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Condo Collapse Big Clue: Survivor Says Garage, Pool Deck Collapsed First; Heat Grips U.S. Northwest and Northeast Amid Blackouts, Road Buckling; NYC Mayor Race in Chaos After "Test" Ballots Mistakenly Included. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 30, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Day seven as questions mount about the cause of this deadly building collapse. And this morning and eye witness who escaped from the condo tower is filling in critical new details about the timeline of this disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH NIR, ESCAPED FLORIDA CONDO COLLAPSE: There was a big boom and I was running to see where the sound come from and I saw all the garage collapse.

Just (inaudible) God watch us, God was waiting for us to leave the building and then another big boom and then we didn't see anything. It was suddenly quite after the big boom and it was white clouds all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Sarah Nir speaking to me overnight. So critically there she saw the garage collapse first and then the rest of the building. We're going to break down what that means for the investigation shortly.

But first, the dangerous and deadly heat wave that is gripping the U.S. northwest. Record-breaking temperatures have now been reported in California, Oregon and Washington. A lot of people in that part of the country simply don't have air conditioners. At least three people have died in Washington State with hundreds of heat related hospital visits.

And these extreme temperatures -- amid these extreme temperatures, President Biden is going to hold a virtual meeting with governors from western states today to discuss the growing threat of wildfires throughout that region.

We have reporters from coast to coast covering the heat wave in the U.S. and in Canada.

Let's begin with Camila Bernal live in Blaine, Washington for us this morning. Camila what are you seeing? CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey John. So, I think it's important to point out that the temperatures are lower today, but the effects of this heat wave are going to linger for some time.

As you mentioned, here in the state of Washington already three deaths reported in relation to this heat wave. In addition to that about 1,400 people had to be taken to the hospital in these past few days because of heat related illnesses.

They say that on Monday alone about 700 people had to be taken to the emergency room. These are numbers that they've never seen before. And in Oregon, also record-breaking numbers. State officials telling us that just in the Portland area alone about 500 people had to be taken to the emergency room.

In Multnomah County officials telling us that hospitals were at capacity. They had to move patients to make space in some of those emergency rooms and they expect the numbers to go up in the next couple of days, maybe even weeks, because it is going to take some time to analyze exactly what happened during this heat wave.

And there are two things that I quickly want to mention because they are also very concerning for authorities and for residents, power outages. Thousands were left without power during this heat wave and authorities even telling people to conserve energy.

And then the other thing, as you mentioned, the potential for these wildfires. There were warnings all around this area because of these potential fires and I think a lot of these governors that are going to be meet with the president today are going to talk to him about their concerns because these wildfire seasons are only getting longer and deadlier.

John?

BERMAN: Again, part of the country simply not set up for this kind of heat. Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that report.

In British Columbia the temperatures rise to an unimaginable record shattering 121 degrees, 121. At least 233 deaths have been reported in British Columbia since Friday. That is double the average rate and it's not clear how many of those fatalities are heat related.

But the chief coroner in the province calls this an unprecedented time. Paula Newton joins us now with a sense of how things are going there. Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes John look, unprecedented and the chief coroner saying while those deaths have to be investigated, she has no doubt that many were heat related.

Imagine, John, what was going on in Vancouver in the metro area, you'd call 911, you couldn't get anyone to come for sometimes 40, 45 minutes when you would see a loved one, mostly the elderly in distress. Police put the call out to say, look, be patient with us. They were getting three to four times the amount of calls and unfortunately the heat turned incredibly deadly.

They were clear, this was a public health emergency times three. They had already been dealing with COVID, the overdose crisis and then this. And Environment Canada makes clears, John, that in Canada this would normally be, right, a once in a century event. That record- breaking temperature, the highest ever recorded in Canada, 50 degrees above what you would normally see in that town.

Environment Canada says look it's supposed to be once in a century --

BERMAN: Wow.

NEWTON: -- make sure that you realize this could be once every 20 years, maybe even once every five years. And the word to everyone and including the U.S. National Weather Service saying, look heat is deadly. Be aware that when we have this it's just as deadly the things like hurricanes and tornados.

I have to say John as well wildfires also an issue in Canada. And right now near Lynton where they broke that record there is already a fire burning out of control and they are keeping a close eye on this as that so-called heat dome now moves further east into Alberta.

[06:05:00]

BERMAN: Fifty degrees above the normal temperature there. Astounding. Paula Newton, thank you so much for that.

A dangerous heat wave also smothering the northeast, when will the country see some relief? Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for that. Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well John, tomorrow there's relief in the New York City area, Boston, Philadelphia, but for the west no relief in sight. Now, we're not going to see the 120 degree temperatures in the northwest, it will be still 100. But when your normal is 75, that's still well above normal all they way through your weekend.

Here's Sunday for the Fourth of July, looking good across the northeast. Yesterday, they mad a run at 100 in Boston. The wind was offshore. There was no ocean breeze and it just did not cool down. Even breaking a record in Newark at 102.

Look at the numbers though out west, Pendleton, Oregon, your old record was 102 degrees. You broke that by 15, 15 degrees hotter than you've ever been before.

Back up here in Interior, British Columbia, 121. You should be 68. That would be like LaGuardia being 132. I mean that's just how sublime these numbers were.

A little bit better today, no so much for Spokane, but for the coast and even Portland and Seattle better. For the northeast, much better. We go from 97 in New York City today back down to 75 by your weekend. And a very pleasant Fourth of July. John? BERMAN: Yes, it's been tough Chad. You know, I'm in Miami I was

talking to my wife who's in Vermont right now --

MYERS: Wow.

BERMAN: -- 15 degrees hotter in Vermont than where I'm standing in Miami right now.

MYERS: Wow.

BERMAN: Just not supposed to be that way. Thank you so much for that.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime in Los Angeles, masking up again, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads statewide. Health officials in L.A. County are no urging people to wear masks indoors even if they are fully vaccinated.

The CDC estimates the Delta variant now accounts for more than a quarter of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. And we know the vaccine is key to slowing that spread.

Dr. Anthony Fauci though saying he's concerned about a growing divide in the country between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR OF NIH: If you not vaccinated you are at considerable risk. When you have such a low level of vaccination superimposed upon a variant that has a high degree of efficiency of spread what you are going to see among under-vaccinated regions in the states, cities or counties, you're going to see these individual types of blips. It's almost like it's going to be two Americas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And meantime, despite that recommendation, in Los Angeles County Dr. Fauci says he does not expect the CDC to change its mask guidance for vaccinated Americans.

In Illinois where the governor recently recommended everyone bring a mask with them when they leave the house, a coronavirus outbreak at a summer camp to tell you about, 85 teenagers and adult staffers testing positive earlier this month.

Now the camp didn't check anyone's vaccination status. Masks were not required indoors. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus joining us now live from near the camp site. So what more do we know about this outbreak Adrienne?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Erica good morning to you. We know that this outbreak is linked to infecting people in three states and nine counties. One of the countries is Schuyler County, that's where we are right

now. And for a point of reference it's about four hours southwest of Chicago. Here's what we know about the camp. This outbreak is linked to a camp that was geared for 8th through 12th graders earlier this month, specifically June 13th through the 17th.

The camp was also opened to graduating seniors. And Erica, as you mentioned, according the Illinois Department of Health, the staff at that camp, Camp Crossing, did not check the vaccination status of its staff or the campers who attended.

Keep in mind, here in the state of Illinois anyone 12 and up is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. One of the youth who tested positive with COVID-19 was sent to the hospital. Meanwhile, the camp has postponed the other week-long camp that was supposed to happen this month. It's been pushed back to August.

The Illinois Department of Health said the camp is working with the Schuyler County health department to mitigate the situation. They also said the camp is following guidelines of the CDC to clean and disinfect the camp.

Meanwhile, we have reached out to the camp, they have not responded to CNN's request for comment. Again, 85 people infected with COVID-19, that's campers and members of the staff. And it's all linked to a summer camp that happened here in Schuyler County June 13th through 17th.

Erica?

[06:10:010]

HILL: All right, Adrienne Broaddus with the latest for us. And you said impacting in three states with those 85 positive cases. Thank you Adrienne.

Just ahead on New Day we're going to speak with the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy joining us to talk about his concerns when it comes to the Delta variant and also those questions about mask guidance.

New York City's mayoral race meantime in chaos this morning after the election's board mistakenly counted more than 100,000 test ballots. How does that happen?

BERMAN: Yes, what a mess. Plus, a major clue from an eye witness about exactly what happened when the condo building collapsed. This was said to CNN in an interview overnight. We are live in Surfside next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIR: There was a big boom and I was running to see where the sound come from and I saw all the garage collapse.

Just (inaudible) God watch us, God was waiting for us to leave the building and then another big boom and then we didn't see anything. It was suddenly quite after the big boom. And it was white clouds all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Sarah Nir speaking me overnight. That's significant, what she just laid out there. She escaped from Champlain Towers South with her two children and is filling in this critical new detail about the timeline here. She says the garage and the pool deck area caved in first. It caved in first and then she still had time to get out of the building and then saw the rest of the building collapse.

This matches the account of another eye witness who is now among the missing. Michael Stratton says his wife Cassondra frantically called him saying she saw the pool area collapse before the line went dead.

We're going to talk much more about what this means from an engineering perspective in just a moment.

Here at Surfside the search for survivors is entering day seven, 12 people are now confirmed dead, 149 at this point unaccounted for.

Overnight we learned that Champlain Towers South and a sister development, they faced controversy even before the buildings opened 40 years ago for a number of reasons, including clearance on the penthouses. They were ultimately granted exceptions.

President Biden and the First Lady will visit Surfside tomorrow. They plan to meet with family members of the missing. CNN, of course, will bring that to you live as it happens.

Rosa Flores who's been covering this from the beginning joins me now with the latest reporting and the idea that these towers have been controversial and with problems since they -- even before they were built.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, and as reporters that's why we love documents, because they can take you back years and paint a picture, tell you the story.

So like you mentioned, this goes back to the 1980s when this building was under construction, not just the one that collapsed, but also the north sister building. At that point their permits were pulled.

Construction was completely halted for a very short period of time because of a code violation. So what was the code violation? They added a penthouse that was not on the original plans and that put the building above the 12-story limit.

Now John, you and I know you add a penthouse to each one of these buildings it's going to add significant weight. So what happened? Of course, the building was constructed. A week later the contractors went to the city council and the city

council granted them an exception allowing them to continue construction and the city said that they were going to do inspections, of course, because of the added weight.

And now we're learning about this. We've learned about the 2018 report that spoke about the deterioration. And we learned about the letter that was sent to homeowners just months before this collapse.

And by the way, that penthouse, John, sold last month for $2.88 million. And you and I were talking about the assessments, remember, that the assessment for a four bedroom condo was $336,000. Well, that penthouse is that four bedroom condo.

BERMAN: I have to say, one of the things that we're going to learn I think as time goes on is the role that money played in this from the very beginning, whether it was the extra money from building a penthouse above code, whether it was the high price tag for the assessments that maybe some of the condo owners didn't want to pay or slow walked.

Much more information coming to light because of reporting like this from you, Rosa. Thank you so much for that.

Joining me now is Mehrdad Sasani, he's a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University.

Professor, before I just spoke to Rosa I played sound from an interview I did overnight with a survivor, Sarah Nir and her daughter, who escaped from the tower seconds before it collapsed.

And she saw the garage area, that pool deck area, she saw that collapse first. That was the first thing to go she said and then she still had time to get out of the building before the rest of the building went down. What does that tell you if that was the first thing at collapsed?

MEHRDAD SASANI, PROFESSOR OF ENGINEERING AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Yes. If you don't mind, let first me have it (ph) set the stage in that we design buildings with -- for very low probability of collapse. And if they were to collapse we want it to be docile (ph), that means it would be failing gracefully with ample amount of warning.

Which in this -- in -- was not the case here and the collapse was sudden. Of course, there was some lag between initial collapse and final stage of collapse.

[06:20:00]

And one other factor is that usually collapse like this are due to several factors, issues and failures that are in play and that make it more complex. And finally, what we need to look at is variety of scenarios that could follow the garage failure.

Having said that, let's see what we know about this building. The building is made of reinforce concrete. Concrete is a strong in compression, weak in tension, so they use reinforcing bars or rebars to take the tension. This building -- in this building the floor system was made of so-called flat plate. That is about eight inch think concrete sitting directly on top of columns.

Given the sudden nature of collapse one potential mode of failure is so-called punching failure, in which the slab punches through the columns and potentially progress from there.

The other things that we know about the building is that in the pool area, the pool deck, that the 2018 report identified some damages that were in need of repairs. We also know in addition to what you --

BERMAN: Professor -- Professor, can I cut you off for a second, Professor? Professor, can you hear me?

SASANI: Sure. Sure.

BERMAN: I just -- I just --

SASANI: Yes.

BERMAN: -- want to get your take on the sequencing because I think this is important and it's new.

SASANI: Sure.

BERMAN: If the pool deck area and the garage collapse first what does that explain to you? What does that indicate to you about the sequencing?

SASANI: Sure, exactly. So, what happened at that time, the pool collapsed, which means the deck of the pool which was covering the garage initiated collapse. Why that collapse could be due to foundation or other factors, but we know that that deck, as you said, collapsed.

That collapse potentially could lead to two different scenarios of where other scenarios are possible. But two scenarios, one is the potential instability of the foundation of the building, which given that the building was on some more than two -- the portion that collapsed on some more than 200 precast piles. That's also a possible scenario but potentially less likely.

Another scenario that I think is potentially more likely, given the other collapse cases that I've seen and studied is that the floor -- the deck -- the pool deck floor which is the garage roof, as it was collapsing is likely that pulled the building at the ground level and as a result of that pull, in addition to the fact that based on the 2018 report we know that the columns of the garage were deteriorating and due to the salt water as well as salt in the air there were corrosion in the rebars. Potentially there were some fail -- some weak points in the columns as well --

BERMAN: Yes.

SASANI: -- that together this pulling -- BERMAN: Professor --

SASANI: -- of the slab and columns led to collapse.

BERMAN: Professor, we appreciate your insight on this. It does lend some credence to the suspicion that it all began at the bottom here and offers some new insight as to the sequencing.

Thank you so much for your insight here.

SASANI: Thank you.

BERMAN: The New York City mayor's race just a mess this morning after the elections board mistakenly counted more than 100,000 test ballots. So what happens now?

HILL: Plus, a new warning about the potential for violence this summer. What the Department of Homeland Security says is fueling that threat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:20]

HILL: The New York City Board of Elections throwing the New York City mayoral primary into chaos. The board released new numbers suggesting Eric Adam's lead over Kathryn Garcia had narrowed, but then hours later the board backtracked after questions arose and actually pulled the results off the site at one point.

In the statement the board explaining, "It's been determined that ballot images used for testing were not cleared from the election management system. When the cast vote records were extracted for the pull of ranked choice voting results it included both test and election night results, producing approximately 135,000 additional records.

Joining us now CNN Senior Political Analyst John Avlon who has worked with the Board of Elections, served on the Voter Advisory Commission in the past, is throwing up his hands in the break as we -- as we talk about this. There are really like I think three key points when we talk about this.

Number one, as you were saying to me in the break, we want to figure out how this happened, including -- I mean, how the test ballots were left in there. But you said, you're not even convinced that that's actually what happened. What do you mean by that?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There is absolutely no reason to take the Board of Elections at its word, particularly because I question whether they're organized enough to run 135,000 test ballots, let alone given the fact they're too incompetent to erase that total apparently from the numbers they initially released.

Look, folks nationally may be scratching their head. Folks in New York know this all too well. The New York City of Elections is a corrupt, incompetent, patronage organization. And this should give just the latest reason it needs to be ripped up from the roots and totally rebuilt.

HILL: Let me stop you on that point. What are the chances that that happens? Especially in the wake of what we're seeing now.

AVLON: This -- this level of a screw up might actually compel the state and the city to work together on this. And that's where it gets complicated. I don't want to get in the weeks here, but basically even though it's the New York City Board of Elections it's set up under the state constitution. So no mayor can do this alone. You need the governor, the state legislature and the mayor to do this.

[06:30:00]