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Officials: At Least 50 Dead, 29 Missing In Texas Floods; Heavy Rains Trigger More Flash Flood Emergencies In Texas; FEMA, Coast Guard Among Fed Agencies Sending Resources To Texas. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 06, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BRIAN ABEL, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Welcome into the CNN Newsroom. I'm Brian Abel in Washington.

At least 50 people are confirmed dead from massive flooding in Texas, and at least 15 of them are children. Officials say 29 people are missing. We are told all but two of the missing are children from Camp Mystic, a girls' summer camp in Kerr County, Texas. It's one of the areas hit hardest by the flooding. The parents of two young girls confirming to CNN that their daughters have died, 13-year-old Blair Harber and 11-year-old Brooke Harber. Other campers confirmed dead include nine-year-old Janie Hunt, who you see here, nine-year-old Lila Bonner, Sarah Marsh, and eight-year-old Renee Smajstrla, seen in this photo. Her family confirming her death to CNN with her uncle telling us that it's truly devastating.

Camp Mystic is near the Guadalupe River in the town of Hunt, Texas. It's near Kerrville and northwest of San Antonio. Torrential rains caused the river to rise more than 20 feet in less than two hours. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says emergency crews are working nonstop to save people, and CNN's Marybel Gonzalez has more on the damage and the rescue efforts.

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MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The damage across Kerr County is just so widespread. We're here in Kerrville, Texas, on the side of the Blue Oak RV Park. Now, this is an RV park that was gearing up for the Fourth of July celebrations. It was a perfect day. The property owner Lorena Guillen tells us it was sunny. It wasn't too hot. She had purchased $1,000 worth of fireworks to set them off to the visitors that were here, some of whom were long-term RV visitors. Other ones were just here for the holiday weekend.

However, she tells us that quickly changed going into the night. It was around 02:30 a.m. when she noticed it was raining heavily, and before she knew it the river, the Guadalupe River that you see behind us, had just completely swelled up. There were people that were frantic on this property, and one family of five, she describes, were screaming for help. They were clinging to a tree as their RV got swept away by the current. Eventually, and even though people were trying to help that family, that family was also swept away from the current and it is unclear if that family is among those who have been found.

This is a tragic story that we've heard over and over again in different parts of the county. We know even on this property earlier, there was a group of volunteers searching a mangled car along the river that crashed into a tree because they believed somebody could potentially be in there. Sheriff's deputies were called to the scene, but fortunately, nobody was inside the car.

Now, Lorena Guillen says the focus is on helping this community that has been completely devastated and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. She says that here, her RV park, everything is completely gone. 200-year-old trees are uprooted. Concrete slabs and pieces of metal are really all that remain. But, she says she is hopeful that this community will move forward. Right now, they need all the help that they can get, and we know that more federal resources could be on the way, with Governor Greg Abbott issuing a state of disaster declaration to help get some resources here on the ground.

And while they wait for that to happen, she says volunteers have rallied to help this community, bringing in donations, as needed, and also helping with the search and rescue efforts.

We're in Kerrville, Texas. I'm Marybel Gonzalez.

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ABEL: Marybel, thank you.

Let's talk now with Cary Burgess, a meteorologist based in Kerrville, Texas. And Cary, you are native to this area. So, you know it well. For those who don't --

CARY BURGESS, BROADCAST METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

ABEL: -- describe what the terrain is like there. Is it a flood-prone area?

BURGESS: Oh, absolutely. This is a historically flood-prone region, and it's called, in fact, it has a nickname, you've always heard of Tornado Alley, which you see in the plains, this is Flash Flood Alley, and the National Weather Service has appropriately so named this region as a flood-prone area for many, many years. This is not the first time we've had floods of this magnitude. I think what has been different about this event is that we've had more fatalities than we've ever had before in these flooding events, but that river is prone to running out of its banks, oftentimes, and growing up in Kerrville and graduating high school there, I remember 1987 specifically being one of the flood events that rivaled this one.

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In fact, it crested at 37.4 feet, when this one here was roughly 36.7 feet. They're similar in terms of the wave height there and the water levels in Kerrville. We have rugged terrain here. It's not flat. It is a very hilly region. Kerr County being one of the more I guess we call it a lot of elevation changes within that county, and especially out towards Camp Mystic, where most of these fatalities have occurred.

It is very rugged and also rural. It is possible to get trapped on all of the major arteries that head into Hunt, Texas, which is where Camp Mystic roughly is located. And it's in the water up in the Guadalupe River. That's the headwaters of the Guadalupe. It's only one or two feet deep most of the year, and it acts like concrete. It's a rocky surface underneath. It's not mud. It's a rocky surface. Limestone rock is what the ground is consisted of in what --

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ABEL: And it can take a smaller number of inches, much less an extreme amount, in such a short period of time, like we just experienced.

BURGESS: Yes. If we get a heavy rain event like we just saw here, that was, in some cases, three to five inches of rain per hour. We had 10 to 15 inch rainfall totals in three hours' time. That water has to go somewhere. Just imagine pouring all that water into a street. That river bed is underneath the water itself is basically limestone rock, not mud, as I said before. So, it doesn't soak in. It just runs off, just like it would down a street. That creates, eventually, a 20, 30- foot wall of water, like we saw, and to add further complication to the matter where it had occurred during the overnight hours when everyone was sleeping. And despite flood watches, which were issued well ahead of the event, I think people were caught off guard by the fact that the water rose so quickly and that the rain fell so heavily.

So, that is the main thing that I think caught most folks off guard here in Kerrville.

ABEL: Is there a way to see something like this coming, because you did mention that it's not the first time that this --

BURGESS: Right.

ABEL: -- river has seen something of this scale.

BURGESS: Well, I can personally account for and it must have been in July. That's the other weird factor. This is typically the driest month, one of the drier months of the year in Central Texas, and also the hottest, but our major flood events have always been associated with the remnants of tropical systems. This system was Tropical Storm Barry. That is what made landfall in Mexico last week, but it kind of hung around and Mexico, worked its way to the Big Bend, and then swirled across the hill country over the last few days, and that's what triggered it. That enhances our rainfall totals.

And tropical systems like that actually intensify, or the rainfall totals will increase during the late night hours when most people are sleeping. It's always possible in a flash flood watch to see rainfall totals, which the Weather Service said could get up to seven to 10 inches, and we did, but it's awfully hard to pinpoint exactly who is going to get that and where it falls. And since that is in the one of the most rugged portions of the Texas Hill Country, it has happened before, where it is set up western areas of Kerr County and drained down to Kerrville. 1987, it killed 10 campers east of Kerrville in their comfort.

This one was much more serious, and there is two forks of the river. Some people don't know that. The Guadalupe River is one river itself, but there are two forks that come together right at Hunt, and that is where Camp Mystic was. I think those two rivers crested roughly the same time, and that is maybe why the flooding was more catastrophic this time than previous storm systems.

But, we've had this happen before, in the 1930s. We had it happen in the 1950s. We had Tropical Storm Amelia dump rain like this in late July 1978, and it usually has some kind of tropical characteristic with it when we see floods of this magnitude.

ABEL: Yeah. And I know you experienced it back in 1987 as well --

BURGESS: Yes.

ABEL: -- another major flood event.

I do want to ask you in the few moments --

BURGESS: Yeah.

ABEL: -- that we have left, Cary. Saving lives, that is the number one thing that I know from my experience working with meteorologists throughout --

BURGESS: Yeah.

ABEL: -- my time in this career. That is what you hope to do. When you see the number dead here, is there anything that you see that could have been done differently?

BURGESS: I don't know. I think it's a responsibility of that maybe everybody needs to work together. I think there is maybe needs to be more planning sometimes in flood watches. There is a sense, just like hurricanes, that affect the southeast.

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When a hurricane watch is issued, do people actually heed the watch? Do they take it -- take notice of the fact that it's only a watch and not a warning? Do they actually do anything and plan when there is a watch? Now, flash flood watch was issued Thursday, which was a day ahead of this event, and I think most people just kind of thought, OK, it's Fourth of July. We're going to have a river festival on downtown Kerrville in the Guadalupe. There were a lot of tourists. This is kind of a touristy area of Texas.

So, there are people here that aren't from Kerrville originally, and I think a lot of people that were in town are not familiar with what that river is capable of doing. And it's also peak camp season, which happens in the off-season when schools are out of session. That only happens in late June and July. So, the camps were pretty much non- existent the rest of the year. But, it's just one of those things where kids have been going to these camps for generations, years and years, over 100 years, and it's just hard to describe the fact that the perfect storm, if you will, everything came together the way it did, right in the worst possible place and at the worst possible time.

I think the weather service did the best they could. I think maybe at some point, I imagine there will be some changes. In 1987, they put more flood gages up after that tragedy, and I bet there will be more changes coming. I don't know what that will be, but maybe better alert systems where camp directors can be informed more effectively. (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) rain and it doesn't transmit very far into those deep hills. So, that's another factor.

ABEL: Well, Cary, I know you carry the weight of that responsibility, and I know you --

BURGESS: Yes.

ABEL: -- and your colleagues are seeing these images and these numbers and are hurting as well. We're grateful for what you do.

BURGESS: Yes.

ABEL: Thank you.

BURGESS: Well, thank you. We appreciate that. I know I've lost three people. I know personally. It's just been a really rough day, and I think everybody in this area just needs all the prayers we can get.

ABEL: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for joining us, Cary.

BURGESS: You bet.

ABEL: Still to come for us, search and rescue operations are underway in Central Texas after deadly flash flooding. We'll look into the tactical challenges that are faced by the rescue teams.

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ABEL: We are following the breaking news in Central Texas, where communities have been devastated by catastrophic flooding and are bracing for the possibility of even more rain. At least 50 people have died, including 15 children. Officials say there are still more than two dozen people missing along the Guadalupe River, many of those from Camp Mystic. It's a girls' summer camp in Kerr County. The care -- the Kerrville, rather, city manager says search and rescue operations remain the priority. He says crews will continue to work through the night to try and find any survivors.

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And joining me now is Lieutenant Marshall Grant, the U.S. Coast Guard liaison to the city of Kerrville. And up front, sir, I do want to point out for our viewers that you're not able to talk about what the Coast Guard may be doing moving forward, because the Coast Guard isn't the lead agency. But, with that said, sir, tell us what the Coast Guard has been doing up to this point.

LT. MARSHALL GRANT, U.S. COAST GUARD LIAISON TO CITY OF KERRVILLE: Yes, sir. So, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be assisting the state of Texas with their search and rescue efforts, and the Coast Guard remains committed to saving lives in the Guadalupe River area. Currently, we have two helicopters on scene, 65s and then we also have a plane that flew in from Miami this evening here to assist our eight state and local agencies with the search and rescue efforts through the night.

To highlight some of our search and rescue efforts, the Coast Guard has saved -- has conducted 12 flights today and saved 15 campers from that Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas. That included rendering medical assistance and providing aid to our state and local partners. We're going to continue to do that throughout the night.

ABEL: And you mentioned the helicopters. What other tools do you have at your disposal for these rescues? And can you give us a bit of detail on some of the rescues that the guard has done so far at places like Camp Mystic?

GRANT: Yes, sir. So, the helicopters are a great asset. They provide short-range aerial coverage with some of the terrestrial urban research and rescue that's going on. We also have a 144-foot aircraft that can conduct night flights with advanced camera systems that can help potentially find and target some individuals who need assistance.

ABEL: I'm cautious, Lieutenant, to be cognizant of not wanting to share anybody's medical information here, but you did mention rendering aid to some of the people that you've rescued. Without specifics, can you just tell us what kind of injuries you're seeing?

GRANT: So, I don't have any specifics with regards to some of the victims of this incident that we're seeing, but what we are committed to is working with our state and local partners. They're doing a tremendous effort of scouring some of the damaged areas, specifically along the riverfront, where we had significant historical flooding in the region, and then all of the outlying areas that could be possibly affected by runaway debris and then the infrastructure that is impacting the roadways. I don't have any specifics beyond that.

ABEL: OK. I would think that many people, when they think Coast Guard, they think ocean rescues or the Great Lakes, maybe. But, this is different. This is an urban environment, sometimes rural terrain, like you mentioned. How are these rescues different because of that different environment?

GRANT: That's a great question, and what's great is our air crews are really good at what they do, specifically on search and rescue. I guess the added intricacy of working in a terrestrial environment is now we have to deal with the hazards of potential obstructions and different objects that could be blocking our ability to get into an area to render assistance. But, what the Coast Guard is also great at, and what I've been working at with our partnerships, is working with the state and locals to help have a coordinated effort towards rendering assistance to as many individuals as we can.

ABEL: Lieutenant, do you get any sense that maybe sometimes people, communities, us as humans, underestimate the power of water until something like this happens?

GRANT: Absolutely. I know, from my personal experience, my background is in emergency management, it seems that in recent history, we've been seeing a tremendous uptick in natural disasters, severe weather events, and this is a perfect highlight of kind of the severity of how a storm this powerful, this sudden, can impact a region that's vulnerable. Some of the highlight points for this specific flood was it's considered a 500-year flood, meaning you could potentially see this type of event once every 500 years. At its peak, this flooding event rose the Guadalupe River by 27 feet and washed away pretty much everything in its path.

So, that's why we're seeing a tremendous effort from our state and local partners trying to get resources to the region, to get as many people as help as they need.

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ABEL: Lieutenant Marshall Grant in Kerrville, Texas, we hope you, your -- all your crews, as well as everybody that is out doing rescue operations remain safe. Thank you, sir.

GRANT: Thank you very much, and pleasure.

ABEL: The United Cajun Navy may not be part of the U.S. military like the Coast Guard, but once again, the volunteer rescue group from Louisiana is stepping up to help. Wolf Blitzer spoke earlier with the group's Vice President about the challenges they face, as they continue search and rescue efforts.

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BRIAN TRASCHER, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: It's been really challenging. It's like deja vu all over again in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, where you had mountainous, or in this case, hill territory that -- it was inundated by an extreme amount of rainfall, and of course, gravity has nowhere to go but down, and it made its way down into these lower valley areas, unfortunately, where a lot of these youth camps were located, extreme -- extremely fast, kinetic flood waves, and that's made rescue efforts extremely challenging.

We're used to swift water rescue, but we're used to doing it in kind of slick flood waters. This is more like rapids, like we really could use, like people who are very experienced, that white water rafting, I guess you could say, to help. So, we kind of transition. We initially had sent an air boat team out, but we transitioned to some of our partners to send up helicopters, because that seemed to be most effective way to get immediate extractions done.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the search mission is focused on rescuing victims who are still alive. How crucial is this time, this time framework right now?

TRASCHER: The first 48 is the most crucial. When people are -- when they're in flood waters, obviously they get wet. When the sun goes down, temperatures go down. You can have hypothermia. If they haven't had enough hydration or food, they can start to experience mild forms of hallucinations or dementia, which affects their decision-making capabilities and overall survivability. So, every hour counts. It's crucial. The closer you get to that 48 hour, 58-hour mark, the less a chance for survival, and I don't want to throw any kind of grim projections on anybody, because we're hoping for the best. But, as soon as we can get to the people that are missing, the better.

BLITZER: You're absolutely right. What do families, the survivors and residents need the most right now?

TRASCHER: Any many prayers. They are people who have not heard from their loved ones. Really just need support. We are in the process of sending -- we have our own chaplain, Tony Dickey, who is a chaplain for the United States Navy. He has got decades of experience with the Alabama State Police and he has got decades of experience in bereavement, counseling for families and who've lost loved ones, who have loved ones that are missing. And he also has partners with him who specialize in first responders, because we unfortunately see a spike in suicide rates among first responders after they go through traumatic events like this. But, we need to just kind of hope for the best.

One of the things that we've been pushing is that communication is everything. We learned that after Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. So, we've been fortunate to get some donated Starlink units out into the field trying to get signals up to where people can connect and get in touch with their loved ones, and fortunately, SpaceX has been cooperating, and they're trying to outfit every emergency responder vehicle in that area with Starlink, and they usually waive connection fees, like they did in North Carolina. So, we appreciate SpaceX for that.

BLITZER: Brian, what are your United Cajun Navy teams and other volunteers, for that matter, and first responders need mostly on the ground right now?

TRASCHER: We really -- we're following the lead of the local emergency managers, and at some point, they're going to transition this from a search and rescue to search and recovery, and we have assets and capabilities for both scenarios. We've already deployed a team of K9 dogs to help with searches, and we are continuing to send supplies to our volunteers that are already there. We were fortunate to be invited by the O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Kerrville, Texas to set up shop in their parking lot to cook and feed first responders, our volunteers and anybody else who just needs a hot meal.

But, right now, because of the nature of the missing being adolescent girls, we have not put out a wide call for volunteers, usually what we call Special Ops volunteers, because we don't have the time to vet new people when we're looking for minors.

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You just have to be very careful with people you send in to help to avoid bad actors looking for opportunities.

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ABEL: When we return, we'll bring you the latest on the tragedy in Texas, dozens killed by flash floods and dozens more still missing. And as search efforts continue for those who are still missing in Texas, we are hearing stories of bravery from everyday folks. We speak to one man who saved a woman trapped in a tree, next.

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ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

At least 50 people are confirmed dead from massive flooding in Texas, and at least 15 of them are children. 29 people are missing. Torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 20 feet in less than two hours. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says emergency crews are working nonstop to save people. The United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group from Louisiana, is helping with the search and rescue efforts. They tell CNN that they are battling through dangerous debris and downed trees to help find any survivors. They say the outlook grows bleaker with each passing hour.

The Department of Homeland Security Secretary is defending the federal government's response to the disaster in Texas. Kristi Noem says President Trump is, quote, "currently upgrading technology at the National Weather Service." However, the President's megabill, which he just signed into law, makes cuts and even closes some weather research labs that help make forecast improvements.

On Saturday, CNN Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera spoke with the father of a missing 21-year-old in Hunt, Texas. Ty Badon says his daughter and her three friends were swept away by floodwaters during a Fourth of July weekend trip. He describes the search as he scours the area near their last-known whereabouts.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Your daughter was here with two friends.

TY BADON, SEARCHING FOR MISSING DAUGHTER AND FRIENDS: Yes. Three.

LAVANDERA: Three friends.

BADON: Yeah.

LAVANDERA: Just four of them. BADON: Correct, and she and the young man, they went to elementary

school and high school together. And the young -- one of her friends, Ella Cahill, that's her boyfriend, Aidan is, they went to school through high school. So, they've known each other a long time. The other girl, her name is Reese. I can't remember her last name right now. She is Ella's roommate at UTSA. So, we've never met her parents, but God bless her, and we pray that all four of them are still alive.

LAVANDERA: All four are missing.

BADON: Yes, yes. They're all missing. And it's been four o'clock yesterday morning that we were told that they were on the phone with Aidan's dad, who -- they owned the house, but it was a very nice house, no longer there, and Aidan said, hey, I've got to go. I got to help Ella and Reese. So, he gave the phone to Joyce Catherine. Joyce Catherine said they just got washed away. And then, a few seconds later, the phone went dead, and that's all we know. So, we presume that she got washed away as well. And if you go back to where the house is, it's not a good sign. And that's why I was telling you, my son and I are walking, and I thought it was a mannequin, little boy about eight or 10-years-old, and he was dead. So, we just --

LAVANDERA: You saw that this morning.

BADON: Yes. So, we -- we're just walking and doing the same thing we were doing, look -- when we stumbled across him, hopefully we can find our children, our daughter and her friends, alive. So, anyway, I asked him if he would pray, and whoever watches this thing, pray. We got together and picked up our son and came over here, and we waited around at a center, and God bless them, they're doing a great job. It's in Ingram, Texas, at the elementary school, and they're kind of like the place where all the survivors are brought and we were hoping that we would hear our daughter and friend's names called, but they never did call. So, we said this morning, we're going to come out and try to find him ourselves.

LAVANDERA: I mean, you're walking through this mess - -

BADON: Yeah.

LAVANDERA: -- hoping for a miracle.

BADON: Amen. Keep the faith. That's all we can do. So, that's all I got, Ed. Thank you.

LAVANDERA: Can you tell us about your daughter?

BADON: Yes. She is a beautiful girl, and I think I sent you a picture, just a wonderful girl. Couldn't ask for a better daughter. All through school, she is just easy, knows no shenanigans or anything like that. I mean, she was a normal girl. We would have fun, but yes, we loved her dearly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And our hearts go out to Ty, and everybody like him that's experiencing this. Ed has more on Camp Mystic and what happened there.

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LAVANDERA: Just beyond the Guadalupe River over there is Camp Mystic, and these are the cabins where so many young people were swept away by the flood waters. 27 by last count still missing. And at this point, every hour that has gone by, it becomes harder and harder to hope that these children can still be found alive.

But, I have talked to a number of people who had children or were counselors at the camp, and they described -- these cabins that you see here in the distance, this is where the younger children would stay. This is kind of where you start out, and then you graduate your way up through the ranks here as you get older. But, several people tell us that, as the flood waters came up in the middle of the night, the children couldn't get out this way toward us, because that's where the flood waters were coming from. The water had them pinned inside that it was the young counselors, and by young, I mean, these are just 18, 19-year-olds who were inside the cabin with those children unable to get out -- get away.

Several people tell us that a lot of those counselors were breaking windows in the back of those buildings and then draw -- pulling kids through the windows, and in their pajamas, making their way up through the hillside there to get to higher ground and to safety. That is some of the heroic work that these young people managed to do to help save as many lives as possible. There were some 750 kids at this camp.

You can see the -- how extensive the damage is. First of all, just look at the ferociousness that these flood waters came through, uprooting massive trees and just decimating the river -- the riverbed here is everything was rushing downstream. When you look at the campground here, you can see the recreation hall is still standing for the most part, but part of the wall there ripped apart. All of this was under water. And that is the one thing that has been really hard to kind of describe in all of this is just the amount of water that these floods brought. Where we're standing was underwater at some point, and consider how high above the river we are at this point, it gives you a sense that all of this was barely downstream.

People were just simply unable to get out of the way as these floodwaters went up as fast as they did, and that is why the situation has been so extremely deadly.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, near Camp Mystic, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein has more on the federal response to the disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, local officials are expecting that this is going to be a marathon of search and rescue and search and recovery efforts, and it is going to take the close coordination of state, local and federal governments together to get that done.

So, here is what we know so far about the federal response. The U.S. Coast Guard is helping with those rescues. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says that she has requested additional fixed-wing aircraft with thermal imaging. That is something that is going to help in the overnight hours, as it gets dark and they continue to search and rescue. Separately, FEMA is engaged, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with the Army Corps of Engineers as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Noem says that Border Patrol agents are stepping up. They've been tapped in with certain expertise and skills that they can use to help in this situation.

But, so far, state and local officials say that they are getting what they need from the federal government. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that he has submitted a federal disaster declaration request to the White House. It is awaiting President Trump's signature at this time. But, President Trump has spoken with Secretary Noem several times today. Noem was expected to visit Camp Mystic, where dozens of girls remain missing. But, we still don't know the extent of the federal resources that are going to be needed here, whether Congress is going to have to step up with additional aid.

But, there are two other things to keep track of, as we continue to track the federal response here. Number one is that President Trump has been sharply critical of FEMA and says he plans to phase out that agency by the end of the next hurricane season. That is something we'll be watching closely for how the federal government coordinates with the state of Texas here. And separately, the President's fiscal year 2026 budget has steep cuts to some of these weather research labs that are vital to improving forecasts. These are the tools that can help detect these types of storms better they are currently experiencing cuts. DOGE also has cut hundreds of staffers at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as the National Weather Service.

But, Secretary Noem was really pressed on some of the alerts at the National Weather Service.

[00:40:00]

Here is how she defended the Trump administration.

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That is something and one of the reasons that when President Trump took office that he said he wanted to fix and is currently upgrading the technology and the National Weather Service has indicated that with that and NOAA, that we needed to renew this ancient system that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years. But, I do carry your concerns back to the federal government, to President Trump, and we will do all we can to fix those kinds of things that may have felt like a failure to you.

KLEIN: Of course, this storm was truly unpredictable. The water rose so fast. It was really unprecedented. We also have a little bit of good news, and that is that Congressman August Pfluger, who represents Texas Hill Country in Congress, says that he and his wife have been reunited with two of their daughters who were campers at Camp Mystic. He said, please join us as we pray for miracles.

Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the President in New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Glad they are safe.

As search efforts continue for those missing in the flash flooding in Texas, we are hearing stories of bravery from everyday folks who stepped up to help people in need.

CNN's Erica Hill spoke to one man who saved a woman trapped in a tree. Take a listen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARL JETER, RESCUED WOMAN FROM TEXAS FLOODS: We had kind of stepped away from the house a little bit because it was flooding. It almost went in our house. We're high in the air. We're 25 feet above the ground. And we -- when I've figured out that the flood waters had quit rising and were maybe beginning to recede, I waited over and went up on my deck, which is behind me, and Devin saw me, and she began to scream. And I thought somebody -- I thought she was in the water. I didn't know that she was in a tree. But, as it turned out, I finally spotted her in the tree, and I began to yell back across to her that, hi, I see you. I'm going to get help. Hang tight. We're going to make sure we get you out of there.

And so, then it was just a matter of trying to get authorities and what have you here to --

ERICA HILL, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: I understand this --

JETER: -- get her out of the tree.

HILL: Yeah, not easy to get those first responders, the rescue folks to the area, although you did manage to do so.

JETER: No. I called -- yeah. I called 911, and after about 30 minutes, they hadn't responded. So, I got in my vehicle and went over just down the road a piece where I knew there were going to be authorities there. I flagged down a DPS officer and told him what was going on, and he then got on the radio and eventually we got some folks over here, and they sent a swift water team, said they couldn't get the helicopter in the air because it was still raining. And so, they sent a swift water boat over, and we helped them put the boat in the water. It was kind of difficult to get in there, but we finally got it in, and they were able to go over and secure a life vest on her, and then she had to drop out of a tree into the boat, and then brought her back over to dry land. And --

HILL: Yeah -- JETER: -- we got blankets and towels.

HILL: -- and you actually brought her -- yeah. I understand it you and your family, you brought her into your home where she had a little --

JETER: We do.

HILL: -- time to recover, of course, before you brought her to the hospital. She told you, it's my understanding, a really remarkable and frankly heart-wrenching story about how she ended up there in that tree near your house. She had come from some 20 miles away and was separated from her family. Is that correct?

JETER: Yeah. We don't know for sure how far she traveled, but, I mean, it was many miles down the river, and debris with -- said there were RVs passing her. In the water, there was trees, debris, refrigerators, just any number of things that were floating -- not floating, but raging down the river with her. They had been camping on the river down in -- above Ingram and had gotten there the night before, and they said they woke up, got in the car, were kind of resting, and they finally saw the tent going away, and they tried to try to drop out at that point.

[00:45:00]

It's too late. Flood water swapped. And so, she said they pulled themselves from the -- through this -- through the sunroof on the car, and entered the water. They were all three together to start with, but they soon were separated, and said she went over four dams to get here and --

HILL: Wow.

JETER: -- she went under a road in town, Sidney Baker, we call it. It's -- sorry, the mosquitoes are bad. And she could see cars going by, and she was hollering and screaming and obviously no one saw her, and that was another -- that's another 10 miles down the river from that point, and she is -- I mean, somehow she garnered the strength to grab onto that tree and pull herself up into it. I don't know how she did it, because she was in the water at that point for some four hours --

HILL: Wow.

JETER: -- treading water and --

HILL: Yeah.

JETER: -- she was beat up, scarred up. She is still in the hospital right now after we --

HILL: Have you --

JETER: -- she was at our house for about three hours before a family member came and got her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: An incredible story of survival.

We are also following other news this hour. Israel is sending negotiators to the new round of ceasefire talks with Hamas, but some Israeli protesters who have been demanding a hostage deal for many months, they are still out in the streets. We'll explain why, after the break.

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ABEL: Another weather situation we're currently tracking is named Tropical Storm Chantal. Strong winds are expected from now and into Sunday morning along parts of South and North Carolina. This will make for a soggy remaining holiday weekend. Flash flooding could occur in some areas. Beaches can also expect dangerous surf conditions and rip currents. Rain is expected to spread to the Mid-Atlantic in the early part of next week. Chantal is a third named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

Israel says its negotiators will be headed to Qatar on Sunday for a new round of ceasefire talks with Hamas. The militant group said it responded positively to the U.S. truce proposal on Friday, but it also requested some changes, which Israel says is a non-starter. Officials in Gaza say more than 50 people were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire on Saturday, and dozens more could be trapped in a collapsed four-storey building near Gaza City. As Oren Liebermann reports, some Israelis are taking to the streets demanding a hostage and ceasefire deal now.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Here in Hostages Square, the crowd of thousands knows the significance of the moment. This is a crowd that's been out here week after week, almost every week for more than the past year and a half since the war has started, but they know that this moment is different. This is critical. With a new proposal on the table from Qatar that was put forward earlier this week, Israel accepted that proposal on Tuesday, a major development late Friday night, where Hamas said they responded positively and were ready to enter proximity talks. And then, on Saturday night, ahead of a full Cabinet meeting from the Israeli government, an Israeli official tells us, Prime Minister Benjamin authorizing an Israeli delegation to go to Doha in Qatar for proximity talks.

That's one of the last stages before a deal where negotiators shuttle back and forth between Israel and Hamas to get those final details done. It's not a final deal right now, and there could still be challenges ahead, but this, from the expectations we have seen, is the most positivity and the highest expectations we have seen in about half a year, and the crowd here knows it. ORLY EREZ-LIKHOVSKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ISRAEL RELIGIOUS ACTION

CENTER: It's too bad that it's not going to be a whole deal that brings everyone back. I think the fact that those are sort of dividing to steps that are going to take for so long, that's very dangerous, but obviously, it's better than you know nothing.

LIEBERMANN: The crowd here, thousands of them, are calling for a complete deal, all of the hostages home for a complete end to the war, but they know realistically, that's not what's on the table. This is a partial deal for about half the living hostages and about half the deceased hostages over 60 days. Still, it's what's right there on the table, and it's what they're pushing the Israeli government to take. That's what we've heard from all of the speakers here and from all of the attendees we have spoken with, those who have been out here over and over again, trying to get to this point, and trying to do what they can to push it, to make sure that ceasefire deal comes into effect and as quickly as possible.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since the start of the conflict with Israel. Iranian state media broadcast Khamenei attending a religious gathering in the capital Tehran on Saturday. Worshippers who were there observing Ashura, the holiest day of the Shiite Muslim calendar, stood and cheered the Supreme Leader as he entered the hall. Khamenei had reportedly been in a, quote, "secure location" at the onset of the air war with Israel.

[00:55:00]

And turning to Russia's war against Ukraine, Kyiv says it struck an air base inside Russia that houses fighter jets and glide bombs. Saturday's counterattack comes in the midst of Russia's escalating bombardment of Ukraine. On Friday, Kyiv endured the biggest attack since the start of the war over three years ago. Moscow launched a record number of drones and nearly a dozen cruise and ballistic missiles towards the Ukrainian capital. The UN Secretary General condemned the attacks on Saturday and once again, called for a, quote, "full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine."

Well, thank you for joining us. I'm Brian Abel. CNN Newsroom continues with Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta at the top of the hour.

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