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Deadly Texas Floods; 27 Campers and Counselors in Camp Mystic Killed; Trump Plans to Visit Texas Friday; At Least 82 Dead in Texas Floods; Trump to Meet with Netanyahu; "Good Change" For Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 07, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We are getting breaking news out of Central Texas in Kerr County. Camp Mystic just released a statement about its campers and counselors. Let's get right to CNN Anchor Pam Brown who is nearby for the latest. Pam, what are you hearing?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This is the first time Camp Mystic is releasing a statement with a number of deaths. And in this statement, John, Camp Mystic says, it is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River. The statement goes on to say, our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly. We have been in communication with local and state authorities who were tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level. We ask for your continued prayers, respect, and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap his presence around all of us.

27 young souls, these young campers, John, and young counselors. Remember, these counselors are teenagers for the most part. Many of them jumped into action. They were heroes. But as we are getting from this statement, some died as well. Camp Mystic did not say how many of those 27 were campers versus counselors, but presumably, the bulk of them are campers.

And I just can't stop thinking, John, that it was just a little over a week ago that parents dropped their young children off to have the best four weeks of their life at Camp Mystic, a camp I attended 30 years ago. And now, some of those same parents are going to the local funeral home to potentially identify their child. It's just beyond comprehension, the heartbreak here. You feel it all around. John.

BERMAN: It's just has to be overwhelming to be there, Pam. And again, this statement from Camp Mystic is really the first time we have heard them address fatalities, they're grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors, I think confirming many of the worst fears that so many have been having there. Thank you for being there. Keep us posted. Obviously, this is developing this news just coming in.

[07:35:00]

We heard earlier that President Trump will be headed to the region as soon as Friday. Let's get to the White House right now. CNN's Alayna Treene is there. Alayna, what's the latest from there?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. John, as you said, the president says that he will likely go to Texas on Friday to visit some of the areas that were really devastated from this flooding. He said he actually wanted to initially go as early as this weekend, but he didn't want some of the security apparatus that surrounds him to get in the way of the rescue and recovery efforts in Texas.

Now, the president is calling what happened in the state horrible and says that federal resources will continue to be made available to those people on the ground and the communities who have been affected by this. And he also signed, the president, a major disaster declaration for Texas yesterday. And what that really did was unlock key federal resources to help those on the ground. That includes FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And also, we know that the Coast Guard has deployed several resources as well, that includes three fixed wing aircraft, which have thermal cameras able to detect movement on the ground that might not necessarily be visible to the naked eye.

Now, among all of this, there are also questions that are being raised about whether some of the cuts to some of the different federal agencies, including the National Weather Service, some of the budget cuts and staffing, particularly have -- some positions have been left vacant, some key positions have been left vacant due to some people taking the early retirement that was offered by the federal government in an effort to really cut federal resources, whether that could have affected this.

Now, I do want to be clear, it is very unclear at this moment whether or not budget or staffing issues did lead to this. We've heard some experts, even some Trump critics who are -- critics who have been critic -- very critical of these different cuts at the National Weather Service say that essentially, they don't believe that this could have happened, that this could have affected the situation, that it was very specific what happened with this type of flooding and the very quick way that it had rose in such a short amount of time.

I'll just say the president, we heard him address this yesterday. He argued that that had nothing to do with the recovery and preparation for some of this flooding. He also addressed questions over whether he still plans to try and phase out FEMA after this hurricane season. I'd remind you that was really his goal, to phase out FEMA from a federal level and really put the onus on the states to prepare those resources and preparation for these types of hurricanes and storms, he did not answer that question. But of course, one that we're going to continue to be here -- be scrutinized as we move forward. John.

BERMAN: Yes, it is a fair question. He has talked about weaning off FEMA. It is worth asking what his plans are now given what just happened in Texas. Alayna Treene at the White House, again, we'll talk to you soon. Thank you. Kate. KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's also new reporting today. The long- held concerns in Kerr County over the ongoing flooding threat there. Records show that even nine years ago, the county started considering building an early warning system, flood warning system with sirens to better alert residents.

In 2016, one county commissioner, according to meeting notes, said that the county was probably the highest risk area in the state for flooding, adding, our system is quite simply pretty antiquated. Also saying it's marginal at best. And then a follow-up meeting a year later saying, we can do all the water level monitoring we want, but if we don't get that information to the public in a timely way, then this whole thing is not worth it.

The county's top elected official said Friday, they still don't have a warning system with sirens. And a local -- the -- a local city manager then said this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALTON RICE, KERRVILLE CITY MANAGER: We know questions are being asked about the emergency notification, and while it is not the time to speculate, local and regional partners are committed to a full review of the events and systems in place. At the appropriate time, we will take clear steps to strengthen our future preparedness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is CNN's Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. She's also a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security for much more on this. Juliette, there is some of what is known, a lot of what is not because of just the scope and magnitude of this disaster. You heard that city manager promising a review. You heard that from other officials as well.

But seeing the level of destruction these floods brought, how fast it happened has left many officials saying that there's nothing that could have prevented something like this. Do you see it that way?

[07:40:00]

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, HARVARD PROFESSOR AND FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DHS: Well, with all due respect, no. And I don't like the fatalistic attitude about disaster management preparation. Flash floods happen often. Bad flash floods happen often. And we have to learn about what happened here because of the devastating impact that this has had on that community that it hasn't had in other communities.

Because we look at this comparatively, right? I mean, we're hitting -- I don't know if we're at a hundred yet, but this is a mass casualty event that we don't generally see. So, there's three focuses of this study, and I'm grateful that the Kerr County is committed to this.

The first is notifications that something bad is happening. As we've seen from National Weather Service, those notifications were getting more and more frantic overnight. It is nighttime, it's a holiday weekend. But those were occurring. The second is the connectivity between those alerts and someone doing something. Alerts aren't self- executing. You need emergency managers, local camp counselors, trailer park owners, all of them to know what's going on. And then the third is, are people acting in response to this?

There is a breakdown. We know that. And we know that because of the impact on one particular place, Camp Mystic. I mean, if you look at the numbers, which is what we have to do, we owe it to the dead, and those girls, you know, you have to look why at this particular camp what happened in terms of notification and readiness, and that is the review that we have to do apolitical as that we're committed to being ready for the next one and more lives can be saved next time.

BOLDUAN: And as another official said this morning, it's something -- whenever -- when people say, it's something -- I've never seen anything like this, it is something -- saying those words is something that people are going to have to get more and more used to saying because of the nature of the climate crisis, the effects of which we're already seeing, harsher, faster, bigger flooding, and that also impacts preparation for, which is exactly kind of what you're getting at it. It's -- as the ball game changes, they all need to start looking at it a slightly different way.

And part of -- and Alayna was talking about this, there are questions being raised about the impact -- the role of the federal government in this preparation.

KAYYEM: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And kind of the nature of the federal government cuts that the administration is putting in place. Still, one local in Travis County, the local judge there was just on speaking to John and said that his first question coming out of this tragedy, and they did lose about a half dozen lives in Travis County, the first question coming out of this is, what is the future of the National Weather Service? Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE ANDY BROWN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS COMMISSIONERS COURT: The first question I have is, is funding for the National Weather Service and for FEMA going to continue? Because my team, we have meetings throughout the day with the sheriff's office, with EMS, with firefighters, first responders, every single one of those meetings starts with an update from the National Weather Service. They're an absolute critical partner to what we do. We could not do this without them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There have been some local officials who have pointed the finger at the weather service saying that they -- that the amount of rain that fell in certain locations was never in any of the forecasts at all. But without a direct connection, even in the absence of it, how do you see this? KAYYEM: Yes. So -- and I'm glad Andy Brown mentioned this. For people who've never been in an emergency operation center, you have these briefings every hour, every two hours as the crisis is ongoing. And if it's a weather-related event, the National Weather Service starts that meeting and says, here's what we're seeing. It's intelligence.

I mean, it, you wouldn't go to war without having intelligence guide what you're seeing on the ground. That's what the National Weather Service is. And so, everyone's going to look for that light bulb or that, you know, missing link that if only this had happened everyone would be safe. Disaster management doesn't work that way.

We have to -- it's a totality of efforts that go to minimizing harm. We judge it by if things can be less bad, that's essentially it. Because bad things are happening. National Weather Service, NOAA, FEMA are all part of that. And while we can debate what happened this time, I think everyone needs to take a step back and realize that our investments in preparing these communities to climate disasters, you don't even -- we don't even debate climate change. It's a commitment that we owe these children, but it is what government is about.

[07:45:00]

This is when people need government, when their homes are destroyed, their children are lost, and we need to reinvest in that preparedness. You know, and I'm going to be a little bit personal here, I wrote a book called "The Devil Never Sleeps," about sort of ongoing large disasters. But it actually is aligned from a woman who's very faithful from Joplin, Missouri. They lost over a hundred people in a tornado over a decade ago.

But the second part of her line is more important. So, "The Devil Never Sleeps." But he only wins if we don't do better next time. And people of all face and no face have to commit to that because we will see these disasters again and again and again.

BOLDUAN: Juliette, thank you for your expertise. Always. Sara.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening today, President Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. A source tells CNN that indirect talks for a ceasefire and release of hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas restarted in Doha on Sunday.

Now, before leaving for the United States, Netanyahu said President Trump, quote, "Can help move us closer to an agreement." Trump went a step further with a prediction of just how soon a deal might be made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week, during the coming week, pertaining to quite a few of the hostage. You know, we've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out. We think we'll have that done this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now is CNN Political and Global Affairs Commentator Sabrina Singh and CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger.

David, to you first, do you have a sense of the sticking points here and how this might move forward given this is happening fresh off of U.S. cooperation with Israel in strikes on Iran, sort of changing the relationship, if you will, a bit?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, AUTHOR, "THE PERFECT WEAPON" AND WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, the dynamic certainly has changed, Sara, in many ways. Israel has emerged from the Iran strike as the undisputed superpower within the region. And Hamas, I think, is in a continued weakened state. At the same time, we've heard the president make these predictions before.

The deal on the table would get back 10 hostages who are believed to still be alive. I think 16 or 18 that are deceased. But the big question and the hang-up has been, who rules Gaza after? And that's the issue on which Prime Minister Netanyahu still will not move because he's taken the position, Hamas cannot be running Gaza at the end of this process. And I think that's continually what's been in the way.

SIDNER: Sabrina, speaking of which much of Hamas' leadership has been killed in these strikes. And now, the U.S. and Israel is dealing with a new Hamas leader, negotiating with someone who they have not been negotiating with in the past. How difficult does this make this negotiation now?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR AND FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think both sides are going to have to come to the table and really work together to get to a plan. At the end of the day, Israel has completely eliminated the senior leadership of Hamas. And you saw that when Sinwar died and then his brother died. And so, you know, you might have some, you know, retain lesser-known figures within Hamas. But at the end of the day, it's really going to have to be the United States that pushes both sides to accept the deal that the United States and Qatar is working towards and propose to reach a ceasefire.

Now, as David said, can that ceasefire hold? We've seen these deals collapse under this administration before, but I do think there is a path forward. What I would be looking for is, what is the plan after? How do you transition power if Israel is not going to allow Hamas to stay in power? What is the plan for governing that Gaza Strip going forward?

SIDNER: David, the BRICS countries met over the weekend, which now include Egypt, the UAE and Iran, and Saudi Arabia is also joining in to the BRICS group. The president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, during this meeting said this, we cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war. Do the BRICS nations have any barring or impact on what Netanyahu or President Trump do in all this? Do they have any power?

SANGER: Well, they have one form of power, and it's the power that many other countries do as well. You've seen the same issue come up with Britain, some of the other NATO allies, and it's this, that at the very peak of its power, you know, watching what Israel did in Iran, which many of the NATO allies applauded because they've been so concerned about Iran over the years and elsewhere, at the same moment, they have managed to lose more international support, and you think about where that international support was in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks and where it is today.

[07:50:00]

And we haven't heard a plan from the Israelis to go restore that. You know, they basically say we had to view the world differently after October 7th just as the United States had to view the world and threats differently after September 11th.

But at this point, the scenes that you've seen in Gaza are probably doing more damage to the Israeli public perception than anything that you could possibly imagine. It is a humanitarian disaster of huge proportions. And you're not hearing President Trump talk about that quite as much.

SIDNER: Yes. And there's a lot of people looking at this scenario wondering what is going to happen after the ceasefire that you brought up earlier. David Sanger, Sabrina Singh, thank you both so much for your expertise. John.

BERMAN: All right. Just in, a new forecast for Central Texas with concerns of new flash floods as they continue to search for survivors there. And Elon Musk tweets about Jeffrey Epstein, the president says Musk is a train wreck. What this means for the next election in America, not to mention their friendship.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Nearly 5 million people are under a flood watch still today in Central Texas. That includes now hundreds of first responders who have joined the search, rescue, and recovery efforts after the deadly flooding, all of this deadly flooding we've been watching. I mean, just look at this video from Central Texas. Parts of Hill Country where some of the worst flooding damage happened from this weekend. That's where a lot of the focus is right now. The true scope of the devastation really only just now starting to set in.

Let's get to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam for much more on the outlook today. And what are you watching most closely right now, Derek? DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kate. So, while all the focus is on Texas, we can't forget about the flash flood threat across the Mid-Atlantic. We'll highlight that in just one moment. But focusing in on what's ahead for Texas, specifically today, new information to CNN, we now have this excessive rainfall risks that include some of the hardest hit areas across the Hill Country of Texas, and that pushes further east as well.

There is just so much tropical moisture associated with what was the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry that made landfall in Mexico late last week. Now, there's just nothing to steer this thing out of here. Look at this water vapor imagery, and this is from Thursday to Sunday and it just bubbles up over the same regions, dumping copious amounts of rain.

So, never sleep on tropical moisture. What I mean by that is, even though we had flood watches in the forecast, which continue today, it's all about where that heavy access of rain sets up.

[07:55:00]

So, the flood watches remain across the Guadalupe River, Kerrville, Kerr County included. But look at the current radar. We're starting to get this bubbling up of some of that tropical moisture. Once again, just east of the hardest impacted areas, but depending on where this sets up, we could get additional rainfall on some of those hardest hit areas. That's the last thing we want. Not everyone's going to get a significant amount of rain today, but if we get that access of rainfall over those same locations, we could pick up another two to four inches of rain. That's why those flood watches are in effect.

Now, let's hop to the other side of the country because we still have the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Chantel that made landfall across the Carolinas this weekend now moving up across the Mid- Atlantic, impacting places like our nation's capital, Baltimore, Philadelphia. These locations, right along the I-95 Corridor, included within a flood watch.

Now, you can see that kind of counterclockwise spin. That's the remnants of this tropical storm. So, we never sleep on tropical moisture, right? Because wherever this access of heavy rain sets up, the potential for flash flooding exists. That's why the Weather Prediction Center has highlighted this area, level two of four. Heads up, just east of D.C., basically the Delmarva Peninsula, including Philadelphia and also Northern New England from New York all the way to upstate Pennsylvania, this is where we could see some hefty showers causing flash flooding today. Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot to watch today. Derek, thank you so much for keeping an eye on all of it for us. John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, President Trump took a new swipe at his former friend and adviser, Elon Musk, in a post that sent Tesla's stock tanking 6 percent before the market's even opened today. The president wrote in part, I'm saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails, essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks. The billionaire in response tweeted this picture earlier this morning about Jeffrey Epstein after announcing plans to start a third political party called the America Party.

With us now as Congressman Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida. Good morning, Congressman. The president called Elon Musk a train wreck, said he's going off the rails. What do you think?

REP. RANDY FINE (R-FL), COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE: Well, it's always unfortunate when friends fight in public, but what I would say is this, I understand Elon's frustration with the debt and the deficit, but we Republicans in Congress, along with President Trump, have done more to address it than any Congress has in decades. And I wish we would focus on moving the ball forward and the things that we can continue to do to move things down the field. I think what Elon's doing just isn't helpful.

BERMAN: You said -- you know, I listened to a radio interview you did just about a month ago, and you said you think Elon Musk is justified in some of his criticisms, and it is worth noting that his PAC put in, you know, $10,000 to assist your campaign. So, you have some alignment with Elon Musk. Yes?

FINE: Well, I said Elon Musk -- I just said it here, Elon Musk's concerns about the debt and the deficit are justified, but you have to look at the other side. Democrats have no plan at all to address the problem. They had the chance to raise taxes when they were in charge, they didn't do it, but they want to complain when we continue tax cuts.

So, I understand Elon's concern. I used to be a businessman. I understand idealism, but I think we have to be focused on getting the job done, and that's what we're doing.

BERMAN: What do you think the message was with the Jeffrey Epstein tweet this morning, the new one? It says, the official Jeffrey Epstein pedophile arrest counter 0 0 0 0.

FINE: Well, I think he's leaning into a narrative that there's some big issue with the Jeffrey Epstein list. I'm not an expert in that sort of thing. Obviously, what Jeffrey Epstein did was reprehensible and disgusting, and I know there's a lot of people who want there to be more accountability for that. I am one of them. But I trust President Trump and his team to get it right.

BERMAN: What do you think the impact of a well-funded third party will be if Musk really does put some of his money behind that?

FINE: Well, I think it could help the Democrats, which is exactly what we don't want, because that's the party of more deficits, more taxes, and more spending. The solution to everything is just throw more money at the problem. And so, I hope he doesn't do that, and that we get on the same page and we be focused on solving the problem that Elon has identified and he is frustrated with. He just wants to solve it in a way that may not be realistic. You eat an elephant one bite at a time, and he needs to understand that. BERMAN: The elephant metaphor there with the Republican Party noted. I do want to say I've been through your district a few times actually covering hurricanes before. Obviously, we're all mourning the tragic loss in Central Texas today. There are questions about FEMA going forward. Because the president has said, we want to wean off of FEMA. We want to bring it down to the state level, he says. What do you think about that, especially in the light of the role that FEMA's playing right now?

FINE: Well, look I live in Florida. My heart breaks for the families going through what they're going through in Texas. I have two kids who just got back from summer camp. I can't imagine what they're going through.

But what I would say is this, FEMA is there for after the fact support. In Florida, we've shown what we can do at the state level, and I think we're going to have plenty of time to figure out how things can go better in the future. Right now, we need to be focused on supporting the families.

BERMAN: But just -- I got to let you go, but you want FEMA there for after disaster strike?

FINE: I think that there's a role for the federal government in providing resources. Whether we need the bureaucracy or not is another question. Because look, FEMA oftentimes -- and this goes back decades, takes a lot of time to actually get the money into the states. We've seen that in Florida. In Florida, the state is in charge of responding to disasters not FEMA.

BERMAN: Congressman Randy Fine from Florida, thank you for your time this morning.

[08:00:00]