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Texas Governor Live Update; Texas Governor Press Conference; Rescues Continue in Border Town; Rescues Continue in Houston; Houston Mayor Press Conference. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2017 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: -- outages. That is an improvement since the last time I reported which I think was around the 138,000 level.

But the good news is there are many new power crews that are out now working in the region to reduce the power outages.

Since the last time I reported, there are two other power companies with reports. Our numbers showed that CenterPoint has a little bit more than 90,000 power outages and that would be primarily in the greater Harris County region.

And also, Entergy has more than 81,000 power outages. And they are all working as swiftly as possible to restore power.

For the Texas TCEQ, I want you to know that we have been working with the EPA on a daily basis to address environmental issues. They have deployed rapid needs teams to assess needs that have arisen in certain areas, including water and waste water assessment teams, especially focused in that regard on the Corpus Christi, Ingleside and Rockport areas.

A report from the Texas parks and wild life. They have 5,000 evacuees at state parks in the state of Texas. Most of those are in shelters, cabins or mobile homes.

A report from the Department of Public Safety. There are more than 2,000 Department of Public Safety who are deployed to targeted regions. And they will continue those deployments to ensure the safety and security is maintained in those regions.

From the Texas Forest Service. They continue assisting local fire departments in all of the affected regions.

From the Department of Health. They have deployed multiple health care teams. To give you an example of what they are doing. They have set up two emergency room departments at the George R. Brown Center in Houston, as well as they are setting up a medical shelter at the new evacuee center in Harris County at NRG.

New information about transportation. And that is there are transportation busses that are available that will be transporting evacuees from the southeast Texas region and taking those evacuees to locations around the state. Many of those who will be transported from the southeast Texas region will be taken to the Dallas region but not necessarily all of them.

The information that we have compiled state wide is that there are more than 32,000 people currently in shelters in the state. Importantly, we have approximately 30,000 beds that are available for sheltering as needed. And we continue to work on additional backup plans in the event that more than that is needed.

Some updated information from FEMA that just came out. This shows how important it is for everybody impacted by this storm to register. There have been 210,000 registrations for individual assistance. And FEMA has already approved more than $37 million in individual assistance.

And for those who have not yet applied, again, I give you the address to go to, which is disasterassistance.gov. One of the things most important for me to help you the best I can, those who are affected by the storms, is to get you the assistance you need as quickly as possible.

So, I strongly urge you to sign up at disasterassistance.gov so that you can register to begin to receive the money and other resources that you need that you can get from FEMA for the next transition.

One thing that FEMA is also doing that is very helpful. The shelters and evacuation centers are intended to be short-term facilities.

[13:05:03] We want to quickly move people from evacuation centers, like a convention center, into a location where there are living rooms and bedrooms and bathrooms that people can use as a family unit.

And already, there is transition housing, which means post evacuation center, for almost 2,000 rooms. And we want to provide more as soon as possible.

And FEMA has already provided more than 5 million meals.

With that, I'll take a few questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, watching what's happening right now in Beaumont and Port Arthur, does it seem overwhelming right now for everyone?

ABBOTT: Certainly, it is overwhelming for the residents and the people who live in that region. For the state and the responders, it is just part of our ongoing emergency swift response to make sure that we address and take care of the needs of the people putting protection and safety of life first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you satisfied or are you pleased to see how sheriff's departments, police departments, other places that have not been affected in the state, caravan after caravan heading down the road? I've seen -- are you a little amazed by seeing that kind out outpouring? Plus, the average just pulling (INAUDIBLE) boat?

ABBOTT: I'm not amazed because we've seen this before. Texans really step up and protect and aid their fellow Texans. Whether you're a first responder or just an individual, neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend, stranger helping stranger, Texans have really stepped up.

That said, I do want to applaud all of the first responders, all of the sheriff's offices, all the police officers across the state for doing such a terrific job. I really applaud the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the Houston Police Department for the way that

they've handled such an overwhelming demand upon their agencies.

But the same can be said for sheriff's offices and police departments in all of the affected areas. I applaud them all for going above and beyond the call of duty, ensuring that they have protected Texans and maintained order. All right, and when you consider the magnitude of this catastrophe, what they have achieved is just stunning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any information about the price gouging? What's your message in regards to that, sir?

ABBOTT: Price gouging is not only reprehensible, it's illegal. And the attorney general of Texas is taking swift and aggressive action to prosecute price gouging. Understand this, if you price gouge anybody, you could be subject to penalties of up to $25,000 per incident.

If you're a business, you can be put out of business by the Texas attorney general if you dare try any price gouging. It's un-Texan and we will not tolerate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) what the amount that Congress may be asked to appropriate to cover this?

ABBOTT: When you look at comparisons, the population size and square mile size of the area impacted, both by the hurricane swathe and the flooding, it's far larger than Katrina, far larger than Sandy.

And if I recall correctly -- and I will not have a precise number here. But my recollection is that the Katrina funding was well over $100 billion. I want to say it was over $125 billion.

And so, if we go on a parallel standard, it should be far in excess of that amount. I want you to know that I have been working with Senator Cornyn, who's on Senate Finance, who's providing me the categories of funding that were provided for FEMA.

And we are working to use those categories as a general outline of what will be provided.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the largest deployment of federal and state Guard troops in state history to your knowledge?

ABBOTT: I am unaware of there ever being another incident in the history of the state of Texas where there's been this much deployment.

As you know, I have deployed 100 percent of Texas National Guard. And then, on top of that, we are bringing in well over 10,000 from outside. And understand this, the amount of National Guard that we have in the state of Texas now will only grow. Because we're operating in stages here. We are in the emergency response stage right now.

[13:10:08] As we go through the process, as the water recedes, it is essential that we have as many people as possible to continue to go door to door, for the rescue and recovery mission and the restoration of order mission.

And the National Guard is experienced at doing this. And so, I would anticipate, but can't say for certainty right now, but I would anticipate that a number of National Guard deployed in the state of Texas will increase from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For weeks, months?

ABBOTT: I would say for months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you had any problems with fuel?

ABBOTT: You've had a lot of questions. Let's spread it around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it too soon for fuel rationing?

ABBOTT: What we are -- we are working both with the EPA as well as energy companies, as well as other authorities to ensure that we're going to get fuel out as fast as possible. We have a priority right now. Fuel priority must be for first responders so that we can keep people safe and protected and rescued.

And once we finish with the first responder needs, then we can get into other issues. But having talked to leaders of energy companies, they are working as swiftly as possible to ensure that fuel operations will be restored quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor, (INAUDIBLE) set to take effect September 1st, some have expressed some concerns that that may affect the amount of time, the kind of -- the way that people can get reimbursed for claims for their insurance for their home damage. There's been a petition to change the effective date of that bill. Can you talk about what your concerns are (INAUDIBLE)?

ABBOTT: You need to understand that any claims along those lines are absolutely bogus.

And I'm going to read you to make sure you have it the statement issued by the Texas Department of Insurance. The Texas Department of Insurance is reassuring Texas policyholders that storm claims will be paid and that the agency will aggressively enforce state laws and policy provisions to protect victims of Hurricane Harvey and the widespread flooding that followed.

The claims filing process and deadlines aren't changing September 1st. House bill 1774 does not change how property owners file a claim. It doesn't change deadlines to file claims or how insurers process claims. It also does not apply to claims with the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association or the National Flood Insurance program. Property owners with covered damages maintain the same rights to an insurance claim, whether they file their claim before or after September the first.

The Texas Department of Insurance is sending staff to affected area this is week to help victims file claims and has extended hours for its consumer help line. The Texas Department of Insurance help line is 1-800-252-3439 and it's open from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Here's the reality of what is driving all of this. The implementation of this bill does not affect the ability of any policyholder from being able to file a claim or have that claim paid.

What it does do is it empowers policyholders to keep more money in their pockets as opposed to paying money to lawyers who may handle their claim. Because all it really does is require a notification by a policyholder to the insurance company before a policyholder files a lawsuit. And what that does is that spurs the insurance company to get that claim paid faster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two more questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) official death toll (INAUDIBLE)?

ABBOTT: Say again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The official death toll?

ABBOTT: I'll have that --

UNIDENTIFIED: We're not anywhere close.

ABBOTT: Yes, we will defer to the local jurisdictions and what they categorize as a death related to the hurricane.

[13:15:06] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor, have you made any decision about whether you're going to accept the help from Mexico (INAUDIBLE)?

ABBOTT: Yes, I have. And we are. And we have -- I don't have it with me here. We have a list of aid and assistance that they have offered to provide that we are accepting. I don't have the list, but I can tell you loosely, it involves things like vehicles and boats and supplies and food.

QUESTION: Are people in more --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One -- one more and then we have to go. Right here.

QUESTION: Quick question. I know some of the people that are affected are also undocumented. (INAUDIBLE) were coming ((INAUDIBLE) two days. Some of them are afraid of even asking the police officer to come out and rescue them. I mean you really can't control what people -- what each police will do. What is your comment to that? I mean what would you tell those people?

ABBOTT: Well, the director of the Department of Public Safety made clear the other day, and that is, when people are going to evacuation centers, when people are seeking help or anything like that, no one is being asked about their status. We're here for one purpose, and that is to save and help people who are here.

QUESTION: Governor --

ABBOTT: Thank you all very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we have to -- we have to go. I'm sorry. We're really late.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, there you have Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrapping up a press conference there in Austin, updating the public on relief efforts in the state of Texas. On the other side of your screen right now, you can see Brian Todd. He is on an airboat navigating some of the areas that are affected by Harvey. And we're seeing some extraordinary pictures coming in from him. We'll touch base with him in just a little bit.

But we want to start this hour with a desperate call for help in east Texas. Officials in Port Arthur are pleading for boats to help rescue residents from being washed away by heavy flooding. Tropical Storm Harvey came back on shore this morning, bringing more devastating rains to Texas and Louisiana. The storm and flooding are being blamed for at least 19 deaths at this point. But that number may rise.

In Houston, people are still being helped from their flooded homes. While the rescues are slowing down, the scope of this humanitarian disaster is still widening. More than 30,000 people are in shelters right now with flood waters claiming their homes and neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, President Trump, who was in Texas yesterday, offered this tweet earlier this morning. After witnessing firsthand the horror and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more to the people -- the great people of Texas.

And some of the worst of what we're seeing right now is in Port Arthur, Texas. Our Kaylee Hartung is in nearby Orange in far eastern Texas, very close to the Louisiana border right now.

Kaylee, it's been a dramatic day of rescues. We just saw Brian Todd on an airboat a few moments ago, navigating those waters. Water is everywhere. It's behind you right now. What can you tell us?

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and, Jim, just as you cross the Texas state line, this is the first large scale rescue effort that we could see as we traveled here on I-10 westbound. But just as quickly as these boats can come up and unload people and the very few belongings that they were able to bring with them, the boats are back out there. In taking with volunteers who have been on these waters since 7:00 a.m. this morning, some in late hours of last night, they say they believe they have cleared most of this area to this direction, but there is a large apartment complex that direction where they say some people just don't want to leave.

Now those same volunteers who have been on these waters, they don't think that's a good idea because nobody who lives in this area, is familiar with this area, thinks that this water will recede any time soon, though they don't really expect it to rise much higher.

Yesterday, over a 24-hour period, Orange saw 26 inches of rain. And that was before Harvey made landfall. These rescues, like I said, started in the middle of the night. They actually had to suspend rescue operations around 3:00 a.m. because the weather was so terrible. And the fire department was coordinating a lot of those rescues done by volunteers. Lightning struck their department and their communications were out. Their ability to get information about the safety of the dynamics in which they were working with.

But you heard Governor Abbott talking about the efforts the state is now making for transportation of these people because it's a two- pronged effort here with these rescues. Once you get people out of these waters and on to dry ground, like we had here underneath this interstate overpass, then the question is where do you go? And the hopeful rumor here right now is that school buses are on their way. Many people have been here since 7:00 a.m. this morning. Nobody can really quantify how many people have spent time underneath this overpass. But so many people now looking for a next place to go. We believe the closest shelter of any large scale is in Lake Charles, down I-10, the eastward way, about 30 miles from here. Their civic centers still open and accepting evacuees.

ACOSTA: And, Kaylee, just behind you, there's an elderly gentleman sitting on his walker underneath that overpass that you just talked about. It just goes to show you people are now just living out on the streets right now.

[13:20:07] Kaylee Hartung with that very vivid picture there in Orange, Texas. Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

The sun is out in Houston for the first time since Harvey hit and officials say floodwaters are starting to recede in some parts, but the threat is far from over. There have been at least 50 rescues since last night. This video taken aboard a National Guard helicopter shows a little boy and his family being hoisted up out of the floodwaters near Houston. This crew also rescued a one-month-old baby.

Our Brian Todd, we showed you some of those pictures just a few moments ago. He's on an airboat in Houston.

I don't know if you're still on the back of one right now. We can only see you from the chest up there.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

ACOSTA: But we saw you just making your way around these waters a few moments ago.

Oh, yes, there you are. Yes, you certainly are. What can you show us right now. Those cars are parked right behind you and you're on a boat.

TODD: That's right, Jim. This is the Lakeside Forest neighborhood west of Houston. The water here really rose very high late in this whole process, really just this morning, and we're going around with these search and rescue guys just looking for people who might be in these apartments that are flooded here.

Joe Fairchild (ph), this volunteer here, we just saw a towel being tied to a railing. So Joe climbed up there and banged on the window to see if anybody needed rescuing. Nobody came out. So he's -- you can see, he's going up here. There's a towel over here. Sometimes a towel or a sheet signifies, you know, they need to be rescued and they want to get out. He's checking that out right now, climbing on the roof of this.

Mark Malfa (ph) here is the airboat pilot.

Mark, talk about just some of the logistical problems of trying to navigate this neighborhood. You've got chest high water here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's just so much stuff in the water. I mean these cars -- actually, we came around the corner here. The cars are actually -- the water's right up to the roof. And then you get lower water, you're going to hit a drainage pipe or something. There's all kinds of stuff. Airboat are real handy. You can just float right over it. Lower (ph) units get destroyed out here. I'm not saying don't bring your boat. Whatever you've got is helpful. But the logistics is kind of nightmare. It's not your typical lake or your river that I'm used to running. It's just -- it's a mess.

TODD: And we've heard that they're looking for a couple of private rescuers who are missing. Do you think about that? Do you think about the danger out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really. No.

TODD: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just come and do it, you know? I have run a boat all the time. I deal with horrible crap on a consistent basis here. I'm used to it. I don't think twice about it. People need help, you come and help them, you know. I've been very little sleep, keep going. People need -- my house is safe. A lot of these houses are jacked up. People lost their cars. They lost everything. I've lost nothing. I may be -- took some palmer (ph) off the bottom of this boat and that's it. God bless, you know.

TODD: Good luck, Mark.

We're going to hang with Mark for a good part of the day here.

Take a look down. There's another rescue team there. I think they see something or someone maybe around that corner of that apartment who might need help and they were signaling to someone over there, Jim.

So I mean this is kind of what you do. You just troll around these neighborhoods. You look for people waving. We've picked up, I'd say, maybe 15 people and about five dogs today. And this is the water level that you're talking about.

Now, the residents here, Jim, they're blaming the spillover and that controlled release from the Addicks Reservoir that, you know, they needed to do to relieve pressure from the reservoir, but they think this is the result of it, Jim, a late rising floodwater situation here after the brunt of the storm has passed.

ACOSTA: Absolutely, Brian Todd, a very desperate situation there. And you can see those guys behind you doing their best to try to find people in those apartments in that neighborhood.

Brian Todd, we're going to check back with you. Keep us posted if you run across any victims being brought out of those homes. We appreciate it very much.

And we want to turn right now -- we understand that the mayor of Houston is holding a news conference. Yes, he is. Updating the public on what is happening in his city, which, of course, has been devastated by Harvey. Let's listen in.

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D), HOUSTON: Based on talking to the chief, and Chief Acevedo, I'm going to bring him up, it was effective. I don't believe any citations were issued. People were very cooperative last night. And as you know, there were other jurisdictions that also followed Houston's lead. So I want to thank people for cooperating on the curfew from 12:00 to 5:00. It's going to remain in effect until we kind of, you know, get past the situations that we are in. But it was quite effective.

Chief Acevedo.

Here we go.

QUESTION: On curfew, sir? Curfew is the question.

TURNER: Yes, the -- yes, curfew.

CHIEF ART ACEVEDO, HOUSTON POLICE: Thank you, mayor.

Good morning. Or good afternoon.

The curfew last night went very well. We did not have to make any arrests for curfew violations. Obviously we've made other arrests for burglary and a couple of looting incidences that -- you can call it burglary, you can call it looting. And, you know, so, on a regular night we'd probably call it a burglary, but today -- because of this environment we're in, it's probably more called looting.

The bottom line is that the curfew that we've instituted here and other cities in the area, so it's important for your viewers in this entire region, other cities have also launched curfews as -- provide us a tool to keep people safe and to provide security to this entire community.

[13:25:12] So a real quick update so I can get out of the way, mayor, just give it out to everybody.

TURNER: Sure.

ACEVEDO: So far we've had 88 police vehicles that have been flooded and damaged. One hundred and sixty-one officers have reported significant damage to their homes. Forty-seven of our facilities -- of our police facilities have been damaged and some we might not ever preoccupy.

Calls holding as of this morning. -- OK, first you did it to (INAUDIBLE). Now you're doing it to me, huh? He's a good man.

As of this morning, we had 111 calls pending. HPD responded to 5,031 calls -- received 5,031 calls over night, during the operational period. And we continue to have additional agencies throughout the state, police agencies that are responding for law enforcement purposes and for search and rescue.

Again, we're working with our fire department college to try to move -- back away from the search and rescue mission and start focusing on the law enforcement mission.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: All right, there you have officials there in Houston updating the public on relief efforts in that city.

We're going to take a break in just a few moments.

But first, up next, as waters in Houston recede, residents are returning home. A live report when we come back.

But first, a brief moment to rest and recharge in between flood rescues. You're looking at -- check -- take a look at this. Some exhausted Texas National Guard troops getting some rest on brand-new mattresses in a furniture stores that opened its doors to them. This is what they've been talking about all day long, Texans helping Texans, taking care of Texans. They're among the 14,000 members of the National Guard activated for this storm response with 10,000 more on the way.

We'll be right back.

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