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At Least 119 Dead, More Than 160 Missing in Catastrophic Texas Flooding; Trump Threatens More Countries With Tariffs as High as 30 Percent; Trump Hosts Leaders of Five African Nations to Explore Commercial Opportunities. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 09, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:16]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We are tracking historic devastation after catastrophic floods here in Kerr, Texas, as officials confirm there are more than 160 people who remain missing, the death toll now climbing to 119. As officials vow to answer key questions about their emergency response, we're going to hear from officials and those impacted by the floods next.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Plus, President Trump sends the leaders of seven more countries, tariff letters as he threatens to revive his global trade war. We'll show you which countries could soon be put on notice and what this could mean for you. And doctors in Gaza plead for help as they are forced to ration healthcare. We have the latest on ceasefire talks after President Trump's meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister. And we're following these major developing stories and so much more, all coming right here in "CNN News Central."

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SANCHEZ: The breaking news this hour, search teams are scouring Central Texas as the number of missing from those catastrophic floods rises sharply. Officials now confirming 161 people are still missing six days into these recovery efforts, crews are facing a staggering task sifting through mountains of debris and a desperate search for any remaining survivors. So far, officials can confirm at least 119 people were killed, making this the deadliest fresh water flood Texas has seen in over a century.

There are still critical questions left unanswered about what resources were available that may have helped to mitigate this tragedy. Today, officials say those answers will come in time. CNN Shimon Prokupecz was at a briefing earlier today. Shimon, what more are officials saying at this point?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're not describing the events leading up to this tragic incident, this horrific weather event. They're still talking about and focusing on their recovery. They're focusing on trying to find the missing. And as we know now, such a high number of missing, and they're not even certain that that number is going to end there. They certainly are expecting that perhaps that number could rise. They're still working through information.

There's a lot of questions here, Boris, as to the lead up into this. What did officials here know? How much information were they getting? How much were they prepared? And so today, at the briefing, I asked if the mayor, the mayor here of the city of Kerrville, there was a phone call that the Lieutenant Governor says took place on July 3rd, the day before, with city mayors and city officials and state officials that they were invited to this phone call to talk about the potential weather here. And I asked the mayor if he was on that call, take a listen to what he said.

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PROKUPECZ: The lieutenant governor said that on July 3rd that the county judges and city mayors were invited on a daily call Thursday to discuss weather forecast. Were you on that call? Were you invited to that call? Do you know if the county judge was also on that?

MAYOR JOE HERRING JR., KERRVILLE, TEXAS: I can't speak to for the county judge. That would be hearsay. And I'm not going to contradict the information you have. But I will tell you personally, I did not receive a telephone call.

PROKUPECZ: You, you weren't invited to the call?

HERRING JR.: I did not receive a telephone call.

PROKUPECZ: And you were never given any information about what assets were brought into the area?

HERRING JR.: So I wasn't invited to the call. I'm not trying to deflect but I don't --

PROKUPECZ: No, I understand. Do you know why that -- why? Any idea how that would -- why that would happen or?

HERRING JR.: Maybe I'm not a local mayor. I can't tell.

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PROKUPECZ: Well, obviously, Boris, he was being quite sarcastic there. There's just so many questions about the days before and leading up into this, because what's been happening is the state, on one level, the Texas State Department of Emergency Management is saying we were monitoring this. We were trying to notify local officials to keep an eye on this. We were moving resources into the area.

The mayor today saying he is not sure what the state is talking about. A reporter asked if he was aware of these resources? He seemed to indicate he wasn't. We've tried to ask county officials who are really in charge of this area where all this has happened, they have not gotten back to us. So, all of those questions of what happened in the days leading up to this are still unanswered. But I will say to you, the sheriff here and other officials, they promise us that they will get to the bottom of this and get us the answers at some point.

[14:05:00]

But they want to get through the trauma of this. They want to get through what they're dealing with at this moment.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And Shimon, we also heard from the Kerrville police sergeant. What did he say?

PROKUPECZ: No, Boris, it was the first time I think that we have gotten some really detailed information about what the first responders, the police officers from the police department were doing in the hours and the minutes as the floodwater was rising. He talked about officers who were off duty in their homes, seeing the water rising, trying to rescue their neighbors. He talked about this incredible moment where two police officers who come to the scene and they are using garden hoses, they tie a garden hose around them and another officer is holding that garden hose and the one officer is going in to try and rescue people that were going to be taken away by the water, the raging river.

He also talked about officers seeing people stuck in trees to try and escape the rising water. And it was the first time that we have gotten this kind of detail days later, days later about the situation and what these officers were facing as they were trying to go in and rescue people. And the sergeant said, it's unclear just how many lives they have saved by doing what they did that morning.

The other thing I saw the sergeant later, just a couple of hours ago here, and I spoke to him off camera and he said that he's hoping that at some point, maybe even today, that they will be releasing body camera footage, which will really show us exactly what these officers were dealing with in those hours, in those moments as the river was rising. But really describing this heroic effort, so much focus on the lead up. So much focus on the questions that we want answered about the accountability, but of course, it's these heroic efforts and it's the trauma and the difficulty for this community right now and what these law enforcement and emergency responders are all dealing with here as they try to really find these people who are missing.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt. Efforts that we should point out are still ongoing. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for the update.

So, the Cajun Navy has been on the ground here in Texas aiding in recovery efforts. Keep in mind, this is a group that responds to disasters all across the United States and members tell us that what they're encountering here in Texas is among some of the worst that they've ever seen. Joining us now is the Vice President of the United Cajun Navy, Brian Trascher. Brian, thanks so much for being with us. So yesterday, we heard from local officials, Kirk County Police saying that no one had been found alive since Friday in the County. Do you think it's likely that a survivor would be found at this point given that we're now six days from when this disaster unfolded?

BRIAN TRASCHER, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: I think unlikely is an optimistic word. Once you get past the 48- to 60-hour mark, the survivability index goes way, way down. We always hold out hope for a miracle, but as to your point, after the sixth day, it'd be unlikely that someone, if they didn't drown, was able to survive just out in the heat and with wildlife and not having any food or water.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And we've heard from volunteers and first responders who tell us that that doesn't change the fact that they hope to find survivors and at the very least, to bring solace to families whose loved ones are currently missing. So, the work itself doesn't change and the motivation doesn't change. I do wonder how long you think this operation is going to take place, how long the Cajun Navy plans to be here?

TRASCHER: I think, we can be there as long as the EOC wants our help. We've been having a canine team on the ground for at least since Saturday, I think. And they're responsible for at least a dozen recoveries. Unfortunately, nobody that was alive. But again, those families will get closure with their loved ones being -- the remains at least being found. We just brought in one of our superhero teams, the Mountain Mule Packers from North Carolina. These are the mules that were going up the mountains.

We met them when we were out there after Hurricane Helene, and we were having trouble getting power and Starlinks up into the mountains. The treetop cover was too heavy for helicopters to land, and these mules brought up power packs and Starlinks, all the way up to these little mountain towns. And we were able to get the missing person list go from like 4,000 to under a thousand in just a couple of days, just because people were getting powered up and connected.

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SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's immensely helpful to have that kind of ability to do that. And it just kind of illustrates for folks at home what the terrain is like here. You've got rivers, mountains, dense brush. I also wanted to ask you about specifically, what it's like for your crews to go into areas like that because the heat is now sweltering. You've got, at least in the last few days, there had been the danger of more rain. And on top of that, it's just the amount of hours, the residual exhaustion for your teams. Talk to us about what it's like when they head out there.

TRASCHER: It's everything you described. We made the decision early on that given the sensitive nature of the type of missing persons we were looking for, we were only going to use what we call special ops volunteers or mostly combat veterans. They did deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, so they're used to the heat. They're used to seeing horrible things, and they're emotionally and mentally tough enough to handle it and do the job, and finish the mission.

SANCHEZ: Well, Brian Trascher, thank you so much for giving us that context. Appreciate the work that the United Cajun Navy has been doing here. TRASCHER: Yeah, thanks CNN. You all have been all over us since day one. We appreciate you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. So, we want to remember the victims here in Texas as we head to break. People like retired veteran, Bill Venus, a father of four who served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army. Venus' son traveled all the way from Maryland to personally search for his father and confirms to CNN that he did find him. Venus Jr. told People Magazine, he was a hero. God would've been better off taking me because he had a whole lot more work he could have done in this world. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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[14:16:35]

WHITFIELD: All right. Today, President Trump is threatening at least seven more countries with tariffs. The list includes the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, and Iraq. Some of the rates are as high as 30 percent. And this is in addition to the tariffs the president announced on Monday for 14 countries. Some of his other moves this week includes announcing a 50 percent tariff on copper imports and threatening a 200 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals. So, how are the markets reacting to all of this? Well, they're not plunging like in April when President Trump announced his sweeping Liberation Day tariffs on about 60 countries and trading blocs.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us right now. So Matt, why are investors reacting so differently this time around?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, it's remarkable how calm investors have been about all of the latest trade war chaos. As you mentioned, we've got 21 nations now getting a letter from the president on tariffs. These threatened tariffs on copper, on pharmaceuticals, and yet, markets have barely budged. U.S. stocks up today. And yeah, they did retreat a bit on Monday and Tuesday, but only after they had already skyrocketed to all-time highs. You almost need a microscope to see the retreat from earlier this week. And so, this does look like another example of what's known on Wall Street as the TACO trade, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.

A lot of the investors that I'm talking to, they do suspect that a lot of this is bluster and that ultimately, these tariff threats are going to get watered down or delayed or canceled altogether. That ultimately these tariffs won't actually take effect. But there could be a flaw with this TACO trade logic, right? Because if markets don't freak out, because everyone assumes that the president is going to blink, that means there is no selling pressure like there was in April that convinces the White House to reverse course.

Bob Elliott, a veteran investor, he summed it up best on social media saying, the trouble is without the pain of falling markets, he won't chicken out. And all of this is made even more complicated by the fact that President Trump knows about the TACO trade. He was asked about it late May. He made clear he does not like this idea. And he really pushed back on the idea that he has chickened out at all. So, he's trying to make the point that he is serious this time and that this August 1st deadline for tariffs is real.

Now Peter Navarro, one of the president's top economic advisers, he was on another network this morning talking about this issue of tariffs and inflation. Take a listen to what Navarro said.

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PETER NAVARRO, (R) COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the key thing here and why Jay Powell is so wrong about not lowering rates, is to recognize the enormous ability of the world to absorb the tariffs. We're seeing the tariffs on countries around the world. We're not seeing any inflation because --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

NAVARRO: -- basically, they're eating the tariffs and they're eating it because they cheat us.

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EGAN: You know, a lot of the economists that I'm in touch with, they are sticking with their projections that eventually, all of these tariffs will filter through the system.

[14:20:00]

That's something that takes time and will drive up inflation. Goldman Sachs today coming out and saying that they're standing by their inflation forecast. Stephanie Roth, she's a veteran economist, she put it this way. She said both companies and consumers should eventually feel the impact. Just because it hasn't shown up yet in the economic data doesn't mean tariffs have vanished into thin air. And so the bottom line here, Fredricka, is a lot of economists, they're saying that even though the damage from the tariffs hasn't happened yet, it hasn't been canceled. It just hasn't arrived yet. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matt, again, thanks so much. All right. Joining me right now to discuss his Business Journalist, Roben Farzad. He is also the host of "Full Disclosure" on National Public Radio. Great to see you.

ROBEN FARZAD, HOST, NPR's "FULL DISCLOSURE": Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, Trump promised 200 deals by now, but so far about three. How many more can the administration realistically get done before this new August 1st deadline?

FARZAD: He's fighting his own fire hydrant gusher out of the White House. I mean, just a few days ago, we were talking about Iran and bombing the nuclear facilities, right? Around that, there are all these things. There's the Epstein files. And so, this is now competing with his own kind of media blitz coming out of the White House. Of course, if we go back to April 2nd, I remember I was doing a media blitz that day. What is it? Liberation Day. Tariff, Liberation Day, Freedom Day, I forget what it's called. That's when markets took him at their max kind of seriousness, right? Liberation Day.

But if you keep going back and forth, back and forth, there's a bit of crying wolf. There's a bit of the fact that the TACO thing, as Matt said, clearly insulted him and he would love to consolidate power. Clearly, he has something close to a rubber stamp with the House and Senate, and he has a lot of clout in the Supreme Court. He wants this Fed Chair, which he appointed the first time around, gone so he could have someone more in his pocket there. So it frustrates him, I think that markets have called his bluff.

WHITFIELD: So, you think he has a credibility problem with the markets and perhaps with a lot of countries who are like, yeah, we're not believing you this time.

FARZAD: Yes. As evidenced by what this BRIC bloc is doing right now. I mean, you lose a lot of cred coming out of the gate. You talk a big game about being a dictator on the first day. And yes, he has crossed several lines of as we've discussed several times, but coming out announcing these prohibitive tariffs and the shock and awe of that statement and that chart on that April 2nd day, compared with all the watering down and prevarication and dilution and we'll extend it. And after a while, you just kind of, if you're corporate America, if you're the G7, you kind of yawn it off.

But having said that, he is a person who gets angry if he's perceived that way. I mean, I think that's the general read. So, there's always that headline risk and you've seen it in market volatility.

WHITFIELD: So, there are five leaders of five African nations at the White House today, including Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal. And these countries lack the mineral wealth of some of the larger African nations. Is this Trump's way of potentially looking for inroads to compete with, say, Russia and China, which are deeply entrenched in doing business with many African nations? You talk about that BRIC block.

FARZAD: Yeah, as you've discussed before, Fredricka, with a lot of people, he's not afraid of transactionalism. He's not afraid of transactionalism with the Paramount settlement, I mean, I won't go there, but also with countries. In exchange for Ukraine, can we get dibs on your mineral rights? And Sub-Saharan Africa has historically been used to that with China, Sudan, and the other players who traditionally would not get time of day from Western companies.

You have sanctioned countries. China comes in there, no questions asked. And Trump is saying, why can't we just be real about that if everybody else is doing that? I mean, who am I to say that we're not going to sell you our hands and go in there? There's this arms race, space race, whatever it is, for precious minerals, for that earth equity that we used to not want to go after in the past. But, Trump doesn't really subscribe to that taboo.

WHITFIELD: All right. Roben Farzad, thank you so much. Great to see you.

FARZAD: Likewise. Thank you. WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, the latest on ceasefire talk as doctors in Gaza plead for help. They say, Israel's earlier blockade on aid has crippled the healthcare system, forcing them to ration care and cram multiple babies into single incubators.

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[14:29:16]

SANCHEZ: I'm Boris Sanchez, coming to you from Kerrville, Texas, the epicenter of the deadliest freshwater flooding event in Texas in more than a century. At least 119 people have been killed and more than 170 remain missing, 150 of those just here in Kerr County alone. At today's news conference, local government leaders shared new details about what happened in the days and hours before the catastrophic flooding. Kerrville's mayor notably said that he was not invited to a weather forecast call with state officials and other mayors. One Texas lawmaker who represents an area where some of the victims survived is now calling for an investigation.

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REP. LLOYD DOGGETT, (D-TX): Why a county would invite people from all over the state and the country to come there to camp along the river, and not have an alert system in place to protect those people. --