Markets, we are issuing general licenses permitting transactions that were otherwise be prohibited under the executive order. These include a 30 day wind down. Certain dealings in specified debt instruments that trade on secondary markets and certain dealings with u. S. Entities owned or controlled by the government of venezuela. Also, the executive order carves out shortterm financing for most commercial trade, including the export and import of petroleum. This executive order builds on a number of actions taken by the u. S. Government to prevent the flow of funds to maduros regime. In my first day in office, i was with you here at this podium when the Treasury Department designated the venezuelan Vice President under the kingpin act and this year alone, we have sanctioned 30 venezuelan officials including maduro himself. We urge those within the regime, including those who have been sanctioned, to distance themselves from the violence in the dictatorship. President trump made it clear the status quo is unacceptable. Todays actions is a next step towards freedom for the venezuelan people. We will continue working to achieve this goal with allies around the world who have widely condemned venezuelas dictatorship. With that, id be happy to take some questions. Can you describe the carve out the market . There will be a general license that carves out specific debt instruments that we know are held by u. S. Entities, so we want to make sure that u. S. Pensions or u. S. Judiciaries are not hurt by this, and if they want to sell their bonds, they can do so. This will limit any new investments. The president had indicated that military action was on the table. Does that fill the case . Can you talk about potential concerns about the impact this can have on the broader region . I will let the general comment first on military actions, and then i will comment. The president directed us not to just develop plans for the Current Situation but to anticipate the possibility of a further deterioration within venezuela. As you know, the venezuelan people are suffering tremendously, suffering more and more everyday as they see democracy distinguished and this autocratic regime put in place. The plot to match president has said if things get worse, how could they get worse and or a rf options available to him that we would take in concert certainly with our partners in the region. On the economic front, i would say our plan has to continue to hurt and turn up the heat on the venezuelan government. The specific actions weve tried to balance, things that dont hurt the venezuelan people, so weve made sure that humanitarian efforts are still allowed. Weve also made sure that certain u. S. Entities continue to trade, but we view that this will have a Significant Impact and in no way do we want the American Economy and of the American Financial markets to continue to finance these activities. Thank you, sir. This is pretty strongly worded statement. You describe president maduro as a dictator who disregards the role of law and things like tha that. I will ask you again because i asked you this last time you guys brought the subject up, how is whats happening in venezuela with president maduro any different from the situation with dictators in turkey, and the philippines, and in russia who also routinely step on the rule of law and ignore democratic norms, and yet President Trump and this administration cant seem to bring themselves to criticize them. Why is this dictator worse than all the other dictators . I think as you know on russia, weve taken very significant actions. I say we will look at every one of these are in specific situations, and right now, we are dealing with a powerful situation in venezuela, and thats what were here to address. You said recently that youre working with leaders to push for a clean debt ceiling. The president said yesterday he wants to attack va reform. Im curious whether you feel youre on the same page on that front. Let me first assure you that president and i are completely on the same page, and we are speaking on a regular basis. On this we had a meeting with the president and the Vice President yesterday in the oval office. What the president said was his strong preference had been that when they passed at the va bill before they left that they attached the debt ceiling to that, so that we wouldnt be doing with this in september. What i said before, my strong preference is that we have a clean debt ceiling, but the most important issue is that the debt ceiling will be raised in september. Ive had discussions with the leaders in both parties, in the house and senate, and we are on the same page. The government tends to pay its debts and it will be raised. On the question of options for the president , when the Vice President was in the region, almost every nation you went to expressed reservations about u. S. Military involvement in venezuela. Will that be enough to dissuade the president from taking any military action, if military action is contemplated, what is a National Security implication to the United States of the situation in venezuela . I want to say the Vice President had a very successful trip through latin america, and i dont think that theres ever been a time where we are better aligned with our partners in the region than we align with them today. On a broader range of other issues as well not just venezuela. In terms of military options, there is no such thing anymore as only a military option or diplomatic option or an economic option. We try to integrate all elements together. In terms of Contingency Planning and trying to envision what might trigger us to be bringing the president options, we always look at it broad range of contingencies of how this might evolve in the future. Any decision will be in conjunction of the partners of the region and military actions are not anticipated in the near future. The president has to say look how this could evolve in the future and provide a broad range, as we always do, integrated options for the president. What is venezuela factor in . I want to ask you about the decision dash [indistinct] i think weve considered everything, and again, we will continue to monitor the situation. Thank you mr. Secretary. One gets the impression from the sanctions and what you said about it, that the United States would only restore the normal situation, the status quo, if maduro is indicted by the president. It is not safe to say that the u. S. Would only deal with the regime that does not include either of them . Im not going to comment on the hypothetical of that. I think with the president is very clear on is the existing situation is unacceptable. If they restore the proper democratic process, we will react to that appropriately. This is not about changing leadership, per se, this is about restoring the democratic process and rule of law. How will the sanctions impact the ability of venezuela to engage in debt with u. S. Investors . There will be no transactions with u. S. Investors for new debt, including restructuring existing debt for extending maturities without specific licenses being issued. Mr. Secretary, i want to come back to the debt ceiling. You sound completely confident that the debt ceiling will be raised in september. I am 100 confident. Leader mcconnell said the same thing left week last week. Theres no scenario where the government will be paying its bills. The president said in a tweet this morning that its now a mess. It could have been easy if it was attached to the va, now a mess. Whatd he mean by that . Theres a lot to do and september, with the debt ceiling, we have the continuing resolution to fund the government, we have a budget, congress has a lot of work this month. I think the president , and i, wish that they had raised the debt ceiling before they left. Having said that, we are where we are and we will get it done. General mcmaster, if you could help us all understand what the president meant on monday night when he said that we are looking for an honorable and enduring outcome in afghanistan. Mr. Secretary if i could ask you, gary cohn had remarks this morning in which he said he felt compelled to express his distress about the president s remarks last week. He said he felt intense pressure to resign. He said that he wont do so, but he believes that the Administration Must do better confronting hate groups. Do you associate yourself with those remarks . Did you feel the same pressure that gary cohen said he felt to resign . Let me first comment, i put out an extensive statement earlier last week on my view of the situation. I think there is no question that the president was not equating the hate groups with the people that were peacefully. Under no circumstances was i going to resign. Gary and i have known each other for 20 years. I can tell you i am speaking to him every day, his number one focus is absolutely working on tax reform with me and getting tax reform done. Darius committed to be here and couldnt be more excited about that. Towards the outcome in afghanistan and broadly in connection with the south asia strategy, the president gave very clear guidance that we worked on, as you know, over the period of several months across the whole National Security teams. That guidance was to prioritize the safety and security of the American People, and thats what our efforts are prioritizing out. The second thing he said that he wants to have a sound regional strategy, not a strategy that lasts a year. Some people said and i think theres an element of truth to this, that weve had 16 oneyear strategies in afghanistan. Seen a fundamental change in an outcomesbased strategy than a timebased strategy. What that does is give us the greatest chance to and by what we are doing militarily and largely in support of the Afghan Government and their long struggle against harris and groups in the towel man. And also to integrate that with what we achieve diplomatically. I think it was clear to anyone that the approach of less talk with the taliban and tell them we are leaving at the same time, how would that ever were . Especially when the taliban were making gains in a large measure with our disengagement from the fight with the taliban in support of the afghan forces. It is a fundamental shift in the strategy. Those who have said more of the same are absolutely wrong about that. Just think about that. Conditions based versus timebased. A regional approach rather than a myopic focus on one little group or another group. We try to very hard in afghanistan over recent years to disconnect the dots. We took a broad approach at this, looking at this with our intelligence communities, our partners. At present has also asked us, how can others do more . How can others share more of the burden of the responsibility. This strategy delivers on all of that, in connection with your answer, the answer is the emerging people abroad and here at home are safe and secure from terrorists who could otherwise gain a safe haven of support base that they could use to organize, plan, financial, conduct attacks, not only in that region but globally. We know thats their design, we know that from our own history, and we know that from the intelligence. General mcmaster, following that, given the history and the ideology of the taliban, are you confident that a political solution settlement could ever be reached with the government that would not end up once forces leave afghanistan and reneging on their agreement to try to take over afghanistan . No, i dont think im competent. I dont think anyones confident about that, unless we can demonstrate through whatever an agreement is. That various groups who will cease their hostility that would then recognize that constitution and participate in a future of afghanistan that is susceptible to the afghan people. The afghan people, remember, they remember 1996 two 2001 pretty vividly and how to live under that regime. We sometimes disconnect the dots here and connected to the talibans relationship to al qaeda, the talibans relationship with other terrorist organizations, but we also recognize is none of these groups or monolithic or homogeneous either. If there are those to join a political process, like they did over the past year, i dont think the Afghan Government would object to that in any way. The critical thing is, if your enemies are fighting aggressively against you, it is not a good option to say youre not going to fight them anymore and then just hope for an outcome that secures the interest of the American People. We will take one in the back. It this is general mcmaster mcmaster. What defines winning in afghanistan . What does wenning look like when you are in the United States . Wenning in afghanistan is really aimed at allowing afghanistan to be afghanistan. As the president said, not to nation build, not to create a state in the u. S. Image. Winning in afghanistan means there are not terrorist groups who are able to control key parts of the territory and Population Centers there. They could be used to mobilize resources, raise funds, use those funds to then organize, plan, and conducts conduct atts against us and our allied partners. Thats what the success is, not really a sustainable outcome there that ensures the safety and security of the American People. As you know, afghanistan is connected to broader security concerns across the region. The outcome is to ensure a threat from that region doesnt threaten the safety and security of the American People. Last question right here. Yesterday, Mitch Mcconnell said that this would happen during the congress, suggesting that this could be a 2018 event. Paul ryan was much more certain saying this is going to happen in 2017. As you see it, the timelines, do you believe this could get done in 2017 . Secondly, not that this is being put in the hands of the committees from here on out kind of through the work and come up with the figure, how confident are you that congress can handle this so you dont get burned on tax reform like you did with Health Care Reform . Let me just comment that, first of all, gary and i have been very focused on tax reform, working with the leadership since january. I think you know earlier in the year, i said i thought wed get it done by august, and i was wrong. Okay . I now would say that i am very hopeful and i think we can get this done by the end of the year. But we will continue to revisit it. Let me just say that as we said before, our objective here is to have one plan that includes the administration, the house, and the senate to work very closely together. The group six have been working nonstop. We put out a statement on that. It will continue to put more details. I think its very important that both committees in the senate and in the house have the ability to debate this and review it, but i can assure you that the president s number one objective is now to get tax reform done. Hes going to go on the road. We are starting with his first trip next week, and the president s 100 supportive of us passing legislation this year. Thank you, everybody. Harris all right, weve been watching a White House Press briefing that we did not know what include the National Security advisor general h. R. Mcmaster and the secretary of treasury, steve mnuchin. What we have learned and just the last few minutes, are on a whole host of issues because they started with an executive order which President Trump has put into place today that puts tough restrictions financially on venezuela due to its brutality of its own citizens, the chaos he says this is protect the entire atmosphere. This greatly hampers the president of venezuelas ability to raise funding. They are in trouble financially. He wants to attract people to put money into his government. To relieve his debt. He could end up default and because of u. S. Sanctions being so tough. Im catching you up here. Simultaneously, we are also watching and monitoring a briefing thats going on right now by the Texas Governor on Hurricane Harvey. We are multitasking. Well go right back to the white house. We expect it to be a rain event more so than a wind event. Neither of those things can be counted upon. Its very, very important to take searcy. Right now President Trump and his entire team has been actively engaged with the officials in texas, preparing for storm. As you know, he spoke to both governors today. He also spoke to acting secretary duke this morning around 10 15 a. M. Under that leadership team, we couldnt have a better team, to be honest. That leadership team, we are in good hands at the federal level. As you might know, secretary of Homeland Security and the Team Administrator are responsible for bringing together the firepower of the government to assist the state and local governments. The state and local governments are in the lead here, and we have a lot of respect for and faith in the governments of these respective cities as well directly in the path. Governor in louisiana has a strong handle of what hes doing and Governor Abbott in texas, likewise. What wed like to do is reinforce their efforts to challenge people in the paddock to be prepared, to listen to their institutions, and their state and local governments. Now is not the time to lose faith in your government institutions. Those Emergency Managers will give you advice to evacuate. When encourage you to listen to them. Theres a little shameless plug here for all americans, it sounds like something that might not teach you anything, but i think maybe you learn something if you go there and it would help you and your family. With that, thanks for questions. Give us an idea what the president is doing to monitor the storm and what hell be doing as hes campaigning this weekend . How will he be into contact with federal officials and local officials . We been giving him regular briefings and by that i mean john kelly and myself. That started several weeks ago, really several months ago as i transitioned into this administration. You saw President Trump team up and could have a new expectations for his fema administrator. Ive known him for 15 years. We couldnt have picked a finer leader. Hes had state director experience, hes a fema experience, hes absolutely top of the top. What the president will do as we move forward is continue talking directly with him, directly to the governors so if they have any needs, thats our problem and the president will tolerate that. He will continue talking to me and the secretary and now chief of staff kelly. As a move out to camp david, you know, hes got full resources and capability to two medicate with us. The president signed the Emergency Declaration in the past to be prepared and sent funding in motion in before the event happens. As i think i depleted about being dead today . Thats being contemplated, and what will do is take the government request. As you know, first the governor sets whether he has that need and if the communities are unable to respond to this event, they make that determination and other requirements. He then request the president federal assistance. That request moves to the fema administrator up to the president. I believe its in that process right now. Want to get to the president of the United States with a formal recommendation, he will act on that very quickly. Im under the impression that the governor of texas is made that request at fema right now. Of all the conditions are met, if its appropriate to provide assistance, i believe the president will be very aggressive in moving forward and declaring it a disaster. Chuck grassley urged the president not to repeat the mistakes of the past, 2005 to be specific. How much of that is in the back of your mind as you compare for this . And hurricanes pass, typically a hurricane moves through and the aftermath to pick up the pieces, i was katrina in 2005 and we saw what happened there, at this time though, this is going to be a multiday event. What sort of challenges does not present in terms of trying to get aid to people who need it immediately while you saw buckets of rain coming down . A number of good questions there. I will start with the first one. I was also in and through fema during Hurricane Katrina and remember very clearly. Its not just whats on my mind. Its on the minds of all the Emergency Managers in our community, especially in texas and louisiana. That experience is still an hour memory. We have gotten a lot better. Congress has gotten better at allowing the flexibility that we need to deploy resources prior to the event. He will employ those resources carefully as the state request and we grant that declaration. Lastly, to your point about how get assistance to people, i will say this, you never want to plan for the federal government to swoop in and need everything just when you need on time. I think its going to be 4. 6 Million People in the path of this form depending on how it goes, thats a lot of people. We encourage people to be ready, be prepared, take some responsibility for their own safety as the next 72 hours of food. Food, water, shelter are the primary concerns, but then secondly, we provide that assistance, we do it in such a way that so organized that things work out the way theyre supposed to that the assistance flows either directly to the individuals or are eligible for it or it flows to the state and local officials who have a logistics trail and paste to provide those commodities and shelter. Lastly, i would like to make another plug for the organs agents as. Those types of resources are imperative to people that are confronting this peril and i would like to thank them for their work. Before i take that next question, i would say i just came off of what fema organizes, which is a conference call, actually a video teleconference call with all the affected parties, and there were no unaffected needs reported. We went across all the the nonorganization and they also did well posture in they did report to us and gain additional leads and they reported they were in the right posture right now to help the American People right now. I will take a question in the back, please. For you briefing him this morning . What questions to president have for you and preparations are underway . The president had three primary concerns. His first concern was the life, safety, and evacuation timing. Our people getting out of harms way . Second concern is, do we have the appropriate resources. That was the question reported that we did have all the resources deployed. Really, the third concern from the president s perspective after hearing the briefing was not only that the people in harms way of texas be prepared and evacuated appropriately, but the people of louisiana, should the forecast model in any direction, also be prepared. As we see this move to the south, dont lose track of it we got lowlevel areas off of the coast of louisiana, 50 of the population and louisiana luke two list on the coastal region. This is below sea level and ana pump the water out. The army corps of engineers and others, the fema coordination has been providing necessary electric Power Organization to those pumps to make sure that the conditions would deserialize in louisiana that we would not have necessarily flooding. Those are history concerns. Thank you. You mentioned you will be accompanying him this week and, is there any discussion about the president canceling his trip in light of everything youre saying . Can you give us a sense of how he and you are thinking about the storm . Are you thinking it will be at the magnitude of katrina . I dont want to make that comparison. I dont have any insight into the travel package with the president , but i do have insight to the resources he has available. Its just as well resourced at the white house. Its not a trip. I wouldnt characterize it as a trip. It is just 45 minutes of the row, as you all know. For those of you in america, thinking cant save it as far away, its right up the road. Secondly, i would say i dont want to make any starch comparisons here start two stark comparisons. I want to say this for the person affected, if your house was flooded, it doesnt matter if 10,000 houses are flooded or ten. What you need to do is be prepared for your own damages, your own consequences. The government needs to be prepared as well. Without some lowlevel islands here that might be in the storm surge. Katrina was a massive event. It was a staggering event that took place in just the perfect condition, and as you know, we had a levee failure and among other things. I dont want to go through all those comparisons. The fuel supply chain might be impacted by the hurricane. What are you doing to prepare for that text go give me a sense about the concerns you expressed to the president about that particular issue . A number of things that inform ice into here at the white house, one of the things i hope to do is do it in this case at the state and local level, to coordinate and bring to bear the full resources of the cabinet to keep this regional event focused on the lifesaving, lifesustaining efforts and to make sure americans in harms way are protected. Second concern you have though is making sure that regional doesnt become a international the Refining Capacity of approximately 60 of the gulf coast and a third of the u. S. Capacity in the storms path, but something had to take very seriously. Thereve been reports on that, speculating a potential gas crisis. Im not in a position to confirm that increases, but i will see the last report i saw, the the s are being taken to a stance and wind end. Whether or not Mother Nature played its course. The hope is to be able to fix those damages, repair them quickly, and be right back in business. While a large proportion is affected, am i not cards a large, longterm disruption. This march the 25th anniversary of hurricane andrew. In that situation, the fema response was incredibly slow. By comparison, how quickly are you going to move into texas . Weve made leaps and bounds since 1992. We had a federal Response Plan that failed. We updated that federal Response Plan after 1992. We had a 9 11 event that had us create a national Response Plan. Great deal of effort went into changing that. A great deal of effort went into training individuals to create those changes. I have a trend is amount of experience and a tremendous amount of confidence at the people at fema and the people at the state and local levels. I actually have a lot of confidence in the American People that they will do what they need to do in this case. How quickly do you think you will get into the area . Its already prepositioned, all sorts of resources. What we need to do is we began helping people from the storm layout. We already have people tell you access and define that. We are already super supplying resources. Thats going to help a lot of people. We are already leaning forward, and the authority that was given to us by congress after the turn to matt katrina has a lot to do with that. Speak up is not the time for government institutions its actually very interesting. Can you talk about that. Is there a fear that you two the administrator has that rhetoric you use or more broadly have real impact on lives and people not listening to the government . Not at all. Im telling you for my own personal experience, its important in every emergency to remind people to listen to their state and local officials because inevitably, people dont, and then they end up thinking they wish they had. You have nothing to lose but your life. I want you to take its ears, and i want you to listen to the state and local officials. Im not worried about you losing faith in the federal government, im worried about you losing faith in the local and state governments. Listen to their advice. Often times, people try to use their own judgment. What they dont understand is a time and man hours that planned evacuation routes. You have to coordinate them with other people, and you have to do road closures and traffic flow. There are things that people might not just be aware of. Have a little faith in the professionalism of your Emergency Managers, listen to their advice, and you will be better off. Lastly, i would say when youre out of hurts way and doubled your life and jeopardy later. Speak about mandatory evacuations, can you have what femas experience is related to the flooding that might follow the storm . Governments perspective on whether local officials should or should not declare evacuations. I will leave that judgment to the state and local officials. Mandatory versus not mandatory, thats one of what i have here. I think the idea here is that we have faith in their judgment. People affected by those local government officials should as well. Mandatory or not, if youre asked to leave, i think its a good idea to make those preparations. Theres been some concern that patrol checkpoints for the Border Patrol north of the border in texas are being maintained, and that could dissuade some people from getting to shelter. Are you addressing that . I dont know if i understand your question. There are people that cant get across the border for lifesaving purposes . North of the border there are admin two immigration inspection checkpoints and those are being maintained, as well as the fear that you could be checked. That would dissuade people from evacuating. I havent heard that, but people should be fearful of going to a shelter and getting food and water. Use scribe your experience, but this is the first time President Trump will be in charge of a Natural Disaster this Natural Disaster. What you think he has to project in both leadership or skills for the country to feel that he has lead well and the situation . This is right up President Trumps ally. Not only has he shown leadership here, but his entire focus has been on the American People. He is focused on the americans that voted him into office and on the americans that didnt will him into office. When we go in and briefing on the preparations for this hurricane, he is acutely focused on making sure, just the right thing by the way, that the American People in the storms path of what they need. His questions were about geopolitical issues or about large political groups. This is about, are you doing what it takes to help the people that are going to be affected by the storm . You might not if youre living in the northeast think about the storm over the weekend. You might go about your business. But the president is worried about the 4. 6 Million People or so in the area texas going to be affected by this. This is the most important thing they will have to worry about for the next several days. I am extremely happy with his leadership. I think that will carry through as you see him respond to this. Before landfall, he said something and it doesnt really make much of a difference. Its a response one way or another . I can make a little bit of a difference here. It makes every little bit of a difference to the spirit and mentality of the people who have been employing those resources. I would advise him to consider it very favorably. Any ambiguity be cleared up at the implementation level. People know they have the ability to employee resources for fema to start providing money for other departments. Its a good idea. There is a precedent for it. Is there any discussion with the president about him coming out and addressing it the potential magnitude of the stor storm . And just hear from his mouth that he believes you should listen to state and local officials and offer assurance . I think when its appropriate, the president will come out and address this. I think right now with more report and important is that the listen to the officials of the affected states. All federal families here of two support the two met governors in this event, any governor in this effect and they are there to support the local constituents. If and when this becomes of the magnitude and severity that overwhelms estate and local officials and the president declares such and issues a declaration of a disaster, he provides all the assistance that might be a good idea for him to come out and speak to you on it. For right now, lets hope and pray people follow the advice of their officials, that they do what they have to do to stay out of harms way. That there is no loss of life and this event. I would say little prayer for those affected over the weekend. Know that here in the white house, all the way down to the lowest level in louisiana texas, the people are doing the right thing. We will hear from the present later, im sure. Lets hope this event fizzles and the forecasts are all wrong, but i dont think thats the right thing to hope for right now. Where executing and doing what it takes to save peoples lives and to make their lives easier as a sustained damage. I really appreciate your time today and we will keep you informed. Thank you. Thank you, tom. Due to the president s departure coming up here shortly, im going to take a few questions. We are a little tight on time today. Ill skip the opening comments, but just you are aware, the press staff will be around the rest of the day and throughout the weekend providing updates on the storm and any other issues that we certainly dont get a chance to cover take a 22 today. We also just received an update a few minutes ago that it looks like the president will try to make plans to go to texas early next week and we will keep you posted on the details about those as they are firmed up, and certainly on any other plans and schedule changes throughout the weekend. The president is talking to gary cohn about his comments that the administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning groups . The president is in regular contact with gary. Im not going to get into specific conversations they may have had, but the president has been very outspoken in his condemnation of racism, bigotry, of hate of all forms. But i think as long as those things exist, theres always going to be more that we can do. That we should be looking for and we will be looking for ways that we can do more as an administration until there is zero of those things. Theres always more that you can do. I dont think that just doesnt happen to the administration, but i think that happens with the American People. I think the president has called on america to come together to unite, certainly throughout his comments over the course of the last week, and i think that something we should all step up and be willing to do and come together and look for ways that we can get rid of racism, bigotry, and hate of all forms. For really tight on time but ill try to get to several of you. Who were the very to find people that were protesting the neonazis . John, or super tight on time it was the president aware of the content of gary cohns interview before it was published . I think everybody wants to focus on a really small part of the interview. 95 of the interview was on tax reform. Were looking at a very small portion of it. The president , as i said, gary has spoken many times. He has not held back what his feelings are. He has not held back what he feels about the situation and has been very open and honest. I dont think anyone was surprised by the comments. Tax questions next week, do you expect the president to reveal any new details about what he expects to see in this tax from overall . Today, i will let the president do that while hes in missouri next week. I know hes looking forward to really focusing on tax relief for middleclass americans as we move into the fall. That will be very big for this administration. I think everyone can expect to hear a lot more about it over the upcoming weeks. Im sorry. Weve got to keep moving because we have no time today. You mentioned a few weeks ago possibly the two military action in venezuela, but we just heard that there is nothing in the future for the president. Does the president feel that way . Or cecil pushing for possible military action . I think weve been clear that they like to use sanctions as a firstline. Thats what were focus on now, and hopefully that will have the impact were looking for. Again, general mcmaster said all options will be left on the table. We are not taking any of those things off. That doesnt mean we will focus on the sanctions at this point. I want to ask you about have they made a decision what they will and . The administration has indicated several times before that the dock two taco program is under review. It continues to be under review we will let you know. Once we have announced on that will let you know. A number of charities had been scheduled at maralago over the week, does that couple with what we discussed, the suspending of the business council, does that make them rethink and reconsider at all his remarks and his reactions and related charlottesville . I cant speak to anything or guarding the trump organization, but i can tell you again and i will echo the president s comments and his words and his feelings on the situation is that he condemns this in the strongest form possible. We will continue to do that, continue to look for ways to bring america together. Thats the focus of this administration currently, and it will continue. The president today took to twitter to criticize senator hes criticized a number of republican senators in this past month, mcconnell, senator john mccain, senator flake, senator graham of south carolina. What is the end game for the president . What does that do for him in terms of trying to move his legislative agenda for when he criticizes these important people given the majorities are so slim in the senate and are necessary to move his legislative agenda for . I think its clear that the end game is for congress to do its job and actually passed legislation. I think the American People are very frustrated with Congress Lack of action. For years, theyve been all talk and no action. We are looking for them to step up at this point. Sorry to cut short today. Will two we will be around the rest of the afternoon for questions. As you know, the president is departing here in a few minutes, thanks so much. Harris a quick wrap up there to whats been about 45 or 40 minutes or so of a news briefing that we anticipated at the white house, but we did not know how many members of the White House Team we would see, and there were several. I want to get right away, tom bossert with the Homeland Security advisor to give us the three points of the present is focused on, evacuation, resources, predeployed to this event out in texas and could move on to louisiana. Lastly, he said i just want to make sure we are 50 of the population in louisiana that they are prepared. Weve heard from governors this afternoon while that News Conference was going on of both texas. We are anticipating to hear from the governor of louisiana shortly as well. We can put this in a nutshell for you by going to chief meteorologist. You just said to me on set just a few feet apart audience may not be able to see that right away, youre watching that news briefing together and he pulled away and you got something about the models on your phone. When we cannot, you said 53 inches of rain. The latest model, the most reliable model we have for days has been putting out 40inch of rainfall total amounts. We rarely see that, we really dont believe it will he see Something Like that, but days and were saying it here. 53 inches of rain in this will get the worse of a storm surge. Probably the 12 feet of storm surge. The worst of the wind may be well over 100 Miles Per Hour and a five to six day period, or talking about maybe 4. 5 feet of rain. Thats almost 6 feet tall. It still looks like its strengthening. Pressure continues to fall, the replacement cycle, i will say that in a second pair look at this. In this land fall sometime tonight or into tomorrow morning, tomorrow evening, it is pulled inland and we are still category one hurricane. We are now dealing with this per se 18 hours and we still have a hurricane. This here is the radar picture. We have lightning going out in the center, that is usually an indication of strengthening. Harris you know weve got reporters in the field. They can show us a little bit of what youre describing because the conditions on the ground now are getting tough. Casey. Harris, this is the worst weve seen it. Weve been out here since 5 00 this morning. Its a literally raining sideways right now. At times, its even been difficult for us to even stand once a good gust comes through. It is coming down so hard. You may not even be able to see the gulf back there. Rick is talking about storm surge, and in addition to their being hurricane warnings and watches up and down the coast of texas, there are also storm surge warnings and areas. In fact, some information from the National Hurricane center that so far, as of this afternoon, in areas, it is already 1. 522 feet higher that they had initially projected. I have to say, weve covered quite a bit of these and what has me a little worried here is that we are still quite a bit a ways from this thing making landfall. It is not going to make landfall directly here. Its going to be south of us excuse me, near corpus christi. The water is just flowing into your mouth. It is so windy out here. The storm surge is something we are already starting to see out here on the beach. Again, the thing is, we are already feeling this, and we are still hours and hours before official land fall. That has something from a lot of the folks here, concerned that we are already seeing such horrible conditions, frankly, this early on into the game, harris. We want to know how windy it is out there. You just tell me if you need me to speak up, casey. You and i have covered storms before and it troubles me a little bit that you keep saying people are been talking to. People are leaving, right . For the most part. You always have people that do not heed the warnings. If you can believe it or not, just when weve been standing here during the press briefing at the white house waiting to go on with you, weve seen people out here trying to take selfies with their children, out here very, very close to the wait. You always have people that dont listen and they dont heed the warnings and they think that this is fun or that it some type of game, but i can assure you after we have covered many of these together, there is nothing fun and there is no game about this, and that is why the officials on the ground, the governor of the state, even the fema officials there in washington, not mincing words what the potential and has the potential impact with this particular event. They are talking about life threatening, lifethreatening catastrophic. Those are words that the National Hurricane center in the National Weather service, itself, is putting out. That is not the media hyping this. That is from the forecast is looking directly at these. It is imperative that people think this is the time to take it easy and it may not be that bad, they could be very wrong. The window is closing. Governor abbott, the governor of the state, said that not terribly long ago that the window is closing for people to evacuate because as you can see, with conditions like this already, if youre stuck in a traffic jam trying to get out of town, that could be problematic with such a difficulty with visibility and all the rest. That will be nice for after we are done covering this. There you go. Just friendly people here. Those that we talked to have said we are getting out and were boarding up our place. Weve also seen people that are out here snapping pictures appear to be one and the nice lady that gave you a beer. You know what, theyve been through this so many times. Sometimes these storms in the beginning can look awfully identical. But we hope that people heed the warning. Getting in a car is important. Go right ahead, casey. I just want to say, my producer and everyone off camera told me that a Tornado Warning has just been issued. For the galveston area. This is something thats also possible with this. We have these tropical fans coming in, they can form waterspouts and tornadoes of the like. A lot of different parts to people here along this region are facing. Harris this is 12 hours earlier than what we thought we be talking about some of the stuff. Casey stegall get to safety now, and will talk with you again if we can get you back after the Tornado Warning that was just issued. The governor of texas abbott just said this is going to be a very major disaster. Rick, im going to toss it back to you. People on the beach. A couple things. You always get the rain before. We knew the rain is going to be here before the center gets here. Just to give you an idea, casey talking dramatically about where he is, thats childs play. I worked here for 13 years now and covered a lot of storms. Thereve been very few stores that i would go on and say are going to be catastrophic. Let me just say that. Hurricane sandy, i said that would be one. Katrina was going to be one. This one will be. There isnt any way out of it. There isnt a coastline that it might jog another direction to spare anybody. This isnt the case. Casey is about 180 miles away from where the center of the storm is. Hes very far from this. Places that are closer to this are going to experience a really devastating storm. It continues to strengthen, getting closer, i will tell you the latest very scary. We know that its moving north. All of them make stop and pull right back to the south. The latest run from here which we love that model, shows us hanging out in a center of the storm right in the exact same area for the better part of six days. We are talking about potentially Hurricane Force winds at least for a good 24 hours, and then Tropical Storm force winds, it probably restrengthening into a hurricane. All this area is getting that and thats why the rainfall totals will be four to 5 feet. Harris i had to tell you we saw casey just a few hours ago, you are right, we are on time at this, but it sure seems like the staccato nature to turn it into something much must wars. People always to focus on the center of it, but this isnt even the point of this whole story. The center of it tonight, but who cares. This is a longduration event. We want to hear it in your voice, ive known you a long time. I want to bring in a Hurricane Hunter. You are with us. Youve done this sort of thing before, chasing a storm like this. I know you got your pilots in the air right now. What can you update me with . We are out there flying right now. What we are trying to do is get the test picture for the National Hurricane center so that they can put the best forecast together for all the Emergency Managers and all the local officials, so that they can help prepare the people that are in the path. What we are doing, we are getting the exact location, how strong the biggest or strongest winds are, how far from the center they go, how strong the Tropical Force Winds go. This is all going into feeding the models that you were just talking about to help us figure out exactly how strong its going to be, how much rain its going to dump. Thats the real question on this one and how big the storm surge is going to be. Everybodys right. This is a big event. Theres going to be a lot of rain over a very large area. I agree with everything thats being said. It dont Pay Attention to exactly where the centers going. This is a widespread event coming up. Harris i hear a different tone today. And all my years of covering storms, it does get serious as you get closer to the event itself. The tone that i here today and im hearing from you too, as just that people may look at this as a purely rain event and on anticipate how serious that could be with a 12foot surge. From what you guys can see, give us an idea of what happens when the ocean is picked up by wind and carried into this rain event. The first thing that happens is the storm surge. Thats the rising water level, at the store makes a push on. Your water levels rise, the oceans meet at the beach. On top of that, you have massive ways, 10, 12, 14foot waves with weights on top of that of 10 feet or more. Thats going to wash away some houses and the like. It will be very devastating in the area of the high storm surge. The wind is what generates them. Its a big deal. I would encourage everybody whos in the path of this to really listen to the Emergency Managers, the local officials. Get out of the way because after the storm hits, people are going to be able to get to you to rescue you if you happen to stay and not heed those warnings. Harris i know we have some video to share with our audience with the aircraft deploying the sensor to enable you guys to do what you do to gather this information. We may end up showing that as we pull away from you, and sears. So grateful for your time today. Research meteorologist on the noaa Hurricane Hunters there. We appreciate the fandom nation as we let and go. I want to bring in our next guest. I got to get to judge mark henry. Galveston management director and texas. Judge, youre with us now . Im with you. Harris where by phone. Are starting to see those dump water. We have our own Casey Stegall in your area, and weve been watching it the maps, how are conditions on the ground and what are you telling people that elected to stay behind at this point . Were at the emergency building which is about 25 miles north of the city of galveston. Weve asked for voluntary evacuation. We cant guarantee they will be able to get off of the peninsula should the fairy shut down. Theres only two ways to get off, the ferry and highway 87. It is very prone to flooding. Moments of voluntary evacuation because we dont think will be impacted for them very much or very long. Harris how much time he had to get ready, how would you categorize the conditions that you are seeing now with whether or not people can still get out in the next short little while . They can still get out. We have the National Weather service in this building. They will give us minute by minute updates if its necessary. We have a very high level of confidence in the information that the National Weather service is giving us. Harris what is the immediate concern you have right now . We are still several hours away from nightfall and this thing actually hitting, although our meteorologist saying it doesnt matter what part of the storm hit you, its there. Our biggest concern is the fresh water. Weve been saying consistently that 12 to 15 inches on the low end and some localized areas that would get 30 inches. Thats more rain than weve ever experienced in such a short time frame thats probably several months worth of rain on average around here. Harris all right. We are hoping the best for you, judge. Thank you so very much for updating us on the conditions in galveston, texas. We been watching it with our reporters. We know things are getting tough there. This is a rain event of catastrophic proportions. Everybody from the white house to the meteorologist are telling people. Youre hearing the Emergency Management people on the ground theyre getting ready for it as well. Our coverage of her two Hurricane Harvey continues. I am harris. It could be the most powerful hurricane to hit the u. S. In ten years. The storm is life threatening. Dozens of counties under the state of disaster. Live updating from the gulf coast. Also, President Trump firing back at a fellow republican who questioned the president s competence. Now we take you to miami and the National Hurricane center and michael brennan. Good afternoon. This is mike brennan at the National Hurricane center with your 2 00 p. M. Central daylight time update on Hurricane Harvey. We have data from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Its a major hurricane