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Desperate Search in Texas; Amanda Sue Jones is Interviewed about Surviving the Texas Flooding; Netanyahu Visits the White House; Musk Plans for New Political Party. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

REP. JOSH RILEY (D-NY): Who needs a tax cut.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, the president and Republicans argue that's what they're doing with this bill. There is a lot of consternation, of course, over the Medicaid defunding of some of the Medicaid programs.

Representative Josh Riley, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking just a short time ago, the first statement from Camp Mystic in central Texas. They say they are grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors.

Brand-new flooding fears. Reports just in from North Carolina now. Rivers there expected to reach major flood stage in the next few hours.

And the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, headed to the White House today. New reporting on the prospects of a peace deal in Gaza.

I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: Breaking news this morning, the scope of the tragedy in Texas now coming into sharper focus. At least 82 people have been killed in the catastrophic floods. And just into us, a statement from Camp Mystic, the all-girls camp at the epicenter of the disaster. It reads in part, "Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River. Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly."

The images from the camp, utterly heartbreaking. Today, an all-out search and rescue effort is underway to find possible survivors. At least 41 people remain missing.

And the threat is not over yet. Flood watches and warnings are still up in areas already hit hard in this region. CNN's Isabel Rosales, in Center Point, Texas, one of the devastated

communities where we were seeing these floodwaters just rush so quickly.

What does the search effort look like right now?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara, good morning.

Yes, this is such a hard-hit area. A comfort point. And you can see right behind me this line of cars, people walking up here to the local volunteer fire department, anyone who's ready and able, because there are so many people that are still missing. And as this death toll continues to go up, people just want to help. They want to be able to do something for their community.

Take a look right over here. This is where volunteers are gathering. They're having a briefing right now. And basically they're telling anyone and everyone to come out here and help go through the expanse of the Guadalupe River and the tributaries that feed into it and help look, help look for victims, help look for any survivors. Although folks here are pretty -- crystal clear, clear-eyed with me that, as time goes by, their hope is dwindling to find anyone who may still be living. They think, at this point, it's just going to be victims.

I want to show you the conditions that they're dealing with right over here, because this is not easy. They wanted to emphasize to me, all these volunteers when I spoke to them, this is why this takes so long. They have to be meticulous. They have to comb through this. They need teams of five men to lift these heavy tree branches and look into the holes that the mud created. There's barbed wire all over the place, down barbed wire, fire ants. It's muddy and slippery. This is not an easy task.

Listen to what else another volunteer told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARRA LOVELADY, INGRAM, TEXAS, RESIDENT: It's unbelievable because you want to get to the bottom, you know, of your goal of the pile, and there's one over there, it's so tight, I couldn't even get -- peel a branch off. I mean it's like a knot. So, when people wonder, why does it take so long to find people? Because you'd have to get a saw a little at a time. It -- it was -- I couldn't budge anything. Even men were up there and they could not budge it. It's just tight and -- and ten feet wide, 20 feet tall. You can't get in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Yes, I'm not sure if we have video, but CNN was on the ground close to here at a rock quarry where first responders told me they found three RVs, one of which was flipped over and buried deep into the gravel and the mud. They'll be going back there later today to get into that RV and check to see if there's anyone inside.

Sara. SIDNER: Yes, we were just looking at some video from Kerr County of

them going through a car, which was just completely filled with mud, and there's just so many cracks and crevices and places that must be searched, hoping to find survivors and, if not, hoping to at least give families answers as to where their loved ones are.

Isabel Rosales, thank you for all your great reporting throughout the last couple of days.

Kate.

[09:05:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are hearing many harrowing stories from people who survived these floods. Among them is Amanda Sue Jones. She's a mother of four who was camping with her husband and kids along the river in Kerr County when the rain, as we know, just would not let up. And the flooding then set in. The family, thankfully, was able to escape just in time.

And joining us right now is Amanda Sue Jones.

Amanda, thank you so much for being here this morning.

I mean you've had, I don't know, it feels like probably a blink of an eye or maybe it feels like it's been a year since, a couple days to try and process everything you all lived through and saw. How is the family doing? I mean what are you hearing from the kids? What questions are they starting to ask now?

AMANDA SUE JONES, TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVOR: So, for the little ones, they're pretty oblivious. But the oldest one, the teenage boy, he's having a difficult time. He's strong. He's fit. And I think he thinks he could have done more. But we keep telling him, I don't think that there's anything he could have done.

He wishes he would have just jumped in and just tried. But the water was just so aggressively flowing through there at that point. It just hit so fast. And then it was just like a wave of destruction.

BOLDUAN: And I heard you saying that you're -- you're out --

JONES: So, he's -- he's having a hard time.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I heard you even saying that your eldest jumped into action and was a huge help when you all --

JONES: Yes.

BOLDUAN: When your husband came back to the site and said it's gotten too much and we've got to go.

JONES: Right.

BOLDUAN: What was that like? What did your husband see that just triggered it was time, your family needed to get out? JONES: So, where we were camping, there was a little -- we were about 20 yards from a fork, like a little tributary of the river. And that's what we were monitoring because we're so close to it. And it was well within its banks for the longest time. Even throughout the night, it was rising, but still within its banks. But then as soon as it kind of started getting into the grass and out of the banks, that's when the decision was made. Because once it got there, it -- there was, you know, not the natural place it's supposed to be. So, who knows where the water is going to go at that point.

BOLDUAN: I'm going to show some videos to our viewers, some of the videos that you took while this was all happening. The first one -- well, first and foremost, you just see just how dark it was and what you guys were all navigating in trying to -- as you're trying to navigate this. It shows water, but structures in place.

And then there's a second video we'll show. They think it was about maybe five minutes later where you do see campers being pushed by the water, things being destroyed, as you've described it.

How fast did things change and shift from, this is clearly a scary situation, to this is an out of control disaster?

JONES: It -- it was just immeasurably fast. It was -- by the time we -- even whenever we were coming from our campground, because we were primitive camping, so we were kind of set back on the property in a more, you know, remote location. So, when -- as soon as we got back to where we saw the campers and cabins, everything seemed quiet. There wasn't a lot of, you know, hustling and bustling. There wasn't a lot of, you know, it wasn't a stressful situation at that point.

And -- but then again, nobody could really see the water past where this little bridge was. And it's almost as -- like a wall of water came through because, like I said, we crossed. There was some flooding once we got to the campsite, but we were there last year during flooding and no -- it didn't get into any structures then. And this is about the level that the water got to.

So, we were kind of thinking, OK, well then that's just must be where the flood waters go. This is probably it. It's going to start receding. Because the rain wasn't really heavy. It was still raining, but there was no torrential downpours or anything to make us believe that that was about to happen. So, it was a matter of minutes from where it was just quiet, everyone was asleep, to lights coming on slowly and the cabins and campers, to them just being washed away.

BOLDUAN: I heard you say yesterday that -- that you -- that you threw the kids in life jackets, which is just, like, the smartest thing in the midst of this, which I'm sure your brain was just swirling, and what can you do? What can't you do?

JONES: Right.

BOLDUAN: It just had me thinking of just like any parent in the situation of, I mean, you're so strong for your kids, but how are you doing right now? And I'm sure there are some really tough things that are sticking in your head this morning.

JONES: I mean we're just -- we're just really grateful for us that we made it out and just definitely feeling like we could have done more. And I think that's going to carry on probably for the rest of our lives, just replaying it, trying to imagine what we could have done differently and what we would have done differently with just the -- just how rapid it was. Like I said, we just have to tell ourselves, I don't think there was -- I think we're just so grateful that we made it out.

[09:10:01]

BOLDUAN: And you kept your babies safe, which is -- which is everything.

JONES: Right.

BOLDUAN: Amanda, thank you so much. It's -- thank you very, very much.

John.

BERMAN: It's just so difficult.

All right, we're getting a new forecast for Texas just in, but also new forecasts from North Carolina now, where there are new concerns about major flooding.

And today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with the president at the White House. Could this -- this be the first step toward a new ceasefire agreement in Gaza?

And Elon Musk issues new tweets about Jeffrey Epstein, as he says he's forming a new political party. What can he actually win? Or is this about making others lose?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Happening today, a critical meeting at the White House between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This comes amid renewed discussions on a hostage release and ceasefire deal for Gaza.

[09:15:01]

An Israeli source telling CNN that indirect talks between Hamas and Israel have resumed this morning. This will be Netanyahu's first visit, by the way, to D.C. since those massive U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House with more on this for us.

What do you know this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Sara, I mean, we've been told now that really these talks over trying to find a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have taken on a renewed sense of urgency ever since President Donald Trump helped secure that ceasefire proposal between Israel and Iran late last month. And all of that comes as today we're going to see the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with the president. We're told they're going to have dinner this evening. And really, the president is hoping that he can persuade Netanyahu to come to some sort of final agreement, not only on this ceasefire and hopes that this dinner will help accelerate that, but also on trying to find a more permanent and lasting end to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Now, the president has expressed confidence that they would be able to get a ceasefire deal as early as this week.

I want you to listen to what he told reporters yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week, during the coming week, pertaining to quite a few of the hostages, yes. You know, we've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out. We think we'll have that done this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, Sara, as you heard him again say there, he hopes that he can -- they can have that type of deal that would allow for some of the hostages, both living and the remains of those who are still in Gaza, to be released as early as this week.

Of course, this dinner, really a crucial moment to see if they can solidify those terms. But look, as you mentioned, this is Netanyahu's third visit to the White House since the president took over his second term in January.

And also, it comes as we heard from Netanyahu as he was departing for Washington yesterday, say that he's confident the president can move Israel and Hamas closer to the table on this. All of this, as we know, that talks between Israel and Hamas delegations, indirect talks, I should say, restarted in Doha, the Qatari capital, yesterday.

We'll bring you more information as we get it on exactly whether or not were going to actually see the president and the prime minister tonight. For now, that dinner is closed to press, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Really appreciate your reporting this morning.

John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, frenemies once more. President Trump taking a new swipe at his former friend and adviser, Elon Musk, in a post that sent Tesla's stock tumbling before the markets even opened today. The president wrote in part, "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails, essentially becoming a train wreck," those words in all caps, "over the past five weeks." The billionaire, Musk, tweeted out a picture of a countdown clock, saying, it's basically, you know, it's, no one has been arrested o'clock again. That's in regards to Jeffrey Epstein. After, of course, Elon Musk announced plans to start a third political party called the America Party.

With us now, CNN's senior political commentators David Urban and Van Jones.

Van, first about Elon Musk and a third party. You know, what can he actually win here, or is this just about making others lose?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'm very curious about this. His strategy, apparently, is to see if he can pick up five or six seats in the House and one or two in the Senate, which, you know, things stay divided like this would give him an awful lot of power, an awful lot of leverage.

Now, what Senate seats he's going to get is kind of hard to figure out. But you do have some -- some House races and some -- and some places where there's enough discontent with both parties, enough discontent with the status quo, that you might be able to pick up a couple of seats. And a few seats in a closely divided House could give him some leverage. But it's a long shot right now.

BERMAN: You know, David Urban, you got tentacles everywhere. I mean, how worried is the White House about this? How worried are you as you look at your home turf in Pennsylvania?

DAVID URBAN, SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, John, as Van alludes to, this isn't about, look, you know, winning hundreds of seats, this is about winning a seat or two. And when you're an individual who has several hundred billion, not million, but 700 billion that you can spend on these races if you choose to, it becomes a real problem.

But listen, I would just point out one thing, how is president Michael Bloomberg doing these days? Because remember, he spent $500 million of his own money on a race. So, money isn't dispositive, right? You have to have good candidates. You have to have good issues.

And listen, I think that Donald Trump managed to put together -- if you look at the coalition, Van knows this very well, if you look at the coalition that Donald Trump put together to win to become president, it's basically a third party.

[09:20:00]

He put together, you know, blacks, Hispanics, gay people, straight people, college educated, non-college educated. It is its own third party. So I'm not quite sure that Matt Russo and the folks in the White House political shop are quaking in their boots, but it's definitely a distraction.

BERMAN: Can I ask you both about this -- this Jeffrey Epstein tweet from Elon Musk. David, first to you. I mean, what do you think he's doing here, poking the bear again on that. And also , there is this news overnight, "Axios" and others reporting, that the Department of Justice is saying, you know, definitively, Epstein killed himself, that there won't be any other -- further, you know, arrests or prosecutions here, that there's no client list. And there are people in the conservative world who are like, what, we thought you were going to tell us stuff.

URBAN: Yes, listen, I think there's -- it's -- it's a whole lot to do about nothing. It is -- lives in those dark crevices of the -- the underbelly of the internet, where rumors and, you know, terrible things exist like this. And -- and I have a great deal of faith that the former Trump Justice Department, under Attorney General Barr did -- did a very good job of looking at it, peeling back the onion and finding out there's no more there there than is already there.

Why -- why the entire client list or whatever, you know, the black book has not been made public is beyond me. But do I think that Donald Trump was a part of any of this? Absolutely not.

BERMAN: Conspiracy closed?

JONES: Oh, I just think that Musk has a constituency he's got to play to, which is the bottom feeders on X, and that's what he's doing.

BERMAN: All right, is it -- one of the reasons I'm thrilled to have you both here as senior commentators, and that's not a comment on your age, it's just on your status in general, is to have this discussion about FEMA and emergency management and what we're seeing now. Obviously, the tragedy in Texas is just overwhelming and hard to comprehend for people with children, even without.

President Trump has said in the past, Van, we want to wean off of FEMA.

JONES: Yes.

BERMAN: He wants to change disaster relief here. And we've been speaking to people in Texas. I spoke to a Travis County judge, Andy Brown, who said, you know, he needs FEMA for disaster relief.

JONES: Well, I mean, part of what you saw with the recklessness of the DOGE cuts, Elon Musk waving the chainsaw around, just laying people off, chopping, chopping, chopping, with no real process, thinking through, where can we do this intelligently.

Now, anything that goes wrong, people are concerned, is this because Trump was so reckless? Were the alerts not given? Was the weather not being able to evaluate it properly because of all these cuts? If a plane goes down.

That's the problem with what Trump has done. Everybody wants less waste and abuse and fraud, but people also don't want their kids drowning and planes falling out of the sky. And so, you know, I think he's going to have to deal with the fact that people do not have confidence that Trump is a great person to manage disasters in America, and more disasters are coming given the weather.

BERMAN: Yes, and we are not hearing, as of now, any proof that it was a shortage of staff for forecast.

JONES: No, none. It's just a question of confidence. Confidence.

BERMAN: No, but you -- but Van does bring up a good point, David, which is that the environment that was created, the political environment that was created with the cuts and the things that were done, does lead to these questions when there are disasters. I mean, what do you think about FEMA going forward?

URBAN: Yes, listen, first of all, my -- you know, my heart is just, you know, (INAUDIBLE), you know, aches for these families that lost their kids and loved ones in an incredible tragedy, which nobody, as you allude to, John, nobody could have predicted. This river rose incredibly high, incredibly quickly, and no amount of people could have predicted or prevented it. So, it is a tragedy unlike -- unlike anything else.

Look, FEMA -- the future of FEMA is in question. And -- and I think the Trump administration is asking, can we do it better?

Listen, I lived -- you remember this, John, I live in Fort Myers. And you were there. I was -- you saw my neighborhood after Hurricane Ian. And there was -- there was no neighborhood left after Hurricane Ian. It was gone. It was flattened. Fort Myers Beach, to this day, Fort Myers Beach, still, you know, destroyed largely and slowly climbing out.

And so, can FEMA do better? Can the federal government have a situation, have an agency, have some sort of system where we reimburse people, where we help people in these terrible disasters get money, get -- get what they need more efficiently? I think the Trump administration is trying to figure that out. Maybe the states can administer -- administer it more directly, more quickly. I'm not quite sure what the answer is. I know we need to do better for all Americans.

BERMAN: David Urban, Van Jones, great to see both of you this morning. Thanks for the discussion. I do appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And we are going to get back to the breaking news out of Texas. Dozens still missing after the catastrophic flooding there. The latest on the search and rescue efforts that are getting back underway this morning.

And take a look at these pictures. This is not Texas. This is North Carolina this morning, where they are also facing serious flooding and warnings that some rivers there may reach major flood stage in just hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:29:29]

BOLDUAN: We continue to follow the breaking news out of central Texas with a new statement in this morning from Camp Mystic, saying that they are grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors from the floods. At least 82 people throughout central Texas are now confirmed dead from this disaster that, quite honestly, is still unfolding. Dozens of people still missing. Search and rescue efforts getting back underway this morning.

CNN's Josh Campbell has much more on those exact efforts as they're so necessary at this hour.

[09:30:01]

Josh, what are you learning?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've just seen numerous resources being brought in from around the state, indeed from other states.