Catastrophic Texas Flooding, Netanyahu Visits the White House, Musk Starts New Party： AM Update 7⧸7
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
162.92737
Summary
At least 70 dead across five counties, with flood warnings still in effect in multiple counties. A local CBS station describing a young woman surviving under seemingly impossible odds. And if there s any hope in this story, it s that this woman went into the water in the early morning hours.
Transcript
00:00:05.100
Sand between your toes and icy drink in your hand? Check.
00:00:11.280
It's never too early to start planning for winter.
00:00:14.360
From the beaches of Belize and Costa Rica to the warmth of Honduras and Panama,
00:00:19.540
add some sunshine to your winter checklist this year.
00:00:34.980
It's Monday, July 7th, 2025, and this is your AM update.
00:00:39.400
This happened very quickly over a very short amount of time that could not be predicted.
00:00:44.100
Extreme flooding in central Texas leaving dozens dead and many missing
00:00:47.900
as crews work around the clock on rescue efforts.
00:00:51.420
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting the White House today,
00:00:54.940
fresh off of the successful military campaign that crippled the Iranian nuclear program.
00:01:00.000
The principles of Doge were very popular. I think if you look at the polling, Elon was not.
00:01:05.660
Elon Musk announcing he will follow through on his promise to form a new political party following
00:01:10.380
the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
00:01:16.000
Every dollar you spend is either supporting your values or working against them.
00:01:23.740
In today's economy, where you spend your money matters.
00:01:27.080
Patriot Mobile is leading the way as America's only Christian conservative wireless provider.
00:01:32.280
Switch today without sacrificing quality or service.
00:01:34.980
You'll get exceptional nationwide coverage because unlike most budget wireless providers,
00:01:40.000
Patriot Mobile has access to all three major U.S. networks.
00:01:43.340
You can even add two numbers on two networks on one phone, something the big guys cannot even do.
00:01:48.660
Stay connected with flexible, unlimited data plans to fit your lifestyle.
00:01:52.860
When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you are supporting faith, family, and freedom.
00:02:00.480
Patriot Mobile's 100% U.S.-based team will get you activated in minutes.
00:02:03.980
Right now, go to PatriotMobile.com slash Megan or call 972-PATRIOT to get a free month of service
00:02:13.100
Defend freedom with every call and text you make.
00:02:15.920
That's PatriotMobile.com slash M-E-G-Y-N or just call 972-PATRIOT.
00:02:29.900
with flood warnings still in effect in multiple counties.
00:02:33.980
Eleven campers and one counselor still missing from Camp Mystic,
00:02:38.600
a popular Christian camp located along the shores of the Guadalupe River,
00:02:42.780
which has already seen five of its campers confirmed dead.
00:02:47.180
The New York Post reporting the youngest campers were sleeping in their cabins just over 200 feet
00:02:51.840
from the river's edge when the flash flooding began early July 4th morning.
00:02:56.140
In a matter of a few hours, the river rising from 1 to 34 feet,
00:03:01.800
with enough force to push RVs, lift massive boulders,
00:03:06.060
and rip fully grown trees out of the ground from the root,
00:03:09.640
leaving a trail of destruction across the Texas Hill Country.
00:03:13.240
Crews working night and day to locate displaced victims across the region,
00:03:22.140
Adult camper Brian Eads describing the experience to a local NBC station on Saturday.
00:03:30.980
and there was just torrential river coming through the campground.
00:03:50.640
I was trying to push something for her to float on.
00:04:07.200
A local CBS station describing a young woman surviving under seemingly impossible odds.
00:04:12.580
And if there's any hope in this story, it's that this 22-year-old woman went into the water
00:04:19.080
in the Ingram, Texas area, which is about 20 miles upstream.
00:04:25.320
She had been in the tree for several hours at that point already
00:04:29.980
because she was swept out of her campground, out of her tent at 4 o'clock in the morning.
00:04:35.360
Firefighters, the paramedics checked her vitals.
00:04:37.560
She had a few bumps and bruises, and they said that was amazing
00:04:41.140
because she had gone over four dams and been dropped.
00:04:46.500
She told them the story of fighting refrigerators,
00:04:50.220
dodging recreational vehicles as she traveled down that long 20-mile stretch of being wiped away.
00:04:58.200
President Trump's Sunday morning signing a major disaster declaration for Kerr County,
00:05:03.220
freeing up additional resources for rescue and recovery efforts.
00:05:06.160
Throughout the weekend, questions and accusations swirling
00:05:09.780
about the level of warnings before the natural disaster.
00:05:13.200
Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd saying
00:05:16.700
original forecasts from the National Weather Service
00:05:19.420
did not predict the level of rainfall that was to come.
00:05:22.900
The original forecast that we received on Wednesday
00:05:25.840
from the National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley
00:05:34.600
Everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right?
00:05:40.920
It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.
00:05:43.560
Some seizing on those comments to point to the Trump administration's
00:05:47.080
cuts to the National Weather Service earlier this year through DOGE.
00:05:50.560
CNN National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem, who never misses a chance to bash Trump,
00:05:57.680
The question we have to ask is whether any ability to notify or warn
00:06:01.900
was impacted by decreases or DOGE on weather services.
00:06:06.160
I don't know the answer, and we can't assume it.
00:06:08.640
The camp may have been isolated, but I'd want to know if I were a parent.
00:06:12.500
That narrative quickly taking off online and through legacy media outlets.
00:06:16.340
The New York Times' report on the tragedy headlined,
00:06:19.500
As floods hit, key roles were vacant at Weather Service offices in Texas,
00:06:24.400
focusing on staffing shortages within the National Weather Service,
00:06:28.140
some of which were DOGE-related and some of which predated the current Trump administration.
00:06:35.380
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice describing the unusual conditions causing the rapid flooding, for one.
00:06:41.280
Under normal conditions, if you call it that, you'll hit water in one of those areas,
00:06:45.920
and those two forks will converge into the Guadalupe, which comes through the city of Kerrville.
00:06:50.480
This rain event sat on top of that and dumped more rain than what was forecasted on both of those forks.
00:06:56.620
When we got the report, it was about seven feet or so on the South Fork,
00:07:01.380
and within a matter of minutes, it was up to 29 feet,
00:07:07.220
and that's where we saw those very quick rise and floods.
00:07:10.440
So there's not alarms everywhere on the river. No, sir.
00:07:15.020
Rice saying that local officials remained in constant contact with the National Weather Service,
00:07:19.960
but the speed and scale of the flooding could not have been predicted.
00:07:23.540
I was running the river trail at 3 a.m. this morning. There was no signs of it.
00:07:26.820
The rain was here on the river trail, which is down below at the water's edge at 3.30 and 4 o'clock when I left.
00:07:35.020
This happened very quickly over a very short amount of time that could not be predicted.
00:07:41.280
Our team constantly reviews radar, constantly has NWS, National Weather Service messages.
00:07:47.260
We send them out on a regular basis, and we communicate effectively.
00:07:50.460
This is not like a tornado where you can have a siren.
00:07:52.640
This is not like a hurricane where you're planning weeks in advance.
00:07:57.420
And things like this happen in a very strategic, very isolated area.
00:08:01.160
And when those two things converged, you had what happened today.
00:08:05.280
So this happened within less than a two-hour span very, very quickly.
00:08:09.020
The Associated Press reporting the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels,
00:08:13.700
which is responsible for forecasting that area, actually had extra staff on duty during the storm.
00:08:21.860
The NWS issuing its first flash flood warning at 1.14 a.m. local time on Friday.
00:08:28.820
The Texas Tribune reporting all National Weather Service flash flood warnings set off emergency push notifications through cell phone towers.
00:08:37.120
The service reportedly updating that warning nine times throughout Friday.
00:08:41.500
At 4.03 a.m., the most serious warning, a flash flood emergency, warning of a, quote,
00:08:46.820
quote, extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.
00:08:51.960
the timing of the flood may have been a complicating factor.
00:08:55.600
The alerts came out during the start of the 4th of July weekend,
00:08:58.700
when RV parks, cabins, and homes are filled with tourists
00:09:02.120
who might not be familiar with the flood risks or the habits of the water.
00:09:06.760
An independent meteorologist based out of Houston, Matt Lanza, writing on Substack, quote,
00:09:11.660
We have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that current staffing or budget issues within NOAA or the NWS
00:09:22.060
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly telling the AP several years back the county considered a flood warning system
00:09:27.720
along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning system,
00:09:31.620
but the idea never took off because of the expense.
00:09:37.340
One takeaway is the importance of having a NOAA weather radio at every home, business,
00:09:42.820
and any place where there are large numbers of people gathered, like a camp on a river.
00:09:47.740
I would imagine cell service is spotty along the Guadalupe where the camps were located.
00:09:52.740
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Saturday briefing saying the Trump administration
00:09:57.080
is committed to upgrading national weather systems.
00:10:00.480
The National Weather Service over the years at times has done well,
00:10:04.500
and at times we have all wanted more time and more warning and more alerts and more notification.
00:10:10.020
That is something and one of the reasons that when President Trump took office that he said he wanted to fix
00:10:16.860
And the National Weather Service has indicated that with that and NOAA that we needed to renew this ancient system
00:10:23.460
that has been left in place with the federal government for many, many years,
00:10:27.500
and that is the reforms that are ongoing there.
00:10:29.640
On Sunday from Rome, Pope Leo offering a special blessing for those impacted by this terrible tragedy.
00:10:36.360
I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones,
00:10:44.200
in particular their daughters who were at summer camp in the disaster caused
00:10:49.360
by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States.
00:10:55.380
Coming up, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House today
00:11:01.480
as Israeli officials negotiate toward a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
00:11:06.440
And Elon Musk forms a new political party, ruffling many feathers on the right.
00:11:18.020
You know, remember the time when you actually were on top of your bills?
00:11:20.940
Then inflation hit, groceries, gas, everything shot up.
00:11:26.920
It's not necessarily your fault if you have fallen into real debt.
00:11:30.860
Let me share a smarter, faster, far easier way out of it.
00:11:34.280
It's called Done With Debt, and they are not like other debt relief companies.
00:11:40.160
Done With Debt has legendary negotiators who go head-to-head with your credit card and loan companies.
00:11:45.520
And they have one goal, to drastically reduce or eliminate your debt altogether.
00:11:51.280
Most clients see more money in their pocket month one.
00:11:53.780
But a word to the wise, hurry, because some of their debt-erasing strategies are time-sensitive.
00:11:58.400
So consider talking to a Done With Debt strategist before you make another bill payment.
00:12:04.160
Visit donewithdebt.com, donewithdebt.com, donewithdebt.com.
00:12:07.440
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting President Trump at the White House today.
00:12:14.980
The meeting in part a victory lap following the successful U.S. military strike on three
00:12:19.280
key Iranian nuclear weapons facilities, as well as Israeli operations against Iran's nuclear program.
00:12:25.620
This, the third White House visit for the Prime Minister since the start of the second Trump
00:12:30.080
The two leaders are now focusing on what comes next in the war on Hamas.
00:12:34.680
Cease-fire negotiations with the terrorist group have so far remained unsuccessful.
00:12:39.140
On Sunday, Israeli and Hamas officials meeting in Qatar to restart indirect negotiations.
00:12:45.240
Prior to departing for the White House, Prime Minister Netanyahu telling reporters,
00:12:48.940
We will not allow a situation where there will be more hostages, more murders, more beheadings,
00:12:56.100
This means one thing, the elimination of Hamas's military and governmental capabilities.
00:13:06.200
The administration is reportedly working to bring Syria into the Abraham Accords, thus normalizing
00:13:11.680
relations between the two countries for the first time since the creation of the modern
00:13:17.500
In May, President Trump becoming the first U.S. president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader,
00:13:23.560
President Ahmed al-Sharah, who in December toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime.
00:13:29.100
Despite al-Sharah's militant background and ties to jihadist groups, President Trump extending
00:13:34.420
an olive branch, inviting Syria to a new opportunity to join the global community.
00:13:41.340
Elon Musk on Saturday announcing the formation of the America Party, resulting from Musk's highly
00:13:47.060
publicized outrage over the projected deficit increases within President Trump's one big
00:13:54.600
The CBO predicting the bill will increase the deficit by trillions through fiscal year
00:14:00.160
The Trump administration arguing the CBO does not properly account for economic growth or
00:14:05.400
tariff revenue, which they say will largely offset the added debt.
00:14:09.120
On Independence Day, Musk posting a poll to X asking users if he should create the America
00:14:14.920
Party, 65.4 percent responding yes versus 34.6 percent responding no.
00:14:21.980
Several users quickly noting the poll was not restricted to Americans and consists of Musk's
00:14:27.540
followers and others on the platform he owns, X.
00:14:31.000
Musk on Friday outlining a possible strategy for the party, quote, one way to execute on
00:14:36.300
this would be to laser focus on just two or three Senate seats and eight to ten House
00:14:42.160
Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote
00:14:46.880
on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.
00:14:51.460
Though a full platform has yet to be published on X, Musk signaling the America Party will focus
00:14:56.640
on reducing debt, modernizing the military with AI and robotics, reducing regulation across
00:15:02.560
the board, especially in energy, promoting free speech, and promoting centrist policies.
00:15:08.080
Many on the right criticizing the move, voicing concerns that a third party will only divide
00:15:15.740
Founder of Early Vote Action, Republican Scott Pressler posting to X, if Republicans lose the
00:15:21.820
House in 2026, which the creation of a third party is likely to do, there will be no budget
00:15:30.720
We will likely lose 2028, and there goes control over the census.
00:15:35.040
The border opens up again, and it was all for naught.
00:15:38.180
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant reacting Sunday on CNN to Musk's new venture.
00:15:45.720
I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not.
00:15:48.120
I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back
00:15:53.600
and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone.
00:15:57.300
So I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday, and
00:16:02.080
will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities.
00:16:11.660
Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon
00:16:16.160
east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.
00:16:27.720
Make sure your team is taken care of through every twist and turn with Canada Life Savings,
00:16:34.560
Whether you want to grow your team, support your employees at every stage, or build a
00:16:38.720
workplace people want to be a part of, Canada Life has flexible plans for companies of all
00:16:43.900
sizes, so it's easy to find a solution that works for you.
00:16:47.740
Visit canadalife.com slash employee benefits to learn more.