Far lower in many cases than ours and jobs left our country. Large corporations changed their Business Models by exporting jobs to other countries and then shipping their goods back to the United States where theyd make massive profits and they wouldnt be paying tax to us either. So we lost the jobs, we lost the taxes. They closed the buildings, they closed the plants and factories. We got nothing but unemployment. We got nothing. Other businesses, even classic american brands, switched their headquarters to foreign countries. Because of this and other reasons like weak borders, america remains stuck in the past. Although i have to tell you, we have general kelly here today, and we stopped 78 going up to 80 on the border traffic coming through in just a short period of time. [applause] hes done some job. Whole different world out there right now. Today we are still taxing our businesses at 35 , and its way more than that and think of it, in some cases way above 40 when you include state and local taxes in various states. The United States is now behind france, behind germany, behind canada, ireland, japan, mexico, south korea and many other nations. Also, with these countries and almost every country, we have massive trade deficits, numbers that you would not believe. But this administration is going to fix that one by one were fixing it. Were working right now on nafta, the horrible, terrible nafta deal that took so much business out of your state and out of your cities and towns. And were work on the ground it. Lets see what happens. [applause] mexico is not happy. But as i told them, you made a lot of money for a lot of years and everybody left you alone. Weve got to change this deal. And hopefully we can renegotiate it. But if we cant, well terminate it and well start all over again with a real deal. [applause] so when it comes to the business tax, we are debt last. Can you believe that . So this cannot be allowed to continue any longer. America must lead the way, not follow from behind. We have gone from a tax rate that is lower than our economic competitors to one that is more than 60 higher. We have totally surrendered our Competitive Edge to other countries. We have totally surrendered. Were not surrendering anymore. [applause] ideally, and i say this for our secretary of the treasury, we would like to bring our business tax rate down to 15 , which would make our tax rate lower than most countries but still by no means the lowest, unfortunately, in the world. But it would make us highly competitive. In other words, Foreign Companies have more than april 60 tax advantage over american companies. They can pay their workers more, sell their products and services at lower cost, and still make more money than their u. S. Competitors. We cannot restore our wealth if we continue to put our businesses at such a tremendous disadvantage. We must reduce the tax rate on American Businesses so they keep jobs in america, create jobs in america, and compete for workers right here in america. The america we love. [applause] thank you. Thank you very much. Because when businesses compete for labor, your wages will go up. Lower taxes on American Business means higher wages for american workers, and it means more products made right here in the usa. When i was growing up, i always used to see the signs and it was always stamped in the product made in the usa. We dont see it anymore. Were going to go back to made in the usa. Made in the usa. The third principle for tax reform is a crucial one, tax relief for middleclass families. [applause] if a way, and ive been saying this for a long time, theyve been sort of the forgotten people, but theyre not forgotten any longer. I can tell you that. We will lower taxes for middle income americans so they can keep more of their hardearned paychecks, and they can do lots of things with those paychecks. And that really means buying being product ideally made in this country, but that means theyll go out and theyll spend their money. And it will be a beautiful thing to watch. This includes helping parents afford childcare and the cost of raising a family. Thats so important to ivanka trump. [applause] very, very important to everybody in this room, but so important to my daughter. Its one of her big beliefs, and shes very committed to that. Right, ivanka . We believe that ordinary americans know better than washington how to spend their own money, and we want to help them take home as much of their money as possible and then spend it. [applause] so theyll keep their money, theyll spend their money, theyre buy our product, our factories will be moving again, companies are going to move back into our country. Jobs are going to prosper, and our country is going to be just like it says on that beautiful red hat, it says make America Great again. Thats what were going to do. [applause] right . Fourth and finally, we want to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth thats parked overseas. Because of our high tax rate and horrible, outdated burk rick rules Large Companies that do business overseas will often park their profits offshore to avoid paying a high United States tax. If the money is brought back home, so they leave the money over there. The amount of money were talking about is anywhere from 3 to 5 trillion. Can you believe that . By making it less punitive for companies to bring back this money and by making the process far less burkic and difficult, we can return trillions and trillions of dollars to our economy and spare billions of dollars in new investments in our struggling communities and throughout our nation. Its time to invest in our country to rebuild our communities and to hire our Great American workers. [applause] my administration is embracing a new economic model. Its called, very simply, the american model. Under this system we will encourage companies to hire and grow in america, to raise wages for american workers, and to help rebuild our American Cities and communities. That is our we will all succeed and Grow Together as one team with one shared sense of purpose and one glorious american destiny. [applause] so today im calling on all members of congress, democrat, republican and independent, to support pro american tax reform. They have to do it. Its time. They have to do it. It is time. Im calling on congress to provide a level Playing Field for our workers and our companies, to attract new companies and businesses to our shores, and to put more money into the pockets of everyday hardworking people. And also, into the pockets of our companies so they can continue to grow and expand. [applause] what could possibly be more bipartisan than allowing families to keep more of what they earn and creating an environment for real job and wage growth in the country that we love so much . [applause] so lets put or at least try to put the participate posturing behind us and come together as americans to create the 21 century tax code that our people deserve. [applause] if we do this, if we unite in the name of common sense and the name of common good, then we will add millions and millions of new jobs, bring back trillions of dollars, and we will give america the competitive advantage that it so desperately needs and has been looking for for so long. Its time. [applause] products made with american hands, American Labor and american grit will once again be delivered throughout the world. Thats true. [applause] its time. Instead of exporting our jobs, we will export our goods. [applause] our jobs will both stay here in america and come back to america. Well have it both ways. Millions of struggling citizens will be lifted from welfare to work. They will love getting up in the morning. They will love going to their job. They will love earning a big fat, beautiful paycheck. They will be proud again. That is the future i want for our people. That is the future i want for america, a nation where we are proud, prosperous, united and free. Today i am asking every citizen to join me in dreaming big and bold and daring things, beautiful things for our country. I am asking every member of congress, of which we have many with us today, to join me in unleashing americas full potential. I am asking everyone in this room and across the nation to join me in demanding nothing but the best for our nation and for our people. And if we do these things, and if we care for and support each other and love each other, then we will truly make America Great again. Thank you. God bless you. God bless you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Governor, thank you. Thank you, governor. Thank you, senator. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Im ali velshi we will in a moment get back to our coverage in harvey where the death toll has climbed in the last few minutes to 19. But i just want to finish off with what we have been hearing. That was President Trump in springfield, missouri pitching tax reform while the city of houston and surrounding areas are still reeg from one of the most devastating floods in american history. With President Trumps hopes for repealing and replacing obamacare fading, hes hoping for some sort of major legislative victory during his first year in office, but not surprisingly the white house is already behind schedule. Here is treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin on cnbc back in february. Its going to be focused on middle income tax cuts, simplification and making the business tax competitive with the rest of the world, which has been a big problem and a lot of reason why companies are leaving and cash is sitting offshore. So thats really our focus. We want to get this done by the august recess. Weve been working closely with the leadership in the house and the senate. Thats a big lift. Fastforward to five months later from that interview to july, and we have a new timetable from mnuchin. Our plan is to have a fullblown release of the plan in the beginning of september with being able to vote and getting this passed before the end of the year. And we are having meetings multiple times every week with the leadership of the house and the senate. Here is the problem with that timetable. Theres no plan. We didnt hear many specifics, actually we heard no specifics from the president today on a tax reform plan because the white house isnt going to write one. President trumps chief economic adviser gary cohn told the Financial Times on friday, quote, in the next three or four weeks the tax bill will be written in the ways and Means Committee and congress is going to own the writing of the legislation. That is the key. They are going to create the piece of legislation. So now its just a waiting game to find out what congress cooks up. But you may remember back in april the white house put out this, a single page of guidance on their tax plan that outlines some points like going from seven individual brackets to three and a 15 business tax rate. For more on this, lets go to Nbcs Kristen Welker who is covering the president s tax reform im just going to stop calling it tax reform. Tax speech today from springfield, missouri. Kristen, again, i wait and wait and wait to get specifics on a tax plan and what we get are aspirations and generalities. Thats right. Today wasnt about specifics. And the administration was very clear about that. I think what it does mark, though, ali, and whats significant about todays speech is that this is a shift in strategy that we are seeing from this president and from this administration. Hes taking his message on the road. This is the first of what i am told is going to be a number of stops in the coming weeks, in the coming months as they fight to get their tax proposal through. Thats a very sharp difference from what we saw when he was trying to overhaul obamacare. Remember, that largely took place in d. C. , meetings, back and forth with members of capitol hill. This is not going to be okay. Just having a technical problem there with kristen. Lets continue this conversation with cnbcs gentlemen, let me start with you, jared, one of the first things that President Trump said was touting the print on gdp this morning that showed 3 . That is a number at the very low end of what President Trump has been talking about for a long time. Whats he right about and whats he wrong about in bragging about 3 gdp growth . Its very interesting because after that he said the annual rate of growth in the bum years never reached that much. In fact, the annual rate of growth in the Second Quarter from the very release hes citing is 2. 2 and thats a much better way to look at it than the quarterly growth rate which is what hes cited. Basically hes done nothing legislatively. Youve been emphasizing this point a great deal. He has inherent economic momentum. On the tax front im convinced that nothing hes been talking about, nothing ive seen proposed by Anyone Around this debate will get anywhere close to boosting growth at all. What its going to do is whack the heck out of an already tough middle class and make life a lot easier for corporations to export jobs and incomes. I wish i could challenge or applaud jared but i cant because i dont know what any of the facts are. I can aplowed the president for his first four points and that is that the u. S. Tax system is unnecessarily complex and long and could deal with some simplification so that regular americans can actually file their tax returns without the need of an accountant or a tax preparer. After that he kind of lost me because i dont actually know what hes proposing. He made references to Ronald Reagans tax cuts, something that he has criticized in the past. But theyre a very different ball of wax. Ronald reagan took from a higher to a lower rate to somewhere in the nabltd of where we have them now. That was a big drop. We dont really have that kind of space right now. We might and we might not. The competence active tax form alluded chtsz in 1986. Prior to that was in the early reagan years. Now, comprehensive tax reform if it simplified the code would be a laudable goal. From what we know. Sure, it would be. Of whats likely to come, we still see a tax cut program, not comprehensive tax reform, that will likely deliver more tax cuts to wealthy individuals, to corporations, but not to middle class individuals. So i think there is a large disconnect between the populism the president is talking about and the reality of what were liking to see come out of congress. Let me just say one. President trump is actually there are a few proposals we know about. Youre right. There is no plan. I was thinking, you know, hes trying to put lipstick on a pig, but theres really not a pig, but what there is hes mentioned a few things so far, and theres one big loophole that put really wants to open, and thats a special low privileged rate on passthrough business income. Taking it all the way down to 15 . That would open up a massive new loophole and invite literally billions in tax avoidance. So this idea that he wants to close loop holes is patently false. Ali, if i could explain that. So if you were me and you have an llc and so you have a limited Liability Company or you have an s. Copper or a c. Copper or a Sole Proprietorship you are a business and as a business you can take all the expenses and deductions that you want and you can drive your business income down and then be taxed at 15 . Whereas today, even though i have an llc, i still have to take my net income, put that on a personal filing, which is taxed at 39. 6 . I could ultimately be taxed at 15 . I would save a ton of money. The average american simply wont be able to do that. Would not. Okay. Guys, you know i like talking about this a lot and im going to continue this conversation at another time. Unfortunately i have to get back to this tragedy in the gulf. Okay. Were still tracking Tropical Storm harvey and its aftermath. Lets have a look at the radar. You can see that the storm is over land right now. It made its third landfall early this morning of the rains have let up in houston, but flood waters are still rising. Right now in the area in and around beaumont, texas, its getting the bulk of the downpours. The navy is deploying rescue helicopters in beaumont as floods inundate the city. Nbcs miguel alma gear got us exclusive video. Hes the only reporter on board the helicopters as they air lift families, mothers, fathers, children to safety. Unfortunately, we have some more tragic news out of houston this afternoon. Police have found that van that was carrying an elderly couple and four great grandchildren. It was swept away by flood waters on sunday. Officials say they found six dead at the scene. This news brings the total number of stormrelated deaths to 19. The Harris County sheriff said a short time ago our worst fierce have been realized, and the victims relatives are devastated. Mia rodriguez joins us now from houston. Whats the situation where you are . Ali, were on the west side of houston. And as you can see, there has been so much water here, so many water rescues going on. In fact h they just parked this massive vehicle here, this is one of the vehicles that has been used in order to approximate get people from these neighborhoods out on to dry land. Because last night people went to bed here and it was not flooded. They woke up this morning, and suddenly there was water all over the place. So we have had First Responders out here from the sheriffs office, fire department, houston police, and a beveragey of volunteers also going out into these neighborhoods, trying to get people out of those flooded homes. We ran into one man, b. J. Johnson. His elderly parents were back in the home. He had been bringing them food every day. He was able to drive in here, he said, last night. Brought them dinner. And then before you know it today all this water around their house. And he knew he needed to get them out. Take a listen to what he told us once volunteers went in and got his parents out. Weve been bringing them food twice a day, and was bringing them lunch today and then realized the water had come up probably at least a mile from last night. Reporter now, this is all water thats been coming from some of the nearby reservoirs, the add diks and barker spill over because again all of the rain, couldnt take it. Spilling over into areas that have frankly never flooded before. I mean, weve been talking to residents who have lived in these areas for ten, 20, 30 years have never seen anything like this, even back when it was Tropical Storm allison in 2001, which is sort of the benchmark that a lot of people here in the houston area use as for when it comes to flooding here and what they have seen in their time. But this, of course, has been just unprecedented. Ali. All right. Hundreds of crews are still out trying to rescue people from their homes. Stephanie gosk is near counts, texas for us. Weve seen some incredible rescues there today. The whats the latest where you are, stephanie . Yeah, ali. You know, the rain has stopped in the houston area, but it continues to pour in this part of texas. It really is unbelievable. Weve basically our team has been in torrential rains for five days straight. We had been trying to make our way into beaumont. All of the roads to beaumont are shut, although we are hearing now that one of the highways, 90 into beaumont has opened up, which is going to be great news for those people. And one of the reasons why miguel had that opportunity with the military is because that was the only way that people in that city could get any help was from the sky, because the help just simply couldnt get in. You have a city of 100,000 people completely isolated with flood waters rising rapidly. A catastrophic situation, more than 26 inches of rain in 24 hours. Its just its hard to wrap your head around. And a lot of people fearing that the flooding there is even worse than what we saw in houston. Ali. Stephanie, what is the weather situation where you are right now . Is rain still coming down . Reporter yeah. It is. It is coming down. And its the last thing people need. And,up, this small town that we were in, counts, where it was really a creek that had risen skpl blocked them off from heading any further south. And we turned around because they now had fears that the body of water to the north was going to block off the north access to the town. They were already feeling isolated in that small town. And their experience is very similar to other communities all along the texas coast, from houston to beaumont. Weve been talking about the larger cities, but you really have all of these small rural towns in between those two cities that are struggling with the same levels of water and the same difficulties, having to try to find, first of all, to rescue people from their homes because they are cut off and then to move them from their homes to a shelter. And if you are in a place where people cant get food and supplies, then shelters become very difficult places very quickly without those kinds of essentials. Ali. All right. Stephanie, thanks very much for your great reporting. Well check in with you a little later. Stephanie grosk in counts, texas. As we said, harvey is still bringing the fury as its made landfall now for a third time. The first time was friday night as a category 4 hurricane outside of corpus christi. Nbc meteorologist has been with us the whole time is joining us to tell us where harvey is now, where it dpz and what happens next. Steve. All right. Ali, the good news, harvey is over land now. So it cant strengthen again. And its not going to do a loop on us. So thats certainly excellent news frm the problem is were still dealing with the impacts of harvey and its Still Producing some Severe Weather here, he is spshlel across areas of mississippi, louisiana and eastern texas where it wont stop raining. Its ended in houston it will be ending in beaumont soon. As we walk over to the weather wall ill show you why this will be out of here soon enough. Moving north northeast at 8mileperhour. Its over land now so it cannot strength en. And youll start to see the system look less impressive here over the next couple of days. By this evening 45mileperhour winds. Its still in areas of noern mississippi, but then it starts to deteriorate to the north and east. And good rid dance to it. We have to watch another storm system in the southern gulf of mexico. That could be a problem as we head into early next week, ali. All right. Weve got beaumont, port arthur in our sites as well. Steve has been helping me out a lot through this entire storm. Weve been showing you video of amazing rescues all day. Local, state and federal authorities, regular people, residents, doing everything they can to save those still tramd. Just a short time ago my colleague mig alley almaguer landed with a u. S. Navy helicopter team. During my 11 00 eastern hour we were with you in that helicopter as you were shooting these rescues. Were you literally just flying over places where people were flaking you down and they would lower the res cure in the basket . Ali, we were literally inside a u. S. Navy helicopter like this one higher. Im going to bring you to this live. We were in a hol kopter just like this. When we were bringing you those live pictures. Its actually the u. S. Air force that is doing the basket drop. This is another group that has just been brought to safety here. Look, this is many, many people. Were looking at about 15 people, families, children, elderly parents. You can see all of these kids were being brought off of this helicopter. This actually looks a little bit more like a black hawk. We were on a navy sea hawk. You can see this, ali. Theyre bringing a man down with a wheelchair. All of these people have been plucked to safety. This is the Army Helicopter that has just landed here. Were going to walk you back here and see if we can talk to some of these folks. They were literally just standing in flood waters just a short time ago. Theyve been brought to safety inside this Convention Center here is where theyre being checked in where folks are being able to have a place to shelt r out tonight. See if i can talk to you excuse me, were you guys just rescued . Do you mind telling me the house got real flooded. Thats all it was. What was it like as you were sitting in your home let me tell you, it was scary. We were so scared, but god have saved us. Im from port arthur, texas. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like for you and your family . It was so bad. We had to get out of there because it wasnt right. And plus, i have a twoyearold with me. And these are my nieces and my nephews. So we had to hurry up and get out of there. Were you worried you werent going to make it out . I know that water was rising quickly. Yeah, until they came. We didnt even know they were coming. What was it like to get in that helicopter and to see safety . It was good. It was eye good feel because it was hornl. It was a great feeling. Now that youre out, what do you do now . Im happy because i got my nieces and my nephews out. Ali, you can see the helicopter here taking off again. What they have been doing all day long is coming back and forth. Its an incredible scene here. A sea of humanity as all of these people who were literally standing in flood waters ten minutes ago are now being brought to safety. You see these big rigs here. Theyre also sending out raft teams in these rigs to go into beaumont. It is a precarious situation. As you can see here, the rain is coming downside ways. We also have some steady wind out here, so its a dangerous situation. But as you just saw live, ali, rescue teams doing all they can to bring people to safety. Back to you, ali. All right. Miguel, i want to ask you, when you were up there, what was the method by which the pilots and the rescuers were determining who they were picking up . Because at one point you were shooting out the helicopter and someone seemed to be flagging you down and next thing you were picking them up. Were they literally going and just looking for people . That was literally the method. We took off from this area in orange, texas, which is right next to beaumont. The water literally cuts off these two cities and has made beaumont an island. Up in the air as soon as they got over beaumont they looked for the first sign of a person or people that needed help. They were r where, ali. Everywhere. In neighborhoods all across that area. They found families who were waving flags, towels, sheets. Thats the first group we hovered over. They drapd their rescue basket about a hundred feet down. First a member of the u. S. Air force went down in that rescue basket, rap peld down. They then hoeded up families after families. Were talking very Young Children, their parents. And as you just saw here, even the disabled and the elderly. They hoisted them up into the air. Theyre bringing them right back here to safe ground. Theyre going into that Convention Center behind me, checking in. Theres cots there, understood there. The rescue teams, theyre off, already gun looking for more family. Incredible. Talk to me about the fact the way it looked like it would happen is a res cure would rap pell down a rope and then the basket would be sent down and People Holding whatever they were holding would be put in that basket. What happened as they got into the helicopter . Were they scared . Were they elated . What was the emotional response that people had once they got on to this helicopter . Well, really, im gog show you a live picture of another helicopter getting set to take off. The emotions really did run the gamut. We saw a young boy clinging to his mother, shaking, crying, so relieved. You have the spectrum right there. This young mother so relieved, so happy to be making it out of the flood zone and her young 11yearold boy, joshua, who was terrified and petrified to come into that rap pell system into the helicopter. One of the fathers gave us the thumbsup. Another mother told us she was terrified the entire time. Many people out here, as you can imagine, some are scared of heights and other precarious situations. Youve got a rope dangling down. Youre in a basket. Its windy. Its rainy. Its a dangerous situation. You can see here this helicopter taking off. Weve got another one coming in right behind it, ali. It literally is a father ris wheel of First Responders bringing people down to safety as quickly as they can. Its quite a scene out here. Ive got to tell you, miguel, ive been talking to people stranded in beaumont and port arthur all morning, and this is if people are watching this and you have people in beaumont or port arthur, let them know this is happening, because the people i spoke to were scared this morning, miguel. They didnt even know if anybody knew they were stuck in some of the places. We were talking to people who were stuck in a Bowling Alley in port arthur. We now have word that the military or whomever with these held couldnters is moving in to rescue 300 people in that Bowling Alley. There are people in apartment complexes who dont know if help is coming. And what you are showing us is i mean, its remarkable to see all of these helicopters touching down, dropping people off, picking up and going out. Miguel, whats going to stop them from doing it . Is it the dark, the weather conditions . You know, ali, after talking to with these guys and lieding with them all morning, i can tell you, i dont think anything is going to stop them. These are true professionals, men and women with the military, the air force and the navy. They told us theyre going to go as long as help is needed. And i should point out this morning when we joined them, we were actually going to head to the houston area. Thats where they thought they were going to be doing some rescues, but more importantly for them they said they thought they were going to be doing reconnaissance. But then they heard about beaumont, and shoos they got that call they said lets switch gears. We went to beaumont. We came here and this is a scene thats been happening. More people come outed. Plane right now, this helicopter, without shoes. A lot of these people wearing shorts. Completely soaked. These are the situations they were pulled out from. When they see a helicopter overhead, it doesnt matter what youre wearing or what youre doing. You get on it because it might be your first, your last and your only chance to get out of this community, ali. Miguel, i dont know if you can still hear me, but one of the issues, assist you see these people getting off and sh is carrying a little bit of something. Those decisions that people have had to make, when with you went to pick them up, because they were standing in many cases away from a structure, away from their homes and they had to make a selection about what they had to carry with them. What weve seen is people going into these shelters is theres an assortment of stuff available to them. Its not very thorough. People realize theyre leaving their homes and it may be a long time before they get back in. Ali, the lucky ones are the ones with bags. Most people here are walking off these helicopters with the clothes on their backs. Many not even with shoes on their feet. Those, thats the typical situation. The lucky ones have a purse or a backpack. Nothing larger than that because they just cant bring them on these helicopters. The rescue teams are telling them theyre lucky to get out, get out now. As you can see here, this family right here, just a bag or two with with them. And this is one of the main rescue guys who has been with us all day long. Hes been a hero. Weve seen him all day long. And here he goes, ali. Hes now carrying other peoples clothes. Hes been carrying babies and children. These guys have been going nonstop. These are members of the rare force. We join them outside texas a and m. They have been at it since about 6 this morning. They dont look fatigued to me and they show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Its truly amazing the hereism of these rescuers. The professionals, army, navy, coast guard, national guard. And then the citizens, the firefighters, the police department, the ems workers and the citizens who weve seen rescuing people. Miguel, when they go down, when they rap pell down, when those rescuers are there to put somebody in the basket and lift them up into the helicopter, do they impose conditions what they can carry with them . No, they dont have conditions. But crews are asking them not to bring too much because there simply is not that much room and the more belongings, the less room there is for people. Form for some of the lucky there isnt a lot of other people being taken up. The last couple of helicopters weve seen have had more than a dozen. Were going to step out of the way as this big rig here pulls out. The lucky ones are able to bring bags. That gentleman with the air force, hes actually part of a river rescue team. This is one of the rafrts they came in ready to go and deploy. They had no idea they would be inside the helicopters all day long doing these rescues. They have been changing styles on a dime doing whatever it takes to pull people to safety. These guys were ready to launch in a raft. Instead theyve been in a helicopter all day long. Their skills transferable because they were with the military. Theyve done rescues before. So theyre going to be out here all day long. On the other side of the screen were showing those rescues taking place the with unds that you shot on the helicopter. Tell me from the moment you determined that youre picking somebody up, whats the time to when you make that determination to when theyre in the helicopter . It only takes a few minutes. It depends on the people who are being rescued offer of the ground. The guys in the air are able to get down that laerd in a matter of seconds. It depends on how long it takes to get the elderly or the small children into that basket. Once that basket is secure, then they begin to rise it up to the helicopter. And ali, it is a harrowing experience. You see that helicopter, that basket it looked like a harrowing experience. Its whipping in the wind. Its rainy. The helicopter itself is rotating and moving. And the basket is coming up and people are literally holding on to the basket. Thats the only way theyre safe and secure. Theyre propped up. The rescue man then goes outside the helicopter, pulls that basket in. Theyre brought to safety. The basket is still spinning, moving a bits inside the helicopter. They then get out of that basket and that is the first time you see any sign of relief for the people who have been wading through flood waters and have finally made it into a helicopter. We saw a boy who was rescued, and he looked terrorized. He looked scared because the basket was shaking and spinning as he came up. Even as he got in, i dont mean if you remember that boy in the 11 00 eastern hour. I do. Its 11yearold joshua, ali. And hes inside the shelter here. Brian, do you think im going to show you the scene here. 11yearold joshua, we were with him as he was being pulled um. We have seen rescues for quite sometime. I have done this before. Watching his face. Yeah. Moved me. I mean, this boy was petrified. He was scared. His parents, though, were so, so relieved. And his face really told us the story here of what these folks are going through. Im going to bring you here into the shelter. Ali, when we first got here, there were five people in this shelter. Wow. Five peechl, including the air drop that we brought in. Now many people who will be here all night. This is actually joshuas dad. Can you talk to me a little bit your experience in coming out. Creepy. Creepy and wet, very wet. It was a bad experience and i dont want to go through it again. When we were coming up i was looking at joshua and our viewers have seen the photo of joshua, who looks scared. He was screaming. Why was this such a harrowing experience for your young son, your is 1yearold to go threw . Actually, because were from austin, and this is something you know what im saying . We dont have hurricanes up there. Bad weather its something new, something new to us. Through that experience, what do you do now . Rebuild. Rebuild and because it could have been worse. Did you ever see this coming . No. I seen it. But you know. Well w we are glad youre safe. Were glad joshua is safe. Thank you very much. This is where theyre processing people. Youll see here in this room, there are Young Children all right. Were having some trouble with miguels signal maybe its because theyre deeper in the building. But that gentleman that he was just talking to is it the father of that boy we were just showing the video of who was brought up, 11yearold joshua who was so terrified. Im glad that his father can have a bit of a chuckle about it right now because at the moment it was happening, there was nothing thats joshua right there. Look at how frightened he was, but boy, they are happy to get to safety. By the way, no disrespect to young joshua, that is a harrowing ride. You saw that basket was spinning. Its windy. The are prop wash from the helicopter is causing it to be windier. And then you get into the helicopter thats also moving. It would not be normal, miguel to not be frightened. Im looking at those shots. It would not be normal to not be frightened as that basket was coming up. Ali, are you back with me . Can you hear me now . Ive got you. And we were showing the video of joshua as well. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, i was terrified to be inside the helicopter. And, you know, this is an 11yearold boy who is being hoisted up outside in the elements who has been in flood waters for several hours. So i cant imagine what hes feeling. All of these people have had some type of experience like this am theyre just now getting water and food for the first time. This room is going to be completely full tonight i can tell you that because the lines wraparound outside and inside. Everyone is going through registration. Some people were on respirators, disabled, wheelchairs. Some are very young, old. This is the scene here tonight, ali. They were even air lifting animals out when they could, when they had the space. Many of the folks who are here dont have shoes. They were in flood waters. So they literally have the clothes on their back. Fema is now here. Theyve set up the cots here. Theyre starting to register these folks. But again, ali, this is just the beginning of the experience for them. Theyre lucky to be alive. Theyre happy they got out. But now, as we asked joshuas father, what do you do . Where do you go . They still have to sort that out. Its remarkable that what is it, two hours after that rescue, his father was able to have a little chuckle about this thing and then show that universal piece of the human spirit that says what we do now is rebuild. That is the beauty on the other side of the horror that youve been seeing all morning. Yeah. And joshuas father when we were there, i was in the helicopter when he was pulled out to safety. I can tell you he was also a bit shaken as this was happening. I looked over and if he was okay, he nodded yes. He gave me the thumbsup, but in the beginning he was not able to be as relaxed as he is you no. Here is some of the supplies that they have. Theyve got water, mres, the meelts that are ready to eat by the military. So they are certainly and ready and prepared for this group here. Ive got to tell you, this group, its going to continue to grow. As you saw when we were on the air with you live here, two or three helicopters land. Theyre going to continue to see situations like that over the next several hours here. And i dont know if we can see out here in the distance here, these are the raft teams. These are the air force rescue teams that originally had come to deploy to do water rescues. They havent even been able to do water rescue yets because theyve been so busy in the helicopter. They hold six or seven people. So theyre only able to pull out one or to people at a time. So right now theyre having more luck in the helicopters. When we flew in, this was actually in the cargo hold. This is why we touched down here at the Police Station was to release these rafrts so these teams could get to work and free up space for air rescues. But it turned out very quickly that air rescues would be the faster mode of getting these folks out. Weve got guys down here. These are all u. S. Air force team members. Theyre suiting up, getting ready to floi into these raftsment they have been inflated about, as soon as we touched down about here, 10 or 11 00 this morning. They didnt need them. Instead theyve been going up and doing their work in the air. But theyre getting ready to deploy in these raft. The a scene here, ali, that is going to continue all day long. And look, this dump truck, the reason why theyre loading into these dump trucks is theyre going to drive down the road as far as they can, theyll enter the water. Theyll then deploy the rafts right out of the dump trucks into the water. Go house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, looking for anybody that may need help, anyone thats trapped. And of course, anyone that needs to come out, ali. Youre looking at live american heroes right now. I had a puzzling conversation with the mayor of beaumont in the 11 00 hour who said that everything was under control and they had all the rescues that they needed under control. The stuff that you were doing in the plane sort of belies that information. This is still a serious situation. We now have confirmation that 21 people have died as a result of harvey. The death toll has climbed. This has all been in the last 20 minutes or so. We got up to 19 and then we got to 21, unfortunately, as authorities are getting around. Miguel, what happens next to these people . Theyve moved into that building that you took us into. Is that their shelter for the next few days . It will likely be so, ali. Some of these people may have friends or family that can come and reach them on this sield of dry land. Many of them may not, so they may be here for several days. Some may even be here for weeks. As they have told us they have no place else to go. I want to go back to that point you made about the mayor. These guys are clearly very calculated in their maneuvers, theyre able to theyre very calm. I can tell you the people that are being rescued arent. They dont think the sbags is under control. They have this rescue down. They have that under control, but the folks who are baiting for help dont seem to be so calm. You see another helicopter here. This looks like a black hawk that is skirting in sideways here for another landing. Ali, as you have seen, ill belt its full of more people who have been rescued. Weve only been talking to you for a few more minutes since that last rescue. Here we go again, another helicopter, another rescue. We came in with a fleet of about three or four helicopters. Many more have arrived. The navy is also the agency that brought us in. They have been doingo manslaughter work since they got here. You can see these guys plotting and planning their next mission. Were going to walk past them here to see if there more peopl out of that helicopter. One would guess there would be. Here theyre getting ready to touch down. Theres a ground crew that is getting hammered by the rain and getting ready to open this side door. My guess is it will be full of about ten people who have just been plucked from the floodwaters. Well soon find out. See the first air team getting out and unlocking the sliding door. It does look like there are people inside here. Again, another rescue. I mean, its only been minutes since the last one. Its incredible how quickly all the teams are able to go and scoop people out. Another young girl it appears. Another young man. Another young boy. All of these people falling out of the helicopter. This is a scene that will continue all the way into the evening. Ali, i can tell you, these folks also have night vision. They told us as we were flying in that they have night vision. They have been in turbulent weather before so something tells me theyll be at it all night. Ali, you still with me . Im with you. Were just listening to the sound of the black hawk and the people getting out. Youre hard to hear. [ indiscernible ]. I cant hear your mike right now just because the prop the noise from the propeller on the black hawk. Its quite a scene to see people who had notice that they were getting some help. These helicopter rescues have been happening for most of the morning. So people in the neighborhood are liking word that the choppers are either touching down in Shallow Water or dropping their hoist which is what more likely they are doing. So you can see here some of the folks have suitcases. These are the first suitcases we have seen. Theyre getting ready to hunker down here for a few days. Theres water and food and shelter inside. Thats one advantage they have inside. You were on a black hawk earlier today, were you not, miguel . We were on a seahawk. Navy seahawk. Which is a modified version. Here is the black hawk taking off again. Just like that, back in the air. Yeah, we were on a seahawk. I can tell you we hit turbulent weather coming in. It was a shaky situation. And we you and i have both flown on airlines that have had turbulence but it was a bumpy ride to say the least. The guys didnt give it a second look. They got here quickly, got on the ground safely. They have been doing this all day long. They seem to be pretty safe. The weather is actually not quite as bad as it could be. We have had light, steady rain. Heavier rain at some point. Certainly some winds out here. It hasnt been terrible weather. That is at least aiding them and the concern here though is, you know, in a couple of hours it will get dark. The rescues will become more difficult. Seeing people is more difficult. They have that infrared, but its going to become a much more dicey situation as the evening pushes on. Right. So where are people who are coming in, those helicopters that are coming in where you are, are they in and around the beaumont area . All airborne . Yeah, theyre touching down here in orange. In the city next to beaumont. The reason we cant go any further is there is a wave of water in between the building, the location and what should be the city of beaumont which is also mostly under water. So the helicopters take off from here. They hover over beaumont. They drop their lines, drop their baskets, they pick up as many people as they can. Literally scoop th into the i would say its probably four or five minutes to get to where they need to go. What we were told what i assume is still happening now, theyre going neighborhood to neighborhood, going from block to block. Looking for people that need help. When we first arrived, ali, when we were the first air ships to get into beaumont, we can see people waving towels and arms. You showed us some of that. Then they were rescued. When we got to this shelter and were able to speak to them, they were beside themselves. They said they were incredibly lucky, but they also felt incredibly bad about leaving their neighbors. Their loved ones. Some left an elderly parent behind because they could not get to their house in the floodwaters. And they begged for these crews, please go back, pick up my parents. Heres the address. Pick them up. Heres the picture. They have been inundated with those requests all day long. Everyone that lands here, everyone that makes it to safety has a loved one or a friend somewhere nearby that still needs help. Thats why the rescues are going on all day long. You can likely hear in the background here, we have another helicopter coming in here. This looks like a huey. It can carry a lot more people than some of those blackhawks and the seahawks that are touching down. We saw this helicopter touch down an hour ago. It was full of military personnel. Im not sure if theyll have people here. And in the huey they dont typically lower a basket to rescue people. Usually its a big helicopter that they can put in cargo or equipment or a large number of personnel. They may be flying into the city of beaumont to try to find a dry space to see if they can open up the back of the huey and load people on. That would be the fastest way of getting people out. Its wider and longer than the than the black hawk and the seahawk. Its a flying bus, you can fit a ton of people on here. I dont know the stats exactly but the last time we saw this it was full of military personnel who had been coming in to help. Im not sure if well see civilians on this. But theyre still trying to bring in more equipment, more rafts, more military personnel. More rescue teams. Thats the reason the huey is being used. Yeah, doesnt look like any civilians are coming off. Right over here, another one. Just off in the distance coming in. We havent seen this much air activity in quite some time. So they certainly appear to be ramping up and they seem to be literally getting ready to evacuate an entire city by the air. Well, good news for the residents of beaumont and nearby port arthur that the cavalry is on its way in. The hueys can carry 14 troops apiece fully loaded. Obviously when youre talking about civilians who are not carrying military gear they can put many more than that. Its got a capacity of 4,000 pounds. It can have on there almost. So the equivalent of that in people or cargo. You saw the back door of the other huey. Dont get off of this shot, but the other opened up the cargo door. You can put stretchers on if you need to. Bring military in. Clearly as you have pointed out, miguel, it is almost 3 00 p. M. In beaumont, texas. We have a few hours of sunlight left and they have realized how many people are stranded and need to get out and the milit y military we dont know whose hueys these are, but the military is taking the very seriously. Greg abbott has activated even more go ahead, miguel, tell us what youre seeing. These are troops. Yeah, these are army hueys. Looks like we have some troops getting off of the back of the huey. Those look like inflatable rafts in their hands and they have their gear. Im not sure what shot you can see here. But theres rafts, and water and other equipment here. But they are certainly gearing up, ramping up for a large scale operation here. This appears to be an army huey and looks like these are members of the u. S. Army that we have mentioned the navy is here. The air force is here. Its really a joint operation here. They are staging out here big time. In the time we were talking to you, ali, that second huey did land in the background. Show you a shot of that. Theyre side by side here. Ready to scoop up and go to work. Its a massive operation here. Im sure the rescue teams and the First Responders typically the civilians will tell you more help is likely is needed. As we saw all the gear coming out of there, miguel, i began to wonder because there was more coming off of that thing, that can go on the huey and lester walked in to give me a note. Its a chinook which is why wire seeing a bigger capacity were seeing a bigger capacity. Youre seeing the guys getting out with a lot of gear which is what gave me pause for a second. They look similar. Were looking at chinooks. Youre saying that theyre Army Chinooks . Yeah. They say the u. S. Army on that. Thank you for the correction on the chinooks. These are really big helicopters. They are reloaded on the side. Military members who have been coming in. Got it. Coast guard members here. You see them bringing a motor out for a raft. This is the equipment they need. Miguel, stand by. Miguel is in orange, texas. Next to beaumont. You can see the heavy gear that the army is bringing in now on those military Chinook Helicopters that can carry a lot of troops. You will see a lot more of miguels reporting tonight on nbc nightly news with lester holt. This hour has come to a close for me. Thank you for watching. Ill be back at 11 00 p. M. Eastern on the 1 1th hour. Deadline white house starts right now. Good afternoon. Its 4 00 and im kasie hunt filling in for nicolle wallace. Well keep an eye on all the dramatic rescues down in texas, but we