Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War Confederate Ambitions 20240710

This horrific scene. They are working also from below to try to tunnel in to search for the missing and now you see in these live pictures they are working from above. Which i mean bucket by bucket trying to pull out debris. It is now been about 34 hours since that building just crumbled. Cnns rosa flores and sanjay gupta are at the scene and both joining me now. Rosa, first to you, what is the latest on the Search And Rescue operation . Reporter well you know, kate, the death toll increased overnight from one to four. Also the number of people accounted for increased to 120 and the number of people unaccounted for increased to 159. I just heard from Jackson Memorial hospital, they say that they are still treating two individuals, for privacy reasons they will not let us know what type of injuries they had. But spl of the challenges that firefighters have been dealing with overnight. I was here last night at about 10 00 when this started pouring. They also saw fires that they put out and then got reignited, just today weve seen multiple d downpours. And that complicates the situation given the fact that all of the water adds more weight. Were learning from officials about the dangerous work that firefighters are doing at this hour. Were hearing that they are working in about 15minute shifts at the moment depending on the conditions inside some of the tunnels where theyre searching. The amount of time that theyre able to be inside is very small. They are carrying about 80 pounds of skequipment including saws. They cant do very much because every single piece of rubble could have catastrophic consequences. That is why their working with engineers making sure that everything is shored up, secured, before the men and women enter those very dangerous areas looking for signs of life. Now we are learning more, of course, about the people who are unaccounted for. Right now that number stands at 159. My colleague poppy harlow interviewed a woman named rachel spiegle, she told us about her mother judy spiegle. The last time that she had communication with her mother was on wednesday, hours before the collapse. And now it is a very moving text for this woman. She said that her mom found a dress, a princess dress for her daughter. Take a listen. She wanted this dress and my mom found it onlineond it came back in my daughters size which is a four and my mom bought it and that is the last that i have, at 9 00 something she bought the dress and she was so excited. And the dress is in the mail and i just want my mom to give it to her. My moms helps me a lot. Im a working mom and during covid my mom choose to be if florida so she could help me with remote school, help me with pickups and dropoffs and dinner and my mom has attended many play dates, Dance Classes and everything. Everything that you could possibly imagine. Reporter now jim and poppy, families are at a Reunification Center hoping for good news as firefighters as you could see behind me continuing to sift through the rubble. Jim and poppy. Rosa, thank you very much. Im going to take it now. Sanjay, i want to bring you in on this. As weve talked about the hours that have ticked by, now 30 plus hours after the collapse, what are you hearing . What are the chances of surviving in the rubble this long . I dont think anybody is willing to put a time frame on it at this point, kate. For obviously reasons. I think it is still a Search And Rescue mission. Dy have a conversation with the Medical Examiner about that and that is still the mode in which theyre operating. But as you get further and further out, it depends on a lot of factors. All types of injuries a person may have had, are they in one of the voids that weve been hearing about. Do they have access to air . And obviously the preexisting conditions in terms of being able to tolerate all of this. It is tough. There is to question. But at this point, you hear that typically the 24 hour mark is typically when most people who are going to survive are recovered but you also hear stories as you well know, kate, being in haiti and other places, ive seen people rescued days after the initial collapse. So there is still very much working under that sort of that mission and the Medical Examiner sort of clued me in to the fact they are still into Search And Rescue. And from a medical b perspective, when you are 30 plus hours along, note not only the collapsed and the injures that you have to be concerned about, sanjay, but from just a medical stand point, what do you worry about if there are survivors who are stuck under the rubble . Well, i mean, for them, obviously it is a question are they are the injuries catastrophic to point where they may be rescued and be able to dish. Were going live to washington where the Attorney General is set to make a big announcement. Condolences for the community in surfside, florida. I know how difficult it is for the families who have lost and for those who are waiting to hear. And i express great gratitude for the First Responders and for the others who are assisting in the ongoing rescue operation. I know that the federal government is providing assistance to the state and local governments and we stand ready as things develop to provide more assistance if it is required. The rights of all eligible citizens to vote are the central pillars of our democracy. They are the rights from which all other rights ultimately flow. Two weeks ago i spoke about our countrys history of expanding the right to vote. I noted that our progress on protecting Voting Rights, especially for Black Americans and people of color, has never been steady. Moments of Voting Rights expansion have been often met with counter efforts to curve the franchise. Among other things, i express concern about the rise in state legislative actions that will make it harder for millions of citizens to cast a vote that counts. I explained that the Justice Department is rededicating resources to enforcing federal law and to protecting the franchise for all eligible voters. And i promised that we are scrutinizing new laws that seek to curb voter access and where we see violations of federal law, we will act. In keeping that promise, today the department of justice is suing the State Of Georgia. Our complaint alleges that recent changes to georgias Election Laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on the counts of race or color in violation of section two of the Voting Rights act. Several studies show that georgia experienced record Voter Turnout and participation rates in the 2020 election cycle. Approximately twothirds of eligible voters in the state cast a ballot in the november election, just over the national average. This is cause for celebration. But then in march of 2021, georgias Legislature Passed sb202. Many of that Laws Provisions make it harder for people to vote. The complaint alleges that the straighten acted those restrictions with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color. In a few moments, assistance Attorney General clark will talk in more detail about this case. The United States versus georgia. I want to thank the staff of the Civil Rights Divisions, Voting Section for the hard work on this matter and for their every day efforts to protect americans Voting Rights. The critical nature of their work is the reason were doubling the enforcement. This is the first of many steps were taking to ensure that all eligible voters could cast a vote, that all lawful votes are counted and that every voter has access to accurate information. The Civil Rights Division continues to analyze other state laws that have been passed and we are following the progress of legislative proposals under consideration in additional states. Where we believe that the civil rights of americans have been violated, we will not hesitate to act. We will use all existing provisions of the Voting Rights act, the National Voter registration act, the help america vote act, the americans with disabilities act, and the Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to ensure that we protect every qualified american seeking to participate in our democracy. Under the supervision of the associate Attorney General, the Civil Rights Division is also taking proactive measures to help states understand federal law and best practices. We are in the process of developing guidance to help ensure that post election audits comply with federal law, and we are working in guidance with respect to early voting and voting by mail. And because the upcoming redistricting cycle may be the first since 1960 to proceed without the key preclearance provision of the Voting Rights act, well publish new guidance to make clear the Voting Protections that apply to all jurisdictions as they redraw their electoral maps. These include maps used for congressional districts, state legislatures, county commissions, City Councils and more. Pursuant to president bidens executive order, we are also working to ensure access to Voter Registration for eligible individuals in federal custody and will assist other federal agencies in expanding Voter Registration opportunities as permitted by law. Finally, as i noted two weeks ago, we are seeing a dramatic increase in menacing and violent threats ranging from the highest administrators to volunteer poll workers. To address this effort to undermine our electoral process, today the Deputy Attorney general will issue a directive to all federal prosecutors and the fbi which will highlight the prevalence of these threats, and instruct them to prioritize investigating these threats. Today we will also launch a task force including personnel from the criminal, the Civil Rights Division, the National Security division and the fbi to focus on these threats. We will promptly prosecute any violations of federal law. We are using every method at our disposal at our Enforcement Efforts but that is not enough. We urge congress to act to provide the department with important authorities it needs to protect the Voting Rights of every american. Eight years ago today, the Supreme Court issued the decision in Shelby County versus holder. Prior to that decision, the Justice Department had an invaluable tool it could use to protect voters from discrimination. Section five of the Voting Rights act. Under that section, any change with respect to voting in a covered jurisdiction could not be enforced unless a jurisdiction first proved to the Justice Department or to the United States District Court for the district of columbia, that the proposed change did not deny the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group. Using that tool, the department prevented over 175 proposed Election Laws across georgia from being implemented because they failed the statutory test. If georgia had still been covered by section five, it is likely that sb202 would never have taken effect. We urge congress to restore this invaluable tool. I will now turn the podium over to Chrissin Clark who will tell you more about our filing in the United States versus georgia. Thank you, Attorney General garland. Two weeks ago you made clear that the department we just heard a big announcement from the Attorney General of the United States. The Justice Department is suing the State Of Georgia over the recently passed and enacted law restricting making it harder to vote in that state. And that is what the Justice Department is alleging in its complaint in this lawsuit. Let me bring in right now cnn justice correspondent Jessica Schneider and Senior Analyst laura coates. How significant is this, laura . It is extremely. I actually worked in the Voting Rights section of the Civil Rights Division in the department of justice and it is extraordinary that they are taking this action. Not because the facts do not lend itself to this. But the fact that theyre trying to ensure that what is left of the Voting Rights act, the idea of protecting people against the infringement of Voting Rights on the basis of color and other factors is not going to be infringed. And we heard from Merrick Garland where he promised to essentially say even without section five, he was going to use all of the available tools for the Justice Department to talk about these issues. And here we have section two which essentially said you cannot craft laws with an efforts on any eye to undermine vote on the basis of race and other factors and based on the results test, meaning even if you didnt d not intend to do so, the results test of section two said that if it has that effect on voters of color, it could still be thought of as unconstitutional. Now he interestingly said that he believed not only had the result, but also it would have the intent there. So the combination of those two things tells you is a new day in the department of justice. I was just looking at as notes that i took from what said. Many of the Laws Provisions were enacted with those restrictions with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color. Directly to your point, laura. Jessica, remind folks about the georgia law. This is a big debate leading up to it. And we reported on it extensively. But the law that the Justice Department is directly targeting now. And remember georgia was really ground zero of these calls of election fraud. We heard that january 2nd phone call from former President Trump who was still president at the time urging georgia officials to just find him a few more votes. And so really georgia has been the focus here. And in march of 2021, just a few months ago, georgia enacted this very wideranging law restricting voting in many senses. Ill run down. There were new voter i. D. And allows State Officials to cake over control from some local election boards. Limited use of Ballot Drop Boxes an then the last provision, which critics went crazy over, it made it a crime for people to offer food and water to voters who were standing in line. Something that is really standard especially last election where we saw lines stretching and people waiting for sometimes hours to actually vote. So now the Justice Department really taking their commitment to Voting Rights with which theyve stressed over the past many weeks, taking this to the new level and suing the State Of Georgia over these laws that were enacted. And what is interesting here, kate, is that were actually in the process of waiting for the Supreme Court to issue a decision about the scope of section two. Because as you and laura have been talking about and as the Attorney General mentioned, section five was usually the reason that many of the states werent allowed to pass these expansive voting laws or voting laws that restricted voting. But now that that was taken away by Shelby Versus holder in 2013, the people challenging these laws have looked to section two. And were awaiting in the next few days that the Supreme Court will be issuing a decision as to how broad section two can be for people challenging those laws. This will directly play into how the Justice Department continues in its lawsuit. Remember several Voting Rights groups, civil Rights Groups have already sued over these laws but this is ratcheted up no the next level by the Justice Department suing here, guys. Laura, Attorney General said this is the first of many steps that we are taking. Im wondering why what you hear in that, why georgia, why do you think georgia first . There are at least 14 states in the country that have passed more restrictive voting laws. Weve reported on this a lot. Why do you think georgia first and what do you think is coming . Perhaps because it is been so prominently talked about in the news. It is also been one of the things that there is a legislature and obviously the Secretary Of State in georgia was also talking about how there was not fraud. The actual words that were being used could actually form the basis for the support for the lawsuit against georgia, to suggest that there was no real means or real need to actually enact those laws. Remember one of the things that justice that Merrick Garland said, Attorney General Merrick Garland, excuse me, it should have been cause for celebration with the increase in voter participation. But instead essentially that was flipped on its head and used as some sort of impetuous to restrict and restrain and he said quite accurately i think, but if section five had never been gutted, if that formula still existed, to require states that were covered, to get the preauthorization of the Justice Department before they make any voting related changes, these laws would never have been enacted. I suspect what he was mentioning was the notion that georgia may be the first of many. So for every state where you heard a politician or those in the position to oversee the elections or the changes who simply were contrary which is saying there was no need to have any laws or getting ahead of the curve, i think in florida they said that will be used against them trying to show some support for why they felt the need to enact them in the long run. But jessica is correct about the notion about the parameters of section two. The real question is going to be even if there was no intent, he use theed word purpose if there was an effect on it could that still be held unconstitutional. Here we have yet to have a new election to test whether whether there has been the effect but that is why the Purpose Comment is so important here and it will like by be the first of many. And this is officially a beginning of a new front in this huge fight over Voting Rights. Youre right to vote in this country. That is the beginning of a new very significant front in that battle what we just heard announced today. Thank you so much for your reporting. Appreciate it. Well have much more on that. Well continue to follow that Press Conference and well get back to our breaking News Coverage of the urgent and intense search right now for any survivors in the rubble in South Florida. Were going to talk to a miami man whose mother and grandmother are missing this morning. Thats next. Theres interest you accrue, and interests you pursue. Plans for the long term, and plans for a long weekend. Assets you allocate, and ones you hold tight. At thrivent, we believe money is a tool, not a goal. And with the right guidance, you can get the financial clarity you need, and live a life rich in meaning, and gratitude. To learn more, text thrive to 444555, or visit thrivent. Com. Psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. 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Pablo, i know we spoke on the break, but im just so sorry that im speaking to you at a time like this. Its impossible to wrap your mind around. How are you doing . Its devastating, kate. Its comes in waves but it is completely devastating. It overtakes you. Every time i close my eyes all i could see is the video of the tower falling. Yeah. That is that is something i wish you had not had to see. Because thats it is horrific. I dont know new words to describe that. There is no words. As bad as it was, it was at least a little cathartic because at the beginning we werent sure if her unit was affected or not because of the angle of the photos. But when you see the footage, she was in that first tower that went down. So it became clear to us what happened. Had there been any updates. Im not sure what the updates could be. But what have you heard . We have heard officially nothing other than what is on the news. I did get a call from a reporter that let me know that theyre taking dna swaps at the Community Center so if anybody has any Family Members that were involved to go down there. So when were finished up here, that is where im going, to provide a dna sample but officially i have not heard anything. That is even that is hard to process im sure, pablo. What questions are going through your mind this morning . To be honest, the biggest question is just how this happened. It is a building. It is not supposed to fall down. It is in the middle of reconstruction, it is in the middle of inspections. They had gone to the point where it collapsed, somebody had to have seen something, somebody had to know something. Buildings dont just fall down like this. Especially when theyre being inspected and rebuilt. So that is the hardest thing to process, how this happened without anybody, you know, knowing something or missing something. Youve talked about how your mom had told you that she had been woke unup in her sleep the night before because some kind of creaking sounds. Right. How concerned was she about that . She wasnt very concerned. She heard some creaking and it woke her up. And then she just didnt go back to sleep and she just kind of mentioned it. It wasnt really a concern of im worried the building is going to fall down because otherwise she would have left. It is not a normal sound in a building, but she didnt really think anything of it. I didnt think anything of it. Now in hindsight, you always start to wonder whether you should have paid more attention to it. Yeah. It really, i have to say it broke my heart when i heard that you were saying that your mom and your grandmother were set to be taking your son out to lunch yesterday afternoon. Just the fact that it is just, like, life was happening, life was going on and were seeing these sweet pictures of your mom and your family, its just could you tell me more about your mom and your grandmother and you have told your son about what has happened . My son saw the my son saw the footage in the morning when it happened and we were trying to piece together some information and he knows the name of the building. So he knows the building fell. Hes told us that the building fell. But he wants us to call him and see. We havent told him yet until we have official word. We dont really have a lot of hope. But until we have official word, we dont want to fully tell him. As as you mentioned, life was going on. They were going to pick him up to buy a new bicycle and take him to lunch every saturday since he was born theyve come over and spent the whole day with him. So hes already asking me if their coming tomorrow to come into the pool to hang out and take him to breakfast like they do every saturday. That is his routine. And so hes asking us and right now we are not sure exactly what to tell him. He may understand, i dont know if hes processed it completely, but were trying to hold off until we officially know before we make it clear to him. Yeah. And to be strong for him and to be strong for yourself and to try to process something that you cant process. You cannot process what happened in these images. Im just im so sorry. Wee will hold out hope with you. But i totally understand as you said that your trying to come to terms with what could be reality. But im so sorry, pablo, thank you for coming on. Appreciate it, kate. I just want to get her story out, and her sweet face. If we could, let as put the pictures back up of your suite mom and your grandmother. Thank you so much. That is so sweet. So well have more of breaking News Coverage from florida ahead. From these tragic, tragic stories trying to hold out. But more Breaking News, turning to another story. Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced in just hours after being convicted of murdering george floyd. Ill speak with the floyd family Attorney Ben Crump about what this day means, next. With extra jalapenos. [doorbell rings] thanks, baby. Yeah, we bout to get spicy for this virtual date. Spicy like them pajama pants. Hey, the camera is staying up here. This is not the second date. Think of what peanuts have given humanity fuel for vast migrations sustenance for Mountaineering Expeditions and long journeys across the world but most importantly . They give us something to eat when we drink beer. Planters. A nut above. One, two one, two, three only pay for what you need with customized Car Insurance from Liberty Mutual they give us something to eat when we drink beer. Nothing rhymes with Liberty Mutual. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. In just a few hours, former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin is now a convicted murderer will be sentenced in just hours for the brutal killing of george floyd. State prosecutors have requested a 30year Prison Sentence but the judge does have a lot of discretion here. Omar jimenez is live in minneapolis with more on this. Omar, what are you expect for today . Reporter well, kate, for starters Derek Chauvin is already inside of the Hennepin County Government Center behind me where proceedings will take place in a few hours. As we mark the close of the one chapter, but far from the end of this story. Now as far as what we could expect, you look at for starters the sentencing penalties for the charges hes been convicted of. The most serious seconddegree murder carries a maximum penalty sentence of 40 years. Thirddegree murder, a max sentence of 25 years and seconddegree manslaughter a max sentence of 20 years and or 10,000. But the sentences will most likely run con curbly, so you want to Pay Attention to the seconddegree murder charge. While the max is technically 40 years, hes likely not going to get that because the Sentencing Guidelines with someone like him with no criminal history put him between 12 and 15 years. But i should note the judge ruled on a number of factors that could boost that number and as we learned a few moments ago, the judge denied chauvins request for a new trial. Which is different from an appeal, kate. And an important step in how this is going to play out. Omar, thank you very much. For more on this is benjamin crump, the attorney for George Floyds family. Thank you for being here as always. What sentence is the family hoping for today . Well, the family has always articulated that they will want Derek Chauvin to is he sentenced the same as if the roles were reversed an the judge was sentencing george floyd for doing a terrible thing to Derek Chauvin. That to theme accountability. They understand that they cant get justice because justice would be bringing george back. So they are striving for full accountability today. And somewhere that would be some measure of justice. The law permits for the judge omar was laying out to sentence up to 40 years. Do you think the prosecutors did the right thing in requesting a sentence of 30 years . Well, Attorney General ellison and his staff explained to the family of george floyd that under the Sentencing Guidelines, that the seconddegree murder conviction, he would get 15 years. However, because of exacerbating circumstances and aggravating circumstances, that it could be upward departure to get up to 40 years. But they have requested 30 years based on what they see as the normal typical sentence. But remember, kate, nothing about the torture and the killing of george floyd is typical. So his family is keenly aware that this should not be a typical sentence. This should be a sentence that sends a message that is not allowed for the police to brutalize black people and other marginalized people and just because they have the authority to use Necessary Force and that is what this is about. The whole world is watching, this could be a Turning Point for america to where we could get accountability, and in the civil matter for a black life accountability on the criminal level and then we want to get accountability on the policy level with the George Floyd Justice in policing act. So his family is completely focused on being able to help make america better. Victims statements are going to be allowed in court as you well now. Will any of the family be speaking . Yes. Family members of george floyd will be speaking. Delivering their victim pact statements and how his tragic death has impacted them and impacted their family and most profoundly, impacted the community. You know, everyone came to know and love georges Daughter Gianna so much in the whole in everything that shes gone through and the family has gone through. Is there any chance that gianna will speak . Well, everybody is trying to protect her mother and all making sure shes protected because shes still only a child. But there is a chance that there will be some statement from her with respect and his other Family Members, his Brothers And Sisters and people who know him best, you know. To us it is a hashtag, a case, a cause, to them that is their Flesh And Blood. The person who is begging for breath is their Flesh And Blood and so i think that is the message, kate, that theyre going to convey and prayerfully the sentence will pay respect to the fact that george floyd was a human being and he was worthy of humanity. Ben crump, thank you for coming on. Thank you, kate. Thank you so much. Still ahead for us, rescuers desperately searching for survivors in the rubble in South Florida of this collapsed cond minimum guilding. Were staying close to it. Were going to take you live to the scene, our breaking News Coverage continues next. Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about well, the names have all changed since you hung around welcome back, america. It sure is good to see you. Wayfair has everything you need to make your home ready to seize the day. Make it look like, its from another planet. Make your new sink work a little harder. Make your home everything you need it to be. And make it yours. Oscar will love that. [ bark ] however you make it, make your home like no other. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. Were continuing to follow the Breaking News out of South Florida. Cnn has just confirmed three of the four people who were confirmed to have died in the collapsing building, three of the four have been identified. 34 hours about has now pasted since the unthinkable happened. A 12 Story Condominium Building Collapsing in the middle of the night. The urgent and intense and dangerous Search Effort is happening at this hour. Crews are looking for survivors in the rubble. 159 people remain unaccounted for right now. Cnns chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta is with me back on the scene in surfside, florida. What are you learning from the Medical Examiner . Reporter so they are preparing for obviously what might be something they have to deal with and theyve had, as you mentioned, four people who have come to the Medical Examiners office, three people have been identified. One person they have not been able to identify and that is something they planned for and this is grim, ill tell you, kate, to talk about, but at Reunification Center right now they go to families and they ask, are there any distinguishing characteristics, tattoos, dental abnormality, or scars, fingerprints and dna all of that sort of stuff. That is the sort of the identification theyre planning on doing because it may be difficult to identify some of the bodies. In fact, the Medical Examiner said that the last time Something Like this magnitude happened was a plane crash. It was the Value Jet Plane Crash in 1996. 110 people died at that point. A different situation. But that is the sort of approach that theyre taking here. They also point out, kate, that there was one person of the four who was alive at the time that they were actually rescued. Went to the hospital, but then subsequently died. So youre starting to get a picture sort of how things are transpiring here. That is heartbreaking, son jay. Are you not hear that detail. That one person was remove add live and passed away in hospital. That is just crushing. I was actually just speaking with a Family Member of two people who are missing. Pablo rodriguez heard that the center is now asking for dna swabs for Family Members for identification purposes, san yeah. A assume that is part of the standard protocol when youre talking about i. D. ing some of the victims that youre just talking about. Yeah, i mean it is. And you typically think about this again for things like airplane crashes. So this magnitude, a building collapse, is something many places here in the it has happened around the world. You start to gather clues and talk to these families. You find out are there distinguishing characteristics . Trying to find things like dna . But also even where in the building were they likely to have been . What unit number and where is that unit with respect to the rest of the building . They starlet to recreate to find if theres any correlation. So far its hard to bring details together except the ones i shared with you. Many people at least initially can be identified just by facial karkt risices. But with time, and its grim to talk about. With time and elements, it becomes harder and harder to do. They are trying to gather information to make identification easier. Everyone appreciates youre passing along the reporting with all the sensitivities that we know. Families are watching and waiting and hoping that they will find their loved one alive. Im also just sitting here listening to reporting on this, and look, youve reported all over the world covering the aftermath of major natural disasters. The earthquake in haiti is coming to my mind right now. This does not happen in the United States. I mean, how are you reflecting on being on the scene of Something Like this . Reporter yeah. I mean, thats exactly what i was reflecting on. I remember when i was in haiti, and i saw the buildings topple to the ground, and you knew that whether it was building codes, regulations, whatever, you dont imagine that sort of thing would happen in the United States. Obviously theres a lot of details we still dont know. Theres all sorts of speculation going on. I think theres obviously going to be a big investigation. But i think what is the hardest, i dont know if you can see really, i know everyone has seen the images, but it is just very hard to reconcile construction equipment. These big cranes, and reconcile that with the fact that there are people that are buried in that rubble. I mean i think its, again, everyone knows this, but when youre actually here, you feel it. You talk to Family Members. Theres a smell in the air after a big collapse like this. Its tough. Its obviously tough for everyone. Absolutely. Thankful youre on the ground, sanjay. Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. Also joining me right now is the chairman of the miami dade board of county commissioners. Thank you for being here. We know that right now there are 159 people unaccounted for. That number was 99. Oh, i think we i think we just lost the connection with the commissioner. We may have just reconnected. Commissioner, can you hear me . Yes. I am sorry. Were having a little were going to try to power through and see if the connection sticks. You know what . Were going to try to reconnect with the commissioner, because i believe the connection is not holding right now. Were going to try to reconnect with the commissioner. In the meantime, i want to focus on Search And Rescue and whats on the live pictures right now. Joining me right now is someone who knows this better than anyone. Retired miami dade rescue chief dave downy. Thank you for being here. You might not be able to screen. We have a line of crew members, a line of rescuers, rescue workers. Theyre all working together with these red buckets. We can see them pulling out debris by hand, this kind of bucket line, if you will. Talk to me about what that signals to you, what they are doing, why they would be focusing in on this area, if you will. Well, what theyre doing now is theyre trying to, as precisely as possible, begin to delayer this collapse. And so theyre going to do it with some heavy equipment, but mostly theyre going to do it by hand. And thats where these buckets are coming in. You know, they have to be careful not to disturen the structure. Any movement could impact the building that still exists, the debris thats hanging off of that building, and any potential void spaces that could be located. So its a very meticulous, very methodical and deliberate way of removing this debris. And its going to take some time. Does it indicate at all, would this indicate that they believe there is a person they are they think someone is in this area . Or is that me kind of hoping and praying . It could be that they detected a void space. It could be that they detected something that might lead them to believe theres somebody there. I am not looking at the video. Its hard for me to tell, but if theyre working in a specific area, they either have located a void space, a potential space, or potential victim or survivor there. So there could be a lot of reasons, because theyre essentially looking for a needle in a hay stack right now. And theyre trying to zone in on where survivors could be located. And look, this structure just pancaked. Thats how everyone has described it. Knowing that, seeing how this came down, what are the challenges for Search And Rescue, specifically when a building, a 12story building like this has pancaked . Maintaining the safety of the rescuers and making sure theres no further collapse or injury. But specifically, the challenges that theyre dealing with are trying to get some of the larger pieces of concrete moved, get some of the larger debris moved, and make sure that theyre not disturbing whats laying underneath. And so its it takes some time. Ive learned over almost 40 years that sometimes the only way to move big pieces of concrete is making little pieces of concrete. So it takes some time to do this. And thats what theyre going to do. Theyre still in rescue mode. Theyre still operating survivors. And so theyre taking the risks necessary to locate those survivors, and theyre doing the work to ensure that no harm caused is caused to the survivors. 34 hours in, does the focus, does the operation, does it shift . Or is it remaining the same . It is still painstaking. Im watching them throw out little pieces of concrete by hand when they have a mountain in front of them. Well, they have not changed. Theyre refining their operation. They did void searches yesterday and through the night. They removed some of the debris that was hazardous through the night. And now theyre meticulously working through the levels. As you said, you had 12 stories of building that came down. And so what they have to do now is gently remove each of the levels, and work their way down. It is just really remarkable watching this. We are looking at live pictures from our Affiliate Wsbn in miami, in surfside as this is playing out before our eyes. We see right here, chief, the painstaking nature of this urgent, urgent Search And Rescue effort underway. Chief, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you all so much for joining us today at this hour. Our breaking News Coverage continues after this break. I had the nightmare again maxine. The world was out of wonka bars. Relax. You just need digital workflows. They help keep everyone supplied and happy, proactively. Lets workflow it. Then you can stop having those nightmares. No, i would miss them too much. Whatever you business is facing. Lets workflow it. Servicenow. Hello, and welcome to inside politics. A nonstop search for survivors right now. President biden is expected to address the deadly and tragic Condo Collapse later today at the white house. The administration declared a State Of Emergency in florida overnight. Lets go to the frantic Search And Rescue effort in surf side, florida where 159 people are unaccounted for this hour. That means 159 families are still waiting, praying that someone they love will emerge from under the pile of rubble