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At Least 41 Killed in Texas Floods; Deadly Texas Floods; Volunteers Search for Survivors; Scientists Concerned with Future Natural Disasters; U.S. Deports Eight Migrants to South Sudan; Israelis Protest Despite Potential Hostage Deal; Ukraine Strikes Russian Air Base. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired July 06, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

At least 51 people are confirmed dead from massive flooding in Texas, and at least 15 of them are children. Officials say 27 other children are missing 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 confirmed 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. You see here, nine- year-old Lila Bonner, Sarah Marsh, and eight-year-old Renee Smajstrla seen in this photo. Her family confirmed her death to CNN. Her uncle told us that it's truly devastating.

Well, the destruction in the area has been widespread. Texas Governor Greg Abbott visited Camp Mystic on Saturday. He says it's horrendously ravaged. He also says emergency crews are working nonstop to save people. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We will be relentless in going after and ensuring that we locate every single person who's been a victim of this flooding event. We're not going to stop today or tomorrow. We will stop when the job is completed, between now and whenever that day arrives when we -- when the job is completed. This is a 24/7 operation, day and night, because we know that we are looking for Texans and Americans, and we put them as our top priority and we will find every one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: 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. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez has more on the damage and the rescue efforts. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The damage across Kirk County is just so widespread. We are 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 4th 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 their 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 2:30 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 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's hopeful that this community will move forward. But 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 Maribel Gonzalez.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:00]

BRUNHUBER: And earlier, CNN spoke to the owner of that RV park, Marybel mentioned that was devastated by the flash flooding that swept through the area. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORENA GUILLEN, RV PARK OWNER: We -- actually, we were able to evacuate pretty much everybody except for one family. They did get swept away. But we were able to get 28 RVs out of here on time. We couldn't save their RVs, the vehicles, but we were able to save everybody thankfully, except for that one family there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that family, children as well?

GUILLEN: Yes. There was three little kids and two adults that were absolutely adorable, having a lot of fun here on 4th of July weekend. And they were within 10 feet of the water, which was absolutely perfect and beautiful that day. July 30 was the best day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything changed really quickly. I know that. And you said that your volunteers are also been helping find the bodies of the victims who have drowned during this flooding.

GUILLEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, the thing is, while you are cleaning the debris, there is a lot of debris they're finding. Unfortunately, they're finding people within debris. And that's why we need so much help because, you know, these are two-story high debris mangled together, then you don't know what's in the middle of it.

And it's just important that -- you know, that we get help, because the river goes from miles and miles and miles. I mean, we're just a tiny, tiny little stretch of the river. There is -- it goes all the way from Hunt Texas and even further up, all the way to New Braunfels, to, you know, Seguin, and it keeps going. This is the mighty Guadalupe, and that's the reason why everybody comes here, because it's such a beautiful river.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So, with rescue efforts still underway, local officials are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast over Texas. Meteorologist Chris Warren has been tracking the storm system and brings us the latest on what to expect in the days ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: This whole disaster unfolding in a matter of hours, during the overnight Friday into Friday morning. So, Thursday night into Friday morning with areas receiving more than a foot of rain, but widespread over several counties in this orange and red color here, which is four to six, even six to 10 inches of rain.

This is how it played out on radar from overnight Friday to 5:30 in the morning. Here's Kerrville and Kerr County right here, getting so much rain that just continued throughout the mid-morning and into the early afternoon. So, several hours of nonstop and occasionally intense rain leading to serious fast flooding here along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville.

Most of the week, the water level was under a foot, 0.7, and then in a matter of hours it goes up a little bit to three feet and then jumps to two stories high, about 23.4 feet. So, it was about two stories high, just so quickly. That's something you just do not see very often at all. It's hard to imagine that happening, that wave of water. Meanwhile, flash flood warnings were being issued between midnight and noon, 24, more than 24, more than two dozen issued by the National Weather Service, highest level flash flood emergencies, and that was summed through here near Kerrville as well.

Here's the high-resolution future radar through time. More rain is expected, some overnight, but really going to pick up tomorrow morning into the afternoon and evening hours, not seeing some of the heaviest storms right over Kerr County. However, with the high-resolution future radar, you have to give a little bit of wiggle room here, it could drift a little bit farther to the south, so just a big heads up there for the search efforts ongoing there as well.

So, the forecast rainfall, the amount that we're expecting, generally about two to four inches in the highest amounts, nothing compared to what we saw the past couple of days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The Trump administration says it'll honor a federal disaster declaration signed by the Texas governor to help direct relief to the state. CNN's Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein has more on the federal response of the disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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's 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.

[04:10:00]

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. Here's how she defended the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 and 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)

BRUNHUBER: Earlier, CNN's Erica Hill spoke with retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore. He led a special joint task force with FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He explained what may have gone wrong in the disaster preparation and response. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GENERAL RUSSEL L. HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): From what I've seen on television, Texas ought to be committed for their response, but they're going to have a lot of questions to answer on why we had a flood watch the night before, and why actions weren't taken to move people out or to provide siren warnings and then who's responsible in those camps for the evacuation when we looking at a flood watch before dark, the night before.

My hat's off to those magnificent pilots and those on the ground who've gone in and rescued so many, over 800 people already. And they've done it and it's a very extreme situation. But the weather was the issue. But you know, Erica, Texas is going to have to stand up to this. The same thing happened in 1987, on July 16, along the same river and occur and there was a flood and 10 people died, this exact same scenario.

So, Texas is going to have to fix this. People in Texas loved to go out and camp. People been going there for decades. But they're going to have to fix this because this is a repeat. The same thing happened in 1987 along the Guadalupe River. My recommendation to the governor, you need to get 2,000 or 3,000 people walking those banks, not just 500. Task Force One is good. They can only do so many hours a day and there's about 80 people in there. You got about 15,000 troops (INAUDIBLE), you got 21,000 troops in the Texas National Guard. You need to get some more boots on the ground and walk that ground. Because -- and get more helicopters up, that would be my recommendation to the governor.

They could do more, but they need to do it now. They got maybe another 24 hours, but they need to get more boots on the ground. This is a tough weekend. It's 4th of July weekend without warning, without having mobilization orders, but I think they need to mobilize some more army helicopters to get in there to assist them.

[04:15:00]

Now, Texas has some of the most capable search and rescue in there, National Guard. Those pay pack helicopters. That's what they're designed for, is search and rescue. And those helicopters have done a magnificent job, but you're going to need more of them to cycle them in, and you're going to need more boots on the ground, would be my recommendation, Erica. And we need to look again at the AT&T FirstNet communication system, which was bought during the last administration, Trump administration, and it's never worked our way through a storm. It failed us in Ida and it fails in every storm.

We need to go back and look at that system on why the first responders had trouble talking. That's why we bought FirstNet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Our breaking news coverage continues in a moment. After a quick break, we will bring you the latest as we monitor the search and rescue efforts underway for a second night in Texas.

Plus, how a volunteer rescue group from Louisiana is helping local and state agencies search for survivors. That all and more coming up, please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00] BRUNHUBER: We are following breaking news in Central Texas where communities devastated by catastrophic flooding are bracing for the possibility of even more rain. At least 51 people have died, including 15 children. Officials say there are still more than two dozen children missing from Camp Mystic, a girl's summer camp in Kerr County.

The Kerrville 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.

All right. Now, to Sarah Acosta with our affiliate KSAT. She takes a closer look at the destruction left by flooding in Kerrville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH ACOSTA, KSAT REPORTER (voice-over): This home floated about the length of a football field down the Guadalupe River when the flash flood rose quickly into the homes on Waterfront Drive in Kerrville along Bandera Highway and Loop 534.

ACOSTA: And this is what's left of that home, completely leveled by the river behind it. And the neighbors tell us, they fear that the people who lived here may have not survived. And we spoke with the people who live next door and they walk us through what happened.

SCOTT WELDON, KERRVILLE, TEXAS RESIDENT: But I had no idea that something like this could happen. And then, holy -- stuff started to hit the walls. And my wife jumped up and looked out the back porch, and it was a river.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Scott Weldon and his wife say the water came in so fast, there was no time to evacuate.

WELDON: By the time I went to get my keys to move my truck out of the way, just back up across the street, the water had risen and floated my truck. The water got up there in the door about this high, and I looked at my wife and it was like, we need to get out of here.

ACOSTA (voice-over): That water too strong and fast, sweeping them down the river.

WELDON: We went ahead and jumped out and we got washed down three houses and we finally ended up snagged on a on a big bush. So, we hung onto the bush until we got rescued.

ACOSTA (voice-over): They hung onto a crate myrtle tree for about 30 minutes before they were rescued by police officers who formed a human chain.

WELDON: We were kind of going, hey, hope this isn't it?

ACOSTA (voice-over): Weldon says they're grateful to be alive, saying his destroyed home and cars are just material things.

WELDON: Yes, this is just stuff. ACOSTA (voice-over): Neighbor Ima Thanthu (ph) says they live a couple of houses over, fortunate their home is safe, and they were able to evacuate quick enough, feeling overwhelmed.

IMA THANTHU (PH): A feeling of sadness because. I mean, even the people that were here weren't expecting this to happen.

ACOSTA (voice-over): As they pick up the pieces and continue to look for neighbors and loved ones, she hopes it's a time where the community can stand strong.

THANTHU (PH): Helping each other. This is when we need to come together and help each other out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Volunteers are battling through dangerous debris and downed trees to help find any survivors. A member of the United Cajun Navy, a volunteer rescue group from Louisiana, says the outlook grows bleaker with each passing hour. Nick Sorter (ph) told CNN that search teams working its pitch-black darkness overnight and trouble communicating because radios were down and cell phones didn't work. Low hanging clouds are also making it difficult for helicopters to reach the area, slowing down rescue efforts.

Early, CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke with the vice president for the United Cajun Navy. He described the challenges they face as they continue searching for a stranded residence. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TRASCHER, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: 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 extremely fast kinetic flood waves. And that's made rescue efforts extremely challenging. You know, we're used to swift water rescue, but we're used to doing it in, you know, kind of slick flood waters. This is more like rapids. Like we really could use like people who are very experienced at white water rafting, I guess you could say, to help.

So, we kind of transitioned. We initially had sent an airboat team out, but we transitioned to some of our partners to send up helicopters because that seemed to be the most effective way to get immediate extractions done.

When people are -- when they're in flood waters, obviously, they get wet. When the sun goes down, the 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, you know, 58-hour mark, the less a chance for survival. And I don't want to, you know, throw any kind of grim, you know, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:00]

BRUNHUBER: The number of Texas professionals sports teams are speaking out on the devastating floods. Football team, Houston Texans, posted on X that they're committing half a million dollars to provide support and resources to those impacted by the deadly floods. The NBA's Dallas Mavericks released this statement on social media, saying in part that they send their love, strength, and unwavering support to the first responders. And the San Antonio Spurs shared this message saying, quote, "Our hearts are especially heavy for the children and their families whose lives have been forever changed."

All right. Still to come, dozens of people are still missing in Central Texas after widespread flooding hit the region on Friday. We have the latest on the search and rescue efforts.

Plus, we'll hear from some Texas locals who describe the terrifying moments that forced them to evacuate their homes. We'll have those stories and much more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Back to our breaking news out of Central Texas where at least 51 people have been killed due to catastrophic flash flooding. Search and rescue missions are ongoing. Dozens of people are still missing, including 27 children from a private girl's summer camp in Kerrville, Texas. The camp is located along the Guadalupe River, which rose more than 20 feet and less than two hours on Friday. The Kerrville city manager says they've been evacuating hundreds of people from other camp sites by the river. Texas Congressman Chip Roy is praising those who help people escape the danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): There's going to be a lot of finger pointing and a lot of second guessing, and Monday morning quarterbacking. And I just want to pick up on what I think the governor said about 800 and, you know, 50 something individuals that were moved quickly in this circumstance and in a once in a century flood where you get 12, 14 inches, where you get a 26- to 30-foot increase in water in the course of an hour and a half at 4:00 to 6:00 in the morning on a holiday, and that that's what we're dealing with in these circumstances and where those camps are.

[04:30:00]

There's a lot of people saying why and how, and I understand that. And I understand why parents should be asking those questions and all of the media. But where we are right now in terms of what we've done to be able to protect people, move them, get them out of the camps, and the heroic efforts of people that worked in those camps, directors of the camps, people who owned the camps, who not just risked their lives, gave their lives to try to go save the lives of those kids, that's who they are as Texans. And I'm so proud of that and I'm so proud of the work that everyone's done to do that. And now, we just got to finish the job. And be with the people. And importantly, pray for the families who have lost their loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Senior National Correspondent Ed Lavandera has more on Camp Mystic and what happened there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 is 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 describe -- 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, and you can see the how extensive the damage is. First of all, just look at the ferocious 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, you know, all of this was under underwater. 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 gives you a sense that all of this was barreling downstream. People were just simply unable to get out of the way as these flood waters went up as fast as they did. And that is why this situation has been so extremely deadly. Ed Lavandera, CNN, near Camp Mystic in Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: So, as search and rescue operations continue in Texas, people in the areas are trying to come to terms with what happened. Reporter Courtney Friedman from CNN affiliate KSAT spoke to people who got to evacuate as the raging waters came too close.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COURTNEY FRIEDMAN, KSAT REPORTER (voice-over): A terrifying 5:00 a.m. wake up call for Jonathan Meyer (ph) and his daughter Isla (ph).

JONATHAN MEYER (PH): The upper head waters and were rising. City officials did a great job of letting people know along the river what was coming down the lines.

FRIEDMAN (voice-over): Their house is directly across the street from the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, and they said the water made it up three of their front steps.

JONATHAN MEYER (PH): It was definitely shocking to see get that high.

FRIEDMAN (voice-over): As for Isla (ph), she was at Vista Camp in Hunt two weeks ago, but never expected to see remnants of that camp 20 miles down the river where she lives.

FRIEDMAN: One of your canoes, it said your camp's name on that.

ISLA (PH): Well, it said our -- like our tribe. We have like a tribe and it showed our (INAUDIBLE).

FRIEDMAN (voice-over): It was just one of many things they've seen in the river.

FRIEDMAN: And we're getting a view of how fast that water was moving, taking out massive trees, whipping the bark off, and not even just breaking them in half, but bending over. You can see how fast the water is moving now. It must have been moving so much faster before, and this is how high up it was. Up to this tree. Broke this tree. Trapped this inner tube and left debris like a camping chair and a hat behind.

[04:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to cry when we drove over the bridge. I was like, this is horrible, so bad. We've never seen it this bad before. We've had flooding, not to this extent. It's a catastrophe. It's horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we've heard that this is worse than the flood in, I think '87 or so. This is worse than that one.

FRIEDMAN (voice-over): Jared and Hannah Johnson were supposed to host a July 4th party, but their house had flooding. Still, they're grateful to have their lives. They and Meyers both have the same thing in mind, helping however they can.

MEYER (PH): Help is going to be needed in the coming days, you know, on the cleanup and picking up and recovery of things. So, you know.

FRIEDMAN: So, you'll be ready for that part?

MEYER (PH): We're ready for that. And anybody that wants to come and help and volunteer their time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come, we'll have a look at the future of U.S. disaster response. We'll hear why climate scientists are increasingly concerned. That and more coming up here on CNN Newsroom. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Back to our breaking news. At least 51 people have died, including 15 children after catastrophic floods in Central Texas. And even more heavy rain could be on the way. Officials say they're still searching for more than two dozen children missing from a girl's summer camp near the Guadalupe River.

Now, these images out of Hunt in Kerr County show the devastation left by the floods. A local store owner says he's never seen anything like it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This very well may be the worst flood Hunt has ever seen, because it would've started back up the South Fork. The devastation is unbelievable. How these kids survived in any of these camps along the river is nothing short of a miracle.

[04:40:00]

But I did. I grew up with this store. I've known -- I've -- like I said, I've danced here. I've been here, sat by the fireplace in a rocking chair and drank a beer. The devastation -- there just no words tailored that I can say that describe what I'm seeing. My ranch, it was completely underwater. The water got that high. Just unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, a crucial part of the disaster response in the U.S., like in Texas, is normally steered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. But President Trump has said he wants to dismantle FEMA after the coming hurricane season, and instead, let's states take the lead with disaster response. But some disaster officials in the U.S. say they already can't get a response on current FEMA funding.

Now, the tragedy in Texas has many scientists concerned about disasters in the future and what emergency responses may look like. CNN spoke about this to the vice president for Science at Climate Central. She said it's too soon to know if the funding cuts to FEMA and the National Weather Service may have impacted the response in Texas. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINA DAHL, VICE PRESIDENT FOR SCIENCE AT CLIMATE CENTRAL: The National Weather Service issued multiple warnings about flood risk. And so, clearly, they were getting messages out. They do have a vacancy right now in a critical position called the Warning Coordination Meteorologist. And so, it could be that that vacancy had, you know, connections to local authorities who could have helped to raise the early warnings for residents.

But generally, a weather forecast office for the National Weather Service has someone on staff 24 hours watching the radar to see what is happening in terms of precipitation, rainfall, other threats. And there are national weather service offices throughout the country that because of staffing cuts are no longer staffing their offices 24 hours a day. And so, we need these critical people to be keeping us safe 24 hours a day in every one of these offices across the country.

And the second piece of this is that staffing cuts at NOAA or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration more broadly are threatening the future ability to forecast events better. Forecasting a storm like this one, where exactly is the heaviest rain going to fall? How is it going to translate from rain into flooding? These are extremely challenging problems scientifically, and it's the research of NOAA that enables us to improve our forecasts year over year so that we can more accurately pinpoint the warnings that need to go out to the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Another weather situation we're currently tracking is named Tropical Storm Chantal. The National Hurricane Center says it's picked up strength and it's close to making landfall along the coast of South Carolina. Strong wind and rain are also expected to impact North Carolina. And 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 into the early part of next week. Chantal is the third named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

Israel is sending negotiators to ceasefire and hostage talks with Hamas. Why our Israeli protestors who've wanted a hostage deal for many months still on the streets? We'll explain ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: An update now on the breaking news in Texas, at least 51 people are confirmed dead from massive flooding, and at least 15 of them are children. Officials say 27 children are still missing from Camp Mystic, a girls' summer camp in Kerr County, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a disaster declaration. The White House says it's working with state officials to help. You can stay with CNN for much more on this story. And if you'd like to help those affected by the tragic flooding in Texas, you can go to cnn.com/impact. And there you can find resources for donations that will be connected to charities that are on the ground in Texas. That's all at CNN Impact Your World.

In a move that some attorneys call unprecedented, eight migrants who were held at this U.S. military base in Djibouti have been deported to South Sudan. That's despite warnings they could be arbitrarily detained, tortured, or killed in the war-torn country. The Trump administration has been working to send some migrants to countries that are often far from safe.

Now, many immigrants in some U.S. citizens are afraid to even go to public places, and it's leading to the cancellation of events in cities like Huntington Park, California. Julia Vargas Jones is there and has this report.

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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't just the 4th of July celebrations, the mayor said, they had to postpone now indefinitely, a drone show planned for Friday night. A whole series of events that were going to take place throughout the summer were canceled, like movie nights, concerts, a community fair. All of this, because according to the Huntington Park mayor, the community is just too fearful to gather outside and to celebrate. They say even those who are U.S. citizens in this community feel they could get caught up in ICE raids and immigration enforcement raids that have been going on since mid-June and haven't really stopped.

Just two weeks ago, in June 28, a door was blown out of a residence in Huntington Park as ICE was looking for a man who was accused of damaging a border patrol vehicle. It is also here in Huntington Park that Secretary Kristi Noem attended a raid with ICE as she embedded with ICE and attended a raid here in Huntington Park.

Now, the mayor says that this has deeply changed the community, has made people fearful in a way that he wasn't expecting and had never seen before. Take a listen.

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ARTURO FLORES, HUNTINGTON PARK MAYOR: Let me just clarify. You know, Huntington Park does have a community that is, you know, of, you know, undocumented individuals, but you have to understand the fear that's being gripped here, it's not only, you know, by individuals that are undocumented. You know, we would have movie nights, we'd have 200, 300 families, majority of them were -- are -- you know, are American citizens and that's the families that are fearful.

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Those are the ones that are not participating. They would rather not come out and not even risk a run in, even if they're U.S.-born citizens.

JONES: Are they right to not show up? Is there an actual threat to the people who live in your community?

FLORES: I think they are rightfully so.

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JONES: Now, the city is taking action. They're launching a legal defense fund and also a fund to help those people who can't or feel too fearful to go get their own food, their own groceries, and he is also calling for an investigation into that one raid that Secretary Noem participated in.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Huntington Park, California.

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BRUNHUBER: Elon Musk's feud with Donald Trump appears to have reached a whole new level. The world's richest man announced yesterday he's creating the America Party. That would be a direct challenge to the Republicans. Musk took to his social media platform X to reiterate his criticism of the president's megabill, which he says would bankrupt the country with, quote, "waste and graft." Musk had pledged to form a third political party if the president signed his megabill into laws. He did on Friday. But it's not clear what officials steps, if any, Musk has actually taken to legally form the party.

Israel says its negotiators will be headed to Qatar today 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-story 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 is 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 eating from the Israeli government, an Israeli official tells us Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized an Israeli delegation to go to Doha and 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.

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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, you know, 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.

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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 have spoken with, those who've 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.

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BRUNHUBER: In Iran, supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made his first public appearance since the start of the conflict with Israel. Iranian state media showed Khamenei attending a religious gathering of capital, Tehran, on Saturday. Worshipers 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.

Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. Kyiv said it struck an air base inside Russia that houses fighter jets and guide 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, nearly a dozen crews and ballistic missiles towards the Ukrainian capital. The U.N. secretary general condemned the attacks on Saturday and once again called for a, quote, "full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine."

The funeral for Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva was held in Portugal on Saturday. Both athletes were killed in a car accident on Thursday after their Lamborghini veered off the road. As crowds gathered to witness the ceremony, CNN Portugal Correspondent Nuno Sousa Moreira described the somber atmosphere in the brother's hometown.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NUNO SOUSA MOREIRA, CNN PORTUGAL CORRESPONDENT: For near two hours, people from all over the globe gathered here in the small city of Gondomar in north of Portugal to pay this last tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva.

This church behind me was unable to receive all the crowds. 300 people have remained outside the church when the funeral was going on. In spite of the hot weather, with 30 degrees Celsius temperatures. All these people remained united in grief and sorrow. We are talking about some of the residents of this city where both brothers grew up and where they will now rest in peace in the cemetery right next to this church.

For the memory, we'll remain some of the most symbolic images from this day, like the moment when the Liverpool captain and Diogo's teammate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson arrived with two flower arrangements in their hands with the shape and the numbers of both brothers' soccer jerseys. Other soccer stars and big personalities joined his funeral. Darwin Nunez, also from Liverpool, Diogo Dalot from Manchester United. Bernard Silver from Manchester City, and Pedro Gonzalez (ph), former Diogo teammate from (INAUDIBLE) and such many headers.

Also, Roberto Martinez, the Portugal national team men's coach was here. Also the former coach, Fernando Santos (ph), to pay this final tribute to the brothers. From now on the grief and sorrow will remain such as the legacy and the example of Diogo Jota and Andre Silva.

Nuno Sousa Moreira, reporting from Portugal to CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more of our breaking news coverage of the Texas floods in just a moment.

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