July 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy. If you wish to help please click on the link provided: The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country Kerr County Flood Relief Fund
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I hope that you had a great Fourth of July weekend.
I'm gonna be honest with you. Ours is terrible. If
you know what has happened in Texas, it has been
one of the saddest and most sombering stories that I've
ever had to deal with.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We know.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
One of the victims, families of a girl that's lost
her life, and we know people that are preparing for
that funeral. And I having three kids, and this is
just a hard one. So if you hear my voice cracking,
it's because it is. I just went and hugged my
(00:44):
kids before I started doing the show, and my oldest
was like, what's wrong, and I was like, I'm just
it's Today's been a hard day, a sad day. It
has been a hard and a sad day since all
of this happened. Because when you know people who are
affected by this, and you see the pain in their life,
(01:05):
and then you think about your own children who are
the same age. My kids are six and eight, they're
the same age of these kids that are missing, it
is just.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's hard to explain.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I think it tests your faith, the question of why
would God allow this to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
To kids? At a Christian camp is a question that I've.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Been asked I don't even know how many times over
the last three four days. I can tell you that
the one thing that I love about Texas in general
is how quickly people have rallied.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That's the good news.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Like the amount of people that have gotten involved and
the people that have rallied the people that have.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Stood by is as amazing. It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
The stories that have come out of this are are incredible,
and I'm going to get into some of those. But
I also want you to know about this area. I
know this area incredibly well, Comfort and Currville, h and
where this camp was because it's where we go multiple
(02:25):
times a year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
With our family.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
My kids have grown up going to Kerrville with family
members that are kind enough to invite us to their ranch.
It is my kid's favorite memories. And what you may
not know about this area is when it rains, the
water doesn't go into the ground like traditionally it does
(02:50):
where I'm doing the show from now in Houston. Like
it rains and the water soaks in, it doesn't instantly flood.
The flash flooding there is unbelievable. There's a lot of
rock and the soil is different. We had just gone
down to the ranch in Curveville where this took place
the weekend when school got out, and with all my
niece and nephews and my kids and family, and we
(03:13):
went down there and the night I think was the
night before we got there, there was rain. And they
don't get a lot of rain in this area. Traditionally
they will go months without with barely any rain. And
it rained, and they got a big rain that filled
up the lake where we fish, and it had been
low before and had filled it all the way up.
But the amount of debris on the property from that
(03:35):
rain that did not last very long was unbelievable. I mean,
it looked like there was mulch on every side of
the lake, and the and the and the and where
the runoffs come in from up in the hills, and
and you can see how quick the water rushes.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And we know that about that area.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We know the flooding areas are real, and anyone that's
in that area knows this. The there has been a
lot of people trying to blame and say it's this,
that and the other, and playing politics, and Democrats claiming
that this was because of cuts that were made to
FEMA and other things, which is all ie, and we're
going to go through that, but I want you to
(04:12):
understand I don't I mean, I don't think anyone can
quote prepare for what we witnessed. Talking to people that
have been talking to the campers that survived and the councilors.
How quickly the water rose was unprecedented if it happened
(04:32):
in this way and the way the weather. It was
a lot like Harvey over Houston and that hurricane where
the weather just stalled out and just kept dumping and
dumping and it didn't move through like traditional storms do.
This was a once in a generation flood, one hundred
year flood, if you want to call it that. And
I've seen that before when I lived in Memphis when
the Missippi River had one hundred year flood, but you
(04:53):
had time with that one in warning, and they were
able to build the burms and get people out and
have evacuations. This floo food that took their the lives
of so many people and these young kids happened so
quick in the water row so quickly, and to watch
people play politics on this is also I think really sick.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I think it's really really sad.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Because I don't know if people did things that were wrong.
The guy who ran this camp, for example, he died
trying to save people's lives.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I don't think. I think they thought there might be flooding.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
But these kids in these cabins, they didn't build that
close enough to the water for normal flooding.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
You understand my point.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I mean, this camp been there for a very long
time and they'd never seen water levels anywhere close to
what they just went through the way the.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Trees were snapped, the homes were picked up.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
The RV parks where they build them, yeah they're by
the water, but they're not where the flooding is traditionally,
historically for decades, they're not building these these these RV
parks that every ten years you would get washed out.
It doesn't work that way, and there's a lot of
I think, ignorance and people wanting to blame, and unfortunately,
(06:08):
sometimes things like this happen that we've never seen in
our lifetime.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
They've never seen this in their lifetime.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yes, flooding does happen, But the idea with the Democrats
wanting to use this is like a political point to
somehow blame Donald Trump or anybody else might be one
of the most violent discussing things ever. I'll give you
another example of this and just how personal it is.
You may have seen a story that went viral of
(06:36):
a pediatrician who decided to post in essence that kids
deserve to die because in this area they voted for
Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There was a.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Doctor that posted, may all visitors, children, non MAGA voters,
and pets be safe and dry with the praying hands.
Then it says Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA.
That's a lie. But it doesn't matter. They deny climate change.
May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.
(07:12):
The doctor who posts that, this woman who posted it
is a pediatrician. Just another example of how close it
is a home where my children go. She is in
the pediatrician group where my kids are treated. Now you
can imagine after seeing this, and thank goodness that pediatric's
(07:32):
office put that doctor on leave and then announced today
very quickly that that doctor has been terminated, which is
absolutely appropriate. But when you look at that and I'm like,
I can't imagine if that doctor was on call when
my kids needed help, and are they going to look
at me differently because I voted for Donald Trump because
(07:53):
of what I do. And you just realize in these
moments how vile the left has become, Like this is
not even and like it is so vile that you're like, oh, well,
those little girls deserve to die. By the way, none
of those little girls voted because they were Magavos. They
deserve what they get because you deny climate change. May
they get what they voted for? Bless their hearts. And
(08:15):
when you see this, you realize just how fall in
the world is that we live in. And it's sad,
and it's sad that there's people that want to politicize
this horrific tragedy for political gain on the left. You know,
earlier I was talking, well, it's different of mine, and
you guys know this to do a show with Cinder
(08:35):
cruzho were talking last night as he was down in
Texas and Kerrville and comfort and getting ready for today.
And to see the number of people that are just
wanting to attack and somehow claim that this attack happened
solely because of the politics, and that oh, well, this
(08:56):
could have been avoided because if they would have done
something differently. I cannot tell you just how sick these
people are. And Kerrville. Senator Cruz made these comments when
he was talking about the devastating flooding and after seeing it,
and I want to play this for you because I
think it's important and I want you to hear what
he said, and I'm going to play for you also
(09:18):
the White House.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
But listen to what he said.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And this is where he's meeting with these families who've
lost their kids, and yet there's questions that he's having
to answer about the politics of this warning.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
System so people had a chance to escape something like this.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Well, listen, I think anytime you're dealing with major rivers,
there's a risk of flooding, and there's always been a
risk of flooding, particularly Guadalupe River. I will say in
the wake of every tragedy, there are things that are predictable.
One of the things that's predictable is that you see
some people engaging and I think partisan games and trying
(09:58):
to blame their political opponent it's for a natural disaster,
and you see that with a hurricane, with a tornado,
with a wildfire, with his flooding, where people immediately say well,
the hurricane is Donald Trump's fault. You know, look that
I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous. And I
think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing
(10:21):
in attacks. Now, after we come through search and rescue,
after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will
naturally be a period of retrospection where you look back
and say, Okay, what exactly transpired, what was the timeline,
and what could have been done differently to prevent this
loss of life?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And that's a natural process.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I think it should not happen in a bitter and
partisan sense, but it should happen in a reasonable sense
of saying what lessons can we learn? And I will
give an example. You know, Houston's my hometown. If you
live on the Gulf Coast, we get hurricanes. Part of
living on the Gulf coast as hurricanes hit. And I
do think Texas as a whole has learned over time
(11:06):
how to deal more effectively with hurricanes. And so you
look here, we know the National Weather Service put out
an emergency warning just after one am, and a second
emergency warning just after four am. Now, obviously most people
at one am and four am are asleep, and so
I think we will have a reasonable conversation about a
(11:28):
are there any ways to have earlier detection and some
of that. The limits of a flash flood, they're very
difficult because they can arise so quickly.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But everyone would agree.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
In hindsight, if we could go back and do it again,
we would evacuate, particularly those in the most vulnerable areas,
the young children in the cabins closest to the water,
we would remove them and get them to higher ground.
If we could go back and do it again, obviously
everyone would. The people at RVs by the river's edge,
we know, and disasters like this. RVs and mobile homes
(12:02):
are particularly susceptible, whether a flood or a hurricane or
a tornado, they're particularly susceptible to that. And so my
hope is in time we will learn some lessons to
implement to next time, and there will be another flood.
There will be another disaster, but next time there's a flood,
I hope we have in place processes to remove especially
(12:27):
the most vulnerable from harm's way. But I think that's
going to be a process that will take a careful
examination of what happened and how can we implement processes
better in the future to prevent this same loss of life.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You hear his answer there, and it's like, how are
we even having to answer a question about the politics
of this, And yet that's exactly what the left did.
The left wanted this to be about politics, and the
White House Press Secretary had to defend and blast Democrats
and members of the media have sought to blame somehow
Donald Trump for the death toll from the flash flooding
(13:03):
that no one could have imagined would have been this bad,
because it's never been this bad in her lifetime. Caroline
Levitt had to call it the Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer in particular, for accusing him of spreading falsehoods. She
then gave a timeline of the warnings issued by the
National Weather Service in the days and hours before the
deadly Fling flooding, which claimed now at least ninety one
(13:25):
lives as I speak to now, unfortunately, we're expecting that
number to go up. I want you to hear what
she said at the White House Press briefing and the
fact that this is what she's having to say instead
of focusing on the tragedy because the left is trying
to turn this in political attack.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Tells you just how soulis they become.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I want to start by addressing the devastation from the
tragic flash floods in Texas. Moments ago, the Department of
Homeland Security provided an update that ninety one innocent souls
have now perished. Everyone here at the White House, including
the presidents of the United Slime States, is praying for
the victims, families, and friends during this unimaginable time. President
(14:05):
Trump swiftly signed a major Disaster declaration for Care County,
Texas to ensure our heroic first responders have every resource
they need in the relief and recovery efforts. Secretary of
Homeland Security Christinome traveled to Texas over the weekend, and
the entire Trump administration is working hand in glove with
(14:26):
state and local officials to provide every assistance available. The
situation on the ground remains dangerous and there could be
additional public safety threats with potential incoming heavy rain, so
we encourage everyone in the area to remain vigilant, listen
to all warnings, and respond accordingly. Unfortunately, in the wake
of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have
(14:49):
seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck
Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump
for these floods is a depraved lie and it serves
no purpose during this time of national mourning. Here are
the facts. In the lead up to this tragic natural disaster.
The National Weather Service did its job despite unprecedented rainfall.
(15:12):
The National Weather Service executed timely in precise forecasts and warnings.
On July third, the National Weather Service Office in Austin,
San Antonio, Texas conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in
the morning and issued a floodwatch in the early afternoon.
Flash flood warnings were also issued on the night of
(15:33):
July third and in the early morning of July fourth,
giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before
flash flooding conditions occurred. In The National Weather Service office
in New Brunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio
and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during
the storms, despite claims of the contrary. So to any
(15:54):
person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this
catastrophic event should be deeply ashamed. At this time, the
administration's focus will be on giving the victims in their
communities the support they deserve during these recovery efforts in
this tragic time. May God bless the great people of Texas,
especially the parents who have lost their children. President Trump
(16:18):
loves you, we are praying for you, and he will
be traveling to see you later this week.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
The fact that she had to spend that time to
clear the record because of the media putting out these lies,
because the left putting out these lies saying that this
was somehow Donald Trump's fault, that somehow this was because
of him, I think maybe one of the most disgusting
things I have ever witnessed, knowing that this is something
(16:49):
that is was unfortunately a once in a lifetime disaster.
And I want you to hear the partisan is here.
The Cinan woman says, quote, I don't know if there's
a direct line between the National Weather Service and cuts
in the flooding, but this is what government is for.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
There are no direct lines. The warnings work the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Unfortunately, there was people that didn't get those warnings or
didn't realize how bad it could be. And by the way,
this is not a flood in this way that happens
every couple of years, there's flooding there, nothing like this.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
This is a once in a lifetime event.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And I want you to hear how they're just like,
we gotta blame Trump no matter what, even as we're
showing first responders trying to find dead bodies.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
I think it's wrong for Texas to blame the National
Weather Service, and I think it's premature for the President
to say it wasn't the National Weather Service. I will
say one thing, Phil and these cuts to the National
Weather Service, to NOAH, to FEMA, the potential elimination of FEMA,
(17:57):
we will miss them when they're gone. I think we
need to say that now. I don't know if there's
a direct line between the National Weather Service and cuts
and what happened, but this is what government's for. It's
to help people and prepare them for the damage and
the devastation.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So in other words, you're just talking out of your abs.
You have no idea, but you're seeing an opportunity here
to try to blame Trump and the government.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I'll give you another example.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Matthew Daud, Senior political analysts at NBC News MSNBC I
want you to listen to his vile attack, saying the
tragedy of Texas flooding was totally preventable.
Speaker 6 (18:35):
Matt, Dad, let me bring you in on this and
let me just pull back the curtain. Our last conversation
about your next appearance on this show was about a
piece you read about trauma. And now you are in
the middle of the state you love, with neighbors you love,
suffering this extraordinary heartbreak.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Where are your thoughts today?
Speaker 7 (18:57):
Well, I'm glad to be here to talk about this,
and I'm I mean, I'd just like to put some
context and follows something with what Ryan said. I mean,
this is incredibly tragic, incredibly sad.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All of us know this, and who visited this area.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Spent time on the Guadaloup had you know, I've spent
a lot of time in Center Point. I had a
cabin on the Guadaloup and understand the flood risks that
exists there. But these camps and especially a place like
Camp Thestick. Just so people understand, this is a tradition
that everyone in Texas, Central Texas, Houston, Dallas knows of
(19:29):
these of these kids spending time boys and girls on
these camps and this camp. In specifically, I've talked to
people whose grandmothers went to this camp, whose mothers went
to this camp, and then their daughters have gone to
this camp. And so this is a tradition that's of Texas.
It's now been completely shattered in a very traumatic way.
In this I so disagree with this idea of like, oh,
(19:53):
there's no way to know this thing was going to come.
There was no way to know, you know this this
was going to happen. It was as Donald Trump is,
it's one.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Hundred year event.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
How would we know this is flash flood Alley as
the senator, why, I'm sure we'll talk about this is
something that we know about that we shouldn't have been
prepared for, that we should have been doing something about
for decades and decades and decades locally and at the
state level and at the federal level.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
The fact that we.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Didn't and now we're sort of sort of dealing with
this immense tragedy is so and so incredibly disturbing in
this because this was, in my view, the tragedy of
this and the extent of the tragedy of this was
totally preventable because we've known on the Guadalupe River and
that river basin. This kind of thing can happen, and
maybe not as bad as it would happen as tragic
(20:41):
it did. But this is this is not every hundred years,
This is every few years where these flood events happened.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Let me just stop there so that you understand the
facts behind this. If what he just said was true,
then this camp would have been devastated every couple of years,
which would have mean that they could not keep the camp,
that the camp wouldn't exist, that the cabins would have
been washed away every couple of years, and no one
would invest in that there is flooding there. Yes, he
had a cabin on the Guadalupe, as he described it,
(21:11):
and guess what he bought that cabin, not thinking that
every three years he's gonna have to rebuild it, or
every two years, or every few years, has.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
He described it.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
It's another example of an individual who's like, well, you know,
and this is a problem, and this should never have happened.
This is totally preventable. It's a once in a lifetime event.
I don't care who the president of United States of
America is. But to then say, well, this is probably
connected to FEMA or Trump or cuts or is that
doctor put it? If you voted for Donald Trump, you
(21:41):
get what you deserve here like this is this is
the fault. This is your fault. I mean, I go
back to do this doctor. This pediatrician, thank goodness, has
been fired over the insensive social media posts. I would
say it's more than insensitive that Trump supporters got what
they voted for with the Texas floods. The fact that
she felt safe enough as a pediatrician to put that
(22:04):
out there like this is some sort of yeah, we'll
show yeah, you know, you deserve what you get. And
I'm glad that Trump supporters and their children died. And
the media is sitting there like we got to play
politics on this, and and the White House had to
spend the time giving the timeline of the National Weather
Service and explain the National Weather like how it worked
(22:28):
and explain when when the warnings came out. I just
you would think in a moment like this, where so
many kids were taken, you would think in that moment
that people say, Okay, for this moment, Hey, I'm I'm
gonna I'm gonna chill. I mean as I'm as I'm
(22:50):
recording this right now, we're up to ninety five. The
death toll has gone up. We're expecting it to go
up even more. I hope I'm wrong, but people have
talked to well over one hundred. Is what they've told
me is the reality of the situation we're in right now.
And you hear that and you realize what's happening, And
yet you think there's there are actual people that go
(23:11):
on TV or there's journalists that go out there and
they're like, I want to I want to figure out
a way to nail the people I don't like politically
and somehow turn this into a political issue, Like God
help them. I mean that when I say it like that,
(23:32):
what world are you living in?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
If this is it? Like?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
This is what you think, this is what you believe
that these are not, by the way, the only ones.
MSNBC a couple hours later, one of their commentators said,
this about Donald Trump.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
You've reached The President had said that he thinks he's going.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
To go to Texas this week. What's the White House saying?
That's right?
Speaker 8 (23:57):
The President has said that he probably will go to
Texas on Friday. The White House pres Secretary, though, is
making it very clear that those plans are not final.
The other thing that the White House is doing is
really pushing back on this notion that the National Weather
Service didn't have the resources and the staffing that it
needed at.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
The time that this flood happened. In order to do what.
Speaker 8 (24:17):
Was best for the residents in Texas, the White House
Press secretary said multiple times, it's just in the last
few minutes here that they these offices in this part
of Texas that they had what they needed, that they
were adequately staffed. I talked to a White House official
who actually called it disgusting to try to criticize any
sort of staffing levels at the National Weather Service or
(24:38):
to try to blame the Trump administration for cuts that
happened at the National Weather Service for why this flood
has become as deadly as it is. The White House
Press secretary pointing out that this is a once in
a century, once in a few decades level flooding and
that this was something that nobody would have really seen coming.
That being said, the White House is also pointing to
meteorologists that we've seen in Texas, saying that there were
(25:01):
staffing concerns, but that there were no staffing issues that
led to ample warnings not be giving out in the
way that they were. We at NBC News, they've also
talked to some people meteorologists and others who say that
the National Weather Service had the staffing that it needed,
even though again that there were concerns about staffing. We
both so, of course, I'm sure Jullians going to tell
us about the lawmakers that we are at that are
(25:23):
now wanting this issue to be more investigated. But the
White House here taking a really defensive posture on the
idea that anything that President Trump did hurt the people
in Texas, and the White House Press Secretary also saying
that the President wants to give Texas any of the
resources it needs in this moment, Katie.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I go back to just the basics here. We know
for a fact the National Weather Service had extra staff
when this happened, but they want you to believe that
no one was there the Associated Press putting this headline
up there. Weather Service had extra staffers. The National Weather
Service office in New Bronseil, which delivers forecasts for Austin,
(26:01):
Santonio the surrounding areas, have extra staff on duty during
the storms where the office would typically have two forecasts
on duty. During clear weather, they add up to five
on staff. Quote, they're extra people in here that night.
And that's typical in every Weather Service office. You staff
up for an event and bring people in on overtime
(26:22):
and hold people over.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So it was not a staffing issue.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
The Democrats are so desperate to attack Trump and wanting
Trump supporters to die that they're trying to cook up
a new lie.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
They're trying to tell you that this happened.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Hell, you've got the Houston mayor, by the way, John
Whitmer's office said a woman who went on social media
that worked for them, said that they could deserve what
they got because they were these the Texas girls were
white and and quote, they're deporting your family members is
being per I mean, this is how how sick these
(27:00):
people are. Thank goodness, she's been permanently removed from Houston's
food and Security services staff. Like these people went on
social media, they've gone on TV and they're telling you
that they're glad that other people.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Are dying, and it's all bs. Just so you know.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
The National Weather Service office in Austin's Antonio issued a
flood watch over twelve hours before the flood, and a
flash flood warning three hours in advance, and these political
analysts go out there and they use this and say, well,
it could have happened. No, you're liars and your scumbags,
(27:39):
and we have the receipts to prove it. Let me
also say this, God, bless the families. I cannot tell
you how hard pray.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Pray.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Pray for these mothers and fathers that lost their daughters.
Knowing people that are involved in this is just truly,
I don't have have words for it. They're gonna need
a lot of prayers, and the people of Kerrville and
comfort in this whole area, they're gonna need help too.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'll see you back here tomorrow.
I hope that you had a great Fourth of July weekend.
I'm gonna be honest with you. Ours is terrible. If
you know what has happened in Texas, it has been
one of the saddest and most sombering stories that I've
ever had to deal with.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We know.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
One of the victims, families of a girl that's lost
her life, and we know people that are preparing for
that funeral. And I having three kids, and this is
just a hard one. So if you hear my voice cracking,
it's because it is. I just went and hugged my
(00:44):
kids before I started doing the show, and my oldest
was like, what's wrong, and I was like, I'm just
it's Today's been a hard day, a sad day. It
has been a hard and a sad day since all
of this happened. Because when you know people who are
affected by this, and you see the pain in their life,
(01:05):
and then you think about your own children who are
the same age. My kids are six and eight, they're
the same age of these kids that are missing, it
is just.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It's hard to explain.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I think it tests your faith, the question of why
would God allow this to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
To kids? At a Christian camp is a question that I've.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Been asked I don't even know how many times over
the last three four days. I can tell you that
the one thing that I love about Texas in general
is how quickly people have rallied.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That's the good news.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Like the amount of people that have gotten involved and
the people that have rallied the people that have.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Stood by is as amazing. It's just incredible.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
The stories that have come out of this are are incredible,
and I'm going to get into some of those. But
I also want you to know about this area. I
know this area incredibly well, Comfort and Currville, h and
where this camp was because it's where we go multiple
(02:25):
times a year.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
With our family.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
My kids have grown up going to Kerrville with family
members that are kind enough to invite us to their ranch.
It is my kid's favorite memories. And what you may
not know about this area is when it rains, the
water doesn't go into the ground like traditionally it does
(02:50):
where I'm doing the show from now in Houston. Like
it rains and the water soaks in, it doesn't instantly flood.
The flash flooding there is unbelievable. There's a lot of
rock and the soil is different. We had just gone
down to the ranch in Curveville where this took place
the weekend when school got out, and with all my
niece and nephews and my kids and family, and we
(03:13):
went down there and the night I think was the
night before we got there, there was rain. And they
don't get a lot of rain in this area. Traditionally
they will go months without with barely any rain. And
it rained, and they got a big rain that filled
up the lake where we fish, and it had been
low before and had filled it all the way up.
But the amount of debris on the property from that
(03:35):
rain that did not last very long was unbelievable. I mean,
it looked like there was mulch on every side of
the lake, and the and the and the and where
the runoffs come in from up in the hills, and
and you can see how quick the water rushes.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
And we know that about that area.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We know the flooding areas are real, and anyone that's
in that area knows this. The there has been a
lot of people trying to blame and say it's this,
that and the other, and playing politics, and Democrats claiming
that this was because of cuts that were made to
FEMA and other things, which is all ie, and we're
going to go through that, but I want you to
(04:12):
understand I don't I mean, I don't think anyone can
quote prepare for what we witnessed. Talking to people that
have been talking to the campers that survived and the councilors.
How quickly the water rose was unprecedented if it happened
(04:32):
in this way and the way the weather. It was
a lot like Harvey over Houston and that hurricane where
the weather just stalled out and just kept dumping and
dumping and it didn't move through like traditional storms do.
This was a once in a generation flood, one hundred
year flood, if you want to call it that. And
I've seen that before when I lived in Memphis when
the Missippi River had one hundred year flood, but you
(04:53):
had time with that one in warning, and they were
able to build the burms and get people out and
have evacuations. This floo food that took their the lives
of so many people and these young kids happened so
quick in the water row so quickly, and to watch
people play politics on this is also I think really sick.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I think it's really really sad.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Because I don't know if people did things that were wrong.
The guy who ran this camp, for example, he died
trying to save people's lives.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I don't think. I think they thought there might be flooding.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
But these kids in these cabins, they didn't build that
close enough to the water for normal flooding.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
You understand my point.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I mean, this camp been there for a very long
time and they'd never seen water levels anywhere close to
what they just went through the way the.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Trees were snapped, the homes were picked up.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
The RV parks where they build them, yeah they're by
the water, but they're not where the flooding is traditionally,
historically for decades, they're not building these these these RV
parks that every ten years you would get washed out.
It doesn't work that way, and there's a lot of
I think, ignorance and people wanting to blame, and unfortunately,
(06:08):
sometimes things like this happen that we've never seen in
our lifetime.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
They've never seen this in their lifetime.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yes, flooding does happen, But the idea with the Democrats
wanting to use this is like a political point to
somehow blame Donald Trump or anybody else might be one
of the most violent discussing things ever. I'll give you
another example of this and just how personal it is.
You may have seen a story that went viral of
(06:36):
a pediatrician who decided to post in essence that kids
deserve to die because in this area they voted for
Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There was a.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Doctor that posted, may all visitors, children, non MAGA voters,
and pets be safe and dry with the praying hands.
Then it says Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA.
That's a lie. But it doesn't matter. They deny climate change.
May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.
(07:12):
The doctor who posts that, this woman who posted it
is a pediatrician. Just another example of how close it
is a home where my children go. She is in
the pediatrician group where my kids are treated. Now you
can imagine after seeing this, and thank goodness that pediatric's
(07:32):
office put that doctor on leave and then announced today
very quickly that that doctor has been terminated, which is
absolutely appropriate. But when you look at that and I'm like,
I can't imagine if that doctor was on call when
my kids needed help, and are they going to look
at me differently because I voted for Donald Trump because
(07:53):
of what I do. And you just realize in these
moments how vile the left has become, Like this is
not even and like it is so vile that you're like, oh, well,
those little girls deserve to die. By the way, none
of those little girls voted because they were Magavos. They
deserve what they get because you deny climate change. May
they get what they voted for? Bless their hearts. And
(08:15):
when you see this, you realize just how fall in
the world is that we live in. And it's sad,
and it's sad that there's people that want to politicize
this horrific tragedy for political gain on the left. You know,
earlier I was talking, well, it's different of mine, and
you guys know this to do a show with Cinder
(08:35):
cruzho were talking last night as he was down in
Texas and Kerrville and comfort and getting ready for today.
And to see the number of people that are just
wanting to attack and somehow claim that this attack happened
solely because of the politics, and that oh, well, this
(08:56):
could have been avoided because if they would have done
something differently. I cannot tell you just how sick these
people are. And Kerrville. Senator Cruz made these comments when
he was talking about the devastating flooding and after seeing it,
and I want to play this for you because I
think it's important and I want you to hear what
he said, and I'm going to play for you also
(09:18):
the White House.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
But listen to what he said.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And this is where he's meeting with these families who've
lost their kids, and yet there's questions that he's having
to answer about the politics of this warning.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
System so people had a chance to escape something like this.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Well, listen, I think anytime you're dealing with major rivers,
there's a risk of flooding, and there's always been a
risk of flooding, particularly Guadalupe River. I will say in
the wake of every tragedy, there are things that are predictable.
One of the things that's predictable is that you see
some people engaging and I think partisan games and trying
(09:58):
to blame their political opponent it's for a natural disaster,
and you see that with a hurricane, with a tornado,
with a wildfire, with his flooding, where people immediately say well,
the hurricane is Donald Trump's fault. You know, look that
I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous. And I
think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing
(10:21):
in attacks. Now, after we come through search and rescue,
after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will
naturally be a period of retrospection where you look back
and say, Okay, what exactly transpired, what was the timeline,
and what could have been done differently to prevent this
loss of life?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And that's a natural process.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
I think it should not happen in a bitter and
partisan sense, but it should happen in a reasonable sense
of saying what lessons can we learn? And I will
give an example. You know, Houston's my hometown. If you
live on the Gulf Coast, we get hurricanes. Part of
living on the Gulf coast as hurricanes hit. And I
do think Texas as a whole has learned over time
(11:06):
how to deal more effectively with hurricanes. And so you
look here, we know the National Weather Service put out
an emergency warning just after one am, and a second
emergency warning just after four am. Now, obviously most people
at one am and four am are asleep, and so
I think we will have a reasonable conversation about a
(11:28):
are there any ways to have earlier detection and some
of that. The limits of a flash flood, they're very
difficult because they can arise so quickly.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But everyone would agree.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
In hindsight, if we could go back and do it again,
we would evacuate, particularly those in the most vulnerable areas,
the young children in the cabins closest to the water,
we would remove them and get them to higher ground.
If we could go back and do it again, obviously
everyone would. The people at RVs by the river's edge,
we know, and disasters like this. RVs and mobile homes
(12:02):
are particularly susceptible, whether a flood or a hurricane or
a tornado, they're particularly susceptible to that. And so my
hope is in time we will learn some lessons to
implement to next time, and there will be another flood.
There will be another disaster, but next time there's a flood,
I hope we have in place processes to remove especially
(12:27):
the most vulnerable from harm's way. But I think that's
going to be a process that will take a careful
examination of what happened and how can we implement processes
better in the future to prevent this same loss of life.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You hear his answer there, and it's like, how are
we even having to answer a question about the politics
of this, And yet that's exactly what the left did.
The left wanted this to be about politics, and the
White House Press Secretary had to defend and blast Democrats
and members of the media have sought to blame somehow
Donald Trump for the death toll from the flash flooding
(13:03):
that no one could have imagined would have been this bad,
because it's never been this bad in her lifetime. Caroline
Levitt had to call it the Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer in particular, for accusing him of spreading falsehoods. She
then gave a timeline of the warnings issued by the
National Weather Service in the days and hours before the
deadly Fling flooding, which claimed now at least ninety one
(13:25):
lives as I speak to now, unfortunately, we're expecting that
number to go up. I want you to hear what
she said at the White House Press briefing and the
fact that this is what she's having to say instead
of focusing on the tragedy because the left is trying
to turn this in political attack.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Tells you just how soulis they become.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
I want to start by addressing the devastation from the
tragic flash floods in Texas. Moments ago, the Department of
Homeland Security provided an update that ninety one innocent souls
have now perished. Everyone here at the White House, including
the presidents of the United Slime States, is praying for
the victims, families, and friends during this unimaginable time. President
(14:05):
Trump swiftly signed a major Disaster declaration for Care County,
Texas to ensure our heroic first responders have every resource
they need in the relief and recovery efforts. Secretary of
Homeland Security Christinome traveled to Texas over the weekend, and
the entire Trump administration is working hand in glove with
(14:26):
state and local officials to provide every assistance available. The
situation on the ground remains dangerous and there could be
additional public safety threats with potential incoming heavy rain, so
we encourage everyone in the area to remain vigilant, listen
to all warnings, and respond accordingly. Unfortunately, in the wake
of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have
(14:49):
seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck
Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump
for these floods is a depraved lie and it serves
no purpose during this time of national mourning. Here are
the facts. In the lead up to this tragic natural disaster.
The National Weather Service did its job despite unprecedented rainfall.
(15:12):
The National Weather Service executed timely in precise forecasts and warnings.
On July third, the National Weather Service Office in Austin,
San Antonio, Texas conducted forecast briefings for emergency management in
the morning and issued a floodwatch in the early afternoon.
Flash flood warnings were also issued on the night of
(15:33):
July third and in the early morning of July fourth,
giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before
flash flooding conditions occurred. In The National Weather Service office
in New Brunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio
and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during
the storms, despite claims of the contrary. So to any
(15:54):
person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this
catastrophic event should be deeply ashamed. At this time, the
administration's focus will be on giving the victims in their
communities the support they deserve during these recovery efforts in
this tragic time. May God bless the great people of Texas,
especially the parents who have lost their children. President Trump
(16:18):
loves you, we are praying for you, and he will
be traveling to see you later this week.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
The fact that she had to spend that time to
clear the record because of the media putting out these lies,
because the left putting out these lies saying that this
was somehow Donald Trump's fault, that somehow this was because
of him, I think maybe one of the most disgusting
things I have ever witnessed, knowing that this is something
(16:49):
that is was unfortunately a once in a lifetime disaster.
And I want you to hear the partisan is here.
The Cinan woman says, quote, I don't know if there's
a direct line between the National Weather Service and cuts
in the flooding, but this is what government is for.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
There are no direct lines. The warnings work the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Unfortunately, there was people that didn't get those warnings or
didn't realize how bad it could be. And by the way,
this is not a flood in this way that happens
every couple of years, there's flooding there, nothing like this.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
This is a once in a lifetime event.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And I want you to hear how they're just like,
we gotta blame Trump no matter what, even as we're
showing first responders trying to find dead bodies.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
I think it's wrong for Texas to blame the National
Weather Service, and I think it's premature for the President
to say it wasn't the National Weather Service. I will
say one thing, Phil and these cuts to the National
Weather Service, to NOAH, to FEMA, the potential elimination of FEMA,
(17:57):
we will miss them when they're gone. I think we
need to say that now. I don't know if there's
a direct line between the National Weather Service and cuts
and what happened, but this is what government's for. It's
to help people and prepare them for the damage and
the devastation.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So in other words, you're just talking out of your abs.
You have no idea, but you're seeing an opportunity here
to try to blame Trump and the government.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I'll give you another example.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Matthew Daud, Senior political analysts at NBC News MSNBC I
want you to listen to his vile attack, saying the
tragedy of Texas flooding was totally preventable.
Speaker 6 (18:35):
Matt, Dad, let me bring you in on this and
let me just pull back the curtain. Our last conversation
about your next appearance on this show was about a
piece you read about trauma. And now you are in
the middle of the state you love, with neighbors you love,
suffering this extraordinary heartbreak.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Where are your thoughts today?
Speaker 7 (18:57):
Well, I'm glad to be here to talk about this,
and I'm I mean, I'd just like to put some
context and follows something with what Ryan said. I mean,
this is incredibly tragic, incredibly sad.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All of us know this, and who visited this area.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Spent time on the Guadaloup had you know, I've spent
a lot of time in Center Point. I had a
cabin on the Guadaloup and understand the flood risks that
exists there. But these camps and especially a place like
Camp Thestick. Just so people understand, this is a tradition
that everyone in Texas, Central Texas, Houston, Dallas knows of
(19:29):
these of these kids spending time boys and girls on
these camps and this camp. In specifically, I've talked to
people whose grandmothers went to this camp, whose mothers went
to this camp, and then their daughters have gone to
this camp. And so this is a tradition that's of Texas.
It's now been completely shattered in a very traumatic way.
In this I so disagree with this idea of like, oh,
(19:53):
there's no way to know this thing was going to come.
There was no way to know, you know this this
was going to happen. It was as Donald Trump is,
it's one.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Hundred year event.
Speaker 7 (20:01):
How would we know this is flash flood Alley as
the senator, why, I'm sure we'll talk about this is
something that we know about that we shouldn't have been
prepared for, that we should have been doing something about
for decades and decades and decades locally and at the
state level and at the federal level.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
The fact that we.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
Didn't and now we're sort of sort of dealing with
this immense tragedy is so and so incredibly disturbing in
this because this was, in my view, the tragedy of
this and the extent of the tragedy of this was
totally preventable because we've known on the Guadalupe River and
that river basin. This kind of thing can happen, and
maybe not as bad as it would happen as tragic
(20:41):
it did. But this is this is not every hundred years,
This is every few years where these flood events happened.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Let me just stop there so that you understand the
facts behind this. If what he just said was true,
then this camp would have been devastated every couple of years,
which would have mean that they could not keep the camp,
that the camp wouldn't exist, that the cabins would have
been washed away every couple of years, and no one
would invest in that there is flooding there. Yes, he
had a cabin on the Guadalupe, as he described it,
(21:11):
and guess what he bought that cabin, not thinking that
every three years he's gonna have to rebuild it, or
every two years, or every few years, has.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
He described it.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
It's another example of an individual who's like, well, you know,
and this is a problem, and this should never have happened.
This is totally preventable. It's a once in a lifetime event.
I don't care who the president of United States of
America is. But to then say, well, this is probably
connected to FEMA or Trump or cuts or is that
doctor put it? If you voted for Donald Trump, you
(21:41):
get what you deserve here like this is this is
the fault. This is your fault. I mean, I go
back to do this doctor. This pediatrician, thank goodness, has
been fired over the insensive social media posts. I would
say it's more than insensitive that Trump supporters got what
they voted for with the Texas floods. The fact that
she felt safe enough as a pediatrician to put that
(22:04):
out there like this is some sort of yeah, we'll
show yeah, you know, you deserve what you get. And
I'm glad that Trump supporters and their children died. And
the media is sitting there like we got to play
politics on this, and and the White House had to
spend the time giving the timeline of the National Weather
Service and explain the National Weather like how it worked
(22:28):
and explain when when the warnings came out. I just
you would think in a moment like this, where so
many kids were taken, you would think in that moment
that people say, Okay, for this moment, Hey, I'm I'm
gonna I'm gonna chill. I mean as I'm as I'm
(22:50):
recording this right now, we're up to ninety five. The
death toll has gone up. We're expecting it to go
up even more. I hope I'm wrong, but people have
talked to well over one hundred. Is what they've told
me is the reality of the situation we're in right now.
And you hear that and you realize what's happening, And
yet you think there's there are actual people that go
(23:11):
on TV or there's journalists that go out there and
they're like, I want to I want to figure out
a way to nail the people I don't like politically
and somehow turn this into a political issue, Like God
help them. I mean that when I say it like that,
(23:32):
what world are you living in?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
If this is it? Like?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
This is what you think, this is what you believe
that these are not, by the way, the only ones.
MSNBC a couple hours later, one of their commentators said,
this about Donald Trump.
Speaker 8 (23:50):
You've reached The President had said that he thinks he's going.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
To go to Texas this week. What's the White House saying?
That's right?
Speaker 8 (23:57):
The President has said that he probably will go to
Texas on Friday. The White House pres Secretary, though, is
making it very clear that those plans are not final.
The other thing that the White House is doing is
really pushing back on this notion that the National Weather
Service didn't have the resources and the staffing that it
needed at.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
The time that this flood happened. In order to do what.
Speaker 8 (24:17):
Was best for the residents in Texas, the White House
Press secretary said multiple times, it's just in the last
few minutes here that they these offices in this part
of Texas that they had what they needed, that they
were adequately staffed. I talked to a White House official
who actually called it disgusting to try to criticize any
sort of staffing levels at the National Weather Service or
(24:38):
to try to blame the Trump administration for cuts that
happened at the National Weather Service for why this flood
has become as deadly as it is. The White House
Press secretary pointing out that this is a once in
a century, once in a few decades level flooding and
that this was something that nobody would have really seen coming.
That being said, the White House is also pointing to
meteorologists that we've seen in Texas, saying that there were
(25:01):
staffing concerns, but that there were no staffing issues that
led to ample warnings not be giving out in the
way that they were. We at NBC News, they've also
talked to some people meteorologists and others who say that
the National Weather Service had the staffing that it needed,
even though again that there were concerns about staffing. We
both so, of course, I'm sure Jullians going to tell
us about the lawmakers that we are at that are
(25:23):
now wanting this issue to be more investigated. But the
White House here taking a really defensive posture on the
idea that anything that President Trump did hurt the people
in Texas, and the White House Press Secretary also saying
that the President wants to give Texas any of the
resources it needs in this moment, Katie.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
I go back to just the basics here. We know
for a fact the National Weather Service had extra staff
when this happened, but they want you to believe that
no one was there the Associated Press putting this headline
up there. Weather Service had extra staffers. The National Weather
Service office in New Bronseil, which delivers forecasts for Austin,
(26:01):
Santonio the surrounding areas, have extra staff on duty during
the storms where the office would typically have two forecasts
on duty. During clear weather, they add up to five
on staff. Quote, they're extra people in here that night.
And that's typical in every Weather Service office. You staff
up for an event and bring people in on overtime
(26:22):
and hold people over.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So it was not a staffing issue.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
The Democrats are so desperate to attack Trump and wanting
Trump supporters to die that they're trying to cook up
a new lie.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
They're trying to tell you that this happened.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Hell, you've got the Houston mayor, by the way, John
Whitmer's office said a woman who went on social media
that worked for them, said that they could deserve what
they got because they were these the Texas girls were
white and and quote, they're deporting your family members is
being per I mean, this is how how sick these
(27:00):
people are. Thank goodness, she's been permanently removed from Houston's
food and Security services staff. Like these people went on
social media, they've gone on TV and they're telling you
that they're glad that other people.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Are dying, and it's all bs. Just so you know.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
The National Weather Service office in Austin's Antonio issued a
flood watch over twelve hours before the flood, and a
flash flood warning three hours in advance, and these political
analysts go out there and they use this and say, well,
it could have happened. No, you're liars and your scumbags,
(27:39):
and we have the receipts to prove it. Let me
also say this, God, bless the families. I cannot tell
you how hard pray.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Pray.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Pray for these mothers and fathers that lost their daughters.
Knowing people that are involved in this is just truly,
I don't have have words for it. They're gonna need
a lot of prayers, and the people of Kerrville and
comfort in this whole area, they're gonna need help too.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
I'll see you back here tomorrow.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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