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Mayor of Surfside, Florida, Charles Burkett Interviewed on New Information Regarding Reports of Possible Structural Damage to Building which Collapsed; Interview with Man Who Lived in Collapsed Building in Florida and Stayed Night with His Girlfriend When Building Collapsed; Book Bombshells Reveal Depths of Trump's 2020 Delusions. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 29, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:06]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Tuesday, June 29th. I'm John Berman in Surfside, Florida, Erica hill with me in New York this morning. It is day six of this heartbreaking search and rescue operation here at the site of the collapsed condo building. Search teams combing through concrete and mangled steel inch by inch still this morning, hoping to find a survivor. Showers and thunderstorms, we just heard a rumble seconds ago, might hinder their efforts today. The death toll as it now stands at 11, 150 people unaccounted for.

So just two days before the building came down, a pool contractor snapped these photos in the basement garage. He shared them with "The Miami Herald" and said he was struck by the apparent lack of maintenance and the amount of standing water. Residents and a former worker tell "The Washington Post" that reports of leaks and flooding in the garage go back decades, although, it's not clear whether they contributed to this disaster.

And breaking news. Just moments ago, CNN obtained a letter sent by the condo board president to the residents of the collapsed tower warning about the severity of the damage prior to the collapse and the urgent need for repairs. That letter was sent in April of this year, just two months ago. The Champlain Tower board president wrote, quote, "The observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection in 2018. The concrete deterioration is accelerating, the roof situation got much worse, so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated." The letter seeks to explain a $15 million price tag for repairs, much higher than the initial scope of the 2018 work estimate.

I am joined now by the mayor of Surfside, Florida, Charles Burkett.

Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us once again. We are just getting our first look at this letter sent by the board president in April, we're talking two months ago, saying the situation getting much worse just in the last three years. How does that strike you?

CHARLES BURKETT, MAYOR OF SURFSIDE, FLORIDA: Well, it's all starting to come together now, because as I've said all along, there was something very, very wrong at this building. Buildings in America just don't fall down like this. This is a third world phenomenon, not a first world phenomenon. And I think we're going to see many things like this come out.

BERMAN: It's pretty frustrating. It's even maybe more than frustrating when you see what they were told in 2018. You see what they knew in 2018. And then to hear the condo talking about it just two months ago is even worse from then.

BURKETT: I think -- I think no one -- it's hard to imagine anything causing a building like that to fall down. And I think from the perspective of a condominium association, which is just like a homeowner, except bigger, they probably don't grasp the intensity of the issue, and probably didn't. Probably just thought it was a pro forma sort of operation that we'd have to get around to doing. Obviously, that was a fatal mistake.

BERMAN: Listen, you were just on-site a little while ago.

BURKETT: Correct.

BERMAN: And you told me there is new concern about debris falling from the part of the building --

BURKETT: Yes, they've moved -- they put a little bit of a line on the pile of debris because they did have -- overnight they did have some stuff falling down from the building that's still standing. And that's going to have to be addressed. And I understand from my discussions over the past few days that they will address that. They will have to pick those pieces off, tie them to the crane, cut the steel, and remove them so it's safe for the workers to really get down in there.

BERMAN: So that's hindering work in one area, but there's a different area which you saw where they're making new levels of progress.

BURKETT: There's a major focus, there's a major intensity. There are waves of men and women, I was told there's about 100 people on the pile right now with hundreds waiting standing by to get up there as those men and women tire out. So I'm not too concerned about the manpower issue. I just want to be able to keep working. We've got some lightning and thunder right now, and it may go as fast as it came. So we're just praying for that to happen.

BERMAN: Any update on victims found?

BURKETT: You know, I can't comment on that.

BERMAN: OK.

BURKETT: Out of respect for the families, because we're going to go up at 9:30 and we're going to talk to the families. They find out news first.

BERMAN: I appreciate that.

BURKETT: And I can come back and give you that update.

BERMAN: Finally, just last question here. I do know also there is an update on the north tower, the sister building to this.

BURKETT: Yes. We have -- I have -- we've worked with our partners. We have funding in place now for anyone that wants to relocate out of that building who is fearful because, remember, that's the same building, same contractor, potentially the same materials and on and on. And people are afraid. So if they want to move, we're going to support them. We're going to get them out until the inspections are done, which is probably going to take two or three weeks. And then we'll know with more certainty whether that building is safe or is not.

[08:05:00]

BERMAN: Mayor Charles Burkett, as always, thank you for joining us.

BURKETT: My pleasure.

BERMAN: Your continued communication is so helpful to us and the community.

BURKETT: Thank you.

BERMAN: The names of all 11 victims identified so far have now been released. They range in age from 26 to 82. They include a father of two and a mother whose 15-year-old son was pulled from the rubble alive. Last night a beach side vigil was held to remember the victims and to pray for those still unaccounted for. One man whose mother and grandmother are among the 150 still missing is holding out hope and demanding accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PABLO RODRIGUEZ, MISSING MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER: It's shocking that they allowed it to get into this. It's negligence, and their negligence caused a lot of death here. It's very difficult not knowing and really the only hope I have is that they find them, we can have some kind of proper burial, some kind of closure, and hope that they investigate this and the people responsible are held to be responsible, they're held to be accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We're also hearing incredible stories of survival, a twist of fate that saved lives of the residents who might very well have died in Thursday's building collapse. Erick de Moura lived in an apartment in this building for about three years. He should have been home Wednesday night, but because his girlfriend, Fernanda Figueiredo, insisted he stay at her apartment, Erick is alive today. And Erick and Fernanda both join me now. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm so glad you're here. It's a miracle in many ways. You stayed over at her apartment Wednesday night because of a soccer game basically. Explain.

ERICK DE MOURA, LIVED IN COLLAPSED BUILDING: Yes, so that day there was a soccer match between Brazil and Colombia. We had some Colombian friends over. And I went there. I was supposed to come back home because I had some appointments in the morning. And I was right at the door about to leave, and for some reason she just asked me to stay because one of her kids wasn't home. So we were going to have a little date.

Usually on Wednesday we don't have a chance to spend time together. So I was very uncomfortable because my pants were wet, my clothes were all wet because I had to jump in the water to get a soccer ball, and I wanted to come home. It's very chilly, very cold here. I wanted to take a shower and be comfortable. But she kept insisting for me to stay. And when I woke up at 5:30 to check my phone to set my alarm to wake up for my appointment, I had some notifications telling me that the building had collapsed.

BERMAN: So that's how you found out. You woke up and checked your phone.

DE MOURA: Yes, that's how I found out.

BERMAN: Messages from people asking what?

DE MOURA: It was a message from friends, but there was one particular message that got my attention. It's from Rochelle (ph) who works at the building, and her message was at 3:30 in the morning asking if you're OK. And I got really surprised. Why is she texting me at this time and asking if I'm OK. That's when she sent me -- I called her. She said thank God you're alive. I said, what happened? The building collapsed. So, you're half awake, half asleep, and somebody tells you your home collapsed, a building in Miami. You just don't believe it.

BERMAN: So you wake up. And what does he tell you? Is

FERNANDA FIGUEIREDO, GIRLFRIEND OF RESIDENT OF COLLAPSED BUILDING: My building collapsed. Everything gone. And I couldn't believe because it's so unreal that a building like this, and he could be there a few hours before. And when he told me the building was collapsed, and I mentioned something different, like some accident. No, the building fall. And I really insisted for stay, and I can believe another reason he's alive is God. God had protected him in that moment because it's possible you be here.

BERMAN: Every other Wednesday night he would have gone back and slept in his own apartment?

FIGUEIREDO: Every day he goes back home. He wants to go back home. I said you stay this night. And I asked him that morning, when, what Wednesday we had a chance to be alone. This is unusual. But many things happened that night turns the fact is normal effects be special effects, because he's alive.

[08:10:05]

BERMAN: You're here now because of her, in a way, and the Brazilian soccer team.

DE MOURA: Yes.

BERMAN: Just one more success for the soccer team. Listen, you know so many people in that building.

DE MOURA: My first reaction after letting her know, letting Fernanda know about the collapse, was driving here. And for some reason I come here like two or three times a day. Some delusional way, I think they're going to tell us go back home.

BERMAN: Go back home, the building is going to be there.

DE MOURA: Yes. We are in a hotel. All the residents, all the survivors are in a hotel on 92nd street, and there's a lot of sadness, but there is also joy of the people who are all right. And a lot of pain because from all the people that are missing, we are friends with some of them.

BERMAN: Sure.

DE MOURA: Some of them we saw every day. And even though we are not family, we saw those people almost every day. Some of them we chat. We join the pool and the beach together. So there's definitely a lot of pain at this moment. I'm very grateful to be alive, but very sad for the tragedy like everybody is.

BERMAN: What's it like to look at the hole where the building was?

DE MOURA: It's disbelief. I'm heartbroken. It's very painful to watch. It's very sad. Who could believe something like this could happen here?

BERMAN: Anywhere.

DE MOURA: I'm from Brazil, and it happens once in a while. It wouldn't be such a surprise. But here we brag about the law and how America is supposed to be fair. And in an area like this, even if it wasn't my house, but in an area like this, how could you imagine something like this happening?

BERMAN: He talks about looking at where the building is supposed to be and being in disbelief the building is gone. When you look at him now, by all account, he should be gone. When you look at him, what's that like?

FIGUEIREDO: Happiness, grateful to be alive. Each season of the day can change your day, can change your life. Feel in your intuition, because, I feel in my intuition that man, and he's here for this reason. Something ordinary turns extraordinary in my life.

BERMAN: How long did it take you to let everyone know who messaged you? There had to be so many people who know exactly where you live.

DE MOURA: I've been getting so many messages from friends, from people that I don't know, which is very touching for me. The kind words of people that I don't even know. And every day I'm getting messaged. Every hour I get surprised by people I haven't seen in a long time. They either saw in the news or some of them recognized the balcony that I used to take pictures of the sunset or the sunrise and post on my social media.

BERMAN: What are you going to do with this now? You've got --

DE MOURA: To be very honest with you, from the bottom of my heart, I don't know. I haven't realized what happened. I haven't cried. I feel like I'm in a movie, and the movie is going to end sometime soon. I spent the whole day in the apartment. From the time I left to go to Fernanda's house to watch the game to the time that building collapsed, it's seven hours. I just live day to day. Not being home is extraordinary because that was my home. That was my home.

[08:15:00]

BERMAN: I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you have each other. I'm so glad you made him stay that night. You're going to need each other I think even moreover the next few days because this isn't easy. This is going to be so hard.

DE MOURA: Yes. It's a difficult situation for everyone involved. My heart and my prayers go out to the families. We feel what they feel right now. We were together at a prayer. You hear so many people crying, you know.

We don't have a lot of -- the association hasn't communicated to us. The city of Surfside hasn't communicated to us.

BERMAN: Did the condo building ever tell you there was any -- did you know there were problems with the building?

DE MOURA: People knew about the report. We thought there were things being done about it. I don't know if you had a chance to just look at the building, a closer look. You're going to see some -- there's aesthetic damages.

You don't think a building is going to collapse, especially when you live in a city like this. It's a small city. It's a small town. You think everything is being done to keep everyone safe.

And what's shocking to us at this point right now is we are having to find out -- we're finding help mouth to mouth. The city hasn't made us a phone call to say, hey, guys, FEMA is helping you guys this way. The Red Cross is helping you guys that way.

We created a group, a message group. And as we go finding things, we just communicate to each other.

BERMAN: CNN got hold of a letter this morning sent by the condo board president in April saying that the damage to the building, that they had known about a few years, was getting worse.

DE MOURA: Yes.

BERMAN: And you really need to do this $15 million assessment and repairs. Did you get that letter?

DE MOURA: Yes, yes.

BERMAN: And what did you think when you got that letter?

DE MOURA: Aesthetically, you look at the building and you look at the north tower. They need money to fix a lot of things. There were leaks in the garage. There were cracks on the balconies. So, yes, we need the money to fix it, you know. But unfortunately it was late.

BERMAN: Listen, Eric, Fernanda, again, I'm so glad you have each other. Thank you for being with us this morning. Please be well. Let us know if there is anything we can do.

DE MOURA: Thank you.

FIGUEIREDO: Thank you.

BERMAN: It's a remarkable story.

DE MOURA: Thank you.

BERMAN: Coming up, we're going to have more on the search for the missing here in Surfside. I'm going to speak to a woman holding out hope for her best friend.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And up next, why the doctors handling President Trump's COVID response almost banded together and quit.

Plus, conservative Supreme Court justice takes a surprising position on pot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:00]

HILL: Just how far down the rabbit hole did former President Trump go in the hunt for voter fraud to overturn the election? His self-serving conspiracy theories and attempts to prosecute political opponents, not one, not two, but three new books are breaking down the delusions.

Just over six months since leaving the White House, three new books now detail former President Trump's efforts to abuse power during his final year in office, alleging Trump's attempt to enlist the Justice Department to help overturn the election results, using one much his closest cabinet allies, then Attorney General William Barr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: This is total fraud. And how the FBI and Department of Justice, I don't know, maybe they're involved. But how people are allowed to get away from this -- with this stuff is unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Barr often repeated some of Trump's false claims about election integrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When you do all-mail-in voting ballots, you're asking for fraud.

BILL BARR, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I do think it increases the opportunity for fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: But by December 1st, Barr publicly admitted there was no evidence of widespread fraud. The former attorney general describing the fallout with Trump to ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl in his new book "Betrayal" an admission that resulted in a heated White House meeting later that afternoon, where they discussed Barr's comments that there was no election fraud.

One person telling Karl, Trump had, quote, the eyes and mannerisms of a mad man. Trump asking Barr, did you say that? Barr responded, yes, to which Trump fired back, how the F could you do this to me? Why did you say it? Barr replied, because it's true.

Karl writes the former president then switched to speak in the third person, saying, you must hate Trump. You must hate Trump.

In the book, Barr also said Trump's claims of election fraud were quote, all bullshit and called his legal team a clown show. But just weeks later, Trump's efforts to overturn the election reached a dangerous boiling point, when an angry mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.

Controversial journalist Michael Wolff described what was happening inside the White House in his book "Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency."

Despite Trump's senior advisers knowing former Vice President Mike Pence would not go along with efforts to reverse results from states that now President Joe Biden had won, according to Wolff, those advisers were too afraid to tell Trump the truth. Instead, Wolff writes, Trump dove deeper into conspiracy theories about the election, thanks to guidance from his long-time adviser Rudy Giuliani who led failed legal efforts to overturn Trump's loss.

Wolff's also described Trump's reluctance to ask the rioters to stand down, even when his daughter/adviser Ivanka Trump allegedly called the insurrection an optics issue.

And last summer, with racial justice protests happening in cities across the nation, Trump reportedly had a shouting match with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, over wanting to use military force to end the demonstrations.

[08:25:00]

"Wall Street Journal" reporter Michael Bender describing the heated exchange in his upcoming book "Frankly, We Did Win This Election." According to Bender, Milley privately pushed back against Trump's efforts, telling Trump, he was an adviser and not in command.

This caused the former president to lash out during a Situation Room meeting with other officials. Trump shouted at Milley, I said you're an F-ing in charge. Well, I'm not in charge, Milley yelled back, before later saying to others in the room, goddammit, there's a roomful of lawyers here. Will someone inform him of my legal responsibilities? To which Barr replied, he's right, Mr. President. The general is right.

We are also getting fresh insight into the Trump administration's chaotic and dysfunctional response to the pandemic in a new book out today which reveals the former president fretting about his reelection as he berates then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in mid-March.

Testing is killing me, Trump explained. I'm going to lose the election because of testing. What idiot had the federal government do testing? Do you mean Jared? Azar asked.

Joining me are now the co-authors of "Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic that Changed History".

Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta are here with us.

Good to have you both here this morning.

It wasn't just about testing. It was a missed opportunity. In other headlines I know we've been talking about the last couple of days, that the idea was floated to bring infected Americans to Gitmo, to get them send out of the country, that there was resistance to sending masks because they would look like underwear on your face. So many moments.

I want to start with this one, though, that really stood out. The president, former president and his efforts to bypass the FDA when it came to unproven drugs.

So, here's what's in your book. Trump had another order for Azar. Laura Ingraham, the Fox News firebrand, said that hydroxychloroquine worked as a cure against coronavirus. Trump told Azar, Ingraham taken hydroxychloroquine while traveling in Africa and had not become ill. These are very smart people, Larry Ellison and Laura Ingraham, and they say they work, so just approve them.

He wanted Alex Azar to go around the FDA. Yasmeen, how did that turn out? What was the rest of the conversation?

YASMEEN ABUTALEB, HEALTH POLICY REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: So, what happened was Secretary Azar then went to his general counsel at the health and human services to see if he did have the legal authority to overrule the FDA. And I think one thing that's important is HHS is actually the parent agency of FDA and CDC and a number of other health agencies. So, Alex Azar is the FDA -- was the FDA commissioner's boss. So there was a meeting later that day where the president was talking

about this with a number of advisers, including Anthony Fauci, the former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the current FDA Commissioner Steve Hahn and a number of others, saying he wanted these drugs approved that day. It was March 18.

Secretary Azar came into that meeting saying he checked with his general counsel. He did have the authority to overrule the FDA, and he could approve the drugs that day. The other advisers in the room talked the president out of it, so it didn't end up moving forward.

But as we saw play out, the president did remain fixated on hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir was eventually authorized for emergency use after the FDA had gathered enough data from the clinical trials.

HILL: We heard in bits and pieces. But we learned how serious the threats were to health officials, Damian. In fact, you opened with a threat specifically to Dr. Fauci.

DAMIAN PALETTA, ECONOMICS EDITOR, WASHINGTON POST: Yeah, I mean, it was amazing. I think Yasmeen and I both got chills when we heard the story that in August of 2020, Anthony Fauci received a white envelope to his house. He was getting a thousand letters a day to his office. But a handful of letters were being sent to his house.

And when he brought that envelope into his office at the NIH, he opened it with his metal opener, a bunch of white powder exploded all over his face and his suit. And he had to be, you know, stripped down naked and decontaminated. They feared that it could ricin or anthrax, which means he'd either have to take aggressive medicine or he can die.

And a similar envelope was sent to Dr. Redfield that had powder in it, and obviously, Dr. Birx was receiving a ton of death threats to her home. You know, there was a lot of public animosity, you know, pushed by the president towards these doctors, but I think a lot of Americans don't know the abuse that they faced from the public and how much this really hit them hard.

They thought they were doing their job in many cases. Yes, they made mistakes. But they were under so much pressure. A lot of it continues to this day quite frankly. They are still getting attacked all the time.

HILL: Which is awful on so many levels. At one point, as I understand it, Deborah Birx, and Hahn and Redfield actually discussed resigning as a group. And, they, yes, made that clear to the vice president's office.

ABUTALEB: They did. There was this doctor's group of Dr. Birx, Dr. Hawn, Dr. Redfield and Dr. Fauci.

Dr. Fauci is a career civil servant so he couldn't be fired by the president, but the other three could. And at one point in the spring when like Damian said they were enduring all sorts of abuse both from the administration and from the public, they had all thought about quitting at various points. They just thought they maybe couldn't take it any more.

[08:30:00]