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Trauma Surgeon: Haven't Heard Anything From the Rubble "In a While"; Search for Survivors Goes on Nearly 36 Hours After Collapse; At Least 4 Dead, 159 Unaccounted for in Condo Collapse; More Heavy Equipment Arriving to Aid Search & Rescue Effort; Justice Department Suing Georgia Over Voting Law. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired June 25, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to "Inside Politics". I'm Abby Phillip in Washington, a non-stop 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.

Let's go straight to the frantic search and rescue effort in Surfside, Florida, where 159 people are still unaccounted for this hour. That means 159 families are still waiting, praying that someone they love will emerge from under the pile of rubble alive. Families like this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From one second to the next second, a dramatic change in life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the glue that kept our family together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are hopeful that today will be the day that they find our mom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just the most amazing person in the world. And we would do anything to have her back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: The death toll from the building collapse up to four this morning. Officials caution it may go much, much higher. The big focus right now signs of life. But a sad truth this morning from the scene with every hour the rubble grows quieter.

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DR. HOWARD LIEBERMAN, TRAUMA SURGEON: We haven't really heard anything in a while now. But that's not to say that they're still you know, not people out there that are alive. For different reasons, you know, they might be obviously getting as time's running up, they might be getting a little bit more, you know, sick or ill not as vocal as they were before. But like I said, we're going to keep searching.

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PHILLIP: Our Nick Valencia is there on the scene of this tragedy. Nick there's so much heartbreak right now, but also a lot of hope among families who are still waiting for news.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's plenty of hope here Abby. That's really the last thing that people are clinging on to, in fact, this community center that you see behind me, it's acted as a reunification point for loved ones who are looking for answers.

Some fact, in fact, stayed here overnight, hoping that they'd wake up to more news. I mentioned hope but there's also, you know, the fact is growing frustration among those here with what they call a lack of information.

I spoke earlier to Mike Silber, who was actually in New York, woke up to the news just after 1 am and knew that he had five family members in that building. Those family members he told me just a short time ago had just moved into the building just a few months ago. And he's convinced that they're still alive.

He is growingly frustrated with the recovery effort. He says the rescue effort that's here. He says there are not enough resources being dedicated. And I talked to him. He says he's not angry, but he does think more could be done.

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MIKE SILBER, THREE FAMILY MEMBERS IN COLLAPSED CONDO BUILDING: 16 human beings that are sitting there on the rubble, at the end of the day, not enough is being done. They should call the show our real professionals to come in. There isn't anything being done.

We're being told that things are being done. We're being told that they have the best crews. I'm not discounting their crews. I'm not discounting what they're collectively trying to do. But at the end of the day, they don't have the ability and the capacity to be able to do this.

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VALENCIA: Silber says from his assessment being there on the scene seeing the building collapse that he thinks that there's air pockets and that this collapse. This tragedy was survivable. And he has hoped again, Abby that his family members are still alive.

Here we have seen people showing up to volunteer the youngest volunteer we saw is 13-years-old. He was on vacation here. He said why spend time at the pool when he could chip in and help. But adding to the stress here is the weather.

The weather has just been awful here in parts bands of rain have come through here. But again, you know, this is a point here where people are waiting for more information Abby. PHILLIP: That's right. Thanks Nick. Also on the scene in Surfside, Florida is Chris Cuomo, who is there for our coverage all day today, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: OK, Abby. Look, Nick gave you the right context of what's going on with people who are directly waiting for what's happening. But you have a very complicated dynamic on the ground here because this is a community that is dealing with the agony of the unknown.

This is a tight community. The building the part of the building that collapsed is not unlike an entire phalanx of apartments along the water which one creates fear of other people what made that building special? Why did that one fall?

So that is spreading as is lack of progress. Now that is not a criticism. The conditions here as Nick Valencia explained, make it tricky for the human beings on the ground. They make it much trickier for the pile they're working on.

The moisture is not just adding weight to the pile, which is accelerating it shift, which makes it difficult to be on and the work around and of course, adds an element of challenge for those who may be alive on the inside of it.

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CUOMO: But it is also causing a softening underneath. And these are big challenges for heavy equipment. And for the men and women that are trying to maneuver around. Now they had just made a big shift change, and they brought in a different FEMA Task Force, again, equal in expertise.

I happen to have spent time with these guys. In Haiti, when they dealt with something similar to this a marketplace that collapsed on top of it, 72 hours later there, they pulled people out. So there is cause for hope.

The only other analog for this situation I've ever seen in this country, because remember this doesn't happen in these in this country. I've never seen a building like this collapse under its own weight. That's what the assumption is right now there wasn't a bomb, it's not Oklahoma City, there wasn't a gas line, there wasn't something done that was intentional.

We have no information of anything like that. So this is something unlike what we've ever seen. The only other dynamic that approximates this in terms of the impact on so many people, 159 unaccounted that number is fluid, it could move.

There hasn't been a move in the number of the people they pulled out alive yet. There has been a slight increase in the number of people who've been found who deceased. But 9/11 was the last time I saw this many people gathered around waiting to see whether or not a pile would become a place for a miracle, or where the magic leaves. And it becomes essentially a tomb. That's what people are dealing with

here and struggling with. So you have new men and women on the ground there who know how to do the job? They're coming with a new wave of energy. The rain is a problem.

It's a problem for heavy equipment, they're actually moving out some of the trailers now that brought in equipment to go get more and different equipment to assist with the dig. What we saw last night, and during the day of coming from the basement?

We're not going to see that for a while now. One, the water level has risen with the precipitation. And the weight of the structure that they're dealing with the collapsed structure has also increased because of the volume of the liquid involved now and time.

So they're shifting their people on the site, measuring the shift, just like they did on 9/11. So then you have this other layer to the dynamic, which is a pain. We joined in a prayer service from the local synagogue here there are a lot of people if they who have come out, and who are worried about where their loved ones are.

And they want answers. But there's also patience because they can see the process just a block away and the stories that you hear and the waiting is expanding from the people who live there themselves, the people who have family who were in there and the people who grew up with the people who may be in there.

And I want to bring in someone now who's waiting for word on loved ones. An active member of the community Fortuna Smukler, she's a Commissioner here. She's grown up in this area. And she knew so many of the people in this building, one family in particular an elderly couple.

You're waiting on word; you went to school with one of their daughters. You're connected that way. I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances. What is the most recent word that you had heard leading to where we are now?

FORTUNA SMUKLER, FAMILY FRIEND OF MISSING COUPLE: The only the last bit of information I have is that the family is giving DNA samples so that they can see if they can - in the rubble if they find something that they can at least know who the family members are?

CUOMO: God forbid it goes from search and rescue to recovery. That would be identification?

SMUKLER: We are praying for a miracle. We need a miracle. We need many miracles today.

CUOMO: First, tell me about who were waiting for? Tell me about this couple.

SMUKLER: So I have known Miriam, its Miriam - I had known Miriam about 50 years now when our families were Cuban Jewish immigrants that moved to South Florida in early 60s and 70s. I went to school with her three daughters. I was in the same grade as their oldest daughter. I reconnected with them about 10 years ago because we used to go to the movie or previews together. And we had to wait in a long line for about an hour. And we just got to talk and talk and - always had some great story.

I did go to Feinberg Elementary for just a short time that's where he was a coach. He just always had a wonderful story to tell. And Mariam just my mother passed away 40 years ago and Miriam. You know, when people forget things and people, people forget people.

Miriam every single time had to tell me how wonderful my mother was. If there was somebody standing in line with us, Mariam just had to tell them how wonderful my mother was. Mariam was just a good person and - and their daughter, their oldest daughter reached out to me yesterday morning.

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SMUKLER: I'm a Commissioner in North Miami Beach and - reached out to me yesterday, early morning, seeing if I had any connections to get some information. And all I could do was post on Facebook. I made calls, but nobody knew anything. And I posted on three different groups it turned out to get 1600 shares as of this morning.

CUOMO: What does that mean?

SMUKLER: That people are caring that people loved both Arnie and Miriam. Arnie was so special to the Miami Beach community, because he was telling me one time of the many famous students that he's had as a coach, and he would tell me about them and how they were in gym class.

It just shows that the love that strangers because I certainly don't have 1600 friends on Facebook. It's just amazing how this became 1600 shares and the love that people have.

CUOMO: What does it mean to you that coming out of the pandemic, where everybody's been kept apart for so long, you now have so many people coming out here, not just to gather at the spectacle, but to offer help to pray with some of the faith leaders here and that they are concerned about community here.

SMUKLER: This is says amazing. South Florida has a wonderful community in times of need when we need to come together we do. You may hear that the bad things on the news. But there are a lot of good things to report. And in this tragic moment, there are beautiful stories to tell.

CUOMO: Now I know as a commissioner, people are coming up to you to get perspective. The big looming concern after where are they? And are they OK, is how did this happen? And what I keep hearing is that building Champlain Tower was no different than a dozen other buildings up and down Collins Avenue here, which is where it's located, which is a very famous strip here.

How much concern do you have about getting an answer about why this happened? And assuring people that this isn't something to worry about where they live?

SMUKLER: So ironically, I grew up just blocks away from here and I can't tell you how many times I've been in that building. I am concerned for all of Collins Avenue we're on the water. It's you know, I was talking to my husband last night because there was that 40 year inspection. And I was like, you know, maybe it shouldn't be 40 years; maybe it needs to be 20 years.

CUOMO: Right. And just so for people who aren't from this area there is a 40 year recertification of buildings. This place was finished in 1981. And they go through for structural and obvious other main things to make sure it's OK.

And this building had had requirements for repair. The Head of the COOP, the Condo Board says he saw nothing that would have precipitated an event like this. So there is no indication that Champlain Towers was unusually vulnerable.

But that kind of makes it more frightening, in a way because this doesn't happen in America, our buildings just don't collapse.

SMUKLER: It doesn't. But at the same time, we don't know what happened. It's too early to say.

CUOMO: But something had to happen.

SMUKLER: It would have been a freak incident. We don't know yet. It's too early to say and I wouldn't want to say. I'm married to an engineer. I know that.

CUOMO: You can't get ahead of the facts. And we know that they're going to start doing more. It's just right now it's not safe enough to do anything but measure the activity of the pile.

SMUKLER: Thank you.

CUOMO: Fortuna, I'm sorry for who you're waiting on?

SMUKLER: And if I may--

CUOMO: Please.

SMUKLER: --my North Miami Beach Police Department has been here. They have been amazing. Our North Miami Beach City Staff is willing and able to do anything that the City of Surfside needs as well as the Police Department.

Right now we're one city, we're not different cities. We're all one city we're united and we're all praying for miracles. And whatever is needed for my city. I am here for them as well as the rest of I speak unofficially on behalf of the Mayor.

CUOMO: I got it.

SMUKLER: Almost live.

CUOMO: I got. So listen, I appreciate it. We're here if we can give you any information. We're here to receive any information.

SMUKLER: Thank you.

CUOMO: And I hope there was a miracle.

SMUKLER: Thank you. Thank you for telling the human interest stories and not just the tragic events.

CUOMO: So let's take a break now when we come back here. There are a lot of medical personnel on the ground. Many of them have search and rescue expertise. And again, not since 9/11 to Fortuna's point have I seen so many people ready to help? But there's no one to help just yet. So we're going to come back with Sanjay but what the capabilities are? What the expectations are? And what the reality is next.

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CUOMO: This is part of our continuing coverage of the situation in Florida. You see the reality there people are digging. Now that's from moments ago. And the way you know is that you see sunshine. There are storm way bands coming through this area, dumping rain, and kind of fast and furious and then moving on.

It's a little bit of an inconvenience for the people. It's a huge challenge for the structure. It's adding weight. It's creating a shifting dynamic and making it much more difficult to use big machinery to do what they call "De-layering" which is gently peeling off levels so that you can look for people in search and rescue.

I'm joined now by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. One of the blessings of having you is you get good reporting, as you are giving us your expertise on the medical side. We were mentioning the analogs here. We were both in Haiti when we watch these same diggers. These same first responders pull people out after 72 hours of a pancake collapse? That's what they're hoping for here.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. I mean, you know, I think that they're very realistic in terms of what they're dealing with here. But this is very much - I talked to the medical examiner very much a search and rescue mission still.

I mean, as you know, Chris, I mean, it's very hard to time these things out. Someone is in a void, protected from the elements has access to clean air and has access to even water. There's been rain; obviously, there's been water they can spring.

Its possible depends on the level of the injury, mostly blunt trauma injuries, that are what we're hearing from medical examiner as well. It depends how you know how much protoplasm is like before the resilience before. So it's possible, it is possible.

But 24 hours, as you know, statistically, is the marker, which most people are going to be recovered a lot. That's when that happens. We're sort of working with that presumption as well.

CUOMO: Now with that, you know, in the miracle category, or just the circumstantial kind of deviation category, if you don't believe in miracles, which we both do. 72 hours, this team got people out of Haiti in a pancake collapsing. So that could happen.

The moisture here is a complicating factor. And again, you know, the people who are waiting not since 9/11, have I seen this kind of medical staff assembled waiting to help, but there's nobody to help yet not, you know, in any large number.

GUPTA: I mean the resources in terms of personnel, the equipment, that's not the issue here. You remember, even in Haiti, it took a little bit of time to get a number of journalists are on the ground faster than some of the first responders.

But I think you have trauma surgeons who are actually part of the search and rescue missions. And Chris, I mean, its intricate work, right? It's not as simple as basically lifting rubble off somebody and pulling them out. If someone has been trapped for a period of time, they can start to develop a problem associated the crush injury.

And if you remove the pressure, or the level of toxins associated with the muscle that has been crushed, can be released in their bloodstream one example. Sometimes this is grim stuff. And sometimes they'll have to do an amputation in a situation like that.

They will even put it in an IV, and just start getting fluids ahead of time. The point here is that they've done this sort of work, not in this type of situation, exactly. But they've done this type of work. The medical examiner told me that the last time she had sort of been involved with something at this level, was the Value Jet Airliner crash back in 1996.

An airplane crash, it was the best metaphor she could come up with. It's tough to imagine that's obviously a plane crash, bodies were across a large space.

CUOMO: They have identified some people here also, yes.

GUPTA: They've identified three of the four so far. And they identified the three of the four, just by facial characteristics. One person, they did not do that. I can tell you as well, now, Chris, that one person of the four was taken to the hospital first.

They were alive at the time they were pulled from the rubble, and then they subsequently died was and then that was crushing, obviously, for everybody.

CUOMO: So keep telling you, the numbers are going to be fluid, the reality is going to be fluid. You have to take some solace in that. It's hard for people. We watched earlier, people got thrown into a panic because they saw what appeared to be more body bags being released.

It's not because they have a huge number of discovered deceased, that standard operating procedure just to prepare for the worst. That's what they're doing. So it doesn't mean anything at this point. Sanjay obviously we'll keep reporting on the situation and hopefully we'll be able to get in there and get a closer look.

So we can help you understand why it's so hard for them to make progress as quickly as everybody here wants answers and for good reason. So now we have other news to cover. Let's go to Washington D.C. for the latest from there.

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PHILLIP: And new this morning the Justice Department is suing Georgia over its new voting law. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement that Georgia's law signed - Georgia's Governor signed a sweeping voting bill into law in March ushering a new list of voter restrictions that law has drawn the fury of Democrats and voting activists ever since and now the DOJ. Here's the Attorney General last hour.

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MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia's election laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color in violation of section two of the Voting Rights Act.

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PHILLIP: And Evan Perez joins us now from the Justice Department. So Evan, what do we know about this new lawsuit?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a - this is the first action that the Justice Department is taking to try to challenge some of these laws. As you know, there are a number of states; mostly Republican led states that have been passing restrictions on voting, even though they acknowledged that there was very, very minimal and certainly not anything significant in terms of fraud that affected the November elections.

Nevertheless, because of the claims about the former president and some of his supporters, you're seeing a lot of these restrictions. The attorney general essentially putting the states on notice that he's beginning with the Georgia law, which is the of course one of the first pass.

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