flash flood emergency. and houston is trying to recover this morning, but the city faces even more rain. cnn s dan simon is on the ground for us just outside of houston. wow, look at that dan. reporter: well hi alisyn. we re in an area known as the banana bin where you ve got several subdivisions under water. about the only way you can get around is by boat. now, the homes are on stilts. they re used to flooding in this area but you really can t get in and out of some of these houses. that as authorities are continuing to keep a close eye on the town of wharton, which is southwest of houston. about 300 people there under a voluntary evacuation order as the colorado river continues to rise. and also more rain could cause even more problems for the town of wimberley, which saw so much tragedy earlier in the week as crews there continue to look for some of the bodies. we know about 12 people still missing in the wimberley area. the rain now continuing to fall in the houston area. we re
yes, i do think that it s important to have tools available so that we can discover what terrorists are up to and keep america safe but it needs to be balanced with civil liberties. and that s exactly why the compromise bill is what we need to do. it reforms the patriot act. it is sensitive to the concerns that we have oversight, that we have court supervision, that we comply with all of the not only constitutional tests but reasonable tests to protect the privacy and rights of americans. but it does give the tools necessary for the intelligence agencies to collect information that could be very important in stopping terrorists from acting here in the united states. people want privacy but they also want government a step ahead of the bad guys. senator cardin thank you very much for being with us this morning. alisyn. chris, we have more breaking news to tell you about this morning. another round of massive flooding in texas. this time dallas is under water. several inches of rain
agents that the withdrawals were because he did not trust the bank system. the government alleges that was a false statement. it s a stunning turn for the former republican leader who was house speaker from 1999 until he stepped down in 2007. since then he s been a lobbyist at this washington firm which quickly removed hastert s biography from its website after the indictment was announced. hastert is expected to have to stand in front of a federal judge at some point for his initial court appearance likely next week. our attempts to get a statement from him through his former law and lobbying firm have so far been unsuccessful alisyn. still so mysterious what the origin of all that is. joe, thanks for that. now to that sports scandal overseas. the president of fifa the world s soccer governing body making a pitch to keep his job after vast corruption charges brought by u.s. authorities. cnn s senior international correspondent nic robertson has more from switzerland. what s the la
structured much more structured than your average street gang. they know what they re doing. they have bylaws and rules and a highly sophisticated way of conducting war. they keep files on their enemies. they do countersurveillance and surveillance on their enemies and law enforcement. they re very smart. they re not what we picture as our average biker. charles falco, thank you very much. thank you for agreeing to come on even with your concerns. and we ll stay in touch off television so you can let us know what s going on. appreciate it. thank you, sir. alisyn. another top story we re covering. the fbi finding no evidence of bullets being fired at the train before that crash. the engineer s actions remain the key focus. cnn s erin mclaughlin has the latest for us from philadelphia.
what are we learning erin? reporter: hi alisyn. well at the heart of this mystery is why the train accelerated. so the focus very much is on 32-year-old engineer brandon bostian. a source with knowledge of the investigation say the possibilities range from human error to something more intentional. let me take you through some of the ntsb s latest findings. yesterday the fbi looked at that circular marking on the windshield and concluded it was not from a bullet. bostian also did not tell the dispatch the train was hit by an object prior to the crash. and so far there s no indication of mechanical failure. but authorities say they are not ruling that out. now, today we are learning that a conductor on the train filing suit against amtrak yesterday, the first four passengers filing suit as well. but there is a cap, a federal cap on compensation for all