Warsaw, Poland — European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pledged billions of euros in aid for Central European countries that suffered enormous damage to infrastructure and housing during the massive flooding that has so far claimed 24 lives in the region. Von der Leyen paid a quick visit to a flood-damaged area in southeast Poland and met with heads of the governments of the affected countries — Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

She said funds will be made available quickly for infrastructure repair from the EU’s solidarity fund, as well as 10 billion euros ($11 billion) from what is called the cohesion fund — for the most urgent repairs. In a special approach, no co-financing will be required from these countries for the money to be released.

“Here we say it’s 100% European money, no co-financing,” von der Leyen told a news briefing. “These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times need extraordinary measures.”

Meanwhile, a massive flood wave threatened new areas and heavy rains also caused flooding and forced the evacuation of some 1,000 people in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In Central Europe, the receding waters revealed the scale of the destruction caused by exceptionally heavy rains that began a week ago.

Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakušan said one more person was reported killed on Thursday in the country’s hard-hit northeast, bringing the death toll there to five. There were also seven deaths each in Poland and Romania, and five in Austria — with the overall death toll now at 24.

Authorities deployed troops to help. In the northeast Czech Republic, soldiers joined firefighters and other emergency crews to help with the recovery efforts. Army helicopters distributed humanitarian aid while soldiers were building temporary bridges in place of those that were swept away.

Some 400 people remained evacuated from the homes in the regional capital of Ostrava. In the southwest, the level of the Luznice River reached an extreme high but the evacuation of 1,000 people in the town of Veseli nad Luznici was not necessary for the moment, officials said.

Cleanup efforts were underway in Austria, where flooding washed away roads and led to landslides and bridge damage. Firefighters and soldiers pumped water and mud out of houses and disposed of damaged furniture, broadcaster ORF quoted fire department spokesperson Klaus Stebal as saying.

The governor of Lower Austria province, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, said reconstruction was expected to take years, according to the Austria Press Agency.

The Vienna public transport company has had to pump almost 1 million liters (260,000 gallons) of water since last weekend. Ten towns and areas were still inaccessible on Thursday, APA reported.

In Hungary, flood waters continued to rise as authorities closed roads and rail stations. Ferries along the Danube River halted. 

In the capital, Budapest, water spilled over the city’s lower quays and threatened to reach tram and metro lines. Some transport services were suspended. Remarkable images showed the water of the Danube creeping up perilously close to the ground floor of Hungary’s Parliament building, which sits directly on its bank.

Further upriver, in a region known as the Danube Bend, homes and restaurants near the riverbanks were inundated.

Nearly 6,000 professionals, including members of Hungary’s water authority and military, were mobilized, and prison inmates were involved in filling sandbags, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a news conference Thursday.

The Danube stood at over 25 feet, approaching the 29.2-foot record set during major flooding in 2013.

In southwestern Poland, the high waters reached the city of Wroclaw and an extended wave was expected to take many hours, even days to pass, exerting pressure on the embankments.

The water level on the Oder River just before Wroclaw was 21 feet, some 6.5 feet above alarm levels but still lower compared to the disastrous flooding in 1997.

In the two most-affected towns, Stronie Slaskie and Ladek-Zdroj, tap water and power were restored, said Gen. Michal Kamieniecki, who was put in charge of the recovery operations there after an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk for help the day before by a young woman identified only as Katarzyna.

As concerns mounted, Tusk invited von der Leyen to Wroclaw to see the situation first hand. Government leaders from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria were also there.

In Italy, rivers flooded in the provinces of Ravenna, Bologna and Forlì-Cesena, as local mayors asked people to stay on the upper floors or leave their houses. Those areas were hit by devastating floods in 2023, when more than 20 rivers overflowed, killing 17 people.

Italy’s vice minister for transport and infrastructure, Galeazzo Bignami, said Thursday that two people were reported missing in Bagnocavallo, in Ravenna province.

At least 800 residents in Ravenna and almost 200 in Bologna province spent the night in shelters, schools and sports centers. Trains were suspended and schools closed while residents were advised to avoid travel.

Washington, D.C. — Former President Donald Trump criticized Jewish Americans who don’t vote for him in speeches aimed at addressing antisemitism Thursday night in Washington D.C., while claiming that if he is not elected in November, Israel would be “eradicated.”

“If I don’t win this election, and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens, because at 40%, that means 60% of the people are voting for the enemy,” Trump said.

Trump made the comments during a small event focused on addressing antisemitism with Dr. Miriam Adelson, a prominent Republican Party donor and the widow of late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

“With all I’ve done for Israel, I received only 24% of the Jewish vote,” Trump said. 

Trump later repeated the comment regarding the polls during remarks at the Israeli-American Council National Summit, which was gathering to commemorate the nearing one-year mark of the October 7 attack. 

“You should have your head examined, because it will face an unceasing, bloody war to obliterate the Jewish state and drive Jews out of the Holy Land,” Trump said about Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats. He claimed at his first stop that Democrats have a “hold” or “curse” on Jewish voters. 

“It’s only because of the Democrat hold or curse on you. You can’t let this happen. 40% is not acceptable, because we have an election to win,” Trump said. 

Trump told the ballroom full of Israeli-Americans tonight that Israel will face “total annihilation” if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected.

“Rockets will rain down from above until the Iron Dome has been exhausted,” Trump said.

CBS News has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment. 

The former president also recognized the Israelis still held hostage by Hamas, vowing to “get them out” if he wins the presidency in November. Family members of victims of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas were among the crowd. 

“Somehow it’s going to work out. We’re going to get it to work out,” Trump said. 

The twin speeches come as Trump tries to court Jewish American voters who may have become disaffected with factions of the Democratic Party over the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. 

An April 2024 Pew Research survey found that 69% of registered Jewish voters defined themselves as Democrats, while 29% said that they consider themselves Republicans, but Trump grew his support among Jewish voters in the first two presidential elections he ran in, an Associated Press survey found. 

“Honestly, I went from 25 to 29 [percent support], and based on what I did, and based on my love of- the same love that you have, I should be at 100. I should be at 100,” Trump said Thursday. 

Using a similar format to her former long-running talk show, Oprah Winfrey hosted a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris in suburban Detroit Thursday evening which featured a mix of celebrities, campaign organizers and a crowd of battleground state voters. 

The event in Farmington Hills, Michigan — which had an in-person crowd of a few hundred and also featured virtual attendees — opened with talk of a “new day” and the sense of “joy” Democrats have associated with the Harris campaign. But the conversation later steered towards issues featuring personal, intimate stories of people impacted by state abortion bans and school shootings. 

The parents of Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old injured in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month in Winder, Georgia, spoke. Griffith’s mother, Marilda, made an emotional plea for a “change to be made” to address gun violence. Her father, Doug — who noted that he was not a registered Democrat — called for metal detectors to be placed inside schools. 

Harris did not explicitly say if she agreed with the call for metal detectors, but said “we just need to apply common sense.” She repeated her calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. When Winfrey made note of Harris being a gun owner, as she revealed in prior campaigns and repeated in her debate with Trump, Harris said that “if somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

“Sorry, probably should not have said that,” Harris joked. “My staff will deal with that later.” 

The mother and sisters of Amber Thurman — a Georgia woman who died in 2022 after medical care was delayed due to the state’s abortion ban — also spoke for the first time publicly since the ProPublica report about Thurman was released. 

“I’m beyond hurt, disappointed…we trusted them to take care of her, you know?” said CJ, Thurman’s sister. “And they just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number.” 

Harris called Thurman’s death “preventable,” and as she has throughout her campaign and vice presidency, blamed former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointments for leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She also criticized states with abortion restrictions but have exceptions “to save the life of the mother,” arguing it should not reach that point.

“So is she on death’s door before you actually decide to give her help, Is that what we’re saying?” Harris asked. “Like, literally, a doctor or a nurse has to say, ‘She might die any minute, better give her care.'”

Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was impregnated by her father at 12-years-old and was able to get an abortion, also spoke. Duvall had been featured in several of Harris’ campaign ads, and also spoke at the Democratic National Convention. 

The event was livestreamed and conducted in an interview-style discussion similar to Winfrey’s old talk show. It was billed as a way to bring together many pro-Harris coalitions, including “Win with Black Women,”  “White Dudes for Harris” and “Swifties for Harris.” 

All are groups that have been holding Zoom conference calls to raise money for Harris’ campaign and mobilize voters. Harris campaign advisers saw the event as a way to reach persuadable voters, and Winfrey often structured her questions to be geared towards undecided voters. 

Several celebrities also appeared by video, including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jennifer Lopez, Julie Roberts, Tracee Ellis Ross, Bryan Cranston and Meryl Streep. 

Earlier Thursday, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley panned the event, saying in a statement that Harris was campaigning with “an out-of-touch celebrity, further confirming that the Democrat party is not the party of hardworking Americans – it is the party of elitists.”

Streep asked Harris what her plan would be if she wins in November and there is another push to try and overturn the election results, as Trump and some Republicans are criminally charged with allegedly doing in 2020. 

“We will be ready,” Harris said, pointing to Republicans disaffected by the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that may vote for her. “To try and upend a free and fair election where the American people voted, that was a bridge too far for a lot of people…I think there is absolutely no tolerance whatsoever from the vast majority of Americans for that, and they’ve seen the lies.”

Harris made a quick reference to her campaign’s legal team, and pleaded for the audience to help curb misinformation and support poll workers. 

Winfrey, an independent who has endorsed Harris and spoke at the DNC last month, closed the program with a call to undecided voters to choose Harris.

“This is the moment for people who are tired of all of the bickering and all of the name calling, people who are exhausted by the craziness and the made up stories and the conspiracies. This is the moment you want to get on with your life, because you know that we can do better and that we deserve better.”