flowing in a way that will allow us to get in and do an engineering assessment over the coming days and weeks and if there was Structural Integrity problems cause bid d e coming days and weeks, well assess that and put together responsible number, estimate for repair, and then well put it forth to congress and very last on that, well do it in a way that thinks through a mitigation perspective. You just dont want to rebuild it to the way it was before and have it undermined again so when you put federal dollars into a project like that, you want to make sure you do it smartly. So thats the way that process will go. It will take a little time for the engineers, but the good news right now for the people in houston is that boast of those reservoir systems are holding up and theres engineers sitting there watching them on a 24 7 basis. Thank you for that question and thank you for doing what youre doing down there. Hope your home hasnt been affected. All right. Do i have another question . Lot of friends. Is there one more . All right. Sarah, youre on. Hi, this is justin with kprk, abc out of the houston. How are you. Im doing well. What will you guys do differently i mean, weve had disasters all over before. How do you reassure the people of texas that real help is coming and its coming quickly . How do you reassure people that help is coming and help is coming quickly. Theres a short answer. We send help and we send it quickly. I dont mean that glibly. When we get requests from the governors and mayors, we send in as much as they ask for or more to make sure theyre there to meet those needs. The reassurance parts comes in the pudding, the proof is in the pudding so if were not getting to where he need to get, we need to hear that and im not immune to criticism and neither is brock long and neither are the local officials there. The mayor has stood up and tang a great deal of smart criticism but hes also taken a great deal of smart action and from my perspective, what you have to do is hold us accountable and what i think this president s doing, President Trump is holding me and probrock long and elaine du and hes getting down to the governor and finding out if were doing it right from his perspective. So thats the answer. I think its pretty straightforward. Is there anything thats unmet from a needs perspective right now that you want to inform us of . If you do have something, im 20 yards from the president. Well take it to him. I mean, not as of yet, but theres a lot of communities that have been devastated here, and theres going to be a lot of needs really quickly. Yeah. Let me pick up on that and use that because thats a great point to wrap up my remarks here today. We are still in response mode, and that means life saving, Life Sustaining. There are still people up to their waists in water. There are still the elderly and the infirm that require our immediate attention. There are still hospitals in need of evacuation and relocation. Weve activated all those forces from d. O. D. And from hhs to move those patients, but were soon going to move into a long, frustrating recovery process. The Important Message is that were not going anywhere and all this talk about supplemental funding, its about having the money in the reservoir of cash, sorry to use that pun, of having the money to use to help you get back into your homes and schools and jobs. Were going to have houston and texas bickgger and better and stronger. I couldnt be any more proud to be in this job and i thank you for your time and attention. Thats going to be the last question. I appreciate your time. Thank you, tom. Finally, before i open it up for further questions, i wanted to be sure and highlight a major step forward in the fight against isis. Earlier today, the iraqi Prime Minister declared that after a nearly twoweeklong military operation, the city of talafir, fully delivered from isis militants. This represents the loss of a very important isis stronghold, the hometown of a number of top isis command erers. We congratulate the iraqis and will continue to support them in their fight to take their country back from radical islamic terror rim. Wi terrorism. One followup on toms remarks. He said that the white house would be putting together supplemental. Do you have a sense of when you will submit that to congress and then secondly, can you confirm reports that the president has leaning towards or deciding to end daca and what are the ramifications of that for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers. Ill take the first question in terms of supplemental funding, as tom said, were working with congress, were not going to get ahead of director mulvaney. He is working with him around the clock to make sure that process moves forward quickly and effectively. In terms of daca, echoing, again, on what tom said earlier, final decision on that front has not been made, and when it is, we will certainly inform everybody in this room. In january, the president said that d. R. E. A. M. Ers shouldnt be worried. So can you stand here today and say d. R. E. A. M. Ers should not be worried. Once again, when we have a final decision, this is under review, there are a lot of components that need to be looked at and once a decision is made, we will certainly let you guys know. Sarah, theres a specific report out by fox that talks about that says, essentially, a decision is made to roll back the program by the end of this week and that there will be provisions allowing d. R. E. A. M. Ers who are in the country right now to stay until their Work Authorization expires. Are you specifically denying that report . No offense to your colleague from fox news, but i think im a little bit better informed than they are in terms of when the white house has made a decision and as i just said a moment ago, it has not been finalized and when it is, we will certainly let you know. Two questions on glen. Can you talk about the time line here . Youve got these states that have said september 5th is when they will continue this court action, obviously the tuesday after labor day. So does that mean that some decision will be coming down tomorrow before the holiday weekend. Can you talk about the time line for this, for those folks who are wondering what their status is going to be here it ha. Im not going to get ahead of something. We dont know when the final review is going to be completed so it would be disingenuous for me to create a false time line that isnt workable. So you guys arent even there are a lot of conversations around the time line and when that has to be made and again that hasnt been fully reviewed and vet and had decided. Theres obviously been a huge outpouring of support for people around the country, harvey, you see people lining up to volunteer, people donating tens of millions of dollars. Can you speak to what the president and his family have done regarding donation for harvey relief, personally. Yes, i can. I had a chance to speak directly with the president earlier and im happy to tell you that he is would like to join in the efforts that a lot of the people that weve seen across this country do and hes pledging 1 million of personal money to the fund and hes actually asked that i check with the folks in this room since you are very good at research and have been doing a lot of reporting into the groups and organizations that are best and most effective in helping and providing aid and hed love some suggestions from the folks here and id be happy to take those if any of you have them. But hell pledge, proudly, 1 million of his own personal money to help the people of texas and louisiana. Previously, the president had said that he may return to texas and may also go to louisiana over the weekend. Do you have an update on the president s travel schedule . We know that Vice President mike pence is there today. And if the president is going, where might he go, and will he meet with the evacuees while hes there. The president and the first lady will be traveling both to texas and louisiana on saturday. The specific cities and locations are being finalized. Hopefully well have that information for you later today. I believe as of right now, tentatively, he plans to be in the houston area of texas and possibly lake charles, louisiana, but again, you know, varying on conditions that may change a little bit. Thats a tentative plan at this point. Now surveyed the president went to missouri to push for tax reform. He has said the administration has said theyd like to see a bill before the house of representatives in september but theres differences between where the administration is and where house gop leaders are. Do you still expect that to happen in september . As weve said before, this is going to be a big priority for the administration. Certainly moving through the fall, the biggest part is that we make sure that we get it right and that we provide tax relief to middle class america and that we help americans across the board. Thats the goal, and if we can do that by september, that would be great. Sarah, picking up on that, with the president hitting the road yesterday, he made it seem as if this should be a simple bipartisan fix. However, democrats are saying that there should not be tax relief for those who are the wealthiest 1 of earners. Does the president believe that the wealthiest 1 deserve tax relief . The president laid out clearly what his big priorities were yesterday. Ill be glad to repeat those. Permanently reducing tax rates, encouraging entrepreneurs to invest, simplifying the process, incentivizing American Companies to bring back jobs and profits. The president is focused on helping all americans across the board. The biggest priority he has is on helping middle class americans and making sure more of those people keep more of their money. The white house think working with democrats on this is reasonable or likely . I mean, theyre already laying down the marker for where they stand. You just said for all americans, presumably that includes the top 1 . I would love for democrats to want to help all americans. I dont know why they would ever want to be against that. Certainly helping more americans have more money that they worked hard to earn in their pocket, i dont know anybody that would want to be against that. So, hopefully they will be reasonable and want to come to the table. I have a tax reform question but first, just quickly about that charitable donation, will that be coming from trump personally as opposed to the Trump Foundation or the Trump Organization . I know that the president , he said he was personally going to give. I dont know the legal part of exactly that, but he said his personal money. So i would assume that comes directly from him. On tax reform if i may, secretary mnuchin said earlier the administration is going to release a blueprint on tax reform that will go to congress. When can we expect that . How much detail will that go into and is that a change from letting Congress Take the lead on actually drafting legislation. Again, as both members of the administration and the president have said, our job is to lay out the core principles, the primary pillars that we want to see in tax reform. Its congresss job to legislate so we want to work through that process and allow them to actually do their jobs. Were going to do our jobs and lead the conversation, set the table, set the priorities, and let them do their job and legislate, get it pass sod ted president can sign it. Will we see that blueprint. I think weve been laying out a lot of those principles. Thats the foundation and well continue to add to that. Is this push for tax reform the priority for the president and the administration right now . Have you put the repeal and replace effort to the side for the moment to focus exclusively on your tax reform proposals . As the white house, i dont think you ever get to exclusively focus on only one issue. Its certainly one of the Top Priorities for the administration. Moving into the fall. But as weve said many times before, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. And we plan to push through a lot of Different Things throughout the fall. Just one thing, sarah, if i may. On repeal and replace, as you know, you received no democratic support in either the house or the senate. As far as tax reform is concerned, are you expecting a different result . Do you think you can get democrats to support some sort of legislation that comes forward from both houses of congress . As i said a minute ago, i would certainly hope so. I dont know why any democrat would be against wanting to provide tax relief for hardworking americans, particularly those in the middle class. I think it would be a very sad and a big mistake. Thank you, sarah. Just one question. Just one. Just one. Politics. The president gave a very strong endorsement through twitter of senator Luther Strange in his bid for nomination in the special election. The runoff is coming up in september 26th. There have been published reports that the president is backing away from that endorsement and not taking sides, which would make him the first republican president in 47 years not to back an incumbent senator for another term. Is he as committed to senator strange or has his position changed since the original p primary . Due to the legal restrictions that i have, i cannot answer anything political from the podium. So, id have to leave that to outside folks and the president himself to answer that. Mentioned today in interviews that was asked about plan to put Harriet Tubman on the 20 bill. He was vague in answer. During the campaign, the president called this pure political correctness. Is the administration reversing those plans to change the 20 bill . Im not aware of any policy change. Id certainly have to check into that. Sarah, on daca sorry, i promised id come back to you. On daca, in february, the president said he would treat d. R. E. A. M. Ers with heart. Does the president stand by his statement to treat d. R. E. A. M. Ers with heart. Absolutely. The president stands by his statement. Right now, this is currently under review, both from a legal standpoint, primarily, and until that review is complete, again, as i answered before, we dont have anything to add further on that front. Would defending daca be treating d. R. E. A. M. Ers with heart. Im not going to get into a back and forth. Let me come to him. Ill go right after chip. To russia for a moment. The decision hes jumped in there for you. Team work. The announcement today by the state department on closing three facilities in this long tit for tat that has been going on with russia, a lot of analysts now say the relations between the u. S. And russia are at the lowest point since the cold war. Do you agree with that and if so, whose fault is it. Right now, were requiring the russian government to close its consulate general in san francisco, a trade annex in washington, d. C. , and a trade annex in new york city. These closures have to be completed by the september 2nd. Weve taken a firm and measured action in response to russias unfortunate decision earlier this year, and we want to halt the downward spiral and we want to move forward towards better relations. Well look for opportunities to do that, but we also want to have equity in the decisions and anything beyond that, i would refer you to the state department. Are relations worse than theyve been since the cold war or at least in decades. I dont think so. The president came in determined to improve relations with russia. And as i just said, were going to look for opportunities to do that, but were also going to make sure that we make decisions that are best for our country. Sarah, thanks. Senato senators grassley and graham revealed today that they have evidence suggesting that former fbi director comey made a decision to not charge Hillary Clinton several months before the investigation actually wrapped up and before they interviewed Hillary Clinton. Does the president know about this and does he believe that that adds weight to his decision to fire comey. Im not sure if he is aware to that revelation, but if it is as accurate as they say it is, i think that would certainly give cause and reason that jim comey was not the right person to lead the fbi and hopefully all of your colleagues will follow suit in covering that story. Tax reform real quick. Based on the president tweeted out about the core principles, one of those presumably the effects on the budget. Has the white house taken a position on whether the tax plan needs to be revenue neutral or is the white house willing to accept a tax plan that would that would essentially raise the deficit. The president s talked a lot about the deficit over the course of his campaign and the white house. Is not at this time, no further announcement on that front. Fred. Thank you, sarah. Couple questions on obamacare, some governors today came out in favor of stainability approach, some of folks in the senate. Would the administration outright any type of obamacare bailout for Insurance Companies . I cant imagine that it would be something we would want to be involved in. I would have to refer you to hhs specifically on that question. And secondly, the president s tweet tweeted talk about taking away members of congress and staff, is there anything stopping him from taking that action now . Something that could be done executive executively. I think that is something he is certainly still considering. Alex. Once said about last week, Saudiled Coalition in yemen for 42 civilians. Is the president concerned about humanitarian situation in yemen . Something that were certainly keeping an eye on and i would refer you back to them for anything further at this point. Thanks sarah. They are saying today that he would be here next week, i want to confirm that. Then on the russia diplomatic move, did the president initiate this . This was a decision made by the president , yes, and on the other, im not ready to make an announcement on that, ill have to check on the specifics of that. Sarah. The president believes all options are on the table when it comes to north korea as he indicated military option is certainly among them, but is negotiating still on the table. All includes all. I think that would certainly include diplomatic, economic, and military options. Quick followup since we are getting closer to friday, can you tell us whether the president has confidence in gary kohn. Yes, working hand in hand and the rest of his team. As i said several times earlier today, thats a big priority for the administration. And gary is an integral member of the team leading that effort. April. Trying to make sure that he replaces and repeals obamacare, whats happening with the website . Is there still active enrollment on that website. Im not aware of any reason that its not, but id have to certainly check into that. Im not checking into the obamacare website daily, id have to look into that. Youre not actively encouraging people, youre more so saying repeal and replace . I think that everybody in the country knows that obamacare is collapsing. And that something still needs to be done and the administration is still very much committed to putting a Health Care System in place that actually works because we know obamacare doesnt, its not sustainable. So yes, were continuing to move forward and look for ways to help all americans receive better care. Hbc conference, is it possible i asked last time, can you give us the list because were still hearing more and more from other colleges and universities in the hbc community saying theyre absolutely not coming and you say its at capacity and you have a waiting list. Is there any way that you can share some of those names . I think the department of education is housing that, but again, i will try to look into that. I meant to do that last week. Thanks so much, guys. Hope you have a great day. Nearly an hour and all things harvey and the situation there. Hearing him say 100,000 homes have been affected, mexico and canada offering up their own condolences and help as well. And he said this is the first time theyve activated all the task forces since 9 11. Talking about price gauging and how that wont be tolerated and a lot of questions around undocumented immigrants. Make a mistake you will get food, water, and shelter, questions around that, and then of course hearing from Sarah Huckabee sanders heading back to both, it sounds like texas and louisiana over the weekend and the fact that the president will be donating a Million Dollars of his own money to the relief efforts. Those are my headlines. I have a panel. Nate, let me bring you in first here on money. A lot of conversation with tom bossert, questions around the requests he says that the white house will be putting together a reasonable request for emergency funding, followed by supplemental requests, not worried about running out of money. How, how smoothly do you think thatll go with congress . I mean, many times this does not go that smoothly with congress because obviously we have a lot of fiscal hawks out there who will be looking very closely at the supplemental looking for, you know, any extras that are tagged on, remember during Superstorm Sandy there was a huge debate over that bill which some people criticize as being a Christmas Tree of spending. Governor Chris Christie debunked that saying there was misunderstanding about what was in the bill. I do think this will be a political football in congress especially as you get further out from the storm often the need doesnt seem as immediate. Certainly right now the says they are committed to getting the aid thats needed. You heard an estimate being thrown around there by the Texas Governor of over 100 billion. So that would be really amazing figure and well see where that ends up in congress. So thats the potential political football in congress. David, what did you make, just the questions about undocumented immigrants and will they or will they not have help or be sent home . Let me say that tom gave one of the most professional briefings that weve been given. He made is clear that the government is mobilized and its doing working on a wide array of fronts, i think he showed light of the victims. You have to give credit where credit is due. I think the area that was vaguest and potential for a lot of heart ache is what immigrants are facing here. Lets say youre an immigrant with a minor infraction of the law, maybe a car accident or something youve been charged or theres Something Else in your background, not a big, serious crime, but a minor crime. Do you go and get food . Do you get and get shelter and in effect come in out of the cold . And then the not being sent on a bus. Thats not clear from this decision, and the dreamer Decision Just around the corner. I think there is real fear in the i would assume, the dreamer can be and many latino families about just how this is going to work out. And thats the issue. Were even hearing from our reporters on the ground in texas that some of these undocumented folks dont want to call in for help because that is their real fear. And a number of questions about daca. It wasnt just a couple months ago when the president said, talked about dreamers, he would approach the dreamer issue with heart and now you have the september 5th deadline that theyre up against, and it sounded to me, and they didnt say a lot beyond the fact that the white house is still reviewing the policy. Thats all we got. They didnt provide clarity on the state softcalled dreamers. The young undocumented people brought to the country as children. And you know, decision is imminent according to to the white house, now fox news was reporting that President Trump is poised to phase out the program. Sarah Huckabee Sanders would neither confirm or deny that reporting which i think just adds to the concerns within the immigrant community. Youll remember this affects as many as 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who, thanks to president obamas deferred action for childhood arrivals policy, daca are able to study and work in the u. S. Without fear of deportation. And when you compound that with the number of undocumented immigrants who are currently affected by hurricane harvey, i think that they really dont have a sense that this administration is willing to commit to providing Critical Services for them in the longterm as well as lifting at least for now the threat of deportation. And brooke, just, you know, talking to some of my sources, there seems to be so much conflicting information coming out of the white house. I was talked to one source thats worked closely with the white house and says that that person has not been made yet, and that the white house is under tremendous pressure, you know, the mayors from all around the country calling in, so its very unclear where trump is on this decision and what the political upside would be for him of ending the program. David, i have 30 seconds left. Tell me what the president really needs to do this weekend in texas and louisiana. Strong protest if he came out against the dreamers on friday. Im out of time. Thank you all so very much. David, all of you, thanks. Brianna keeler sitting in for jake tapper, the lead starts right now. Waters recede, rescuers worry about what they will find. The lead starts right now. Plucked to safety, dramatic and risky rescue missions picking up across the texas coast as one county near the texas louisiana line warns people, get out or die. Show of force. Nuclear capable american jets drop bombs near the border as the u. S. Answers the latest north Korean Missile tests. Plus if they can get along, two governors, two parties, two potential 2020
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