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At Least 4 Hurt, 62 Hurt From Minneapolis Bridge Collapse; Interview With Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty

Aired August 02, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone.

I'm Tony Harris.

Usually at this time, we turn things over to our friends with YOUR WORLD TODAY. Instead, we are staying with our continuing coverage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse.

COLLINS: The tragic moment caught on tape. You can see it here, just as it happened. Absolutely amazing. Exclusive video of the bridge coming down. The person who provided it to CNN did not want to be identified.

HARRIS: Searching for answers and sadly for more victims in the Minnesota bridge collapse, an update on the breaking news this hour.

Divers scouring the Mississippi River for the bodies of victims believed trapped in their cars. Officials say it will take days.

The death toll expected to climb. But right now, it stands at four.

Dozens of people were injured. Police say 20 to 30 may still be missing.

President Bush says the federal government will help rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible. He also offered prayers and sympathy for the victims.

COLLINS: President Bush offering sympathy and pledging federal help as well.

White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano is joining us now live.

Elaine, we heard from the transportation secretary a little bit earlier, Mary Peters. She got there very, very quickly. The president sent her there to Minneapolis.

Immediately, she doled out an initial $5 million.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And initial is the key here, obviously, as the situation continues to unfold. That number could go higher. But you're right, President Bush earlier today -- in fact, a short time ago -- offered his condolences to the victims of this bridge collapse.

The president first learned about what happened last night over dinner. He was having dinner with the first lady, and she had already been scheduled to go on a trip to Minneapolis. She was and still in fact, we should say, scheduled to go on that trip. Obviously, a much different focus now.

But the president was then briefed with Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin. And this morning, before the president made remarks on the budget in the Rose Garden, the president said that he and his cabinet members talked about the tragedy during a meeting today that had been scheduled before the bridge collapsed.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things we discussed was the terrible situation there in Minneapolis. We talked about the fact that the bridge collapsed and that we in the federal government must respond and respond robustly to help the people there not only recover, but to make sure that the lifeline of activity, that bridge, gets rebuilt as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, White House officials have been in touch since last night with local and state officials. This morning, President Bush himself talked to the governor of Minnesota, as well as the mayor of Minneapolis. And, of course, he's been in touch as well with his transportation secretary, Mary Peters -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Just wondering, Elaine, Senator Coleman, Norm Coleman, also talked about this infrastructure bill that he and the junior senator are trying to put through. I wonder how much emphasis will be put on that now.

QUIJANO: Well, certainly, that will likely be something that everyone will be taking a look at. In fact, we should mention that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked about whether or not the incident last night would, in fact, perhaps spark inspections of U.S. infrastructure around the country. And he said, look, there is already regular inspection of infrastructure. But undoubtedly, they'll be taking a very close look to see what happened here, and, of course, to try to prevent something like this from happening again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. We also heard that the inspection system of bridges in Minneapolis is regarded as very good. So it is troubling, at best.

Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, live from the White House today.

HARRIS: Well, today marks the first anniversary of CNN's I- Report. The bridge tragedy in Minneapolis ranks as one of the highest responses we've ever had. At least 80 I-Reports and counting.

These photos were taken from Jay Austin. He lives about five blocks from the bridge. Like many others in the area, he rushed to the scene and began taking pictures, photographs like these.

It could actually help investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board figure out what caused such sudden and catastrophic failure. What we do know is road construction was under way on the bridge at the time. A witness says traffic was bumper to bump, with the eight-lane bridge narrowed to two lanes in each direction.

If you have photos, video or eyewitness stories about the collapse, sent them to us now, please, CNN.com. Just click on "I- Report" and you will be prompted through the process.

As a matter of fact, with us right now, another of our I- Reporters. Brad Paulson attends the University of Minnesota. He is in Minneapolis.

Brad, good to talk to you.

Brad, where were you at the time of the collapse?

BRAD PAULSON, BRIDGE COLLAPSE WITNESS: Hi, Tony. I was at my apartment, which is right near the area. It's five minutes on my bike.

HARRIS: What did you hear?

PAULSON: I -- somebody had called me as soon as it happened, and immediately, I got on my bike, grabbed my camera, and I took off in that direction to see if I could help out at all. When I got on the scene, there was already numerous police, military, and I think FBI was there as well. And so I thought it was best just to stay back and kind of document it so that I could let other people see what happened at the scene.

HARRIS: How often have you traveled across that bridge?

PAULSON: It was -- I travel across that on a daily basis, especially when school's in session.

HARRIS: Can you believe it's -- that section is gone?

PAULSON: When I first arrived on the scene, you're just silent for a couple seconds soaking everything in. And you seem detached from it, but then you realize how often you had seen that and how different it looks now.

HARRIS: Are the pictures that we're broadcasting doing justice to what your eyes saw on the ground?

PAULSON: I think that the local and national level news covered it in two different perspectives. I don't know. I guess -- I really don't know how to describe the differences. HARRIS: Yes.

So describe the rescue effort, as you watched it unfold. Was it orderly? Were there moments of chaos?

PAULSON: I have to say it was quite orderly. Police were able to get down there right away. And the crowd -- as the crowd amassed, when more people heard, they were very good to get out of the way of the all of the police vehicles.

HARRIS: You know what? I'm wondering if you would just take a moment and take us inside what you saw. We're looking at some of your pictures now, but just take us inside what you saw. I mean, we're talking about chunks of the bridge in the river. We're talking about mangled steel, vehicles in the water, dangling over edges of what's left of the span.

Describe that for us in a way that makes some kind of sense of what you saw.

PAULSON: I guess I just rode down right next to the river on my bike. And you look at the scene -- in one of the pictures I'm actually -- it goes up on the bridge, on top of a hill, and you notice how big of a drop that was.

HARRIS: Yes.

PAULSON: And you can't possibly imagine what people in those cars had to have gone through when the bridge had collapsed. Immediately, what came to my mind is how I would have reacted if that would have fell down and I would have been involved in that. I just -- I couldn't imagine that.

HARRIS: No way to know, correct?

PAULSON: And when you're so familiar with an area, and you see something like this, it just hits home, I think, a lot closer than when you're watching it on the national news station. It's indescribable.

HARRIS: Brad, we can't thank you enough for taking the photos and helps us tell the story today.

Brad Paulson.

Brad, appreciate it. Thank you.

PAULSON: All right. Thank you, Tony.

COLLINS: Live pictures now coming in from our affiliate in Minneapolis, Minnesota, KARE television. Just to give you an idea of what is going on at the time. You see people moving around there.

I think I see a person, anyway. We have been told, certainly by -- I believe it was the police chief of Minneapolis that this is still a tremendously dangerous situation. And seeing several people still pinned or trapped in the cars below, some of them within that -- those metal trusses that we see. So that recovery effort that has begun, as soon as the sun came out this morning, obviously, is going to go on for quite some time.

We'll continue to show you the live pictures every time they become available to us out of Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, the search for answers in that city. A nine-member investigative team with the NTSB is there right now.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is covering that investigation into the bridge collapse from Washington for us this morning.

Kathleen, good morning once again.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And certainly it's not just the NTSB. It's the Department of Transportation. Literally, all hands on deck when it comes to the federal response to this major bridge collapse.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, in this press conference not long ago, promising $5 million immediately to help restore traffic flow, to clear debris, to begin the repair work. Also, bridge and engineering experts from the Federal Highway Administration are going to be made available to help.

Now we're told 19 National Transportation Safety Board investigators, experts in everything from engineering, materials, and metallurgy, to the survivability of such a disaster. They are now beginning their work on site.

The NTSB chairman, Mark Rosenker, says this will not be a speedy process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ROSENKER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: But with that said, this will be a complex investigation. There are engineering issues that we're going to have to determine, there are materials issues which we're going to be studying, and they don't come quickly.

The first thing we must do is recover the pieces. And after we recover these pieces of the bridge, we will begin actually trying to reassemble them, not in a way where it's actually standing, but kind of in a jigsaw puzzle way, flat, so we can look at the various parts of this bridge and understand what made it fall down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Investigators say that basically every single piece of crumbled concrete and twisted steel provides a clue as to why this bridge collapsed. So Rosenker, as he just stated there, they'll be not only collecting the pieces, reassembling them, he says they'll bring some right here to Washington, to NTSB headquarters, to test in their labs there. Investigators will also be viewing all of the video and the photos of the collapse. Many of those we're seeing right now on CNN from viewers, enhancing them, seeing just what information they might hold.

The NTSB says it's going to be putting out a number for anyone who has collected such video, photos, or people who were eyewitnesses to the bridge's collapse, to collect all possible data. In this process, Rosenker promised -- he said it will be comprehensive, it will be thorough, expeditious. But, Heidi, he said it will take at least a year.

COLLINS: Boy, can you imagine the job of trying to figure out how this happened? Obviously, the NTSB are the people to do just that.

Kathleen Koch, thanks so much, live from Washington this morning.

KOCH: You bet.

HARRIS: On the bridge. Live pictures now. Look at this. Boy, the view from the sky of the mess.

What is -- what is ahead for investigators as they try to put the pieces of this bridge collapse together? Look at that scene.

Watching this tragedy unfold before their eyes. More amazing stories of survival coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Aging infrastructure. Many of the nation's bridges get a failing grade. Is it as dire as it sounds? They'll be talking about that on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" tonight, coming your way, 10:00 Eastern.

A quick break now. We'll be back in the CNN NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Recovery efforts are under way this morning in Minneapolis after the terrible bridge collapse that we have been covering here since late yesterday.

Want to go straight out to Don Lemon, who is on the scene for us now, alongside Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Hi there, Don.

Hello, Governor.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there to you, Heidi.

He can't hear. Right after our interview, we got him up, but he also sends his regards as well because he remembers you from when you lived here.

But again, we want to talk to the governor about this tragic accident, and also the investigation that's going on.

You just left that press conference where we heard from all the officials, the NTSB. Five million dollars so far being donated to getting this bridge back up and running. I want to talk to you about that. But first, I want to talk to you about the personal stories of these people.

What are you seeing and hearing from your community?

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: What you're seeing is stories of tragedy and heartbreak, but also stories of heroism and really miracles. And the response of the first was terrific. An outpouring of support and help, but also just everyday citizens not running away from the danger, but running towards it. And if there is a silver lining in an otherwise just awful, awful tragedy, it's the goodness of Minnesotans shining through in that regard.

LEMON: You spoke to the president this morning?

PAWLENTY: I did.

LEMON: And what did he say to you?

PAWLENTY: Well, of course he expressed his condolences for the loss of life and the injuries, and committed to work with us to get the situation stabilized and hopefully returned to normal.

LEMON: And the money that was promised or announced at this press conference, how is that going to help you?

PAWLENTY: Well, it will help, because $5 million initially, with the recovery cleanup efforts and the like, but also a commitment really without at least definition of getting the bridge rebuilt. And in talking to Secretary Peters, she said they'd been willing to waive caps or waive limits and they're committed to getting this thing built on an emergency basis.

LEMON: OK.

The concern about this bridge and the collapse, obviously, you know, you heard Secretary Peters say -- and I thought it was the sound bite of the day -- bridges in America should not fall down, is what she said.

PAWLENTY: Right. Yes.

LEMON: And so there's concern that there was some -- possibly some sort of negligence with this bridge, that it had been cited for repairs...

PAWLENTY: Right.

LEMON: ... in a number of different reports.

Talk to me about that. PAWLENTY: Well, here's what we know. There was a report -- several reports that said there were some deficiencies in the bridge. But as far as we know, there's no indication that called for an immediate or near-term replacement or closing of the bridge.

It was about how to deal with it in the future. And, in fact, the engineers were talking about a 2020-type time frame. So, yes, there were concerns about the bridge, but it did not rise to the level, in the eyes of the experts or the engineers, that it needed to be closed immediately or repaired or replaced.

LEMON: Do you think that that's correct now?

PAWLENTY: Well, we have to trust the folks who are the experts. Obviously, something failed here terribly, and we don't want to speculate or get ahead of ourselves, but obviously something failed. But the bridge was inspected in 2005 and 2006 and 2007.

LEMON: 2007.

PAWLENTY: All with that federal information in mind. And even in light of that, said, yes, you know, there are some repairs or some things to monitor. But the replacement is down the road, not now.

And that was -- you know, in hindsight, that's something that people are going to second-guess. But we had no indication that the bridge was immediately in danger, and the engineers and experts were saying down the road for replacement.

LEMON: Yes.

So -- and again, about that report, there was construction work being done on the bridge.

PAWLENTY: Yes, there was.

LEMON: Was it because of one of these reports?

PAWLENTY: Well, the construction work was on the deck relating to the cement. And that was dealing with some of the issues on the bridge. But it was more of the deck, rather than the underlying structure.

LEMON: OK. Do you think, or do investigators at this point think that that may have contributed to the collapse of this bridge?

PAWLENTY: Well, the NTSB is very careful to say they are ruling nothing out and nothing in. And so they'll look at everything.

All we know for sure is that there was construction on the bridge, concrete replacement, guard rail replacement, lighting replacement. And the NTSB is going to sort out what, if any, connection there was. And we don't know at this point whether there was any.

LEMON: Now that you look back, this sad tragedy, if you could have repaired that bridge faster or put a new bridge in, would you have done so?

PAWLENTY: Well, of course, but that is not what the recommendation was. And, you know, from an engineering standpoint, setting aside a financial standpoint, they were saying this does not need to be done now, and they were talking about 2020.

LEMON: Bridges like this all across the nation, we're hearing. And also, there are other bridges that had this same standard, this same rating, right here in your area.

Have you ordered -- is it true that you've ordered inspections of all of the bridges?

PAWLENTY: Yes, we have in this category of structurally deficient, there are 70,000 to 80,000 of them nationally. Forty percent of all the bridges in the country supposedly fall in this category.

Only three percent of the bridges in Minnesota do. So, yes, we're going to have a good inspection system in Minnesota, but we're going to redouble that, starting with the bridges that have similar designs to this one, and starting with bridges that are in the same category as this one.

LEMON: OK. Real quickly, because there's a lot of things going on right now...

PAWLENTY: Sure.

LEMON: ... what do you say to the folks now who say, you know what? There may have been some deficiency and this bridge should have been repaired faster, Governor, or we wouldn't have this tragedy?

PAWLENTY: Yes. There's no doubt that there was some deficiencies in the bridge, but nobody who knows about the bridge who inspected it that we know of said it needs to be replaced now.

So, obviously, we wish we could have -- or would have done that. But that is not what the experts and inspectors were telling us at the time.

LEMON: OK. I got a question for you from our anchor, Heidi Collins.

Heidi, go ahead.

COLLINS: Don, I was just wondering if you could ask the governor about the University of Minnesota, which is obviously just right there. So many people using that bridge to go to classes. We're coming up on the 2007 fall semester.

Have they thought about what they might do once school begins? It's a huge school for commuters.

LEMON: Yes, this is a major artery in your area. And the University of Minnesota, fall semester coming up. What are you going to do for commuters and for students and for people who are coming back in? Because it's going to be a nightmare.

PAWLENTY: Yes, it is. Well, we're going to have all sorts of temporary, semi-permanent transit options, alternative routes.

It's going to be enhanced bus service, enhanced park and rides, and the like. It's not going to make it all like it was before, but it will help soften the impact.

I should also mention just to you quickly, there was also a 2007 inspection, jumping back to your earlier report, around the issue of, should the bridge be remodeled or replaced in the future. And that report, or that inspection was just done in June 2007 with the final conclusion this fall.

LEMON: All right. Governor Tim Pawlenty, a lot on your plate. And we hope that you handle it well and that you -- we get some answers from you and from all the investigators as to why this tragedy happened.

PAWLENTY: Thank you. I'm sure that we will.

LEMON: Thank you for joining us in the NEWSROOM today.

PAWLENTY: Thank you. Appreciate it.

LEMON: So, Heidi, there you go, the very latest from the man who is in charge of the state here, and really where the buck stops. All of those reports and what have you, someone is going to have answer, the governor as well as the investigator and the city and state officials will have to answer that, as well.

COLLINS: Don Lemon, reporting for us, alongside Governor Tim Pawlenty there. Thanks so much for that, Don.

An update now on this breaking news. The deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota. Here is what we know right now, searchers are scouring the Mississippi River for bodies of victims believed trapped in their cars. Officials say it will take days. Police say 20 to 30 people may be still missing.

Right now, the death toll stands at four. But it is, unfortunately, expected to climb. Dozens of people were injured. President Bush says the federal government will help rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible. He also offered prayers and sympathy for the victims.

HARRIS: With me now here onsite, a structural engineer, Nabil Sedki.

Nabil, I want to you from your base of knowledge to talk us through -- boy, I'm going to try to keep you from doing a lot of speculating here. But we want the benefit of your knowledge is you help us understand what might be the factors that led to this.

First of all, you know the news as we've been reporting it. You know the events as they transpired yesterday. Give me your general sense of what happened and possibly what might have caused it.

NABIL SEDKI, SEDKI & RUSS ENGINEERS, INC.: There's a lot of things that could have happened. But, you know, I was looking at what you're doing with broadcasting pictures.

HARRIS: Sure.

SEDKI: And it looks like the whole section just completely collapsed. Not in the middle, just at the end, which really makes me think could it be the connection details that failed first.

HARRIS: Connection? Say it again?

SEDKI: Right, the connection of the members together, that this failed first and then the collapse happened. Of course, what caused the connection to fail is overstretching of the members, overstressing of the connection.

Remember, this river is over water and is exposed to moisture and humidity. And if not protected good, the connection could rust, and of course, if the connections are rusty, you've lost the whole thing.

HARRIS: Wow. That's interesting. And then the role of vibration?

SEDKI: Right.

HARRIS: Fatigue?

SEDKI: Yes.

HARRIS: It's a bridge built in the '60s.

SEDKI: And 40 years ago. But remember, too, when you have a connection or you have a member and with a bridge, you're loading it and unloading it. Like you have a lot of cars in between 4:30 and 6:30.

HARRIS: Yes.

SEDKI: Then these cars will leave. So the members, and the connections, too, are stressed and unstressed. So you get the repeated loading. And you really got to inspect all of these connections to make sure they are not -- the fatigue is not destroying those connections.

HARRIS: Yeah, but what triggers the collapse, say, yesterday, not the day before, not the day before that. Help us pin that down.

SEDKI: Well, there is another thing that I thought you mentioned, said something about the decking, that they were replacing it.

HARRIS: That there was some construction, yes, absolutely.

SEDKI: Are they removing the decking? Are they completely removing the deck and the slab? HARRIS: That's a good question.

SEDKI: Because if they are, how big of an area are they removing. Remember, the decking gives the rigidity to the bridge.

HARRIS: Yes.

SEDKI: And gives it the stiffness. If you cut a lot of decking out, then the stiffness of that deck is reduced. Of course, that causes more vibration. Of course, more vibration will cause more stress on the connections. Then the members themselves will become -- that could be unbraced.

HARRIS: So how do you determine if we're talking about the connection points here? How do you go about coming to a determination that that is in fact an area where the bridge failed? How do you do that?

SEDKI: Well, the first thing you will do, first, you will ask your deck witness, where the failure happened, which part of the bridge --

HARRIS: So you look at the video. You take a look at the pictures, you interview people, that's part of this?

SEDKI: That's part of it. Then you go back to the site. And let's say this is the area that collapsed. You look, you go down, and you look at the connections and see if it failed or it didn't fail. Like are the bolts sheered off, where the bolts are coming? Or rivets? This could be done with rivets.

HARRIS: Sure.

SEDKI: Because it's an old bridge. There are what are called angles of the plate connection. Did these sheer off? Are the members rusted? You can see, are the bolts. Are they rusted or not? Now, there is another thing, if the decking is gone, now, when they remove the decking, if they remove the decking, I really don't know, did they jack hammer it or socket (ph) it?

HARRIS: There are certainly reports of jack hammer work on that bridge, no question.

SEDKI: The question is, did they damage the members themselves? You know, the steel members. There's a lot of questions you can go around and ask and check. But the most important thing is don't leave any rock unturned.

HARRIS: Beautiful. Nabil Sedki, a structural engineer with us here in Atlanta. Nabil, thanks for your information and your insights. We appreciate it.

SEDKI: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Thank you.

SEDKI: Take care.

COLLINS: The history of the collapse, from the San Francisco Bay to New York, a quick look at bridges that have failed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED GALAMBOS, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: I am totally puzzled as to why both ends are of the bridge would come down all at once. I would expect, if there's a failure, there would be a local failure, and it would spread from there. But this one puzzles me completely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We have been hearing some incredible stories of survival in the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. But we have also been hearing some pain and some very emotional interviews as well, perhaps one of the most with the Engebretsen family. The father, Ron, is trying to find his wife Sherry (ph), and their two adoptive daughters that they adopted from Columbia, They spoke with our Don Lemon, just a little while ago. Let's take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA ENGEBRETSEN, MOTHER IS MISSING: I haven't slept or eaten much. Just -- you can't even explain the feeling.

LEMON: You mentioned earlier that you feel like you're dreaming.

ANN ENGEBRETSEN, MOTHER IS MISSING: Just kind of surreal. We've got to stick together and be a family because that's what she'd want us to do.

LEMON: Talk to me about your mom. You're waiting for your mom. You told me your mom adopted you, when you were just little kids, from Columbia. How old were you? Tell us about that.

A. ENGEBRETSEN: I was three months and my sister was four months and my parents adopted us from Bogata, Columbia. I think we're two of the luckiest girls in the nation right now, because our parents are wonderful people.

LEMON: What do you want folks to know about your mom?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: Just pray. Just pray, please. That's all we can ask for right now, just hoping. Just be positive and everything will be OK.

LEMON: Your phone has been ringing off the hook?

A. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes.

J. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes.

LEMON: What are they saying to you?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: Just that we're with you, our prayers are with you, we love you. If there's anything we can do, just ask.

LEMON: Dad, I heard you standing here talking to your girls, saying, just be positive.

RON ENGEBRETSEN, WIFE IS MISSING: Be positive. That's all we can ask for all of us. Sherry (ph) would want us to be positive. She would be positive for us if we were lost or unaccounted for. We just hope for everybody, and for her, in particular, that the Lord is with her, and he's protecting her. And, you know, she in somewhere, some way, if she's in a hospital in some way, that has a Jane Doe, unidentified, that we can somehow get to her. Maybe she has the medical attention she needs.

For some reason, she took a route last night home, which was a little bit different from normal that with all the construction on 35W, and that decision was hers. That was a positive decision we all support.

Because I traveled that bridge for 30 years, into downtown Minneapolis. You go across that bridge and you have certain feelings, but, you know, it was a very -- an avenue for providing communication and travel for all people into the downtown area, and for 35W, in particular. So we hope.

A. ENGEBRETSEN: My mom's a fighter. She'll make it. She's a strong woman. She's going to come back home. She's going to be home.

LEMON: Did she teach you about strength?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: Yep.

LEMON: To say strong now?

A. ENGEBRETSEN: Every single day. I'm 20 years old, and she's still is teaching me how to be a strong person, a strong woman, and to be independent and -- but also how to love, and just be there for the people you love.

LEMON: You?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: Yep, my mom is one big fighter. I know she can get through this. She's just somewhere where we can't see her right now. She's just waiting.

LEMON: What would you want to say to her, if she could hear you?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: That we love you, and we just want you home now.

LEMON: There are dozens of families, sadly, dealing with the same thing that you're dealing with. What do you say to those families? R. ENGEBRETSEN: We just say, hold onto the support for all of us. We're all in this together. We want all the best for everybody to come out of this as possible. And just hope that -- don't ever give up.

And, you know, God will provide for us. And He has provided. We just, you know, rally in that strength, that we have our faith and know that whatever it is, whatever the outcome, we know that God is with Sherry (ph) right now.

LEMON: You're prepared for whatever outcome?

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes, we are. We are prepared.

LEMON: The entire world is watching you.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes.

LEMON: Outpouring from everywhere.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes.

LEMON: What do you think of that?

R. ENGEBRETSEN: I think that's very positive. We would do the same for anybody else. I mean, we did that for all the people in 9/11 or Oklahoma City, when that disaster happened. We were there praying and supporting all those people. I know those people are supporting Sherry (ph) right now. Getting that in return.

LEMON: When the girls told me their story about being adopted?

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes.

LEMON: Tell us what kind of person Sherry (ph) is. Obviously, you know, to go to Columbia and adopt two kids, it takes a special person to do that.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Oh, yeah. We had gone down the road and obviously wanted to have our children. When that biological didn't work, we found an avenue through a facility here at Jewish Family Services. And these are two great people we were able to adopt. It's a neat story. And Sherry (ph) was very supportive of that process. I mean, she loves her children.

Just the one example, I mean, Sherry (ph) has been with these kids in all their high school, elementary and middle school and she supported them in their studies, helping them in their writings, and whatever homework they had. She is a great supporter of whatever activities they were in. We were always there for our kids.

Just a very positive person, very outgoing, a person, very loyal person, a person that has great strength, a person that is very communicative person. A person that you would want to know. A person that you would want to have as your friend. We're lucky to have her -- as my wife, and as a mother to our children. LEMON: Yeah. You were just kind of laughing because you said she's a very private person, earlier, and she hates pictures. I've asked you 90 different ways, can we get a picture of her? You said, no, she wouldn't want her picture on television.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Probably not. Maybe we can see what we can do. We'll look into that.

LEMON: We'd appreciate to have it so the folks -- there are a lot of people pulling for you. It's a very personal side of the story.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Exactly. I understand that.

LEMON: Anything else you want to say to people who are watching, and who may be wanting to help, or wondering about what you're going through?

J. ENGEBRETSEN: I would like to talk to my grandpa, he's watching right now. That we know that if he could be here right now, he would. Grandpa, we're praying for you. Just stay strong at home, OK. My mom is an only child. So, my grandpa just lost his wife about a month ago, a couple of months ago.

LEMON: You guys have each other.

R. ENGEBRETSEN: Yes, we have each other. To the nation, thanks for all your support, you're prayers. Keep praying for Sherry (ph). Keep praying for all the people that are missing and unaccounted for, or that were injured, yesterday. Whatever their status is, we just -- our prayers for everybody.

And we hope that some of this will have a positive resolution. But as I say, we're prepared for anything.

A. ENGEBRETSEN: And I guess I would just say if you love someone, tell them you love them, and always tell them that you love them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, how difficult is that to hear? And to know that there are as many as 50 cars in the Mississippi River right now. How many other families are waiting for news on their loved ones? And with each passing moment, how anxious do you get?

And how difficult is it to hear the effort referred to by all of the officials as a recovery effort. Can't imagine.

Views from the scene. Incredible iReports pouring into CNN. Helping us to tell the story today. And covering all of the angles. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Updating the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota. Police say 20 to 30 people may still be missing. Divers are searching the Mississippi River now for the bodies of victims believed trapped in their cars. Officials say it will take days.

Right now, the death toll stands at four, but it is expected to climb. Hospital officials say 79 people were injured.

HARRIS: There have been other bridge catastrophes in this country. Here's a look now at some of more familiar ones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: (voice over): November 7th, 1940, mid morning, Tacoma, Washington, the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge over Puget Sound. It was known as Galloping Gertie, and that was before it began swaying in the wind.

Open for traffic only four months, the bridge failed due to vibrations from the winds over sound. Fortunately, no lives lost.

December 15, 1967, late afternoon, the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the Silver Bridge built in 1928; 31 vehicles all off the suspension bridge into the water, 46 people are killed.

June 28th, 1983, early morning, Greenwich, Connecticut, a 100- foot section of the northbound Mianus River Bridge collapses. Seventy vehicles fall into the water. Three people are killed.

April 5th, 1987, daytime, near Fort Hunter, New York. The Schoharie Creek bridge collapses during heavy flooding. Ten people are killed.

April 1, 1989, daylight, the Hatchie River Bridge, Covington, Tennessee. A 100-foot section collapses after several days of flooding. Eight people are killed. October 17th, 1989, a 50-foot section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapses during the Loma Prieta earthquake. One person was killed.

Nearby, a long section of the Cypress Street viaduct in Oakland, California, also collapses, 40 people lose their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: On the bridge, watching the tragedy before their eyes, amazing stories of survival after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: No baseball today at the Metrodome. That bridge is a major artery to the stadium and many other places in Minneapolis. Last night, the Twins decided to play ball, despite the tragedy, though. Officials thought about calling off the game, but were afraid the surge in traffic would hamper rescue efforts. They are still deciding what to do about this weekend's series against Cleveland.

CNN NEWSROOM coverage of the bridge collapse in Minnesota, continues, right after a quick, with Kyra Phillips here in Atlanta, and Don Lemon on the scene in Minneapolis. I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. We'll see you again tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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