ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Full Broadcast - July 7, 2025

Tonight, a special edition of World News. Tonight. The devastating flood emergency. right here in Texas. The horror at a. girls camp and what we've now learned. tonight. My interview here with the. Coast Guard rescue swimmer and what he. witnessed at that camp as he tried to. save the children. And tonight, as we. come on, the flash flood warnings and. watches still in effect here. Tonight, the haunting images coming in. Devastating flooding in central Texas. More than a hundred people killed, including dozens of children. Flood. waters tearing through Camp Mystic for.

Girls. The Guadalupe River exploding. over its banks, rising 26 feet in just. 45 minutes. Homes swept away. Nearly. 1,000 people rescued so far. Six members. of a family swept away, one found alive, clinging to a tree for hours. My. interview with the husband and wife, the. floodwaters racing into their home, and. the choice they had to make at the front. door and the moment he lost sight of his. wife. I also talked with that heroic. Coast Guard swimmer tonight helping to.

save 165 people, children on his first. rescue mission. Our Maria Vrial tonight. with the US Coast Guard up in the air. The search teams above and on the. ground. They're not giving up. And. tonight, our Matt Gutman piecing. together the critical timeline, the. alerts and warnings. When did they come. and could more have been done to save. lives? Tonight, state and local. authorities are pressed. Will changes be. made here? And chief meteorologist. Ginger Z is tracking the new warnings. and watches right now. More. life-threatening flooding still possible.

tonight. Also, the state of emergency in. North Carolina. We're watching and the. system moving into the northeast. Also. on this Monday night, Border Patrol. agents ambushed in Macallen, Texas. A. gunman reportedly armed with a rifle. opening fire as they reported for duty. Tonight, the major new immigration. crackdown operation in Los Angeles. Roughly 90 National Guard troops and. more than a dozen military Humvees and. armored vehicles in the streets. LA's. mayor Karen Bass confronting ICE agents. in New York City tonight. Shark.

sightings forcing a well-known beach to. close. Drones spotting multiple sharks. just offshore. And back here in Texas, the bravery of the children and who they. asked about as they were being saved. here. From ABC News, this is ABC World News. Tonight with David Mure reporting. tonight from Kurville, Texas. Good evening tonight from Kurville, Texas, where we have witnessed one of. the deadliest flooding disasters in the.

US in decades. Tonight here, the scope. of the loss is simply staggering. The. desperate search for the missing. You. can see the Guadalupe River right here. behind me. The rain came down so fast, so quickly here in the early morning. hours of the 4th of July that the river. rose 26 ft in just 45 minutes. The. beautiful hill country of Texas. underwater. This home I'm standing next. to tonight, the wife inside telling me. the rising waters reaching her neck very. quickly. And she and her husband had no. choice but to step out their front door. and right into the current of the river.

that was at their home. How they. survived this, you'll hear their story. in a moment. Homes washed away here, RVs. floating down the river, and of course, the heartbreak at Camp Mystic for Girls. Tonight, my interview with the Coast. Guard rescue swimmer who saved so many. children there. And what he said, they. told him. And as we come on tonight, more than 100 people are now confirmed. dead here. Dozens of them are children. The river rising quickly in the dark as. the rain fell. The boat rescues that. began in those early morning hours. By. daylight, other rivers flooding as well.

This time-lapse video showing flood. waters rushing in, flooding a causeway. in under 10 minutes. This home washed. away in Center Point, Texas, floating. down the Guadalupe River and right into. a bridge there. The Coast Guard lifting. dozens to safety and helicopters. overhead. This young woman swept miles. away from her family's campsite, rescued. after clinging to a tree for hours. Tonight, she's in the hospital. We're. told she will survive this, but she's. also been told five other members of her. family are still missing. And tonight. here, what's left now of Camp Mystic.

Some 750 girls were there as the. emergency unfolded after the cabins. filled with water and mud, bunk beds. destroyed, pink sleeping bags, and. treasured stuffed animals. All that's. left. The camp tonight saying 27 campers. and a counselor have died. And tonight. here, we're now seeing some of the first. faces of those who did not survive this. There is a massive response here in the. flood zone tonight. Among them, that. 26-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer. on his first rescue mission, telling me. what he saw when he landed at Camp.

Mystic. The bravery here in the Hill. Country tonight. It is difficult to put. into words the scope of the loss across. the Hill Country here in Texas. Here in. Kirk County and beyond, so many. communities dealing with unimaginable. loss. Tonight, Texas authorities now. confirm more than a hundred lives have. been lost here. So many of them. children. The little girls sleeping at. camp. So many lives stolen in one of the. deadliest US floods in decades. Good job, guys.

With more rain in the forecast tonight, searchers have not given up. It was the. 4th of July and families in six. counties, many of them camping along the. Guadalupe River, gathering along the. waterfront, a summer tradition. They had. just gone to bed, only to wake up hours. later before the sun came up because of. flash floods suddenly swallowing up. family campgrounds, homes, and sleepaway. camps. The river rose 26 ft in just 45. minutes. In some places, 4 months worth.

of rain in just one night. The force of the flood waters carrying. homes away. This one then crashing into. a tree. Bridges severely damaged, trees snapped. in half, many toppled, homes left in the. middle of the road. This time-lapse. video showing just how quickly the flood. waters took over these communities. In. just 10 minutes, they were surrounded by. water and a deadly current. Much of.

central Texas and the Hill Country was. under a flood watch going into the. holiday. And just after midnight, the. weather service had issued a forecast. that showed extreme rainfall was. possible. By 1 a.m., the weather service. said a very dangerous flash flood event. was unfolding in Kerr County. Around. 4:00 a.m., a warning of a particularly. dangerous situation for Kerr County. But. authorities say that rare alert came. when most were asleep. The Guadalupe. River right next to Camp Mystic, the. century old All Girls Christian Summer.

Camp where cabins were soon filling with. water. The torrent of water, the river. overflowing its banks, and soon much of. the campground surrounded. Camp. counselors sharing videos of young. campers just one day before playing. Less than 24 hours later, the horror for. the young children there. Some 750. campers, the girls cabins just a few. hundred feet from the river. The younger. campers sleeping in the low-lying area. when the floods hit in the middle of the. night. The images from inside show the.

destruction. Their cabins, their bunk. beds torn apart, their belongings. scattered, much of it now gone. And. tonight, authorities at Camp Mystic with. the heart-wrenching news. They now say. at least 27 girls and staff were killed, including a young counselor. They say 10. young campers are still missing. And. tonight, this heartbreaking image, a. camp t-shirt in the aftermath. And tonight here, a moment of strength. from the children. A camp nurse, Devin.

Williams, sharing images of the. surviving campers on a bus to a. reunification center where they all. began to sing together as they drove. through their now unrecognizable camp. The most dangerous. Tonight, Coast Guard rescue swimmer. Scott Ruskin telling me what he. witnessed when the helicopter landed at. Camp Mystic. He had just completed a. swiftwater rescue course just two months. ago. The crew decided Scott would stay. on the ground with the children. It. would allow them to get more of the.

children out. If you stayed on scene, it would give. them a little more space in the. helicopter. Yeah, we we assumed that, you know, based on weight, we could probably take. two more kids every trip. So, they got to work. He told me the. children were still in their pajamas, some wearing just one shoe, still soaked. and covered in mud from the rising. waters. He told me who those children, some just seven and eight years old, were asking about. Primary just asking about their friends. They wanted to see if I knew anything. about their friends, show me pictures, um, doing whatever they could to try to. find their friends. And I just told him, I was like, "Hey guys, like I don't know.

where they are. We have every crew we. can possibly imagine.". He told me about the little girls. He. swept into his arms. At one point, you you were carrying two. girls and one arm. Yeah. Yeah. It was It was one in each. arm, but yeah, it was just two little. kids, like seven years old, didn't have. shoes on. I was like, "Dude, I'm not. going to make you guys walk through this. mud like while you're trying to get to a. helicopter." And tonight here we are. learning about the young lives lost and. the brave camp counselors who tried to. save them. 8-year-old twins Hannah. Lawrence on the left and Rebecca. Lawrence on the right. They were.

attending Camp Mystic with their older. sister, 14-year-old Harper, who. survived. Tonight, their grandfather. saying Hannah and Rebecca gave their. whole family so much joy. They and that. joy can never be forgotten. Khloe. Childris was returning to Camp Mystic as. a counselor there and had recently. graduated from the Concaid School. Her. school sharing Khloe made space for. others to feel safe, valued, and brave. She understood what it meant to be a. part of a community, and more than that, she helped build one. She was set to. begin her freshman year at the. University of Texas at Austin this fall.

Dick Eastland was the beloved longtime. director at Camp Mystic, who died trying. to save the lives of his campers. Tonight, his grandson George calling him. a mentor to thousands of young women, saying, "Although I am devastated, I. can't say I'm surprised that you. sacrificed your life with the hopes of. someone else's being saved." Former. counselor Ryan Robinson paying tribute. to that longtime camp director. He made sure that I always felt. comfortable and felt at home at Mystic. Um, he was just an extremely selfless.

person and he showed that until the very. end. Tonight, we are learning about the. incredible stories of survival. Nearly. 1,000 rescued since the 4th of July. The. San Angelo Police Department airlifting. families to safety after water levels. rose above their homes. Using boats to. scour stadiumsized debris fields for the. stranded, using helicopters to reach. people clinging to trees. Tonight, the remarkable scene. Neighbors. and local authorities helping to rescue.

a woman in rapidly rising flood waters. A chain of people pulling a rope to get. her to safety. Scott and Juliet Weldon. were in their home asleep, waking to the. noise, but they had no idea it was the. river now at their door. When they saw. the water, Juliet put on her husband's. life vest. Their motorcycles outside. their Jeep floating away. Look at this here. The water line. That's where the water. See that? That's where the water was, which. explains why you're floating in your own. home. Yeah. She opened up the front door but.

told me it took her three tries to step. into that water. The current sweeping. her away. You stepped out the front door and the. water just takes you. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Just like that. It's pretty remarkable that you're. standing here. That's when I said like, "Oh my god.". And then seeing all this, it's just like. it breaks my heart. Scott told me he swam after her. They. tried to grab onto trees, on neighbors. homes, but the current was too strong. Suddenly, they were both pushed into. this tall hedro by force.

You're holding the tree and he's holding. you. Yeah, he's holding me. Scott told me he was not going to let. her out of his grasp. He wasn't going to let go. No. No. Hell no. 35 years in counting. So many families facing the same. harrowing fight. The waters suddenly. sweeping them from their homes, from. their cabins, sometimes for miles. Tonight, a family of six swept away. Five are still missing. One family. member found alive clinging to a tree.

more than 15 miles from where they were. swept away. Devon Smith, 22 years old. They believe she passed through three. dams. She witnessed RVs being carried. down the river beside her. Carl Jeter. spotting her from inside his home and. calling first responders. Help is coming. Tonight, that survivor's uncle, Travis. Reynolds, meeting the homeowner who. spotted her in the tree, hugging him. thanking him. Grateful. means a lot. The tree across the river.

Carl showing us the tree she held on to. for six hours. And this evening, her. uncle Travis telling us she is in the. hospital but will be okay. But she also. knows five members of her family are. still missing. My family stepped in to to make sure. that she was safe. We're grateful for. her being alive. And tonight here, the loved ones who did. not survive. Dr. Katherine Eids died. after her RV was swept up. She was. camping with her husband Brian and they. were separated by the flood. He. survived, but he could not find her. Her.

family sharing she was a psychologist. and college professor, calling her an. incredible wife, daughter, mother, grandmother, and a person who spent her. life helping kids. 27-year-old Julian. Ryan and his family waking up to. floodwaters in their home in Ingram. Within moments, the water to their. waists along with his mother and fianceé. Christina. Julian working quickly to. save their young sons, smashing through. the window with his hand, sustaining. severe injuries as he tried to help his. family escape. He lost so much blood he.

knew. His last words to his fianceé. Christina, "I love you. I'm so sorry.". Tonight, his sister wants us to know. that Julian died a hero. Jane Ragdell. was the beloved director of the Heart of. the Hills Camp for Girls. Tonight, the. camp saying Jane embodied the spirit of. the camp and was exactly the type of. strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed. to develop. And tonight, that Coast. Guard rescue swimmer who told me he will. never forget those young faces, the. children he helped save and their. bravery.

Randy rescue swimmer in the last year. Um, but again, any any of the rescue. swimmers would have done the same thing. Yeah. So, well, I'm sure those parents thank you, too. Yeah. I'm glad their kids were tough. So, of course. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, of course. We told him so many of those parents. must be grateful to him and all of the. first responders. They have been just. incredible here in Texas. And by the. way, he kept count. They helped save 165. children in the hours after that. emergency first began. Tonight, of. course, those heart-wrenching questions. now. Could more have been done to save. lives here? Was the alert system enough?

ABC's chief national correspondent Matt. Guppin also here on the ground tonight. piecing together the critical timeline. The alerts and warnings. When did they. come? And tonight, state and local. authorities are already being pressed. Will changes be made here? Tonight, along with the thousands of. first responders and volunteers, searching for signs of life along the. battered banks of the Guadalupe River, there is a parallel search for answers. Whether lives could have been saved by a. better warning system. The first flash.

flood warning issued at around 1:00 a.m. The first flash flood emergency blasted. out just after 4:00 a.m. But that's not. what roused Steuart Gross from bed. What was it that woke you up? The fire department. It wasn't the alert on your phone. What. you're saying is that a better alert. system would have saved lives. Absolutely. Absolutely. If it wasn't for. the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department, we. would have lost a lot more people down. below. Countless others also missing the alert. Officials ducking questions about the. alert system. It's very tough to make.

those calls because what we also don't. want to do is cry wolf. And. late today, cancelling an afternoon. press conference. ABC News learning the. National Weather Service in Austin and. San Antonio did have five meteorologists. working the severe weather event as part. of its surge staffing protocol. It's. normally staffed with two. They issued. warnings that Rivers, Creek, Streams, and other low-lying locations may rise. out of their banks. Dozens of summer. camps dot this beloved region of the. Guadalupe River and other waterways. here. We're here just outside Camp. Mystic. You can see the front of that.

building ripped clean off over here. People taking out the belongings of. campers, including their trunks. And the. floods from this weekend raising. questions about whether it's safe for. camps like this to be so close to the. river's edge. They call this area flash. flood alley and one of the three most. dangerous regions in the entire country. for flash floods. The river flooding. nearly once every decade over the last. 100 years. David, a short time ago, Texas's. lieutenant governor saying that sirens. may have made the difference, might have.

saved lives here. He said going forward, the state will pay for them. David, a lot of questions to be answered moving. forward here. Matt Gutman tonight, our. thanks to you as well. And as I. mentioned, there's a massive search and. rescue effort still underway tonight. from volunteers and local first. responders to National Guard and active. duty forces. Tonight, our Maria Vrial. flying with the US Coast Guard in the. air, the search teams above. And. tonight, right here on the ground, they. are not giving up. Tonight, across this ravaged flood zone,

the painstaking search for the missing. And it's a race against the clock. We. headed out with the US Coast Guard and. got a firstirhand look at what they're. up against. High above the Guadalupa. River, the massive scope of this. disaster is quickly revealed. Debris and. devastation as far as the eye can see. pilots searching with multiple cameras, including one with heat detecting. technology, scouring water and dense. woods below. It is a very good camera that we have, and it's also an infrared camera, so we.

can find uh, you know, heat signatures, things like that. Out the back, equipment ready to go for. a rescue. They've already helped save. hundreds. We're going to do our best to try to. rescue anybody that's, you know, still. out there. That's what we're going to be. out there to do. David, the mission to find the missing. is weighing heavy on these communities. I've spoken a with a number of search. crews out in the field. They say they. are holding out hope, but they are. worried that time is running out and the. chances of finding anyone alive are.

grim. David. Maria Val with us tonight as well. Maria, thank you. Tonight here in Texas, the new warnings and watches up right. now as we're on the air. Life-threatening flooding possible again. tonight here. Chief Meteorologist Ginger. Z, of course, tracking this again. tonight for us. And Ginger, I know the. people of Texas just aren't in the clear. yet. That's right, David. Believe it or not, that same slowmoving system that. triggered the initial tragedy is still. spinning and grabbing moisture and. dropping thunderstorms that could have. heavy rain with them. That's why we have.

a flood watch until 7 p.m. for the. entire region in including Kurville down. to San Antonio through tonight at 7:00. p.m. There have even been flash flood. warnings. This is for locally up to 10. inches of rain. Now things do get a. little better, but this is going on top. of the same region that had 10 to 20. inches. You heard it, months worth of. rain in just one night. So the next. couple of days, even if you get an inch. or two inches, those rivers and creeks. are already high. The good news is. they've been in a bit of a drought, so. the dams can handle it. But David, we. even have flash flood warnings or.

watches right here in the Northeast. tonight with Philadelphia included. Tracking that as well. Ginger Z with us. Ginger, we appreciate it. When we come. back tonight, the other news this Monday. evening, border patrol agents ambushed. while reporting for duty. More than 90. National Guard troops deployed during. ICE raids in Los Angeles. You'll see the. pictures. And in New York City tonight, shark sightings forcing a well-known. beach to close. Drones spotting multiple. sharks just offshore. And we'll have. more on that in a moment here. Tonight, an ambush targeting US Border.

Patrol agents outside a facility in. Macallen, Texas. Authorities say a. gunman armed with an AR- style rifle. opened fire this morning. The suspect. killed in a shootout there. Three people. were wounded, including two officers. When we come back here tonight, there. are large-scale ICE raids unfolding in. Los Angeles. And the shark sightings off. New York City closing a popular beach. In a moment. tonight, heavily armed National Guard. troops are helping ICE agents during new. immigration raids in downtown Los. Angeles. The Pentagon tonight confirming. more than 90 National Guard members and.

more than a dozen military vehicles have. been deployed near MacArthur Park. Mayor. Karen Bass confronting ICE, calling. their presence quote, absolutely. outrageous. In New York City tonight, shark sightings repeatedly forcing parts. of a popular beach to close. Drones. spotting a shark just off Rockaway Beach. in Queens today. Multiple sightings, in. fact, forcing swimmers out of the water. over the holiday weekend. When we come. back here in Texas, the bravery of the. children here. Before we go, the heart of the people. here, the search and rescue operations,

dedicated first responders not giving. up. volunteers, children delivering. supplies, and amid the destruction, the. Texas state flag. Our thoughts are with. all of the families here. I'm David. Mure. Good night. Thank you for making World News Tonight. with David Mure, America's most watched. newscast.