
Episode 4610: Massive Texas Flood; Search Continues For Campers ...
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Ryan Chandler
Torrential rainfall doused Kerr County, Texas, Friday morning, causing flooding from the Guadalupe River. The death toll has now risen to 24 people and one death was also reported in Kendall County. Rescue teams have been working through the night to find survivors as more than 20 people remain unaccounted for from a summer camp in Hunt, Texas. NBC's Ryan Chandler is on the ground with more.
Stephen K. Bannon
In central Texas, a catastrophic flood emergency.
Ryan Chandler
It's going to be a mass casualty event.
Stephen K. Bannon
Authorities saying 14 helicopters are in the air. One rescuer dangling from a chopper appearing to help someone up in a tree as flooding rages below. Cars lifting off the ground, swept away by the powerful waters. These steps leading to a house that's no longer there. This is our house right here. Another pushed down the road.
Ben Berkwam
The water started to rise very rapidly.
Ryan Chandler
I mean rapidly.
Stephen K. Bannon
Along the river, a series of summer camps. The La Junta camp for boys posting that everyone is safe but some girls at Camp mystic trapped.
Ryan Chandler
Now there are 20, some that aren't accounted for. We're praying for all of those missing to be found alive.
Stephen K. Bannon
You can feel the anxiety here as parents are waiting to hear word about their child. We're told that these children are being transported by helicopter, the only way out of the camp. As parents wait to hear they've returned safely. County judge pressed on why the camps weren't evacuated.
Ryan Chandler
We knew there was going to be a problem.
Doc Chambers
Why weren't these camps evacuated?
Ryan Chandler
I can't answer that. I don't know.
Doc Chambers
These camps were in harm's way. We knew this flood was coming.
Pete Teal
We didn't know this flood was coming.
Stephen K. Bannon
Rest assured, no one knew this kind.
Pete Teal
Of flood was coming.
Stephen K. Bannon
The tight knit Texas towns across Kerr county are popular recreation areas. Len Clendenin and Rory Higgins were camping asleep in their cabin when the water started rushing in.
Pete Teal
Everything happened so terribly fast.
Rory Higgins
There was mobile homes, travel trailers, cabins.
Ryan Chandler
Vehicles, people in the water.
Pete Teal
It was. It was devastating.
Stephen K. Bannon
They took this video showing a building from the campground washing away their beloved border. Collie Ripper is still missing. Flood threats were in place because drenching rain flooded the riverhead. Massive amounts of water got pushed downstream. At one point, National Weather Service data showing the water rising nearly 30ft in one hour. This region near the Guadalupe river is no stranger to floods. And in 1987, rapidly rising water killed 10 people.
Ryan Chandler
Buses stalled out and the water was so starting to.
Stephen K. Bannon
It was real deep.
Ben Berkwam
So we were going to try to get out and get to the road.
Ryan Chandler
Wasn't too far back and it started washing people away.
Stephen K. Bannon
What was supposed to be a holiday celebration is now a nightmare.
Ryan Chandler
This came at night and people are asleep in bed. Please pray for our people.
Doc Chambers
The original forecast that we received on Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4 to 8 inches of rain in the hill country. We worked with our own meteorologists to fine tune that weather statement. And as many of you know, and many of you in broadcast journalism and meteorology, you can go back and look at your own forecast. And the amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of forecast.
Ryan Chandler
This rain event sat on top of that and dumped more rain than what was forecasted on both of those forks. When we got the report, it was about 7ft or so on the south fork and within a matter of minutes it was up to 29ft. And all of that converged at the Guadalupe and that's where we saw those very quick rise and flood.
Doc Chambers
But listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right? You all got it. You're all in media. You got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.
Ryan Chandler
This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. Christians, I got a free shot.
Len Clendenin
All these networks lying about the people.
Ryan Chandler
The people have had a belly full of it.
Len Clendenin
I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything.
Ryan Chandler
In the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it.
Len Clendenin
It's going to happen.
Ryan Chandler
And where do people like that go to share the big lie?
Stephen K. Bannon
MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul.
Ryan Chandler
I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
Len Clendenin
Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?
Ryan Chandler
If that answer is to save my.
Len Clendenin
Country, this country will be saved.
Stephen K. Bannon
War ROOM here's your host, Stephen k. Banner.
Ryan Chandler
Saturday the 5th of July in the year of our Lord 2025. Normally, as you know, when we do 4th of July and then 4th of July weekend is always the 5th, we carry over coverage talking about the foundation of the country and also the revolutionary war that was upon the signers. So much pressing business today, we're not even. We had a cold open all set for the great signing ceremony and the flyover and the fireworks. But there's many big stories that I know this audience needs to focus on, including I think a rapidly expanding war in Ukraine and also this biblical level tragedy down in Kerrville, Texas and around the Guadalupe River. We've got a whole team down there. Ben Burkwam is on. Is on location. Let's go to. Let's go to Ben. Ben, you just informed us there's going to be another press conference because information coming out is very sketchy. We found out last night that there were 23, I think young girls, I think 40 people missing overall, but 23, I think third graders from the Bubble Inn over at the Mystic Camp that were missing. It's kind of sketchy. Some things have been up online this morning about how many of those children have been recovered. I haven't heard of any being rescued. There's going to be another press conference also. I wanted to include. I thought was important. Our producers did. There's already. So there's a search and rescue. All this equipment's coming in. These brave individuals. We had Colonel Chambers, Doc Chambers on last night. You've got people running to the sound of the guns to find these children, to rescue them and others, adults and also then livestock, all of that. But there's also already accountability finger pointing, whether it was the weather forecast. Why are they closed. So we're going to cover both these. Ben, get us up to date. You rushed there from Iowa and it couldn't celebrate 4th of July with your family. Really appreciated. What do you got for us this morning? Okay, we don't have Ben hooked up on.
Ben Berkwam
Yeah, Steve. Yeah, I was actually on my way home, flew into Houston, was driving up almost to Texarkana and got the message from you and turned around, rerouted down here. Got a lot of friends in this area. And so we went to the location. I just want to get out of the shot here for a second just to show you how the level of devastation and we'll talk more about the details. But this is right downtown Kerrville. And I just kind of turn the camera, just show you. So where I'm standing right Now, I'm about 20ft above the river and I would have been underwater. This entire area here was underwater. Turned back this way towards one of the bridges. You can just see. And this is what they're going through right now. Rescue efforts. They're having to comb through all of this debris, all the trees down. You know, the closest thing I could equate it to is what I saw in North Carolina and. And Tennessee. Not on the same scale, but when you see just trees snap like twigs. And just a reference point to give you an idea of the water level. In some areas it went over 30ft. But that tree right there, you can see it snapped where some of the limbs are broken. The top where the Bark is ripped off is basically where the water line was. And what we're hearing is the major.
Len Clendenin
Disaster.
Ben Berkwam
I mean, you know, it's really, it is, it's really a tragedy on multiple levels. Finger pointing is going to happen. It always happens in these things. The rain totals, the estimates seem to be a little bit low. They got over 5 inches here. Some areas are reporting over 8 inches, some 10 inches. Just a massive amount of water. In fact, that storm is still circulating. Austin's getting hammered right now and that's going to continue and it looks like it's actually going to come back down this area to this area over the next 24 hours. So we're keeping an eye on that because all of that hampers the rescue efforts. The last numbers I heard and I will be at that press conference at 10am just down the road. Mystic Camp is about 20 minutes up the road. It's, it's inaccessible. It's about an hour now because you have to go out and around. It's all shut down for the rescue efforts. But the, that, that recovery effort still ongoing. But it's still ongoing all the way down here. The problem is they don't know how far people wash down the river. So we're, you know, we're talk about a several hundred mile swath and those are the people that they know about. Last numbers I got from somebody involved with search and rescue last night was 20 are still missing, 20 children. That's total. That's not just from the Mystic Camp. That's total for Kerr county and then 30 to 40 adults as well. That's the, the most up to date number I have. That will probably change. Hopefully we get a better update at 10am local time, 11am Eastern.
Ryan Chandler
Yeah, we'll cover that life here. Here's the thing is that what has been reported is that the river rose because it is different than, than Appalachia and then western North Carolina and Tennessee. But the river rose 26ft in 45 minutes and then it continued to rise. I think overall 40 to 42ft within like an hour to two hours. So, so the rise and you see there from the thing, it just caught everybody surprise and I guess the Predawn hours of 3 to 5 o' clock in the morning. But the rise of the river so rapidly was really like a wall of water coming down on the Guadalupe and that's what washed out. The question about should these things have been evacuated, all that. What they're saying, hey was the middle of the night. They're pointing fingers to The National Weather Service and pointing fingers to other weather forecasters, etc. Do we at 10 o', clock, are they going to have a bigger. Because what everybody's focused on obviously is these children from this camp. It was reported there were 239 year olds. Do you have any update? 9 year old girls have any update on that?
Ben Berkwam
Yeah, the, the most up to date numbers I have are what I just said, 20, total is 20 plus. So I heard anywhere between 24 and 26. Now I hope those are old numbers. The guy I spoke to is involved with the rescue efforts. That's what he told me last night. We're anticipating getting updated numbers this morning. I think the big thing, they don't want to give false information and then have to come back and say otherwise. You know, when this first happened, you were messaging me and saying, hey, we're hearing 100 kids are missing. And, and that's the problem with a lot of these disasters is you start getting speculation on top of what's already a tragedy. And so I think they're being very careful about making sure whatever numbers they give out are accurate numbers. Yeah, as they should. As they absolutely should. And look, just going back to this, what happened, you know, it's just the perfect storm. It just happened to be 80% of the year. The way that this river is set up, the way that most of the communities are built up around here, Hill country is used to flooding. This is just, you know, they're talking about this being one of the 100 year flood scales. This is massive. It was unexpected, kind of came out of nowhere with the storm. I mean, we knew a couple days in advance, but the way it just sat over here, again, kind of similar to what we saw in North Carolina and Tennessee. That storm just sat on top of them. Nobody expected the amount that they had. And then the big, the, the big concern they had was, well, now that we know that the river's rising so rapidly, do we try to do a mass evacuation and then potentially have more fatalities, more injuries because people are trying to drive through flooded areas or do we keep people sheltered in place? And so it seems like there was some confusion, understandably during those first few minutes and hours on who to have shelter in place and who to have evacuate and then how to reach those people and which places were the most devastated. We do know this, that the Texas emergency management team was already on site. They had the swiftwater rescue boats on site. They were ready to go. They knew something could happen. They just, nobody anticipated the scale that it would happen at and the quickness that this happened at and the saddest part of this is it just happened on the wrong weekend. Where most of these camps are in operation, everybody's coming down here to celebrate the Fourth of July. And so it just it was just, you know, it's just a terrible, terrible tragedy. And now they're what they the requests that I've been given by emergency management, by sheriff here in Kerr county is if you are not a part of the rescue efforts, please don't come. You know, one of the problems we get in a lot of these disasters is you get some of the, you know, people just coming down to take a look, they end up clogging the roads. They had problems yesterday, people blocking roads to take pictures and to film. And just if you're not a part of the rescue efforts, please don't come right now until they find every one of these missing children and missing adults. That is their number one focus.
Ryan Chandler
Doc Chambers, we're going to try to get Ben, if you can stick around, if you can still get to the I'll talk to you in the break. If you still get to the press conference, Doc Chambers is going to also join us. He's saying that there's been 120 rescues since the press conference last night. So we'll we got Doc Chambers up, I think the Congressman Triproy is down there, even Jason Jones who lives in the areas down there. So we're going to try to get some folks up here, get some details. Ben Berkhom is with us, heading to the press conference. Short commercial break Philip Patrick is going to join us at the bottom of the hour from Rio about the Rio reset and the de dollarization program of the BRICS nations all next in the War room, the prince who rules by freedom's laws.
Philip Patrick
In North America.
Len Clendenin
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Ryan Chandler
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Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon.
Ryan Chandler
Okay, welcome back. We cut Ben Berkwam loose of Ben Berkhom. You could get to Kerrville and actually get to the press conference that's going to take place at 11 o'. Clock. The one last night was actually, I thought pretty informative given the lack of a lot of information they had. One thing you can tell already there's some debate between what the forecasts were and what was told to people. So we're going to make sure we get to all that. Also Doc Chambers, who was with us last night, we're going to try to get Doc Chambers on here in a moment as soon as we can get him up. Also, Peter Theo is one of these rescue groups that rode to the sound of the guns immediately. Peter Theo is going to also join us and we're going to get some clarification particularly on the search and rescue right now kind of up in the air. I think search and Rescue is still 20 plus of the, of the children. Now they're saying that maybe all the children, not just from the camp, but all the children lost in this tragedy on the Guadalupe River. As I said, rain still for the hill country Texas area. Just heard Ben Berkhom maybe doubling back on Kerrville. I think what the, the question is is what you know, this river 26ft in 45 minutes is nothing short of biblical. You've seen some of the footage of how it came ripping through and not just expanded the, the width of the river, but the depth and, and the velocity of water going down was, was nothing short of biblical. Then they said 42ft, I think in an hour to an hour and a half. And so that's where you see these, this tragedy unfolding before you. Like I said, Peter Teo and Doc Chambers, as soon as you get them up from the fields, tough getting a signal down there. But we want to make sure we're on top of this because I Think it's one of the most important stories in the world. Also, Ben Harnwell is going to join us. Is Ben up? Is Ben up yet? Crack production team. The Ben's going to join us. President Trump in this kind of victory after victories had win after win. President Trump was, had a call with Putin the other day of which he was working, you know, to whip the vote. He had a, he had a call put another day and it didn't go very well. If you read the Axios, I think had the most accurate set. At the end, Putin told Trump, he said, hey, look, I want to have a bilateral, I want to have a bilateral negotiation here and essentially butt out. President Trump said later was not a good call. President Trump had already stopped the Pentagon had stopped additional weaponry because we're after the Israel situation with the Iranians. The Persians were down Thaad missiles, I think 25%, the Patriot missiles that we used in Qatar to shoot down. And also the Patriots who gave Israel were down Patriots and we're taking them out of Korea and the Pacific. We told the Ukrainians we can't, you know, we can't draw down our stocks anymore now because of the phone call and also the battering of Kiev by. The battering of Kiev by the, by the Russians the other night. I think the most brutal of all the bombardments, drones, missiles, aircraft strikes in, in Kiev was the other night. I think it was Thursday night brutal. Today. The Atlantic magazine, Ben Harnwell joins us from Rome. The Atlantic magazine has Ann Applebaum, who is no fan of the war room, no fan of maga, no fan of America First Non intervention, and particularly she detests Don Trump. She's got a piece in the, in the Atlantic band that says Trump is switching sides. And we're going to ask you how she drives that, but she does have a buried lead in that. What POSO has been talking about Putin's actually, and this is supposed to be for an army that was beaten. This is what the media has told us, a summer offensive of 675,000 combat troops for a massive front in Ukraine. Ben Hornwell, can you get us up to speed on everything that's happening? Because I think this one, as much as President Trump's trying to step in and have already put their guns down, I think this one could be rapidly spinning out of control, sir. Okay, Ben, you've got it on mute, I think. Okay. Do we have Ben? Okay, we're going to get these right eventually. Ben Harnwell, you off mute? Are we set up? Okay. We're going to get Ben put back up.
Jason Jones
Okay.
Ryan Chandler
Ben Harn, were you there?
Jason Jones
Yeah, I'm here. Can you hear me? Loud and clear. Have you got me?
Ryan Chandler
I can hear you. Next. Next time, unhook mute. Either Denver or Rome, take your pick. Okay, is Anne Applebaum right? Are the Russians Getting ready for 675man off summer offensive, sir?
Jason Jones
Well, I think she is right on that, Steve. But let's just quickly do the chronology, if I may. On the night before US Independence Day celebrations, that is to say, as you say, Thursday, President Trump had an hour long phone call with President Putin. And let's go textually to what he said. President Trump said it's a very tough situation. I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way just killing people. It's no good. That, Steve, contrasts with the phone call that he had with President Zelensky, which he actually basically agreed to pretty much to all of President Zelensky's requests, that is to increase Ukraine's air capacity to rent itself with air cover, specifically providing the US Patriot missiles, which he alluded to about 10 days ago, which he said, let's see if we can get them these missiles which they're going to pay for. So this would very much tie into that position. And then, Steve, you've got this situation that the 695,000 troop buildup on the Ukraine border. Steve, my hesitation here, my issue with this here is that President Trump is already being dragged into this as he has been being dragged into this really by both sides in this war, specifically Ukraine, since the inauguration. I look at the timings of these dates and really from what I can gather, Steve, within a few moments of his phone call with President Putin, finishing President Putin, this is, as I say, on Thursday launched the largest drone and ballistic missile attack to date on Kiev and Ukraine. And this isn't very good, I think, for President Trump who's trying to be the deal maker. He's trying to get a man of peace, but he's finding himself ground in between these two cogs. And therefore, as we've been covering on the war for the last few days, he is in this situation which has a certain escalatory as far as the US Is concerned, momentum.
Ryan Chandler
Ben, talk to me then.
Len Clendenin
Do you think how do we avoid.
Ryan Chandler
Being dragged into this even more? I mean, President Trump want to stop this 24 hours. He admitted it was more complicated than that. He now it looks like he made a decision that, hey, we're going to tell both sides that we took a shot at this. But we're not going to rearm the Ukrainians, we're going to make the Europeans rearm the Ukrainians. President Trump goes to NATO. The entire 5%, let's be brutally frank about this. Going up to 5% is directly tied to NATO into their fear of Russia. We have enforced the Europeans. Right now are we getting as non interventionist and Ukraine being even I think a higher priority of getting out of than the Middle east, although we don't want any, you know, no more regime change in the Middle east and President Trump's got a great job of that. And in fact telling the Israelis we're shutting down Gaza. Are we getting sucked into this moment by moment and we're getting sucked in by Putin?
Jason Jones
Well, it's difficult to know. I don't think Putin is trying to suck America in. I think it's Ukraine. It's not really in Putin's interest to get you guys sucked in.
Ryan Chandler
But you.
Jason Jones
Are getting sucked in into this war. And in answer to your question as to how to de escalate the situation and to de escalate America's involvement in the situation, really, President Trump I think has to fulfill his commitment in the campaign, which he now claims to have been sort of sarcasm, but many people who supported him in the election campaign didn't take as sarcasm and supported him for that. And that is basically to withdraw the United States within 24 hours. If it's not possible, Steve, for President Trump to act as the peace broker here and negotiate a ceasefire, the next best thing he can do is to stop this war continuing and that is by stopping to supply one of the two sides which is to say Ukraine. Now last week he did say that he was stopping some weapons and some missiles and he, he threw the justification to that to depleting US Stockpiles. But it wasn't a total closure of US Provision. Of course, what he was going to continue to provide or not hadn't been defined. And it looks as if what he is going to continue to supply is the Patriot missiles. This is not a de escalatory path, Steve. That's the issue here. This is not a de escalatory path. If President Trump really wants to achieve peace, then, you know, it's America that is keeping this war going. Right. I think President Trump has to fulfill what he said he would do in the campaign. Stop arming Ukraine definitively and then the Ukrainians will see sense when they realize that the munitions are going to stop coming but, and they'll sit down and negotiate.
Ryan Chandler
But, but he, he tried. He tried, by the way, I might have to go back to the we're going to go back to Kerrville in the next thing. Then we got real. I need you to stick around because we've got to drill down some more. President Trump had the conversation with Putin and then that night they unleashed the worst bombardment on the Kiev after the president said, hey, I need you. It was like Bibi hitting the the Persians after they announced a ceasefire. And then Putin announces to Trump on the call, hey, I just want to do this bilaterally. I don't need your involvement.
Len Clendenin
They've jammed.
Ryan Chandler
They put the president, United States, who's trying to be a peacemaker and trying to be fair to both sides. They put him in a terrible situation, just a terrible situation for the simple fact of after you have a conversation with him and then you do the biggest bombardment. Anyway, Ben, hang on. I'm gonna get to you after the 11 o' clock hour. Very jammed today. We're gonna go to Rio for the BRICS conference. We got a press conference coming up from Kerrville. We have Peter THIEL and and Dr. Chambers, not that Peter Thiel, but the head of operations, one of the rescue groups is going to be with us. And we also have Doc Chambers from last night, the former, the retired lieutenant colonel in the Green Berets, all down there on on search and rescue and helping folks out. We're gonna take a short commercial break. Burch Gold take your phone out. Text Bannon at 989-898. Get the ultimate guide for investing in gold and precious metals in the Age of Trump. This is a quick study to get you all the fundamentals of the methodology of how you invest in gold. Short commercial break we're going to return to the war room on the Guadalupe river next.
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Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Ryan Chandler
Okay, let's go down back to Doc Chambers. Doc, we had John last night before the press conference. Press conference. Good information, but kind of depressing. Can you give us an update on where we are in search and rescue, sir?
Pete Teal
Roger that. Yeah, we had over 260 rescues yesterday. This is a. A positive note. Obviously we're looking at 100 and some of those were hoists. So this is what we call a jp A jungle penetrator type deal comes down from the helicopter with an operator at the bottom of the line, grab somebody, pulls them up through the tree line because this is triple canopy in some places. Lots of foliage in the. In the area. So that. That's a positive note. Unfortunately, you do have to report that. We're at about 24 right now. Unconfirmed. 24. 26 deaths reported, expected to rise. Still 25 missing expected to rise. But we're narrowing those numbers down as we speak. So those are just unconfirmed, but they are close to the right numbers.
Ryan Chandler
What is of the 25? What's the status of the mystic girls camp? They were saying last night 20 to 23. Is that still an accurate number? That had not been. The search and rescue had not located. Is that still been accounted? We have.
Pete Teal
No because over the night we were reporting all the way to 0300 this morning. Yeah, there were about seven that I saw that were sent to me. I have not got those numbers yet. I'm on my way to Mystic. We've had a lot of stops along the way. Understand this is still going on in Seguin area, Lake McQueenie. There's a deluge of rain down from us, so it's adding to the problem set. But we're controlling what we can here. And then we'll continue to move to that location. But first I'll hit Mystic and be out there conducting some. Some support out there. Ministry support with some of the families.
Ryan Chandler
Let's bring a pto. Hang on. Doc, let's go to Pete Teal from the minuteman. A disaster relief, I think joins us by phone. Oh no, there we have him. Pete, can you give us an update on a disaster relief search and rescue, anything?
Rory Higgins
You know, I agree with what the previous guy said. I was at the operations center there were, they were, did the operational briefing this morning. I don't have any additional numbers to what he said. Those are in line with what I'm aware of.
Ryan Chandler
When you say in line, this is the question. Last night I think they said, I think they reported at mystic, at the bubble inn or one of the sub camps at mystic that there were 20 to 23 nine year old girls. Is that not, was last night not the correct answer? That's what the media's been that that had been unaccounted for. Where there are there still, I believe, nine year olds this morning.
Rory Higgins
I don't want to say that definitively because I can't tell you for sure, but yes, that is my understanding. It was an 8, 9 year old camp and a couple of the camp buildings were swept away is what I understand.
Ryan Chandler
What is search and rescue still going on? Correct?
Rory Higgins
Yes, it is. Right now I believe I'm probably on the same highway as lieutenant colonel is. There are a number of state police and ambulances. A number of game warden trucks just drove by me here while I was talking with you. The sturgeon rescue is still going on, although I think at this point it might be more recovery than search and rescue, unfortunately.
Ryan Chandler
Where, how tough is this search and rescue been given the, the biblical nature of this flash flood, how tough has it been? Pete Teal.
Rory Higgins
I, I have not been involved in the search and rescue personally, but just trying to turn around in a truck. The, the mud and muck is, is unbelievable. The level of damage. I, I, I, this is like a major hurricane. There are thousands of trees that have been stripped. There are mattresses in trees. There's the height of the flood level. This is unbelievable. They have been using jeeps, they've been using dogs as much as they can with the mud. I mean every asset is being used. There was an offer this morning from a group that has a Cessna 337 with search and rescue package with infrared and everything. I don't know if that's coming over, but every asset the state has, I believe has been pushed here. The number at the staging area, the incident command post, There were probably 300 vehicles of people that are here that are state officials rather than just volunteers that we're here for search and rescue. The magnitude of the response from the state of Texas is amazing. This is what makes America great, is that people come help each other.
Ryan Chandler
Doc Chambers, one of the questions last night about people being notified and one of the officials said that hey, this area has a history of flooding in your memory is, is this the biggest has happened recently? 20 years, 30 years the biggest in memory. I mean how, how big is this compared to other events that this area has had? The Guadalupe river.
Pete Teal
Great question, 20 years. This is the highest one in record now but understand this is the longest in the, in the corridor of the Guadalupe. We're looking at probably 70 miles as the crow flies, hundreds of miles, 120 miles of river as it curves. So we're looking at all those low lying areas and remember all these camps that were plussed up for 4th of July holiday, that was the evacuation problem set. And now when we're spreading those forces thin as Pete was mentioning, I'm out here with them and these guys are running up and down the roads. So our civilian groups, you know, the Cajun Navy's coming in from Louisiana. There's some great folks. This is, this is what we're dealing with. The thermals are the key for the nighttime and daytime. The problem set for some of these areas further down is the, is the amount of rain that they're still receiving. Deluge of rain over Lake McQueenie so that they won't be able to work there. But from there back, yes, they will be up with those fixed wing and rotary wing.
Ryan Chandler
Doc Chambers, where do people. Your sit reps have been amazing. Where do people go that weren't in the audience last night? Where do people go to keep up with this? I understand you're heading up to the mystic camp right now. So how, how do people keep in touch with you on social media to get your sit reps?
Pete Teal
Affirmative, sir. Well, what you look is Doc Pete Chambers on X and then I have the remnant. Ministrytx.org that's what we'll be posting things as well but on X as the primary right now I'll be doing probably every couple hours as I can. Just a short 30 second spot.
Ryan Chandler
Okay, perfect, thank you. We'll post those up and make sure we stream them. Thank you, Doc. Appreciate you.
Len Clendenin
Pete.
Ryan Chandler
Teal, before we let you go, anything to make our audience smart as the day they look at social media or continue to follow the stream here on Real America's Voice. Anything to make us smart about how this search and rescue is going. Sir.
Rory Higgins
I don't have anything in Particular Minuteman Disaster Response is an all volunteer group that helps people clean up after major events. We have not done a full deployment yet. We're down here assessing the situation to see if we'll be going. So I mean just the, the level of damage here is, is just, it's overwhelming. But I, we don't have a public web page where we put sit reps on so I can't add on that.
Ryan Chandler
Do you have, do you have social media? Are you guys on Twitter?
Rory Higgins
We're on Facebook. I believe we're on Instagram. It should be as Minute Man Disaster Response. I don't know about Twitter. Okay, apologize.
Ryan Chandler
Well, we'll send everybody over. Well that's okay. We'll send everybody over to your Facebook or your, your Instagram. Pete, thank you so much for joining us. I know you're busy this morning, so thank you for taking a few minutes.
Rory Higgins
Yep, thank you.
Pete Teal
Goodbye.
Ryan Chandler
There'll be a press conference at, there'll be a press conference at, at 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time. We will jump into that and get some updates on this. Jason Jones is down there, the congressman chipboard down there. We'll get some other input in the second hour. Let's go to. As soon as we get more information obviously we'll inform everybody. Let's go to Brazil, to Rio. You know, yesterday on Drudge for the entire day of 4th of July until late in the day after President Trump signed the, signed the big beautiful bill and had this amazing ceremony. Philip Patrick, the headline the drudge lead was $has worst opening six months I think in history or 20 years. You know, the drop of the dollar. You're at the conference and I'm sure that came from the de dollarization movement of Brooks. What exactly is going on down in Rio? What are the BRICS nations organizing? We're getting ready to kick off this conference. You've been down for a couple days. Get us up to speed.
Philip Patrick
Yeah, look, it's interesting. It's hustle and bustle. We've been out, we're watching dinners between Chinese delegates and Brazilian real estate developers. Deals are happening all over the place. The dollar is certainly a topic of conversation as you rightly point out. Worst start for the year since 1973 since we came off the gold standard. Dollars lost 10 and a half percent of its purchasing power. So you know, it's looking primed for the BRICs and their plans longer term. We had a very interesting interview with an economics professor yesterday. Heavily involved in the, in the BRICS leadership and learn a lot in that conversation about different motivations for different BRICs, companies, countries, sorry, particularly Brazil. So there is a feeling here of excitement and that things are moving forward.
Ryan Chandler
Is explain to the audience we know during Biden's time is this flow over from Biden because President Trump puts out the big beautiful bill and clearly it has some deficit there. They've asked for a $5 trillion lift to the, to the, to the debt ceiling but the, the global capital markets kind of took this, the 10 year treasuries slightly down, gold's been kind of stable, the stock market's on a run. Again why explain to the audience why does the dollar keep losing value relative some of these other currencies. Because this is one of the things the BRICs are saying if we can't do another currency, we got to figure out some way to de dollarize, right? We've got to get away from the dollar being the, the center of, of world currency trading. So why is the dollar continue to deteriorate? Why have we had the worst six months since we came off the gold standard under Nixon?
Philip Patrick
Look, I think there's a number of reasons, right? It started in 2022 with Biden's weaponization of the dollar and ultimately it showed nations around the world that they have, they have risk. But I think what I'm learning here is people misunderstand what the brics really are. The argument that I always hear is look, they're not politically aligned, right? India and China can't agree on anything. And there's this sort of acceptance of that on the ground I mentioned. I was interviewing an economics professor and he said, look, the idea of viewing them as a political unit is the wrong way to look at it. They are not of block, right? They don't have a chairman, they don't have a CEO, they don't have a board of directors and importantly, they don't have agendas to vote on. What they are instead is a group of countries that have come together to basically help one another out, right? With trade, development projects and loans. There's a feeling here of mutual cooperation because I think on the whole BRICS nations feel snubbed by the West. And now with China leading the way, they have a lot of clout. Remember, they've got bigger GDP now than the G7, so they're not politically aligned, but they are aligned in one area and that is, and this is a direct quote from the, from the professor himself and he was not anti western, I want to be very clear. But the aim here in their mind is to diminish power of the West. And it was very shocking to hear until he started to explain the background. Right. And from an inside of BRICS perspective, it started to make a lot more sense. And that is that BRICS members want different things. Right. For China, it's all about power. Right. They don't want a direct economic war with the west or Europe. They still do a lot of business with us, but they do want to become a global leader and they do want to recover Taiwan. The question is how much of their wealth do they want tied up in US dollars when they try that? So they're very motivated to break dollar dominance. For Russia, it's about economic security from sanctions. Right. For Brazil, in his mind, it was a little more nuanced. Right. They still harbor resentments about shitty deals offered by the IMF when they were struggling in the 80s and 90s, essentially loans with too many strings attached. Right. Those difficult experiences during times of crises, I think make them open to alternatives. They see themselves, as the professor himself says, as a bridge between the global north and South. Right. To act as a moderator, balancing between China and the West. This is basically their opportunity to seize a global role. The point being they all want different things, but they united around the common.
Ryan Chandler
Hang on, hang on one second. That common purpose is diminish the West.
Len Clendenin
Short break.
Ryan Chandler
Philip Patrick from Rio next.
Len Clendenin
What if he had the brightest mind.
Ryan Chandler
In the War Room, delivering critical financial research every month?
Len Clendenin
Steve Bannon here.
Ryan Chandler
War Room listeners know Jim Rickards. I love this guy.
Len Clendenin
He's our wise man. A former CIA, Pentagon and White House advisor with an unmatched grasp of geopolitics and capital markets. Jim predicted Trump's Electoral College victory exactly 312 to 226, down to the actual number itself. Now he's issuing a dire warning about April 11, a moment that could define Trump's presidency and your financial future. His latest book, MoneyGPT, exposes how AI is setting the stage for financial chaos. Bank runs at lightning speeds, algorithm driven crashes, and even threats to national security. Right now, War Room members get a free copy of MoneyGPT when they sign up for Strategic Intelligence. This is Jim's flagship financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence. I read it.
Ryan Chandler
You should read it.
Len Clendenin
Time is running out. Go torickards war room dot com.
Ryan Chandler
That's all one word.
Len Clendenin
Rickards War Room records with an S. Go now and claim your free book. That's Rickards War Room dot com.
Ryan Chandler
Do it today.
Stephen K. Bannon
Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Ryan Chandler
Okay, thank you. We're covering Rio Kerrville, Texas. We're gonna go there. Momentaries is gonna be a press conference. We're also covering the, the kickoff to the Great Election Integrity Conference, the Ahern Hotel. Matt Mack and the team in Las Vegas. I'll be giving the closing remarks tonight, 8 to 8:30 Eastern Daylight Time, 5 to 5:30 out there in, in Las Vegas. Also we have Philip, Patrick and Rio. So Philip, the mechanisms that they're talking about, we understand they want to diminish the power of the west, although they each have individual agendas. We also understand although the black hand of the Chinese Communist Party's in back of this, we understand that they are not fans of the US dollar being the prime reserve currency for many reasons. So what are the mechanisms that you're hearing? The conference is a couple of days, you're in breakout sessions, you're getting, you know, interviews with the top people there. What are you learning about the mechanisms of how. Because the audience needs to understand this not just for the geopolitical and geoeconomic direction of the country, but also for their own personal financial use. Sir?
Philip Patrick
Yeah, it's been very interesting, right? You know, for me it was always the plan was de dollarization. But, but what's becoming clear is de dollarization isn't the plan. The plan is to diminish the power of the West. That's the ultimate endgame. And de dollarization is a means to an end. But you see it clearly when you look at the systems that they've created because the systems are set up to combat their weaknesses. For example, the BRICs don't have political unity. Right. There's a lack of mutual trust between their governments and their central banks. So what are they doing? Massive central bank gold buying. Remember last year, gold has become the number two global reserve assets. So gold is replacing the dollar as a store of value in central banks reserves. Essentially gold is becoming the national savings account, if you will. Right. They need cross border trade, that sanction and western oversight resistance. What have they built? They built swift alternatives. One open source, one propriety firewalled from US Control. They want to use local currencies for trade, but they don't want to keep them. Enter Enbridge. This is a digital clearing and settlement network which allows nations to trade in currencies, local currencies, but then settle trade imbalances with gold. Right. The idea being Russia doesn't want a pile of rupees or Rand at the end of the year, so they use currencies and they settle in gold bullion, zero trust required. So gold essentially becomes the savings accounts and national currencies become the checking accounts. Cross border trade becomes easier once they've solved the currency problem. And what are we starting to see? Massive bilateral trade deals happening in local currencies. What happens is that one by one they chip away at the dollar's primary source of demand. And guess what? We're seeing it already. Like I said, numerous bilateral trade agreements signed in local currencies. This was unheard of a few years ago. Now, I don't see this as being a binary situation. I don't think on July 8th the world's going to be turned upside down. But what I do think is the combination of fewer dollars in national checking accounts, fewer dollars in national savings accounts combined, they erode the dollar's dominance on a global scale. And that slowly opens the door for longer term dollar destruction. And for an alternative to appear.
Ryan Chandler
People need to understand gold as a hedge against that. Not just nations and central bankers, but also individuals. You can go to Birchgold right now, get the end of the Dollar Empire. Birchgold.com Bannon End of the Dollar Empire Seven free installments. I guarantee we're coming out with the the 8th as soon as Philip and the team get back from rear or take your phone out. Bannon Text Bannon 989898 for the handbook Investing in Gold and Silver. The in the Age of Trump. The ultimate guide to all of it. All of it free, Everything free. All the information free. Philip I know you're jammed down in Rio. You got meetings for the next couple days. You're gonna be back on Monday. If something pops big, we'll get you up streaming live tomorrow. But how do people, I just want people understand when they come to Birch Gold, how do they interact with you and your team? The people that have over the last three or four years since we've been working with you guys are always ecstatic about the customer service, how you guys take time and explain them IRAs, 401ks, all the methodologies. How do people build a relationship with Birch Gold?
Philip Patrick
Look, it's really simple. Get the information first is so important for us is why they shipped me off to Rio to come and get as much information as I can. So birchgold.com Bannon that'll get access to all the written information. As you mentioned, end of the dollar empire guides on how and why to invest under a Trump administration. From there they're going to have access to myself and people like me knowledgeable on on the subject area can help sort of guide through answer any Questions and just make this easy. I think an informed customer is a customer that makes the right decision. So it's that simple.
Ryan Chandler
Now, you know, I'm really proud. Bloomberg Television, the Wall Street Journal, cnbc, nobody has had the conversation that you just had about what you're seeing there with the trade deals, the bilateral trade deals. We're not just breaking news. We're giving the audience inside baseball on really the core of global capitalism. Right. Capital markets, particularly of what's going to happen. And really proud. I'm so glad that we made the decision collectively to have you guys go down and do interviews and meet people. So I think it's turning out quite well given the information you're already garnering ahead of the market.
Philip Patrick
Thank you for the opportunity, Steve. I'm glad to be here. Thank you.
Ryan Chandler
No, it's not the price of gold, sir. It's the process, how you get to the price. Remember, gold's about value, not about price. Philip Patrick, thank you so much. Honored to have you on here. Smart move. We made that decision months and months and months ago. It's turned out well, you knew the information, who he's meeting with and you'll get, you'll get all that information. When you go to Birch Gold, make sure you go either take your phone out, text Bannon 989-898. You make contact with Philip Patrick and team. He's also up in getter. He's also up in getter. So you can go to Getter DM him there or go to get the end of the dollar empire. We're gonna have a new eighth installment coming out after Rio. The seventh reinstallment is the Rio reset. As you see what's happening right now.
Len Clendenin
The BRICS nations coming together.
Ryan Chandler
Their number one thing they got to figure out is how to take power away from the West. That means the United States. States of America and how to take power away from the United States dollar. Okay, Diane Teraz takes us out. Magnificent music. And get her DVDs. Think up on YouTube. She's got two DVDs specifically about the songs of the revolution and then I think songs of Early America. Absolutely incredible. We strongly recommend it. We're going to take a short commercial break. Ben Burke Qualcomm is at the press briefing in Kerrville. We're also going to try to pick up a little bit of this amazing conference in Las Vegas for election integrity. Got Ben. Harry, get back. Megan Kelly is going to join us. The second hour is a little jammed, but we'll figure it out in the war room.
Jason Jones
Some future day she'll crown.
Ryan Chandler
Of the main. Our fleet shall speak in thunder to.
Philip Patrick
England, France and Spain Nations o' er.
Ryan Chandler
The ocean spread shall tremble and obey.
Len Clendenin
You missed the IRS tax deadline. You think it's just going to go away? Well, think again. The IRS doesn't mess around, and they're applying pressure like we haven't seen in years. So if you haven't filed in a while, even if you can't pay, don't wait. And don't face the IRS alone. You need the trusted experts by your side. Tax Network usa. Tax Network USA isn't like other tax relief companies. They have an edge, a preferred direct line to the irs. They know which agents to talk to and which ones to avoid. They use smart, aggressive strategies to settle your tax problems quickly and in your favor. Whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million, Tax Network USA has helped resolve over $1 billion in tax debt. And they can help you, too. Don't wait on this. It's only going to get worse. Call Tax Network USA right now. It's free. Talk with one of their strategists and put your IRS troubles behind you. Put it behind you today. Call Tax Network USA at 1-800-958-1000, that's 800-958-1000 or visit Tax Network USA tnusa.com Bannon do it today. Do not let this thing get ahead of you.
Ryan Chandler
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Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room | Episode 4610: Massive Texas Flood; Search Continues For Campers
Release Date: July 5, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Author/Organization: WarRoom.org
Description: WAR ROOM: Pandemic delivers up-to-the-minute news featuring insights from medical experts, politicians, business leaders, and frontline responders. In this episode, host Stephen K. Bannon focuses on the devastating floods in Texas, the ongoing search and rescue operations, and broader geopolitical developments.
The episode opens with a vivid report on the severe flooding affecting Kerr County along the Guadalupe River. The rapid onset of torrential rainfall on Friday morning has led to a tragic loss of life and extensive property damage.
Ryan Chandler (00:00):
"Torrential rainfall doused Kerr County, Texas, Friday morning, causing flooding from the Guadalupe River. The death toll has now risen to 24 people and one death was also reported in Kendall County."
Stephen K. Bannon (00:28):
"In central Texas, a catastrophic flood emergency."
Key Points:
Stephen K. Bannon (00:34):
"Authorities saying 14 helicopters are in the air. One rescuer dangling from a chopper appearing to help someone up in a tree as flooding rages below."
The flooding has severely impacted local summer camps, turning what should have been a time of celebration into a scene of disaster.
Stephen K. Bannon (00:58):
"Along the river, a series of summer camps. The La Junta camp for boys posting that everyone is safe but some girls at Camp Mystic trapped."
Ryan Chandler (01:07):
"Now there are 20, some that aren't accounted for. We're praying for all of those missing to be found alive."
Personal Stories:
Len Clendenin and Rory Higgins (02:00): Sharing their harrowing experience of being trapped in their cabin as water levels rose rapidly.
Pete Teal (02:05):
"It was. It was devastating."
The podcast delves into the debates surrounding the government's preparedness and response to the flood, highlighting tensions between officials and rescue teams.
Doc Chambers (01:33):
"Why weren't these camps evacuated?"
Pete Teal (01:44):
"We didn't know this flood was coming."
Stephen K. Bannon (03:04):
"The original forecast that we received on Wednesday from the National Weather Service predicted 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley and 4 to 8 inches in the hill country. The amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of the forecasts."
Ryan Chandler (03:30):
"When we got the report, it was about 7ft or so on the south fork and within a matter of minutes it was up to 29ft."
The discussion emphasizes the complexity and urgency of the rescue operations amidst continuous rainfall and challenging conditions.
Ben Berkwam (07:10):
"The rain totals, the estimates seem to be a little bit low. They got over 5 inches here. Some areas are reporting over 8 inches, some 10 inches. Just a massive amount of water."
Pete Teal (30:04):
"Yeah, we had over 260 rescues yesterday. This is a positive note."
Rory Higgins (32:13):
"There are a number of state police and ambulances. A number of game warden trucks just drove by me here while I was talking with you. The search and rescue is still going, although I think at this point it might be more recovery than search and rescue, unfortunately."
Despite the devastation, the community and rescue teams demonstrate remarkable resilience and solidarity.
Pete Teal (33:28):
"The magnitude of the response from the state of Texas is amazing. This is what makes America great, is that people come help each other."
Rory Higgins (34:44):
"We have not done a full deployment yet. We have not done a full deployment yet. It’s overwhelming, but you're seeing all the different groups, from the Cajun Navy to local volunteers, stepping up."
The episode highlights frustrations with governmental communication and media coverage, suggesting a disconnect between official statements and on-ground realities.
Len Clendenin (04:03):
"This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. Christians, I got a free shot."
Len Clendenin (04:14):
"All these networks lying about the people."
Shifting focus, the podcast transitions to discussing the global summit of BRICS nations in Rio de Janeiro and their strategic moves to diminish the dominance of the U.S. dollar.
Philip Patrick (15:00):
"The Rio Reset in July marks a pivotal moment when BRICS objectives move decisively from a theoretical possibility towards inevitable reality."
Discussion Highlights:
Philip Patrick (40:01):
"The aim here in their mind is to diminish the power of the West. They have no agendas to vote on. They are aligned in one area, which is to diminish the West's power."
Mechanisms Discussed:
The podcast underscores the importance of personal financial strategies, such as investing in gold, to hedge against potential declines in the U.S. dollar's value.
Philip Patrick (48:42):
"Gold is replacing the dollar as a store of value in central banks reserves. Essentially, gold is becoming the national savings account."
Ryan Chandler (46:12):
"People need to understand gold as a hedge against that. Not just nations and central bankers, but also individuals."
Investment Recommendations:
Listeners are encouraged to consider precious metals as a safeguard for their financial future amidst the shifting global economic landscape.
The episode concludes with updates on ongoing press conferences related to the Texas floods and anticipations of further geopolitical developments.
Ryan Chandler (30:04):
"We are heading to the Mystic camp right now. We'll cover the ongoing rescue efforts."
Ryan Chandler (37:05):
"There’ll be a press conference at 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time. We will jump into that and get some updates on this."
Philip Patrick (50:21):
"Birchgold.com Bannon that'll get access to all the written information. As you mentioned, end of the dollar empire guides on how and why to invest under a Trump administration."
Stephen K. Bannon (00:28):
"In central Texas, a catastrophic flood emergency."
Ryan Chandler (03:30):
"When we got the report, it was about 7ft or so on the south fork and within a matter of minutes it was up to 29ft."
Pete Teal (30:04):
"Yeah, we had over 260 rescues yesterday. This is a positive note."
Philip Patrick (48:42):
"Gold is replacing the dollar as a store of value in central banks reserves. Essentially, gold is becoming the national savings account."
In this episode of Bannon's War Room, the focus is sharply split between the immediate humanitarian crisis caused by unprecedented flooding in Texas and the broader, long-term geopolitical shifts led by the BRICS nations aiming to undermine the U.S. dollar's dominance. The detailed accounts of rescue operations highlight the severity of the disaster, while the discussions on BRICS present a concerning picture of global financial realignment. Listeners are encouraged to stay informed and consider strategic financial planning to navigate these turbulent times.