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Death Toll From Texas Floods Rises To 82, Dozens Still Missing; Trump Signs Major Disaster Declaration For Texas Flooding Response; Australian Erin Patterson Convicted Of Mushroom Murders; At Least 82 Dead, Dozens Missing in Texas Flash Floods; Interview with Former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell; Trump: "Take It or Leave It" Tariff Letters to Go Out Monday; Netanyahu Heads to U.S. Amid Renewed Hostage-Ceasefire Talks; Interview with Former Israeli Consul General of New York Alon Pinkas; Pope Leo Offers Prayers. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 07, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:46]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all our viewers joining us from all around the world. And here in the U.S., I'm Lynda Kinkade. We begin with breaking news. Parts of Texas are bracing for even more heavy rainfall after the catastrophic flooding event that's left at least 82 people dead, including 28 children.

The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, says flash flooding still poses a threat for some areas as water levels begin to rise again. And that's prompted officials to urge people in the Hunt community to move to higher ground Sunday. The treacherous conditions are making it harder for search and rescue crews to find any more survivors.

At last check, officials said at least 41 people were still missing. A local sheriff says more than 400 first responders from more than 20 agencies are part of a massive rescue operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LARRY LEITHA, KERR 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)

KINKADE: Well, among those missing are at least 10 campers and one counselor from Camp Mystic. It's an all girls summer camp near the Guadalupe River that burst its banks early Friday when most people were sleeping. Take a look at this time lapse video which shows just how quickly those flood waters rose. It was taken in Kingsland, Texas, about 95 miles from that camp.

President Trump is promising to continue with the 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 are fired in the last few months?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the rescue efforts from Comfort, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL 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 are 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 Camp Mystic.

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 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. They got washed up here along this bridge that crosses over the river.

But you look at the denseness and 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. And 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 was 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 it will continue because there are still several days out from this tragedy, still many families looking for answers, some still holding on to hope that maybe someone could be rescued alive. But with every passing hour, they know full well that is a very unlikely scenario to unfold here, as difficult as that is to say right now. Ed Lavendera, CNN, Comfort, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:05:07]

KINKADE: President Trump vowed continued federal support for Texas following the devastating floods, but refused to comment on the future of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he said last month could be phased out later this year. CNN's Kevin Liptak has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump says he will probably visit the affected areas of Texas on Friday. He actually said he wanted to visit this weekend but decided against it because he thought the security apparatus could affect the search and rescue efforts there.

The president is calling what is happening horrible and says the federal government will continue to assist state and local authorities as they deal with this tragedy. The president signed a major disaster declaration for Texas on Sunday and what that did is unlock federal resources for the community there. It allows FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to begin its work on the ground.

The U.S. Coast Guard has also deployed resources there, including two helicopters, three fixed wing aircraft which have thermal cameras able to detect movement on the ground that might not be visible to the naked eye.

FEMA has also set up seven shelters which as of 1:00 p.m. on Sunday were housing 137 people. President Trump in his letter to Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas wrote a handwritten addendum and Sharpie saying that our wonderful Secretary Kristi Noem is available at all times. Kristi Noem, obviously the secretary of Homeland Security.

Now there are some questions being raised about staffing levels at the National Weather Service. Some critical positions were left vacant after their occupants decided to take retire early retirement initiatives offered by the Trump administration as they have worked to reduce the size of the federal government.

One of the positions is a warning coordination meteorologist at the Austin, San Antonio office of the National Weather Service. Now it is not a definitive answer of whether these positions, if they were filled, could have changed anything on the ground there.

But it is certainly something that will be scrutinized going forward. President Trump also addressed some of these questions on Sunday. Listen to what he said.

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

TRUMP: I wouldn't know that. I really wouldn't. I would think not. This was the 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.

So I wouldn't, I mean people are trying to blame the school. They're trying to blame the camp. They're trying to blame. It's just a horrible thing. But no, I wouldn't say that.

LIPTAK: Now, now, President Trump was also asked if he still plans to phase out the FEMA. Remember, his goal is to eliminate that agency and put more responsibility on states for preparing and recovering for disasters. Those changes were set to go into effect after this year's Atlantic hurricane season.

The president declined to answer that question. He said that FEMA is busy working and that it was a question for another time. Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, joining me now is Jason Pack, former FEMA official and retired FBI special agent. Thanks so much for your time.

JASON PACK, FORMER FEMA OFFICIAL: Good morning, ma'am.

KINKADE: So this disaster struck Friday morning. We're now entering Monday morning. What's the scope of the search and rescue operation at this point in time?

PACK: The longer this goes on, the more I think that Hollywood could not have written a more gut punching script for this. It's just absolutely horrific. Having said all that, the dedicated first responders and community members and such cases are still giving their all looking for the missing people who are remaining out there.

In the operations center now, the emergency operations center, the operations and planning section of that agency or those agencies are coming together and setting what we call operational priorities for overnight. So that means where do you send the helicopters? Where do you send the urban search and rescue teams? Those types of questions as the search and rescue is the main objective for tomorrow.

Having said that, there's also more of the reunification shelters, the matching the missing people with loved ones. And there's also infrastructure. So this disaster declaration that President Trump signed opens all those doors to the federal coordination not only for individual assistance for people, but also public assistance for communities, which is bridges, roads and overtime for all of these first responders who are out working throughout the night.

[01:10:00]

KINKADE: Yes. And we have seen some extraordinary stories of survivor -- survival, like those folks who were found clinging to a tree. Dozens of people are still unaccounted for. Is this still considered very much a rescue mission?

PACK: Absolutely. As a first responder, the last thing you want to do is get a call involving a child. And now there's at least 10 children missing. And that's going to give the motivation to every first responder out there to look as hard as they can. And it's not an easy job.

These urban search and rescue teams, these are highly certified, highly trained and highly certified first responders through FEMA, and they're going to go out to these houses, to these debris piles and have to search those. You saw some video there of a tow truck putting a car onto the banks from the river.

You have to go open all those car doors, windows, trunks, make sure there's nobody in there or nobody around the debris. So it's very painstaking, slow, tedious work.

Conversely, Lynda, when you go into houses like this that have maybe moved off their foundation, you never know what you're going to see in there. You're going to have sewage everywhere. You're going to have the power still going to be on. Are there people who are just alive but stuck and not being able to call anybody? So all these things emergency responders have to be prepared for.

KINKADE: Yes. And certainly, as you point out, there are a lot of challenges for first responders on the ground there. Of course, with your background in FEMA, can you give us a sense of the federal response there? How large is FEMA's footprint and how are they coordinating with the local and state teams?

PACK: That's a good question, Lynda. The direct federal assistance we've seen since even before the declaration was signed, and we saw that a couple of days ago when Secretary Noem was there and you had the Coast Guard helicopters, you have Customs and Border Protection. All these are federal agencies that have resources.

And so the Army Corps of Engineer also works with the floodways and the bridges and roads. So, they're going to be there, too. So now that this declaration has been signed, you're going to have even more resources available. So that usually works. The local emergency management agencies in each county will see what their needs are. They'll forward that request up to the state, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, they'll field those requests.

If there are no assets or resources available in the state of Texas, then they'll form that on up to FEMA, who are all sitting in one location in this joint operations center. So they'll be able to know yes or no really quickly if they have those resources, the state doesn't have it, then FEMA can find it somewhere throughout the country.

KINKADE: And of course, Jason, you're well aware of the political debate recently, including those comments from the president suggesting that FEMA could be eliminated after this upcoming hurricane season. Based on what you're seeing right now in Texas, could the state realistically manage a disaster of this scale without federal support?

PACK: Well, we'll leave all those questions to the politicians. I'm a first line first responder here, so I will say that all these responses start local and state led. So the state always is the first on the scene along with the local folks. And so they have agreements in place with other states.

And so usually FEMA, a lot of people think FEMA have helicopters and rescue trucks and all this stuff. FEMA's a coordinating agency and we know that all the local coordination and response comes from state and local first responders.

Now there are teams, like I mentioned, the urban search and rescue teams that are FEMA funded and supported. But by and large those are also state and local first responders who have extra training in the funding from FEMA. So that we'll leave that for the politicians to decide. I can guarantee you.

Now no one in Texas is worried about politics right now. They're worried about the hard work and trying to find these missing girls in the campers and the rest of the folks who are missing out there. Just a horrific situation.

KINKADE: Yes, it really is. Well, we'll leave it there for now. Jason Pack, we appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining us.

PACK: Thanks ma'am.

KINKADE: Earlier, CNN's Pamela Brown spoke with Texas resident Robert Brake, who's searching for his missing parents. He called them in Kerr County early Friday morning, urging them to evacuate. Minutes later, his brother discovered the home where they were staying had been swept away by floodwaters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BRAKE, TEXAS RESIDENT: We're hanging in there. We have a ton of support and the response within the community has been wonderful. It's been helpful in keeping us inspired and hopeful.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Walk us through that early morning phone call to your parents.

BRAKE: My brother was staying at the RV Park. He had called at 4:44 and said call mom and dad because they were staying visiting my brother at the RV Park, HTX RV Park. And I called my dad at 4:44, said dad, you got to get out of there.

[01:15:00]

He was still (INAUDIBLE) Just bobbled. My brother was about 40 yards away. He went up to help them at 4:53, and all the homes they were staying in were gone. They were just leveled. They were no longer there. We haven't heard or seen of them since then. BROWN: So you did make connection with your dad initially, right?

BRAKE: At 4:44. Yes, ma'am. He answered the phone.

BROWN: At 4:44. And what did he say to you then?

BRAKE: Nothing. I told him Luke's RV was getting swept away. Lucas, my brother needs some help. At the time, we didn't realize the magnitude of what was going on. My brother just barely escaped with his own life and his wife. And by the time my brother went up to help him, realizing what was going on, they were already gone seven minutes later.

BROWN: Horrible. Tell me more about the search and the rescue.

BRAKE: I'll tell you. You know, that's been probably the part that's got us through the most. These folks have just been unbelievable. We have seen everything from DPS to state troopers, local sheriffs, ambulances. We've seen Coast Guards, Black Hawk helicopters.

You know, when you look outside and you see the support, the overwhelming support of people that are showing up, not just in uniform, but with their hearts, you know, it just -- It provides -- it provides us a little more hope. You know, there's people with big hearts that are out there doing the best they can in danger of circumstances, trying to assist us. Find all the (INAUDIBLE).

BROWN: Yes. You're feeling, Robert, what so many are feeling right now. Just overwhelmed with emotion and with a sense of grief, of not knowing if your loved ones are still alive. It is the most natural feeling in the world. Are you still out there? Are you still looking for your parents?

BRAKE: We are. My brother and myself are here in Kerrville, Grimes Funeral Home, where they're staging the bodies as they come in. They've been very helpful. We check in regularly. It's an emotional roller coaster. You go and you don't want to -- if you don't want to hear they're here moment, they say they're not there. You know, it's just one more ounce of hope. That's all we can ask for.

BROWN: And tell us a little bit more about how you're banding with your brother and all of this and what this has been like for the two of you going out there against the challenges of the Mother Nature and everything. I mean, I've seen all the devastation. It's rough. What has that been like for you two, it's dangerous out here.

BRAKE: It's overwhelming. You go down the river and you can't even imagine. The debris is stacked up so high, you wouldn't know if there was a bus underneath some of the debris, let alone a body. It's just -- we can't comprehend it.

But we ask, you know, my brother and my family, we ask everybody to continue to pray. It's not just our family that's suffering, but many others are affected by these floods as well. People hurting and people waiting and people start searching. And every hunt of kindness, every sharepost, every prayer, every offer to help, I mean something to everybody here, including the brave family.

(END VIDEO CIP)

KINKADE: And our thoughts are with him and his family at this point in time. Thanks to Pamela Brown. We have much more to come on the deadly floods in Texas. We're going to hear about the weather conditions that created the opportunity for this disaster, next.

Plus, parents appraising the heroism of the councilors at Camp mystic, credited with saving the lives of many children during the flooding. We'll hear their stories next.

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[01:22:34]

KINKADE: Up on our breaking news. At least 82 people have been killed, including 28 children in the flash floods in Central Texas. State and local officials say another 41 people are still missing. Most of the victims were in Kerr County where the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in the span of a couple of hours.

Many of the youngest victims died at Camp Mystic, a Christian all girls summer camp located on the riverbank. Search and rescue operations continue for a camp counselor and 10 campers who is still missing. Dick Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic, died while trying to rescue campers, according to his grandson.

We're following new developments in Australia where the jury in the mushroom murder trial has delivered its verdict finding Erin Patterson guilty on all counts. The 50-year-old 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 two years ago.

CNN's Ivan Watson is joining us from Hong Kong with the latest. Good to see you, Ivan. So, so much interest in this death cap mushroom murder trial. During the weeks of testimony, the prosecution certainly had a great deal of evidence. Just take us through the jury's decision.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this was a unanimous decision, 12 jury members who deliberated over the course of six and as you noted, a guilty verdict on all four charges, three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder against the chief suspect. Here this was the 50-year-old mother of two, Erin Patterson, who almost two years ago invited five people to lunch. They were her estranged husband, her mother and father in law, and then her mother in law's sister and husband and her husband.

The mother and father in law died of organ failure and poisoning as a result of the lunch. The sister of the mother in law, Heather Wilkinson, also died and her husband, Ian Wilkinson, survived after spending weeks in coma and the estranged husband canceled and did not attend the lunch at the last minute.

Now the meal that was served was beef Wellington and there was no question in the trial about what killed the guests.

[01:25:02]

It was death cap mushrooms that had been added to the beef Wellington. The prosecution accused Susan -- Erin Patterson, rather, of hiding the death cap mushrooms and giving herself a different portion of the food that didn't have these deadly mushrooms in them. That was something that she and her defense attorney denied.

They said this was all a terrible mistake. It's not clear which evidence convinced the jury unanimously to issue the guilty verdicts here, but there certainly was a lot of lying that happened in the hours and days and weeks after this poisoning took place on the part of Erin Patterson. She admitted to lying to police. She said that she panicked. She remotely wiped her phone after it had been taken in custody by the police.

She lied about buying a dehydrator which was used to dehydrate the death cap mushrooms which she had picked herself. And one important part of this trial, Lynda, was that the prosecution did not have to prove any real motive. So we don't really know what the motive was. The defense argued there was no motive.

Why would Erin Patterson, despite her sharp differences with her estranged husband, seek to kill the grandparents of her own two children. This attracted a tremendous amount of attention. There were four podcasts about this. The trial went on for some nine weeks. A lot of international attention as well.

Even some graffiti art about Aaron Patterson seen in one Australian city. But the end result was that her defense did not work. She is likely to spend now decades behind bars. The sentencing is expected sometime in the future. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right, Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong. Good to have you sitting across this developing story for us. Thank you.

We do have more breaking news out of Texas and the race to find the missing before time runs out.

Plus, remembering the lives lost in the Texas floods. We'll bring you some of their stories, next.

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[01:30:36]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. We have more on our breaking news.

At least 82 people have now been killed in the flash flooding in central Texas; another 41 people remain missing. Texas Governor Greg Abbott warns that even more heavy rain is expected in the coming days, and the flooding could still get worse in Kerr County, where the majority of the destruction has happened. Search and rescue crews are still looking for at least ten campers and

a counselor missing from Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp near the Guadalupe River. It took less than two hours for that river to rise more than 20 feet, or about six meters on Friday.

Well, I want to welcome Deanne Criswell, former administrator of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She joins us from Des Moines, Iowa. Good to have you with us. Thanks for your time.

DEANNE CRISWELL, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Hello, Lynda. Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So this storm dropped four months' worth of rain in just a few hours, a truly extreme weather event. From FEMA's perspective, what are families going to need most right now? And how is federal aid deployed to meet those urgent needs?

CRISWELL: You know, my heart breaks for everybody in Texas right now. We have seen far too many of these severe weather Events that have picked up so quickly and intensified so rapidly, dumping months' worth of rain and causing so much havoc.

You know, right now the families need to rely on that community. They need to have the support of each other. And that's what I've seen so far. I've seen these families really come together to help each other.

And they need to, you know, have that search continue, right; and have the teams come in there to help find those remaining people that are missing.

You know, as they go through the next days and weeks of this recovery and start this recovery process, you know, it looks like so many homes were damaged and they're going to need a place to stay. They're going to need that kind of assistance.

And with the presidential disaster declaration that was given earlier, you know, that's going to open up some of those resources from the federal government to help these families, you know, with the loss of their loved ones, with the loss of their property and begin that recovery process.

KINKADE: Yes. As you say, so many people have lost their homes. We saw homes literally floating down that river.

Just explain for us what sort of help they'll get from FEMA in the coming days and weeks. And where FEMA's responsibility begins and ends.

CRISWELL: Well, FEMA's responsibility really begins even before the storm happens, right? You know, we have partnerships or FEMA has partnerships with the state and the local jurisdictions, and the state and local emergency managers to be able to work with them, that they can call them and build those relationships ahead of time.

And then during the response, FEMA can provide additional resources. They can provide additional search and rescue teams. They can do a process that we call mission assignments, where FEMA has the authority to tap into the rest of the federal family and bring in that kind of assistance, like the Army Corps of Engineers, to help with debris removal. They'll work side by side with those state officials and helping them through this entire recovery process.

And the families themselves, you know, they can get some financial assistance for damages or the loss of their home. They can get some immediate assistance for some of those immediate needs, like clothing, food, water that they may not have right away.

They can get assistance with a place to stay until they can have a permanent place, or get back into their home. And then they can get some financial assistance for some of their lost belongings, right? If they lost their primary vehicle, they lost some of their appliances within their home -- all kinds of different types of assistance that's out there.

And then FEMA provides other things that people may not think about. They provide crisis counseling to a state, right because this is so traumatic for this community. And they have a grant that can go to a state that can help these communities start to cope with what they're facing.

KINKADE: Yes, incredibly traumatic. A one-in-a 100-year disaster, as it's been described. But of course, it comes after those cuts to FEMA, including a 20 percent staffing reduction as well as the budget cuts we saw to the National Weather Service.

[01:34:49]

KINKADE: How might these reductions have impacted the response and preparedness for an event like this?

CRISWELL: You know, it is hard because when you lose people and you lose that kind of institutional knowledge, you know, you don't have as many people to be able to implement the things that need to happen.

But I know that the men and women that are still at FEMA, they want to be able to continue to help, and they want to be able to get in there, work side by side with the state. And

There are staff that are in that state EOC (ph) that are working with them. But it's going to mean that every individual has to do a little bit more because there's less people to spread the work around.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And of course, Texas is no stranger to disasters. It's dealt with hurricanes, floods, wildfires. And we know since 2017, about 20 percent of federal disaster aid has gone to two states, Texas and Florida.

If the proposals that have been discussed go forward to eliminate FEMA, what could that realistically look like for states like Texas to handle disasters of this magnitude?

CRISWELL: You look at a state like Texas, and they have so many resources. I've been able to work with Governor Abbott and Nim Kidd, the state emergency management director there. You know, they have a lot of capability.

But even Texas, with an incident this big, still can have a need for federal assistance. And they're going to still need financial assistance to come in and help them rebuild roads, rebuild damaged infrastructure. But also, as I've already talked about, help those families that have lost so much.

But that's a state like Texas that has great resources. So many other states don't have the same amount of resources. And so it's going to be even harder for them to be able to bring in the right resources to help in that response phase, but also in that recovery phase.

And we're asking, you know, the state and locals to do more, but we're also not giving them the resources to help build up that capacity. You know, I think it's important to always remember state and locals have always had the responsibility to manage disasters. And the federal government only comes in when it exceeds their capability.

We've seen that right now with Texas, it's exceeded their capability. It doesn't take much in some other states to exceed that kind of capability.

KINKADE: It's great to get your perspective. Deanne Criswell, thanks so much for staying up late with us. We appreciate it.

CRISWELL: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, I want to go to CNN's Rafael Romo with more about some of the victims of these devastating floods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The families of several campers have confirmed their deaths to CNN, while others are enduring an excruciating wait for news on their loved ones.

At one point, officials confirmed as many as 27 children were missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian all-girls camp located by the Guadalupe River in central Texas, Kerr County.

the family of Renee Smajstria confirmed to CNN that the eight-year-old camper at Camp Mystic went missing during the torrential flooding and has passed away. Shawn Salta, the girl's uncle, told us that it's truly devastating for the family, adding that his niece's body was recovered on Friday, the same day flooding swept the area.

The mother of missing Camp Mystic camper Janie Hunt, who was nine years old, told CNN in a message Saturday morning that her daughter had passed away on Friday, the day of the tragedy. Anne Hunt (ph) had told us that the family was just praying for the return of their daughter.

CNN has also confirmed that 13-year-old Blair Harber and her 11-year- old sister, Brooke, are among the victims. This was confirmed by their father. Both girls had been missing. R.J. Harber had told us that "Blair was a gifted student and had a

generous, kind heart, and Brooke was like a light in any room. People gravitated to her," he said. "And she made them laugh and enjoy the moment." Neither girl was attending Camp Mystic at the time of their disappearance.

Reece Zunker, the head coach for the boys soccer team at Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas, and his wife, Paula, are also among the dead, as confirmed to CNN by his niece. His team posted on social media that Coach Reece Zunker was not just a soccer coach, he was a mentor, teacher and a role model for our Kerrville kids.

Authorities confirm flooding killed people in at least six different counties in central Texas including Travis, Burnett, Kendall, Williamson, Tom Green and Kerr, which had the largest number of victims by far.

Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still to come could Israel and Hamas reach a ceasefire agreement this week? When we come back, the details of the Israeli prime minister's upcoming meeting with President Trump at the White House and the renewed talks that are set to take place in Qatar.

[01:39:46]

KINKADE: Plus, Donald Trump says take it or leave it. Those letters will be going out soon to U.S. trading partners that don't have a deal in place before the tariff deadline. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Well, after a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs, Donald Trump says his administration will begin sending out letters Monday to all U.S. trading partners without a deal in place. Trump says the "take it or leave it" letters will detail the tariff rates countries will have to pay for goods exported to the U.S. starting at the beginning of August.

The U.S. Treasury secretary told CNN's Dana Bash he thinks countries will be anxious to make new deals.

(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 1st, 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)

KINKADE: Under Mr. Trump's reciprocal tariffs, some countries could face an additional 50 percent rate on the goods they export to the U.S.

Well, dozens are dead across Gaza Sunday after the Israeli military attacked Gaza City and the southern enclave. The latest round of strikes come as the Israeli prime minister departs for the U.S. in a move that could inch Israel and Hamas closer to a ceasefire agreement.

Our Paula Hancocks has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the closest to a hostage ceasefire deal that Hamas and Israel have been in months. And the negotiations have now moved to Doha.

[01:44:47]

HANCOCKS: Now, we know there is an Israeli delegation already there. Hamas senior sources told CNN they believe that the next round of talks could start as early as Monday.

Now, they could potentially be proximity talks. This means that even though they won't be speaking directly, Hamas and Israel may potentially be in the same building, which means that the mediator can run from one to the other, hammering out those final details in a much quicker way than we have seen in months.

Now, we did hear from the Israeli prime minister's office saying that they had seen some amendments that had been called for by Hamas and they called them, quote, "unacceptable". So, these are really the last-minute final talks that we will see in the days ahead.

Now, the Israeli prime minister is on his way to Washington. He'll be meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday. Mr. Trump has been very optimistic about these talks saying he believes a deal can be done by next week. He was referring to the week that is coming.

A quick look at what the proposal looks like. As far as we know from a source familiar with the situation, there will be 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages released in return for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.

The Israeli military will pull their troops back to pre-agreed locations in northern Gaza. There will be negotiations starting for that permanent end to the war. This will just be a temporary 60-day ceasefire at this point.

And there will be an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza. And most crucially it will be through the United Nations-run institutions which have up until recently been somewhat sidelined as the U.S.-Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was in process. The GHF role going forward is uncertain.

Now, this ceasefire cannot come quickly enough for those on the ground in Gaza. Dozens more were killed on Sunday. Hospital officials saying over the weekend that many children lost their lives. The Israeli military saying that they are continuing to target terrorist organizations in Gaza.

Paula Hancocks, CNN Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, prayers are being offered to central Texas from the Vatican. Pope Leo used his traditional weekly prayer to share his thoughts on the devastating floods.

Stay with us for more.

[01:47:14]

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will head to the White House to meet President Trump today as ceasefire talks continue.

Joining us now to discuss all of this from Tel Aviv is Alon Pinkas. He's a former Israeli consul-general of New York. Good to see you. Great to connect with you.

I want to start with President Trump and what he's saying about this potential ceasefire deal. He says he's optimistic, but given the repeated breakdowns in past negotiations, what's your realistic assessment of the current proposal on the table.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL-GENERAL OF NEW YORK: Well, there's no question Lynda, that Trump had hoped to announce the ceasefire when Mr. Netanyahu meets him at around 6:30 p.m. Israel time, which is 11:30 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S.

That's not going to happen, because while Israel said yes to the -- to the draft proposal by the way, parenthetically it's identical to the four previous drafts that both sides, you know, repudiated and rejected.

But that's not going to happen, because while Israel said, "yes, but", Hamas said "yes" with several buts. So now Trump is going to talk about, well, we're going to get this very soon, because I think he's fed up and I think he's also under some kind of a -- I don't want to call pressure -- but he's under some kind of -- the Saudis are leaning on him --

KINKADE: Yes.

PINKAS: -- to get this done.

KINKADE: And I want to ask you --

(CROSSTALKING)

PINKAS: That said, Lynda --

KINKADE: -- Alon, about those sticking points, because this proposed deal does include this phased release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners without the public ceremonies we've seen in the past, as well as humanitarian aid from the U.N. and other agencies.

But what are the key issues right now?

PINKAS: Ok, the issue number one is, you know, a grand issue, and that is why go again through a partial agreement. Why not sign one agreement that ends the war, brings back all the hostages, releases an x amount of Palestinian prisoners and get this over with.

This goes to the heart of the second sticking issue, which again, is sort of 40,000 feet above us, but nonetheless important. And that is both sides' different, contrasting definitions of what constitutes a victory.

For Israel, it's the destruction of Hamas. This agreement leaves Hamas in some kind of a power position. For Hamas it's standing up, which then leads to the -- to the very practical sticking points that you were asking about.

Number one, the duration. Hamas has asked for U.S. guarantees that this will last 60 days. And during those 60 days, a post-war framework will be discussed.

Israel can't really have that, because if you're negotiating with Hamas, then what happens to Hamas being deposed and removed?

KINKADE: Yes, exactly.

PINKAS: Number two is Israeli redeploying -- number two is Israeli redeployment and eventual withdrawal. There's nothing in the agreement about that.

Number three is who's in charge of humanitarian aid -- humanitarian, I'm sorry, aid? It doesn't specify that.

And number four, assuming we somehow get beyond those points, number four has to do with the with the post-war scenario. Supposedly there is an Emirati plan on the table from the United Arab Emirates. Who knows?

[01:54:45]

PINKAS: Both sides -- you know, you look at Mr. Netanyahu, he's going into the White House understanding fully that Trump wants this to happen but very reluctant to do so.

KINKADE: And just quickly, we saw protests again in Tel Aviv in Hostage Square over the weekend. What sort of pressure is Prime Minister Netanyahu facing in Israel right now?

PINKAS: Let me put it this way, Lynda. If there's no agreement in the next few days, forget the meeting at the White House. If there's no agreement in the next -- during this week, then the pressure will increase and then there will be real pressure because people will understand viscerally and cerebrally that Mr. Netanyahu perhaps did not want this deal.

Right now, the pressure as far as Netanyahu is concerned politically is tolerable. I mean, he can -- he can withstand this pressure, assuming that everyone is still under the, you know, the impression -- the lasting impression of the war with Iran and the incentive to go out and demonstrate is still low.

But if again, let me emphasize, if there is no agreement in the next few days, then I think this pressure will increase exponentially.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. We will wait and see how this meeting goes between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump at the White House while we keep an eye on those ceasefire talks as well.

Alon Pinkas in Tel Aviv, we appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

PINKAS: Thank you, Lynda. Good morning.

KINKADE: Well, Pope Leo is offering his condolences to the victims of the flood in Texas. The Pontiff addressed the tragedy during the weekly traditional prayer held in Vatican City.

He also requested prayers for the families impacted, specifically, the parents whose daughters were at that all-girls summer camp that flooded. The deaths of at least four campers have been confirmed, 10 are still missing.

Here's what Pope Leo had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH: I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones. In particular, their daughters who were at summer camp in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States.

We pray for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for your company.

Stick around. My friend and colleague Rosemary Church is next with much more news.

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