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--:-- Scott Simon: Heavy rains and flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country. At least two dozen people are dead after the region saw several months worth of rainfall in just a few hours yesterday.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. We'll have details on the situation in Texas in just a moment.
--:-- Scott Simon: Well, Sir President Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill had its ups and downs. and now it's law. Promises made, promises kept, and we've kept them. This is the triumph of democracy on the birthday of democracy, and I have to say that the people are happy.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: So what may be next on Trump's agenda?
--:-- Scott Simon: Also, how buy now, pay later loans could impact credit scores. So please stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.
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--:-- Scott Simon: In central Texas yesterday, heavy rains and flooding overwhelmed communities and left at least 24 people dead. Many more are missing, including a group of girls who were taking part in a Christian summer camp.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And Sergio Martinez Beltran was in Kerrville, Texas last night, one of the worst areas affected.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Thank you for being with us, Sergio. Hi, thank you. What's the latest information?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: So this is one of the worst floods in the history of Texas. Just so you have an idea, the river that runs through the area, the Guadalupe River, rose about 26 feet within 45 minutes, according to state officials. And this happened during the early hours of Friday when many were asleep.
--:-- Scott Simon: Texas officials say at least 24 people have died. At least 20 people remain missing. And the devastation in this area, which is known as the Hill Country, is incredible.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: This is an area where lots of people vacation. There are resorts, summer camps, many RV parks and tent camping sites, but many of these places have been washed away.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And Sergio, you went to a reunification center last night and was able to speak with some of the people who are still waiting to hear from loved ones, I gather.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, I got there around 10 p.m. last night, and there were more than 100 people at this elementary school, which served as a reunification center in Kerrville. There were parents who were able to meet with their sobbing children, and the hugs they gave each other, it was so moving.
--:-- Scott Simon: They didn't want to let go. Those hooks were so tight and full of love and fear.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And then there are folks who have yet to hear from their kids. That's the case of Tanya Powell. Her 21-year-old daughter, Ella Rose, is missing.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: She was near the camp in a house with three of her friends. They go to school. They college seniors in San Antonio Yeah and they were here for the weekend
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And we lost touch with them at about 4 a and we haven gotten any word from them
--:-- Scott Simon: I checked in with Powell this morning and she has yet to hear back from Ella Rose.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And of course, we've heard about the young campers who may have gone missing. What do we know about this place, Camp Mystic?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, they are from Camp Mystic. It's a private all-girls Christian summer camp. It's been operating in this area for nearly 100 years. So it's a big part of the community here, and it's the type of place where the campers become counselors when they grow up.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Angela Trafton's granddaughter was at the camp. Thankfully, she is alive.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: You're so grateful. This is her seventh year. I don't know that she'll ever come back now.
--:-- Scott Simon: Now, we still don't know how many of the campers are missing, but many parents have gone on social media to post photos of their missing children and ask for help finding them.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And Sergio, last night, Governor Abbott talked about search and rescue efforts. What did he say?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, so Scott, this is a multi-agency effort, and it's 24-7, according to Governor Abbott. At least 500 emergency personnel are participating in the search and rescue efforts, including members of the Texas National Guard and state troopers.
--:-- Scott Simon: At least 237 people have been rescued so far, and the majority of them were rescued by helicopters.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Now, Texas officials say some of the areas affected are without power or Wi-Fi, so there might be people in those areas that still need to be rescued.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Governor Abbott says the state will continue to seek for anybody who is not accounted for.
--:-- Scott Simon: Pierre, Sergio Martinez Beltran on the scene in Texas. Sergio, thanks so much for being with us.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: You're welcome.
--:-- Scott Simon: Yesterday at the White House. President Trump wrapped a July 4th celebration around his signing of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: It's never happened before. It's the biggest bill of its type in history. We've never had anything like that before. Nothing like that they thought would be possible to get passed.
--:-- Scott Simon: It's a package that will cut taxes, add more funding for border security, and also make cuts to major programs like Medicaid.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben joins us.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Yeah, good morning, Scott. And please tell us about yesterday's ceremony.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Well, the event was outside the White House at a picnic for military families, including those who participated in Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran. At that event, B-2s flew overhead. Now, those are the planes that carried those massive bombs targeting those underground nuclear facilities in Iran.
--:-- Scott Simon: Trump came out on a balcony with First Lady Melania Trump, and he thanked the military members, but he quickly transitioned to celebrating his new policy bill.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And then he came down from the balcony to sign it, surrounded by Republican Congress members.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: A Fourth of July event, to be sure, but also a celebration of the administration?
--:-- Scott Simon: Oh, very much. That was also the case, by the way, in Iowa on Thursday night, too. I was there.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: It was in Des Moines. And it was meant to be a celebration for America. But really, it looked like any Trump campaign rally, which is to say it was deeply partisan.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And there, too, he said he had a couple of weeks of winning that have just passed. After all, Congress passed that new major domestic policy agenda, albeit narrowly.
--:-- Scott Simon: And he had that major strike on Iran and then a ceasefire that is holding at the moment.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And then there are also numbers showing that border crossings are way down. And he celebrated that on his trip to Florida this week to a new migrant detainment camp, which the administration is calling Alligator Alcatraz.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: The administration points all of this and says it amounts to a lot of winning. Is there more to consider?
--:-- Scott Simon: Well, absolutely. For example, on Iran, it's still unclear how much of Iran's nuclear capabilities were truly destroyed.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And it's unclear if or when they would start rebuilding their program.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: On that so Big Beautiful Bill that could push nearly 12 million people off Medicaid according to the Congressional Budget Office or CBO which has also found that the bill would benefit the wealthy most Now Democrats were very worried about that as were some Republicans and some Republicans were also upset about how much the bill would add to the debt According to the CBO it would add trillion That is a lot
--:-- Scott Simon: And then there the fact that it just not that popular, according to multiple polls.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Now, Trump, for his part, simply dismisses that polling.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Here he was talking yesterday. We just have to look forward, fellas, look forward and just say what it is because it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country.
--:-- Scott Simon: Yesterday at the White House. President Trump wrapped a July 4th celebration around his signing of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Danielle Kurtzleben joins us. Danielle, thanks so much for being with us.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Yeah, good morning, Scott.
--:-- Scott Simon: Danielle, you mentioned the Florida Detention Center. What challenges are there for President Trump and immigration right now?
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Well, as you know, immigration has been maybe the central issue for Trump since day one. And so people who vote for him vote for tighter immigration policy. But in practice, this administration's approach to immigration enforcement, it has faced a lot of opposition around the country, for example, in the form of protests.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And also some businesses are just concerned he'll deport their workers.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And it's uncertain whether or to what degree that will happen.
--:-- Scott Simon: Trump has, in fact, waffled, for example, on whether he will ease up on raids on places like farms, which rely on a lot of immigrants.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And what about tariffs?
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Well, he said he plans to make a lot of tariff moves in this next week. But first, Let me remind you of where we are. In early April, Trump announced tariffs on most countries. Then he backed off and set those tariffs at 10 percent temporarily.
--:-- Scott Simon: He said that on July 9th, the rates would jump back up. But then before then, he would negotiate rates country by country.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Well, July 9th is coming and he's negotiated rates with two countries, the U.K. and Vietnam.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: So now he says he'll send out letters simply notifying countries of their tariff rates. So soon we're going to find out how much American businesses and likely consumers will be paying for imports.
--:-- Scott Simon: I'm your host, Danielle Kurtzlieben. Thanks so much, Danielle.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Thank you, Scott.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The credit scoring company FICO recently announced it will add something new to some of its credit scores, data from Buy Now, Pay Later loans.
--:-- Scott Simon: Those are the loans that allow shoppers, usually online, to break up a purchase into installments, a way to pay that's become very popular.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: So how will this affect people's credit? NPR personal finance correspondent Laurel Walmsley is here to talk us through it.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: Hey, Aisha. So I know a lot of people are using Buy Now, Pay Later. I use it. What is FICO doing here?
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: Yeah, so a FICO score tells lenders about your credit worthiness. Lenders use it to decide whether to offer you a loan or a credit card and at what rate. Now, right now, that score doesn't include any data about any buy now, pay later purchases.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Now, two of FICO's scoring products will incorporate that data starting in the fall.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: And as you said, these payment schemes are ubiquitous now when you're buying something online. If you're buying a pair of sneakers at checkout next to the credit card box, you'll see something that says or pay in four installments with a service like Affirm or Klarna.
--:-- Scott Simon: So I asked Julie May at FICO why the change, and she said it's because buy now, pay later. It's becoming a really big part of how people are managing their finances.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: And it has really grown in the last few years. Last year, 15 percent of American adults used buy now, pay later.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: OK, so who's in that 15 percent?
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: Well, according to research at the Federal Reserve, it's more common among low and middle income folks, Black and Hispanic people and women.
--:-- Scott Simon: It's also more common among Gen Z and millennials.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: And they say they're using it for a few reasons. Number one is just to spread out payments. A common format is breaking the cost into four flat payments with no interest if you pay on time.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Some people are even paying their grocery bill this way.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: Other reasons folks are using this is to avoid credit cards and paying interest.
--:-- Scott Simon: And some said it was just the only way they could afford to make their purchase.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: But typically, these loans are pretty small, averaging $142 in 2022.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: So if these loans been a part of credit scores it seems like that would be kind of a blind spot for lenders Yeah it has been Here how Adam Rust at the Consumer Federation of America explained it In the past when buy now pay later loans have not been reported to credit bureaus that has meant that credit card lenders couldn't see the presence of that debt when they were making a decision on how much credit to offer.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And that set up a possibility where a lender might offer more credit than a person could reasonably afford to repay.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: FICO says lenders have been wanting this kind of data to give them a fuller picture of people's finances.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: So what will be the impact of all of this on people's credit scores?
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: Well, it'll depend on whether people make their payments on time. If you do that, it should help your credit on the FICO scores that use it, as long as the payment service shares that info with the credit bureaus.
--:-- Scott Simon: But if you miss payments, that can now ding your credit.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And more people have been making late payments. Almost a quarter of people using these services made a late payment last year.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: So taking a step back, do we know how using buy now, pay later tends to affect people's finances more generally?
--:-- Scott Simon: Well, Rust at the Consumer Federation of America said several studies have shown that most people use buy now, pay later sporadically and not as their primary form of credit.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Even though people are using these loans a lot like they use credit cards, though, they don't offer the same protections, especially around disputes.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: For instance, consumers have had issues where they cancel an order, but they can't get refunded by the seller.
--:-- Scott Simon: And they're still on the hook for payments to these third-party companies.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had actually issued a rule last year that essentially treated buy-now-pay-later lenders the same as credit card providers, giving consumers more protection.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: But in May, the bureau, under the Trump administration, said it was pulling back from enforcing that rule.
--:-- Scott Simon: That's NPR's Laurel Walmsley. Thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Laurel Walmsley: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And that's up first for the 5th of July, 2025. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon.
--:-- Scott Simon: Today's podcast was produced by Elena Turek with help from Andrew Craig, Gabe O'Connor, and Fernando Naro.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Our editors are Alfredo Carbajal, Dana Farrington, Kara Platoni, Jacob Finston, Ed McNulty, and Melissa Gray.
--:-- Scott Simon: Sylvan Ginhoven is our technical director with engineering support from a mighty fine crew, Tom Marquito, Nisha Hines, and Stacey Abbott.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: Our director is the ever swift and often angelic Michael Radcliffe.
--:-- Scott Simon: I'm waiting for the angelic. The bosses are nigh fixtures in our firmament too.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And strong acting senior supervisor editor Shannon Smooth-Rhodes, executive producer Evie Hammerstone, and Jim Raising Cain is our deputy managing editor.
--:-- Scott Simon: Tomorrow on the Sunday Story, Americans no longer trust the same news sources. and the result is misinformation and division. How did the first crack form in the media landscape and how did it grow wide enough to split the country?
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: And for more news, interviews and analysis, you can tune into Weekend Edition on your radio.
--:-- Scott Simon: Please go to stations.npr.org to find your local station.
--:-- Aisha Roscoe: This comes from NPR sponsor, Sierra.
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