Transcripts For FBC Cavuto Coast To Coast 20170829 : compare

if either of these reservoirs were to breach their berms, look what is out there? 3,000 homes and residences out there, all in jeopardy. that is what is threatened at this hour. already water is going out the spillway, crossing what is route 6 out there. that road out there is route 6. already water overbreaching that. and headed into those homes. they're hoping though, that is as bad as it gets. it is pretty bad. we'll show you next hour what that looks like. for now, it holding. they hope it continues to hold. neil: jeff, thank you, very, very much. by the way to jeff's point, it rice it is really not just houston but hillary vaughn is here. hi, hillary. reporter: they got off one of people just rescued. they were waiting since 4:00 a.m. for a response. what did you feel waiting for the rescue crew? >> obviously keeping the girls safe. luckily we're in a second story home. we hunkered down there. we wanted older neighbors to get out first. we're able-bodied, so. reporter: what did you decide to take with you? how much time did you have to make the decision? >> we had ten minutes. >> we had our stuff upstairs and passports and clothes for the girls and we were out of there. reporter: neil, one family rescued at this point right here. more people getting off the boats here. many with backpacks and bags of their things. one woman told me she lived in this neighborhood. it backs up to the river. that is why we see the water so high. she said, at 4:00 a.m. this morning there was about six inches of water in her home. by 7:00 a.m., it was several feet high. so that is how hard and how fast the rain is really pouring down. and this entire operation, here, is volunteer. everyone you see here, not a member of the coast guard. not a member of the police force. everyone came from different parts of texas, volunteering their time and really getting people out of these neighborhoods. they have had about 50 run this is morning. they're going right back out to get more people. many more people are in the flooded neighborhoods. you can see, right here. it is up to my knees. further back there, it is over waist-deep. neil? neil: thank you very much, hillary vaughn. to put in perspective the enormity what you're looking at. this is america's fourth largest city. a major urban center accounts for half a billion dollars a year on behalf of three million residents. most have a tough time, getting around, even if they're around at all. all this at a time the president of the united states is visiting to see what the federal government can do to work with state and local officials to make sure they get through all of this. president trump is due there later today. corpus christie will be the place and saturday he will return. blake burman is in the white house. reporter: president trump and first lady are expected to land in corpus christi next 30, 45 minutes. they are joined by several members of the administration. cabinet members. chief of staff john kelly, congressional liaison, and hud secretary, dr. ben carson, small business administrator linda mcmahon, give you a sense how broad the government effort is with this storm. whenever the president travels they are normally highly-scripted affairs. press secretary sara sanders saying bored air force one that the conditions will dictate this one. the plan is for the president to go to a fire station there in corpus christie, get a briefing, first-hand account on what is going on the frowned and head to the state capital in austin to the emergency operations center there. the plan in texas very fluid depending on situation on the ground. of course one of the big concerns here is for the president and his security detail not to disrupt or not to distract from any of the ongoing recovery and search missions there in corpus christie. sanders saying a little while ago, and i quote here, she said the president wants to be very cautious about making sure that any activity doesn't disrupt the recovery efforts that are still ongoing, end quote. she says what they're doing today, is laying the foundation for what they know is going to be a long recovery effort in terms of that long effort. neil, we're also being told that the president is planning to return to that region on saturday, possibly texas, and louisiana. neil? neil: do we know what the return visit, blake, where that will be? could it possibly be houston? is that too dangerous right now, for anyone? >> potentially houston. i mean clearly they can not go there right now because of the flooding. corpus christie was hit friday night into saturday and sunday. that is, a much safer environment for the commander-in-chief, for the president of the united states to be. the conditions are really going to dictate this one. i would think the president and his staff at some point would like to get there. this is one of those they can not control obviously at the white house and they will play this day by day. neil: it is a separate issue, one i wanted to bounce off of you, blake, i don't want to hit you broadside, but this disruption of harvey, will lessen likelihood of a potential government shutdown, whatever reasons or virtues for the argument not hiking the debt ceiling you wouldn't risk something that would potentially freeze fund to the folks who need it here. so it could actually work to the advantage of keeping the government lights on, raising the debt ceils, continuing to fund the government, et cetera. this is in a weird way has kind of improved those odds. reporter: there was article out there in the hill saying just that, neil. the aid that will need to be passed by congress, many billions of dollars likely, could be potentially be tied to the government spending bill. could be potentially tied to the debt ceiling. when you wrap that up, the question, how could you vote against spending for harvey or aid for harvey? as you know, funding for hurricane sandy became a political football. now that is being brought back to many folks, saying remember what happened with sandy. let's not go through that again. even while it seems like a no-brainer that funding for harvey would get passed, you got to turn back to what happened with sandy, how that devolved into a political situation there. but certainly, neil, one of the possible scenarios, believe it or not, that is rising to the surface on this day, is whether or not they could tie this harvey funding potentially into the spending bill, potentially into the debt ceiling. so that this is something that nobody can turn and eye to. neil: thank thank you, blake bu, thank you very much. blake harkening back to the sandy funding, better than $60 billion, had a lot of things added to it, at the time stuck in the craw of john boehner, speaker at the time, who was concerned what they were doing pouring a lot of needless spending in order to get this through on the backs of sandy. it enraged new jersey governor chris christie who was looking for relief from his state. he criticized the speaker by name. that is then. this is now. not quite the same amount of grief on both sides as was the case back then. but again, some fear in this environment that using this as the catalyst, and maybe some say the excuse, will see a lot more spending going on. that does not appear to be the case for now but that was certainly the case with sandy back in 2012. in the meantime this issue whether you're covered or not what is happening right now, via mother nature is an issue topic one for, certainly for a lot of these texas homeowners. only one offy which have some coverage for flood insurance. but even that, as i came to find out talking to a houston resident yesterday, doesn't cover nearly everything. take a look. when were you told you would get a quarter of what you thought? >> last night, we got a call from the insurance brokers. she even said, i have good news from you, you will get the maximum amount. i'm like, going, great. when she tells me the maximum amount is less than a quarter of what our home cost, i'm going, i hand the phone to my husband. i couldn't even believe she was telling me that. neil: all right. to the insurance information institute, vice president of media relations, michael barry. michael is that true? a lot of people undercoverred? they might have the coverage and flood insurance, but reading the fine print they're not covered for full value of property. >> first off i'm very sorry to hear about that woman's plight, neil but i can explain a little bit probably what happened here. fema's national flood insurance program caps coverage for dwelling damage to $250,000 per home. $100,000 per, per home's contents. what sound like happened hear, there was some kind of communication breakdown where this homeowner was not told about the private sector offering excess flood insurance coverage. there is coverage kick in after the fema national flood insurance program policy limits were met. neil: so, you would know what you're signing, right? people would know whether they, this is the full replacement value of the home, god forbid destroyed by a flood. do you know offhand, how many houstonians are in that position that they will be fully covered or the numbers are stark as we hear, 4 to 5 are not, one of five that are, might not be covered than the full coverage of property. >> harris county has more people than any other area in the country. the bulk of insurance are in three states, they're in florida, louisiana, texas. but when you look at houston, there is a lot of homes that are not so much the market value, we're looking at as you correctly indicated. we're looking what would to cost to replace these homes in the event of a total loss? so for high, higher-end homes in flood-prone areas, their insurance professional whom they're dealing with, should have spoken to them, or homeowner should have looked into, is this fema national flood insurance program policy cover me in event after total loss? for a high-end home we're talking about here, that home is going to need some excess flood insurance policy to cover it beyond the $250,000. neil: how many of these people are just going to be out of luck though? in other words when all said and done after this storm coverage they thought they had they don't? >> since the storm is going on it is unclear at this point how many homeowners we're talking about here, the key thing to keep in mind, win caused damage it will be caused by home ownedders insurance coverage. tornadoes came as part of harvey. that will be caused under homeowners policy wind covered damage under homeowners policy. standard business property insurance, flood caused damage is covered under fema national flood insurance policies as well as those who got excess flood insurance policies in the private sector. neil: thank you very much. we'll see if it sorts out for these homeowners. life and debt issues are priority now. insurance and settlement costs something they worry about in the future. exxonmobile is shutting down yet another refinery, another operation. this is a following the beaumont shutdown. this follows on the heels of the baytown refinery. baytown was second largest in the u.s. beaumont i believe is close to the largest. it has refining capacity now hinders what is coming out of that region, the gulf region, now north of three million barrels a day, or more than 16% of u.s. oil capacity is shuttered for this neck of the woods. maybe for quite some time to come. we'll have more after this. it's time to rethink what's possible. rethink the experience. rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief uses unique mistpro technology and helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. rethink your allergy relief. flonase sensimist. ♪ won't replace the full value of your totaled new car. the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, you won't have to worry about replacing your car because you'll get the full value back including depreciation. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ neil: president trump now arriving in corpus christi, texas. this is his first visit to the state since the time. he is going to return we're told later in the week on saturday. he wants to get an update along with several key cabinet officials, what they can and will do to help out in the recovery efforts going on there, both state and local level. on this issue here. one of the biggest storms damagewised, happened at least since sanday back in 2012, new jersey governor chris christie dealt with the crisis. had fights internally with local residents and officials who were not towing the line or urgency of the line, the pair -- parallels he sees. all that exclusive interview with the new jersey governor coming up 4:00 p.m. eastern time on "your world." flooding continues in houston where a lot of home values are dropping substantially. fox business's tracee carrasco with the very latest. reporter: for americans who own their homes that is where most of their value is. most homeowners seeing flooding for the first time based on harvey. values typically drop at least 15%. homes with water damage from harvey, could see their valuations by drop as much as 60%. the good news, if there is really any, flooded homes tend to regain the previous value within four years on average. meanwhile fannie mae said it guaranties loans on 36,000 homes in harvey's initial impact area, with $5.1 billion in unpaid principle balance. freddie mac says so far it counted 167,000 homes with mortgages it secured in the 18 counties affected by harvey. under fannie mae's disaster relief guidelines a mortgage servicer may suspend or reduce a homeowner's mortgage payments up to 90 days if it believes the natural disaster has adversely affected value and habitability of the property. if the natural disaster had impact on homeowner's ability to make mortgage payments. they will provide -- whose places of employment have been impacted by the storm. neil, these figures are all preliminary as more homes will likely be impacted this week as harvey is forecasted to bring more flooding to these areas. obviously inspectors have not been able to assess the homes. neil: all right, thank you very much, tracee. we've got 9,000 individuals in the houston convention center. the red cross saying texas shelters are housing more than 17 evac you es right now. more likely on the way, 17,000 evacuees. how is it looking? >> thanks for having me, neil. it is a very active situation as you mentioned. close to 9,000 people staying in the brown convention center. we're moving them to some other locations. our priorities is making sure everyone has a safe place to stay. 80 tractor-trailers of supplies, six mobile kitchens that can serve 10,000 meals a day. we have 72,000 meals ready to eat. i say that because this is an unprecedented massive effort for the red cross. just from my perspective on the ground here in san antonio, i'm about to head to houston. i'm just amazed by the rush of resources coming into this community. we're focused on getting help as distinguishly as possible to as many people they know they need it. neil: how do they decide or you decide, jonathan who goes where in some evacuation facilities? earlier yesterday san antonio volunteered to help out where it can. dallas, they were looking at ways they can help out any way they can. how do you decide who goes where and when? >> that is where we work closely with our federal, state and local partners. we're attached at the hip communicating with them around the clock, to determine first and foremost safety of red cross staff and volunteers. put them in safe location, get a hot meal. rest for a while. take a deep breath which many people need. that is collaborative effort with all of our partners. we're working closely with government officials and everybody to put as many people as possible in a safe location as possible. neil: thank you, sir. i want to switch. governor greg abbott of texas is talking to reporters ahead of the president. likely doing the same thing. >> what do you want to tell them right now to people who are listening? >> everyone in the state of texas is focused first on saving every life that we can. then we want to help in the evacuation and transition process and in typical texas fashion we will rebuild and make it better than ever. >> what about a aid package plan, that in the works and what is the status of that right now. >> the president and his team have been talking to us about providing tremendous aid. it will be one of the things we talk in more detail about today. it will be something that the president is able to provide from his resources but also part will be an appropriation from the united states congress. >> what else in the fayway of fema can fema do? i know they have done a lot so far. >> there are a whole lot of different tools fema has available and that will be one of the things we talk about. let me go. >> what do you hope the president takes away from what he sees out here? >> we want him to see and understand, of the enormous challenges that texans have faced and the need for the aid he provided. he is a champion of texans and a champion of helping us rebuild. areas that have been dealing with all of these problems as well. there is talk as well this has found a silver lining here. that a lot of what has been going on in washington could be affected by this. a measure that would combine aid to texas, and emergency relief to the gulf would be part of a keeping the government lights on, a funding measure, called for increasing debt ceiling, that the government continues to remain funded. the debt ceiling is hiked. all is okay. because of these developments in texas. so the one good you could say could come out of it, is the fact that urgent funding need will be met. this will be the way they will be met. we should be hearing shortly from the president of the united states after he gets off of air force one. we'll have more after this. poor mouth breather. allergies? stuffy nose? can't sleep? take that. a breathe right nasal strip instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than allergy medicine alone. shut your mouth and say goodnight, mouthbreathers. breathe right. neil: all right. president trump has arrived in corpus christi, texas. he will be greeted by texas governor greg abbott. the latest run-down on what is going on in the state right now. any and all help the state needs via the federal government. the president has been talking to him. he has his cabinet secretaries in toe. he will get a tour of the corpus christie area.not like japan tom itself more than already has. we would like to provide the nuclear umbrella to our japanese ally there because we don't want to increase nuclear proliferation. so not only north koreans watching to see how japan responds, but certainly china is watching to see how japan responds as well. to reiterate how dangerous this was. this missile flew over japanese airspace. neil: right. >> in 2009 it was a space launch and in 1998 it was a space launch that went over japan. this was an actual missile that flew over japan. very serious, very provocative. it reinforces missile defenses. we can all see ramping up of missile defenses in japan and south korea and u.s. homeland which would be incredibly prudent at this point. neil: can you think of possibly an accident or going astray, possibilities are endless. rebecca, thank you very much. you're looking at ongoing rescue and recovery efforts right now for vehicles stuck in the water. this is the scene in houston. you have heard these analogies about biblical floods and the rest. they are already record-setting floods. they stand to get worse. keep in mind what became a tropical storm, more like a swelling now in the gulf later tonight is returning to houston later tonight. it does not end. the president will be updated on all of that after this. can be. for fast-acting, long-lasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. it quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. relieve heartburn with fast- acting, long-lasting gaviscon. and helps keep acid down for hours. ...from godaddy! in fact, 68% of people who have built their... ...website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. build a better website - in under an hour. with gocentral from godaddy. (con artists...) they'll try anything to get your medicare card number. so they can steal your identity, commit medicare fraud. what can you do? guard your card? guard your card? just like your credit card. nobody gets my number, unless i know they should have it. to protect your identity, new medicare cards without social security numbers will be mailed next year. visit medicare.gov/fraud stay sharp people! neil: all right. rescue efforts are continuing right now. this is how they do it. on the left-hand side of your screen. they come in by boat, if you're stranded in the water and the waters are getting higher. that resulted in one family's death in a van. they're trying to avoid that repeating itself. they come in boat, or urge residents with a boat, anything they can to rescue them. that is the only way you can be rescued. outside the houston convention center, well over initial capacity right now. one of the places that evacuees are going. the more evac you es are coming, at this point, better than 30,000, not just there, spread out in the greater houston area. fox news caroline shively with h the late in houston of the caroline? reporter: hi, neil. the max capacity was supposed to be 5000. they busted through that yesterday. the latest count, 9,000 this morning, they keep on coming. no longer accepting buses. if you come on foot, they will let you in. you may not get a cot but a place to stay with a hot meal. look outside, the not just evacuees arriving, people maybe their homes are not together but they want to get in here. taking a look inside, this is what they are doing. these folks are sorting clothes and getting donations, formula, food, cups in place, putting all together for people arrived here barefoot. some dripping wet. this is what they need. this is what the volunteers of houston bringing them. we shot video earlier today. look inside of the shelter itself. yesterday it was lunch room, a place to get donations. a place to watch a little tv. today it is turning into a dormitory. they are laying out cardboard. they're swaddling up in blankets. whole families lying on the floor. that is not what they wanted to do. the red cross have more cots, they are staged outside of houston. the water is too high to get in. the mayor last hour announced he is looking to fema. he put an official request in. he wants another 10,000 cots and food and supplies. he wants it by tomorrow. of the things are getting a bit more desperate here. they're not running out of food and not running out of volunteers. neil, back to you. neil: caroline, want to thank you very much. update this from righter, exxon is indeed shutting that beaumont refinery due to harvey. in case you're counting two major refineries affecting close to 20% of the refining capacity in the gulf and that is stymied maybe or a while. energy analyst stephen schork joins us. how long do you think it goes on, and i longer it goes on the the on more disruptive it could get and disruptive for gas prices? >> certainly. refineries from corpus christie and houston shuttered a good deal. that represents more than a third of refining capacity linked to the new york mercantile exchange contracts. now that the storm is moving as you noted to the louisiana, texas border, we will shut down beaumont, looks like, and big fear of port arthur, in the same vicinity, largest refinery in the united states. that area accounts for another 1.5 million barrels a day of capacity. as we continue to move toward east, louisiana, mississippi border, we're talking another 3.7 million barrels a day of production. clearly we're not out of the woods. you can not put a time frame. the rain hasn't stopped. we still don't know the extent of flooding damage. this is clearly setting up to be an ongoing bullish event for the product markets, especially gasoline but i want to point out as bullish as this event is for the gasoline market. it is that much bearish for the crude oil market. neil: you read my mind. what i wanted to ask. why does oil continue to go down? gasoline futures are up another 4% or so today, up five cents today, about a buck 77 per gal hon. i always remind people that is quoted in pure gasoline prices without the taxes thrown in which maybe remind you how much taxes are. >> of course. neil: what is going on here? >> well in the crude oil market we have the biggest difference between now and the last time we had a significant event in the gulf, that was twit with hurricanes ike and because starve, in 2012 we reverse ad major pipeline that used to take oil imports into houston and shipped them up into the middle of the country. with the growing growth of u.s. production and canadian production. that pipeline was reversed, net-net, we move more oil from the mid-continent down to houston than the other way around to the tune of 200,000 barrels a day according to the figures from last year. so that is 200,000 barrels of oil coming from the mid united states down to the houston market area. now typically that oil is either going to be boiled at refineries there in the houston market area into product or it is going to be exported because the united states is now a growing power in the export market but when we have that many refineries shut down you can't boil the crude oil. the ports are all closed, so you can't export that oil. we're still producing that oil. so that glut will continue to build the longer those ports and those refineries remain closed and the best way to look at this, look what is happening between the wti, which is the crude oil contract traded on the new york mercantile exchanges, and brent crude market based in the north sea in britain which is prompt for the global and there is a tremendous chasm growing with brent prices well above wti, simply because the wti grade crude oil can not get to the market. so longer these refineries remain closed, again it will be very bullish for the product markets, very bearish for the crude oil markets. neil: real quickly on gasoline, we're not seen it at the pump just yet. i like to remind people, we overobsess about storms in given region because of pictures, video, what have you, it does affect them whether they like the attention to it or not. what will be the pick-up that we've seen in the futures markets? how soon will they show up at the pump? >> well, i should say the one caveat, one good note is that the strict epa laws that garner speck of gasoline different parts of the year have been lifted. they will get what gasoline they can to the market. certainly we'll see shortages in the texas area. the colonial pipeline that takes gas and diesel from houston up the east coast to new york harbor, so let's go on history. during katrina, worst of the worst we saw a 40-cent rise in the price of gasoline but it was very short-lived. in 2008, we saw 20-cent rise in the price of gasoline but once again it was very short-lived. why was it short lived? because in economics 101, high prices are the best cure for high prices. when you create that huge regional arbitrage with one price so above the other you are incentivizing market in this case a lot of gasoline from europe to make its way over the atlantic to alleviate any sort of shortages. let's not sugar coat this you will see certainly a rise based on history, could be anywhere up to 20 cents. i don't think we'll see a 40-cent rise we saw during katrina but certainly near term, a 15, 20-cent rise is possible. i think it will be short-lived. keep in mind, this weekend is labor day holiday. we're through the peak holiday season. gas demand through september and october will begin to ebb. as the demand begins to ebb, we supplement supplies coming from abroad we should keep a reasonable cap on gasoline prices. neil: thank you very, very much, stephen. very good to know. a lot of you listening to that, fearing that possibility, short-lived it might be to stephen's point, i think these people in this neck of the woods are worried about far more serious things, like their lives, like being safe. wondering when these floodwaters ever go. wondering whether the fourth richest, most successful city in america is virtually stopped. they want to start again. right now, they can't. more after this. rethink what's possible. rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. flonase sensimist. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could help pay some of what medicare 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up to you. call now, request your free decision guide and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪ neil: president trump arriving moments ago in corpus christi, texas. he is being briefed on the storm relief efforts. on the right, rescue efforts that continue across pretty much the greater houston area. talk that the president will visit that as soon as saturday when he returns to the state. to the independent journal reviews erin mcpike, "washington examiner" erin -- how the president is dealing with his first natural disaster crisis. gabby, what do you think? >> this is milestone in his presidency. certainly something his predecessors didn't have to face until well into their first or second terms. he has handled it well. they worked with local and state officials to insure not only is the president up-to-date what is happening in houston and other areas impacted by storm but what other officials need to rescue people and begin to rebuild these areas. this trip, certainly marks, set as different tone for this president. it will be interesting to see how he handles it. if he returns later this week, whether he is still disciplined on message, able to show off his leadership. neil: erin, one of the thing he talked about, he will provide any and all resources texans need to be okay. and that is, raised the possibility that he will go ahead and hike the debt ceiling attaching, probably a rescue effort plan to keep the government open. what do you hear about that? >> well, neil, i think that is one of the most important things in terms of his response. can he get that through? can he get it through cleanly? will he follow through? i think gabby is right. going back on saturday will be very important. this is really the beginning of the response. president trump is on the ground with several other cabinet secretaries. neil: right. >> this looks as though this administration is taking this head on and very seriously, putting a full throttle effort, forward. at least today, if they continue that into saturday. maybe president trump comes back on in a month and has the follow-through. neil: gabby, the katrina enormity came after the fact and flooding and levees breached and all this. we're seeing the flooding is an ongoing problem, maybe days or weeks. then people's patience might wear thin. obviously the president might be looking at this to remind people, this is a long slog, right? >> absolutely. fema administrator brock long was on television this week saying this will be a year's long effort to rebuild parts of texas devastated by this catastrophe and i think the president realizes the graph very of the situation. we've seen that both in his remarks yesterday and the fact he is trying to push two visits in texas into one week. he is really committed to showing that his administration will be there, but his actions have to meet his words. i think that is what will be important to take a look at next week when congress returns to see if he continues to push his rhetoric on a government shutdown. whether his administration continues to push for cuts to fema. that will be interesting as well. but certainly, if he is saying he is committed to one thing but urging the government to push for funding for his border wall and simultaneously approving a government shutdown, it will be really be difficult. neil: that might not happen now. this event could change it. obviously event to go on to remind people. ladies thank you both. breaking news. rescue effort continues. people getting out with their lives and anything they can, their pets, their belongings, anything, after this. neil: all right, president trump is about to receive a briefing on what's going on in or corpus christi and throughout the state. speaking of which, state farm -- the insurance company -- already says it's received more than 15,000 claims thus far. you can bet there will be more, and other insurance companies will be reporting what could be the biggest insurance disaster in american history in terms of just sheer total cost. harvey already setting a record of 49 inches of rain southeast of houston, more coming as well. hillary vaughn in kingwood, texas, where a lot of these rescues that you've been seeing -- including this one live -- are ongoing. >> reporter: that's right, neil. we're hearing that most people have been clear ared out, at least the ones that wanted to leave, and now they've heard there's more people waiting to be rescued. so a lot of these boats heading back out. but i do want to walk you through the amazing effort by the team here on the ground. these are all volunteers, some who grew up here, some from other parts of texas. the boats will come in, and they'll wade in this water up to, you know, chest deep. they'll intercept the boats, guide them in, park them, help the rescuees get off the boat and bring them to the higher ground over here. they're meeting these boats, though, with buckets, measuring cups, anything they can use to bail out the water that these boats pick up while they're rescuing people. right now the rain has stalled a little bit, but earlier it was coming down really hard, so so that's another challenge, making sure the water stays out of the boats so they can pick up more people. a lot of them having to manage how much weight they can take on. they also said when they're done clearing a house, they're spraying it with spray paint so that they can cross it off and crews know that house is clear, no one is inside. they also tell me that people have been listening to the mayor's calls to hang a white sheet. they said they've seen a lot of white sheets on mailboxes, and that's really how they're identifying what homes have people inside, what people need to be rescued and where they are. but they're also encountering another problem. those houses don't have any power, but some people don't want to leave. they are having a hard time convincing some homeowners to leave their belongings and houses even though they don't have power, and the water is rising fast, and it's going to continue to rise throughout the day. and another challenge that we heard about the boats, a lot of them don't have lights. so now is the window of opportunity to get out of your neighborhood and out of your home. once the sun starts to set, there's no garon tea there's -- guarantee there's going to be any boats available to safely navigate through these neighborhoods. neil. neil: all right. hillary, be safe yourself, in the middle of it all, quite literally. president trump, governorring abbott, ted cruz and other local officials, senator cornyn, are all there, and the president might speak, might not, but we'll be hearing more from what he's learning on how to handle this incredible storm. on the phone with us is joe alba, former fema director under president george w. bush from 2001-2003. i believe, joe, your problems included an incident called 9/11, to say nothing of a couple of storms. and the one that was similar to this was allison. that was a tropical storm but caused a heck of a lot of damage in rains because it hung around a long time just like this one, huh? >> it certainly did. and as a matter of fact, many people evacuated inside their house into their attics, and that accounted for the bulk of the deaths. neil: is that right? >> during tropical storm allison. so if anybody's listening to neil today, do not go to your attic unless you have a safe way out. do not go to your at you can. it is -- attic. it is problematic. it's not always, you know, the lightning, the storm u.s., it's the rising water -- the storm itself, it's the rising water that causes death in storms like this. neil: yeah. i know we've chatted, sad lyrics on developments like this. it's after the initial hit, two out of three deaths, and the lion's share of the injuries and problems start afterwards, right? >> right. neil: the biggest thing to look for now is rising flood waters. and their continuing -- they're continuing to rise, so what do people do? >> that's right. they stay where they are temporarily, listen to local media, local officials. follow their instructions. if sylvester turner tells you to put out a white sheet on your house, please do it so that'll help the search and rescue teams know where people are housed currently. the tough part is, as your reporter talked about, was getting people to leave their property. no one wants to leave their home, because they don't know what they're going to come back to. but at least these things are replaceable. lives are not replaceable so, please, follow search and team rescue and local leaders' advice. neil: i just want to listen in, president trump might be speaking on this, this briefing he's getting on the latest recovery efforts in texas. >> our fellow texans and especially the people of corpus christi for giving the president such a warm welcome on his ride over here, showing the gratitude that we all have for the president. i want to express my deep gratitude to the president for him and his entire cabinet and staff for what they have done over the past couple of weeks. a lot of people see what happens in front of the camera. however, i'm going to reveal in just one minute that's been going on behind the scenes, behind the camera for the past two weeks. about ten days in advance of the hurricane even coming into the corps opus be christy area -- corpus christi area, members of the president's cabinet and the president himself were in contact with me and my office pre-preparing for this catastrophe that was coming our way. and every step of the way as the hurricane came across the shore, as flooding began in houston, texas, the president and his cabinet remained this constant contact with me and my staff, and they all had one thing to say: texas, what do you need. how can we help. you can count on us. what i've learned is we can count on the president of the united states and his staff for helping texas. texas has been tested, but our response to this challenge has been made much more effective because of the very effective way the president and his staff have helped texas respond to this challenge. so, mr. president -- >> thank you. >> -- thank you. welcome to texas. >> i appreciate it. it's so nice, governor, and it's really my honor. this is a very special place and a special state. and senator cruz and senator cornyn, thank you very much for being here. we appreciate it. i know it's hard to get here for both of you. you were trapped in various locations, but we appreciate you both being here. i want to thank my staff, my cabinet. we have quite a few of our cabinet here. you know ben carson, obviously, from hud and tom price and linda mcmahon, small business. small business which is now big business, because when you add 'em all up, you're going to be helping a lot of people in texas and doing a fantastic job. thank you very much, linda. we have had a tremendous group of folks, our acting director, elaine, thank you very much for the job you've done. and a man who's really become very famous on television -- [laughter] the last couple of days, mr. long. we appreciate it very much. you have been just outstanding. and i could tell you that -- [inaudible] is telling me how great your representatives have been in working together. it's a real team, and we want to do it better than ever before. we want to be looked at in five years and ten years from now as this is the way to do it. this was of epic proportion. nobody's ever seen anything like this. and i just want to say that working with the governor and his entire team has been an honor for us. so, governor, again thank you very much, and we won't say congratulations. we don't want to do that. we don't want to congratulate. we'll congratulate each other when it's all finished, but you have been terrific. and overbeen my friend -- you've been my friend, too, for a long time. with that -- [inaudible] >> mr. president? so the whole community is coming together. you know, right here where the brunt of the category four hurricane came in just north of corpus christi, we're already starting to affect recovery. recovery is a slow process, but rest assured that we're doing everything we can to unify our efforts down to support, you know, the local responders, the first responders that we have here. yesterday i put out a telegram that in rockport, we already have points of distribution flowing, we're work aing in conjunction with the governor's national guard where fema's supplying meals and water, and the national guard is helping to run this distribution point. that's how this system workings. all eyes are on houston and so are mine, we've got a long way to go, and we're going to have to set up expectations, and we're going to have to continue a unified effort down to help the state of texas ultimately recover. so very quickly, the objectives stay the same. the event, unfortunately, to the north of us is not over. we're still in a life-saving, life-sustaining mission. let me be clear, this is not the superdome. the convention center, we are sustaining food, they have food, security, i have an incident management team inside the city of houston as we speak. and more and more people are being moved to shelters to stabilize the situation. the next thing is, is that we're pushing commodities. once the water goes down, we'll continue to push not only commodities, but also help to get people registered in the system to receive assistance from all of us, you know? assistance doesn't just come from fema. it comes from many organizations who are represented here today by secretary price, secretary carson and others. the next thing is that we're looking at, you know, power restoration. we're maintaining security, you know? mobilize the homeland security search capacity force. with that comes law enforcement to make sure we're overcoming and anticipating any security needs that we have. and then also with secretary price over here we're working with not only the governor's disaster medical teams, but we're also sending federal disaster medical teams in not only to the convention center today, there's already some on site, but there's going to be multiple areas not only for crisis counseling, but also to make sure we're meeting access and functional needs. the access is a challenge to getting all the supplies in once the roadway systems come out. we've amassed quite the federal force to be able to support the local and state effort. for example, the governor pulled 12,000 national guard troops in. we're pulling units out of fort hood and the federal government, federal do to d forces are coming in as well. several hundred staff just from assets right here in the state of texas, and that's how the system works. this recovery's going to be frustrating. we're going to be here with you to help you guide through it. it's going to be tough to navigate all of the programs that come available, but we're here to help. so with that, i'd like to pass it along to our friends with the coast guard. >> mr. president, good afternoon, sir. this is where your coast guard, sir, is at its best. we are here in the state of texas to support the state of texas, federal emergency management -- [inaudible] we have men and women across the country, capabilities with helicopters -- [inaudible] and they're on deck, sir, in texas getting after the task at hand. i'd be remiss, sir, to not tell you as you look, obviously, landfall here phase one is down here -- [inaudible] local folks -- speaking more about that. up in houston we are all challenged there. we brought everything -- [inaudible] the weather for the next couple of days is going to remain challenging. we'll probably see average rainfall for the year, and i don't think we know what that looks like. i can tell you, the coast guard, department of homeland security team, dod force, national guard has spent sunday and monday with the governor in different locations. we are -- [inaudible] with the state. we're getting better every day. this is a problem of catastrophic proportions, sir, i don't think we've done before, but we are all in, we're aligned, and i'm very encouraged about how -- [inaudible] with that, sir, i'd just like to give captain tony han a couple moments here -- [inaudible] >> morning, mr. president. captain tony han, second in command -- [inaudible] incident commander, unified command comprised of over 150 federal, state and local agency, and we also -- [inaudible] i want to walk the timeline of our activities that we've done over the course of hurricane harvey. just to you know where we're at. on tuesday the storm shifted and became a hurricane. our job is to -- [inaudible] and that's what we started doing on wednesday. we started making preparations. we locked down facilities, we did -- [inaudible] evacuating all -- get our forces out of harm's way and our people so we could come back in after the storm to help -- [inaudible] as soon as we can. on friday we move our boats and aircraft away from the storm to -- [inaudible] so now we're, harvey was upgraded to a category four hurricane, our team -- [inaudible] continuity of operations about 20 miles or so from here -- [inaudible] ready to do that. when harvey made landfall, several ships in the port of corpus christi broke their moorings, and mariners in distress -- [inaudible] at that point we set our helicopters north and -- [inaudible] later on saturday morning we began our port assessment. conditions weren't good for putting boats in the water. among the damage, we noted -- [inaudible] the front of the corpus christi channel. we continued with search and rescue saturday. the weather conditions wouldn't allow for us to be on the water -- [inaudible] we're working on that. so sunday, now the storm shifted up to houston. so we surge all our search and rescue up to houston. and we're helping every way we can with that effort by -- [inaudible] we're using our -- [inaudible] down here to -- all over the saw state to make sure that the operations -- [inaudible] additionally, we brought our boats up from the south so we could start our operational activities here. so monday we started our water operations -- it's a huge effort, all the activity -- [inaudible] the army corps of engineer began a survey of the channel, checking for obstructions, and our navigation team started their evaluation -- channel markers, just to make sure we open the port and it's safe. so far we've found 180 grounded vessels, those are major concerns -- [inaudible] last night tide came up, winds came out of the -- [inaudible] the storm had actually drifted over to the other side of the channel. additionally, we're working with the texas general land office on -- [inaudible] so far the good news is we've not seen anything -- [inaudible] so to chose, about one-third we're done with our channel survey with the army corps. we'll be in good position to open the port. right now our biggest challenge right now is -- [inaudible] and that'll be -- [inaudible] we're really looking at -- [inaudible] >> well, i want to tell you, and i can speak for the governor because we spoke about it, we are very proud of the coast guard, the job they've done, the lives they've saved. we're very, very proud of you. thank you very much. >> mr. president, about a couple thousand rescues a day rolled up with everybody else -- [inaudible] we are in with the border protection agency, with the pilots on the waterways. conditions right now are not amenable to getting the ports open. we recognize that's a national priority and -- [inaudible] >> thank you. fantastic. thank you very much. >> mr. president, before the press pulls out, there's some information that i'd like to share in regards to how citizens can get involved. here again, it's the whole community, neighbor helping neighbor is going to be needed in helping texas overcome. so very quickly, if you, if you would like to register for assistance underneath the governor's declared counties, there's 18 declares counties for individual assistance underneath the president's disaster declaration. that's disasterassistance.org. that's -- excuse me, disasterassistance.gov. i apologize. disasterassistance.gov. that's the fema individual assistance center -- system. there's also ways if you're looking to volunteer, nvoad.org. there's also within the state of texas one star foundation.org. there's also -- and we'll -- redcross.org as well. thank you, and at this time we'll just conclude the press briefing. >> thank you very much. thank you. neil: all right. you've been listening in on a briefing with the president of the united states with all the rescue personnel there, the fema administrator saying this is not the superdome, this is not new orleans, this is not katrina, that we are on top of this. people and evacuees are being protected, and we will not forget that. this will not be -- and that seems to be something that was first recommended by senator grassley and a number of others who have urged the president not to let this turn into a disaster for this president. and so far that does not appear to be the case at all on the phone. back with us, joe alba, the former fema director under president george w. bush. how do you think the coordination is going, joe, right now? >> well, i would tell you it's textbook so far. the governor is in charge locally, the president's now engaged, and as he was last week declaring the emergency in advance of the storm actually hitting. brock long, i've known him for a long time. he's grown up in this business with tenure in mississippi, tenure in georgia, and you could not have a better individual leading this on the ground. this is exactly what should have happened at katrina, didn't happen, and the strength goes to the the state organization. st the responsibility of the state to have a response, an emergency response mechanism in place. texas has one of best. california, florida, new york. but the states that have weak organizations there, that's where disasters tend to get out of hand. we saw that 12 years ago today. neil: who's in charge, joe? it seems like a simple kind of a question, but there was confusion as to jurisdiction over what. i notice federal authorities constantly say they defer to the local authorities -- >> right. neil: -- but, of course, they provide the federal government muscle and help and even up to troops that they need. explain how that works, because in katrina it didn't. >> well, it didn't work because it was a newly-created organization called the department of homeland security. i used to report directly to the president in my role as fema director, and my predecessor reported to the president. that's the way it needs to be done. and i'm hoping brock can rise out from that role as the director and report directly to the president. it is a relationship between the feds and the state and local. three-way, a tripod, if you will. but all three have to be in the room at the same time pirginging out how -- figuring out how things operate. and i commend fema and the president and governor abbott for looking forward, looking ahead, far forward out of that fox hoel before the -- foxhole before the storm hit. and that's why you have the close coordination and corporation you have today, and that's the way it's supposed to work. neil: how does it work when there are differences between governor abbott and the mayor of houston over evacuations? the houston mayor wasn't keen on it, said it would cause more problems than it was worth, millions of people leaving en masse at the same time. he had a valid point, and the governor wasn't about to second guess him is and even in interviews since has not. how do you handle that, coordinate that, avoid overlap with that? >> it's called communication, you know? it's real simple. you cannot have a failure to communicate. and everyone has to be on the same song sheet. they may have started out wrong, but -- or on the wrong foot, but now they're together. and i understand why mayor turner made the decision he did. i don't agree with it -- neil: right. >> -- but it's water under the bridge. we shouldn't relitigate it. the governor of the state did exactly what he should have done. governor abbott is a great individual. he said listen to your local elected officials. that's exactly how it should work. those people on the lines, those first responders have the best information available, not some bureaucrat this washington. in washington. and i am, i am pleased with the way this is unfolding percent state -- for the state of texas and the citizens of our country because we are demonstrating how this should happen, it is happening, and everyone's going to be safer as a result, and more lives will be saved as a result during this response time. neil: real quickly, joe, just on the president visiting, there was even criticism -- much as there was of president bush going down to louisiana after katrina. you come too soon, people say you're getting in the way. you wait a while, they say you're heartless. the president always has to have that balance. how is the balance for this president visiting corpus christi today? he did avoid houston today so far, but what do you make of that? >> i don't take, i take all that criticism with a grain of salt. i mean, any president's going to get criticized, particularly this president who has so many people upset, and it really doesn't matter in the big picture of things. what's important is that we have a good, coordinated effort on the ground saving lives, trying to protect property. it's still raining there, so i think all those naysayers need to shut up -- [laughter] and back off and let people do their jobs, which is saving lives. neil: that is well put, joe. that's what i missed about you in your press conferences. you would say stuff like that. i found them very direct -- >> you saying you miss me on national tv, neil? neil: i do. i got a kick out of those blunt moments. >> well, you need someone blunt -- neil: you do. you're absolutely right. >> when life and property is at risk, either step forward, step aside or get the hell out of the way. and criticizing, you know, with monday morning quarterbacking -- neil: absolutely. >> -- does not work when someone's life is at risk. and we've got plenty of people till? harm's -- still in the harm's way. this is going to come back to shore with more power and hit louisiana next. neil: yeah. it's not done, to your point. joe, thank you very much. >> all right, neil. neil: joe alba, former fema director. i do miss his directness. of course, you never ask him a tough question in person, because he's ruthless. jeff flock is on the ground in houston. of course, they are looking now at still more flooding to come, to joe's point. what are you seeing there right now, jeff? >> reporter: well, that's the scary part, neil, and that we talked to you earlier at the start of the show about the reservoir that's up there, and some people decided finally, you know what? i think i might just cut bait here. mary jackson is one of them. you were here until the power went out, and then -- >> i stayed -- my power went out last night about five, and so i stayed overnight because i didn't want to -- nobody was going to come and get me at night, and i didn't want to. also my neighbors, who were in a single-story home, i had contacted them, and they were in the process of coming over to my house. so i didn't want to leave until they got in and i i knew they were safe -- >> reporter: speaking of safe and help, you know, they've done a great job, neil, in this. people rescuing pets as well. katrina that was one that didn't go so well, and i don't know if -- hey, dave, can you come over here? we've got a couple of rescuees. >> evacuees? >> reporter: some volunteers took the pets. >> yes, some volunteers took the cats first, took my dogs, then took my belongings and came back and got me. >> reporter: well, i don't know what we said to set them off, but there you go. maybe another dog. how's this been so far? you know, president was just on. the response, have you gotten any feel for the response? >> because i haven't had power, i haven't watched any of the national response. i can tell you that in my neighborhood i am overwhelmed with the response of neighbors. these are neighbors. these are people who live here coming out to help. and that's overwhelming. and the love i feel from friends who are, who have opened their homes to me, to three cats, two dogs, you know? it's pretty remarkable to know that people are willing to do all that for you, because i've never been through -- when i lived in indonesia, we went through the overthrowing of that regime, and i had to pack a bag and not know if i was coming back, but i've never had to just look at my house and know it's gone. so that kind of love and support means the world to me. >> reporter: yeah. this is going to to be a long haul though for you. >> yes. yes, it is. it's going to be a very long haul. i mean, it's going to be -- i'm sure quite a while before the water recedes enough before i can get back in my house and do the work that needs to be done. >> reporter: some cars totally underwater. s this is serious. >> yes, yes. yeah, i had a friend who was just moving in with me, and this is the first weekend she was going to be here. she lost her vehicle in the tax day floods, and now she's lost her other vehicle. so it is, it's just been -- >> reporter: well, maybe she should get a boat. [laughter] >> i'm thinking i might get a boat. >> reporter: i appreciate you sharing. thank you so much. and the dogs seem to have quieted for the moment. there you go. it's playing out like this, neil, all over houston. and as mary pointed out, just the response of everybody, i mean, volunteers out here. these people you see sol isen tiering -- volunteering, bringing pets out, they've had boats out, you know, it's been a great response. you know what? the government can't do it all, first responders can't do it all, there's not enough of them. but there are resources here in the community, and that's who has been saving houston. neil: amazing. amazing. jeff flock, thank you very, very much. neighbor looking after neighbor, even if you don't know your neighbor that well, if at all. but in texas, this has played out -- to jeff's point -- again and again and again. playing out now for those not even from this neck of the woods, a cruise now in miami was redirected from galveston, texas, just arriving there right now. i believe in excess of 20,000 cruise passengers who were supposed to get off in the gulf had to be repositioned, miami, points in mexico, elsewhere. so they had an extension on their cruise. good for them. we'll have more after this. ♪ you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast-acting, long-lasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. it quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. relieve heartburn with fast- acting, long-lasting gaviscon. and helps ♪eep acid down for hours. 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[vo] progress is seizing the moment. your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event. neil: all right, the nation stands be the state of texas. of -- stands with the state of texas. this is outside the new york stock exchange in manhattan, that's the texas flag saying we are with you, supporting you. they've been raising a lot of funds as well for texas, as has the entire country. donations, some coming in at $1, $2 at a time, kids collecting nickels, dimes, quarters, whatever they can to help texans who they see in a world of hurt, a world of flooding. and now a former navy seal saying i'm here to help as well, carl higbie helping to coordinate that relief effort in washington. carl, good to have you. what are you doing? >> thanks for having me back. >> i was recently appointed to chief of external affairs for aher core. we have troops on the periphery and another 700 or so ready to go. we're just waiting for the local authority toss say it's safe to go in. neil: so the ones who come in will work in conjunction with guardsmen, troops who are there already, or what will they do specifically? >> we're letting local authorities take the lead because a they know the area best, they know what's safe and not safe. right now we're helping staff or we will be helping staff in some of the shelters that are just way overpopulated. we're going to help with resources and things like that. we're asking people right now not to give actual resources themselves except for money, and you can go to nationalservice.gov, and we'll point you to the fema-directed web site where you can contribute and help buy supplies locally. neil: how, how do you avoid some of the conflicts or turf battles that have happened? i notice even among different parties and officials, the local and state level or the federal level -- unless i'm missing something, carl -- i'm not seeing that. i'm not seeing any of the conflicts we had with katrina. maybe we learned from that, i don't know. what is it? >> we learned a lot from katrina. and i've been on the phone with fema officials, local firms, the federal officials, everybody is on the same page. there is no egos within departments. everybody is working at the same goal at the same time. and to be honest, we point our nationalservice.gov over to a lot of the fema resources because we just want to get job done. we have tens of thousands of people out of homes. the federal and state government, we work for you, and that's the message we're getting. and president trump has done a great job making sure that's the universal message across all departments. neil: the fema administrator, brock long, said this is not the superdome, referring, of course, to new orleans where it had maintained such damage, there were horrific thingses -- things going on inside there. but when facilities become crowded, what do to you do? >> well, you know, that's interesting that the situation he was referring to is a stadium that's designed to hold 5,000 people. right now they have over 9,000 people in that area. we're looking for -- you know, if you're in the surrounding area and you have safe areas, get in contact through our web sites and volunteer to help take in people. we need all the help we can get right now. fema has open channels to do that, nationalservice.gov does, we need people right now just to house people, and we're asking people don't go in there if you're not an emergency worker, because you're just going to make the situation harder. neil: thank you, carl higbie, for what you're going -- doing to get people back up on your feet. strong support for an area that is about to get hit yet again, tonight mother nature playing her way will once again hitting this area. not at hurricane-like strength, but harvey as a storm remerging and sort of repacking its winds in the gulf and hitting the very same areas already hit. we'll have more after this. ♪ ♪ it's a highly contagious disease that can be really serious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. potsc(in unison) drive russ, leland, gary: yes. gary: i have a ford f-150. michael: i've always been a ford guy. potsch: then i have a real treat for you today. michael: awesome. potsch: i'm going to show you a next generation pickup. michael: let's do this. potsch: this new truck now has a cornerstep built right into the bumper. gary: super cool. potsch: the bed is made of high-strength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. jim: aluminum is great for a lot of things, but maybe not the bed of a truck. potsch: and best of all, this new truck is actually- gary: (all laughing) oh my... potsch: the current chevy silverado. gary: i'm speechless. gary: this puts my ford truck to shame. james: i'll tell you, i might be a chevy guy now. (laughing) neil: you know, it just gets more bizarre when you think of what happens when you have flooded conditions, leading cattle across flooded areas to safety, pets that were abandoned, a lot of their owners looking after their welfare and rescuers coming in and rescuing them, this plays out again and again across this battered state. meanwhile, storm aid package which could be in the offing, congressman randy weber joining us right now. congressman, where does that stand for the time being, do you know? >> well, neil, we're -- we've been to all the shelters here throughout the area. we're watching people get rescued, we're seeing people brought in, seeing animals brought in, so there's just a lot going on. i'm sorry, my line beeped in right in the middle of your question. neil: they're talking about coming up with a package to aid the state, and your name came up because i know you were against, originally, the sandy aid package that got -- the likes of new jersey governor chris christie criticizing you and other members at the time for rejecting that. but apparently open to. how do you answer that? >> well, it's pretty easy, neil. i was never against sandy aid, being from the texas gulf coast, i've lived here 64 years, i started with hurricane carla and been through a lot of -- neil: but you did vote against it, did you not? >> i did, and the reason is because they had put things on the bill that i felt needed to be a stand-alone appropriation. i had that conversation with leadership. neil: i see. >> i was very up front with all of my colleagues. i said, look, i can't vote for that. you put it in one, single stand-alone, i'm good to go. i think we ought to vote on the merits. if you check my voting merit, i've voted against every c.r. and every omnibus save one, and that was because it lifted the oil 'em bar doe in december 20157 -- embargo. so i've been pretty consistent about it, pretty up front with my colleagues and had a lot of thoughtful discussion with them. neil: and, by the way, you were not to the technology -- not the only one. speaker john boehner said that was his problem, it wasn't only for sandy, and it was earmarked for other things that he thought were offensive. so you were not alone with that. but congressman, let me get your take on a measure they are apparently cooking up now that would be attached to a hike in the debt ceiling. that would include funding for this sort of thing, funding for aid and might include funding for a wall. in other words, it would all be lumped together to get the debt ceiling increased. how would you feel about that? >> well, of course, you're dealing with hypothetical. we'll see -- neil: true enough. >> -- when we get back. i've always been opposed to increasing the debt ceiling without some kind of trade-off where we can reduce spending that helps cut the deficit. you know, we'll have to see what they bring up and take it step by step. neil: all right. now, what i wonder about hear, and you hearken back to the sandy example, that was originally started -- i think, and refresh my memory, congressman -- a $10 billion aid package that, ultimately, you know, grew to $60 billion plus. clearly, not all for just sandy a aid x. and i'm wondering whether the same temptations might exist here on the part of your colleagues to put together a rescue measure or a relief measure more texas that will hide a lot of other goodies. if it does, if it does. but included in that package is all the aid that texas would need, would you vote for that? >> well, again, you're dealing with hypotheticals. it would depend exactly what all those other measures are, neil. don't discount the fact that hurricane, now tropical storm harvey is taking dead aim on louisiana. and so we're going to have to see when it's all said and done and all the flooding is over and everything's dry, it'll take weeks be not a month or better. right now the focus is on saving lives, get people out, get shelter and housing, getting back to some normalcy, and then we'll say, okay, what does that look like are, what's it going to cost, who all's involved, what's the price tag and how are we going to manage that. once we get all of that behind us, take care of our citizens first, then we'll start looking at the dollars. neil: congressman randy weber of texas, thank you very much. keeping a close eye on this situation as is, well, pretty much the rest of the nation. one of the things that always happens after a disaster like this is real estate doesn't look like too much of an allure, right? it happened in the new york metropolitan area after 9/11. it happened, certainly, in the louisiana area after katrina. these things tend to be short-lived events, but right now it is happening with harvey throughout much of the houston area. home values dropping and expected to drop a lot more. what to do. and lessons to learn, after this. ♪ ♪ rethink what's possible. rethink your allergy pills. flonase sensimist allergy relief helps block 6 key inflammatory substances with a gentle mist. most allergy pills only block one. and 6 is greater than one. flonase sensimist. ♪ so we need tablets installed... with the menu app ready to roll. in 12 weeks. yeah. ♪ ♪ the world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. ♪ ♪ data, applications, customer experience. ♪ ♪ which is why comcast business delivers consistent network performance and speed across all your locations. fast connections everywhere. that's how you outmaneuver. 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: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't 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. neil: all right. how in the middle of this would you like to hear news like this? harris county flood control joust saying on the radio apparently in texas that subdivisions around reservoirs will experience flooding for the next four to five weeks and last until at least october. could you imagine that? that this will be an ongoing thing -- forget a few days, an ongoing problem for residents in that neck of the woods to deal with til october. texas homes that took in water and could for the time being, maybe for a while could see their valuations drop. that would be probably an understatement, but as much as 60%. to housing expert tim rood who is not surprised by that. does it bounce back? >> hi, neil, how are you? there's no shortage of questions that need to be answered. the good thing is you've seen houston, obviously, there's been -- texas has been growing gangbusters over the past three or so years, houston especially. so we've already had trouble kind of keeping up with the pace of immigration, if you will, or migration to houston for a number of good reasons. so there is no shortage of demand for all the things in its place, and i would imagine while there's clearly, you know, catastrophe is not good for any market, there's no doubt going to be recovery, probably two or three -- two years and change down the road as you make these reinvestments in the housing stock and the commercial enterprise -- neil: when you say two to three years, right? i remember after 9/11, much of downtown new york was considered a real estate ghost town. not only did people flee there, but they certainly weren't moving in, now it's just the opposite, it's as hot as hot can be. in katrina, in new orleans people were leery of moving there, and the risks of being there, of course, now much, much stronger. so we learn that markets that were battered or considered pariahs come back, but again, a lot of that depends on, you know, whether the business returns -- it usually does -- and the interest returns. it usually does. what do you see here? >> yeah. i mean, new orleans has got a couple unique features to houston. one just in terms of orders of magnitude, right? houston -- new orleans is about a sixth of the size of houston, and houston has real industries. neil: very good point. >> they've had to shut down 16 or 10 refineries, but there hasn't been any real damage, so they expect them to be coming up and going in the near future. also you've got to remember, new orleans was like a soup bowl. neil: you're right. >> the water hung out a lot longer. houston is relatively flat. but what you're seeing now is it is going to persist for some time because you have these controlled releases. i mean, so these poor families who have probably lost their job or, you know, and their neighbors have been impacted and they take a deep breath thinking that their houses are safe, then you have these controlled releases, and the next thing you know they're under eight feet of water just to kind of save -- neil: incredible. we've shown a couple of communities in danger of that. one thick i do remember, tim, and maybe we were talking at the time about 9/11, i remember there were some very brave real estate investors who came in and were buying a lot of distressed properties or properties even after the financial meltdown that were given up for dead, and they were the equivalent of vulture investors. they made their money back and then some. i'll just leave it at that. when people judge that, when you see that people who sort of come back in and dip their toes back in markets that look like they're, you know, they're bad sorries key markets, what -- bad or risky markets, what do you look for? in houston's case, in the texas economy itself, you have energy, technology and a host of things you might not have in some of these locales, would that convince you when valuations get hit 50, 60, 70%, that that's overdone? >> yeah. it's -- well, it's going to be interesting to see, because one other thing to think about too, one of the reasons new orleans was so unique and that got hit is they had, like, generational home ownership. a lot of these homes were owned free and clear. so they didn't have what mortgage you'd require in terms of homeowners' insurance and flood insurance. so they took a long time to come out, and these people were so displaced and dispersed, there wasn't a lot of industry to bring them back. i think houston, quite the opposite. it's a lot more affluent. you have legitimate industries that are there. you've already seen infrastructure spending, private investment there. i don't think they'll have any trouble recovering, it's just, you know, it's yet to be determined how big the problem is. is it going to be 25,000 homes, 50,000 homes,100,000 homes that have been impacted? neil: yeah. >> that's going to to be a big determinant, i would think. and the sad reality is in real estate as long as there's ever been real estate to buy, you know, one person's misfortune is another person's opportunity. neil: but if homes are physically destroyed or deemed uninhabitable after a disaster of this magnitude, flooded out or destroyed and they have to be rebuilt, that does change the equation a little bit, right? >> well, the hard thing too, lou -- neil, sorry -- is labor, right? neil: right. >> you already had 400,000 open construction jobs out in the marketplace. houston, again, has been growing gangbusters. so they didn't have a lot of capacity there to build. there's not enough sheetrock on the planet to cover all of the things that are going to need to be taken care of in the commercial space, residential space and what not. where's that labor going to come from? once they get there, where the heck are you going to put them? neil: tim, thank you very much. a little historical perspective here. just a final thought before we take a quick break. i've been covering this long enough to know that everyone who has a depressive or cynical view of the potential for coming back, whether i heard the depression talk after 9/11, we'll never get out of a multi-year recession after the meltdown, after the first 87 stock market crashes, the big one in our lifetimes that the markets themselves would never come back and real estate would never come back, if i had a dime for every time someone said this was it, this was over, everything was finished, i'd have a lot of dimes. each i'm, every time, it -- each time, every time, it came back. everyone came back. we'll have more after this. when they actually did start saving. this gap between when we should start saving and when we actually do is one of the reasons why too many of us aren't prepared for retirement. just start as early as you can. it's going to pay off in the future. if we all start saving a little more today, we'll all be better prepared tomorrow. prudential. bring your challenges. . . . . . . neil: all right. before i hand it off to trish president trump continues to get briefed on hurricane hair very efforts. the president doing everything he can to avoid a katrina thing. he has certainly done that the government with cabinet secretaries in tow doing everything to coordinate with state and local officials to make sure the aid they needed is the aid they will get. different with the kind of cooperation we've seen sometimes in past disasters. speaking of which new jersey governor chris christie, how similar this storm is with something he dealt with, sandy. he worked closely with the democratic president, barack obama, lessons that could be applied from then that can be applied now. my special guest at 4:00 p.m. on "your world." trish regan has another crazy hour ahead. trish: we've watch at 4:00 for governor christie's. president trump and first lady melania trump are in texas. already. harvey has dumped 50 inches, just think of that, 50 inches of rain south of houston and forecasters are warning that more rain is on the way. these poor people, the poor area we have it all covered for you as the president makes his way throughout texas today to find out what it is that people need most. i'm trish regan. welcome, everyone, to "the intelligence report."

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