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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Crews Race To Save Victims Buried Under Florida Building; Biden Approves Emergency Declaration To Coordinate Disaster Relief; Northwest Bracing For Record-Shattering Weekend Heat Wave. Aired 5:30- 6a ET

Aired June 25, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Friday morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's just about 30 minutes past the hour.

And the sun is rising now on a dark day in South Florida. Rescue crews racing to find anyone alive under all that rubble of the collapsed condo building in the town of Surfside that's just up from Miami Beach. Ninety-nine people -- 99 people still missing and one victim confirmed dead.

The husband and son of one woman still unaccounted for, Judy Spiegel, spoke with Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN SPIEGEL, HUSBAND OF WOMAN MISSING AFTER COLLAPSE: We have a lot of hope that Judy is still alive and --

JOSH SPIEGEL, SON OF WOMAN MISSING AFTER COLLAPSE: And still there.

K. SPIEGEL: -- still there.

She's an amazing person. She's great -- a grandmother, mother, wife.

J. SPIEGEL: My mom is an absolutely amazing person. She's a fighter and she fights for every single one of us, and we won't stop until -- we won't stop fighting until we find her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Family and friends waiting desperately for any information on the fate of their loved ones.

The state fire marshal says rescue crews are working carefully in very hazardous conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY PATRONIS, FLORIDA STATE FIRE MARSHAL: They can only work in about 15-minute shifts. The level of exhaustion is enormous. As soon as they come out they're carrying 80 pounds worth of gear.

They're carrying protective equipment. They're carrying concrete saws. Everything has to be manually because of the sheer threat of a building that is unstable looming over them as they are crawling and tunneling under debris to save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Rosa Flores is on the ground for us live in Surfside this morning. And, I mean, it looks as though it were almost an earthquake that struck there. What are -- what are officials telling you?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, you're absolutely right, and we've covered these at CNN and this is exactly what it looks like. It's just we normally don't cover building collapses in the United States. This is something that we usually see in other places.

But the team here in Miami and in Miami-Dade County is a team that has the experience. They've traveled around the world helping other countries deal with the disaster that they're dealing with at home right now.

Here's the latest that we've heard from officials. One hundred two people have been accounted for. The -- what firefighters are doing right now behind me is they are doing everything that they can to locate the 99 individuals who are unaccounted for. Unfortunately, according to officials, one person has died so far.

Now, all of this started yesterday at 1:30 -- very early -- in the morning. And as soon as firefighters responded they started pulling people from the rubble. According to officials, they pulled 35 people from the building and two people from the rubble. At least check at Jackson Memorial Hospital there were two individuals that were being treated for injuries.

Now, this is very painstaking, very dangerous work that these firefighters are doing out here. This as we're learning more about the actual building. We know that it was built in 1981. There's 12 stories, 136 units. Fifty-five of them collapsed.

We're also learning from the attorney that represents the condo association that in the past few months there had been engineering inspections at this location and that nothing had been found. We also know that there was work done to the building.

And a FIU professor that had been studying this building says that there had been signs of sinking back in -- sinking of this building back in the 1990s -- about two millimeters a year from 1993 to 1999.

And, of course, a lot of experts will be looking at this building -- at the structure of this building in the days and probably years to come. And we're having people look at what the videos show -- what the rubble looks like to get an idea. To start looking at a possible cause for this collapse.

We talked to a structural engineer and here's what he saw from the video -- that collapsed. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BATISTA, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: After having seen the video, I saw that -- yes, you see the actual building coming down and the actual collapse begins on one of the lower floors. So immediately, I see that something happened down there.

And what I've told everybody that I've been in contact with is that all it takes is one column -- and maybe it was a column on the ground floor, maybe it was a column in the -- in the garage -- where that can fail, whether it's due to -- due to settling or due to spalling or confluence of those (ph). All it takes is one column and everything can come down like a -- like a Jenga.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And Christine, of course, right now the focus is search and rescue, but at some point -- at some point, the Miami-Dade Police Department will take over the scene to try to figure out exactly what went horribly wrong -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Rosa. Thank you so much for that.

[05:35:00]

As search and rescue teams race against time to find survivors in the rubble of that condo building, one fire official is cautiously holding out hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON RICHARD, DISTRICT CHIEF, MIAMI-DADE FIRE-RESCUE: So in this type of collapse, even though it is a pancake collapse, as the slabs of concrete slide and move towards the ground they do create voids. As the rubble crushes and slabs of concrete land on top of it, there are definitely voids. So we are hopeful that we will find patients in those spaces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let's bring in Samantha Gross. She's a reporter for "The Miami Herald." And, Samantha, you spoke with residents yesterday who were able to escape the building after this happened. What are they telling you?

SAMANTHA GROSS, REPORTER, THE MIAMI HERALD (via Skype): From the residents I spoke with yesterday, it was a harrowing experience. These are people who kind of woke up to loud banging noises and opened their doors to see rubble and dust.

One of my colleagues spoke to a person who had opened up his door and where his neighbor's condo should have been was just dark beach. It's really hard to listen to it. It sounds like a really harrowing experience none of us could really imagine. But eventually, they were able to get help. A lot of them were taken

by a cherry picker from the Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue from their balconies. And there were a lot of survivors who seemed to be in really good condition that were rescued from their apartments.

But I can't imagine what that must have been like and there are still so many people waiting to hear from the missing.

ROMANS: Yes. To open your front door and see empty sky and dark beach where your friends used to live, where families had gone to sleep, just awful.

There was construction on the roof of that building as part of a 40- year recertification process. Can you tell us more about what stage they were in the process and what was happening there in terms of the building and that recertification?

GROSS: Right. So the 40-year recertification had just begun. We don't have a lot of details as to what exactly had been done in that process. It's a long process that can take a year. But all buildings down here have to be certified after 40 years and then every 10 years since.

The replacement of the roof was something separate that had been going on for 30 days is what the Surfside mayor had told us. And I think right now there's a big question mark over what effects that construction could have on what happened. We don't know anything yet. There's still a lot of answers that people are looking for. But there was construction on the roof for the last 30 days or so.

ROMANS: And, Samantha, this 40-year-old building, 12 stories, all those balconies -- the part of the building that collapsed is the part facing the ocean, right?

GROSS: Correct, yes. It was the south tower of the building that --

ROMANS: And for people -- who lived in this building? I mean, is this a -- is this a vacation -- a vacation? Are these people who live full- time? Is it a mix of people?

GROSS: It's a mix. It's actually a pretty diverse mix. And from talking to people yesterday -- I mean, these were families with young kids. These were retired people. These were people who came to vacation. It was a mix.

And we had heard from the property manager and the people who were living there that there were people who were very active in their community. They showed up to HOA meetings. This was a close-knit community and I think that's where you're seeing -- there's just a lot of emotion here because they --

ROMANS: Yes.

GROSS: -- this was a close-knit place.

ROMANS: "Miami Herald" reporter Samantha Gross, thank you so much. And listen, all of our best to all of those people who are working so hard to try to find survivors. Thank you.

Overnight, President Biden declared a federal emergency to help coordinate the disaster relief efforts in Florida.

We want to bring in our old friend Zach Wolf, senior writer for CNN POLITICS, and the author of the CNN "What Matters" newsletter. It's a really smart e-mail every day connecting the dots on all of these stories that matter the most.

And Zach, for better or worse, the disaster response tends to be a hallmark of presidencies -- how presidents respond. What do you expect from Joe Biden in the next few days?

ZACHARY WOLF, DIGITAL DIRECTOR, CNN POLITICS: I mean, Biden, in particular among recent presidents, is sort of uniquely equipped to jump into that role of consoler in chief. He's endured his own tragedies with his own family and in his life. And so I think that he is sort of unique in that he can listen to people in a -- in a very compelling way.

This is -- on the other hand, it seems like a very localized story. It doesn't have the political baggage that some of the other tragedies you, unfortunately, read about, like mass shootings.

And so it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between him and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential rival in the future, plays out. I don't believe they've speaken (sic) but Biden has provided disaster relief for Florida. So that will be something to keep an eye on.

ROMANS: Let's talk about the president's agenda for a second here. The president ran on the idea that Washington could work.

And yesterday, negotiators said they had reached a framework on policing reform. Biden announced this bipartisan deal on infrastructure. Of course, not everyone got what they wanted -- everything they wanted.

[05:40:05]

But look, this -- is this Washington working? Is the -- are these two success stories for Biden this morning?

WOLF: Let me just slightly correct you there. Biden ran on the seemingly crazy idea that Washington could work because it's been so long. I mean, if you -- if you go back during the Obama administration, I don't believe that we had many images of Republicans and Democrats coming together -- certainly not during the Trump administration, although there was policing reform.

So to have these kind of twin frameworks emerge in days is a validation of everything Biden has been saying to the disbelieving press -- people like me -- who have been wondering if he could bring together Republicans and Democrats.

Now, I will say a framework of a deal is not exactly signing legislation, so there's a long way to go, particularly on police reform.

And then if you drill down into this infrastructure bill, it is compromise. It is incredible that he has been able to get Republicans and Democrats together.

But at the same time -- I mean, this complicated -- we must pass a reconciliation piece that Republicans don't like in order to get the smaller infrastructure piece that they do like. That seems extremely rickety to me from just a -- just a logistics perspective of how this actually becomes law.

So it's nice to see the bipartisanship and these people coming together. It will -- I'd remain skeptical that they can actually turn it into law. But we will -- we will watch in excitement to see what happens.

ROMANS: Yes, well-deserved skepticism, Zach. But at least they're not in quicksand anymore. I mean, that's my takeaway. At least Washington isn't just stuck in quicksand.

All right, Zach Wolf.

WOLF: Yes, that's (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: Nice to see you. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:03]

ROMANS: All right, back now to that urgent search this morning for loved ones after the building collapse in South Florida. Almost 100 people are still missing at this hour. Citizens of at least South American countries are among those unaccounted for.

CNN's Matt Rivers has more for us from Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, as we learn more and more about the victims of the partial collapse, it's becoming more and more clear that the United States is not the only country whose citizens have been affected by this tragedy.

In fact, we heard on Thursday from the foreign ministry of the South American country of Paraguay. The foreign minister saying that the sister of the first lady of Paraguay -- the first lady of Paraguay's sister and her family were now unaccounted for after this partial collapse. The foreign ministry is saying that the first lady's sister and her sister's family were staying in one of those towers on the 10th floor.

They were in the country, according to the foreign ministry, to get vaccinated with Paraguayan government saying they spent the day checking in with various hospitals in the area to see if there was any news about the first lady's sister and her sister's family. But unfortunately, they turned up no positive results.

But, Paraguay is not the only South American country affected. In fact, we heard from other countries whose citizens have been affected and are now unaccounted for, including Uruguay, including Argentina, and including Venezuela. And we know that this is a part of South Florida where many people from South America either live permanently or visit from time to time.

Unfortunately, this tragedy touching the lives of citizens from across the western hemisphere.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Just awful. All right, thank you for that, Matt.

Sentencing day for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd. Prosecutors have asked for a 30-year sentence but sentencing guidelines in Minnesota suggest a range of 10 to 15 years is more likely.

Chauvin's attorney filed a motion last month for a new trial.

All right. The northwest bracing for record-breaking and potentially life-threatening heat this weekend. Dozens of records, some of them decades old, are expected to fall. Millions in the region don't even have air conditioners.

Experts say this kind of event is a clear manifestation of manmade climate change.

The west is already struggling with historic drought conditions. Farmers who run this almost orchard in Merced County, Florida -- or California, rather, forced to let one-third of the acreage simply dry out.

Here's meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): The heat is on, Christine, at least across the Pacific Northwest this weekend. The potential exists for shattering -- get this -- over 300 record heat temperatures across Oregon, Washington, as well as Idaho. That's where we have excessive heat warnings.

The National Weather Service says temperatures could exceed 100 degrees. And in some locations, we could experience temperatures never recorded in the entire history of recordkeeping for both Portland as well as Seattle, so this is some serious heat.

Average temperatures this time of year lower and middle 70s. We're talking about the potential of temperatures reaching well above 100 degrees. And this extended heat wave could last right through Independence Day.

On top of that, we're monitoring the potential for flash flooding across the Midwest today. Showers and thunderstorms have the potential to produce upwards of five inches locally over the next five days, from Illinois into Wisconsin, as well as parts of Iowa, Missouri, and Michigan.

And on top of that, we have a chance of severe weather. Look at that shading of yellow. That's a slight risk for isolated tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds, including Amarillo and St. Louis.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, the Hubble's in some trouble. The payload computer aboard the Hubble space telescope has stopped working. It communicates commands to Hubble's instruments and formats data for transition to the ground. If the problem can't be fixed, the operations team will try switching to a backup payload computer.

The Hubble telescope has shaped our understanding of the cosmos for more than 30 years.

[05:50:00]

Let's get a check on CNN Business this Friday morning. Looking at markets around the world you can see Asian shares closed higher and Europe has opened narrowly mixed here.

On Wall Street, stock index futures, right now, moving higher after a big rally yesterday. Stocks rallied Thursday after President Biden announced that bipartisan deal on infrastructure. The Dow up 322 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both at record highs.

Today, investors will turn their attention to a key inflation report at 8:30 a.m. It should show inflation across a wide range of goods and reflects changes in consumer behavior. The consumer sentiment report for June will also be released at 10:00 a.m. So we'll get a good read on what's happening in this booming economy.

Americans are ready to sail again. Carnival Cruise Lines said Thursday bookings for trips next year have already outpaced 2019 levels. Carnival executives say half of its fleet will set sail by or before the end of November with more sailings to be announced.

Cruise lines eager to recover after the pandemic devastated that industry. Carnival said it lost $2 billion last quarter.

All right, Miami's sports community is pitching in to help at the scene of that building collapse in Surfside. Carolyn Manno has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Just such a terrible story there, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine. And a lot of teams and athletes are eager to help. They want to do what they can and contribute however they can. This tragedy is just affecting everybody.

Taking a look at some of what's happening. Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro and two of the Miami Heat's assistant coaches handing out food and water to rescue workers on Thursday. The Marlins loading up three vans full of supplies. They brought them to rescue workers at the scene as well.

Manager Don Mattingly spoke about the tragedy after his team's home loss last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON MATTINGLY, MANAGER, MIAMI MARLINS: It didn't seem to be able to get that off the news this morning, and just that tragedy and seeing that. We're thinking about all the folks in there. And seeing it when I left home, at least, it was one tragic death. I'm hoping it's minimal over there. But that was an ugly-looking scene over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: The Miami Dolphins, the Florida Panthers, and Inter Miami also tweeting out messages of condolence and support for the rescue workers.

Former Heat star Dwayne Wade saying his heart is with the families and the victims of the tragedy, a message that was echoed by baseball star and Miami native Alex Rodriguez.

Turning our attention elsewhere is sports now, history made last night in L.A. The Cubs throwing a combined no-hitter against the Dodgers. It is the seventh no-no of the season, tying the modern-day record with more than half the season still to be played.

Starter Zach Davies striking out four in six innings before handing it over to three relievers to close it out. It's the only combined no- hitter of the season. The Cubs end up winning it four-nothing.

And for the first time in 28 years, the Montreal Canadiens are the Stanley Cup Final contenders. Look at the pass from Phillip Danault to Artturi Lehkonen for the game-winner in overtime.

Fans erupting inside and outside of the stadium as the Canadiens beat the Golden Knights 3-2 to take the series in six. Not bad for the squad that had the fewest points of any playoff team. A Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup since Montreal did it back in 1993.

And Suns' star Chris Paul returning to the floor for game three of the Western Conference Finals last night after clearing COVID-19 protocols. Paul, who tested positive for the virus despite being vaccinated, had 15 points and 12 assists against the Clippers, but it wasn't enough. L.A. pulled away with a big momentum swing in the third quarter. Paul George with 27 in the Clippers' 14-point win.

Phoenix still leads the series two games to one. Chris Paul saying he is happy to be back on the floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS PAUL, GUARD, PHOENIX SUNS: I'm just happy to be out here playing. There's a lot of people in the world who dealt with this and don't get the opportunity that I have. So I'm just grateful to be back out here playing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Chris Paul now two wins away from the first finals appearance of his career, Christine. He's been a little bit snake-bitten with injuries so hopefully --

ROMANS: Right.

MANNO: -- they can get it done and wrap it up.

ROMANS: Nice to see you. Thanks for dropping by. Carolyn Manno with the Bleacher Report.

As we see so often, the worst of times brings out the best in people. Truckloads of food and supplies arriving at the scene of that Florida building collapse. Residents of Surfside and the surrounding community reached out to help those affected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORENZ BOULOS, DONATING FOOD AND WATER: In 2010 -- and I'm from Haiti -- in 2010 there was a devastating earthquake that happened. And I wasn't there but I have family there. Even though I wasn't there I know what it is to need help and stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Red Cross is also providing food and helping suddenly displaced residents find a place to stay.

We'll be following this story all morning long here as the search and rescue continues.

Thanks for joining us this morning. I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:58:45]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, June 25th. I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar.

You can see CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on the scene in Surfside, Florida watching this desperate search and rescue operation. We're going to get to Sanjay in just a minute.

Crews there have been working through the night to locate survivors in this devastating building collapse. Ninety-nine people -- 99 still unaccounted for this morning. We know at least one person is dead. Rescuers are using dogs and listening devices to see any signs of life.

We're expecting to hear from officials there shortly.

We have this video that came in from inside a parking garage where rescuers have been focusing their search. Look at this. It is delicate work, it is dangerous work. Structural engineers are working alongside behind -- along -- beside them to make sure that it stays safe and there's not any further collapse.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, it all looks incredibly perilous, right -- where they are right there. Surveillance video, as you can see here, shows the moment that this building collapsed.

This morning, we'll be talking to a number of experts who are attempting to figure out -- to explain how this might have happened.

In the meantime, family members are holding on to hope and they are desperately waiting for answers.