Wicked weather this week between heat and rain storms and winds in excess of 100 mile per hour in texas, houston, where at least seven are confirmed dead. And hundreds are still without power. Katie, how do things look there now . A new shift of workers have arrived this morning and their work is underway after some cleanup crews worked through the night and theyre trying to board up a lot of the shattered windows in some of the Downtown HighRise Office Buildings and hotels. And you can see the work is cut out for them and there are a lot of windows theyre going to have to take care of, all of this damage, caused by the strength of 100 mile per hour straightline winds that hit right in downtown houston. The cleanup and power Restoration Efforts are likely to take weeks, not days. More than 500,000 people in Harris County here are still waking up in the dark. Its a huge concern as we enter the stretch of 90 degree days coming up. Weve been speaking with a lot of people on the ground between all of the downed trees, the downed Transmission Lines and now the delicate work here dealing with the disaster site downtown. Some of the Glass Companies on site have been describing this work as dangerous and trying to step through broken windows, glass inside of the buildings and they say every single floor of some of these high rises have some kind of Blownout Windows on them. Were here cleaning up the mess, the glass, mainly, getting the glass, the broken glass is kind of hanging in the holes up in the building and so they dont fall down and hurt somebody. Very widespread and dangerous and were in there trying to be careful and not get cut. Now, President Biden approved a partial disaster declaration that combines thursday nights storms with flooding that hit texas starting All The Way Back in april so thats going to help hopefully start getting federal resources to people who are really going to need it to get back on their feet, neil. Neil katie, thank you for all of that. Katie burn in houston. Well keep you posted on that. Cleanup is going on. And mayor, thank you very much. How are things going there . Well, unfortunately, things are really rough for a lot of houstonians right now. A lot of people are still out of electricity, over 500,000 locations and temperatures are starting to rise so its unfortunately going to be a rough weekend for a lot of people. Neil it sounds to me that had a lot of people were off guard for this, they knew rain was coming, maybe some wind conditions, but nothing like what we saw, winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. What can you tell us . Absolutely, this is completely unexpected even the area the majority of the winds hit in houston, it was not what anyone expected. The wind shifted and were able to put the Disaster Recovery in place before the storm so as soon as its done we can start immediately. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time around. Now, i imagine it shut down a lot of things, i dont want to get mercenary about this, but you know, houston is home to a lot of key oil refineries, i believe about a dozen, and they churn out close to 300 barrels or 300 Million Barrels a day. So the fact of the matter is, theres a lot that rides here and one of the reasons why oil prices jumped this week. Do you know anything about that and the refineries, a lot of livelihoods depend on that . Yes, absolutely. And a lot of the oil and Gas Companies in houston, unfortunately, are used to this kind of thing with our weather in houston and a lot of efforts made over the years by a lot of companies for Backup Generators and putting other pieces together. So, that in case of a disaster, theyre still ready to go with their business. Neil and now i understand youre dealing with heat. Thats a big problem, right . Absolutely, heat is a very big problem. Temperatures are starting to rise and so the city is working on Cooling Centers and distribution of ice and water for people because its unfortunately going to be several days before everyone is back up. Transformers were completely blown down and so, this is going to take a long time to get it completely fixed. Center point did get over 200 people from other cities, because they were not expecting to, they were not pre positioned and so it will take time to get it together. Neil mayor, in the past, whether the grid is up to this and what can you update on us and how soon they can look to having it back potentially . Yeah, a lot has been done to ensure that the grid system will be better this summer. I think theres still a lot of work left to be done, but in this case, i mean, this is just a wind situation that any upgrades to the grid may not have helped with this kind of a situation. So, you know, anyone that doesnt have electricity will, you know, they can call through on one and well get them a ride to a Cooling Center and we just want to make sure that everyone is safe with the temperatures that are starting to increase. Neil so, mayor, youve looked at supplies of water and things like that. A lot of folks emailing me, what can we do . A lot of fox viewers are just that way. What do you need right now . The biggest thing is supplies, if anyone has any way of helping with storm debris, a lot of our roads are still closed, our Traffic Signals are out so its kind of dangerous to drive right now, so if anyone feels its safe enough to come and help we also need supplies such as water and ice and you know, just anything in high temperatures that people could use to cool down. Neil do you ever worry, mayor, im not a meteorologist, but i am curious that a lot of this seems to be happening earlier than normal. I mean, you get your storms and youve gotten some doozies certainly, but it seems earlier and you know, much more severe. What can you tell us . Yeah, absolutely. Were not even Hurricane Season yet. Neil right, right. And so we saw Something Like this. And so, its just its coming earlier, more frequently. The storms are getting worse and so, as a city we really need to look at resiliency, as far as making sure that our infrastructure is in place because the storms arent going away and so we need to make sure that our infrastructure is in place to combat that. Neil yeah, and its tough times, but a beautiful city, very resilient people. Absolutely. Neil i have no doubt youll turn things around very quickly, but best of luck and thank you for all youre doing there. Thank you. Neil in the meantime speaking of texas, donald trump will be visiting dallas, 290, 300 miles from all of this in houston, but what was interesting ahead of his address to the n. R. A. Convention in dallas where he was last night in minnesota. If case you havent noticed minnesota hasnt gone republican since Richard Nixon in 1972. Thats then. They think, that is republicans, this is their moment, after this. Some people just know that the best rate for you is a rate based on you, with allstate. Because you. 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Of course, last weekend in new jersey where he got a crowd of better than 100,000. Thats the bluest of blue states right now so he thinks he has a chance there. Last night in minnesota state, republicans havent won at the president ial level since 1972 when Richard Nixon did so. That was then and they think they can repeat it and the back drop of all of this, with this ongoing Michael Cohen testimony in the Hush Money Trial in new york. Against all of that, Garrett Tenney in dallas where the president will be addressing the n. R. A. Today, garrett. Yeah, neil, 52 years since a republican president ial candidate won in minnesota, but the Trump Campaign says it believes the land of 10,000 lakes is in play this cycle. Last night as you mentioned, President Trump was up there in minnesota addressing the state g. O. P. , state dinner and his Campaign Says that youll remember in 2016, thats what they point to that donald trump came within a point and a half of winning the state. 2020 it wasnt as close, biden won the state by seven points. Last night at the annual lincolnreagan dinner in minnesota focused heavily on voters top issue. How we can be one point down or two points up to this guy in minnesota, i dont know. On day way, well throw out bidenomics, and reinstate magmnommics. And some significant that he has no chance to win the state, but is a head fake, and they could be going to more true Battle Ground states. And this afternoon, as you mentioned, former President Trump will address the n. R. A. s national convention, rallying up a key constituency for the g. O. P. Last night in minnesota, he gave a bit of a preview what to expect today. I will fully uphold our great, but very under siege Second Amendment. Were going to withhold the powers and the beauty of our Second Amendment. We need our Second Amendment probably more than weve ever needed it before. Its under siege. Today, vicepresident Kamala Harris released a statement criticizing trumps trip to the n. R. A. , saying in part now when guns are the number one cause of deaths in teens and children. And threatening to make the crisis worse if reelected. Right now guns are not a top issue for voters as a whole. On the latest fox news poll, 1 of voters named guns in a Deal Breaker Issue in their vote for president. Neil and theres a Clear Strategy to it. But, garrett, thank you so much. Garrett tenney will be covering that all day today from dallas. In the meantime, i want to go to tom, of course, being an excellent lawyer, hes not lost on the political impact of something going on in the courtroom, in the Hush Money Trial for the better part of what, 20 days or so. We know already, tom, that Michael Cohen is going to be back on the stand being crossexamined and we know that the judge wants to wrap this up, i think as early as tuesday. What do you think of that . Well, i dont think this is going to wrap by tuesday. Theres still a lot to go with Michael Cohen. The trump team is going to keep cross examining him and then the prosecutors will have a chance to rehabilitate the damage that the defense team inflicted on cohen last week and then weve got to get a defense presentation, the trump team will have a chance to put on their case which will be streamlined, but could take a day or two and only then do you get to Jury Instructions and closing arguments. Although the judge wants to move this along quickly, i dont think its realistic to think that this is going to wrap on tuesday. Neil we talked about that its had no impact on donald trump in the polls and winning in these Battle Ground states. That could change, but could a conviction change that . And i dont want you to weigh on the politics of that, but how likely is it a conviction . We dont know whats in the mind of the jurors and we know anecdotally they were riveted certainly by Stormy Daniels when she was testifying, but not as much, but pay close attention to Michael Cohen and less so the accountants and numbers guy. Since im kind of a numbers guy, that kind of offended me. Leaving that aside, what are we to make of that . What i make of that, neil, over the course of this trial the likelihood of conviction has dropped. I think that the District Attorney came into the case thinking they would be able to prove these charges through ways other than Michael Cohens testimony, but as it turned out their case relies pretty much exclusively or in large part on Michael Cohen and the trump team i thought delivered a devastating Cross Examination last week so for that reason, i think that the odds are fairly high that theres going to be at least one juror that concludes the prosecution has not proven its case under the highest standard known in american law, beyond a reasonable doubt. Neil what if the defense, no doubt, tries to go to the judge and said you cant bring this to the jury. What do you think the odds are of that . In my view, neil, the odds of that are low, that the judge is not going to send this case to the jury. I think the defense team will make that request. But my sense based on the way this judge approached this case and based on rulings in the past, i would be very surprised if he refuses to send this case to a jury. I think hes going to say lets let the jury make the call and after rendering a verdict if he doesnt think theres enough evidence for conviction, the judge could throw it out at that point, but i dont think hes going to take it away from the jury based on the way hes ruled recently. Neil can i go to different legal questions on hunter biden, he wants it postponed and the democrats say the delay, delay strategy is ridiculous with trump, but maybe when it comes toer biden. I dont think theres anyway that hunter biden is going to avoid these trials. First in delaware and then in california. It doesnt surprise me they threw the hail mary passes to get the judges to throw it out before trial, but i dont think there was any likelihood of them getting granted and what weve seen both judges are going to keep the trials on track and its a virtual certainty that both prosecutions are going to move ahead with trials in june. Neil all right. Now, back to delaware if you dont mind. The way i see the trials, the documents case, whats going on in atlanta, whats going to happen with fani willis, whether shell be on this, not on this. Those arent going to materialize before the election the way i see it. The only case that looks to be adjudicated the way i see it is this hush money case, and no effect on donald trump pollwise and as a smart lawyer, the odds of conviction are low. She he could be dodging a lot of bullets with future bullets delayed past an election that he just could win . I think thats exactly right. Look, when this whole litigation process started, four different cases, i think a lot of the conventional wisdom was that the january 6th cases or the documents case, would move ahead first, people thought maybe the georgia case would move ahead first, but what weve seen in large part through strategic misjudgments by the prosecutors, fani willis, jack, and i dont think theres any chance that any of those three cases go to trial before november. If former President Trump wins the election in november, its the ultimate game changer, two of those three, the federal ones, will go away the day hes inaugurated. Neil the other attempt of removing the gag order against him has been been taken up with the appeals court. And im wondering, tom, whether it doesnt matter now so late in the process, just move on . You know, i think theres some truth to that. I think once this trial ends, i think his challenges to the gag order in large part become moot, meaning theres no real live dispute here because the trial is over. That being said, its not surprising to me that trump is battling this all the way. The Legal Defense team has taken a challenge to the gag order and challenged it in the Lower Appellate Court and trying to take it to the highest court and my guess is that new yorks highest court is going to affirm the scope of the gag order, but it doesnt surprise me theyre pushing back hard on this. The gag order is reducing his speech and they have a right to appeals. Neil you know why i know youre brilliant, man, you have a lot of books behind you. At a minimum youre extremely wellread. Tom, i learn a lot, in all seriousness. Thank you very much. Thanks, neil. Neil all right. A very wellread tom dupree. Keeps you posted on that and also on joe biden, hes out campaigning and in georgia and continuing to rally his base. Many in his base are leaving him. The question, do they go to donald trump, could it be just as bad if they stay home . Were on that after this. The best moments happen outside. Where Laughter Dances with the wind, and stories are told beneath the stars. Where connections grow and memories are born. At Bass Pro Shops and cabelas, we believe in the magic of the great outdoors. Our friendly, knowledgeable outfitters will help you gear up for your next adventure. With Club