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At Least 12 Hurt In Building Collapse; Michael Jackson's Daughter Rushed To Hospital; President to Name Susan Rice National Secrity Advisor; Michelle Obama Heckled

Aired June 05, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get straight to the breaking news we have been following all morning here now.

This is out of Philadelphia. This is a building that has collapsed. The city's fire chief confirms that two people are being rescued from that building right now. Could be many more trapped inside. It is an active search and rescue. Firefighters just desperately going through that rubble.

Now, this happened at the corner of 22nd and Market Streets. This is a very, very busy intersection of the city. And the fire commissioner, Lloyd Ayers, described what happened earlier this morning. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AYERS, COMMANDER, PHILADELPHIA FIRE DEPARTMENT: What we have is a demolition, an active demolition going on. We are in search and rescue. We have recovered a total of 12 people at this time. They have all been transported as class threes which means they have minor injuries to being stable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our Sarah Hoye who's on the phone who's actually on the ground there. Sarah, set the scene for us, if you will, what you have seen so far this morning.

SARAH HOYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): So far, it's been a pretty active scene here. I mean, you have a large number of fire trucks and police personnel. A perimeter has been set up to keep people out of the number of blocks to keep people out of this area. The mayor and the police chief are asking people to stay out of the area to allow these people to do their work. As you had stated earlier, Suzanne, two people are still trapped that they are working on. They do not have a definitive number as to how many people are still in the building or underneath rubble. So, they are working diligently.

That call came in around 10:45 this morning. Fire trucks were there very, very quickly. And I believe Michael said earlier as well, there is a fire department two doors down from this building collapse. It was pretty chaotic this morning, speaking with witnesses on the scene who didn't even see the building collapse however they felt it and they heard it. Some people did think that it was something along the lines of a terrorist attack. So, there was initial panic however people seem to be calming down as information is trickling out.

MALVEAUX: And I understand, Sarah, they have told the news helicopters to stay away, they're very concerned about vibrations in the area. They've asked people to be quiet in the area so they can actually hear cries or sounds from underneath the debris. Can you give us a sense of whether or not people are actually listening and abiding by some of the guidelines that they're trying to set in that neighborhood?

HOYE: Yes and no. So, you do have a helicopter that is circling around right now at this moment. I can't tell if it's police or media. There are times when the neighborhood does get a little quiet, however it is lunchtime here. So people are coming out of buildings, people are first learning about this news, so it's taking a little bit to, you know, pass the message along to keep things quiet. However, I will say that this is a very busy area, and it is significantly quieter than it would be on a regular business day.

MALVEAUX: And what are you seeing where you are from your vantage point? Can you describe it?

HOYE: There's a lot of movement. You have the Salvation Army disaster services trucks here. You have a few other city of Philadelphia trucks here. Like I said, a large number of fire trucks. Also, there are a number of canine units on the scene. Some are coming, some are going. There are people in military fatigues also walking with canine animals. The police chief is passing me right now going back to brief some of his officers. So, it's a very active scene. You know, there's police line, yellow tape, many, many spectators, lots of cell phones. People try to take witness of this so it's somewhat chaotic still.

MALVEAUX: And, Sarah, we do know that there are 12 injured, minor to stable condition that people have been taken to at least three area local hospitals, two people who are still in that debris. Is there any evidence of people that are being pulled away or being brought into ambulances and being treated on the scene or has that pretty much died down?

HOYE: Not from my vantage point. If there is, I can't see it. I did see earlier law enforcement breeze through somewhat of a structure. You know, it's one of those -- kind of -- not makeshift but they're items that would carry somebody out. (INAUDIBLE) have been moved around but you can't see where they're going or if they're -- if they're working on somebody specifically. So, from my vantage point, I can't see that however, you know, we do know that there are two people who are still entangled in debris that they're working on.

MALVEAUX: All right, Sarah, we're going to get back to you shortly. I want to bring in Mike Kenish, he's the owner of Liberty Bar and Grill. And, Mike, I understand you were in the basement at the time that this happened?

MIKE KENISH, OWNER, LIBERTY BAR AND GRILL: Yes, I was in the basement.

MALVEAUX: Describe what you saw, you heard.

KENISH: We heard -- we heard it -- we heard a crash and then all of a sudden fire trucks just started pulling up all over the place. But we were getting ready to open up and they started evacuating everybody from all the buildings surrounding the area.

MALVEAUX: And where is the bar and grill in relation to this thrift store?

KENISH: We're across the street and two buildings away.

MALVEAUX: And what are you seeing now?

KENISH: Well, they just -- they just found a body in the back and they took it out and put it on a stretcher. But the firemen are digging out brick by brick. I mean, it's a lot of bricks. It's like a huge wall. Totally collapsed and flattened the Salvation Army.

MALVEAUX: Mike, I know it might be difficult to talk about, but when you talk about a body, are you talking about somebody who looked like they were still alive or do you -- does it look like --

KENISH: I could not --

MALVEAUX: -- somebody who did it look like --

KENISH: I could not tell.

MALVEAUX: -- somebody who was deceased?

KENISH: I could not tell. They were rushing them out. But they were rushing the body out, put it on a stretcher and trying to get that person I guess to the hospital.

MALVEAUX: OK. When did you see this?

KENISH: About, like, 10 minutes ago.

MALVEAUX: Was it from the rear of the building or the front of the building?

KENISH: The rear. It was from the rear.

MALVEAUX: OK. Did it look like they were treating the individual? Or do you have any sense of what they were doing?

KENISH: No. There's just a lot of people trying to get that person out as fast as possible and get them to help.

MALVEAUX: OK. Mike, I'm going to ask you to speak up a little bit if you can. KENISH: Sure. Sure. Sure.

MALVEAUX: It's a little tough to hear you.

KENISH: No problem.

MALVEAUX: But I -- you know, I know you were there. Your our eyes and ears, so we need your help on this one.

KENISH: No problem.

MALVEAUX: Is there anybody in the rear of the building? Does it look like they were searching?

KENISH: They're still digging out. The fire department's still digging out brick by brick. They're doing a lot of work. They're doing a lot of work to find out if there's anybody else in the basement.

MALVEAUX: Can you -- can you tell if it's just the fire department? Does it look like neighbors or volunteers are trying to help out or does it look like this is pretty much cordoned off?

KENISH: Yes, everything is cordoned off, like a two to three-block area.

MALVEAUX: How did you know there was a problem across the street? What -- how did this alert -- how were you alerted?

KENISH: By the Philadelphia fire department.

MALVEAUX: Mike, I want our viewers to know that we're actually looking at live pictures now. There are -- there are an awful lot of people who are around that building.

KENISH: Oh, yes. It's scary, you know?

MALVEAUX: A lot of people --

KENISH: It's really scary.

MALVEAUX: What did you hear?

KENISH: There's usually a lot of -- there's a lot of people in that thrift store every day. And there's a bus -- there's a bus stop right on the side of the building. If you look at the CNN the guy is in the orange shirt, that's like a bus stop right there. So, I can imagine the bricks just flying down, everything just fell like a domino effect.

MALVEAUX: You said that wall was rather large. Can you describe --

KENISH: That wall was about two stories higher than the army store.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

KENISH: Hello?

MALVEAUX: Mike, you're still on the line here with CNN.

KENISH: Yes, I'm here.

MALVEAUX: Stay with us, if you will. You said that there still looks like a pretty earnest maybe a frantic search for people. Can you describe what people are doing at the thrift store inside?

KENISH: They're digging -- the fire department is digging out brick by brick like a chain gang going on trying to get everything out of there. Still searching.

MALVEAUX: OK. And how can you see this? Are you elevated? Where are you exactly?

KENISH: I'm in the front of my store, my bar.

MALVEAUX: OK. Is that on the first -- the first floor?

KENISH: Yes, street level.

MALVEAUX: OK. And, Mike, is there any other activity you see from the front?

KENISH: No, they're just trying to dig out that building as fast as possible.

MALVEAUX: And is it relatively calm in the neighborhood?

KENISH: There's a lot of stuff going on right now. You got Red Cross. You got EMTs. You got fire department, police department.

MALVEAUX: All right. Well, Mike, we're going to get back to you. Obviously, you have a good vantage point there. We're going to get back to you on some of the details.

But I want to bring in our own Don Lemon who also knows the area, knows the neighborhood, knows this particular building very well. Don, we're looking at live pictures here and it does look like there are a lot of people who are going in and out of this building. Mike just told us it appeared that they at least brought out someone. We were -- we're not quite sure what the condition of that person is. What can you tell us? Don, can you hear me? Don't yet have Don Lemon on the line.

Let's do a reset here. This is 22nd and Market Street. This is in the heart of Philadelphia. This is a thrift store. This is where there is an active search and rescue that is taking place. So far, we know that there are 12 people who have been injured by this building collapse that happened about 10:43 this morning. These injuries are, we're being told, minor injuries to stable, that there are still two people that are inside of that thrift store. One of them -- one individual that they were talking to, at least that is the last report from officials, but we just heard from Mike, a witness who's on the scene, who says that he saw somebody being taken out from the back of the building. I want to go to a witness here who is describing just what it was like, the sound of this collapse. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JORDAN MCLAUGHLIN: They were knocking down a building, a three-story building. And what happened was the building collapsed the wrong way and it landed on a thrift shop. And there was people inside of the thrift shop before the building collapsed you saw one person walk in. So, it was -- it was scary. What happened next was I dropped my stuff, and I tried to help people out. There was wooden roof covered with metal and we pulled people out. We ended up getting two people out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: I personally did. There was four or five people that were found within the first 10, 15 minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.

MCLAUGHLIN: After that, they told everyone that was from the street, the first responders told us to leave once the fire engines came.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were people yelling? What was -- what was the just emotional state at the time? And did it look as though people were severely injured?

MCLAUGHLIN: There was -- well, what happened when the building collapsed was there was people standing on the corner that was right next to the thrift shop. The building was like it had really big aftershock on the ground. You felt it shake. There was people that actually fell over. People started screaming, they ran across the street. There was people inside the building, you heard them scream. And then, we went over to the building. We said, you know, can you hear us? Can you hear us? Say something. And we tried to find the people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said we. How many other people were coming to the aid of those?

MCLAUGHLIN: There was construction workers --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: -- nearby, probably 10, 15 construction workers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: And after 10 or 15 minutes, they told us to leave and the first responders, the firefighters, came. After five minutes, the fire company right down here came, maybe even shorter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: And they came -- and they worked alongside with the construction workers and I and other people from the street. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you feeling now that you've just had a minute to kind of take this in? You instinctively went in to help people and your life could have been in danger?

MCLAUGHLIN: I'm just happy I made the right decision to try to help people. That's -- you know, I'm healthy, I'm young, I can try and help someone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: I know there's a lot of older people that shop at that thrift store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.

MCLAUGHLIN: And --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was going to ask you, describe the ages of some of the people you saw in there that you were helping.

MCLAUGHLIN: There was -- they were all above 50 except for maybe one lady that we pulled out. She might have been in her mid-30s.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

MCLAUGHLIN: They were all shopping. You -- there was actually, like, clothes that you could see against the wall and stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how long before officials arrived in terms of how long you and some of the other construction crews were helping to pull some of these people out of -- out of the debris?

MCLAUGHLIN: The first fire company arrived three to five minutes after. And then afterwards, no one showed up for another 10 minutes or so. And then, there was a lot of people, firefighters, and they came. And then, they told all of the people from the street that were trying to help to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people were you successfully able to pull out of the rubble?

MCLAUGHLIN: Personally, I pulled out -- helped pull out two. There was five people that had been pulled out after the first 10 minutes that were seen. There was two other people that were seen afterwards. And then there was a big pile of bricks. And they believe that there might have been people in there. So, the firefighters told us to leave. They did -- they -- I believe what they have was an infrared scanner trying to scan to find people's body heat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you instantly know this was a situation of a building collapse or was there ever a thought that this might be something bigger than that?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I knew that someone came in, walked in, and they were -- they've been doing construction on that building for three or four weeks now. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you walked by there many times.

MCLAUGHLIN: Correct. And when the building collapsed, I knew that there -- it wasn't an abandoned building that it fell on right next to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: You've been listening to sound from earlier this morning. One of the witnesses describing what took place there at that building. It is still an active search and rescue operation that is taking place there what is being described as delicate and dangerous work. They still do not know, this according to the mayor of Philadelphia, how many people potentially could be in that Salvation Army store. So, they are trying to check the basement level we are told but also the rear and the front of that building. But you can see just the extensive damage, the wall collapsing from the adjacent building onto this thrift store, this happening several hours ago.

We're going to be following this story throughout the morning and the afternoon, but we also want to bring you this. There are developing stories as well, Michael Jackson's daughter was just rushed to the hospital. This as she was on the list to testify in her father's wrongful death trial. We're going to bring that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're following breaking news story this is out of Philadelphia. You see there the picture of a building collapse. Our Don Lemon is on the scene there and he's got the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, on the phone. Don, if you would, give us an update. I know you're going to ask some questions, we had one of the witnesses who said he just saw what looked like a body being taken out of the building. Are there any updates in terms of survivors or people they might be looking for inside?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, actually, I'm pretty close to the scene. I just happene to be on the phone with the mayor when that news came out, and I asked the mayor to call in, he said he would. There was one that person that was recovered and Mayor Nutter is on the phone. Mayor, you said that person walked away after being under debris for hours.

MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA: Yes. Philadelphia fire department rescued her. And after -- she was buried for about two hours, but they were able to get to her. She had some minor injuries. Obviously transported to the hospital. We've taken now including that young lady, 13 folks to the hospital. But search and rescue continues to see whether or not there are any other individuals in the building.

LEMON: Mayor, at first you said that there were -- you knew of two people in that rubble but there could be more. Is it still the same even though now -- ?

NUTTER: Yes. We can't confirm how many might possibly still be in the building because unfortunately we didn't know how many people were in the store. It was an active store at 22nd and Market, a Salvation Army thrift store. So it's hard to know exactly how many people are there. We know who we've recovered and we're going to do everything we can to see whether or not there are any other individuals in there.

LEMON: Mayor, the fire department is literally about two blocks away.

(CROSSTALK)

NUTTER: It's actually a block away. It's on the same block. I think they were there in about two minutes when the alarm went out. We have a ton of personnel out here. They're doing a fantastic job. We'll continue to pray for everyone that they're safe. There's some activity going on, I need to -- I'm sorry. I'm about 30 feet (ph) away from the scene. Thanks. Bye-bye.

LEMON: Go get the update. Thank you.

Suzanne, you see the mayor is there on the scene. He says he's about 30 feet away. Before you came on he was talking to me about this special operations team they've put in place after 2003. And I just happened to be on the phone with him when that other person was being taken out of the rubble, or at least walking out of the rubble as you said. And I said, mayor, this is happening right now, can you get on the phone with CNN and he said absolutely but I may have to go because he's getting information from moment-to-moment.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

LEMON: It was indeed good news at least that that person walked away. But still as you heard him say, Suzanne, he doesn't know about any other people or person or people who may still be trapped.

MALVEAUX: And, just to get this straight, Don, just to be perfectly clear. So earlier in the morning the mayor said there were 12 people who were injured and it was minor injuries. Really he described them as talking, conscious, awake, alert. There were two people who were trapped inside of the rubble in the building. Since that report he is now telling you that there was this young woman who was rescued after being in that rubble in the debris buried for two hours and he says she walked away. Is that right?

LEMON: Yes. She walked away. And, you know, what you didn't hear in the break I said, probably, mayor, after a lot of praying and hey, help me. He said absolutely. She had been under there for a number of hours, at least two hours. As you heard the commissioner say, under tons of rubble. She must have been in a place where they could hear her and they could get the debris off of her, which would be the special operations team that they put together that helped get that stuff off of her. You heard him say that they have at least 38 apparatus, meaning hook and ladder and all kinds of things and then 125 personnel and the Office of Emergency Management is out there. All those things.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: All right. Don, we're going to have to -- I'm sorry to interrupt. We're going to have to take a quick break, but we'll finish this on the other end of the break here because there is more information that is coming in. Good get on the mayor. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Following a breaking news story out of Philadelphia. This building collapse. So far the latest update from the mayor saying 13 people have been recovered. They are all injured, we don't know of any fatalities at this time, but it is an active search and rescue operation taking place on the ground. Still dangerous and delicate work to see if anybody else has survived that building collapse. We're going to give you -- bring you the very latest information as it develops there.

We are also following breaking news out of Los Angeles. Paris Jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson, has been rushed to the hospital. Sources close to the Jackson family say she was taken there this morning. They say right now the reason for her hospitalization is unclear. But, they tell us she is going to be okay. Now, Paris has pretty much stayed out of the spotlight since her father's death. But she and her brother, Prince, they are expected to be called to testify at the ongoing Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. We're going to update you on her condition as soon as we find out.

And, the president set to announce his new go-to person at the national security foreign policy of course next hour. Republicans already criticizing the choice. That is not a surprise because the president plans to name U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to replace Tom Donilon as national security advisor.

Rice, you know, came under fire mostly from Republicans over the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. I want to bring in our Wolf Blitzer who joins us. First of all, Wolf, it really isn't a surprise that this has come up. She withdrew consideration from becoming secretary of state because of the Benghazi fallout, but most people expected that there would be some sort of appointment, some sort of position that she would get if she just waited it out a little bit.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we certainly did. The president likes her a lot, trusts her. She was a key member of the administration in the first term. She was well-positioned potentially to become the secretary of state until that Benghazi incident. Her appearance on those five Sunday shows. And she was bitterly criticized by a whole bunch of Republicans raising fears about a confirmation process, John Kerry became secretary of state.

But we always anticipated if Tom Donilon, the national security advisor, were to leave that position, and we knew he wanted to leave at some point. she would be the front runner and today the president today in the next hour is going to make the official announcement.

As you know, Suzanne, she does not need Senate confirmation to become the president's national security advisor. He trusts her, he likes her, that's the job she's going to get. It's a bit of a defiant statement by the president knowing that she's come under a lot of criticism from a whole bunch of Republicans, but still he wants her in the job. And that's what he's got.

MALVEAUZX: Talk about the person who's actually going to replace her, Samantha Power, we both know her well. This is somebody a very, very smart woman, an expert when it comes to genocide, but also created a bit of buzz during the campaign when she described Hillary Clinton as a monster who she used to work with.

BLITZER: Yes. A Scottish newspaper in 2008 she was actively supporting then-candidate Barack Obama. And it was a bitter primary as all of our viewers out there remember for the Democratic presidential nomination. At one point she called Hillary Clinton a monster. Then she said it was off the record, but the Scottish newspaper went ahead and reported it anyhow. But she's since made peace with Hillary Clinton.

Richard Holbrook, who was a special adviser to the president on Afghanistan and Pakistan, a former U.N. Ambassador, he made peace between Samantha Power and Hillary Clinton once she became the secretary of state. The president likes Samantha Power like he likes Susan Rice. Now he wants her to go ahead and become the United States ambassador to the U.N. She will need Senate confirmation for that position.

MALVEAUX: Wolf, this story getting a lot of buzz here about the first lady's response to a heckler at a fundraising event that just happened yesterday. I want you to listen at least this is what was captured at this fundraiser.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We have an obligation to stand up for those kids. And I don't care what you believe in, we don't

(CROSSTALK)

M. OBAMA: Wait, wait -- one other thing that I don't do well is this.

(APPLAUSE)

M. OBAMA: So let me make the point that I was making before. We are here for our kids.

(APPLAUSE)

M. OBAMA: So we must recapture the passion that same urgency and energy that we felt back in 2008.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. So I want to go over the part that we couldn't really hear clearly. This is according to of course the pool report, the reporters who were there at that event who actually wrote about it saying that the first lady told that woman she could listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving, you all decide. I have one choice there. And the protester was identified as Ellen Sturts of a gay rights organization called Get Equal.