Harvey: Trump In Houston And Lake Charles, Meets Survivors, Witnesses Devastation

"The message is that things are working out," President Donald Trump said during an appearance at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday. It was the president's second trip to Texas since the devastating storm known as Hurricane - then Tropical Storm - Harvey made land landfall.

Unlike his first visit on Tuesday when he stayed away from hard hit areas and only spoke with politicians and officials, the president rode from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base to the relief center at the stadium where he met with storm victims, driven from their homes by ravaging floodwaters.

This visit also included a stop in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the president met with the state's governor, John Bel Edwards, and members of the Congressional delegation.

At NRG Stadium in Houston, there are around 1,700 people still staying at the center.

The president and first lady entered through the area that had been set up as a "children's zone" for the many displaced kids.

"Donald Trump!" a woman shouted as he walked in.

The first couple were greeted by smiles and people wanting to take selfies. The president sat down with people, shook hands, and engaged with children as they played.

At one point, he was sitting down with kids at a table with games like Clue and Pictionary.

Nearby, the first lady was kneeling by some kids, books in her hand. She did not appear to read to them.

Several of the evacuees went up the first couple and gave them hugs.

After time with the kids, President Trump stopped by a lunch line where volunteers were distributing hot dogs, chips, and apple sauce for lunch.

Trump saw a few uniformed military men and walked over to shake their hands.

One of the military men told Trump, "We voted for you”

Trump - last year's campaign apparently never far from his mind - playfully said: "You better. Who didn’t in your world? Who didn’t?"

The president said that he saw "a lot happiness" among the evacuees that he met. "They were just happy. We saw a lot of happiness. It's been really nice. It's been a wonderful thing.

"As tough as this was, it's been a wonderful thing, I think even for the country to watch it and for the world to watch. It's been beautiful.”

The president mentioned that "a lot of documents" were being signed to move forward a $7.9 billion aid request for the region.

"Now, it's going through a very quick process," he said.

Trump told reporters that as Air Force One approached Houston, he could see the flooding.

"There's a lot of water, but it's leaving pretty quickly," he said. "But there's a lot of water, a lot of water, but it's moving out."

There was a positive response in the stadium - even from displaced Democrats.

"This is the first time I ever been in this situation," said 37-year-old Kevin James Hipolito, who is unemployed and whose first floor apartment near the Galleria was flooded.

Hipolito had been rescued from the roof of his Acura and has been at the shelter for two days. He is frustrated at having to wait for a housing voucher so that he can go somewhere nicer.

"Can you do something about that 72-hour rule?!" he shouted at Housing Secretary Ben Carson who accompanied the president on the trip.

Hipolito - who says that he is a Democrat - is pleased the president came back to Texas.

"It raises the morale," he says. "When he went to Corpus I was like man he just forgot about us. This shows a lot of support. It perks up morale."

It was then off to the First Church of Pearland in a Houston suburb.

After being introduced by Governor Abbot, Trump - speaking without prepared remarks - praised the volunteers who have been working to help their neighbors.

"I want to congratulate everybody that's worked so hard," he said. "It’s been an incredible five days, six days. "It seems like it's been much longer than that, but actually it's going so well that it's going fast, in a certain sense."

Trump painted a picture of the clean-up that some perceived as a little rosier than how things are.

"The water's disappearing," he said. "We knew we have a long way to go, but the water's disappearing. And you look at the neighborhoods and you see it’s – we just saw it through there. Two days ago, even yesterday, they had water.

"Today it's all swept up and cleaned up."

As for clean-up, while the state is still in rescue mode, the president spoke of a recovery timeline at odds with what's been predicted.

"We're talking about, they say 2 years, 3 years, but I think that because this is Texas you’ll probably do it in 6 months!" he said.

He then left the church to cheers, and headed outside where he helped distribute goods to people.

"Hey can you handle this?" Trump asked a man in a pickup truck as he handed him a bucket of goods put together by the American Red Cross. "There's a lot of stuff in here.

"You're all set," he said after loading a few boxes in the flatbed and slapping the truck a couple of times.

"It's good exercise," said the president as the pickup pulled away.

Trump made a positive impression on those who had come out.

Holding her 10-year-old son, Chris, Elaine Ybarra said she was thankful for the attention the president's visit was bringing to her community.

"It's quite humbling to have somebody of his stature come this church," said Ybarra whose home was not damaged in the storm. She said she had come to volunteer and help her neighbors.

"Him being here and bringing global attention to everything that's going on here, he brings up prayers from around the world," she said.

Shanna Norris, 37, also had praise for Trump, dismissing criticism of the fact his trip on Tuesday focused on meeting with officials.

"It's such a wide area," she said. "There's just a lot of devastation."

The visit has been a 180-degree switch from Trump's previous visit when he only met with officials and some first responders but did not engage with victims or see any of the damage.

The president's trip to Texas on Tuesday included stops in Austin and Corpus Christi but purposely avoided the harder hit areas so as not to interfere with still-ongoing rescue efforts.

The White House had said that the first trip was intentionally planned to keep the president away from hard hit areas to not add to the strain on resources.

Trump did send Vice President Mike Pence to harder hit Rockport on Thursday where he met with survivors and worked on helping clear yards of debris.

The president was accompanied Saturday on Air Force One by cabinet secretaries Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, David Shulkin, and Elaine Duke as well as White House aides Tom Bossert, Joe Hagin, Hope Hicks, and Rob Porter.

They were met at the airport by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner - both of whom spent the day with the president.

It was then back to Ellington Air Base where Trump met with members of the Texas Congressional delegation and, at 3:17 p.m.. it was off to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Photo: President Donald Trump and Melania Trump meet people impacted by Hurricane Harvey during a visit to the NRG Center in Houston, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017. Trump cupped a boy’s face in his hands and then gave him a high-five. It was his second trip to Texas in a week, and this time his first order of business was to meet with those affected by the record-setting rainfall and flooding. He’s also set to survey some of the damage and head to Lake Charles, Louisiana, another hard-hit area. Photo by Susan Walsh/Associated Press