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Texas Flooding Kills 27 Children and Counselors at Camp Mystic; Volunteer Texas Fire Chief Missing After Vehicle Swept Away; USA's Ben Shelton into Wimbledon Quarters for First Time. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll rising, more than 100 people are now confirmed dead and at least two dozen more still missing in the catastrophic Texas floods. This morning, we're learning more about the victims and also some incredible stories of survival.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, a senior Texas official says sirens might have saved lives, as serious questions remain unanswered about the emergency alerts that were sent and who actually received them.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Trump's announces fresh rounds of tariffs shaking up Wall Street. Markets closed at their worst day and nearly a month. Americans now saying they are fed up with the tariff turmoil.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: The breaking news this morning, the desperate search now entering a fifth day for dozens of people still missing in central Texas as the death toll, as we mentioned, from the catastrophic floods, has now surpassed 100, and it is at least 104 people killed. This morning, we are learning much more about the victims, many of them children, and there are growing questions about whether more could have been done to warn and prepare people ahead of the tragedy.

Just this morning, we now have dramatic image of campers and a counselor being evacuated, just look at that, by helicopter from Camp Mystic, which is the all-girls Christian camp we've talked so much about at the center really of this disaster. And then there's also haunting video really from a nurse at the camp capturing more campers being evacuated by bus.

You can hear the campers singing there as they're being taken out, just passing the devastation on their way out. And their sweet voices, and when they realize what they're looking at.

The camp has confirmed that 27 campers and counselors were killed in the floods. At least ten campers and one counselor remain unaccounted for still this morning. Also today, officials are facing some mounting questions about what was done, the actions and discussions in the decades leading up to the disaster, but also in the hours before the heavy rains hit and burst the banks of the Guadalupe River in the areas -- in these areas that are so prone to flooding.

Let's get to it. So, let's start us off this morning. We've got our team in the flood zone. Let's begin this morning with CNN's Pamela Brown, who's in Kerrville, Texas, which really is probably the hardest hit of the communities. Pamela, tell us more about your conversations you're hearing now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, Camp Mystic, just down the road where I am in Kerrville, a majority of the victims are children. And we're learning more from a counselor who spoke to my colleague, Anderson Cooper, about what was happening in those overnight hours at Camp Mystic and throughout the day.

And the counselor says that, for her and some of the others there at Camp Mystic, the reality of what had happened didn't set in until hours later. The counselors didn't have their cell phones in the cabins. It's a no screen camp, and they can only have their cell phones during their off time. And the public alert system at the camp, it was offline because the power went out.

And so it was a shock when this counselor learned about all of the campers and counselors that were unaccounted for and what had really happened in those overnight hours. Here's what she told Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINE CUTRONA, CAMP MYSTIC COUNSELOR: No one thought that water could do all of that damage in such a short amount of time.

If I could have been down where all that water was, I know I could have helped, and I hate that I couldn't have helped those girls on the flats.

Honestly, the first thing I thought, this is not real. Wake up, Caroline, wake up. This is not real. I'm in a dream. And that's what I wanted it to be.

[07:05:01]

I wanted it to be a dream because it's -- that's not real. That can't happen. This is -- Camp Mystic is the safest place I've ever known and I just couldn't believe it. So, it was devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Yes. And I can attest to that, Kate. I was a camper ten years old and bubble in, the cabin most impacted. And you just feel so safe, secure. It is like you're in a bubble. And now, sadly, that illusion has been tragically stripped away for so many. And the questions are sharpening about what more could have been done and what more should be done now because this is still one of the most flood-prone areas in the country. And I went next door to Comfort, Texas, just down the road from where I am now, and they have a siren system in place that they also did mandatory evacuations in those overnight hours of July 4th. And the volunteer firefighter I spoke to there said they didn't have any loss of life.

Now, there is a different topography, and they did get a heads up from Kerrville that the water was rising, but it certainly raises questions about what needs to be done here in Kerrville to prevent future disasters. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's absolutely right. Pam, thank you so much for being there. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, says, sirens on the Guadalupe might save lives.

Let's go about 10 miles upriver now. CNN Isabel Rosales is in Center Point, Texas. Good morning, Isabel. What are you seeing there this morning?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. Here, it's pitch black right now. But here in about an hour or so, we're going to see crowds of volunteers from all over Central Texas coming here and picking up tools, picking up sticks, picking up heavy machinery as well, and getting to work, removing debris following the Guadalupe River and the tributaries, attempting to find the missing.

Now, we heard from the Kerrville City manager, Dalton Rice, over there that, volunteers, please stay away, is what he's saying. We don't need more victims out here. We've got an organized effort that we're doing here with professionals. But that is not the case everywhere as we're seeing here at Center Point.

I spoke with volunteers who are finding all sorts of things, personal belongings along their search. One volunteer told me he found a child's bible with notes handwritten on the sides. And the moment he found that he dropped to his knees just sobbing as the reality set in. He doesn't know what happened to that family.

We have pictures of another volunteer who found a blue teddy bear children's clothing, an American flag, 20 feet up high on a tree and pictures, including a child's dance recital.

This is Michael Guyer. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GUYER, VOLUNTEER: It is really just the effort to try to just find closure for the families and the victims. Even if it means like just finding the remains, that's more than enough for me to kind of just give satisfaction that I did a job well done. It's very humbling just because all we're finding right now is just belongings and just debris after debris. It's just exhausting. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: I had a volunteer stop me yesterday and told me that it was so discouraging to keep seeing the news of just this death toll going up and up and up. He asked me to talk about how many people have been helped, how many personnel are out here helping?

So, I'm going to do that right now. Senator Ted Cruz said yesterday in a press conference that 850 high water rescues happened since this flooding incident began. The governor, Greg Abbott, said that there's over 20 state agencies giving it they're all on this search and rescue effort and more than 1,700 personnel, close to a thousand vehicles. So, so much help and manpower out there, both from professionals and regular people, volunteers out here hoping to make a difference. John?

BERMAN: And a lot of prayers from around the country as well.

Isabel Rosales in Center Point, Texas, this morning, thank you so much for your reporting. Sara?

SIDNER: We are also hearing incredible stories of survival in the midst of this tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter nearly was washed away and my son grabbed her and saved her by her hair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Coming up, one man tells the story of how his cousin managed to survive as floodwaters surrounded him for hours.

Plus, serious questions this morning about early warning alerts and who did and did not receive them ahead of those flashfloods.

Also much needed drier weather may finally be on the way to Texas, but 50 million people are under flood threats in other parts of the country today. Those stories and more ahead.

[07:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, a frantic search is still underway for more than two dozen people who are still missing in the Texas floods. One of them is Michael Phillips, a volunteer fire chief in Burnet County. Officials say his vehicle was swept off the road as he responded to an early morning call for help in a water rescue on Saturday.

Now, I want you to take a look at this image that was put out by the Cook County Emergency Management.

[07:15:02]

This is his vehicle. Look at it there. Look what the floodwaters did to it and all that debris there, the twisted metal you see from the car, that totally apparently ripped apart car. It was buried under all of that rubble that you see. There he is a volunteer fire chief in Marble Falls, which is in Burnet County.

Joining me now is Alan Trevino, chief deputy of Bernard County Sheriff's Office. Thank you again. We talked yesterday about the fire chief and what it is he was doing, where it is his vehicle was found. Do you have any new information about him, about where the search is on for him?

CHIEF DEPUTY ALAN TREVINO, BURNET COUNTY, TEXAS SHERIFF'S OFFICE: The search is continuing for chief Phillips. Yesterday, when we spoke we had three missing and three fatalities, we can update that number to one missing. Chief Phillips is our only missing person in Burnet County. We now have five fatalities. The other two more were recovered.

And on the -- on Chief Phillips, now we're able to dedicate all of our resources. We had two separate command posts working both sides of the county thousand square miles of county. And so now we're able to bring all those resources today to the area where his vehicle went off the road and continued to search Cow Creek with many more dogs and boots on the ground searching for Chief Phillips.

SIDNER: I am so sorry to hear that you, your death toll has gone up. We were warned that the public was warned that was likely to happen across all of the areas and counties where this flooding happened. But at least you have found the bodies of those people so the families can start to make arrangements.

I am curious because you talked about, you know, how you're going about doing this search. What is hampering your ability to search? I mean, just looking at the pictures, there's still high water, there's still so much debris. What's hampering the search? What do you want to bring into the area that you can't at this hour?

TREVINO: It's couple of few things. One is we have continued to get rain. And so when we have rain in the area we're concerned about our re our volunteers and our first responders caught out in potentially another flashflood. And so we have to call them back. And getting to some of these locations, we are having to drop teams by helicopter into these remote areas. And so it's long.

And then with the teams that are searching, it's hot, it's humid, and so we're having to rotate significantly just because of the exhaustion for both human and canine on these searches.

Additionally, because of how damp it is, we cannot in some areas get -- we won't be able to get horses in at this point. And additionally, with the cadaver dogs on some of these -- we're putting cadaver dogs in boats. And so it's tough work but we're working, we're -- as the days continue, the terrain dries out and we will continue to bring the resources that we need to be the most effective.

SIDNER: It is incredible some of what you're telling me, that you're having to drop people in from the skies to try to get into some of these areas that are just too hard to get in on the ground. You can't use ATVs. You can't use even horses at this point in time. So, it just gives everybody a sense of how difficult this search has been.

Can you give us any detail about who has lost their lives in your county? You talked about the numbers had risen and that the one person that you are still searching for is that volunteer fire chief. Any detail on those who have perished in your county?

TREVINO: I don't believe we've given any names other than one early on, and his name was Preston Prince. And his body was recovered on day one. And so yesterday's two when I can give you information, there's a 17-year-old female that was missing in the Cow Creek area, and her remains were located in Travis County. Cow Creek goes in and out of Burnet and Travis County as the river flows.

And so we are working our efforts with Travis County and have combined our communication with their county on where we're searching and they're searching upriver, and we're searching downriver.

[07:20:13]

And so we're going to double our efforts today with many more boots on the ground.

We brought in 12 fresh cadaver dogs to assist that we were going to be using for -- we had set up for half of those for the north response. But since the remains of our fifth was found late yesterday evening, and those resources will now go to the south part of the county.

SIDNER: All right. It is devastating to hear that it's a 17-year-old, another child who has died in this tragedy.

Alan Trevino, to you and your rescue crews, thank you. I know the community is thanking you this morning, and I know this is extremely difficult, mentally and physically taxing on all those who are out there helping to try and find anyone who is still alive or to recover bodies. I really do appreciate you taking the time this morning with us. Kate.

BOLDUAN: As we're learning just there more and more tragic stories of those who have died in these floods, but also some amazing stories of survival. One man's harrowing story of how he survived the floodwaters as they were rising inside his home.

And also ahead, what we're learning about the victims, many of them children, killed in these devastating floods.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: American Tennis star Ben Shelton is through to the Wimbledon quarter finals, 22 years old, and now one step closer to becoming the first American man in 25 years to potentially win the singles title. And he is not alone. Fellow American Taylor Fritz is also into the final eight. There's a whole lot going on the grass courts. Let's go to Coy Wire for more on this. I would love to see you in Wimbledon.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, me too. With you right next to me. It'd be great to catch it on that green grass, incredible stuff. American ace Ben Shelton giving new meaning to Big Ben in England, serving up a sensational performance. The 6'4" Shelton secured his spot in the quarters after brilliantly besting Lorenzo Sonego in four sets. He will have Sinner next.

Shelton's powerful play and youthful exuberance, they're turning heads. After his third round win, Kate, he requested his sister Emma's employer, Morgan Stanley gave her more PTO because she's been his lucky charm. Well, Morgan Stanley played along. Emma was there to see her 22-year-old little big brother advanced to his first ever Wimbledon quarter final.

But Shelton says that dad, Bryan, is his inspiration on the grass. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SHELTON, INTO WIMBLEDON QUARTERS FOR FIRST TIME: He was in the round of 16 here 31 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SHELTON: Give or take, my argument is that I think I'm better than him from the baseline and he had a better serve than me, maybe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now to a moment that had fans clutching their hearts on center court, talented Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov dazzling in his fourth round match against world number one Jannik Sinner playing lights out, painting the line, serving with sensational screen, taking the first two sets, 6-3, 7-5. But in the third, score tied a two heartbreak for him. After a powerful race, he pulled up holding his right pectoral muscle. He went down in excruciating pain, and despite a valiant effort to continue, he was ultimately forced to retire. The crowd, even his opponent, Sinner, devastated for him, giving Dimitrov a standing ovation as he walked off in tears.

Now, Iga Swiatek seeking her sixth Grand Slam title facing Clara Tauson. The 24-year-old cruising, 6-4, 6-1, advancing to her 12th major quarter final.

Now to bring some levity this morning, Kate, we all know strawberries are a big deal at Wimbledon, about 35 tons, consumed mostly with cream or champagne during the tournament. We'll wait until you see how Swiatek likes her strawberries. She said ahead of this match, Kate, but as a kid, she started loving strawberries in pasta with a little yogurt in there too. Not sure if this is a breakfast food, breakfast of champions maybe. Whatever works for the world number four. She has 19 seed Samsonova next.

BOLDUAN: I mean, that was a twist. That was not what I was expecting was going to be the recipe.

WIRE: Yes, the whole crowd, when she announced us ahead of that last match was like, wait, what? They just gasped, could not believe that she put strawberries in her pasta.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to have to try it now. Whoa, you're right behind me. I was so worried.

BERMAN: I know.

WIRE: I can't tell you.

BERMAN: I had no idea. I was --

BOLDUAN: How do feel about strawberries --

BERMAN: So, it's a surprise to both of us right there.

BOLDUAN: Strawberries and yogurt and pasta.

BERMAN: I think it takes hot sauce. I think if you add hot sauce, it's the only thing that would make it potentially grosser than what it sounds like already.

BOLDUAN: Throw a little tabasco in it.

BERMAN: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Thanks, Coy. Yummy.

WIRE: You got it guys.

BERMAN: I've been here the whole time, by the way.

BOLDUAN: I'm so sorry. You're like the creepy guy from Seinfeld.

BERMAN: Or worse.

All right, a stunning story of survival from the deadly floods in Texas. The desperate measures one young man took to escape the rising waters. And we've got a rise on the markets this morning. Future's kind of flat, up a tick in some cases, down a tick in others, but basically flat, this after they dropped substantially yesterday after the president extended his extension on the deadline for tariffs.

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[07:30:00]