BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): One advantage that President Trump has that President Bush didn't, he's got a competent mayor and he's got a really good governor, and the communication's been strong, right, Brad?
BRAD BLAKEMAN: There's no doubt about it. In Katrina, President Bush was hampered in the federal response by having an incompetent governor of Louisiana and a corrupt mayor who thought they could handle it themselves, and when they finally called in the federal cavalry, it was later than President Bush would have liked to respond. Here, we have a very competent governor in Texas, who understood that it was way beyond what Texas could handle themselves, so he immediately files for a disaster declaration. The Trump administration turned that around in record time and the federal government was able to help sooner rather than later. So I think the federal response, the local and state officials are much more attuned to help their constituents now than in Katrina.
KILMEADE: And Brad, the one thing, too, is you see the presence of the president. He made a speech earlier, he was at Camp David.
BLAKEMAN: Absolutely.
KILMEADE: The symbolism matters, as well as the execution. And he's going to these two places that are not in the heart of the storm -- is that still OK?
BLAKEMAN: Oh, it is. Absolutely. The fact that he is going to Austin, the capital. He will be briefed there by state and local officials, and then he will be using a helicopter to go to affected areas, which lessens the motorcade that you would have to have on the ground. This is exactly the type of footprint the president needs to do to show that America is here for the Texas people.
