By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Rescue crews in Texas kept a wary eye on river levels Monday, hoping to resume the search for people still missing from catastrophic flooding that pummeled the central part of the state earlier this month and killed at least 132 people.

Search and rescue operations along the Guadalupe River were halted on Sunday after a new round of severe weather led to high water rescues elsewhere and prompted fears that waterways could surge again above their banks.

It was the first time search efforts for victims of the July Fourth floods were stopped due to severe weather. Authorities believe more than 160 people may still be missing in Kerr County alone, and 10 more in neighboring areas.

In Kerrville, where local officials have come under scrutiny over whether residents were adequately warned about the rising water in the early morning hours of July 4, authorities went door-to-door to some homes after midnight early Sunday to alert people that flooding was again possible. Authorities also pushed phone alerts to those in the area.

During the pause in searches, Ingram Fire Department officials ordered crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County, warning the potential for a flash flood was high.

Late Sunday afternoon, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office announced that search teams in the western part of that county could resume their efforts. The Ingram Fire Department hoped to resume search operations by around noon or early Monday afternoon, spokesman Levi Bizzell said. Crews were checking river levels Monday morning and also seeing how muddy and slick the area is before searchers resume their work, he said.

“Everybody here wants to be out there working,” he said. “They literally come in in the morning whether they are tired or not and they just want to get out there and work because they want to find closure for these families.”

The soil is still primed for enhanced runoff of water across Texas Hill County — a key concern since more rains are expected Monday, authorities said. A flood watch covering the region is in effect until 9 p.m. Monday, with up to 5 inches of rain possible in some spots, the National Weather Service said.

Latest floods damage dozens of homes

Gov. Greg Abbott said on X the state conducted rescues of dozens of people in San Saba, Lampasas and Schleicher counties, and that evacuations were taking place in a handful of others.

The latest round of flooding damaged about 100 homes and knocked down untold lengths of cattle fencing, said Ashley Johnson, CEO of the Hill Country Community Action Association, a San Saba-based nonprofit.

“Anything you can imagine in a rural community was damaged,” she said. “Our blessing is it was daylight and we knew it was coming.”

With more rain on the way, county officials ordered everyone living in flood-prone areas near the San Saba River to evacuate, with people moved to the San Saba Civic Center, Johnson said.

A wide-ranging weather system brings heavy rains

The weather system brought slow-moving storms and multiple rounds of heavy rain across a widespread area, pushing rivers and streams over their banks.

The rains caused waterways to swell further north in Texas, where emergency crews rescued one motorist who was left stranded in waist-high rapids on a submerged bridge over the Bosque River.

“He drove into it and didn’t realize how deep it was,” said Jeff Douglas, president of the McGregor Volunteer Fire Department.

In the west Texas city of Sonora, authorities called for evacuations of some neighborhoods due to rising flood waters. Sonora is located about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northwest of Kerrville.

Kerrville residents get support from police, alerts

Under heavy rain, Matthew Stone on Sunday cleared branches and a log from a storm sewer in front of his home on Guadalupe Street in Kerrville as several inches of water pooled up on the road.

Multiple houses on the street overlooking the Guadalupe River were severely impacted by the July 4 floods. Stone said he felt safe for now.

“The cops have been coming back and forth, we’re getting lots of alerts, we’re getting a lot of support,” he said.

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Just before daybreak on the Fourth of July, destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet (8 meters) on the Guadalupe River, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims.

The floods laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp.

Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors.

The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system.

Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Juan Lozano in Houston, Michael Weissenstein in Dobbs Ferry, New York; and Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia, contributed to this report.

By MARK THIESSEN

The federal government on Saturday dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines, giving children saline shots instead of the vaccine and selling faked vaccination cards.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on the social media platform X that charges against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, of Midvale, Utah, were dismissed at her direction.

Moore and other defendants faced up to 35 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the government; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey and dispose of government property; and aiding and abetting in those efforts. The charges were brought when Joe Biden was president.

“Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,” Bondi wrote. “He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.”

Felice John Viti, acting U.S. attorney for Utah, filed the motion Saturday, saying “such dismissal is in the interests of justice.”

The trial began Monday in Salt Lake City with jury selection. It was expected to last 15 days.

Messages sent to the U.S. Department of Justice, Viti’s office in Salt Lake City and to Moore were not immediately returned Saturday to The Associated Press.

A federal grand jury on Jan. 11, 2023, returned an indictment against Moore, his Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc., others associated with the clinic and a neighbor of Moore’s. The indictment alleged more than $28,000 of government-provided COVID-19 vaccine doses were destroyed.

They were also accused of providing fraudulently completed vaccination record cards for over 1,900 doses of the vaccine in exchange for either a cash or a donation to a specified charitable organization.

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The government also alleged some children were given saline shots, at their parents’ request, so the minors believed they were getting the vaccine.

Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, posted his support for Moore in April, saying on X that Moore “deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing!”

During his confirmation hearings in January, Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives.

In a follow-up X post on Saturday, Bondi said Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene brought the case to her attention.

Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.

By STEVE PEOPLES, MEG KINNARD and HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

SENECA, S.C. (AP) — The first presidential primary votes won’t be cast for another two and a half years. And yet, over the span of 10 days in July, three Democratic presidential prospects are scheduled to campaign in South Carolina.

Nearly a half dozen others have made recent pilgrimages to South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa — states that traditionally host the nation’s opening presidential nomination contests. Still other ambitious Democrats are having private conversations with officials on the ground there.

The voters in these states are used to seeing presidential contenders months or even years before most of the country, but the political jockeying in 2025 for the 2028 presidential contest appears to be playing out earlier, with more frequency and with less pretense than ever before.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was referred to as a presidential candidate at one stop in his two-day South Carolina tour last week. Voters shouted “2028!” after he insisted he was there simply to strengthen the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. South Carolina has virtually no competitive midterm contests.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., gives remarks to a crowd at St. Paul First Baptist Church on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Laurens, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Term-limited Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who acknowledges he’s considering a 2028 bid, will spend two days touring South Carolina this week. He will focus on union members in addition to the state’s Black community in a speech that could draw an implicit contrast with Newsom on cultural issues, according to excerpts of his planned remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

California Congressman Ro Khanna, a progressive aligned with the Bernie Sanders ’ wing of the Democratic Party, will target Black voters when he’s in the state a few days later with the son of a civil rights leader.

And former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is having private conversations with key South Carolina Democrats, including presidential primary kingmaker Rep. Jim Clyburn, in which Emanuel indicated strong interest in a presidential run. That’s according to Clyburn himself, who said he’s also had direct contact with Beshear and Khanna after appearing alongside Newsom last week and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in May.

“That’s what candidates have to do: position themselves and be ready when lightning strikes,” Clyburn said.

Democrats look to turn the page from 2024

The unusually early jockeying is playing out as the Democratic Party struggles to repair its brand, rebuild its message and fill a leadership vacuum after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2024.

Democrats are decidedly more optimistic about 2028.

Republicans will not have the advantage of incumbency in the next presidential contest; the Constitution bars President Donald Trump from seeking a third term. And the race for the Democratic nomination appears to be wide open, even as 2024 nominee Kamala Harris and running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have left open the possibility of running again.

With no clear front-runner, some Democratic operatives believe upwards of 30 high-profile Democrats could ultimately enter the 2028 primary — more than the party’s overpacked 2020 field.

And as Democrats struggle to stop Trump’s power grabs in Washington, some report a real sense of urgency to get the 2028 process started.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rising Democratic star, told the AP earlier this year that presidential prospects “need to be more visible earlier” as party officials look to take cues from a new generation of leaders.

“What freaks most Democrats out is not really understanding who’s up next. Like, who’s got next?” she said. “And I think that that is really what people want most; they want their presidential nominee now.”

A Kentucky Democrat steps into the conversation

FILE – Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear delivers his State of The Commonwealth address in the House chamber at the State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Beshear, Kentucky’s 47-year-old two-term governor, is scheduled to make his first visit to South Carolina on political grounds on Wednesday and Thursday.

He’ll start by addressing the AFL-CIO before promoting his appeal among red-state moderates and Black voters in a Thursday speech hosted by the Georgetown County Democrats in a region that voted three times for Trump and has a large Black population.

“Democrats have a huge opportunity to seize the middle and win back the voters who have been increasingly skeptical of the Democratic brand. But it’s going to take focus and discipline,” Beshear is expected to say, according to speech excerpts obtained by the AP.

There are no direct jabs at Newsom in the excerpts, but Beshear is expected to continue drawing contrasts with the California governor, who earlier this year suggested his party went too far in embracing “woke” priorities. In his prepared remarks, Beshear doesn’t shy away from such progressive cultural issues.

He will note he made Juneteenth an executive branch holiday for the first time in Kentucky, signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination against state workers for how they wear their hair and ordered the removal of a statue of Jefferson Davis, who served as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

“The current federal administration wants to make diversity a dirty word,” Beshear plans to say. “They want people to believe that equity means everyone isn’t worthy of opportunities.”

Who else is stepping up?

Already this year, Walz of Minnesota and Moore of Maryland have addressed South Carolina Democrats.

Biden Cabinet member Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 presidential candidate, hosted a town hall in Iowa in May. The month before, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker headlined a Democratic fundraiser in New Hampshire.

Others are moving more cautiously.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has avoided any early state travel this year, focusing instead on his 2026 reelection. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also focused largely on her day job. Both would be top-tier presidential candidates should they decide to run.

Khanna has been working to build his national profile since before the last election with frequent trips to New Hampshire, among other early voting states.

The California congressman is scheduled to host two town-hall style meetings in South Carolina this weekend with Illinois Rep. Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Khanna casts his lower profile — at least compared to potential competitors like Newsom and Shapiro — as an asset when asked about his party’s early 2028 field.

“I think it’s very different than in the past when you’ve had clear defined leaders of the party. I think that’s healthy. There is no status quo person,” Khanna said. ”My guess is the last thing the party is going to want is more of the same.”

Newsom’s South Carolina dance

Newsom spent much of last year denying interest in a presidential run. But with his final term as governor set to expire at the end of next year, his 2028 ambitions are starting to emerge more publicly.

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During his recent South Carolina tour, Newsom only smiled when voters shouted “2028!” after he referenced his focus on the 2026 midterms.

Clyburn said openly what the California governor would not. Appearing with Newsom, Clyburn encouraged local Democrats to be energized by the visits of “presidential candidates” coming early and often to their state.

Newsom looked around, seemingly seeking the object of Clyburn’s remark, as the crowd laughed.

In an interview afterward, Clyburn said he doesn’t have an early favorite in the 2028 Democratic nomination contest.

New Hampshire remains a player

Pritzker headlined a key state fundraiser in New Hampshire in May. And state Democratic leaders are privately encouraging other 2028 prospects to visit the state.

Unlike South Carolina, New Hampshire features two competitive House races and a top-tier Senate election next year.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, campaigned Friday in the state with Rep. Chris Pappas, who is expected to represent Democrats on the Senate ballot next fall.

In a brief interview, she insisted her only purpose was backing Pappas’ campaign.

“I am here to help my friend,” she said. “I know a lot of people here and I want to put it to use in a good way.”

What do the voters say?

It may be early, but some Democratic voters and local officials say they’re ready to get the cycle started.

Jody Gaulin, the Democratic chair of a deep-red South Carolina county, is hoping the energy that comes along with potential candidates could boost her party’s ranks.

“This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for,” Gaulin said.

It’s much the same in New Hampshire.

Democrat Jane Lescynski, who works at the manufacturing facility Klobuchar toured Friday, had a quick answer when asked her thoughts about the 2028 presidential election.

“I can’t wait,” she said.

Peoples reported from New York. Ramer reported from Gilsum, New Hampshire.

Sesame Workshop was trying to regain full control over its Elmo account on the X platform Monday after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages.

“Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,” a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said Monday. Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street” and Elmo.

The account was compromised over the weekend and instead of the usual posts of encouragement and kindness, Elmo’s 650,000 followers were given antisemitic threats and a profane reference to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Those tweets were soon deleted, though Elmo’s account retains a link to a Telegram channel from a user who takes credit for the hack.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elmo’s social media account has lately become a place for mental health awareness. Last year, the red fuzzy monster, eternally 3 ½, caused a sensation when he asked: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” It prompted responses from then-President Joe Biden and Chance the Rapper.

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