Later on today, President Trump and Melania Trump will be meeting with a louisiana delegation, visit with the National Guard and with the volunteer group known as the cajun navy, who carried out a number of rescues there in texas and louisiana. Our reporters are on the ground covering the story from all angles. Lets begin with athena jones. Has the president arrived at the first location . Reporter thats right. We want to update you on a shift in the schedule. The president had been set to meet with some of the survivors of the storm at Ellington Field then head to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Center. Thats been a bit in reverse. He and the first lady are now heading to that Harvey Relief center in an undisclosed part of the city where we expect him to believe able to talk to people who were directly impacted. Were told hell speak with volunteers who have been helping out the people impacted so able to hear their stories and share some of the concerns he has and the promises hes made in terms of the federal governments lasting response. The president just tweeted. Hes been tweeting a bit about this storm. A video of his arrival and a repeated promise weve heard him state over and over and weve heard from Vice President pence, which is that the federal government will be with the people affected bihar vie today, tomorrow, and every day until this region can rebuild. According to the press pool, the president was able to see some of the flooding as they landed at Ellington Field. There were some photos i think you can put on the screen taken from around about 10,000 feet where you can see clearly some of the flooding in that affected area. So this trip is going to be quite different from the trip the president took on tuesday when he visited Corpus Christi and austin and met with state and local officials and toured an Emergency Operations center and gave some cheer leader in chief sounding remarks about how texas was going to come back stronger. But he didnt have any interaction with childrens impacted by this disaster. That is what were going the see him gate chance here today. Fred . This is a very different visit than the one earlier in the week in texas. This is much more hands on. A lot more personal. Reporter absolutely. Whats e sprinteresting is ther point of comparison. Some felt the president didnt snow shohozan a l show a lot of empathy, didnt talk tact human toll in his trip on tuesday. Just a couple days ago we saw a very different visit from Vice President mike pence who seemed to fulfill that role of comforter pretty handily. He prayed with his wife, Texas Governor greg abbott at a church in rockport. We saw him clearing debris and hugging people. Well see if we see some of that from the president. Athena jones, than you so much. The president and first lady will be meeting with hurricane victims and later on this hour well be able to show perhaps some of those images at the hurricane Relief Center in houston. As tens of thousands of people return to their homes to assess the damage, houstons mayor says his city is open for business. We saw that he is on the agenda to have a little more time with the president while hes there along with the governor you saw on the tarmac. Throughout neighborhoods, small signs of recovery are beginning to e emergency. With fewer people in shelters and power now being restored in some areas, many residents are wondering what could be next. Cnns Stephanie Elam is live for us in houston. What are you learning from people about what is next for them . Reporter i can tell you whats next here is that the president is now just arriving to this evacuation center. Looking off cam are because trying to determine if hes coming in from this door or another door. We understand hes coming to this sent or the meet with some of the people who have been deeply affected by Hurricane Harvey. There are some 1,700 people that are still here in this evacuation center. At its height there were some over 4,000 people that have made their way through here. The numbers have been going down but coming back up some and that is because theyre consolidating from other Evacuation Centers that may have been other businesses or maybe a place of worship or a school. As those businesses are starting to make their way back to normalcy, some of those pool are being brought here. We are seeing the numbers go up a bit. But we are now seeing here, though, right now, fred, people starting to line up and prepare for the arrival of the president. I think press corps is make their way in that may be traveling with the president. Thats whats happening here right now. The president will learn and see that there are a lot of things going on there, not only people taking refuge there, sleeping there, getting food there, getting legal assistance, it is really an allpurpose center. Reporter no doubt. Thats definitely the case. Hurricanes, its awy of life down here, maybe not as tragic and devastating as weve seen but definitely a way of life here in houston and louisiana. So they of learned from each one what people need to d and how they need to be prepared. That is why theyre make sure they get assistance from fema who is here on site and that they can find access to computers to look at how they can get their life back on track and how they can access the data they need to, the paperwork to get to all of that at the same time make sure their families are together until they figure out their next steps and where theyre going go. Stephanie, what have you seen in people there in terms of, you know, their physical demeanodem what theyre ek prsz, whether it be to you or perhaps to volunteers and staff people who are working there . What have they said about their overall peerngs aexperience and theyre enduring and handling everything . Reporter here they want to allow the people who have survived this storm to have their privacy. We cant go in there with our cameras of where they are. But we did get to walk through there before. I can dwroil that they are work with a number of volunteers. Some of these volunteers are creating bonds with some of these families. It is very well organized on the other side of this wall. They have it sectioned off very clearly whats happening where. They had it sectioned off for families, for single women, single men, a place for food, a place for where you can go and talk to fema, where you can go and talk to lawyers, immigration lawyers. Its all very clearly sectioned off and they make announcements often to help people figure out where they need to go, do what they need to d. Its overwhelming losing your house and your family and also in a traumatic storm so there are people here to coach and work with them, Even Mental Health people on site. All these lessons theyve learned from other storms and Natural Disasters. They or incorporating them here to help these people get back on their feet perhaps more quickly even though we know its a long road ahead. Its a long road. Stephanie elam, well check back with you again, the president and first lady by way of your firsthand account. We also know pool reporters and cameras are there too, both arriving at the stadium to meet potentially with victims and see this incredible coordination to try to offer assistance, mental health, just basic necessities, and even some guidance on whats next for many impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Thanks to much, stephanie. I want to bring in congressman al green, a democrat whose district covers much of southwestern houston. Good to see you, congressman. The president there arrive eing in your town at the stoernt meet first hand and see first hand the devastation, how people are coping, how so many people have come together. Yesterday on our air you prex d expressed you wanted to see more accessibility to the president for the congressional delegation, city leaders. Has there been any movement the that kind of interaction with the president thus far . Absolutely. Mayor turner is with him as you know. A part of houston in my congressional district. I met yesterday sorry to interrupt you but as were talking, the president is now walking into the nrg stadium. These pictures from our pool cameras, he and lawn ya. We see him shake hands with people, perhaps some volunteers, perhaps some are Harvey Victims but everyone is in this boat together. Continue your thoughts. Sorry to interrupt you. Its quite all right. Im honored to know that the president is attending an event at the nrg. Asing i met with the fema administrator yesterday, we had a great conversation and were improving our fwoilt communicate with each other. Its important we be able to do so because there will be things that will be unexpected that will occur and we need to get those to top as quickly as possible. The lines have greatly improved. This nearly 8 billion relief package the president is advocating and congress will begin tackling on tuesday when they get back, do you believe this is going to be an uphill battle . It is a down payment is how the white house is putting it, but will this be an uphill battle to try and get these relief funds released quickly and into that tune . I see it as goodfaith down payment as well. Talked to many of my colleagues and they all seem very positive about this. They believe that this is one of those once in a lifetime events that will require a once in a lifetime effort, if you will. Weve rally got to put our shoulders to the wheel and weve agreed ed td to do so. There will be a meeting soon with the congressional delegation led by the senators and i plan to be a part of this. We want to show as much unity as possible. What are you hearing from your constituents in terms of their immediate needs, their frustrations, what theyre hoping in their days of recovery . I was walking through the very center that the president is in currently yesterday. And someone yelled out to me that he needed some help because he was homeless. Homeless people are not falling through cracks but they are close to it because fema helps people who have had a place to live prior to the disaster. To the homes will people are still in that sort of Twilight Zone where they have to acquire their assistance from agencies that deal with the homeless. So we have to make sure we beef up the support to these agencies that help Homeless People because after the disaster is over they, too, have to have a place go. Yeah. You know, people dont know what to d. If anyones been through a Natural Disaster, i mean, its the shock, you know, youre uncomfortable on many levels. I mean, you have been taken out of everything you know and youre not really sure where to turn next. Even just talking to, you know, a legal assistant earlier who talked about how theyve got attorneys, theyve got legal guidance right there for people because they dont know what to do, its also very easy to get lost. I spoke with a relative who lives in beaumont and she talked about the feeling of isolation and the feeling like they are on an island not having the resources that you usually have. So what do you say, what can you d were seeing a very precious image of the president there picking up a little girl there at the nrg stadium there. You know, what kind of comforts do you offer to people who do feel like theyre on an island, they feel like theyre at a loss right now . Well, we want to first make sure that people know that we are doing as best as we can to understand notwithstanding fact that we are not in their shoes. We want to position ourselves so that we understand. This is important because people want to know that you really do care whats happening to them giving theyre experiencing something they of never, appearanced before in their lives and never thought they would experience. After getting people to understand that you have made yourself available to them and you really want to help them, then they want to know can you help me with my job . Many people are going to be unemployed as a result of this and the thai neey need assistan with a job. They need to make sure they have employment benefits. And they want to know when will i get back into my home. The home is the place where everything that they own is usually stationed. And they want to get back to their familiar environment. So we have to be able to assure them that were going to do all that we can to make sure that their state of normalcy is returned to them as rapidly as possible. I dont know, congressman, if youre able to see a return monitor or these live pictures of the president and a lot of young people there who are taking selfies with the president. You know, there are smiles and you see another little girl whos on the lap of Texas Governor greg abbott right now. And this really is so comforting for so many people to see, you know, that we are cared for when you have to president whos arrived, the Texas Governor whos arrived. There almost seems to be like a temporary sense of relief just in their faces. I hope so. Im pleased the president is extending the hand of friendship and loving embrace to people. People do need to believe that their government really does care, that theyre just not another number, a part of some statistics. This is the way you communicate that, by embracing people and by looking them in the eyes and saying to them were going to be here with you. Were going to d what we can to help you. And we can do it by the way. Were the richest country in the world. We can to this. We can make sure that our people are taken care of. This is what government is supposed to do in a time of crisis. Only the government can do this. We can get as much volunteer help, we can get people to make donations, corporations can make donations, but its the government that has to carry the heavy load and i believe that were prepared to d this. By the way, if i see that were not going to do it and were not preparing ourselves to do it, ill say it, because people want to hear the truth about whats going on and i promise to bring the truth. Do you have any frustrations right now . Well, my frustration is mine is the same as everybody elses. We want to move as expeditiously as possible. The mayor indicated that he needed a lot of fema help as quickly as we can get it. I want fema do this as well and i believe theyre trying. Theyve moved more than 20,000 people into the area, and the area includes more than houston, of course. But i do want the smaller communities to get more attention. In my district, i have Missouri City and stafford, texas, mayan the smallest cities dont get as much attention. I know that houston is huge, 600 square miles. I understand the need to give a lot of attention to houston. But i do commend you for the story that i heard while seated here about a smaller city that needs help too. And we cant leave anybody behind. Life is an Inescapable Network of mutuality according to dr. King of what impacts one impacts all directly. Everybody is in this together, whether it impacts you directly because you work at the port of houston or indirectly because gas prices can go up if that port is not operational. Indirectly by virtue of your not being in the hospital district in houston but directly if you happen to be here. It connects. The web of life has been woven so theres connectivity between all humanity. Congressman al green, thank you so much for your time. All the best to you and your constituents, everyone there in the whole south texas area going through an awful lot right now. Appreciate it. All right. I want to bring in our Stephanie Elam who is there at nrg stadium where were seeing these live pictures of the president of the United States along with the governor there. We also saw a quick glimpse of hud secretary ben carson also there. We saw lots of hugs and pictures being taken with the president there. Just real moments of levity and comfort, stephanie. Reporter and a moment of surprise for the people here who have been staying here at the center. You can see behind me, that is where the president is, back there, thats the kid zone, the area over there where they have staged since tuesday night when they opened up the center where they have the area for children to play. Since the president has arrived, we have seen some of the families hearing the news spreading quickly that the president is here and running over the get a better look, take a picture to see him here. A lotpeople very surprised that hes here and making their way over there to take those pictures. If you look up, you see a lot of phones up many the air there. Yes, hes over in the kid zone playing with children, im told. Im sure you can see it better than i can, being as im not that tall. We do know that the president has made his way over there with the people he is traveling with but obviously its a very big surprise for people who have been through such a devastating week to see the president here where they have been staying and trying to get themselves back up on their feet. A welcome sight for many people here. Yeah, because a lot of times when grow through a Natural Disaster even though youre in the company of other people who have gone through it too there is still a feeling of am i invisible, have i been forgot n forgotten, how will i get through this, and how reassuring this just might be for a number of people to see the president of the United States, the governor there, youve got, you know, members of his cabinet, hud secretary ben carson there, people who might feel like this is some reassurance that they may be able to get through this. That they may be able to get some direct assistance. And then it was nice to see the president in a different form as well xwroup saw h. You saw him sit do you think at the table with the kids there, talking and selfies, et cetera. There was a lot going on there and it was a nice moment, stephanie. This area where the president is right now ordinarily this is an area where people do what . Is this a place where theyre sometimes bedding down . I saw an area where it said kid zone. Is this an area thats become a gymnasium . What has this become in this last few days . Reporter its really well organized in here. I was able to get a tour of it before so i can dwroil that i know thats the kid zone area. Think about it, for kids going through this devastation, what their minds are dealing with. So to give them some play area there where they can get some of that tension and stress out is what they were thinking so they set that up. If you g along, you see here this is where theyre hahn handing out goods to people, if you need clothes, soap, toothpaste, you can get those kinds of items here. It is a massive, massive room that we are in. Room is like not even the right word. Its huge. You could fit a few planes in here. There are cots, cots that are available for single women, another section for families, another section thats there for single men, and down beyond that you have food. Theres also showers in here. Then further down past that they have a pet area and there is another section that is set up and available for people who want to talk to people representatives from fema, the public library, computers so people can figure out what their paper trail is online perhaps. They have it very well organized here to help the people that have been severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey and have no place to go. Their home is destroyed and they dont have relatives nearby. They have learned from each one of these Natural Disasters how they can set up these shelters and Evacuation Centers to make it ease yr to help people navigate the road back and figure ot what their next steps to are going to be when they get out of here. The other thing thats awesome are the number of volunteers who have shown up from the houston area. Knowing their homes are okay but have made it a priority to be here. When they opened up tuesday night they got it up and running within six hours. Wednesday morning they had more volunteers showing up than they had evacuees here in the building yet. So the response here has been huge when it comes to that. That is so nice. Thank you so much, stephanie. Athena jones, white house correspondent, traveling with the president , although she got there before the president did in houston, athena with us now. This was like a rather spontaneous moment, right . The white house schedule said one thing but then to everyones great surprise he ended up at the nrg center and meeting facetoface with people and it looked like folks got a big kick out of it. Reporter they did. Ive been watching these pictures on cnn go on my cell phone seeing the president dpreet the children, the little girl who hugged his legs and he picked her up, sitting down with kids and their families and taking pictures. It was always on the schedule the president would visit a Hurricane Harvey Relief Center. They just dont release it ahead of time for security reasons and other reasons and they kind of moved around the schedule a bit. He had been expected to meet with some storm survivors at Ellington Field then come to whatever Relief Center, and then return to Ellington Field to meet with the texas delegation. Both meetings that were taking place at that airfield will happen after this visit. These are the sorts of pictures a lot of focus were hoping to see from the president , him really interacting with people, getting a chance to talk and to hear from those people who have been impacted by this terrible and still ongoing Natural Disaster. Im told by one of the reporters in the press pool, folks who would have been much closer to president , and they said there were people in the crowd that asked shouted a question at the president saying when are you going to release fema funds . Funds for emergency management. As you know weve been talking about this emergency request that has already gone to congress that they are hoping to get to work approving very quickly. I should also mention in a briefing late last week we heard from the acting secretary of Homeland Security that already the government has approved at that point some 100,000 requests for individual assistance totaling more than 50 million. So money is certainly already available, already flowing, lots of these officials are encouraging people to apply for it. Again, congress will debate that big initial installment of aid totaling nearly 8 billion early next week. Stephanie elam said the president was in the kid zone much to surprise and excitement of those kids. One thing were learning is we talk about how the storm is going to have a lot of impacts. 10 to thushgs to 12,000 kids in the Houston Independent School district will be temporarily displaced from schools, have to find a different place to go to school because the schools are damaged. A lot of issues going forward. Among the contingent traveling with the president , the education secretary betsy devos. A lot of these kids will have to be moved to other locations so they can continue their education this fall. Athena jones thanks you so much in houston. Live pictures, these are actually pictures reracked from moments ago. 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We knew that the president and first lady would be in houston and visiting a hurricane Relief Center but we didnt know which one, nor did anybody else. This was a great surprise to people there. A lot of folks running up to him and wanting to take pictures and selfies like you see there. Very cute moments there. People are hoping with this visit also means the promise of getting quick aid so they can get back on their feet, get back into their homes and try to resume as best they can life as they knew it there in texas. So the situation in beaumont is simply devastating for so many. Families are searching for Running Water because any kind of clean water because its been three days since the citys water pumps failed, and Officials Say water levels are still too high to actually install new pumps that have just arrived. So where does that leave families in need . Cnns Kaylee Hartung is at a water distribution sent nor beaumont, texas. What are you hearing from people . Are they getting what they need, at least temporarily . Reporter well, fred, we of moved on from a site offering more than just water, heb is offering hot meals for people. They are hoping to provide 6,000 meals for the people of beaumont today. They of already provided 27,000 across texas. These trucks earlier in the week were in victoria, texas, rockport, and houston, some of the areas hit hardest. I just had a pretty remarkable moment, though, fred, when i reconnected with a family who i met yesterday. Disappointed. But weve tried to g and get another line and by the time we mad it there they ran out there too. Reporter did you have clean water for your children to drink, brush their teeth, to bathe last ninth circuit . Night . The day before we got a kis of water we got from a church and thats what we used to clean the boys up and behind the net them brush their teeth. Reporter how noded a eneede supplies you have right now . Good, bad, its a warm meal. We couldnt cook because they shut off the water in beaumont. Reporter i met your mom. Ruby, how describe the emotions you have as the matriarch of this family as you all try to make it through this difficult time . Im telling you, with all of us working together, we can do it. We can do it. And my emotions are pretty good right now because i got this right here on my side. Because she tells me mama, get up, go do this, go do that. That helps me because i got four kids in my house so im running for them. As long as the lord give me the strength to get up and go and do, thats what im going do. What were the emotions like Tuesday Morning when you realized the situation you were in, no Running Water . It was it was horrifying. I just didnt know what to d. My daughter said mama, come on, lets go get some water and we can work with that and thats what we did. Reporter where did you get it from . You were telling me a story about going to a canal. Just to flush the toilets. We went to the canal to fill up a couple buckets to flush the toilets to keep it clean in house, you know. Straight to President Trump where hes talking. Lets listen. Just happy. Saw a lot of happiness. Its been really nice. Its been a wonderful thing. As tough as this was, its been a wonderful thing. I think even for the country to watch it, for the world to watch. Its been beautiful. Have a good time, everybody. Im going to be doing a little help over here. Theyre really happy with whats going on. Its been something its been very well received. Eve bin you guys. Did you look out the window at all [ inaudible ] . No, i didnt see it. You mean the flooding . Oh, yeah. There was theres a lot of water. But its leaving pretty quickly. But theres a lot of water. A lot of water. But its moving out. But i think most importantly the governor, the relationship with the governor and the mayor and everybody has been fantastic. And with the federal government. Its been great. And were signing a lot of documents now to get money. 7. 9 billion. We signed it and now its going through a very quick, hopefully quick process. How are those kids doing that you were talking with . Doing great. Doing really well. All right. The president there at nrg stadium, spontaneous he would end up there. We heard just some of what the president was saying. Well try and get the top of his answers to questions from reporters there. But he says, you know, as tough as this was it has been a wonderful thing, really happy with whats going on. He says theres a lot of water but it is moving out. And he says the most important thing is the relationship with the governor. So faritis re its really gre and he signed that 8 billion package and hopefully it will go through the process quickly. It goes to congress as well, when Congress Gets back on tuesday and the hope is from his point of view that it will continue to move on rather quickly and some of that relief aid will be distributed as quickly as possible. He is there with the first lady there and people are taking pictures, you hear a few of the squeals of excitement. Youre in washington . In washington. And julia is with us as well. Salina, the president his optimistic comments there at this Relief Center. His hope is this money will come quickly. How important is this for the president to be seen in this light to prexz this kie express optimism . Its his second visit but a different visit. Whats your point of view . I think today the president has handled this very competently. When he first went there he went with the cabinet members that would deal directly with the aftermath and what happens in the days and weeks and years after all the attention goes away. He then came in and so it was very professional, serious setting. He comes back here, you can he always talks about how much he loves being a grandfather. As a great grandmother myself, when you see little kids and kind of have that connection you can understand sort of how hes probably a great grandfather, right. He loved the little kids. They interacted with him well. This is the kind of thing thats important for the president to do and for the first lady to also be part of. It shows empathy. It shows caring. And its just that emotional connection reminder that the government does have a role in protecting and keeping the populace safe and this is one of those moment where isitis critical and most important. Julia kayyem, when a president is on the ground, devastation like this, meeting with people, do you believe this helps shape his thinking see if we can hear this. Where are they . Where are they . Theyre back there. Get them up. Get them up. Okay. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right. Well, i couldnt understand what the gentleman was saying but i could hear the president saying get them up here so its perhaps to meet or interact with someone. Well try to keep our ears open here. You see food bank distribution. Lets try and listen and hear this interaction. Thats all right. Thats all right. Go ahead. Good afternoon. Thank you very much. How are you . Youre a vet . Yes, sir. You could see it. Go ahead. Let me ask you, [ inaudible ] . Good to see you. All right. Nice to see you. Go ahead. Go ahead. I want to take one with you. Go ahead. Go ahead. I have to turn it around. Lets go. Right here. You ready . Got it, man. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, wait. Take this. Thank you. All right. Lets go. Thank you. Try it. Try it. Well do it again. You got it . Thank you. Oh, man. How is it . Got a pretty good one . Look like some fun selfie moments. Hearing a lot of good to see yous. From both ends. People really excited to get a moment with the president of the United States there whos also showing his Food Service Skills by handing out food, he along with the first lady there. Lots of smiles in the place. Lots of squeals. Lots of excitement. With me still here we of got salina zito, julia kayyem as well as Lieutenant General Russel Honore with me now as we look at these live pictures. We knew the president would be going to a hurricane Relief Center. This is the nrg stadium where 1,700 or so continue to remain there, sleeping there, getting food, and also getting legal assistance. We tried to rerack this tape. Lets listen one more time to some of the questions being asked of the president and his answers. Here we go. Look who we have. Come here. Everything good . Huh . I think its grat. Just the message that things are working out well. Really i think people appreciate whats been done. Its been done very efficiently, very well. And thats what we wanted. Were very happy with the way everythings gone. A lot of love. [ inaudible question ] they were just happy. Saw a lot of happiness. Its been really nice. Its been a wonderful thing. As tough as this was, its been a wonderful thing. I think even for the country to watch it, for the world to watch. Its been beautiful. Have a good time, everybody. Im going to be doing a little hope over here. Theyre rally happy with whats going on. Its been its been very well received. Eve bin you guys its been well received. Did you look out the window at all [ inaudible ] . Did you see any flooding . No, dint see it. You mean the flooding . Oh, yeah. Theres a lot of water, but its leaving pretty quickly. But theres lot of water. A lotwater. But its moving out. But i think most importantly the governor, the relationship with the governor and the mayor and everybody has been fantastic. And with the federal government. Its been real good. And were signing a lot of documents now to get money for houston. 7. 9 billion. We signed it and now its going through a quick, hopefully very quick process. How are those kids doing that you were talking with . I think theyre doing great. Doing really fantastic. All right. That was the president earlier just by about 15, 20 minutes ago. Reporters there asking him the question as he showed up at that hurricane Relief Center at the nrg stadium. You saw lots of folks, kids, people of all ages taking selfies. The president even picking up one little girl. You hear the president there very optimistic and saying that he is very happy with the way things are going and that hes getting the message from others that things are going well and he says the relationship with the governor and the mayor very important. He talked about signing a proposal of 8 billion in relief and of course that now, that proposal going to congress and he expressing some optimism that hopefully it will be a quick process. Join meganow to talk about all this, salina zito, athena jones, julia kayyem, Lieutenant General Russel Honore. Juliet, i was in the midst of asking you a question and we went to hear what the president had to say as he was handing out food and answering questions and got a few high fives, pats on the back from people there and pictures. So the president says things are going very well. Hes very happy with the response and the relationship between federal government, local, state authorities. Whats your perspective thus far and thepressing that kind of optimism . I think president s presence, especially on sort of a sunny day when at least the crowd he was with is clearly a crowd thats heading towards recovery, filling out the forms, getting food, theyll figure out what their longterm sheltering needs are, i think its so important the president is there. I of been in disaster management, the sense of isolation by you are a vooifrs of a disaster, the government comes in, its stops a bad thing from happening then leaves, so its very important that the federal government sort of keeps the presence there. Not being on the frouground it hard to say its all gone great. I think we know thats not true. But i will say overall if you asked me eight days ago before harvey hit, oh my goodness, looking at that trajectory, what would i expect to happen, the physical damage has been significant, will take a long time for texas to recover, but the death toll, while not fixed is something that i think that the emergency responders, the police, everyone whos been involved should be in a horrible situation should actually be quite proud of. Its remarkable when you actually think about what texas was facing. Lieutenant general honore, of course you bring that very keen perspective from katrina. There have been some comparisons made because of how widespread and devastating this storm was. But whats your point of view when the president expresses such optimism that things are going ratherle with and hes optimistic it will only get better . Well, i think we ought to emphasize that since katrina and because of katrina, rita, gustav and others, significant improvements have been made in fema. Right now you can get individual assistance within 24 to 36 hours after the storms over and you fill out the form online with fema, youve got money in your check account. We didnt have that at katrina. This is a significant improvement. The other thing is the sba will start opening loans up to people who determined that they had gaps. Those sba loans can be applied for online now if people say they need something to open their business. 40 of Small Businesses fail after a disaster. And with the sba being integrated as a disaster center, this is new. All this has been done since katrina, and in that regard, the loans that they give those companies will help them get back and be in business, fred. The last point is is there should be an effort to get local businesses to run the debris removal. That is a way for Small Businesses to get back on their feet doing debris removal. As opposed to having to hold on to they give it to Big Companies and the small companies, locally dont get to do it. So also new, athena, there in houston, is seeing the president in this light. So interactive, you know, with people, shaking hands, you know, smiling. There are hugs, pictures being taken. And it really does seem to provide a sense of relief and comfort just looking known y the eyes and the faces of the victims here who are getting food handed them from the president and first lady. Hi, fred. Thats right. You can look at the excitement not just on the childrens faces but the people who are a little older in that crowd, clearly pleased to see the president and the first lady taking an interest in them, showing that theyre concerned about what happens to the victims of this storm. Just a few minutes ago we were watching the president , he had gloves on and he and the first lady were helping hand out meals, those were the kinds of pictures a lot of folks want to see from a president in a tragedy like this. A tragedy may not be avoidable. There are going to be Natural Disasters and they want to see the president play the role of comforter and so were seeing him do a little bit of that today. But its interesting, you guys talked about how of the mystic the president has sounded. Thats what he sounded like today and what he sounded like on tuesday. Hes being sort of a cheerleader saying the government the federal government, state and local officials are working well together, this is all going to be fine, the water is going down, down fast, well, thats true in some areas, but its not true in others. This idea that things are going well is great, but things are going to have to continue to g well for a number of months. So that is why its important to hear the president make that pledge that the federal government is going to be with the people of this region and not just today or tomorrow but until this area rebuilds. He clearly wants very much to focus on how quickly theyll be able to get things done. Salina, victims are going to hold him to that because there is this moment, the high point, meeting with the president , hes speaking optimistically and the first lady is there and everything seems, you know, so great. Tomorrow comes, a week, a month down the line and if you have lost everything and you dont know where to begin, and even though youve filled out paperwork or perhaps receive ld a 30,000 check from fema, its still not enough to get you back to where you were before this storm came through. How important who will hold the president to task on delivering all the way so that this great euphoric moment today is what people are feeling a month, a year from now, et cetera. Right. So right now this is an important moment what hes doing, but youre right. Youre absolutely right, having covered disasters before, its the weeks and months and years afterwards. I think katrina it was rightly pointed out that there were so many inefficiencies associated with it because they didnt have the Technological Capabilities to make the aftermath work for the people that were impacted. I think a lot has changed in automation and technology to help them through. But i think its very important that Governor Abbott and the state and local officials hold the president and the president holds their hand going forward. And hes able to show that, you know, that he is there for the state and local officials. And thes there for the people. There are going to be problems with bureaucracies. Theres going to be problems theres going to be red tape, theres going to be bad guys that will gouge people with those things that are going to start to put breaks on the message afterwards. But if he wants to showcase this as a person who is competent and can make this, you know, an example of how government does good, you know, its important that he stays on top of this the whole time. Uhhuh. All right. Salina, Lieutenant General, juliet, going by memory because i dont see your faces, athena, there you are. Thank you so much. Again, were looking at these images one more time of moments ago the president and the first lady there in nrg stadium meeting with victims of Hurricane Harvey. Some real moments of happiness, levity, comfort, you name it. Handing out food. Taking selfies. All of that. And it continues. Well be right back. Scuse me. Mind if i sit here . Not if you want your phone to work. Let me guess, cant livestream your lobster roll. And my mobile pay isnt connecting and i just got an unlimited plan. Right plan, wrong network. 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Meanwhile, for the First Time Since the storm pro sports will be played in the city of houston providing a break from the grim realities the city has been facing for the past week. The astros will take to the field this afternoon to play a doubleheader against the new york mets. Cnns nick valencia is at the stadium in houston. Nick, people must be pretty pumped up about all this. Reporter i think this is the first time weve seen this many people smile in the last week, fredricka. Theres a lot of optimism floating around here, and we havent felt that in this community in the last eight days or so. Earlier i spoke to the owner of the astros and he along with the rest of the organization understand the importance of todays game. They were affected as well. Some of their employees lost homes. Some of their employees lost houses. He talked about what the city has been through. Today its going to be fun. The guys are back, they did some work in the shelter yesterday and they couldnt have been nicer. They sat down and played with the kids. They care about the community and theyre good guys and theyve got families too. Reporter one of the very special things that one of the youngest stars of the astros is doing, joe musgrove is taking cleats signed by some of the youngest victims of Hurricane Harvey, hes going to be wearing those as a symbol of sol dar di with the community. These fans could not be more appreciative. I caught up with a couple of them on their way into the game. Listen to what they had to say. I think its really good. I think its going to help keep everyone in good spirits. Its bringing us closer together. Im super excited to see them being back home. And i know were going to win. Reporter oh, youre that confident. We have to. We had a horrible week, so we have to make it up. Were just happy that its over and now we can just houston, were going to make it happen. Its going to come back to normal. Reporter this is a doubleheader today, fred. So not only astros will steal one game theyll steal both. A lot of smiles here. Good luck. Of course were all rooting for them. You know, no matter what team youre rooting for. Reporter absolutely. You got to root for the astros. Nick valencia thank you so much in houston. Well be right back. All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. Im fredricka whitfield. We begin this hour in texas, just a few moments ago the president spoke at a Hurricane Harvey Relief Center. He gave his thoughts on how
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