Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20170907

Were being very aggressive in our preparation for this storm and every floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. Possessions can be replaced. Your family cannot. This is serious and we cannot take chances. It is lifethreatening. This is not a storm you can sit and wait through. Bill miami is one of the major cities in the path of this storm. Four shelters open there already. Evacuation orders for parts of the state including miami beach. Phil keating is standing by. This is one of two locations on the beach. Lowlying area like the caicos being hammered by irma now. Sandbags to fill up. As you can see these are the crumbs left on the sidewalk on the parking lot. People are scraping that up because theyve run out of sand. Thats how high demand has been. The word is another truck is on the way. Let me run you over here to judith green in her white vehicle. Sitting here parked waiting for the truck to arrive. Much as is the case with gas stations around the state. People waiting for the next fuel truck to come. Judith green, thanks for joining us. You need sandbags. Where will you put them . In front of the house. Then youre going to leave because of mandatory evacuation . Youre not leaving, are you . No. I hope so. Im as safe as i can be. Looks like a monster storm. Yes. Good luck. It is a monster storm and every day the track gets closer to florida and people see that eyewall and it is looking like a cat 4 or 5 sometime saturday slamming right into miamidade county. It will be absolutely devastating as that happens. The level of concern, worry and panic is growing by the hour. Traffic is chaotic over here on collins avenue. That long line of cars you see there, they are in line to wrap around the block to then get over to where we are at the sand pile. Once the sand pile arrives, although i see that truck over there. That might be the refill. So thats good news for these people. Mandatory evacuation underway in miami beach, key biscayne, world famous south beach. Surfside, sunny aisle. North bay village. All of it mandatory evacuation now. Words i heard from police this morning listening to talk radio. People calling in heading to orlando. The fourhour drive was already an eighthour drive. Bill amazing stuff. Julie to politics and a stunning move by President Trump cutting a deal with democrats yesterday on the debt ceiling. Most reports make it clear that republicans are not happy about it. Here is what the president had to say about that. President trump we had a very good meeting with nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We agreed to a threemonth extension on debt ceiling by they considered to be sacred and important. Well agree on debt ceiling because of the importance of it. We came to a deal essentially. And i think the deal will be very good. Julie john roberts is live on the north lawn with more. To say it was stunning is an understatement at the least. Paul ryan had just finished saying the three month increase in the debt ceiling that was being proposed by disgraceful and the president did that and then a threemonth extension in government funding. Why did this all happen . Sources in the administration and on capitol hill explain it this way. The president went into that meeting wanting to clear the decks of thorny issues like the debt ceiling increase and wanted to get Harvey Relief so he could get the deal on Harvey Relief. Clear the debts on the debt ceiling and government funding to focus on tax reform. Sources say here is what happened as the meeting progress. The two sides devolved into partisan dickering over what they would and would not except and they were agreeing to disagree. The president sensing he wasnt moving. A few of the people in the room lets say were more than shocked and it led to this now iconic photo of the president embracing Chuck Schumer in the oval office but as far as the white house is concerned, its mission accomplish. Listen here. I think as far as taxes, the thing that occurred yesterday was we cleared the next 90 days to have more room to focus on taxes. So i think that was a big win and i couldnt be more hopeful. And the president and i are focused on selling this to the American People. Why its good for the economy and why we need this. A lot of people in the gop are complaining this hands a lot of leverage to the democrats in budget negotiations and debt ceiling negotiations in december. There is another package of hurricane Harvey Relief that will come in early december as well as irma relief. The president Still Believes there is a lot of room for bipartisanship. Steve bannon, the former white house chief strategist. He said that gary cohn should have resigned rather than give that interview with the Financial Times in which he criticized the president s response to charlottesville. Listen here. You can tell him hey, maybe you could do it a better way. If you are going to break, resign. If youre going to break with him resign. The stuff leaked out by certain members of the white house was unacceptable. If you find it unacceptable you should resign. Im talking about gary cohn and some other people. That if you dont like what he is doing and you dont agree with it, you have an obligation to resign. Gary cohn should have resigned . Absolutely. The president has a press conference with the leader of kuwait and later today a dinner with paul ryan. To be a fly on the wall. Bill the former governor of arkansas Mike Huckabee with me in studio. Explain this one, governor. A shrewd move by the president. Eight months republicans have had both houses. Theyve been able to get nothing done. Look, no obamacare repeal, no tax reform. They pass a few insignificant bills but nothing significant. The president yesterday basically said ill send a message to you, the republicans, which is if you wont work with me and give me the most fundamental things that you, the republicans promised the American People, ill see what the democrats are willing to do. Bill they say its a betrayal of everything weve been talking about for years. Thats nonsense. Bill another one said why not do a debt ceiling he has a book out, the best deal maker. Another republican. Theyre not nearly as unhappy with the president as the American People are unhappy with this republican congress. There is outrage i dont think these guys get it. Theyre furious at them for not being able to deliver to a president. Heres why. Remember when nancy pelosi was speaker and said give us the house and well get rid of nancy pelosi. We did that. We went out and worked hard and got the senate. We have to have the white house. Then we can really make things happen. They got all three. Theyve had it for eight months and if they cant do the fundamental things they promised and republicans are voting against the very votes they did before, then i think that there is an extraordinarily exasperation on the part of the public. Bill you say its shrewd politics. Others suggest it makes tax reform less likely. I disagree with that. Heres why. If you want tax reform and you have to get a few democrat votes to get it, youll have to show that youre willing to reach across the aisle. I think he has boxed the democrats in. Not all of them. A lot of them will never vote for any tax reform but he put some of them in the box now that he is shown im willing to work with democrats. Democrats, are you willing to work with me . He has leverage that he did not have before yesterday. Look, im looking at this as a guy who had to deal with a 90 Democrat Legislature and sometimes you give something to get something and the guys who go to washington thinking its all or nothing, i get everything i want, i get it all the time, let me tell you they get nothing and they get it every day. Bill has changed the dynamic. Thank you for being here today. Julie, whats next . Julie right after that Oval Office Meeting President Trump took his tax policy on the road. Bill a bit later this hour donald trump junior meeting with members of the Senate Committee behind closed doors. What do lawmakers want to learn from him and get from his testimony . Julie moments away from an update of Governor Scott. He will join us right here on the show this morning as well as senator bill nelson and Florida Attorney general pam bondi as our coverage of irma continues. Watching what just happened in texas and how bad a storm of this magnitude can be. Are taught youre not supposed to do. 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Well get the latest on preparations for irma. She has been a deadly and devastating hurricane so far. Still packing those winds category 5 strength. So when that begins, well take you there live in florida. In the meantime, President Trump selling tax reform. This during a speech yesterday in north dakota. Republican texas congressman kevin brady is helping write that bill. Good morning to you. Things got really interesting in the last 24 hours. Lets start with your meeting in the oval office yesterday. You were there with the big six. Is there consensus on when to go forward . There is. Look, the focus is completely on delivering this year and we know thats aggressive. We are attempting and i think well do it this year. A lot of consensus. We have work to do but were getting close to a very bold progrowth leapfrog america back into the lead type tax reform. Can i say this, too . We talked about harvey. Were very worried about florida and those by irma. Im really proud of how our texans came together on harvey. We couldnt do that from without help from every state in the country. Bill, can i just tell america thank you for all that youve done. Bill indeed, sir. Message well delivered and perhaps the folks in florida, South Carolina and maybe North Carolina may need it next. They are in our thoughts and prayers as well. Will democratic senator heidi she ought to. The code were making is simple that americans can file on the postcard. Making sure our local businesses, large or small keep more of what they earn so they can compete and win anywhere in the world including here at home and so weve got an opportunity to jump start the economy and grow wages for every american. So i think that works in north dakota like it does in the rest of the country. Bill there was a reason she was on Board Air Force one when the president delivered this message about taxes. President trump our painful tax system has become a massive barrier to americas economic comeback. It costs us millions of american jobs, trillions of dollars and billions of hours wasted on paperwork. Our tax code is a giant selfinflicted economic wound. Bill i dont think you would disagree with any of that . The president is right on target. When he is out there talking about tax reform and this monster of a tax code america is saddled with, people listen. So i love him out there making this case. I know at the white house he is all in on this. Its his signature issue and im telling you were focused on delivering it for the American People. Bill okay. Now youve got this deal with democrats on the debt ceiling. How does that complicate matters knowing that yourself and paul ryan want an extension for 18 months and it got dropped to three months. Bill, im not going the read too much into this. Making sure our hurricane victims get their aid when they need it and making sure america pays its debt is never a partisan issue. The president is reaching that direction. I think longer is better because it creates certainty going forward. It is good for the economy but look, it doesnt change our timetable on tax reform. Certainly not with the president , with the house and the senate, and so were just moving forward. Bill why do you think he did it . Governor huckabee said he was trying to send a message saying republicans cant take him for granted. Was that at play here . I dont know and i havent talked to the president. This is an unconventional president and why i dont read too much into that decision. He made the decision, we move forward on it. Where i know he is in complete sync is on tax reform and that is where you look at all the noise going on in washington, we deliver that for the American People, the president delivers this for the American People, its a game changer. Bill we shall see. Thank you for your time today. Kevin brady, come back. You have a lot of work to do. Appreciate your time today. 19 minutes past the hour. Julie okay, we were going to run sound there but well pass on that for now. As we have been mentioning, we are awaiting an update from the governor of florida as Hurricane Irma bears down with potentially catastrophic winds bringing death and devastation to the caribbean. Well talk to senator bill nelson about what the state is doing to prepare. Even though no one will be forcing you to leave your home, if you live in an evacuation zone and anything happens, fire rescue and Police Personnel may not be able to reach you. Hey, hows it going . Um. Who are you . Im val. The orange money retirement squirrel from voya. I represent the money you save for the future. See . Were putting away acorns to show the importance of being organized. Thats smart. Whos he . Hes the green money you can spend now. Whats up . Oh you know, gonna pay some bills, maybe buy a new tennis racket. Tennis racket for a squirrel . Hes got a killer backhand. When its time to get organized for retirement, its time to get voya. Aggressive styling, so you can break away from everyone else. The bold lexus is. Experience amazing. That complain about dry mouth they feel that they have to drink a lot of water medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. I like to recommend biotene. It replenishes the moisture in your mouth. Biotene definitely works livestreat the airport. E sport binge dvrd shows while painting your toes. On demand laughs during long bubble baths. Tv on every screen is awesome. The Xfinity Stream app. All your tv at home. The most on demand your entire dvr. Top networks. And live sports on the go. Included with xfinity tv. Xfinity, the future of awesome. Julie fox news alert on Hurricane Irma. Were awaiting an update any minute now from Florida Governor rick scott. Well take that live News Conference for you as soon as it happens. The most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the atlantic barreling across the caribbean already killing at least 10 people and causing massive destruction across the caribbean. Mandatory Evacuation Orders in parts of florida where irma appears to be headed next. Lets bring in florida senator bill nelson. Thank you for talking to us. This is an emergency of mass proportions. You were in miami and West Palm Beach yesterday meeting with emergency officials ahead of the storm. How do you believe its going there . It is chaos now on the roads. People are trying to flee and the problem now is gasoline. So we contacted fema last night, said you have to get gasoline supplies in because people are running out on the streets, on the interstates. They go to the gas stations and the gas stations are closed. It just compounds to all of what is happening. Julie yesterday you also sent letters to senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell. What youre calling on congress to do and it was no surprise that the house went ahead and passed the 7. 85 billion disaster aid package to help with Harvey Relief. You say that Congress Needs to actually account for the additional costs that fema will likely incur responding to Hurricane Irma and these other two storms that are churning in the atlantic. In houston, the governor there says they could be facing some 180 billion in damage. How much more federal aid do you believe is needed to account for all of this . Fema is stretched. They are having to pull people out of texas. The supplies are needed not only in texas but are going to be needed in florida. And of course gas immediately. And so this 15 billion package. Its doubled. Its a first start. But there will be a long way down the road that they will have to be a lot more money for both florida and texas, and what we have is this will just get us for the next two or three months. Julie already this has been the most expensive year ever in hurricane relief. You talked about price gouging and that is something we see after every Natural Disaster from gasoline to even airline prices. What is the state of florida doing now . Not only is there a fear of gasoline prices, which by the way well be talking to pam bondi later, who got a hotline out for anybody who notices any price gouging, which is illegal. The shortage of gasoline. We were showing route 1 out of the keys. The keys have been under a mandatory Evacuation Order and so its just a line of cars getting out of there but they cant get out unless they fill up their gas tanks. Is there enough gasoline to go around for all the evacuees . The answer is no. Thats why i say that yesterday i contacted fema to get gas supplies in. Now, on the gouging, as a matter of fact weve contacted the federal trade commission and said youve got to watch it like a hawk because some people will take advantage of it. Let me say on the airlines, im very proud of the airlines. Most of them, when there were initial reports of gouging on ticket prices, most of them have brought it down to 99 for fleeing and jetblue is the one who led the way yesterday. Julie thats excellent. There were stories of some airlines that were, in fact, inflating costs. And then once they were called on it. Thank god for the internet. It does hold these companies responsible for potential price gouging. There is also some warnings also for people using portable generators and Carbon Monoxide. A lot of these people will be losing electricity. Thats nonetheless going the happen for those who dont evacuate. What are the warnings for floridians or anyone in the path of this storm . Thats a killer as well. People dont realize these generators, if left inside, they can produce the Carbon Monoxide and suddenly they sum succumbed to it. That happened with regard to storms over the last several years and weve come back in to the federal government, asked them to alert, give the extra warnings about the generators so people will beware and wont be lulled into what is a permanent sleep, death. Julie something that Everybody Needs to be aware of because most people a lot of people have these generators and rely on them for electricity when theyre out sometimes for weeks. Senator ben nelson. Thank you for talking to us. Bill were waiting for that News Conference to begin. The moment it starts well bring it to you live to get the latest on what people need to know in florida and beyond. Were getting new reaction from paul ryan at this moment on the muchcriticized Oval Office Meeting from yesterday. The president blindsiding republicans in his deal with democrats. What fallout could he face after this stunning move . Well debate that coming up in a moment. His feeling was that we needed to come together to not create a picture of divisiveness. Thats total b. S. Just shows that democrats are not serious legislators. During your period . Its up to you, with tampax pearl. You get ultimate protection on your heaviest days, and smooth removal for your lightest. Tampax pearl. And pocket pearl, for on the go. Bill 9 31. Washington, d. C. Now. Minutes from now the president s oldest son will meet privately with members of the senate judicialary committee. He will answer questions about his meeting with the russian lawyer. They wanted to talk publicly but lawyers negotiated the closed door deal. The Senate Judiciary committee is a Panel Investigating ties between russia and the trump team and the firing of former f. B. I. Chief james comey and the Obama Justice departments handling of the clinton email probe. Do you have all that . Thats a lot today. Chuck schumer and nancy pelosi and the whole Republican Leadership group and ill tell you what, we walked out of there mitch and paul and everybody, kevin, and we walked out and everybody was happy. Not too happy because you can never be too happy. But they were happy enough. Julie there you go. President trump blindsiding his party yesterday striking a stunning deal with democrats to raise the debt ceiling for a shorter time than the gop wanted. Republicans are up in arms over the move and of course theyre speaking out, too, listen. Weve got all this devastation in texas, weve got another unprecedented hurricane about to hit florida. And they want to play politics with the debt ceiling . The president listened to the arguments. We thought we made a reasonable and strong argument and to his credit, he went with the better argument. Typical washington, d. C. Kick the can down the road. Negotiating with democrats doesnt normally produce outstanding results. Julie lets bring in our panel on this. Former advisor doug schoen and charlie hurt from the washington times. The president casts himself as a master negotiator. He is damned in he does and damned if he doesnt. The senate bombed on healthcare. They need to get democrats and republicans to work together. The republican president comes forward and Shows Congress how its done and now he is getting backlash. I dont know why anybody especially republicans on capitol hill is surprised by this with the glaring exception of neil gorsuch republicans have failed to deliver on anything that not only donald trump promised in his campaign but they ran campaigns promising the same things. Of course, the chief example of that is obamacare. The simple failure to be able to repeal obamacare after years of promising to do just that. And ive been predicting this for months. At some point donald trump is going the lose patience with republicans, turn to democrats and start working with them and this is the new normal. He is going to be especially in an environment like this with a lot of money on the table. Democrats love to spend money and he doesnt mind it. He is not a conservative. He is a deal maker. He wants to go and he will work with them. Julie what do you think he hopes for that he will get out of the democrats for this . He is looking for an exchange. I think its bigger than that. Get out of the democrats and the republicans. First its flexibility. I think charlie is exactly right. He is saying to his republican colleagues look, guys, if you arent going the play ball with me ill play ball with them. Thats good. The short term deal funds the government. Raises the debt ceiling, extends aid for Hurricane Harvey and opens the prospect of doing a deal on the dreamers. It says on things like healthcare, i can go bipartisan. Being with the democrat in north dakota yesterday i can do tax reform with the democrats. We welcome this. This is all very, very good and optimistic and nothing makes my day better than the republicans grousing. Julie first of all you know the democrats arent going to concede to a longterm raising the debt ceiling unless there are some sort of cuts being made. Thats something theyll want in return. That is something that democrats the republicans will. Now, as far as immigration and the wall, do you think this is a way to get the democrats to bend a bit when it comes to them on that issue . It certainly is an effort to do that. I dont think i have a hard time seeing democrats bend on that just because its such a vitally important issue to them. Julie thats all the time we have. A lot going on with hurricane but we appreciate you coming in. Bill sorry, gentlemen. The Florida Governor is now briefing. Lets drop in now in florida. Deadly storm surge and life threatening winds. We can expect it all along the entire east coast. The florida keys should be prepared to start feeling the effects of the storm as early as tomorrow night. Look at the size of this storm. Its huge. It is wider than our entire state and could cause major and life threatening impacts on both coasts. Coast to coast. Regardless of which coast you live on, be prepared to evacuate. Floridians on the west coast cannot be complacent. Just because it is going along the east coast the west coast will still have hurricane conditions and these storms can move and change. Remember, hurricane andrew is one of the worst storms in the history of florida. This is much worse and more devastating on its current path. Irma has caused multiple fatalities already. Its powerful and deadly. There are people in the caribbean that have died. We are being very aggressive in our preparation for the storm. Every family should take this seriously and be aggressive. You have to protect your family. Possessions can be replaced, your family cannot. This is serious and we cannot take chances. It is life threatening. This is not a storm you can sit and wait through. One of our Top Priorities right now is fuel availability. We know there are problems with supplies at gas stations and were working around the clock to get fuel to you. Last night i spoke with all the fuel retailers and just got off the phone a couple minutes ago with the Oil Companies. Ive been very clear to the retailers and Oil Companies that we have to get the fuel as fast as we can out so everybody has the fuel to evacuate. We need to know exactly what their needs are so we can solve their needs. The issues include fuel availability from our ports, and give them fuel to after the i can to gas stations. Were doing the following. I have spoken to fema, the department of energy, epa and the white house about waiving federal rules and regulations and to provide ex Court Services to gas trucks to get through traffic to get to the stations faster. One of the issues is getting from the ports to the stations so they can put the fuel there and get back and get more. Right after this ill talk to all the fuel distributors. We know fuel is very important and were absolutely devoting every state resource to addressing this and talking to the federal government about their support. But were making progress, youll see lines or outages. It has to be frustrating and we wont stop working on this. If youre concerned you dont have a way to evacuate because of a fuel issue, please call 18009555504. That is a dedicated transportation hotline. If youre in an evacuation area and you dont know how to get out, well get you out but you have to call us. If you are, call us now. Do not wait. If youre in an evacuation area do not wait to get out. Were not going to be able to save people once the storm hits. If you know youre going to a shelter in your county please take only the fuel you need. You dont need to fill your tank to the brim to stay in your own county. Ive said many times if you have to take what you need and we have to be considerate to try to get as many people the fuel they need. The gas buddy app is a great resource to find open stations with fuel. Yesterday i asked the governors of alabama, South Carolina, georgia, North Carolina to rescind driver regulations so out of state resources can move into florida. All the states worked quickly to respond to our request and we now have waivers from georgia, alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina and secretary of transportation secretary and lifted regulations to get gas to florida quickly. Were laser focused on how we get as much fuel as possible to our ports while theyre open. Ive offered school buses for Transportation Needs in several counts east. At this time mime dade is using these services to evacuate those with special needs and monroe has said they dont need the buses now but our offer still stands. Right now there is mandatory Evacuation Order in effect for the florida keys. This means all residents and alvis tors. I was down there yesterday doing everything we can to make sure citizens can get out. We estimate there are 31,000 people already evacuated from the keys as of 6 00 p. M. Last night. If youre in the keys and dont have a way out, 18009555504 but do not wait. If you are in the keys and still home, leave and get out. We cant save you after the storm starts. You are going to have unbelievable wind and storm surge. The entire lower keys hospital have been evacuated. All other hospitals in the keys will be evacuated today. The state will provide whatever resources are necessary to get the hospitals up after the storm. We have a task force devoted to prepare and respond to the keys. For the remainder of the state Evacuation Orders listen to your local officials. They will tell you if and when your area needs to be evacuated. If youre told to evacuate, get out quickly. The roads will fill up quickly so you need to go. We see a significant increase in the number of people on the roads and doing everything we can to keep it open. We can expect continued evacuations. Miamidade has ordered mandatory evacuations in zones a and b. The roads will get worse the longer you wait. There are voluntary evacuations in broward county. I cannot stress enough do not ignore Evacuation Orders. Remember, we can rebuild your home, you can get your possessions again but you cant get your life back. Regardless of which coast you live on, be prepared to evacuate. The storm can change. Right now the track is on the east coast. It can change. Folks on the west coast cant be complacent. Traffic, i have know many of you are in traffic and it is frustrating. Please be patient. Realtime traffic information and evacuation routes are available at fl511. Com. Were watching all that and do everything we can to keep these roads open. We have Traffic Cameras on every major roadway in the state and are clearing traffic issues realtime to keep people moving. Dot and Law Enforcement are working diligently and seeing bottlenecks at major highway junctions which brings up an important point. You dont need to evacuate out of the state or hundreds of miles away to stay safe. Find shelters in your county. We are coordinating with google Emergency Response team to close roads in google maps in realtime in the event Hurricane Irma forces the closure of any roads in the aftermath of the storm. You will know if the road is closed. At my direction all tolls have been waived across florida roadways to help families evacuate. If youre concerned you dont have a way to evacuate 18005559504. Well do all we can to get you out but do not wait. National guard. Im activating another 3,000 to help with shelter operations and evacuations. Today well have more than 4,000 National Guard members to begin assisting with Hurricane Irma preparation. These men and women are putting themselves in harms way to save the lives of fellow floridians. We cant thank them enough. Lets remember theyre helping us while many of their own families will have to evacuate. After the storm hits theyll help with search and rescue operations and assisting Utility Companies to return power to homes and businesses, 13 helicopters and 1,000 high water vehicles are on stand by ready to be deployed. By using resources from other states we have 100 helicopters and air evacuation crews ready to support our state. I talked to both President Trump and Vice President pence yesterday and they offered the full resources of the federal government to support us. Weve requested the following. Tarps, water, baby food supplies, supply trucks, search and rescue personnel and equipment and Incident Management Teams and several requests to the department of defense for readiness in post storm response and military watercraft and aircraft to move fuel. Personnel resources and National Guard that responded to texas have now anybody that responded to texas has come to florida to assist us if we need them. Weve asked for a military vessel like a marine or navy ship to complete ship to shore. This allows us to move crews, supplies and fuel to the mainland. Major concern for the florida keys regarding any potential destruction of bridges. They have over 50 bridges down there. If you lose one bridge it isolates everybody south of there. If we lose a bridge people will be stranded. Fema is looking at options to assist the state with this. Ive also discussed that with the white house. Ive discussed the importance with fema of the need to help every hospital get up and running when the storm passes. The federal government has prepositioned medical support personnel and theyre en route to florida. The rapid Response Team aid in the medical care for those who need it after the storm. The Florida Wildlife Commission is preparing search and rescue teams. They have more than 200 officers standing by for the first wave of response based on potential storm impacts. 30 teams with supporting resources such as trucks, coastal river patrol boats, atv and shell drop boats preparing for evacuation support, search and rescue missions or any additional needs. This will coordinate with texas, georgia, South Carolina, missouri, tennessee, louisiana, arkansas in case additional officers or resources are needed. The florida Highway Patrol is monitoring road and traffic conditions to ensure roadways are clear. The roads are clear and no major problems so far on our roads. Fdle has established 18 Emergency Response teams for deployment to impacted areas and planning teams. Utility providers, theyre actively prepositioned resources throughout the state and in neighboring states. We know from previous storms how important it is for power to be restored quickly. This will be very important to get the power back on quickly. They have activated Emergency Response plan and has thousands of workers preparing to respond to irma, one of the largest providers in the state and working with out of state utilities to secure Additional Resources and opened more than 20 staging sites throughout the service area where trucks and equipment are stationed. Lake okeechobee. Water levels are still being lowered and the lake is at 13. 67 feet. At this point we dont have Major Concerns about the dike. Well immediately advise if any of that changes. Shelters. If youre evacuating from the keys you can shelter at Florida International university. There is absolutely no reason for anyone not to evacuate if you are ordered to do so. Shelters are available and follow the directions of local officials to go to the shelter that fits your need. If you need a hotel, go to expedia. Com florida. Expedia is working on Hotel Occupancy in realtime. The lodging industry encouraged hotels to waive pet policies. Learn where shelters are in your area. Comcast. They are opening free at t, ver i sdo, an tmobile are all helping with hot spots. Trailers and water at the state Logistics Resource Center for deployment as needed. Fema has resources in alabama. Were prepositioning these goods to help everyone in the storms path. We need volunteers. Weve had more than 6,800 volunteers sign up in 24 hours. Thank you for that. This includes more than 1,000 state employees. This is great. We need more. We need a total of 17,000 volunteers statewide. You can go to volunteer florida. Org to sign up for volunteer opportunities or you can call 1800fl help 1. We need more volunteers. They make a big difference and help in shelters, Food Distribution and response efforts. State offices in miamidade, monroe, broward, lao ed, glade, okeechobee are closed today until further notice. Every florida family needs to be prepared to evacuate regardless of which coast youre on. Were 100 focused on making floridians and businesses have timely information on the storm and continue to closely monitor Hurricane Irma and issue updates throughout the next few days. [speaking spanish] i can answer any questions anybody has. [inaudible question] ive been talking to the corps every day. Colonel kirk is in tallahassee along with general holland out of atlanta. Theyve done inspections. Its at 13. 68, which is good right now. We can take a lot more water right now. The big risk they have there, of course, is if we get too much water. It looks like so far this storm is moving fast, which means we wont get the same sort of rain that texas got. Now, that can all change but the biggest risk on the dike at okeechobee is too much rain and why theyre lowering levels and doing the same thing with the canals. So were trying to make sure to the extent if we get a lot of rain and the storm surge at miamidade. The canals will be as low as we can get them. If something changes well tell you. Were at 13. 68 and we can take a lot more right now. I think its gotten to 18. 67 or something without anything happening. They do inspections constantly. They will even do more detailed inspections when it hits 17 feet. 13. 68 feet they can take a lot of water right now. The biggest risk would be if for whatever reason it just sat here and dumped rain. That would be thats their concern. Their concern is not the wind right now. [inaudible question]. Turkey point will be closed at the right point and the ive been talking, theyre prepared to do it. Were preparing both to close it and how to reopen it. The big issue on reopening it is we have to have the evacuation zone completely clear so weve worked a plan with the National Guard to make sure its closed but ready to reopen. Lets remember, we have to survive this storm and then we have to get back. So whether if we close a hospital, i went through this back in andrew, it is work to get them reopened. Well prepare and try to keep everybody safe and recover everybody and get everybody back to work as quickly as we can. And were still thinking about all of them. [inaudible question] they will have enough power. The usage is going down as people are leaving. I was talking to them about that. They are comfortable that they will have enough power. The issue, as you know, it will be downed power lines, typical storm. Well have downed power lines and debris and deal with all those things but thats why weve got all these crews coming in. Ive talked to all the utilities. Theyre all bringing crews in across the state. And now with gulf power it is not appearing it will hit the western part of the panhandle. They can provide more crews to us also. [inaudible question] [speaking spanish] a lot of information from the Florida Governor rick scott. He held at least three, maybe four briefings yesterday started way down in marathon, florida, yesterday morning and no naples and tallahassee and now he is back in the southeastern part of the state. This is job one for a governor. Someone who did it very well was jeb bush. If you recall the history in florida for these hurricanes in 2004, florida was hit by four hurricanes in one season. It was an extraordinary time and what jeb bush did every time, he was out there and a leader and giving a lot of Political Capital and credit for how he did it. Rick scott is taking a fine example out of governor bushs playbook. Weve heard from him every three hours to make sure people have heeded the warnings and moving out while they still can. And when it comes to electricity, that certainly would be loss for thousands if not millions. He is getting his electric crews ready to restore it. Julie he addressed the traffic and the gas there. The fortunate thing is the ports are still open right now so ships are allowed to bring in more fuel and theyll get that fuel in there for those people who are headed north. Bill he will join us in 30 minutes. Lets get a break here. In the meantime as all this is happening right now, well get back to what is happening in washington and so much more. So back after this. Its not just a car, its your daily treat. Go ahead, spoil yourself. The es and es hybrid. Experience amazing. Bill brandnew reaction at 10 00 here in new york from the House Speaker paul ryan after President Trump delivered a shock to republicans. Cutting a short term spending deal with Top Democrats and ignoring the demands of his own party. There is the picture with Chuck Schumer in the oval office yesterday. Ignored his treasury secretary, too. Were analyzing this today as the storm continues. Brandnew hour, bill hemmer, welcome back to americas newsroom. Julie the president accepting a shorterterm hike in the debt ceiling that republicans wanted. To nail down a Harvey Relief package and turning his back in the meantime on republicans to get it done. And his former chief strategist steve bannon attacking the president s inner circle. More on that in a minute. The president s surprised deal shaking up the fall agendas well. President trump we had a very good meeting with nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We agreed to a threemonth extension on debt ceiling. We have an extension which will go out to december 15th. That will include debt ceiling, that will include the crs and harvey. The amount of money that to be determined but it will everyone is in favor of taking care of that situation. So we all very much agree. Julie mike emanuel live on capitol hill for us this morning. How stunned are leading republicans by this deal . Julie, good morning. Republican leaders wanted to extend the debt ceiling through next years midterm elections so they wouldnt have to deal with such a difficult in such short order. Paul ryan talked about the deal. He wanted to make sure in this moment of National Crisis where our country is getting hit by two horrible hurricanes, he wanted to have a bipartisan response and not a food fight on the timing of the debt limit attached to this bill. President trump sided with democrats taking in agreement on extending the fiscal issues, funding the government. Extending the Borrowing Authority until december and the first down payment of hurricane Harvey Relief. Some conservatives called it a bad agreement. Others were more diplomatic. The president had to make a decision. He was left with very few alternatives that were conservative solutions. It is incumbent upon conservatives in congress to put a plan that we can put on the president s desk. This is certainly not the best option. A vote on this harvey government funding debt extension could come in the senate sometime today or if a senator object it could slip to tomorrow. Julie what is, if you could explain, the argument for taking this deal. Essentially it takes Government Shutdown drama off the headlines for the rest of this month and some are suggesting that now the focus can shift to tax reform this fall. Were very happy we have a deal. The president s priority was to make sure we had funding for harvey and to make sure we raised the debt limit to pay for that and weve accomplished that. Were comfortable we have an extension. I would also say that everybody in the room was very clear that we will never let the government default. It is also clear democrats are thrilled that the president sided with them this time. This is a really positive step forward. It will work to quickly provide aid to those hurt by harvey. It will avoid default. And it will fund the government avoiding a shutdown. There is some concern that after the hurricanes are gone this could set up some ugly fiscal fights right before christmas, julie. Bill lets get to bret baier. Good morning to you. Its all the talk, right . As to how this thing came together. What are you hearing on the inside about why or perhaps what it means . Well, there is a lot of people scratching their heads this morning. A lot of them Republican Leadership. But the white house is saying, as mike points out, that they wanted to clear the decks to set the table for tax reform. The problem with that argument is that it now creates more of a fiscal cliff on december 15th. More leverage for democrats who now have a bigger chip in the middle of likely the tax reform debate that will be going on at that time. They have a debt ceiling vote. The negative side here is that republicans now have to again take a very painful vote to raise the debt ceiling. They now have to again deal with all of this. They were hoping to just do one and done. But they are going to have to do it and they are wondering why they were put in that position. The supporters of the president say hey, republicans, get off the ball. You didnt do anything on healthcare. If you arent going to work with the president he will work with democrats. The problem with that argument is that if republicans lose in 2018, the president is not going to be in a better position with democrats at the chair with the gavels of all those committee. Bill Mike Huckabee made a similar argument next hour. You have done nothing to me and Pay Attention to what im saying. From the wall street journal editorial this morning they conclude the following. The senate killed healthcare reform, the house cant pass a budget resolution thats essential for tax reform, mr. Trump is sore that Republican Leaders failed and undermines their strategy and all but hands the gavels to democrats. Is that on the line . Is that questionable now . I think there are real questions about how this governing partnership is going to go forward and obviously the president is unpredictable. Obviously he can make deals with whoever he wants to make. But what Republican Leadership on the hill is saying is what is the up side to this deal . Whats the up side to the three months . They want to extend it to 18, 12 or 6 before having to go through the fiscal cliff fight again. Maybe there is Something Else at play here. One of the things thats out there is the authorization for the use of military force, the National Defense authorization act is being debated in the senate this week. The aumf, some say would tie the hands of the executive. Maybe there is a deal privately with the democrats not to bring that up. I dont know. But there is something that the president thinks that he got out of this. Bill steve bannon did an interview with charlie rose on cbs. One of the many clips that have been made public. This is the response to charlottesville and gary cohn. Here is how the exchange went. You can tell him maybe you can do it a better way. If youll break, then resign. If youre going to break with him, resign. The stuff leaked out that week by certain members of the white house was unacceptable. If you find it unacceptable you should resign. Im talking about gary cohn and some other people. That if you dont like what he is doing and you dont agree with it, you have an obligation to resign. Gary cohn should have resigned. Absolutely. Bill he said he will be the wing man for the president in the white house even though he is no longer in the west wing. How do you believe this relationship develops . How much should we Pay Attention to it . I think we should Pay Attention to it because he is, as he says in this interview, a street fighter. He is much like the president in the way that he counter punches and that way theyre very similar. And he says he has the president s back. I think there are questions about how that is going to happen. It may happen by taking out some of the president s own people as far as the stories that breitbart and others do. I think its pretty plain spoken that they believe or he believes that if there are people inside the white house who have a problem with something the president is doing or saying, instead of leaking it to the press they should come out and resign. And there is a lot of people probably shaking their heads. Bill a lot more in the interview to come. Well see you later tonight at 6 00. Bret baier in washington julie back to Hurricane Irma. The category 5 storm heading toward the u. S. It isnt the only one. Two other hurricanes making it three total. Jose in the atlantic and katia in the gulf of mexico gaining strength as well. Texas is still recovering from Hurricane Harvey the day after the house approved the nearly 8 billion in federal aid. We are joined live from houston and how things are going there. The waters are going down but there are still neighborhoods that are swamped and over the past couple of days residents have been able to come back and see exactly how much damage their homes took in from this storm. We want to walk into this house here in west houston and show you exactly what weve been seeing. When we come in here you can see this home had about two to three feet of water. Theyve had to start ripping out the paneling, the walls. Theyve ripped out the floors here. Theyve had to break out the trim as well. Theyve had family and friends coming here. Their friend david here is working hard throughout the day. The couple that lives here is in their 80s. Im told that the wife is a true texas woman. She has been coming every single day to try to pull her own possessions out of here. Theyve had so many volunteers. Friends and family have come here as they come and pile up all their possessions here theyre trying to figure out exactly how to move forward next. Thankfully they did have insurance. 85 impacted did not have insurance. Well toss it back to you guys. Julie thank you very much. Bill a lot more stories from there coming up soon. As we track Hurricane Irma governor rick scott is here in a moment. Well talk to him live. The word he is giving out to million s of People Living in his state. Julie more indications that north korea is on the verge of another weapons test very soon, possibly saturday as the u. S. Beefs up its defenses in south korea. Well go live to seoul next. Whoooo. I enjoy the fresher things in life. Fresh towels. Fresh soaps. And of course, tripadvisors freshest, lowest. Prices. So if youre anything like me. Youll want to check tripadvisor. 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Exploring Treatment Options is at the heart of how we fight cancer. The evolution of cancer care is here. Learn more about our Treatment Options at cancercenter. Com lung. Appointments available now. Bill Hurricane Irma, category 5 heading for florida this weekend. The governor is telling floridians to evacuate as soon as possible and asking for more volunteers. The governor is live on the phone. Good morning and thank you for your time during a very busy time. I want to give you a chance to get the word out again. We heard your press conference 30 minutes ago. You have continuously said you can get your home back but you cant get your life back. What do People Living in florida we all love our family. Bill what do people need to understand about the situation now . We love our families, we cannot take a chance losing our families. We can get your house back and possessions back, cant get your family back. So what i tell everybody, take this seriously. Doesnt matter which coast youre on. This thing can move. Right now the track has gone up the east coast but it can move and go up the west coast or middle of the state. Two things, the two big things im dealing with now. I have to get more fuel into the state. Ive talked to the Oil Companies this morning. Im doing escorts to fuel to our gas stations. Im doing everything i can to get more fuel here because of the lines were seeing right now. So i think were making progress but it is going to be lines and outages. I need more volunteers. Bill people are trying to drive out of there. Theyre doing the right thing. Evacuating and doing the right thing. If you evacuate to a shelter in your own county dont fill up your gas tank all the way. Leave fuel for people going further. If you wont need the fuel for the next week ill work every day after this to continue to get fuel, to continue get power back on. Dont take fuel you might not need or you dont think youll need. Others might need it to evacuate. Bill the other thing you need is volunteers. Volunteers to work in shelters. The big thing is well have a lot of people in shelters and so i have i need 17,000 total volunteers. The red cross is providing 1,000. Ive had 6800 sign up in the last three days. So i need about 9,000 more volunteers to work in shelters but some in Food Distribution and things like that. I need more and well help you get trained and everything so i need go to volunteer bill 9,000 volunteers. I want to be clear about this. For those who want to help tell us exactly where they can go to contact you. You can go to volunteer photo. Org or you can go to 1800fl help 1. Either way then you can sign up and well tell you where the needs are. But its primarily going to be sheltering, Food Distribution. Both our resources and fema resources, food and water, we have for after the storm hits to get it out to the communities as fast as we can and so well need help on distribution with that also. Bill governor, have you had any contact from any of these islands in the caribbean that have been hit already that would give you an indication as to the strength of this storm . I have not. Im sure im in the miami area right now heading up to palm beach. And im sure a lot of people especially down between palm beach and miami have a lot of friends and relatives in these islands and im sure theyre scared to death what happens down there. Im praying that everybody comes through that but we know weve already lost lives down there. My goal is i dont want to lose a life. I want everybody to survive this storm and i will do everything i can to keep everybody safe. Bill you have mandatory evacuations started yesterday for monroe county, florida keys, parts of miamidade. Right. There will be more as the National Hurricane center comes out with their hurricane warnings and their storm surge. Here is whats different about this than even andrew 25 years ago. Andrew was not a storm surge storm. This has the potential to be a significant storm surge. This water could go over your house. We watched what happened with harvey. It will be different. This is not going to be doesnt appear right now there will be a lot of rain because its fast moving unless it slows down. This is a storm surge and it comes in fast. And it goes out fast. We saw this a year ago with a hurricane that hit up in our panhandle and there it was not it impacted families not a densely Populated Areas but it devastated these communities because the water came in so fast. This can be over your house. Bill governor, good luck. You are going to need it. Rick scott, the Florida Governor has been on the air continuously for the past several days and will likely be so. The voice and face for all the folks in florida as they await the arrival of irma. Julie doing an incredible job of reassuring floridians they have the support of state official and the government considering the declaration of emergency there. Okay. As people evacuate in florida, reports that some airlines unfortunately are actually janning up prices. Not a few hundred dollars but thousands to get to higher ground. Florida attorney general pam bondi will join us to talk about that. South korea moving additional missile systems, Defense Systems in position with help from the u. S. Well go live on the korean peninsula. Your big idea. Will people know it means theyll get the lowest price guaranteed on our rooms by booking direct on choicehotels. Com . Hey badda book. Badda boom mr. Badda book. Badda boom book now at choicehotels. Com for tech advice. Dell Small Business advisor with one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. You dont let anything lkeep you sidelined. Come on thats why you drink ensure. With 9 grams of protein, and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy, to get back to doing what you love. Ensure, always be you. Trajectory into the pacific as opposed to the High Altitude launches. It could be more of a threat to the United States. Yes, adding more urgency to the deployment overnight by the u. S. Military of four thaad antimissile launchers. Two were already in place to the south of where we are now in seoul. There was some local protests. China sees them as a threat. Finally 120 miles north of where we are in pyongyang, north korea, orchestrated celebrations for the scientists behind last weekends alarming nuclear test amid new reports today to some degree backing what kim jongun had said that it was a homemade bomb. Wall street journal saying that north korean scientists get foreign training, come back and make this stuff. Julie what are we hearing about new sanctions . Were getting new reports that kim jongun himself could be in the sight of possible new u. N. Security council resolutions. A leaked copy of the resolution calling for the asset of he and his leadership to be frozen. Oil imports, textile exports and north Korean Foreign workers to be cut. In regional meetings here south korea and japan are in favor. Russia and some degree china not. Following these nuclear and missile tests. There is not a minute to waste according to one top exdiplomat we spoke to today. Take a listen. It is a major leap in addition to the size of the bomb itself, it makes it possible for the north korea to load it on longdistance missiles like the icbms and so it is a game changer. Diplomat han is also a former ambassador to the United States. Overall he told us he is pleased with the added attention being given to this crisis by the trump administration. Back to you. Bill getting word moments ago donald trump junior has arrived on the hill right now facing senate investigators. Tell you what the Senate Committee expects to learn from him today as the questioning starts behind closed doors. Julie the top story of the day Hurricane Irma heading straight for florida. Governor scott warning everyone to take the time and take action now. Next up, Texas Attorney general pam bondi. Listen to your local officials for Evacuation Orders. They will tell you if and when your area needs to be evacuated. If youre told to evacuate, get out quickly, dont wait. The roads will fill up quickly so you need to go now. Theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. You might want to consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. 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Duck quack call to request your free decision guide now. Because the time to think about tomorrow is today. Hey grandpa. Hey, kid. Really good to see you. You too. You tell grandma you were going fishing again . Maybe. vo the best things in life keep going. Thats why i got a subaru, too. Introducing the allnew crosstrek. Love is out there. Find it in a subaru crosstrek. Bill the eye of Hurricane Irma getting closer to florida and there are two other big storms. Keeping a close eye on all that. Janice dean live in the weather center. Janice, where are we now . We have two other storms as well. One in the gulf of mexico katia and jose back just due east of this storm that could potentially impact the u. S. Lets get to irma. Thats the imminent threat over the next couple of days. Category 5. The fact that its maintained category 5 strength for several days is unprecedented and looks like it will maintain its strength as it goes over the bahamas and caicos. Im worried about devastation in this area and well be concerned saturday and sunday for south florida and some of the reliable forecast models are saying direct impact on south florida with the worst of the storm surge and winds and heavy rain. If you live in south florida in the keys, you need to be making your preparations and moving north. Hurricane warnings for the bahamas and turks and caicos, nothing in the storms way to tear it apart. Thats the concerning part. A lot of flat islands in the bahamas. If it would have taken a tour across cuba it would have disrupted it and why were concerned of a strong hurricane in florida and the holl state of florida as we go through the weekend. Want to make mention, if you live in georgia and the carolinas, there is also the potential for a hurricane to make landfall on you early next week and this area is very vulnerable to storm surge and flooding and very strong winds so i want you to be on alert. Tropical models in good agreement as we head into saturday and sunday and then we have a few question marks, when does it picked up by a trough . Will it be influenced quickly and make the sharp hard right turn . There is still the potential for it to sort of scoot off the coast. Right now i think all eyes are on south florida. That area could take a brunt of a very, very strong hurricane saturday into sunday. Bill updates every three hours National Hurricane center. Very close to 11 00 well have the latest. Julie this thing is so hard to predict because it has been all over now. Florida of course is bracing for the worst. And it comes in many forms. Joining me now attorney general pam bondi. Thank you for talking to us. Evacuation, surge, flooding, peoples homes being destroyed and there is price gouging during these national disasters. Tell how your office has set up a gouging hotline. You have gotten hundreds of calls so far. Thousands. We set up our hotline. I cant do that until a state of emergency is declared. Once i did i had 50 fulltime people and trained an additional 60 volunteers in my office, stepped up to the plate. I have 110 people working seven days a week trying to keep track of the call. 18669 no scam. You cannot inflate prices during the time of a hurricane for essential commodities, food, water, fuel, etc. Ice, thats what were seeing. Generators. What ive been seeing a lot of water complaints. I think initially we had 300 water complaints. So far when we came in at 8 00 this morning we noticed we had about 45 complaints against chevron gas station. Chevron, if youre watching me now you need to call us and tell us why your prices are inflated in south florida because in tallahassee there arent. In south florida theyre high and there is no excuse for that. Julie we need to send a message, too, here. If you violate the price gouging statute, you actually face a 1,000 per violation to a total of 25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24hour period. What other fees can these violators apply . Thats it. I will be saying your name all over National Television and telling people not to go to your business ever again. If youre stealing from floridians and taking advantage of floridians in a time of need. It is not just about the money, its about commodities that are helping to keep people alive, keep their children safe. And weve heard there were issues with airlines and i dont regulate the airlines. Thats faa and department of transportation. Ive been on the phone with the house and theyve been involved. Let me talk to the airlines. American airlines stepped up to the plate, 99 flights one way. Theyre waiving change fees. Delta 399. All them waiving fees. The airlines are coming together. Home depot called me and said what do i need . They ran out of plywood. Theyre having trucks coming in delivering to home depot. In one day in florida 355,000 pieces of plywood were sold. Floridians are listening. Julie bringing in the trucks is tough with all the traffic heading north. Getting out of florida is a nightmare. You mentioned the airlines. Unlike price gouging at gas stations, airlines have a loophole. Theyve been overseen by the federal government. Thats how it works, not by individual states. There have been and you talked about american stepping up to the plate. Glad to hear that. Bill delta, jetblue and united. Airlines such as delta and american jacking up prices making 6300 was sold for american. Its not unusual for the last seats on a flight to cost more. Theyre making it right. Julie its unfortunate you needed to speak before action was taken. It should be understood you dont inflate prices during the state of an emergency. I will commend them all. Right now my immediate concern is to get people out of florida and we have so many students down here at the university of miami trying to get flights out. We have to charge them reasonable cost. People wont leave without their pets. The airlines for the months part have stepped up to the plate. Walmart and home depot reached out to me. Epa. We can do a blended fuel in a time of crisis under the clean air act. He has extended that order a new 20 days after harvey so we can help drive gas prices, fuel prices down to help bring more fuel to our state as well. So im blessed that i have a great relationship with the epa, white house and federal government and with our businesses. If youre a bad business, were coming after you. Julie we just heard you say chevron. We got it, its noted. For anyone else who is going to dare to do that it will get out there it is bad for business. You talk about blended fuels. Explain it to me and also the Governor Scott had come on earlier. He held a News Conference and spoke with bill hemmer about fuel. That is a big, big problem. It is not just the gouging, it is the shortage of fuel. This hurricane is supposed to hit florida friday or saturday. It is thursday and there are still a lot of people that are lined up on route 1 heeding those mandatory evacuations out of the keys. Will the fuel get there in time . The ports need to close at some point. Right now theyre open. Once the ports are closed the fuel is shut off and you have tens of thousands of people in the midst of an evacuation. How will florida handle that . Thats what the governor has saying. Escorting fuel trucks in. I contacted the epa to help drive the fuel prices down by doing a blended fuel which you typically cant do. Blended fuel is when you mix different types of fuel. He has an emissions effect. You dont want to do it longterm but in the clean air acts states the epa can waive that and let the fuels be blended to drive the cost down. We had a 20day exemption for harvey and ive asked for one and dep has as well. Theyre doing that for us which is a tremendous help for florida for the next 20 days after that to keep fuel prices down. So hopefully suppliers will be able to bring plenty of fuel into our state. Governor has been out there tirelessly working as well. Cant thank him enough and the eoc for keeping us posted. People need to be safe. Carnival cruise lines reached out to me. We have people out at sea right now. Theyre doing everything they can to get them to a safe port or paying to fly them home. People who are already here are working on getting them back home who were planning on getting on a cruise as well. Were seeing businesses come together and help. But it is the bad ones that ill go after with everything ive got. If im wrong and chevron is not doing this, call me and tell me or fix it. Julie i believe they will believe you and take the threat seriously. Thank you very much, pam bondi, great to have you on. Bill while thats happening this is happening on capitol hill. Moments ago donald trump junior arriving and meeting with the Senate Judiciary committee to explain contacts with russia. Catherine herridge watching that outside the hearing room. Good morning. Whats happened so far . Thanks, bill. Good morning. Were outside the Senate Judiciary Committee Room talking to the senators heading down to the meeting with donald trump junior. We arent close to that secure facility because Capitol Police have the area on lockdown and not allowing cameras near the site and donald trump junior was able to get inside without any cameras getting video of him this morning. We understand central line of questioning will be that june 2016 meeting at trump tower between donald trump junior, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort and the russia lawyer and others. They had promised the trump team compromising information on Hillary Clinton but did not deliver it. On hannity in july here is how donald trump junior explained what happened . Like i said, in retrospect i probably would have done things differently. This is before the russia mania and before they were building it up in the press. For me it was opposition research. They had something, maybe concrete evidence to all the stories i had been hearing about under reported for years. I wanted to hear it out but really it went nowhere and thats not what the meeting was actually about. Staffers doing the questioning want to know what role the president played in crafting donald trump juniors response to the media about that meeting, bill. Bill that continues. You have new information now in the effort to recall the fire f. B. I. Director james comey to capitol hill. Whats happening on that . A few minutes ago i was able to speak to senator Lindsey Graham along with the republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee and able to get ahold of documents from the f. B. I. That indicate director comey started crafting his decision about the clinton email case two months before her interview in 2016 and senator graham just told me that he believes director comey needs to come back to capitol hill, appear before the Judiciary Committee and explain himself. I think it should i want to inform the public as much as possible because this doesnt add up and i smell a rat here. Senator graham also said that he wants this session to be public if at all possible because this is an issue that remains of tremendous public interest, bill. Bill the way these private hearings work, there are leaks. Catherine, we await those. Julie President Trump speaking out moments ago on his decision to end the obamaera daca immigration program. Why he says the hundreds of thousands of people in the program have nothing to worry about. Former congressman Jason Chaffetz is here with his take. Bill the f. B. I. On the scene near chicago. An explosion at a post office. What were learning about the device used there and what we found out. Some things are simply impossible to ignore. The strikingly designed lexus nx turbo and hybrid. The suv that dares to go beyond utility. Experience amazing. And its also a story mail aabout people and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you julie the president dealing congress to get to work and proceeding to put a lot on their plate starting with his decision to send them Immigration Reform but just one hour ago the president tweeting out this. For all of those daca that are concerned about your status during the sixmonth period. You have nothing to worried about. No action. Jason chaffetz is here. Can you please translate for us what the president means by that tweet . Well, he is relying on congress doing something. I do think there is probably something to worry about. The president did what he had to do. He is doing the right thing and i do think that democrats and the left should be cheering this. Donald trump has done more to push Immigration Reform than barack obama ever did. But i want the president to live up to his obligation, lock down that border, reject amnesty, get rid of the rewards and incentives to be here. Julie his base wants him to get things done when it comes to Immigration Reform. The democrats want the dream act to go forward to protect the 800,000 dreamers and not have to worry about deportation. Is there a deal that the president is trying to strike with democrats when it comes to the wall and immigration and is that why were seeing tweets like this . He is not only sending a message to dreamers, he is sending a message to democrats and basically sending a message to republicans saying get it done. If you dont get it done, does that mean they have nothing to worry about in the next six months or in the long term . No, look, the president has demonstrated yesterday he is willing to reach out to Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi and bypass Republican Leadership to strike a deal. That doesnt mean that paul ryan is the speaker and Mitch Mcconnell have to swallow that. Congress has to deal with this. I was elected the same time at barack obama. The first two years i asked to be on the immigration subcommittee on judiciary when the democrats had the house and senate and presidency. They had two hearings. One was a photo. The other was to interview stephen colbert. The democrats didnt do a darn thing with it. President obama overstepped his bounds when he instituted daca and put a short timeline and the president is getting rid of daca which is the right direction. Julie back in 2005 there was a poll where the majority of democrats felt that the Immigration Reform was a must need fix and now theyve kind of flipped on the issue. So youve got the Senate Judiciary committee and begin to review daca. Paul ryan has backed trump saying he made the right call. Brit hume, i want to play this on Tucker Carlson last night about what he thinks the president is really up to regarding daca. It might surprise our listeners and viewers, watch. It seems clear to me if congress does not act, that he will not do this and go forward with it. He will delay it. There is built into what he proposed anyway the potential for delay in individual cases and so on. My guess with tucker tonight is that none of these 800,000 or so will ever be deported. Julie your thoughts. Brit hume is probably right. I dont see the president prioritizing this. Personally i want the president to prioritize those that are law breakers. Under barack obama, remember there were some 86,000 criminal aliens that had committed a crime, been convicted in the United States and the president obama released them back out in the United States instead of deporting them. Thats a much higher priority. But at the same time the President Trump is absolutely right, the only one that can change the law is congress and they need to do it. There have been plenty of hearings. I dont want to hear about more hearings. I want to hear about markups and bills moving forward. It is a great opportunity to lock down the border. Get rid of the rewards and incentives. Do the things that President Trump campaigned on and had a mandate to do. He won 30 of 50 states. He has a mandate to do this. Julie great to see you. Bill there has been an explosion at a federal building. The f. B. I. , atf on scene now in a major american city. What they are learning about that blast. Thats next. My shoulders carry a lot of names some i deserve others i dont but in the end only one name really matters because shoulders were made for greatness, not dandruff your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance. Bill the f. B. I. Investigating an explosion at an Indiana Post Office near chicago. One worker was injured there. What happened here . Mike tobin has the story from our midwest bureau. What did happen . Good news is that the one post Office Worker has only a minor industry and treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries, not life threatening. It happened before 6 00 p. M. Last night. We have confirmation from the f. B. I. Only one explosive device that went off. It was speculated there were two. F. B. I. Confirming there was only one device. The east Chicago Fire Department says the explosive was contained in a package. A search of the post office did find two pipe bombs that didnt go off. Three employees at the facility at the time of the explosion, the good news you have one person with nonlife threatening injuries and only one, bill. Bill whats the suspicion . Terrorism or not . At this stage nothing is being ruled out. We just heard from the f. B. I. Saying that it cannot be determined at this early stage if it was domestic or international terrorism. Civilians were put in harms way. Hard to determine who or what was the target. There is no ongoing public threat according to the f. B. I. Bill mike tobin in chicago. Thanks. Julie were closely following the path of Hurricane Irma. Forecasters calling it a storm of historic proportions. Our coverage of this historic storm continues next. Booking a flight at the last minute doesnt have to be expensive. Just go to priceline. Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights, go to priceline. Bill and the minute or so we have left, i want to bring you updates that we are getting on this storm. 1 Million People without power and puerto rico. Thats just the beginning of what were starting starting to learn. Julie the death toll right now, the numbers are low. The hope as it stays that way, but places are not accessible. Barb you 1600 people and population. Puerto rico, saint martin, these areas in the 90 percentile. Bill this time tomorrow, well be looking at the florida keys for possible landfall. Well manage this the best we can. The Florida Governor is looking for 9,000 volunteers to help work in shelters, deliver food, and hes also looking for more fuel for people in southern florida that are trying to drive out. Julie he made a great point, if you are filling up your gas tank and youre not necessarily driving all the way to orlando, youll have to fill it up to full. Take as much as you need to cover you for the past few days. Leave it for your fellow floridians. Bill i thought kim bondi had strong points with you about warning businesses not to gouge. Julie you could save up to thousands of dollars in penalties. Chevron is part of the price gouging she said. Bill between all of this, our thoughts and prayers are with everybody out there and well keep you updated as best we can. Weve got to run, everybody. Julie anyone starts right now. Julie see you in the morning. Leland irma tearing through the caribbean as a powerful and deadly category 5 storm leaving devastation on that tiny island of arbutus. Now the storm is closing in on the bahamas we are covering it all. Im Leland Vittert and for jon scott. Heather its 95 gone. Leland its how he would see a war zone after a bomb went off. Every thing is flat. Heather im Heather Childers filling in today. Irma could pack a devastating