104 dead as hard-hit areas in Texas face new flooding risks | The Excerpt
On Tuesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN National Correspondent Rick Jervis reports from Texas on what he's seen in the aftermath of devastating flooding. Plus, Rick reported on how warnings for the flash flooding came with little time to act. And flood survivor Chrissy Eliashar tells us her story. President Donald Trump announces tariff hikes on 14 countries. Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page takes a look back on the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump as we near its one-year anniversary.
Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more Paste BN podcasts right here
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Tuesday, July 8th, 2025. This is USA Today's The Excerpt.
Today we head to central Texas and hear from one of our reporters and a survivor of recent devastating floods. Plus, new Trump tariff rates. And we discussed the assassination attempt one year later.
♦
Rescue workers in central Texas continued their work yesterday, searching for survivors as a death toll rose past a hundred in the state's catastrophic flooding. Among the dead are at least 27 children and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girl summer camp in Kerr County where the worst of the flooding broke out. At least 10 girls and one counselor remain missing. There were about 700 children at the camp when relentless rain caused the nearby Guadalupe River to surge over 26 feet in less than an hour on Friday, according to Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Photos taken at the scene show a building where some of the children slept with broken windows and a blown-out wall. Among the mud-covered debris were pink blankets and stuffed animals.
I spoke with Paste BN National Correspondent Rick Jervis, who's been reporting from Kerr County on what he's seen there. Rick, thank you so much for joining me on this.
Rick Jervis:
Yeah, happy to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So just to set the scene for us, Rick, if you would, what have you seen this week in the aftermath of these storms and flooding in Texas?
Rick Jervis:
I'm in Kerrville, Texas, which is the epicenter of where all these floods happened. The Guadalupe River runs right through Kerrville. Kerrville didn't see a lot of damage, but you could tell, like I was out earlier today looking at the river, it's not a dangerous river anymore, but it is really swollen. And you could see where it overflowed its banks. There's these line of cypress and just live oak trees along the banks of the river, which all have been pushed down where the Guadalupe River came up and overran its banks. And there are smaller areas nearby like Ingram and Hunt and Comfort, and those places did get hit harder. There are residential areas there that are just layered in mud, homes which have been hollowed out, and so people are just starting to trickle back in now and try to salvage anything which they can really.
Taylor Wilson:
It seems like the time of day really didn't do anyone any favors, Rick, in the early morning hours. When it comes to search efforts, I know we're in that phase now, what does that work entail at this point?
Rick Jervis:
The search and rescue really starts to kind of become more sort of recovery. And now really what they're doing is just recovering bodies who fell victim to the actual flood.
Taylor Wilson:
It's so horrific, Rick. I know you spoke with one of the folks working through these rescue and recovery efforts, Jonathan McComb. What can you tell us about him and his story?
Rick Jervis:
Yeah, Jonathan had a real interesting story. He's basically out here with this group called TexSAR, that's short for Texas Search and Rescue. And these are trained folks who basically know how to go out in these swift water rescue boats, these kind of zodiac inflatable boats. They're going out searching for victims. And he's been doing this for about 10 years.
Jonathan's story is that he was involved in very similar floods back in 2015, like the town of Wimberley, Texas. And Wimberley is also like in the hill country out here. It's about 80 miles east of Kerrville. And back in 2015, the Memorial Day weekend, they had really devastating floods as well. The Blanco River, it's a very similar event. There was a lot of rain. The Blanco River overran its banks. Some really deadly devastating floods happened. About 400 homes were basically destroyed. 13 people killed, including Jonathan's wife and both of his children. They were basically vacationing in this house right on the riverbank with another family. And they were just enjoying this sort of Memorial Day weekend get together when the floods happened. The house he was in was actually pushed off of its foundation by the forces of the floods and traveled miles down the actual Blanco River. It crashed against a bridge. It started to come apart. And he witnessed his family being swept away.
He told me that as he was out there clinging the life, he made a pact with God and he said that if he survives this, then he'll tell his story and that he'll sort of dedicate his life to helping others, which is what he's doing today. And so immediately after he mended up and got out of the hospital, he signed up with TexSAR and he's been going to different events and helping people ever since.
Taylor Wilson:
What did he share with you about the personal toll this recovery effort is taking on him?
Rick Jervis:
He basically said that he is trying to focus on the task at hand, which is trying to find victims and trying to help people here. This is what he actually shared with me about his state of mind.
Jonathan McComb:
It's a tug of war. I'm here to help, here to assist, but it's knowing that we weren't able to recover my daughter from 10 years ago, and I know what that feels like, and so I want to do what I can to help.
Taylor Wilson:
What's next for these communities in this part of Texas?
Rick Jervis:
Well, these communities now are just looking to get back to their homes, looking to try to gauge how much damage happened here. I think there's a long road ahead in recovery of these towns and rebuilding homes, but there's also a long road in just trying to recover mentally. So I think it's going to be a long time before this area gets anywhere back to normal, but I think they're on their way.
Taylor Wilson:
Okay. Rick Jervis is a National Correspondent with Paste BN, joining us from central Texas after these devastating floods. Rick, I thank you for joining me and taking some time on this.
Rick Jervis:
Thank you, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
Rick also has a piece out this week on how Texas flash flood warnings came with little time to act. You can read more about that with the link in today's show notes.
♦
Meanwhile, I spoke yesterday with one of the flood survivors, Crissy Eliashar and her family. She, her three kids, and a family friend who was sleeping over, all under the age of 12, along with four dogs, managed to survive, thanks to the help of a stranger named Matthew Crowder. Here's more of Crissy's story.
Crissy, thank you so much for joining me and what I'd imagine has been just a brutal, harrowing week for you.
Crissy Eliashar:
Yeah, thanks for sharing our story. We're in a safe place and we're so grateful for our lives.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, let's go back a few days, Crissy. Just what happened during the early morning hours? How did you discover that this flooding was happening in and around your home?
Crissy Eliashar:
July 4th, we had a wonderful evening of fireworks and a family friend came over. We went to bed at 4:00 A.M. We are awakened by someone screaming outside of our house and can't make sense of it. And my son, Benny, he heard the screaming and ran to me in my room, "Mom, someone's screaming to get out."
Taylor Wilson:
And how did your family eventually make it out, Crissy?
Crissy Eliashar:
It was all in seconds. We opened the front door and I just completely lost it. The water was rushing from underneath my house. It turned into a raging river from nothing. The man was on the side of the house where it's just a little bit higher ground and thought maybe we could get around the back of the house. And we looked at the back and it was a complete lake. The water was already to the top of the door.
So I'm panicking again. And all four kids and four dogs were already in our hands, no shoes. The boys didn't have a shirt on. I grabbed my purse that was right by the door thinking I could get into my car and escape. I'm absolutely just in shock and disbelief. This is just in a matter of seconds. And it's up to my knees. And it's a raging river, it's really fast. So for my little seven-year-old here, it was up to her hips. And she fell while we were trying to walk. And thank God her brother grabbed her arm. I was trying to get to my car. That was my first plan. But as we get closer, my car floats away in that same second.
We make it just a few steps lateral to my dad's truck because my dad also lives on the property. He's a 75-year-old Vietnam veteran and lives in a camper right next to us. And we throw all the dogs in the car and I'm just screaming like a lunatic. But by the time we put the dogs in the back of the truck, the truck was already too far underwater. So thank God Matthew Crowder, the good Samaritan who started the screaming for us, was of enough presence of mind to tell us, "Keep walking, keep walking." So we had to walk laterally. The river had just taken over an entire portion of the neighborhood. And thank God we were able to get to a little bit higher ground. And I think I'm still processing how close it was, how close it was to us losing our life.
Taylor Wilson:
Crissy, you must be so proud of this group of kids. What I'm hearing is they really stepped up in this moment as well, right?
Crissy Eliashar:
Incredibly proud. Wow.
Taylor Wilson:
And as for you, Crissy, I mean, you are obviously so thankful to be alive. I'm feeling that gratitude here in this moment, but you've also lost a lot here in recent days. What's next for you, your family, and your family's home as you think about the days, weeks, months, years to come?
Crissy Eliashar:
Yeah. Yeah. We have, I think, only began to kind of process first out of the crisis mode. The house is completely destroyed. We don't have flood insurance. The house was pushed off its foundations. We had amazing community members from the boys school come out. So that's where we are. We have wonderful friends that made sure that we are in their home until next step. It's been a lot. Yeah. But we have a lot of arms wrapped around us.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Crissy, I am so sorry that you went through this, but I'm happy that you and the family are safe. And thank you so much for coming on and just best wishes going forward.
Crissy Eliashar:
Thank you so much for sharing our story.
Taylor Wilson:
As of this morning, nearly $100,000 has been raised on GoFundMe to help the family rebuild. You can stay with usatoday.com for more from the aftermath of the Texas floods.
♦
President Donald Trump has announced new tariff rates on 14 countries and extended until August 1st, a pause on higher rates that was due to expire tomorrow. In separate letters this week to each targeted country, Trump said he will impose 25% tariffs on goods from Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kazakhstan. 30% tariff rates on imports from South Africa, and 40% on Laos and Myanmar among other moves. Earlier in the day, he announced 25% tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea. Dozens more tariff letters will be sent in the next few weeks according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The tariff announcements so far have since stock markets tumbling. Trump has argued the steep tariffs are needed to rejuvenate US manufacturing in key sectors.
♦
This month marks one year since an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He then got up with his fist pumping as he shouted, "Fight, fight, fight." I caught up with USA Today, Washington Bureau chief Susan Page to put that moment in context and what it means a year later.
Hi, Susan. Thanks for joining me.
Susan Page:
Hey, it's great to be with you.
Taylor Wilson:
So just looking back, Susan, how have assassinations always really impacted American history?
Susan Page:
Violence has always been a part of American politics. We had President Lincoln, President Garfield assassinated in the 19th century, President McKinley and President Kennedy in the 20th century. Ronald Reagan, seriously wounded by a would-be assassin's bullet. And in fact, every modern president has been the target of a serious assassination plot.
Taylor Wilson:
Susan, you write that none of the failed or forestalled assassination attempts has had more continuing impact and attention than the shooting we saw last year. How so?
Susan Page:
At the moment of the shooting, it was just two weeks after that first presidential debate between Trump and President Biden that had really undermined Biden's presidential campaign. And this remarkable scene in Butler prompted some voters to give Trump a second look, a more serious look. Elon Musk endorsed him later that day. Mark Zuckerberg said it prompted him to take another look at Donald Trump. So it helped him in that moment.
And then you go to November, one of Trump's big successes was his strength among male voters, carrying male voters by 12%. They had broken about evenly when he had run in 2020. And that show of strength may have been part of his appeal to male voters.
Taylor Wilson:
And I guess, Susan, there might be some parallels to Teddy Roosevelt here as well, correct?
Susan Page:
It's pretty remarkable. Teddy Roosevelt, also a former president trying to seek a second term, it's 1912. He's addressing a rally in Milwaukee. He is shot by a would-be assassin, but the bullet goes through his metal glasses case and then through his very thick speech, and it slows it down. So it still penetrates his chest, but it's not nearly the serious business it would've been without that miraculous good luck.
Taylor Wilson:
Absolutely wild. As for President Trump, Susan, is he still talking about the shooting today? How does it resonate in the popular discourse?
Susan Page:
One of the reasons it's become powerful and legendary is because President Trump does still talk about it. That's in contrast to, say, President Reagan who did not create merchandise commemorating the failed assassination attempt against him.
But with President Trump, you go into the White House now, on the White House tour, one of the prime spots that used to have a portrait of Barack Obama now has a painting that shows the scene in Butler with blood on his face and his fist in the air. And you go online, there's a company the Trump family owns that sells sneakers that have the image of his bloody face on each side. And now they've come out with a perfume, a line of perfume, and it's called, "Fight. Fight. Fight."
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. All right. Now looking back 12 months later, Susan, how did this moment really reshape American politics?
Susan Page:
I think Trump's remarkable survival to this very serious threat convinced him and some of his supporters that even God was on his side. And it emboldened Trump to pursue the kind of very aggressive agenda that he has during these last six months. And it has, I think, helped solidify the support of his core backers.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Susan Page is Paste BN's Washington Bureau Chief. Thanks as always, Susan.
Susan Page:
Thank you.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. As always, you can email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.