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Crews Keep Searching for Survivors as Texas Flood Deaths Surpass 100; At Least 105 Dead, Dozens Still Missing After Texas Floods; Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting a Day After Extending Tariff Deadline. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking just moments ago, a tragic new update, the official death toll rising from the floods in Central Texas as dozens still remain missing. This morning, senior officials acknowledged that sirens might have saved lives as new questions are being raised about who received the warnings of danger.

And an extended deadline extended again. In this time, it's firm, but not 100 percent firm. The president's new adjusted message on tariffs and trade deals. We're waiting for the markets to open to see what investors think of it all.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning, the death toll in Texas has now risen to 105 people. The latest flood victim found just 17 years old. There is still, however, a frantic search for any remaining survivors, but that search growing more desperate there.

Could more have been done to avert this deadly disaster, a big question being asked this morning. Among the dead, two sisters from Dallas, 13-year-old Blair Harbor and 11-year-old Brooke Harbor, they were staying with the grandparents along the Guadalupe River when they were swept away by floodwaters. They were found 15 miles downriver. Their grandparents at this hour remain unaccounted for.

And a new image into us this morning taken aboard a helicopter evacuating campers, and a counselor after the flooding struck, they were rescued from Camp Mystic. The all-girls Christian camp at the epicenter of this tragedy sitting along the Guadalupe River where the banks burst early Friday morning. The camp has confirmed 27 campers and a counselor are among the dead. And at least ten other campers and one counselor are still missing.

Today, officials are facing mounting scrutiny. Were they prepared enough for all of this? Could sirens have saved lives? And why did some residents fail to receive alerts, including the mayor of Kerrville, one of the hardest hit communities? Here's what he told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JOE HERRING JR., KERRVILLE, TEXAS: I thank everyone in Kerrville, everyone in Kerr County wishes of God we'd had some way to warn -- to warn those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That was our Pamela Brown speaking to the mayor there.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is in the flood zone in Center Point, Texas. Where does the search and rescue effort stand this morning? Because we have also heard from authorities there is a recovery effort as well going on as the days go on, the hours go on, hope is starting to be lost a bit there.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that is the sad and painful reality, Sara. As soon as the sun came up, it's incredible, all of these people popped up out of the blue, these volunteers that have been out here for five days now. They just had a briefing here where they organize the saw teams, the war cans, the heavy equipment operators, and they are ready to get to work.

So we've been showing you the efforts of these volunteers, EMT, police, firefighters to find the missing, but I want to show you something that I have not in these days, and that's the people behind the scenes making sure that they can keep running through these grueling hours, feeding them, keeping them hydrated.

I want to introduce to you, Melissa Machado, who is an elementary school principal and was actually at Disney when she saw the news about this and knew she had to come down here. Can you describe to me that moment.

MELISSA MACHADO, HELPING FEED VOLUNTEERS: Yes. I mean, for us, it was just -- it was gut-wrenching, right, seeing the news, looking at what was going on, somewhere very close to home for us, right, because we're just down in San Antonio. And my husband and I knew we had to do something right? It was just, what do we do about it, right? What can we do to support? What can we do to help? Is there something we can make an outreach about?

And so for us it was, let's go feed them, right, because we know that they are working hard. We have our frontline workers, we have volunteers, hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who are working very hard and diligently.

And so we sent out a social media post on Facebook and community definitely came together. We had -- we probably raised over a thousand dollars to provide over 300 meals yesterday. And they asked for us to come back this morning to provide breakfast. And we're planning for another 300 to 500 people while also keeping them hydrated, right, because they are working so hard.

[09:05:00]

We got to go down yesterday to actually hand out food. And you can tell the exhaustion. You can just see the exhaustion on their face. They are tired but they are moving. They are hitting the ground running. They are not taking breaks. So, we were forcing them to take some breaks to drink something, eat something, and just to give them that energy to keep going.

ROSALES: And I see that you guys are doing breakfast tacos right here.

And I actually want to come on over to this side to introduce you to Daniela Quintero. And, Daniela, this situation really hits close to home for you. Can you tell me about that?

DANIELA QUINTERO, HELPING FEED VOLUNTEERS: I do have a best friend. They are looking for some family right now in Hunt, Texas. We have yet to find the infant. Others were recovered.

ROSALES: Family members were actually found and unfortunately killed in this flash flooding. Is that what you're saying?

QUINTERO: Yes. Yes. It was very traumatic for my best friend and her family. So, it's just -- we're just -- the best I can do is just help in any way and send prayers towards them just to help them with the comfort with everything going on.

ROSALES: And you said that they're still searching for an infant?

QUINTERO: Yes. I believe it's six weeks.

ROSALES: What have you seen here from the community that has just touched your heart as this is still very much an active scenario?

QUINTERO: I mean, I feel like I've seen here, like everyone has come together to help bring comfort to the community the best way we can. I mean, I know this is like a tragic thing for most people to go through, and I can imagine. But like as long as we're here we're supporting each other and our community came together and we're from San Antonio, we came down here to do our best like to support others and give them comfort the best way we can.

ROSALES: Daniela and Melissa, thank you guys for all that you do and your family members, including young children here helping out. Guys, back to you.

SIDNER: Isabel Rosales, my God, to hear from her that her best friend is still searching for a six-week-old infant is absolutely gut- wrenching. Thank you so much for bringing their stories. Kate, over to you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, such great women that are there to help in the midst of what continues to be a rolling tragedy now, right, Sara?

Joining us right now is someone who has lived through this as well and also jumped in to help just as we're hearing from so many people. Stuart Gross lives in Ingram, just some miles from Kerrville and near some of those campsites along the Guadalupe River. Stuart, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

You live on a street that overlooks a campground that got washed away. Describe for us what you saw and what you heard as that wall of water came through.

STUART GROSS, TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVOR: It was dark. It was torrential rains all night. And we all know that live here and around the river, that when it rains like that, there could be problems. At about 4:00 in the morning, I heard, evacuate, get out, evacuate, get out. I went to the porch and walked out, saw our local volunteer firemen, which let me just say they're heroes. They're heroes. And I called a friend of mine, it's an officer there, and the first words he said was, you guys need to get out.

So, I loaded up the wife and the fur babies and got the higher ground and, you know, then you do what you got to do. It was terrifying. I could feel my home vibrating from the pressure down in the river. It was just -- you can't imagine, just can't imagine.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely not. I mean, we actually spoke yesterday with a woman who was camping in that very campground that your home, that you that you can kind of look over into. She and her family, thankfully, they were -- she has four kids and she and her husband and the kids were able to get out safely. What she talked about with us yesterday was just how quickly things changed, how quickly it turned from seeing some water to seeing campers in cabins floating by. Let me play a little bit what Amanda told me, Stuart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA SUE JONES, TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVOR: It was just immeasurably fast.

The rain wasn't really heavy. It was still raining, but there was no torrential downpours or anything to make us believe that that was about to happen. So, it was a matter of minutes from where it was just quiet. Everyone was asleep to lights coming on slowly in the cabins and campers to them just being washed away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And, Stuart, you've lived there for 40 years. What kind of water are we talking about here?

GROSS: Well, down below where that campground used to be, it's about 300 yards wide and I'm 30 feet off the river bottom. So, I've heard estimates of a trillion gallons of water and it's running at 75, 85 miles an hour.

[09:10:06]

It doesn't stop for anything. It's absolutely just devastated, the whole river bottom. It's frightening and you can't get out of the way quick enough. I've been involved in evacuations as a firefighter paramedic here, and, I mean, time is of the essence. I mean, it's on you. I think we need some kind of reliable warning system. And like I said, our fire department, if they had not been up all night monitoring the situation, there would have been a lot more deaths in that campground. And so we need to do something about it. I heard that Texas has said that they're going to fund one before the end of next summer. I hope that's the truth. We need it. It's a river community.

BOLDUAN: Well, also, Stuart, even just hearing --

GROSS: So, that would but it has --

BOLDUAN: Even just hearing you say that you were woken up by your local volunteer firefighters, I mean, had you not gotten that, I fear what that could have meant for you and your wife.

GROSS: I wouldn't have gotten up. We would have -- you know, it was the 4th of July weekend and I plan on sleeping in and, you know, I wouldn't have gotten out. Now, fortunately, the water started coming into my neighborhood, which is 30 feet up off the riverbed. But it didn't get in, and we didn't lose our house, and nobody down there lost their house.

But can you imagine, had we had another five or six feet rise, it'd been catastrophic. I mean, just catastrophic. We've lost over a hundred of our citizens and our families, and friends and visitors, and that's not acceptable.

But I do want to say that, if I might, that we're a small community and we -- everybody I've talked to, we're so grateful, we're humbled from -- I am sorry -- all the people that have showed up from Louisiana and Midland, Odessa, Plano, to search and to bring equipment. And the corporations around here, ATB and Lowe's and Walmart, they have stepped up in such a big way to support all the volunteers. And I'm humbled and I'm very grateful for them.

BOLDUAN: Oh, Stuart, I wish I was there to give you a hug. Oh, well --

GROSS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for coming on and telling us your story and all the help you've offered everyone in your neighborhood and the community. And it's really -- it's good to meet you and I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances.

GROSS: The only thing I would ask is I think we got all we need, and just prayers. We're hurting. But, you know, the old saying, don't mess with Texas, so we got this.

BOLDUAN: Well, I'm not messing with Stuart Gross, that's for sure, absolutely not. It's great to meet you. Thank you so much.

GROSS: Thank you. You all have a great day. God bless you.

BOLDUAN: God bless you. John? BERMAN: All right. The remarkable ingenuity and some miraculous strokes of luck for some that save lives, this as we learn new information about the victims there.

And then how firm exactly is not 100 percent firm, 10 percent soft, maybe 20? Countries around the world considering the president's new extended deadline for trade deals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

BERMAN: All right, some breaking news out of Central Texas. So, a father confirms his 21-year-old daughter was found dead after the floods. The father of Joyce Catherine Badon tells CNN, my only ask is to please keep praying for me, Kelly, and our son, Nick, as we live our lives without Joyce Catherine being with us here on Earth.

Joyce Catherine was staying with friends at a cabin when the flooding hit. Her father had traveled from Beaumont to help in the search. This is what he told our Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, you're walking through this mess hoping for a miracle.

TY BADON, FATHER OF JOYCE CATHERINE BADON: Amen. Keep the faith. That's all we can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Louis Deppe, who led a group of volunteers searching for Joyce Catherine and her friends. Louis, thanks for being with us. I know it's been hard getting a connection with you.

What was it like when you heard the news that Joyce Catherine had been found?

LOUIS DEPPE, LED GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS SEARCHIHNG FOR MISSING WOMAN: Yes. So, we'd been at it for two days or so looking in the river behind the property where the house collapsed and was -- and they were washed away. And so we look really hard and yesterday I got a call. Well, I called Ty Badon, the father of Joyce, and he confirmed that they had found the body. And there was a mix of strange combination of being very, very pleased but also devastated.

[09:20:00]

You know, I've known Ty for many years, our whole adult life, we've worked at the same companies before. And so when he let me know, or I saw his wife's Facebook post, I immediately called him on the 4th. And then came over here as quickly as I could with my son. And we looked and looked for two days with a group that we'd put together to help the owner of the property and to find those four kids, those four young adults. And it was tough. It was tough to see a friend, one of my best friends, go through such a thing. And I have a 21-year-old daughter. I can't even imagine. It must be the hardest thing to go through.

BERMAN: You're a good friend and I'm sure he appreciates you just being there. And I know how hard it must be for him to get confirmation of the loss of his daughter, even with the closure.

What's the status of the search for the others who are in that cabin?

DEPPE: Yes. So, there was one other of the four found. They were all in their early 20s. So, there's two more that have not been located yet. I think, you know, realistically we're beyond the time of recovery, although hope never goes away. And we're trying to, you know, just find them.

And so the status is there's two still to go. We're not going to stop until we find these individuals and bring some closure to the families. And it's a strange thing, but, you know, I would do it for Ty, but I know so many people here would do it as well. And we were able to get 15 people together in a matter of an hour to help.

So, the statuses will continue. As long as we can be helpful to the parents of these kids, even though Joyce was found, there's still much work to do and there's so many little children that have lost their life as well. So, we're here to help in whatever capacity we can serve.

It's a -- you know, at times like this, you know, you can't really think about it because you're in the heat of the moment and just trying to do the job at hand, which is going through debris and going through rubble and just deal with the devastation. You kind of put it to the side and just do what you need to do. To do your job, work with others. Make sure that if something is found, we definitely let law enforcement know, call 911, do those appropriate things. They're the experts.

BERMAN: Listen, I'm sure you didn't even think about it for one second before you left to be on scene to help out. We could all use friends like you.

Louis Deppe, thank you for being there, thank you for speaking with us, and please give our thoughts in regards to the Badon family. This has got to be just excruciating for them. Thank you. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead, Texas may finally get some relief from the rains, but now severe storms of potential flooding threaten the northeast. We will bring you the forecast ahead.

Also, we're standing by for the opening bell this morning after President Trump announcing a new round of tariffs. Let's see what happens, coming up,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00] SIDNER: Happening today, President Trump meeting with his cabinet after unveiling new tariff rates for several key U.S. trading partners. His deadlines though shifting like desert sands. He's now extending his self-imposed trade deadline a third time to August 1st.

The so-called reciprocal tariffs were supposed to take effect tomorrow after that 90-day pause announced back in April expired. The president calls the August deadline firm, but not 100 percent firm. After firing off a wave of letters, warning of the new rates, if no deals are reached, U.S. stocks dropped right after the announcement with all three major averages posting their worst day in about three weeks.

The opening bell is just minutes away. So far, stock futures flat this morning.

CNN's Alayna Trine is at the White House for us this morning. What are you hearing from the White House this morning? Firm but not 100 percent firm doesn't sound firm at all.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's exactly kind of what the president said yesterday. He essentially said, when asked by reporters, it was just ahead of his dinner with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, here at the White House last night, you know, is that August 1st deadline, the new deadline, firm? He said, well, it is firm, but not 100 percent, essentially still leaving some wiggle room.

Because what we know, and I think really the big picture here, Sara, is that this initial deadline, July 9th, a 90-day pause on those reciprocal tariffs that began back in April, the president had said, and really publicized this idea that he wanted to have a series of trade deals with key U.S. allies and even some, you know, U.S. foes in some cases to have some of those deals in place by this deadline.

It's clear that that has not exactly come to fruition. We have seen very few trade deals, one with the United Kingdom really the only solid one that we have seen come to fruition at this point.

And so what this is doing is really giving them more time to try and negotiate while also, you know, I'd argue we've heard from the president in recent days kind of changing his tone on saying he's not exactly expecting these trade deals to come together as swiftly as they had been publicizing before and saying that these new letters are really laying out the new tariff terms while these talks are continuing.

But, look, I do think, you know, he did give them some of a reprieve, some of these countries, by extending that deadline to August 1st because he also laid out all of the different terms really in some of these letters that he's expecting.

[09:30:05]

For example, the first letters we saw him, he publicized them on social media.