question.

I'm in a state of uncertainty, doubt, and it's a distressing feeling.

And that's exactly what I want to feel.

If I'm going to treat my disorder, I need to turn away from this topic, which brings me right into the generic which is a generic state of uncertainty, not I'm uncertain whether I said something wrong, but I'm uncertain, period.

And I need to sit in that.

I need to expect it's there.

I actually want it there.

You know, it just means you do have to practice.

How? How are you doing that?

A couple of different ways.

We have more than two, but I'll just focus on two programs that address community resilience.

One is called the Flood Resiliency Blueprint.

This is something the legislature set up a few years ago.

it is and they did it they set it up in six of our state's river basins we have 17 total so we're hoping to expand this program but what it does it provides amazing data and tools to local governments so they can look at a map of their town for instance and see where the flooding has been a problem in the past and identify the places that caused the water to go into that downtown rather than somewhere else and provides options for how for what steps that town could take to eliminate or severely or substantially reduce that flooding risk in their town and this program set up by the legislature provides funding to those local governments to implement some of those actions and so we have um I think awarded $44 million for around 90 projects in those six river basins, and they are being implemented to reduce flooding in those communities in the future.

So that's one.

Given all the work your agency and other agencies have been doing in that area for the last two years, which we're about to talk about, how prepared is that area for what El Nino might bring?

It's been two years post-Haleen, and I'm curious to know, when you're looking at the status of the recovery, what metric tells you what's succeeding, and what might residents still be awaiting? What assistance might they still be awaiting, either from the state government, the federal government, or others two years post-storm?

That's a really good question.

I guess I'll start by talking about what I have seen in my almost two years of visiting sites in the western North Carolina mountains that were damaged so severely by the storm.

You know, early on, it was a lot about recovery and making sure people were okay and getting water working again and power working again and all those essential daily human needs.

And in fact, our department was involved from the get-go helping to get more than 160 different water systems back online.

We sent our marine patrol from the coast out there with their swift water boats to rescue people and ferry supplies and just help in any way they could.

So that was immediate.

What is DEQ trying to do and has done so far to try and help with this situation?

well, cause you're not going to change the temperature.

I'm not able to change the weather.

It would be great.

Uh, they should give you that power.

If we had Jackson holes, humidity level in North Carolina, it'd be really nice thing, but I'm not able to do that.

Um, Let me start with Helene recovery as part of that, and then I'll go statewide.

So Hurricane Helene just blew apart towns, communities, all across our North Carolina mountains.

I mean, obviously electricity and using the grid and whatnot, but talk to me about the environmental impacts and how they could be ameliorated.

Tell us about, you know, how many examples of this you were able to track down.

Right.

So there are 99 legislative chambers in America.

Every state has two, except for Nebraska, which only has one.

Of those 99, obviously there are 99 leaders, 99 minority leaders.

And of that population, almost a third are doing something different next year.

They're either retiring, running for other office, or they've lost primaries.

But I mean, what's lost in that, right? Like there is this phrase institutional knowledge that is coming to mind for me as you talk.

Why is that distinction so important, and why is that such an important part of, you know, shifting the view?

First off, this is, this is a mental health disorder.

It's real, it's valid.

It's in there in the neurology and messing with us.

What we are trying to do is lay out a new neurological pathway that competes with the current pathway that exists.

You know, so many people say, "My brain tells me," and as soon as they say that, I, I correct them therapeutically.

Would it be okay if we started to call that the disorder, or OCD tells me, or, or my obsession tells me, because there we are building this external sense.

Mm-hmm

[laughs]

I just think it's totally wrong because, "Maybe I locked the door, maybe I didn't lock the door," is about content.

It's about the topic.

OCD, if we're talking about OCD, we're not, but now we are, OCD [laughs] has nothing to do with the topic.

So for me as a therapist to train my client to say, "Maybe I locked the door, maybe I didn't, I can handle uncertainty," keeps them stuck on the topic.

So here I am driving down the road, feeling a bump, wondering if I just ran someone over.

Maybe I killed someone just then, maybe I didn't.

And they're stuck on that.

What can you tell us about this specific map in Texas? What areas are Republicans changing and why?

So, they're focusing on, uh, sort of three distinct areas here.

The first is the Rio Grande Valley, uh, which is largely Hispanic.

Republicans have been making inroads down there for the last several years.

There are two Democratic-held districts, uh, both of which, uh, went for President Trump by narrow margins in 2024, but elected Democratic members of Congress.

Uh, both of those districts would be redrawn to further advantage, uh, Republicans.

There i- there are a couple of districts, including Representative Johnson's district, in the Dallas Metroplex, uh, that they, uh, they have redrawn those seats so that those two members, Th- two Democratic members of Congress would face Republican incumbents in districts that are much more heavily Republican than the ones that they currently hold.

Reid, I want to come to you, because we heard from Representative Ann Johnson of Texas just, just a little bit ago, and, uh, hearing her comments, a- and as someone who watches, uh, redistricting very closely across the country, what did you take away from what she had to say?

What can you tell us about this specific map in Texas? What areas are Republicans changing and why?

So, they're focusing on, uh, sort of three distinct areas here.

The first is the Rio Grande Valley, uh, which is largely Hispanic.

Republicans have been making inroads down there for the last several years.

There are two Democratic-held districts, uh, both of which, uh, went for President Trump by narrow margins in 2024, but elected Democratic members of Congress.

Uh, both of those districts would be redrawn to further advantage, uh, Republicans.

There i- there are a couple of districts, including Representative Johnson's district, in the Dallas Metroplex, uh, that they, uh, they have redrawn those seats so that those two members, th- two Democratic members of Congress would face Republican incumbents in districts that are much more heavily Republican than the ones that they currently hold.

Reid, I want to come to you because we heard from Representative Ann, uh, Johnson of Texas just, just a little bit ago and, uh, hearing her comments, a-and as someone who watches, uh, redistricting very closely across the country, what did you take away from what she had to say?

What has that meant so far for states and communities that have historically been friendlier to those without legal status?

Well, so far, it hasn't meant much.

Uh, th- Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing federal agencies to publish lists of sanctuary cities that will eventually, uh, become, uh, uh, subject to losing federal funding or they may face civil or criminal lawsuits.

Uh, the order targets states that favor, "favor" in air quotes, uh, undocumented immigrants over American citizens, and that applies to about half the states and DC that provide some, uh, uh, undocumented immigrants with in-state tuition, say, for college.

Um, e- effectively, so this is, again, like what, like we were talking about earlier, this is something that will play out in the courts.

Uh, already a California judge ha- uh, well, a federal judge in California has ruled that Trump cannot withhold federal funding, uh, on, on the condition of cooperation on, on immigration issues.

But the bottom line here, and I think we heard this from, from the caller M, is that he's trying to make life hard for immigrants.

Rita, I want to hear from you on this first, your reaction to those calls.

So given the current margins in the House, how is the GOP feeling about this race in Florida right now?

Well, I- I would say cautious pessimism if, if, uh, if that's a phrase.

Um, the Republicans should win both of these seats by wide margins.

They have been trending towards the GOP in recent years.

Uh, the, uh, the Mike Waltz seat around Daytona Beach hasn't elected a Democrat since the 1980s.

Uh, the- the Gaetz seat out in the- the panhandle to the west is, uh, is similarly Republican.

And- and the Republican margins have been growing over time.

So what do we know about how that race is shaping up?