We are live in texas. Good morning and welcome to early start. Im renee marsh. Im dave briggs. Thursday, august 31st. 4 00 a. M. In the east. 3 00 a. M. In houston, texas. The skies above Southeast Texas clearing. But as harvey heads north, it leaves many worries in its wake. The human toll just keeps getting worse. The number killed in the storm jumped overnight to 37 and is still expected to rise. The number includes the six bodies of the saldovar family found wednesday there in in their white van, washed away in the flood. A controlled release is happening now at the attucks dam. A mandatory Evacuation Order was issued in areas around the barker dam. Well have more details throughout the morning. Heavy rain taking a hard, parting shot at point arthur and beaumont, texas, on the louisiana border. Beaumont has lost its water supply after pumps failed in floodwaters. Even shelters where people had taken refuge started flooding. Workers at the Texas Health CareEmergency Operations center are keeping a close eye on hospitals and nursing homes. Patients at one nursing facility in port arthur evacuated yesterday as hallways flooded. And at least 16 hospitals in texas remain closed. Alreadystrained medical centers bracing for an influx of new patients as roadways start to clear. In some cases, that will take time. Take a look at this. This is interstate 10 east. Look at it you would think that its the shore if it wasnt for the highway signs. Remarkable image. This morning, emergency officials hold a News Conference to discuss the danger ougs situation at the arkema Chemical Plant outside houston. The company that owns it says the most likely outcome is that this plant will explode. Were learning more about the heroic rescue efforts taking place. Youre looking at a human chain formed to save an elderly man whose suv had been swept away by the flood. The man was saved thanks to this brave, spontaneous act of teamwork. For the latest we turn to cnns George Howell. He is live for us in houston at a shelter there. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. So this is the scene here. You get a sense of whats happening. A little more activity. Keep in mind a lot of people are sleeping, trying to get a good nights rest. Some 8,000 people here at this Convention Center downtown in houston. And at the nearby nrg center. They have the capacity to hold 10,000 people. We understand that they have 8,000 cots. You really do get a sense of how many people are in need of help in this area. Lets talk a bit more about the storm itself. Harvey now a tropical depression. Its moved out of this region, but its left a great deal of damage. At least onethird of houston is still under water. Were talking about these neighborhoods. Places nearby uses, near rivers near bayous, near rivers, where flooding is still a concern. Its unclear how many people are still in need of rescue. The Houston Fire Department even going door to door to see what more work they need do. You touched on this, but lets talk about beaumont, texas. The navy conducted search and rescue operations. They airlift 25 men and women from dangerous situations there. And this storm broke a weather record. So it dropped 52 inches of rain in a single storm. You really do understand this storm left a lot of water. It left a lot of damage. And now people are just left to do their best to recover. You did a lot of interviews. You saw someone on my way into work. You spoke with local police officers. What is their situation . What do they need . How are their spirits . Reporter you know, their spirits are high. But the police chief, acevedo, explained what it was like in the early days. The early days where his men and women were not allowed to go home. They couldnt go home because they had so many calls to take on. They were prioritizing those lifethreatening calls, and the calls kept coming and coming and coming in the days that continued on. These men and women and Law Enforcement, they are getting those breaks. Theyre able to go home. Some even staying here just, you know, easier i guess to turn around shifts. You do understand Law Enforcement has been busy, Fire Department has been busy, coast guard has been busy, and heres the other thing. Just men and women who are not in any official service picked up their boats, theyre doing the best they can also to find people that are in need. So the searches, they continue. Yeah. Probably the takeaway from this will be houstonians helping their neighbors and friends and pitching in to this effort. George howell, a texan, live. Thank you. Harvey, a tropical depression headed into the ohio valley. Flooding still a major concern in the wake. Karen maginnis with the latest. Good morning. Just to give you a perspective, all of the aerial flooding around houston and surrounding areas including those all critical reservoirs that heretofore have been recreational areas but have really become undated with the floodwaters here, now we compare the flooding around houston, even into western louisiana. 33,000 square miles, which is roughly the size of the state of south carolina. If you can imagine that. But were not finished yet. In beaumont, port arthur texas, they saw 24 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours 26 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours. Its been dangerous for days now. The river runs through beaumont. They have a beautiful river park there. The river is continuing to rise. The pumps have shut down because of the high waters that they have seen the last several days. Now the record was set back in 1994. It was set at 13 feet. It is now over 15 feet. Weve already shattered that record. It continues to rise all the way into saturday morning. It should crest at just over 19 feet. The people in beaumont say that they cant really do anything about the pumps until the river starts to drop. And it is not going to drop for days. And that storm system, whats left of it, is going to move through the Mississippi River valley and, in some cases, produce two to four inches of rain but isolated areas of as much as ten inches. Boy. Long way from out of the woods there. Karen maginnis, thank you very much. Some people in houston tell me they dont expect rivers and bayous to recede for days, maybe weeks. It is a long way before we get a true sense of the damage done. Absolutely. Weve been telling stories of people who jumped in to help those in need. Our next guest is one of those. A civilian rescue team. Theyve been key to saving lives in this widespread flooding. Josh beaman is here live. Hes one of the many volunteer rescuers putting their own life at risk. Youre joining us by sky from san antonio. First, good morning. Tell us, what have you seen, what have you heard, as you went to save peoples lives . Good morning. Yeah, really it all started supposed night really when the sunday night really when the mayor put out the call that they needed help. Anybody with boats, anybody with highwater trucks to head to houston, wherever you were, come to houston, help. And one of the big things is im also a state farm agent. Part of our mission and call is to no matter if youre insured with us or not, is to help people recover from the unexpected. This is one of those situations that nobody expected on thursday, friday of last week, that this storm was going to develop into what it did. Luckily, we live in such a great state that anybody is going to pick up the call and head over. And thats exactly what we did. And what i did. My wifes works for an Environmental Consulting firm out of san marcus. Her boss, the owner, had plenty of boats. I called him around midnight sunday and said, hey, im going to houston tomorrow. Can i borrow a boat . He said, show up at 7 00, well load it up, and you can head out. I went over there, got a boat from him, and headed into houston. Hit a little bit of high water on i10 on the way over there. But jumped in with a convoy of boats and trucks that were coming over from west of san antonio. Not sure where they were from. But we we went in and went directly into katy to the Harris County precinct five where they directed us where to go. I was there maybe five minutes when they said, hey, we need you over at an apartment complex down the street. Waters coming in fast. Weve got to get these people out. Went in, rescued an elderly gentleman about 90 years old that couldnt really even remember where his family is or who to contact. We just he just said he wants to go. So we put him in the truck, got him out, and then a sheriff sheriff and i went back in and got another eight families out that were on the second floor of this apartment. They we knew the water was going to be over that second floor within about three to four hours. They were willing and ready to go. We loaded them up, got them out, and its lucky that we got them out when we did because even my truck that sits pretty high was having little tough time getting back out of the complex at that point. Basically, i got there at 9 00, 10 00 monday morning and was in the water from that point until dark on monday. How many families do you think you saved there . In that complex, i got myself and the sheriffs deputy i was working with, we got about eight out of there before they sent me over to north of i10. That operation was south of i10. By the time i got the second family out and to the staging area that was being used as a shelter at that point and got back over there, the bps had arrived with three of their high water, swiftwater teams, and were not allowing civilian rescue teams in there. There was only one entrance in and out of the complex. At that point, they sent me back to the staging area. And within about ten minutes, they sent myself and five other crews north into the morton ranch area of katy that was taking on water quickly. We got there, unloaded the boats, and basically from that point until dark is where i was. Its probably the most soaked ive been since i was in high school. Its been crazy. Saving a family of eight with a specialneeds son, an 8monthold pregnant woman, whats the sense of desperation youre seeinging and gratitude once seeing and gratitude once you do rescue them . Absolutely. Tuesday was really where i think myself and a fellow agent of mine, steve yang, hes actually there in sugarland, where i thi think we made the biggest difference. I woke him up at 6 30 because he had a friend who commented on one of his posts and i didnt sleep at all monday into tuesday. I saw that, i woke him up. And he immediately said, pick me pu up, and were going. This is 6 30 in the morning. We head out, picked them up, got her family out. Then he while while we were doing that, he sent a message to a big group of people he knew and actually got responses. The pregnant lady we rescued in the group, within about two hours later, her friend was the one who directed us to her. We got there got on a boat they hooked up to my truck to get in the water because theirs wasnt sitting deep enough. We got it in the water and immediately got out there. Channel 13, we were pulling away, and channel 13 asked we jump on, we heard where youre going. We said, absolutely. As long as you dont get in the way. We headed out there. She was by the time we got there, she was very ready to go. She didnt know we were coming for her. Stuck her head out the door we said, were coming directly for you. Dont get in the water. Right. He was extremely ready to go. But i think most of all, her son, 1yearold, was the most ready. If youve seen the footage yall were able to get it from channel 13. That little boy was screaming. Whenever i got him, he didnt want to let go of mom. He was pulling her hair. And he wasnt very happy. They had been waiting for about five to six hours for somebody to get there to pull them out. We will get that video. Thanks for sending us the pictures of your experience. I suppose the state farm ad writes itself. Josh beaman, volunteer rescuer, thanks for helping out. You are the texas spirit. We appreciate it. Yes, sir, yes, sir. In a time now where we hear so Much Negative from all over the country, it aes refreshing to e you reporting on these stories. Not just myself but every volunteer in houston. First responders, everything, that are showing what america really is all about. So i thank you guys for that. I appreciate it. The president coming under fire for forgetting victims during his visit to texas. Whoa thats amazing. Hey, im the internet i know a bunch of people who would love that. The internet loves what youre doing. So put your idea online with a domain name from godaddy. Enter your idea and well find you a one of a kind name. Weve helped 17 Million People find the perfect domain name for their website. Get your domain name and Start Building your website for free today Vice President mike pence set to visit stokes view harveys devastation. President trump will return to the gulf on saturday. Hes already changing his tone after coming under fire for fail fog focus on the storm victims during his texas visit. Tweeted yesterday, after witnessing firsthand the horrors and devastation caused by hurricane harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of texas. Later in missouri for a speech on tax reform, the president kept his focus on people hit by the storm. White house correspondent jeff zeleny is traveling with the president and has more from springfield, missouri. Reporter President Trump came to missouri on wednesday, focusing on tax reform but addressing the citizens of texas and had la la about the storm recover and louisiana about the storm recovery effort. This will be part of the administrations agendas Going Forward in the fall. The recovery package. On wednesday in missouri, he talked specifically to those victims. To the people of houston and across texas and louisiana, we are here with you today. We are with you tomorrow. And we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover, and rebuild. Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people people. Great, great people. Reporter the president adjusting his message from one day earlier in texas. He received a wave of criticism for not directly addressing the victims and acknowledging the rising death toll. The president did do that on wednesday in missouri. And Going Forward, it the recovery effort now, the government aid package, is something that his administration is focused on. This is at the front of the president s agenda, tax reform, other issues will take a step behind. Tax reform will not be easy, to jeff zelenys point. Will it be reform . Will it just be cuts . Can they get the republicans with the democrats . Princess diana being remembered 20 years across europe after her death. Have you any wool . No sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. Luckily, the Geico Insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. Everything stolen was replaced. And the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. Visit geico. Com and see how easy it is to switch and save on renters insurance. Come on. Scuse me. Mind if i sit here . Not if you want your phone to work. Let me guess, you cant livestream your lobster roll. And my mobile pay isnt connecting and i just got an unlimited plan. Right plan, wrong network. You see verizon is americas largest most reliable 4g lte network and now unlimited plans start at 40 per line, you know what i am saying . laughs. oh this is your seat. Definitely. Yep. Just tucking it in. Nah, i wasnt going to pull it out. vo when it really, really matters you need the best network and the best unlimited. Now plans start at 40 per line for four lines. So shouldnt we get our inphones and internet from the same company . Thats why Xfinity Mobile comes with your internet. You get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. So all you pay for is data. See how much you can save. Choose by the gig or unlimited. And ask how to get 200 off the latest devices. Xfinity mobile. A new kind of network designed to save you money. Call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile. Com. 4 27 eastern time. A somber anniversary in europe. 20 years ago today Princess Diana died in a horrific car crash that shocked the world. Diana, her boyfriend, and their driver killed in a hayspeed crash inside a paris tunnel after being pursued by paparazzi on motorcycles. Cnns Jim Bittermann covered the crash that fateful night. He joins us live from the very tunnel where that crash occurred. Jim, good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Were right on top of the tunnel, in fact. This has become the Princess Diana memorial here. Its actually something that was established to recognize franco American Friendship many years since she died. People have come here off and on practically every day since her death. Theres no official ceremony today, but in fact one of the people who came by was ann hidalgo, mayor of paris. She came by to lay a wreath and recognize her memories of Princess Diana. She said she was about the same age, the princess, the same age as the mayor. A couple of minutes ago here, there was a guitarist who came up here, started singing songs and whatnot. There have been a number of people lay wreaths and notes and that kind of thing this morning. No official ceremony. In fact, a lot of people are having strong memories today. David . 10 28 there in paris. Jim bittermann live for us. Thank you very much. A lot of documentaries out about this, in particular on netflix, that remind you that no one could have predicted the outpouring of emotion from across the entire country. It just stopped this country in their tracks as hundreds of thousands of people poured their emotions out. A day that most of us will never, never forget. Yeah. Everyone remembers where they were. Absolutely. If you were around at that time. Early start continues right now. Harvey is moving north. The scope of damage just coming into focus. New evacuations, climbing death toll, and a Chemical Plant on the verge of exploding. Were live in houston. Good morning, welcome back to early start. 4 29 eastern time. 3 29 in texas. Im renee marsh. 29 minutes past the hour. We vehicle all of our viewers we welcome all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world. The skies above Southeast Texas are clearing. As harvey heads north, it leaves many worries in its wake. The human toll keeps getting worse. The number of people that were killed in the storm, that has jumped overnight to 37. It is still expected to rise. That number includes the six bodies of the saldivar family found yesterday in their white van that had been washed away in the flood. Heartbreaking when you hear the story and see those young girls. At the reservoirs upstream from houston, a controlled release is happening at the atux dam to ease water spilling out around the ends of the dam. A mandatory Evacuation Order was issued around areas of the barker dam. Well have more details throughout the morning. And one more round of heavy rain is taking a hard parting shot at port arthur and beaumont, texas, on the louisiana border. Weve just learned that the city of beaumont has lost its water supply after pumps failed in floodwaters. Even official shelters where people had taken refuge started flooding. Now workers at the Texas Health CareEmergency Operations center are keeping a close eye on hospitals and nursing homes. Patients at one nursing facility in port arthur evacuated yesterday as the hallways start the to flood. At least 16 hospitals in texas remain closed. Already strained medical centers bracing for an influx of new patients as roadways start to clear. In some cases, that will take a lot of time. This is interstate 10 east, if you can believe it. Hard to believe. Looks like a shoreline if it werent for the interstate sign just there in the backdrop. And this morning, emergency officials will hold a News Conference to discuss the dangerous situation at the Chemical Plant outside of houston. This is something thats unfolding. The company that owns archema says that the most likely outcome is that the plant will explode. Were learning more about the heroic rescue efforts. A human chain formed to save an elderly man whose suv had been swept away by the flooding. He was saved thanks to the brave and spontaneous act of teamwork. Well turn to George Howell live in houston at the george r. Brown Convention Center. George, 32,000 people in shelters across texas this morning. They expected 5,000 where you are. They got 10,000. What are the spirits of the people staying there . Reporter you know, i think you get a sense of people that theyre happy that they have these shelters. Again, so some 8,000 people here at this Convention Center, nearby Convention Center. They have capacity to 10,000. They have 8,000 cots. You do get a sense these larger centers are packed. And you know, it could be this way for several days, several weeks. Its unclear how long people will need this additional help from officials. Lets talk about the storm itself. A Tropical Storm has moved out of the area. Now tropical depression. Its caused a great deal of damage. When you look at houston itself, onethird of houston remains under water. Were talking about underpasses, neighborhoods. And the neighborhoods that are near rivers. The rivers are still rising in many places. Flooding is still an issue. According to one military official, its still unclear how many people are still in need of rescue. The Houston Fire Department went door to door canvassing, looking to see what more they could do to help people. In the nearby city of beaumont, texas, another situation where the navy, the u. S. Navy conducted search and rescue efforts. They airlifted 25 men, women, and children. You get a sense the rescues are ongoing. The storm itself, it broke a weather record. This storm dumped 52 inches of rainfall in a single storm. So it was a mask storm. It left a great deal of damage. Dave, it could take months, weeks weeks, months, years before we see the true extent of what happened here. Thats the tough part. It feels like the tide has turned. Just getting a glimpse of the damage. Some people may not go home for weeks, months, some ever. Well check back in the next half hour. And of course now harvey is just a tropical depression headed into the ohio valley. Flooding is still major concern in its wake. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis with the very latest on the storms path this morning. Good morning. Good morning. Yes, were not out of the clear. The rivers continue to rise. Out of 88 river gauges we looked at all the way from Corpus Christi to lake charles, the majority are moderate to major flood stage. Beaumont, port arthur, texas. They saw 26 inches in one 24hour period. Until an hour or so ago when i looked at some of the radar images coming out of the area, theyre still reporting mostly light rainfall. Now theyre pumping. Pumping water at the natches river. They are saying that the river is going to crest on saturday. They cant get the pumps work ing until the river goes down. It doesnt look like thats going to happen until we head into saturday. Then it is going to far exceed the previous record set in 1994 at 13 feet. It may crest at over 19 feet. This is a true problem that just continues for days and days. Just when you think the rain pull the away, it still is a factor and will continue so through the Tennessee River valley and into the ohio river valley. And then theres Tropical Storm irma. Could become a major hurricane over the open waters of the atlantic. It could be a category iii as it approaches the lesser an tillets, tracking toward the west, moving rapidly. In is a time this is a time that were sdwrerni inentering hurricane season. Last thing anyone wants to hear. Thank you very much. A number of Serious Health hazards are possibly lurking beneath harveys floodwaters. Threats people need to stay aware of even after the storm. Joining us, an Infectious Disease specialist at the cleveland clinic. Good morning to you, doctor. George howell told us onethird of houston, texas, is under water. What are the Biggest Health concerns . Good morning, yes. There are a lot of health concerns. We have seen these in floods in the past including katrina only 12 years ago. The Biggest Issue is that this disaster continues to evolve. The infections that happen will evolve with it. The first problem now is all that water. That you will water has overwhelmed the sewer system. All that water has led to a reduction in how much drinkable water. Theres too much contaminated water that people are surrounded by. That contaminated water is just chock full of lots of bacteria. Some bacteria can make you ill. The biggest problems that we see in the short term are going to be diarrheal illnesses. Usually because the contaminated water gets on to your skin. That contaminated water also gets into your mouth just because youre surrounded by it. And you just dont have any other good water to drink. [ inaudible ] i think were getting a bad signal from you there. So well try again with dr. Frank from the cleveland clinic. Well try that get that signal back up. I can hear you fine. We hear you again, frank. Sorry. All right, doctor. Continue with what you were saying there. Sure much the biggest irish sure. The Biggest Issue are diarrheal illnesses. Well see individuals who are going to be exposed to a lot of contaminated water. Theyre going to have g. I. Upset, vomiting and diarrhea. Thats in the short term. In addition, youll see a lot of the skin that because you cant see where youre walking, theres debris. Your skin gets cut by the debris, and the contaminated water thats surrounding everybody in their homes can lead to skin infections, some very, very serious. In the short term, youll be dealing with a lot of infections on the skin, as well as in your stomach and g. I. Tract. The next several days to weeks, people are going to be in these shelters. Tens of thousands of individuals confined into a very small area. That close proximity of so many individuals, many at risk of illness or are bringing illness can lead to the spreading of infection perks specifically respiratory infection says with colds and flu. Weve seen that also. Right. And doctor, lets talk about the long term. In this particular area, the coastline earnings theres a high concentration of Chemical Plants. What sort of illnesses could we be talking about in the long term for people who may be exposed to any of those chemicals . Most of the exposure is going to be because not only is the water con dominated with back contaminated with bacteribacter its exposed from plants, chemicals in the household that are getting flooded away and spilling over. Most of those are going to be, again, if they get into your mouth, they can cause gastrointestinal upset on. Your skin, it causes huge amounts of rash, as well as issues where are the eyes are exposed to chemicals, and the eyes can receive data bank from that. You know, trying to lessen the exposure to the water is what you want to do. A lot of individuals cannot escape it now. On top of that, theres between 16 and 25 hospitals and clinics that have been closed. Some of the hospitals that are open cannot accept new patients. You mentioned earlier on about katrina. What did we learn about how to best treat things in the wake of the flooding . There were a lot of lessons that we did learn from katrina. And both, you know, in what katrina could do as well as in what we can how we respond to this disaster. The you know, with all the hospitals, what we learned is that individuals just do not have access to the medical care or even their flights from the high floodwaters, they just dont have their medication with them. They dont remember their dose, you cant get on a computer to look it up because the Computer Systems are down, as well. They dont have access. They dont know what medications they were taking. The Chronic Health problems that were in good control can worsen. Because the systems are overwhelmed with numerous hospitals and clinics shut down, the systems that are still up and running are just overwhelmed. Dr. Frank esper from the cleveland clinic, an Infectious Disease specialist. We appreciate your insight and for being up early with us. Ahead, among the dramatic rescues after harvey, one unfolded live here on cnn. Our correspondent, drew griffin, and his crew rushed to the aid of a man trapped inside his pickup after he drove into a ravine in beaumont, texas. Watch. Get out, dude you got a a power cord . You got a rope . Hold on. Im trying to get you a rope. Brian, call 911. Hold on, sir. Sir, stay in the truck for a second. Stay in the truck. Call 911. Dont come out can you grab his car . No. No i watch. Is he out . Hes here grab it now. Wrap it around your okay. Okay. Come on, buddy. I got him. Coming out of the water now hanging up with you. Buddy, get up out of that water. Dont dont go backwards. You all right . No no, maam. Weve got a car in a ditch. We just pulled a fellow out. You all right now, buddy . Yeah. Take your breath. Were going to pick you up and get you off of this bank, okay . Yeah were going to get you off of this bank. That man, jerry summerall, is a flood evacuee staying in a nearby hotel. Hes shaken but okay. Thanks to the quick thinking of drew griffin. Happy it turned out the way that it did. Well played, drew. Flooding continues to slam the u. S. Oil industry forcing americas largest refinery to shut down. Oil Company Motiva closing its port arthur refinery, wont reopen doors until floodwaters recede. That closure on top of 13 other key refineries already knocked off line, cutting about onefifth of the nations refining capacity. A major gas pipeline to the east coast is also shut down. That disruption means higher gas prices. They havent budged much yet. The average, only up about six cents from last week. However, gas futures have risen 13 since friday. That spike will eventually trickle down to consumers, increasing prices somewhere between 15 to 25 cents nationwide. Hopefully that will not take too long, will just be a shortterm bump and come back to normal. Coming up, the president with a shift in tone after coming under fire for forgetting the victims during his visit to texas. Well show you what hes saying now. Albreakthrough withyou back. Nondrowsy allegra® for fast 5in1 multisymptom relief. Breakthrough allergies with allegra®. Today Vice President mike pence set to visit texas to visit harveys devastation. President trump will also return to the gulf on saturday. Already changing his tone, though, after coming under some fire for failing to focus on the storm victims during his texas visit. Yeah. He tweeted yesterday, after witnessing firsthand the horrors and devastation caused by hurricane harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of texas. Later in missouri for a speech on tax reform, the president kept his focus on the people hit by the storm. White house correspondent jeff zeleny is traveling with the president and has more from springfield, missouri. Reporter President Trump came to missouri on wednesday focusing on tax reform but also again addressing the citizens of south texas, houston directly, and louisiana, about the storm recovery efforts. Now this, of course, is going to be something that is front and center in his administrations agenda Going Forward in the fall. That recovery package. On wednesday in missouri, he talked specifically to those victims. To the people of houston and across texas and louisiana, we are here with you today. We are with you tomorrow, and we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover, and rebuild. Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people, people, great, great people. Reporter the president certainly adjusting his message from one day earlier in texas. He received a wave of criticism for not directly addressing the victims and acknowledging that rising death toll. The president did do that on wednesday in missouri. And Going Forward, the recovery effort now, the government aid package is something his administration is focused on. This, of course, now is at the front of the president s agenda, tax reform, other issues, will take a step behind. Renee and dave . Yeah. The other irissue 160 billi price tag for the storm. The president of accuweather, getting the funding first and foremost. President trump, two of his top cabinet officials not on the same page in south korea. Cnn the only western News Organization reporting from north korea. Were live in pyongyang next. Hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® its starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Hey, im the internet i know a bunch of people who would love that. The internet loves what youre doing. So put your idea online with a domain name from godaddy. Enter your idea and well find you a one of a kind name. Weve helped 17 Million People find the perfect domain name for their website. Get your domain name and Start Building your website for free they have businesses to run they have passions to pursue how do they avoid trips to the post office . Stamps. Com mail letters ship packages all the services of the post office right on your computer get a 4 week trial plus 100 in extras including postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com try and never go to the post office again japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe says he and President Trump have a plan for responding to north koreas provocative Nuclear Missile test, theyre just not saying what the plan is yet. Abe told reporters he and the u. S. President have completely agreed on their effortcoming response to pyongyang forthcoming response to pyongyang. This comes after President Trump tweeted wednesday that talking is not the answer to reining in north korea. A remark that seems to contradict statements by top cabinet officials. Cnns will ripley is the only broadcast journalist in north korea right now. He joins us live now from pyongyang with the latest. A show of force this morning. Reporter lots of fastmoving developments on the peninsula, yes. We expected this to happen after the United States cop deducted its successful missile interception test. South korea conducted bombing drills. Now you have eight jets from the United States and south korea flying together along the korean peninsula. Other reports that there was another exercise involving japanese fighters. They conducted their own bombing drills designed to show north korea that the u. S. And its allies have the capability to attack this country if the situation escalates further. Then you have the phone call with President Trump and shinzo abe. They spoke in an emergency phone call after the missile launch. This is their second call in as many days. Yes, the japanese Prime Minister saying that the u. S. And japan have a plan, theyre in complete agreement, and yet not revealing the details which isnt unexpected. President trump often doesnt like to reveal details of his plans. We know the objectives of the United States and japan. They want to cripple north korea economically, to get them to the point where theyre so desperate, in such dire financial straits, that kale come to the bargaining theyll come to the bargaining table in desperation willing to stop developing weapons of mass destruction. China has given flow indication that theyre willing given no indication that theyre willing to go beyond the sanctions to cut exports by onethird. Aside from the sanctions route and further diplomatic isolation, what other options do the u. S. And its allies have . Theyre limited. If President Trump thinks talking isnt the answer, certainly that contradicts what secretaries tillerson and mattis had to say when they said that diplomacy is still on the table. That they want to talk to north korea. Getting all the sides to agree will be difficult. What north korean officials on the ground have been telling us for the last several days is that the North Koreans feel the time for talk is over. Its time for action, and again, they want to come to the diplomatic discussions from a position of strength, which is why they say they will continue to accelerate launching more missiles toward the pacific and guam. Thank you very much. Lets check cnn money stream. Global markets mostly higher today following a rise on wall street with the techheavy nasdaq jumping 1 . Talk of tax reform driving u. S. Stocks higher. President trump made his first publish push for reform with the emphasis on Corporate Tax cuts. Economic data with strong reads on private Sector Employment and gdp. In fact, the u. S. Economy grew at its fastest pace in two years, hitting 3 growth in the second quarter. Thats more than double the pace of the First Quarter and was driven by stronger Consumer Spending and business investment. 3 also notable because its President Trumps target growth rate. Trump promises tax cuts and spending will spur the gdp growth. However his economic agenda hasnt yet passed congress. Still, the u. S. Economy looking healthy, especially on the jobs front. Economists predict julys Unemployment Rate will remain at a 16year low. That report comes out tomorrow. Corporate america writing big checks to help the victims of harvey. Big business pledging more than 72 million for disaster relief. That includes dozens of Companies Like caterpillar, walmart, amazon, and bank of america, with verizon alone contributing 10 million. Corporate america has stepped up. Its stepped up its giving in recent business. Its good for attracting employees, and the giving often goes beyond money. Anheuserbusch halting beer production to make cans of water, donating more than 100,000 cans to the american red cross. Bass pro shops also providing 80 boats to the rescue efforts there in houston. Early start continues now with the latest on the flooding conditions throughout the houston area. Harvey is moving north, but the scope of damage in texas is just beginning to come into