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At Least 82 People Dead in Catastrophic Texas Flooding; How Drought, Heavy Storms Triggered Deadly Floods in Texas; Jury Reaches Verdict on 'Mushroom Murder' Trial; Leaders of Developing Nations Gather for Third Day of Meetings; Family Shares Story of Rescuing 13 from Flash Flooding. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 07, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[00:00:31]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

We want to begin with breaking news, where parts of Texas are now bracing for even more heavy rainfall after the catastrophic flooding that left at least 82 people dead. And that includes 28 children.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that flash flooding is still posing a threat for some of the areas that were affected, as water levels begin to rise yet again.

Now, that prompted officials to urge people in the Hunt community to move to higher ground earlier Sunday afternoon. The treacherous conditions, they are making it even harder for search-and-rescue crews to find any survivors.

At last check, officials said at least 41 people were still missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LARRY LEITHA, KERRY COUNTY, TEXAS: We extend our sincerest condolences and prayers for every single family affected by this tragedy, and we continue to work around the clock and reunite these families. We will continue to search -- our search efforts until everybody is found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And among those 41 missing are at least ten campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic. That's an all-girls summer camp near the Guadalupe River that burst its banks early Friday, when most people were still asleep.

I want to show you some time-lapse video that will really give you an idea of the intensity of the flood. You can see how quickly those floodwaters rose. It was actually taken in Kingsland, Texas. That's about 95 miles from Camp Mystic.

President Donald Trump now promising continued federal support for Texas. He also suggested that budget cuts at the National Weather Service did not play a role in the tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that the federal government needs to hire back any of the meteorologists who were fired in the last few months?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I wouldn't know that. I really wouldn't. I would think not. This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it. Nobody saw it. Very talented people are there, and they didn't see it. It's -- I guess they said once in a hundred years; they've never seen anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's go now to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He has more on the rescue efforts out of Comfort, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While the death toll from the flooding continues to go up dramatically, there are still a number of people missing. And because of that, we're seeing large numbers of volunteers fanning out across the Guadalupe River, from Camp Mystic all the way downstream to where we are here in the town of Comfort, Texas, some 36 miles away from -- from Camp Mystic.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): And up and down the river, we've seen groups of people coming out, trying to help the search-and-rescue teams bring those answers and the closure to so many families that are still --

LAVANDERA: -- awaiting news about their loved ones.

But this is what they're up against. Look, this is all of the debris just in one little spot that got washed up here along this bridge that crosses over the river. But you look at the denseness and the -- the thickness of all of this debris, and it just makes you realize how difficult this search operation is.

You know, cutting through all of this and trying to find a possible victim in this kind of scene is just incredibly difficult, incredibly taxing.

But we've seen all that. And a lot of that was brought to a halt here today, because there had been some concerns that there was more flash flooding along -- coming. There's alerts when -- causing evacuations of the area. And so that was -- caused a lot of concern.

And because of that, we saw the teams of volunteers here being told to kind of evacuate these areas.

So, those search-and-rescue operations and the volunteer efforts kind of came to a halt because of that. And we presume that that it will continue, because there are still -- several days out from this tragedy, still many families looking for answers, some still holding onto hope that maybe someone could be rescued alive.

But with every passing hour, they know full well that that is a very, very unlikely scenario to unfold here, as difficult as that is to say right now.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Comfort, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Let's get a live update now from one of the many rescue workers that have been working tirelessly now for days now. Nick Sortor, he's a public information officer with the United Cajun Navy, the volunteer rescue group from Louisiana. It's been assisting in the search-and-rescue efforts there. He joins us now, live from Kerrville.

Nick, for starters, thank you so much for being there and taking the time.

I read that even before the water started receding, you and your team were already deploying. I wonder if you could tell us what the main priority is right now for you and your team, now, nearly two days since those waters swept away some of the community.

[00:06:19]

NICK SLAUGHTER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: Yes. Obviously, the Cajun Navy, the United Cajun Navy is not giving up yet.

There's still -- still hope, still in rescue mode at this point, not in recovery mode.

Obviously, the -- the scene is just absolutely heartbreaking. You go and, you know, today our guys are out in the -- in the riverbed there where the water has receded a little bit, still trying to dig. And you know, looking into trucks that are buried.

You know, we've seen miracles before. There were -- there was a rescue made of a young girl that was swept 12 miles down the river and found up in a tree. Absolute miracle. I mean, it's pretty hard to believe that that even happened.

Another one of the issues that we're still trying to work out is connectivity. The first responders are still really struggling to connect with each other.

You know, even radios don't work. Cell coverage is really -- is out in lots of different places. So, we've been outfitting vehicles with Starlink. Like we just got a bunch of them today to outfit every single sheriff's deputy vehicle in Kerr County. So, we're working on that, as well. We're installing them ourselves, making sure they all run and work.

We're going to be hooking their radios up to those, as well, so they'll be able to actually use those radios to communicate car by car, you know, with a wi-fi connection to Starlink. And so, we're hoping that's going to help out a lot.

But, you know, a lot of these efforts have been hampered by the lack of communication. And I'm hoping by tomorrow, you know, we'll have put -- put a lot of that to bed.

SANDOVAL: Now, in terms of some of the complications, you mentioned comms right now; mentioned Starlink, which for some of our viewers, it's -- it's a system that relies on -- on satellite technology for comms.

What other sort of obstacles and challenges are you all facing right now? Is it the infrastructure in jeopardy here, like roads, or is it the -- the new round of warnings that have been issued by authorities about further possible flooding?

SORTOR: Well, absolutely. Today, a lot of rescue workers had to pull out of the area and get to higher ground, because there were reports of a wall of water that was headed right downstream, straight back at Kerrville.

And as you can imagine, after what we saw the other day, you know, the ground is super, super saturated. It doesn't take much to get that water level back up and -- and just as dangerous as it was, It takes a lot less water to do that.

And so, when you get reports like that, it's obviously -- it's pretty terrifying. And then the job turns into making sure civilians are totally out of those areas, making sure they heed the warnings.

And -- and, you know, they have to be taken seriously. The warnings have to be -- absolutely have to be taken seriously. And most people did, which was definitely great. And luckily, not much came. It was the best-case scenario. Very happy for that.

And the weather is looking up for the next few days, which is something that everybody here has been looking forward to.

SANDOVAL: Thank you and your team. You have extensive experience in responding to these kinds of natural disasters. For the -- is this your first time having to respond to this kind of incident in the Texas hill country?

And what have you found has been sort of unique in terms of the challenges that come with responding to this specific region?

SORTOR: Well, each -- each disaster is obviously very different than the last one before. Even the ones that you know, in hill country in the past, you know.

It's been a while since they've had an event as large-scale as this one with so many people perishing. And one of the most difficult parts about this was the time that the -- that the flood really came through, when it came through the strongest: in the middle of the night, when people were asleep. You know, these children at camps and such.

You know, what made this even worse is we're talking about the day that it happened was July Fourth. And so, it's not just, you know, girls at a summer camp. It's also campers, like actual people out camping from out of town on the riverbank, because there are lots of campsites on the riverbank. It's a beautiful part of the country.

And -- and so, you know, it was hard to get a head count as to who was missing, who was here. You have a lot of -- whole families that were swept down the river.

And you know, I would say the -- the count of the amount of people that got swept up in this is something much different than most people have seen before.

And the response to this, I've got to give a lot of kudos to the -- to both the state and federal authorities down here that are working incredibly well together, along with private organizations such as the United Cajun Navy, to -- to, you know, find out where the strong suits are of each agency. You've seen the Coast Guard here, dropping in with the National Guard, making hundreds and hundreds of rescues with helicopters in really un-ideal conditions.

[00:10:19]

That was another part of it. Up until today, the cloud cover was super low, very, very difficult for helicopters to get in there. Very dangerous for helicopters to get in there. But we were able to do it anyway. Got some heroes by -- you know, that are flying those things, and you know, it made the situation that much more dangerous.

SANDOVAL: For the United Cajun Navy, hope is not lost. As you mentioned, it takes one miracle to hopefully reignite those hopes. So, we're certainly hoping for the best there on the ground as you and your team continue to work with local authorities to try to provide some relief amid those search-and-rescue efforts.

Nick, thank you so much for your time and for what you and your team of volunteers are doing.

SORTOR: Thank you, guys, so much.

SANDOVAL: Well, there's a security guard at Camp Mystic who's being hailed a hero for saving the lives of some of the campers there.

In a statement, the night watchman, Glenn Juenke, actually said, quote, "I witnessed firsthand the courage and faith that your daughters displayed during some of the most terrifying moments of their young lives. Each of those sweet girls was cold, wet and frightened. But they were also incredibly brave. They trusted me, and we leaned on each other through a long, harrowing night together inside their cabin."

Again, this from the night watchman who served as the -- one of the guards there at the camp for the past four summers. He also said that he put the girls on a mattress to help them ride out the floodwaters safely.

One of so many remarkable stories that are coming from the devastation and the death in Texas.

We're going to have much more of the breaking news coverage of the devastation in Texas. When we come back, we're going to be hearing how survivors lived through the floods that have now killed at least 82 people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:42]

SANDOVAL: Let's get to -- back to our breaking news coverage at this hour, where at least 82 people, including 28 children, have been killed by flash floods in central Texas.

State and local officials saying that 41 people are still missing at this hour. Most of the victims were in Kerr County. That's where the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in the span of hours.

Now, many of the youngest victims died at Camp Mystic, which is a Christian -- Christian all-girls summer camp that's located along the riverbank.

Right now, search-and-rescue operations continue. They are still hoping for a miracle as they continue to try to track down the camp counselor, as well as ten campers who are still missing.

Dick Eastland, the owner of the camp, died while trying to rescue campers. That's according to his grandson.

One climate scientist says that the U.S. is, as they put it, unprepared for worsening natural disasters as the planet continues to warm.

Our meteorologist Chris Warren explaining that the key causes -- that there were multiple key causes behind the catastrophic flooding this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It really is hard to imagine how something like this could happen. And in this case, a lot of different things came together to create this disaster.

One of those was the drought: days, if not weeks, in the making. You might say, well, why would a drought make flooding worse? Wouldn't that be more water -- you know, to the soil, more room? Well, it doesn't necessarily work that way.

With the very hot and very dry conditions, the soil kind of gets baked, and it gets hard. So initially, you get this downpour of water, and it doesn't go right into the soil. It just runs off.

You think of how big the land is. If it would go right into the soil, that would at least help. But in this case, there were a lot of things going against the situation here.

So, another one would be, once the rain started, it was tapping into moisture, not just from the Gulf, which helps make things very humid in Texas anyways, but a couple of these former tropical systems add a little bit of extra juice. So, there's another thing.

The other aspect of it, it was slow moving. The overall system that was helping to trigger these showers and thunderstorms just wasn't moving very fast.

And then the location. Right? We knew there was going to be storms and possibly flash flooding. But the fact that this one, this bad, horrible storm set up right here, right over the North and South forks of the Guadalupe River that feed into here. Anything that falls from the sky, any rain, any water is going to drain that way.

And it was hours and hours of some of the heaviest rain you could even imagine. And it all ended up being well over ten inches in some areas, around a foot in some spots, estimated by radar.

And it's over several counties. So, that water drains out in many cases into the same locations.

And because of that, in just a matter of hours, going from -- this is the river gauge here, the Guadalupe River at Kerrville, going from less than a foot, below a foot water level, to about a two story house in a matter of a couple of hours. That's all of that rain being funneled down the stream there.

And then this is the forecast. Not completely done just yet. We still have showers and thunderstorms to get through during the day tomorrow.

But eventually, by tomorrow evening, things start to dry out. And fortunately, really going to get a break. It's going to be hot, but back to a dry stretch next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now live from Kerrville, Texas, is Louis Amestoy. He's the editor and publisher of "The Kerr County Lead."

I know you've spoken to us in the past. We really want to thank you for -- for coming back to bring us an update.

LOUIS AMESTOY, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "THE KERRY COUNTY LEAD": Yes.

SANDOVAL: Louis, I'm wondering if you could just --

(CROSSTALK)

SANDOVAL: -- bring us up to speed. I'm sorry. I was just going to ask what the latest is on the ground, what you're hearing from folks.

AMESTOY: You know, we're -- we're -- the last count, you know, is 68 dead. Before I went home tonight, I went out to the HTR RV park, which is right on the Kerrville/Ingram border, right on the river. And I knew that was probably, honestly, our -- our worst -- our worst

spot as far as the totality of -- of missing and possible dead.

[00:10:01]

And that was an unbelievable scene. I know you guys had a crew out there earlier tonight. I ran across them.

And that was -- that was a sobering sight. Completely wiped away; all of the trailers that were there are gone. You see remnants of them strewn across the river, completely smashed up.

You know, I don't know what that loss of life looks like at this point. I don't know if it's included in the count; if some of those folks have been identified already.

But that's where I think the next few days, we're really going to see that number jump up and -- and, you know, I knew going into that -- this event on Friday that that was going to be a bad -- that was a bad spot.

I had already talked to the county judge about that area. We haven't had the opportunity, really, to get out to Hunt and to Ingram from my reporting, just because of the road closures. It was pretty chaotic here today, really, because there was just so many people who came to Kerrville to see the destruction.

SANDOVAL: All right. Are there communities there that are still tough to get to?

AMESTOY: Well, I don't think it's necessarily tough. But they want to keep people out of -- of the Hunt area, especially. Especially on that South fork where Camp Mystic is at. That's where I think a lot of the looky-loos want to go see. And -- and they've done a pretty good job of keeping people out of there.

And then again, we've had a couple of things today where, you know, West Kerr definitely has, you know, kind of a little bit of a track record of -- of getting storms.

And -- and as your meteorologist said, it was sort of a perfect situation. So, we saw a couple things today where, Oh no, there's a storm coming. There's one on the North Fork coming.

And we've heard, like, countless things about the rivers rising rapidly. That wasn't true. The dam was going to break -- breach. That wasn't true.

So, just out of an abundance of caution, they've really done a great job of keeping people out of those places.

SANDOVAL: In terms of just the geography, there, Louis, I remember being down there about ten years ago to cover the flooding in the -- in the Blanco River.

AMESTOY: Yes. SANDOVAL: There was some hope at the time that there would be miracles in the days to come. Now, we heard from a volunteer a short while ago who says that they still have that hope.

In hearing from first responders on the ground there, Louis, do you get a sense that it is still very much a rescue effort?

AMESTOY: You know, I'll be honest with you. We -- we got caught up in today in a story that everyone was hoping was true. And that was this story that we published that, you know, there was two little girls found by the Coast Guard somewhere in Comfort.

And it just -- it just raced through our community. Right? And it wasn't true. And it was hard. I mean, we all wanted that story to be true, because we wanted good news.

My -- my thing right now -- And I said this to myself earlier -- it's like, I guess I have to go back to being the crusty, grouchy journalist again.

And when you look at the devastation of this -- of this storm and the violence of the water, you realize that it's -- it's probably not going to be good outcomes for people.

And they're going to spend the next several days, if not weeks, digging through these massive debris piles to see if there's people in there and to get cadaver dogs in there and to get the search-and- rescue teams in there, do that kind of recovery.

You know, I think that was unfortunate. This experience today was -- it kind of sobered me up a little bit. It -- it was real frustrating to deal with it. And then the reality of it is, is that we don't have a lot of good news.

We've had some good stories. There's stories out there that we're going to find. You guys have found them; others have found them. But the next few days are going to be very, very difficult.

SANDOVAL: Listen, the Texas hill country, I know it well. It is one of the most beautiful places in the country. And now facing a very difficult road ahead.

But we know that they will certainly find some comfort amongst themselves and hopefully some peace as they begin to rebuild.

AMESTOY: That's right.

SANDOVAL: All right. Well, Louis, we have to leave it there --

AMESTOY: I agree.

SANDOVAL: -- again, thank you. I'm sorry. Go ahead. One last thought.

AMESTOY: I agree. I think, you know, this is a very resilient community. You know, there's already been a tremendous amount of support from -- from people all over the country. You know, we've gotten some, some significant donations from, you

know, people all over the country, from what I understand and celebrities and all sorts of other things. And I'm completely confident that we will get back to it.

SANDOVAL: Louis, we're keeping your entire community in our thoughts. Thanks again for your reporting and for your time.

[00:25:04]

AMESTOY: You bet. Take care.

SANDOVAL: Let's get you now to breaking news from Australia.

The jury in the so-called mushroom murder trial, that has reached a verdict, finally, after days of deliberation.

Erin Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after feeding her in-laws a Beef Wellington lunch made with poisonous death cap mushrooms.

Prosecutors had argued that it was done deliberately, but Patterson claims that it was unintentional, and as it was described by her, a terrible accident.

Let's go now to CNN's Ivan Watson, who's been watching the developments closely from Hong Kong. Ivan, what are you hearing from court?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Polo, the jury has just announced the verdict after six days of deliberations, after a nine-week trial.

And they have found this 50-year-old mother of two, Erin Patterson, guilty on all four counts: on three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

She is likely now to spend decades behind bars.

Let's catch our audience up to date on this, on this trial, which has captivated attention in Australia and around the world.

It was nearly two years ago that Patterson invited her parents-in-law and her mother-in-law's sister and husband, as well as her estranged husband, to lunch at her house. She served Beef Wellington.

In the days after that lunch -- and the estranged husband, Simon, did not attend. He canceled at the last minute. In the days afterwards, all four guests got very sick. Three of them, her parents-in-law and the sister of her mother-in-law, eventually succumbed to organ failure.

And a fourth individual, he -- Ian Patterson [SIC], he was in an induced coma and eventually recovered. Ian Wilkinson, rather, recovered from poisoning. In the months afterwards, it was revealed that she put together this meal using some death cap mushrooms. These are deadly mushrooms, poisonous, that she had apparently hunted for on her own, and added them to the meal.

Now her defense attorney said that this was a tragic mistake. She didn't know that they mixed them up. There was agreement across the board that it was the death cap mushrooms that killed the guests.

What the jury has now found is that, without reasonable doubt, they believe that Patterson planned ahead of time to kill her guests, that this was not a tragic mistake.

Now, there was a lot of lying that Patterson did in the weeks afterwards when the police got involved with this case. She had her phone wiped, for example, when it was in police custody. She took a dehydrator that she'd used to dehydrate the mushrooms and took it to a dump. And it was later found that her fingerprints and remnants of the death cap mushrooms were actually in that dehydrator which was used.

And then there was evidence that she'd been in the area of places where the death cap mushrooms were known to be growing in the wild, that there was cell phone tracking that indicated she had been in that area.

So, what we're now hearing from the jury is that they firmly believe that this mother of two did, in fact, plan ahead of time to try to kill the people that she invited to this meal.

And there was one other final detail. The survivor of this -- this lunch, Ian Henderson [SIC], he had said that Patterson at the lunch announced that she was suffering from cancer and that she might not live much longer.

In the aftermath, it -- it came out that Patterson, in fact, did not have cancer, that she was talking about possibly needing to undergo gastric surgery to control her weight. So, that may have been another red flag.

Just the sheer number of lies that she admitted to may have helped convince the jury that this was, in fact, a premeditated murder.

Again, Erin Patterson guilty on all four counts, three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: A remarkable end to this highly watched trial. It is onto the sentencing phase, as you point out. Ivan Watson, live in Hong Kong with that verdict. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back with much more out of central Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:33:27]

SANDOVAL: More breaking news coverage out of Texas now, while central parts of the state continue to reel in the aftermath of the deadly floods.

Stories of devastation and terror are beginning to emerge, with survivors describing the horrors that they witnessed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The disaster, it was horrible. I've been through a lot, but I haven't seen anything like that in my life. It's pretty bad.

Just demolished. Yes, the whole town's demolished.

SCOTT WALDEN, FLOOD SURVIVOR: I grabbed my wife, and we literally jumped in the water, and it swept us down to about 200 feet down that way. And there's a crepe myrtle tree that we grabbed hold of, and we waited for rescue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no, Granny. I can't get any more. Oh my, God.

TONIA FUCCI, FLOOD SURVIVOR: No warnings at all. They came hours later, which was the most devastating part. We got the warnings on our phones hours later. Hours later.

The destruction had already been done before the warnings came out. It was just something so serious happening. And the swiftness of the water. It wasn't slowing. It wasn't slowing.

Debris and furniture and RVs were coming down the river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm devastated by what's happened to these families, to this town. But I'm also joyful to see the efforts; that the community is all pitching in.

MACON WARE, RESIDENT: A week ago, I had five granddaughters in the Camp Mystic, and they finished their first session; and they're home now.

[00:35:10]

But some of their friends were there for the second session, and I just -- my heart goes out to all those little girls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: A group of developing nations they will be meeting in the coming hours for the last day of their summit in Rio de Janeiro.

But the presidents of two of those countries, they are noticeably missing. Neither Vladimir Putin of Russia nor China's Xi Jinping actually traveled to the summit.

CNN's Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing for more on what that means. And also, Marc, this meeting seems to be prompting yet another tariff threat from President Trump. MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Polo. Let's

start with the latest words from the White House.

President Trump taking to Truth Social, basically telling that if nations do business with these BRICS nations, it could result in additional tariffs.

Now, let me just give you some context.

These -- this alliance, this BRIC alliance was formed as a way to serve as an economic alternative to the United States; to let the world know there are other ways to do business besides aligning itself with the West.

And that's why there is such criticism and skepticism by President Trump.

In this -- in this posting, he says, "Any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an additional 10 percent tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

[00:40:11]

Now, if we look at the nations that make up BRICS, it is Brazil, Russia, India, China, as well as South Africa. But it's recently been expanded to include nations such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran.

Nations that have had a very rocky and difficult relationship with the United States, not just on political issues, but also economic issues.

So, that's where the president's criticism is coming from. And it comes at a time when he is going to be sending letters to about 100 nations around the world, critical of -- of perhaps even additional tariffs.

We are getting some response from the BRICS nations, saying that this that these, that -- at the summit, they voiced serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures. Those are in reference to this action by the United States.

And as you mentioned, Polo, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were not there in person, but they did have representatives. And Vladimir Putin, at least, appeared on video.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Marc Stewart with that report. Thank you.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. WORLD SPORT is next for our international viewers. For our viewers in North America, your headlines continues [SIC] after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:35] SANDOVAL: And welcome back to our breaking news coverage out of Texas, where at least 82 people have now been killed in the flash flooding in center -- in the central parts of the state. At least 41 others are still missing.

The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, he's warning that even more heavy rain is expected in the coming days.

CNN's Isabel Rosales shows us the damage in Kerr County, which is where a majority of the destruction took place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can see this helicopter scanning the area here where there's a body of water right over there past that road. This is a rock quarry where I saw earlier police, EMS, firefighters, volunteers using shovels and digging in there through the mud, through the loose gravel.

I'm told that they found three RVs in this area, one of which was flipped over and buried in the mud. So, they're trying to dig that out to see if there's anyone there who's inside.

They've also told me that they pulled off a license plate from the RV so that they can help track down who these RVs belong to, as well.

Part of the major problem here for any search-and-rescue operation is this nonstop rain. As soon as the rain and the lightning started to come in, we saw those volunteers and rescuers scatter for their protection.

I know that they'll be back with heavier equipment to help dig out that RV and make sure that there's nobody inside.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Isabel.

Let's get you now some of the remarkable stories of survival. A group of friends barely escaped the flash flooding in Kerrville, Texas, after three strangers stepped in to rescue them.

Ricky Gonzalez told CNN earlier that he and 12 of his friends were trapped inside their Airbnb property, as the floodwaters were rising and swept one of their cars away. Here's more on how they described how they escaped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKY GONZALEZ, RESCUED FROM FLASH FLOODING: We are -- were on the second floor of the Airbnb and the water was coming up to the floor, so it was going really quickly. And we were -- we were stranded. We were stuck. There was one of the trucks that was merged underneath the -- the

house and was banging up against the pillar. So, I was very worried that the house was either going to fall or the water was going to continue to rise.

So, everything happened so quickly. What felt like, you know, two minutes was actually a two-hour ordeal for us.

And we were saved by a family who just so happened to be driving by to check on some property that they had. And I was looking out the window, talking with my sister, you know, just letting her know what's going on. And she saw me. I waved at her. And they went to the front. They were able to access the -- the house, and they were telling us, you know, the house was in bad shape. We need to get out.

And thankfully, by that time the water was going down enough for us waist deep to be able to get out. And this family, the Garcia family, Paula and Leo, they took us in; they fed us. They made sure we were dry. They drove us all the way to the San Antonio airport so we can rent vehicles, since we didn't have any vehicles anymore.

And they were just our guardian angels for this trip.

And so many different things had to happen right on this trip, in order for us to be safe. The house next door was swept away. The poor little children in the camp. And everyone is just -- we're one of the great, you know, the lucky ones.

And we're extremely grateful for all the local support there in Kerrville. And despite everything going on, people still have a heart and are willing to help out strangers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So, you heard from the rescued? What about the rescuer? CNN's Boris Sanchez spoke with the family who saved Ricky and his friends: Leo and Paula Garcia, along with their daughter Rachel. They described how they managed to rescue more than a dozen people that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEO GARCIA, RESCUED 13 PEOPLE FROM FLASH FLOODING: Well, we were going to check on a family property and coming in on the West side.

Well, we quickly realized that the water was still kind of high, and I decided that we were going to go back around to the East side.

So, we drove around and coming to our property, we noticed that everything was gone. There was two campers there in our shed that we had there. Not really a shed. It was a family gathering place that we had there. It was also gone.

So, we just continued forward a little more. And I thought I'd seen somebody at the second-story window. And I told my wife, Paula, I said, I'm pretty sure I saw somebody in there. So, I backed up, and we saw them, saw Ricky.

[00:50:03]

And so, she got out and asked if they were OK, and you could tell they were in shock, you know? So, we got out, as well as my daughter, Rachel, and we all got out and just went over to the house and helped them down.

You know, I think they were just so much in shock that they did not realize that the water had receded enough where they could have walked out. But, I mean, I get it. I get it. I mean, they were in shock.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

L. GARCIA: And I think they were just happy to see somebody that could get to them.

SANCHEZ: One hundred percent. And you see the video, and it just looks terrifying with all that debris moving through the water. Paula, what was going through your mind as you were trying to help evacuate Ricky and his friends?

PAULA GARCIA, RESCUED 13 PEOPLE FROM FLASH FLOODING: Well, we were kind of shocked a little bit that -- that people -- there were a few people on the road that were standing around. We were a little shocked that somebody hadn't already helped them.

But then we realized it was because those people were in shock also. They were stunned from what they had just experienced. And we -- we were pretty sure that the water had just receded enough for us to be able to walk up to the house.

We were walking through water to get to the house, but it was, you know, like five deep. And so, we were just trying to remove debris from the -- the steps. And it was still, even though they could walk out, it wasn't like they were just, like, on a leisurely stroll.

L. GARCIA: Right.

P. GARCIA: We had to climb over debris that was in the water. And you couldn't see anything in the water, and of course, they were all shaken from the experience that they had just been through.

And they had five animals with them, too. And we were a little concerned about if they -- if the animals would let us help them because they were, you know, traumatized, as well.

So, anyway, the animals were very cooperative. And we got everybody out and took them back to the house and fed them and just tried to do what we do best. And that's to just take care of people. That's what we like to do.

L. GARCIA: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: I love hearing that. I actually heard that Ricky said that it was one of the dogs that was with him, that -- that belonged to one of his friends, Nash, who started pawing at the door and actually got them to realize how bad the waters had gotten.

Rachel, I wonder, hearing your folks say that helping people is what they want to do, what they do best. I mean, it's got to be inspiring that you were part of this moment to help these folks in a really bad time.

RACHEL PILS, RESCUED 13 PEOPLE FROM FLASH FLOODING: Yes, it definitely was. We've always grown up, you know, just loving on people and helping as many people as we can. That's what we've always been taught. And that's something we will continue to do.

And if it was my family that was out there, I would hope that people would help them. So, we are going to do whatever we can to make sure we can help other people.

SANCHEZ: And lastly, I just wonder what message -- you wanted to say something, Leo?

L. GARCIA: No, it also helps that -- that Rachel is a nurse. So, you know, she -- it's -- it's in her blood, one way or another. So, I mean, she was there.

But we were there, you know, we're not -- we're not any hero. We were just -- we just happened to be there. And we're going to help out. Right place, right time. We're going to help whoever it is. I don't care who you are. We're going to help you, if you are in need of help.

P. GARCIA: I'd also like to say something to you about, you know, you are mentioning that it's -- you know, why -- why weren't there warning systems in place?

The people that are saying that do not understand how the weather works in this area. That water was coming so fast that there was just no way to warn people. And it just -- it's a tragedy.

And we're going to do our best to help our community get through that tragedy. But it's just sad that we're, you know, in the middle of all of it, trying to find blame. It's just kind of sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Boris and certainly that family for sharing their story.

Mother Nature, it is making its presence felt elsewhere in the United States with Tropical Depression Chantal.

It made landfall in South Carolina on Sunday. It's now become the first named storm to strike the Atlantic coast of the United States this hurricane season.

More than 5 million people in North Carolina were under flood threats by early morning hours yesterday.

And Virginia also putting at least 2 million people under flash flood warnings. As the storm tracks deeper inland, rain is expected to push further North later this week.

Chantal was recently downgraded from a tropical storm but is still inflicting some heavy damage on coastal communities. Just look at this picture, and it tells you everything you need to know.

You see a collapsed highway in central parts of North Carolina.

[00:55:06]

Well, after a 90-day pause on this reciprocal tariffs, Donald Trump says that his administration will begin sending out letters on Monday to all U.S. trading partners that don't have a deal in place yet.

Trump says the so-called take-it-or-leave-it letters will detail the tariff rates countries will have to pay for goods exported to the U.S., starting on August.

Now, the U.S. -- at least in the beginning of August, I should say. Now, the U.S. treasury secretary telling CNN's Dana Bash that he thinks countries will be very anxious to make a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We're going to be very busy over the next 72 hours. We are going to -- President Trump's going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don't move things along, then on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level.

So, I think we're going to see a lot of deals very quickly. And, you know, Dana, we're going to send out probably 100 letters to small countries where we don't have very much trade. And most of those are already at the baseline, 10 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Now, on that note, remember, it was in April that Trump announced that base tariff of -- the rate of 10 percent, with some countries facing an additional 50 percent.

Let's stay in Washington for this next story. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is set to meet with President Trump on Monday to discuss the latest hostage ceasefire proposal, or at least a potential ceasefire.

Now, just before boarding his flight to the United States on Sunday, the prime minister said Mr. Trump, quote, "can help move us closer to a ceasefire agreement." That sounds promising.

In the meantime, an Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar on Sunday to participate in proximity talks with Hamas.

Now, Monday's White House meeting, coming on the heels of Israel's latest ground strikes on Gaza, which killed at least 57 people across the enclave on Sunday. Gaza's health minister says nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. And from the team and I, I want to thank you for joining us for all of

the coverage today. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues after a short break with my colleague Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)