Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Trump Celebrates 6th Month in Office in Second Term, Americans Disapprove Trump in Office; Despite Election Loss, Japan PM Vows to Stay; Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Worsen, IDF Kill 73; New Wave of Attacks from Russia on Ukraine; Tourist Capsizes in Vietnam; Ferry in Indonesia Catches Fire; CNN Poll: 55 Percent of Americans Oppose Trump's Deportation Policies; Oldest Antarctic Ice Sample Used To Study Climate Trends; Historic Flooding In Central Texas Devastates Campgrounds; Trump's Plan To Create More Republican Seats In Congress. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 21, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, six months on, we will look at Donald Trump's second term so far. What's worked, what hasn't and new polling on how Americans feel about his handling of immigration.

Japan's Prime Minister vows to stay on despite a parliamentary defeat in elections as voters swing right.

And hungry Palestinians desperately seeking aid come under fire yet again.

Good to have you with us. Well, U.S. President Donald Trump boasts six months of winning, marking the anniversary of his second inauguration. He has been pushing through massive domestic and international policy changes since his re-election, but polls show Americans are growing more disenchanted with his actions by the day.

A CNN poll shows just 42 percent of Americans approve of the way Mr. Trump is performing his job as president. A new polling on Sunday shows the President is losing support on one of his campaign platforms, immigration. Fifty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of his immigration policies. That is up 10 percent since March. CNN's Kevin Liptak has more now from the White House.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump is looking to celebrate his six-month mark in office, and certainly I think everyone would agree that it has been an eventful half a year for the president. He's notched some significant wins in Congress, at the Supreme Court, on the world stage, but polls do show that Americans are starting to sour on some of his biggest priorities, and this matter involving the Jeffrey Epstein files has in a lot of ways overshadowed the president's accomplishments, at least over the last week.

Members of the president's political base agitating for the administration to release more information and the president working to tamp down on the discontent. Now earlier Sunday, the president chose to mark the moment by writing on Truth Social, "Wow, time flies. Today is that Sixth Month Anniversary of my Second Term. Importantly, it's being hailed as one of the most consequential periods of any President. In other words, we got a lot of good and great things done, including entering numerous wars of countries not related to us, other than through trade and or, in certain cases, friendship." The president concludes, "Happy Anniversary."

So the president, clearly eager to make the most of the day. He also in an earlier post referenced that Jeffrey Epstein matter, saying that since that controversy began bubbling up, that his approval ratings among his supporters had actually been increased. Now, according to a CNN poll that was released last week, the president's approval among Republicans stands at 88 percent, but overall the president's remain underwater. He's at 42 percent approval overall.

And when you look at some of the critical issues that have been central to the president's six months in office, the poll finds that more Americans disapprove of the president's handling than approved. So, on taxes, which is critical, the president passing that enormous bill that extends the tax cuts he signed first term in office, he's at 44 percent. On immigration, of course, the president pursuing a hardline immigration agenda, the president stands at 42 percent. On the economy, he's at 40 percent. And on foreign affairs, also at 40 percent.

And so while the six month mark is a moment to look back, it's also a moment to look forward. And this week the president will continue pursuing a number of issues that are critical to his agenda. At some point, he will sign that bill that was passed by Congress last week that claws back funding for certain public broadcasters and on foreign aid. The president will host the Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., here at the White House.

On Monday, there's a critical hearing in Massachusetts on the administration's attempts to strip federal funding from Harvard. The president continues to pursue his trade agenda. He'll be sending out more of those tariff letters to U.S. trade partners as we approach that August 1st deadline to strike new deals.

[02:05:04]

And then at the end of the week, the president will be in Scotland visiting his golf courses, but also meeting with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in part to discuss the trade deal that they struck earlier this year.

And so clearly the President a lot on his plate at the six month mark, but the President also looking forward to the next 42 months that he has left in office. Kevin Liptak, CNN, The White House.

CHURCH: Let's discuss this with Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and opinion columnist at "Bloomberg." He joins me from Los Angeles. Good to you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi Rosemary.

CHURCH: So six months into his second term in office and President Donald Trump insists he has achieved more than any other U.S. president at this half year point and that it has been six months of winning. What do you say to that and how does his progress compare to previous U.S. leaders?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, Franklin Roosevelt, among others, might like a word on that assertion, but there's no question that Trump has been able to implement a lot of his agenda. He has essentially broken resistance to his agenda within the Republican Party. Congress has gone along with everything that he wants, and the Republican appointees on the Supreme Court have validated many of his aggressive executive branch actions.

So he has been able to do a lot of what he has set out to do, but the price of that, as you noted, is a lot of the public is pulling back. And in fact, I think if you look at the polling, what it shows is that Trump is kind of back to his core support right now. And that a lot of the voters who moved to him for the first time, excuse me, in '24 are starting to express second thoughts.

CHURCH: Yeah, let's talk about that. Because going by the latest polling, which of his domestic and international policy changes have worked and which haven't for President Trump so far. Could the immigration issue end up being his Achilles heel perhaps, with many Americans viewing his extreme deportation policy as an overreach?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest problem he has in public opinion is that he was elected above all to solve people's cost of living issues and voters don't see much progress on that. And that is problem number one. And I think number two is that if you look at the agenda, immigration being a prime example, he is targeting his policies very much at his base and pursuing an approach that raise a lot of questions for everyone else.

I mean, Americans on immigration, I think, are making a clear distinction between the border, where they see progress, and interior enforcement and deportation, where many of them see excess.

CHURCH: And Ron, how big a threat do you think is the Jeffrey Epstein case? How big a threat does it pose for Donald Trump? Or do you expect him to turn this around in the end and get his MAGA base back on site, as he has done so many times before?

BROWNSTEIN: I think he can hold his MAGA base on this. I think this is something that is energizing more the grass tops as they say than the grassroots. I think, excuse me, that he can hold his voters. But I think for the broader electorate, it is part of this general sense that Trump is not ultimately focusing on the issues that they elected him to focus on. And I think in that sense, it could compound his vulnerabilities.

CHURCH: And so what are his biggest challenges? What biggest challenges lie ahead for him, do you think, in the next six months, perhaps?

BROWNSTEIN: I think delivering on what he was elected to do, above all, which is get people's cost of living under control. There's very little on his agenda that people see addressing that. In fact, many of his key elements, tariffs, cutting Medicaid, cutting clean energy subsidies might make their cost of living worse. So I think he will be judged on the same metric that ultimately sank Joe Biden, which is that people do not feel that they can afford their lives.

The other problem he's got is that, as is often the case, when the president comes in and pursues a very aggressive agenda, he energizes the other side. And that is the risk, I think, for Republicans going into 2026.

CHURCH: Right. And particularly with the Epstein case, he seems to have had some problems getting all Republicans on board with him. I mean, it seems in these recent days that he's been able to get the MAGA base back on board. But what about some of those Republicans who say, look, we -- and of course, the Democrats are climbing on board that same issue. So, what will likely happen with that? Will his hand be forced in terms of releasing more information on this?

BROWNSTEIN: I can't imagine this Justice Department is going to release information that's damaging to him.

[02:09:57]

But I think the pressure to release more information overall is likely to remain very high and probably insurmountably high. And I do think this is something where they are going to have to give ground. But again, I can't imagine that this Justice Department is going to give you a full and an expurgated look at whatever is in those FBI files.

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your analysis as always.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is vowing to stay on the job to deal with trade negotiations with the U.S. That is despite his party's poor performance at Sunday's election. Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito needed 50 seats to keep a majority in Japan's upper house, but they only secured 47. It comes after the Prime Minister already lost control of the more powerful lower house in October.

So let's go now to CNN's Will Ripley joining us live from Taipei in Taiwan. So, Will, what is the latest on this, on the fallout of this election?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know Rosemary, Japan has lot of earthquakes as you know, but this is a huge political earthquake in Japan. For the liberal democrats who've been in power for nearly 70 years to lose both houses, it would have been unthinkable before 2020, certainly, when this new party, this far- right party, Sanseito, began to emerge on YouTube, spreading conspiracy theories.

I was in Japan at that time. I remember seeing them posting on social media, and the posts were going viral. That was the seeds that started to plant this narrative that has now fueled the rise of this far-right party, which won 13 seats, led by a man named Sohei Kamiya, who actually models himself after the U.S. President, Donald Trump. He has been pushing things like nationalism, tax cuts, strict immigration controls. Sound familiar?

The Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, he is refusing to resign right now, but there's a lot of public anger and frustration with him and his party over things like those U.S. trade talks you mentioned, rice prices, immigration. Just listen to what one voter said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HIDEAKI MATSUDA, VOTER (through translation): I think it was the perfect opportunity for the ruling party. Had the ruling party resolved even one of these issues, such as Trump's outrage and the soaring rice prices, its approval rating would have gone up. But we didn't feel anything, and it seems like the U.S. will continue to push us around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: That feeling of being pushed around, you know, that feeling that populist nationalism. But let me tell you something else, Rosemary, that's really fueling this. Japan now has 3.8 million foreign-born residents, that's about 3 percent of its population. That is massive for Japan. They've never had that many foreigners living in Japan and there's a lot of fear and misinformation spreading around Japan right now.

Despite lower crime rates among foreigners, that these people who are non-Japanese in this homogenous society are somehow more dangerous, are going to, you know, rock the boat, upset the balance of Japanese society. So even though the statistics on crime, for example, don't back that up, obviously there are cultural differences, and when you're used to living in a place where everybody basically grew up the same way, does the same thing, that can be jarring, sure.

But when you have the government, the ruling government, pledging a crackdown on foreign crime, as they put it, that has actually failed to stop the rise of this party, Sanseito, which says that they're not racist, they're not trying to necessarily discriminate against foreigners, but they're trying to put Japanese interests first, they say.

When you see a lot of people from a lot of other places speaking languages that are not Japanese, doing jobs by the way that Japan doesn't have the people to fill because they have a shrinking population crisis, they've had to bring in a lot of workers in areas like construction and hospitality, not to mention skilled laborers, all sectors. You've got a lot of foreigners in Japan right now.

So that is helping to fuel this, you know, this perception that these foreigners are somehow going to take away from everyone else. Starting to fuel this Trump inspired political force, which just like Trump space, Rosemary, it's a lot of, you know, younger men that are really buying into this and fueling the rise of this far-right party in Japan of all places. It's really extraordinary.

CHURCH: Will Ripley, our thanks for that live report. Appreciate it. The U.N. says Palestinians in Gaza are facing the choice between being shot or being fed. Coming up, a look at the latest deadly incidents near aid sites.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: In Gaza, the explosions continue amid a growing hunger crisis. At least 73 people were killed and around 150 others injured by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid across the enclave on Sunday. That is according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The director of the Al-Shifa Hospital says they are inundated with dead, wounded and, quote, "starving civilians." And even medical staff for suffering severe malnutrition. People in Gaza say it's becoming impossible to find basic food supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABIR BANNAT, DISPLACED FROM NORTHERN GAZA (through translation): We are dying of hunger. We cannot find any food or anything to drink, not even water. We drink from the sea and we can't find any food at all. We came here at 3:00 to just fill a small dish which doesn't even fill this pot. One small dish inside this pot and we still have five or six people to feed.

UM MAHMOUD ABU TARBOOSH, GAZA RESIDENT (through translation): Certainly it feels like weakness and sadness because I can't even provide my son with just bread. We don't want meat, chicken or poultry, just flour and bread to eat and hopefully stave off hunger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, there were several explosions in northern Gaza near the border with Israel, even as ceasefire talks are underway in Qatar. The Israeli army says it's continuing military action in the northern part of the enclave and expanding operations in Gaza City with ground troops and aerial strikes. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more on the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A warning though, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Starvation in the Gaza Strip is becoming almost as deadly as the war itself. In June, this woman said her four-year-old daughter, Razan (ph), was weak from hunger.

[02:20:03]

My daughter suffers from malnutrition, and malnutrition has also caused her to suffer from a mobility disability. Her health was very good before the war, but after the war, her condition began to deteriorate due to malnutrition. There is nothing to strengthen her, and there is no milk available in the hospitals or pharmacies and there are no vitamins in the hospital. On Sunday, Razan (ph) died, her mother said.

Searching for food has also become a dangerous quest. Over the weekend, over 100 people seeking aid were killed by Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Nearly 80 were killed Sunday and more than 30 were killed early Saturday, including children near a US-Israeli-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution point, the health ministry said.

Regarding Saturday's incident, Israeli military said they had fired warning shots at people who had approached them, not far from where the food aid site was located. It also said it was aware of reports regarding casualties, and the incident is under review. But for those fighting hunger, especially those whose children are dying from it, the fight for survival is often a calculated risk. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: A performance turned political at the Royal Opera House in London Saturday. Despite an attempt to stop him, a cast member unfurled a Palestinian flag on stage during Verdi's opera, Il Trovatore. Afterwards, the Royal Ballet and Opera were quick to distance themselves. One spokesperson described the protest as a, quote, "wholly inappropriate act" and said it was not approved by the theatre. Video of the demonstration has drawn praise and condemnation on social media.

Ukraine faced a new wave of attacks overnight. Authorities say Russia fired cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles along with drones across the country, killing at least one person in Kyiv and hitting several sites in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv. It comes just hours after Russia said it was ready to talk peace. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow's main goal is still to achieve its objectives.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine give up land as part of its preconditions for a ceasefire, something Ukraine has so far refused to consider. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for talks with Russia this week.

Crews in Vietnam are searching for four missing people after a tourist boat capsized Saturday with 49 people on board. Vietnamese officials say at least 35 people died and 10 were rescued. The boat was carrying tourists in Ha Long Bay when a sudden storm caused it to capsize. There are amazing reports from the survivors, including from a 10- year-old boy who was able to survive by finding an air pocket in the submerged part of the ship.

Well, five people were killed after an Indonesian passenger ferry caught fire at sea on Sunday. Over 280 people were rescued from the ferry. Local fishermen helped in the rescue effort by saving passengers as they floated in the choppy seas. Indonesia's ferry network is a vital link between the country's many islands, but accidents are a regular occurrence. Earlier this month, at least 19 people were killed when a ferry sank near Bali.

The White House could see new pushback on one of its key agenda items. A new CNN poll shows a majority of Americans think Trump's deportation policies have gone too far. We'll break down the numbers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:25:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. New CNN polling is giving us a clearer picture of how Americans view the first six months of President Trump's second term. And it includes one of President Trump's central issues, immigration. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.

JULIA BENBROOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president's approval ratings currently sit at around 40 percent for his handling both of immigration in general and deportation specifically. This new CNN polling shows that a rising majority believe that Trump has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. While that number stood at 45 percent back in February, it now stands at 55 percent.

Let's dive into some of the other key takeaways from this survey. Fifty-three percent oppose increasing the budget for immigration and customs enforcement by billions of dollars. Nearly six in 10 oppose efforts to end birthright citizenship. A 57 percent majority also says that they oppose plans to build new detention facilities capable of holding up to 100,000 undocumented immigrants.

And then 59 percent of Americans oppose arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States for years with no criminal record. Now some extra context there. A CNN review of government data found that most immigrants taken into ICE custody between last October and May, had no serious criminal convictions. In an interview that aired over the weekend on CBS, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons detailed the administration's sweeping deportation efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD LYONS, ACING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: ICE is always focused on the worst of the worst. One difference you'll see now is under this administration, we have opened up the whole aperture of the immigration portfolio, meaning that if you're here illegally and ICE goes out and arrests someone that is released from a sanctuary jurisdiction, a warrant in their home country, and ICE officer finds other individuals with them who are in the country illegally, we're going to take them as well.

BENBROOK: Now, ICE is about to get a big funding boost set to receive $75 billion from the president's sweeping agenda package, the so- called One Big Beautiful Bill. It's an unprecedented amount of cash for an agency that has historically been underfunded. And despite the reactions that we're seeing in the data just detailed, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said that that extra funding will allow them to ramp up efforts even more. Julia Benbrook, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: David Leopold is an immigration attorney and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Appreciate you joining us.

DAVID LEOPOLD, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Good to be here, Rosemary.

[02:29:55]

CHURCH: So, a new exclusive CNN poll released Sunday on immigration and ICE enforcement here in the U.S. shows that most Americans oppose President Trump's recent efforts to scale up the deportation program. What impact do you expect the Trump administration's immigration policies will have on this country now and in the years ahead?

LEOPOLD: Well, you know, Rosemary, a couple of points. All of this is an outright attack by this administration on due process, on due process, on the rule of law. And that's what's been going on since the president was sworn in on January 20th.

What will the impact be? Well, we can see the impact Americans are recoiling, recoiling to the tune of 60, almost 60 percent when it comes to opposing the presidents attempt to take away birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the Constitution. A recoiling, a disgust at locking people up in places like alligator alley, they call it, or the new Alcatraz. The cruelty.

This is just un-American stuff. And this is not what most Americans anticipated back in November of 2024, during the election, when they voted for president Trump.

CHURCH: And David, more than 5 million American children are estimated to have an undocumented household member. That's a lot of anxious children worrying about the possibility of a parent being taken from them at any time. What are these children going through right now?

LEOPOLD: Well, the anxiety level is through the through the roof. The children, I cant imagine being a child and going to school every morning wondering whether mom or dad will be home, whether the family will still be there, whether they'll have a place to go to, and the anxiety goes to the parents as well because they have to make plans. A lot of parents were finding or making emergency plans in case they are locked up and thrown in some prison somewhere. Who's going to take care of their child? Who's going to take care of their toddler?

Again, this is not America. This is not what this country is about. This is just plain cruelty.

CHURCH: And when you talk about making those arrangements, what sort of arrangements are they being forced to make?

LEOPOLD: Well, look, the children are when we talk about mixed status families, right. We're talking about one parent who may be a citizen, one parent who may not be. The children born here are citizens. Or you may be talking about both parents not being citizens. The point is that the removal, the deportation, they're going after people who are not criminals. They're going after people who are hard family, people who are working hard just to make it like our like my grandfather did, or many of our, many of our ancestors did when they came to this country.

And so the, the arrangements that people have to make are what are we going to do with our kids if we get locked up tomorrow night? It's practical stuff, but it's really horrific when you think about what these families must be going through.

CHURCH: And that's one of the reasons a lot of Americans oppose this immigration policy. There's this sense that it's an overreach. And as a result of that overreach, some people are self-deporting, aren't they, from this country? How many people are considering this extreme option? What does that entail exactly?

LEOPOLD: Well, apparently, it's -- nobody really knows the numbers, I think. But it is. It is in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who are thinking, how can I live here? How can I live here?

And remember, these are essential workers. You know, back during the pandemic, back in 2020, President Trump used to refer to these very undocumented people that he's trying to throw out of the country. He used to refer to them as essential workers.

These are the folks who put food on our table. These are the folks who bring the lettuce to market, who are in the meatpacking plants, who are in the chicken plants. These are the people who are building our houses, cleaning our houses. These are the doctors who are working in underserved areas in states throughout the country.

People are worried whether they're documented, whether they have a visa to be here or whether they don't. They are all looking at removal, being locked up at the moment, since we've all seen the horrific videos every day, whether its on social media, whether it's here on CNN or elsewhere of these masked men and women who refuse to identify themselves, call themselves ICE agents, and illegally refuse to identify themselves as they as they arrest people. They're wrestling moms to the ground, people who've never committed crimes in this country.

This is something out of a third world dictatorship. This is not the United States.

[02:35:01]

This is definitely not the United States that most of us studied when we went to school and lived and grew up in.

This is a whole different country that's very difficult to recognize. A masked men running around tackling women and children and zip-tying them and putting them in unmarked vehicles. Really, this is -- this is how we're going to make this country safer?

No, no, this is how were going to raise the price of food, raise the price of lettuce. This is not what the American people were thinking of back in November of 2024.

CHURCH: David Leopold, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. LEOPOLD: My pleasure, Rosemary. Thank you.

CHURCH: A notorious drug kingpin from Ecuador has been extradited to the United States. Jose Adolfo Macias, better known as "Fito", was transferred from an Ecuadorian prison to the city's airport on Sunday, where he was handed over to U.S. officials. Macias ran the notorious criminal organization, Los Choneros. The U.S. says the group ship multiple tons of cocaine from Ecuador to other countries.

A U.S. federal court in New York indicted Macias in April on drug trafficking and gun smuggling charges. He is expected to appear in a New York courtroom on Monday.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Researchers in Antarctica have recovered an ice core sample that's over 1.5 million years old. Its some of the oldest ice on record and is now being examined by climate analysts in the U.K. They believe it could hold crucial details about a previously uncharted period in the history of the earth's atmosphere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LIZ THOMAS, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY: We are standing in our cold laboratory in the British Antarctic survey. We keep this laboratory at minus 25 degrees, and that's because we've got very, very precious ice in here.

[02:40:03]

And we have the ice here to analyze it, to unlock some of those secrets about the climate in the past.

So, in antarctica, when the snow falls, it doesn't melt, so it accumulates and it forms layer upon layer over millions of years. So, what we can do is go and drill down through that ice sheet. So much in the same way as an apple corer. You just call down and retrieve the sections of ice from in between.

So what we end up with is cylinders of ice that go all the way down through the ice sheet, and in this case, 2.8 kilometers. So, the current oldest ice that we have goes back 800,000 years. And that's a fantastic record.

But actually, we're interested in that period prior to a million years ago, because during that time, there's evidence to suggest that the ice sheets were actually smaller. Sea levels were potentially higher and CO2 similar to today. So, it's a really interesting potential analog for our future climate.

So, this is a really exciting project to work on because we really are exploring a completely unknown time in our history and what were hoping is were going to unlock all these amazing secrets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church.

For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next. And for those of you in North America, I'll be back after a short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:25]

CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in North America. I'm Rosemary Church.

The historic flooding in central Texas has now killed at least 135 people statewide. As communities look to rebuild, we are learning more about the floodwaters that hit the campgrounds in Kerr County. One of the hardest hit areas along the Guadalupe River was Camp Mystic, an all-girls camp. Almost six miles north is Camp La Junta, a neighboring all boys camp.

Now, this video shows just how fast the flooding overtook that camp. Here you can see a cabin being pulled away by the current after it was torn off its foundation. Camp La Junta is now a shell of what it once was. For the first time, the owners are sharing what the aftermath there looks like.

CNN's Pamela Brown has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE FINESKE, OWNER AND DIRECTOR, CAMP LA JUNTA: To see the growth and the giggles and the fun and the friendships that form here, that's what this is supposed to be. This is not supposed to look like this. This is not what we're supposed to be filled with.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost two weeks after catastrophic flooding hits Central Texas, the owners of Camp La Junta, Scott and Katie Fineske are opening up for the first time to CNN and reflecting on how quickly deadly waters overran their idyllic campground full of campers on July 4th.

SCOTT FINESKE, OWNER AND DIRECTOR, CAMP LA JUNTA: This was our dining hall. So, this was a walled building. It had all of our tables. We had 35 giant wooden tables.

BROWN: Awakened by the thunder in the overnight hours, the Fineskes started planning for rainy 4th of July activities until Katie looked out the window.

S. FINESKE: A lightning bolt came across the sky and lit up the athletic fields, and she looked at me and said, I think I see our dining hall table floating across the athletic field.

K. FINESKE: Water does not rise this fast here, and it's just something that was beyond belief.

BROWN: So, the Fineskes jumped into action, splitting up and going to each of the 18 cabins on the main grounds because there was no other way to communicate. We've got speakers all through camp and we also have our own radio station that we broadcast announcements, but all of that stuff washed away.

S. FINESKE: Evacuation is one of those things that's on that emergency plan. And so, when the counselors got the directive to pull the kids out of the cabin to go to the maintenance road, they knew exactly what to do. They knew how to do it. They knew the path that they were going to go.

BROWN: One of the counselors helped campers climb onto wooden rafters to escape the rising waters in their cabin, as you see in this picture, shared with CNN.

K. FINESKE: Water was rushing by with huge force and was about chest deep on Scott when we came down. We were on the high ground screaming at the counselors to get their kids in the rafters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's people in it.

BROWN: As the water rushed through the camp, one of the cabins for adult staff was ripped from its foundation and began drifting away.

S. FINESKE: Never made it down to the river. It just floated down the back sidewalk and stopped at the tree right there.

BROWN: The Fineskes emphasized the bravery and heroism of the counselors, mostly teenagers.

S. FINESKE: We were very fortunate in the fact that all of our kids were able to get out safely, and it's -- without them and without the way that they reacted, it would -- it could be a completely different story.

BROWN: That reality of a different story becoming abundantly clear to them once the sun rose on July 4th, when they say a little girl from Camp Mystic was found alive next door after floating five miles in the torrent.

S. FINESKE: It was very shocking that she was there. It was very shocking that she was in good spirits, and it was very shocking that she wasn't injured.

BROWN: Now, they're grappling with the loss of friends from nearby camps. Jane Ragsdale from Heart of the Hills, and Dick Eastland from Camp Mystic, along with 27 campers and counselors.

K. FINESKE: It's a really strong community. So, losing Dick and losing Jane is just -- we have -- it's unthinkable.

S. FINESKE: Our heart goes out to everybody at Mystic, everybody in the community. This is a disaster that's hitting a whole lot of people. BROWN: Despite the physical toll of the storm, they say the camp spirit of grit and resilience is unchanged since its founding nearly 100 years ago.

K. FINESKE: We plan to be back in 2026. Feel like the work we do here is a too important to miss and it's just not an option for us to not rebuild and be back for the kids next year.

[02:50:06]

S. FINESKE: It's not camp right now. It will be. It will be. But it's hard at this moment to see and to know what it has been for so many years, and it's difficult.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN's Pamela Brown, with that report.

Texas lawmakers are set to convene for a special session this week, and they're expected to take up President Trump's demand to redraw the states congressional maps. It could remove as many as five Democrats from Congress. Democrats want their party to fight back.

CNN's Manu Raju spoke to our Jessica Dean earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's push to add five new seats in Texas, five new Republican seats in Texas is prompting a major Democratic concern. They are worried that this push to redraw Texas lines could essentially give them a significant leg up to keep the House Republican majority, because there are just so few competitive districts truly at play in the 2026 midterms.

And typically, redistricting fights happen at the beginning of each decade. Donald Trump wants it to happen now to help them in the midterms next year, adding five new Republican seats. So, what will Democrats do in response? That's a question that I put to Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, about this.

And right now, Democrats are talking about responding in kind, looking at several blue states to put -- to do essentially what Republicans are threatening to do in Texas, redraw the lines in those blue states and help them gain some additional seats to take back the House majority.

Among the seats that they're looking at, California, Jeffries' home state of New York. And Jeffries even told me New Jersey is on the table. We're also hearing from our sources. Other blue states are part of the discussion as well. Potentially, Washington state, potentially Minnesota, to try to pick up one Republican seat after another in order to essentially give them a leg up instead.

But it is a risky strategy, one that could potentially backfire against either Democrats or Republicans, depending on how this is handled. Those are questions that I put to Hakeem Jeffries when I talked to him just a few days ago.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: They have no credible track record of success. That's why House Republicans are afraid of the voters in 2026, in the midterm elections. And they're trying to cheat to win.

RAJU: I've talked to some members of your delegation, Democrats who want New York to change the maps to try to add seats, Democratic seats in New York.

Would you support that effort in your state?

JEFFRIES: Let me just simply say the maps in New York are not as fair as they could be.

RAJU: You just accused Republicans of rigging the election by changing the lines in the middle of the decade. Wouldn't Democrats be doing the same thing?

JEFFRIES: What we're committed to doing as Democrats in New York, in California, in New Jersey, across the country, is make sure that the congressional maps are as fair as possible.

RAJU: And, Jessica, Jeffries also told me that he plans to meet with Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, over the August recess, indicating that this is very seriously on his mind. A number of New York Democrats that I spoke to said it is time to change those maps in New York to respond to the Republican push.

But the concern, of course, is among some of the more moderate Democrats that if you do that, you can make their districts potentially more competitive in the midterm election, general election, by putting more independent swing voters, maybe even Republican voters in their districts. So, a complicated strategy, but one in which the Democratic leaders like Hakeem Jeffries, believe they must move forward with in order to respond to Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler is now one step closer to a career grand slam after clinching his first open championship. He was so dominant in northern Ireland, his fellow competitors were in awe, wondering how do we beat this guy?

"WORLD SPORT's" Patrick Snell has the highlights well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, Scottie Scheffler is a major golf champion for a fourth time now before this year's open in Northern Ireland, Scheffler admitted the joy of victory is fleeting, that life's true fulfillment, for him at least, is not in winning golf tournaments. What we should never doubt, though, is his desire and hunger to keep winning the sports' biggest prizes.

The 29-year-old, in no mood for slip ups at Royal Portrush Sunday. He took a four-shot lead into the final round, a blistering start and look, at this stunning approach here at number one. A birdie to start with. Wonderful momentum for the American player.

[02:55:02]

Putt read to perfection at five. Another birdie drops for him at one point. The big Texan with a seven-shot lead. Scheffler though proving he can be human after all, frustrations in a bunker would lead to a double bogey at the eighth hole, offering a mere flicker of hope for anyone able to take advantage. Nobody could, though.

Scheffler, by now on cruise control and he taps in at 18 to seal a famous victory by four shots. And look at this emotion here, arms aloft in celebration of winning the sports oldest and most prestigious tournament, a Scottie Scheffler masterclass, Scheffler has said it will always be family first for him, a moment here to be cherished with wife Meredith and his son.

The adorable Baby Bennett, the toddler is getting used to seeing dad rack up major victories. So much -- so, it seems he wants a little piece of the action himself, though. Here he goes, a little stumble though on, as he tries to negotiate a slope to join the champion golfer of the year on the green.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, 2025 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER: I grew up waking up early to watch this tournament on TV, just hoping and dreaming. I would get a chance to come play in this championship and, you know, it's pretty cool to be sitting here with the trophy. It's hard to put into words.

I have a tremendous amount of gratitude towards moments like these. You know, I've literally worked my entire life to become somewhat good at this game, to be able to play this game for a living. And it's one of the great joys of my life, being able to compete out here and to be able to win the open championship here at Portrush is a feeling that's really hard to describe.

SNELL: And check this out. Amazing stat! The great Tiger Woods took 1,197 days from his first major victory to his fourth. Scheffler is exactly the same amount of days.

And on that note, it's right back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And I want to thank you so much for your company this hour.

I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)