and russian media reports a car explosion has killed the daughter of an influential russian philosopher and key putin ally. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with kim brun brunhuber. we begin with the extreme weather threat across the central and southwestern u.s. a tropical storm warning has been lifted for far southern texas, but rain from that system could spread into oklahoma and louisiana through midweek. strong winds are expected as the storm moves further inland. meanwhile, more than 12 million people across the southwestern and central u.s. are under flood watches. in parts of arizona, new mexico and texas, the risk of flash flooding is high, with these areas expecting heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the day. in new mexico, residents are doing what they can to prepare for the worst. water backs up into our yards and also so far we made almost 50 sandbags. we have some that we made last year, but we re making more to prepare for that rain. an
cost of pens and papers and notebooks and all of that that went up. back to school sticker shock as inflation sent the price of school supplies soaring. the impact it is having not only on parents, but also on business owners and teachers. how some people in california are making money by having their front yards ripped out. it is sunday, august 21st, welcome to a new week. we re so grateful you re waking up with us. good morning, amara. good morning, boris. happy sunday. and we begin this morning with the extreme weather threat across the southwest and southern plains. more than 12 million people under flood watches. yeah yesterday s search and rescue crews were out looking for a missing person in utah s zion national park. rangers say hikers were being swept off their feet by flash flooding on the virgin river. rescue teams were out in the mojave county area of arizona after rushing water washed out roads and trapped vehicles across that region. cnn meteorologist