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Mexico Sends Help as Texas Tragedy Grows After Deadly Floods

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wednesday

As flash flooding over the July 4 weekend took the lives of at least 109 people in Texas, Mexican emergency personnel have volunteered their services to ongoing response efforts.

In the wake of the tragedy, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sent firefighters and rescue personnel from the Fire Department and Civil Protection team of Acuña (a city located just below the U.S.-Mexico border) with volunteers from the Mexican nonprofit Fundación 911 to Kerrville, Texas.

The team of just over a dozen people arrived Sunday to join local search and rescue efforts, according to a Facebook post from the Acuña-based emergency response team.

“There’s a bunch of firefighters that have visas and we were like, ‘Let’s just go and help,’” one volunteer, Jesus Gomez, told CBS News. “Sometimes people from the other side cross and help us. It’s time to give a little bit.”

In a statement posted to X on Sunday, U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson thanked the government of Mexico “for their solidarity and support following the floods in Texas.”

On Monday, Johnson also noted the presence of “Mexican K9 teams, trained with U.S. support for law enforcement missions,” which have been mobilized in Texas to help “families find missing loved ones.”

A local CBS affiliate reports: “As recovery operations continue, Fundación 911 will remain in the area for the coming weeks, aiding alongside Texas first responders to clear debris, locate missing individuals, and bring closure to those affected by this sudden and tragic flooding.”

The striking show of international solidarity comes at a tense time for U.S.-Mexico relations, in large part thanks to Trump’s proposed tariffs and immigration agenda. Nonetheless, Gomez said, “There’s no flag or countries in between firefighters. We’re humans and we’re helping humans, that’s what matters.”

President Trump responded to a question about his administration’s closure of the Jeffrey Epstein case—something that has enraged his deepest base for days—with dismissiveness and indignation. 

At the president’s televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, a reporter asked about the administration’s recent conclusion that disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and that there was no silver-bullet client list, which directly contradicted what multiple senior Trump officials had been saying for months, and in some cases years. The reporter also asked about a missing minute in a roughly 11-hour video the Department of Justice released capturing Epstein’s final hours in prison the night he died. 

“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Trump replied angrily. “This guy has been talked about for years. You’re asking—we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And, are people still talking about this guy? This creep?

“That is unbelievable. Do you wanna waste the time?” he said, gesturing to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Do you wanna waste the time? I mean I can’t believe you’re asking a question about Epstein at a time like this, when we’re having some of the greatest success, and also tragedy, with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration.” 

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump GOES OFF on reporter for asking about Jeffrey Epstein, Pam Bondi says the child p*rn Epstein files can NOT be released, ever.

TRUMP: "Are you still talking about - Jeffrey EPSTEIN? ... We have Texas, this, all of the things...are people still talking… pic.twitter.com/SsNWZHkd4Y

Then Bondi chimed in, referring to the February interview she did on Fox in which she said that she had the Epstein client list on her desk “right now,” causing MAGA loyalists to rejoice prematurely. 

“My response was, ‘It’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed’—meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK, files as well. That’s what I meant by that.” 

Bondi is stretching the truth here. Her exact question then was: “The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients? Will that really happen?” And her response was: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.” She is willfully ignoring that she hyped up a client list, which is a major holy grail for a significant portion of Trump’s MAGA base—people like Alex Jones, Liz Wheeler, and more.

“Also to the tens of thousands of videos; they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,” Bondi continued. “Child porn is what they were. Never gonna be released, never gonna see the light of day.… And the minute missing from the video, we released the video showing definitively the video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was, showing he committed suicide.” 

The administration was quickly rebuked by MAGA world, as it has been since it announced the case was closed. 

“Yes, people are still talking about this. It’s a really big deal to many people, not just MAGA either,” one MAGA account replied to the clip of Trump’s dismissal. “This is disappointing to see. I don’t think we’ll ever get clear answers on this.” 

“I don’t like the way Donald Trump answered this question. Yes, we’re still asking about it, because he promised to release the files,” said another. “He’s fulfilling his promises, and it’s time for him to give us this.  If he can’t, we deserve to know why.  What are they hiding?”

“I’m starting to think Elon is right,” one user quipped. “That was a terrible response.”

Republican Representative and House Oversight Committee member Anna Paulina Luna, one of the foremost voices in the “Epstein didn’t kill himself” camp, also made her distaste known, and plans to take action. 

“The American people deserve to know truth ref. Epstein, regardless of who it impacts. There is plenty of evidence and info not pertaining to CSAM/victims that DOJ leadership can authorize the @FBIDirectorKash and @FBIDDBongino to release. The 

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