[Blackwell:] This morning crews are looking for seven people missing in Santa Barbara County, California. Now this is going on during those mudslides. People have already died, 18 people dead and officials expect that number to increase. The rivers of look at this. The mud and huge rocks, boulders flooded neighborhoods near Montecito. Trees that have fallen. Power lines are down. These roads are just impassable.
[Paul:] But listen, there are two local tourist boating companies that have found a way to help here. They're transporting people through the mudslides from Ventura to Santa Barbara. There's one company that can transport about 140 people on a boat and it's running six boats a day. So meanwhile, first responders are working around the clock trying to, you know, find and rescue the people that they believe are indeed still trapped. CNN's correspondent, Paul Vercammen, is in Montecito.
[Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] A week of endless challenges for tireless first responders when a mountainside fell on to a community. The destruction so vast it covered 30 square miles in rock and mud.
[Rachel Ross, Grew Up In Montecito:] There are no roads. There are no houses. It's just I'm so devastated by what I'm seeing.
[Vercammen:] Rescue teams using Bearcats, brand-new unmarked SWAT vehicles to pluck people from second story windows. This family finally rescued from the upper level of their home after trying to ride it out on their own.
[Unidentified Female:] We thought about staying and then we were fine. We have we have power and we got internet going and we went to our hot spot on our phone and we have water. Then the power went out.
[Vercammen:] These Bearcats four-wheel drive and running high above the mushy ground can go where no other vehicles can. This team alone has pulled more than 30 people from danger.
[Sgt. Joe Schmidt, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office:] That first day Tuesday morning was very surreal. We couldn't really comprehend the devastation until we got to the area and saw areas of homes that were wiped out and rubble and debris everywhere.
[Vercammen:] Look at some of the obstacles first responders had to deal with. Massive boulders that came rolling down the hills as if they were bowling balls and in some instances, you can see just over my shoulder, rocks and mud up to the rooftops. [voice-over]: The round the clock hard work of first responders not lost on residents here.
[Unidentified Male:] I was just going to put my hand out and say, I want to say thank you for your sacrifice.
[Vercammen:] The serial handshakers, John Griffith, stopped at a staging area to give thanks for the dignity first responders showed the victims.
[John Griffith, Thanked First Responders:] They stood at attention. They covered the body. They took their hats off. They shed a tear and they treated that body like it was one of their own.
[Vercammen:] The shoreline looks peaceful until a little perspective reveals muddy mayhem is everywhere. The first responders restoring paradise seems endless, sundown to sundown. Paul Vercammen, CNN, Montecito, California.
[Blackwell:] Thank you, Paul. The president's racist remark about African countries is infuriating people and their governments around the world. So why are we hearing little to no reaction in some cases from Republican leaders here in the U.S.?
[Paul:] And take a look at your screen for a second. See that map? That's how widespread the flu is this season. Yes, so expansive it has already hit 49 states. So, what does that mean for our ability to fight it? We're going to have that conversation.