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CNN Sunday Morning
What's Next for Congress After Cuts; Biden to Join Marches in Selma; Vacancy at the Vatican; Crews Demolishing Sinkhole House
Aired March 03, 2013 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mission has changed because we can no longer sustain a rescue effort.
KEILAR: The Florida sinkhole that swallowed up one life is threatening a whole neighborhood. Wait until you see what authorities are doing to the houses just minutes from now.
It's the first Sunday without a pope. Now, the cardinals are descending on the Vatican to elect the next Holy Father.
Accused murderer Jodi Arias expected on the stand last Monday. Last week's display of sobs and cries may have swayed the jury but our body language expert says it was all an act.
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KEILAR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Randi Kaye. It is Sunday, March 3rd. And we're glad you're walking up with us.
Happening right now outside of Tampa: demolition crews about to tear down a house sitting on a giant killer sinkhole. That hole is about 50 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The ground is now so unstable that wrecking crews will have to demolish from a distance. They won't take their equipment past the sidewalk there.
And this also become so dangerous that search crews have been forced to give up the search for Jeff Bush's body. He was in his bed when the hole opened up and ground collapsed beneath him. There are fears now that the hole could spread to neighboring houses. At least two families have left. We'll take you to the ground outside the house in a few minutes.
And most of the people chased out by a brush fire in Daytona Beach are back home this morning. Firefighters there say they've got it about 75 percent contained. At one point, about 300 families had to leave and leave quick because the fire was moving so fast. Winds and low humidity have been feeding the fire. Those are the same conditions that are expected today.
The crew aboard International Space Station is getting ready to lock down the Dragon cargo vehicle. You can see it there. They actually use the station's robotic arm to reach out and grab it earlier this morning. And they'll dock to the station around 9:40 Eastern. We'll be looking at that obviously.
And you may recall, there were some glitches when the Dragon launched on Friday. That's why it's been delayed. This is an unmanned capsule. It's carrying about carrying 1,200 pounds of supplies for the station crew and their experiments. So they are certainly anxious to get it.
Now to Washington, when lawmakers are expected back this week. They've got some unfinished business to handle. And dealing with those forced spending cuts now in effect isn't the only big thing on their plate.
Here's CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash with more.
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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The House speaker walked out of an unproductive White House meeting about spending cuts going into effect now and instead focused on the next looming crisis. The end of this month, March 27th, when funding for the government runs out.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm hopeful we won't have to deal with the threat of a government shutdown while we're dealing with the sequester at the same time. The House will act next week and I hope the Senate will follow suit.
BASH: John Boehner and House Republicans plan to pass a bill next week to keep the government funded through September 30th, the end of the fiscal year. And along with that, deal with some of the pain from forced cuts going into effect now, just for the military, by giving the Pentagon some leeway in its new budget.
REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R), TEXAS: It is going to help update the categories which will reduce some of the damage.
BASH: But that does not necessarily mean crisis averted. Why? Congressional Democrats are skeptical about helping the military and not other Americans hit by spending cuts like children in Head Start programs.
SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D), MARYLAND: We need to have programs in there that meet compelling human need, housing, education, health care. And we also need to look at transportation.
BASH: Senator Barbara Mikulski who heads the committee in charge of spending at work while most of her Senate colleagues are home for the weekend expressed frustration that Congress is gone.
MIKULSKI: I'm here. I'm ready to go. I'm waiting for the photo-op back at the White House to come here and give me direction.
BASH: Speaking of Congress skipping town, the president took note of the empty Capitol while trying to real life faces on forced spending cuts.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that Congress has left, someone is going to be vacuuming and cleaning those floors and throwing out the garbage. They are going to have less pay. The janitors, the security guards, they just got a pay cut and they have got to figure out how to manage it.
BASH: We checked on that. It turns out the president was not exactly right. The Senate sergeant-at-arms told CNN neither Capitol police nor janitors will see salaries slashed, only limited overtime. The only announced effect so far at the Capitol is some entrances will close -- a small inconvenience to lawmakers and their aides.
(on camera): Now, when it comes to a prospect of government shutdown at the end of this month, the president was optimistic that that's not going to happen. I'm told Senate Democrats took that as a signal they should find a way to bridge their very real differences with House Republicans on budget priorities.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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KEILAR: We want to take you for Selma, Alabama, where the issue of voting rights is taking center stage there once again. Forty-eight years after the historic march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights, Vice President Joe Biden heads there to commemorate the historic march and draw attention to a case now before the Supreme Court.
So let's catch up with Victor Blackwell. He's there in Selma.
And, Victor, I understand that you spoke with one of the attorneys who actually argued this case before the Supreme Court. What did he have to say?
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I did. His name is Debo Adegbile. He is special counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He was arguing alongside the U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.
He will say what we're expecting the vice president to talk about today during a keynote address at a brunch before he crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 should continue as it has been reauthorized in 2006 to 2031 without being dismantled as Shelby County, Alabama, is trying to take out one part of it. They are trying to have the Supreme Court overturn Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which gives the federal government the opportunity to negate or overturn elements of voting laws in certain states. Alabama is one of them.
Here is what Mr. Adegbile said about a comment made by Justice Scalia, calling that section racial entitlement. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBO ADEGBILE, SPECIAL COUNSEL, NAACP: From the perspective of a civil rights lawyer and an American it completely denies our history. The Voting Rights Act is a remedy for more than a century of persistent discrimination. It's discrimination that stood in the face of the Constitution. It's an answer to promises that went unkept for over 100 years. And the Voting Rights Act captures what is best in America; the idea that we should all be able to participate in the democracy.
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BLACKWELL: Brianna, the argument from that attorney from Shelby County, Alabama, is that the discrimination of the '60s, that was supposed to be overturned by this Voting Rights Act, those things, those problems have been solved. The vice president said just a few days at a brunch at his home, the Naval Observatory in D.C., that he was unaware that we would have to refight so many fights, this being one of them -- Brianna.
KEILAR: I wonder what that lawyer thinks about the expectation for how the court may vote. When you listen to the oral arguments, any way you cut it, Victor, we're expecting this to be a 5-4 decision. Voting rights advocates are hanging hopes on Justice Anthony Kennedy. He said some things that they may find alarming, that indicate he may ultimately side against them.
Did this lawyer have a sense of how he thought the court may go?
BLACKWELL: Yes. And I think the comment you're talking about specifically is when Kennedy asked if people in the South face a higher level of discrimination than African-Americans in the North. This attorney Debo Adegbile said that the problem here is that this is institutionalized in some of these states. All of them are not in the South. There are districts in other parts of the country, but he believes that ultimately the Voting Rights Act will be upheld. It was just reauthorized in 2006 by a vote of 98-0 in the Senate to continue to 2031.
And again, this attorney believes when this is done, when the opinion comes from the court, the majority will be to uphold that reauthorization.
KEILAR: But what about the critics who argue, Victor, that the provision isn't need anymore because race relations have improved? Obviously, you know, they are hoping the opposite.
BLACKWELL: Well, that is one element. I read portions of this 93-page brief that was filed with the court on behalf of Shelby County. Another thing they said this is a high cost of federalism. They say that this is giving the federal government too much oversight over these states, one of them Alabama, Mississippi another, other states in the South. They say those two elements primarily are the reason this should not be upheld. Another element is that in 2006 when this was reauthorized, Congress did not offer any type of measurement, any barometer on which they would measure if there were still the levels of discrimination and how to measure -- needs to be reauthorized moving forward.
KEILAR: This is going to be a very important case to watch. Victor Blackwell, we'll be checking in with you throughout the day in Selma. Thank you for that report.
And if you are just waking up with us today, this is a momentous day at the Vatican, there is no current pope. The papal apartment has now been sealed. There is no Sunday public mass being held by the pontiff.
Instead, you have cardinals returning to the Vatican for what will be one of the world's most secret meetings. And their mission find a successor to Pope Benedict XVI who resigned last week.
The next pope will lead the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. And CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is outside New York City's famed St. Patrick's Cathedral.
What are you hearing from people there, Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, there's a lot of anticipation this morning from outside here at St. Patrick's, arguably the most famous Catholic Church in the United States, as everyone is waiting to see when the selection process will begin. Of course, one of the 115 cardinals who will be part of that selection process is the head of the archdiocese in New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
And we talked to a few people as they were going into mass about what changes they would like to see in the Catholic Church. One man told us he thinks it will be a good idea to allow priests to marry.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's difficult for them not to be. I think the population is getting old. I think if they were allowed to live a slightly more normal lifestyle, I think it would be better.
CANDIOTTI: What about female ordained priests?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that would be a great thing.
CANDIOTTI: Why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that would lead to a greater population of really talented priests of.
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CANDIOTTI: And another man told us he's very concerned about the ongoing scandal that is rocking the Catholic Church involving sexual abuse being committed by pleases and what to do about that. Here is how he addressed that in terms of how the next pope will be selected. Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The report that Benedict requested to be prepared on various allegations and reported scandals is a report that he has chosen to make available to his successor but not to the voting cardinal electors, which to me is a bit of a disappointment. I think people who are empowered to vote and make a decision in choosing the next leader should have all available information.
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CANDIOTTI: So two very thoughtful questions and answers from some Catholics attending mass this day -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Susan Candiotti for us in New York, thank you for that report.
Now, searchers outside of Tampa have given up on finding a man who disappeared when a sinkhole opened under his bed. Now, wrecking crews begin a very careful demolition of the house and Jackie Callaway from our affiliate WFTS TV is there.
Hey, Jackie, what can you tell us?
(INAUDIBLE)
KEILAR: All right. We're having -- we're having an audio problem obviously with Jackie there, with our affiliate WFTS. But she's our eyes on the ground, so we'll be getting back to her momentarily.
Back to the issue of the pope, though. Running for pope is not like running for president. So, it's kind of unusual to see a campaign for cardinal. In fact, it's really kind of taboo. Not only that, it could hurt your chances of getting elected.
We'll talk about it.
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KEILAR: Today is the first Sunday without a pope and the Vatican could be popeless for a while longer. Some cardinals who were supposed to vote for the next pope aren't even in the Vatican yet.
So, look at this. It seems some people are campaigning for their favorite cardinal. Posters around Rome are urging cardinals to vote for Peter Turkson. He's the cardinal from Ghana.
If elected, he would be the first black pope. Pardon me. But these posters could cause him problem.
So, joining us now to explain this -- in New York, Father Edward Beck. He's a CNN contributor, and he's the host of "The Sunday Mass." So, Father, when you are a potential candidate for pope, this isn't exactly like running for senior class president. It's a big taboo to campaign. Even if he's not involved, do you think this could hurt Turkson's chances?
FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Brianna, by now, we've all heard the famous adage, the cardinal who goes in a conclave, a pope comes out a cardinal.
Now, that's now always true, however, since Paul VI was a front- runner as was Pope Benedict. So, they both went in and it was expected they would become pope and they did.
However, it is taboo to campaign for one's self. And Cardinal Turkson gave an interview to "The Telegraph" in the U.K. and he simply speculated on a question from the journalist, what would it be like.
And he said, well, it would change my life. It would be kind of hard.
People didn't like the fact he speculated about it. I think he has nothing to do with the posters. Some of this controversy around it could indeed hurt him.
KEILAR: So, it's the interview, that's interesting, rather than the posters that may hurt him. I'm wondering, are there other no-nos for cardinals who may be potentially the next pope?
BECK: Cardinals try not to go on the record with any statements about faith or morals that seem to contradict or too far left to the teachings of the church because those come back to haunt them. So, they should stay away from any comments that are too controversial that may come back to them.
KEILAR: Tomorrow, Father, the cardinals are supposed to start meeting. And, ultimately, they have to set a date for the conclave. Do we have a sense of when that will happen?
BECK: Well, the general conclave begins tomorrow. It's expected they will last about a week. At least that's common wisdom, which would put conclave beginning a week from Monday on the 11th. We'll see.
That means that a pope could be elected and maybe we have the installation mass by the 17th of March, which would be good, because the following Sunday is Palm Sunday. I don't think you would want to have the installation for the pope on Palm Sunday for Holy Week. So they are hoping to have it done by the 17th.
KEILAR: That would be a little strange.
Now, give us a sense of the color of this process, because there is a lot. There's a lot of ritual. And one of the things that we all know because it wasn't that long ago was the smoke that comes out of the Vatican. It changes black to white. But this is interesting because it's not always reliable you say. BECK: Not only reliable but hasn't always been the case. The first time that ballots were burned was in 1417, not burned before then. It wasn't until 1914 that smoke was indicator of who is elected. So, it's relatively recent that smoke is the indicator.
It used to be bells would ring and cannons would sound and that would indicate a pope was elected. We can't always tell what color of the smoke is. Even in recent elections, it seemed gray. They use black cartridges and they forget to put it in.
So, it hasn't always been a reliable indicator.
KEILAR: Wow, it's so important. You hope they get it right because there's goes to be so many eyes, whether it is the faithful or tourists or journalists covering this trained on that smoke waiting to see.
I really appreciate it, Father Beck, thanks for being with us.
BECK: My pleasure. Thank you.
KEILAR: If you're going to get stuck in an elevator, might as well get stuck with these guys, right? Up next, cast of "The Modern Family" has a not so scripted moment. And they reported it all for our benefit.
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KEILAR: So what happens when you put three actors from "Modern Family" together in an elevator? Well, apparently, they get stuck. Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet were on their way to a fundraiser in Kansas City, Missouri, Friday when their elevator stopped between floors for nearly an hour.
So what do they do? What many of us might do. They took to Twitter to vent about it and put out this video.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get us out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get us out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whole room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get us out.
CROWD: Get us out!
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KEILAR: And dozen other people were stuck in the elevator with them, making for some good fun. Kansas City firemen eventually came to the rescue, as you can see, escorting Julie Bowen off there.
Later at the fundraiser, Stonestreet told the crowd, have a great night and don't use the elevator.
To sports now, Duke senior Ryan Kelly returned from injury and had one of the greatest games in team history. Amazing. Coach K called it a performance for the ages.
Joe Carter joining me now in more from this morning's "Bleacher Report" to tell us all about it.
Hi, Joe.
JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning.
You know, when you think of all the star players that Coach K has seen come through Duke's program over the years, for him to call Ryan's performance one for the ages certainly says a lot about his game. I mean, coming into the game, he had missed 13, no basketball for this guy for the past two months, because he was suffering from a really bad foot injury.
Now, Miami's head coach said he thought they were prepared for Kelly's return, obviously they were not prepared for this Ryan Kelly. The senior at the fifth ranked team in the country, poured 36 points on them. Duke proved to the rest of the country they are still a legitimate title threat.
After the game, Coach K praised Kelly for doing it all.
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MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, DUKE'S COACH: Saying spectacular, whatever, doesn't do his performance justice. One for the ages, probably as good a performance as any player has had, Duke player has had in Cameron.
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CARTER: Wow, that says a lot.
So after she record the fastest time at Daytona last week, Danica Patrick, for lack of a better word, is struggling in Phoenix this week. Now, she qualified with one of the slowest times on the field. She finished 40th out of 43 cars.
But I'm not negative Nelly here. It's not all bad for Danica. Last year, in this race, she started 37th and she ended finishing 17th, which was her best cup finish of the season. So, it's not all bad for Danica. She still has a good shot today. So, instead of settling for overtime, Baylor went for the win against number 13 Kansas State. That plan backfired, that pass should have landed in the hands of one of his teammate. Instead, it went out-of- bounds, no one touched it, which means no time of the clock. Kansas State get the ball back and right there, the buzzer beater three- pointer win. Kansas, hangs on 64-61. Baylor is kicking themselves for just not going to overtime.
And when the rankings comes out tomorrow Gonzaga, yes, Gonzaga, will likely be the nation's new number one team in the country. It will be the first time in the program history he should be number one. Some are saying Duke with the addition of Ryan Kelly is the best team in the country. You can join the debate at bleacherreport.com.
I'm going to use your method, Brianna, of picking brackets come March Madness. Just --
KEILAR: That way. Is that weird for Kelly to come back and do so well? That's not -- normally, I would think a player who has been disabled comes back and it kinds of takes a while to like thaw out.
CARTER: You'd think, right? You would think it's like coming back to a show after you've been off for a few days. You kind of stumble a little bit. You know, get off the cobwebs. But, no, this guy shook it off quick.
KEILAR: Joe Carter, thanks for that.
CARTER: You bet.
KEILAR: A long time state lawmaker in Connecticut gets stripped of his leadership post. It's all something he said to a teenager girl. It was all too much for his colleagues.
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KEILAR: You are watching live pictures coming to us from Florida. This is that house near Tampa where on Thursday night a sinkhole opened up in the bedroom of a Florida man, Jeff Bush and swallowed him alive.
Right now, as we understand it, we're trying to figure out exactly what's going on here. But these are demolition crews -- that's oh -- that's what they are doing. They are taking the American flag out of the front yard. They are about to demolish this home. And before they do so, out of respect, as they should, they took the American flag which had been posted in the front yard.
After this we're expecting that they are going to start taking the home apart. What you can't see, obviously, is the sinkhole. But we understand that it's 50 feet deep, about 30 feet wide and it's inside the home. We're wondering exactly as they do this what is going to happen. It's a very precarious situation. The authorities there are concerned that the sinkhole could grow. And we do know that sometimes these sinkholes are actually widened by something like construction, by vibration.
So obviously the act of demolishing the home could have some effect on that. Folks who live near this in homes surrounding this Bush family home have been evacuated because there's concern that the sinkhole could go into neighboring properties. But right now we are watching as the demolition crew there, as they do from a safe distance, this is important to note, they are all the way back in the sidewalk. And you see a lot of people there in these pictures coming to us from our affiliate Bay News 9, there are people gathering in the neighborhood to watch. And you can see they're demolishing this all the way back from the sidewalk because there just are so many concerns. Searchers were actually forced to give up the search for Jeff Bush's body. Obviously they wanted to recover his body for the family. But ultimately they decided that it was just too dangerous. And that they may be risking the safety and the lives of the folks that they were hoping would be able to recover his body.
Families, as I mentioned, in the houses adjacent to these properties have left because this sinkhole could spread. And we will be monitoring -- we'll be monitoring these pictures as they get under way. This just started here in Seffner, Florida. Again, as I mentioned this all started on Thursday night, Jeff Bush's brother had said on CNN he had just gone in to tell his brother something. And when he went to -- where he was in the house he heard this roar. And then he went into the bedroom where his brother was and it was just a sinkhole. That is a picture, I believe of Jeff Bush's brother. He's been talk -- not live. That's a taped picture. He had come by in previous days, obviously very distraught. He had on Thursday night jumped into the sinkhole trying to rescue his brother. And he was unable to do it.
There's a picture of Jeff Bush. He was unable to do it. And ultimately authorities made the decision to pull him from the hole. He had tried to jump in with a shovel, just trying to get his brother. And ultimately they pulled him out of a -- out of the sinkhole to safety.
We will continue to -- are we going to continue to monitor these pictures? We will keep watching these. So this is the demolition crew. This is Seffner, Florida, it's near Tampa. Obviously an area where there are a number of sinkholes.
But certainly this is something that while Floridians are very familiar with this happening, it's something very rare for this to happen obviously in a home and to -- and to -- and to claim the -- claim the life of someone.
We are still waiting, obviously, to see what we can't see inside this home, which is the sinkhole. We understand its 50 feet deep about 30 feet wide. It could very likely grow. In previous days as crews were trying to locate Jeff Bush's body, they had actually used some equipment to tether folks to the ground there in the front yard, so that if they went in and they were searching for his body and the sinkhole were to widen, that they would be ok that they would be tethered to safety.
But obviously even now, that has been determined to be just too unsafe. No one is even allowed in the front yard where we saw crews operating yesterday. They pulled back operations to the -- to the street. People who are -- are watching this happen, trying to get a glimpse of this, are pushed back even farther to the opposite sidewalk.
But again, we are watching this demolition crew as they prepare to demolish this home, which has obviously been condemned. And what we just saw a moment ago there at -- what would be the kind of the corner of the house going into the entryway of the house, we saw what at first we couldn't figure out what they were doing.
They were kind of looked like scooping up a bit of earth and it turned out that they were scooping up an American flag that was sitting in the front yard of the house. So they went ahead and did that to make sure that out of respect that that is something that did not go down with the home as it was demolished.
You're watching as they are just getting started here. It looks like about to press in the roof. And I will its -- they are doing this gingerly as we've been watching here. There's obviously a concern when you have a sinkhole. And sometimes they're actually caused by the fact that water has dissolved limestone. That is why they are caused -- but it's water dissolving limestone.
Sometimes the event precipitating the formation of the sinkhole could be vibrations from nearby construction. That's certainly been known to happen. So this is something that obviously they are doing very gingerly. And they are -- I imagine, going to be starting just a little bit by a little bit as they try to demolish this home.
The sinkhole could obviously get wider. But one of the major concerns for these demolition crews is just stabilizing the situation and trying to kind of get a handle on it and just see ultimately where the sinkhole is going to stop growing.
So this is happening again outside of Tampa. This is in Seffner, Florida where Thursday night Jeff Bush, a man there was just going to bed. And it's an incredibly freak accident that has really captivated the attention of a lot of people around the country.
We're standing by actually. Who do we have on the phone?
We have Josh Gauntt -- he's a reporter with our CNN affiliate Bay News 9.
So Josh, where are you?
JOSH GAUNTT, REPORTER, BAY NEWS 9: I'm actually about 25 or so yards from -- from the home. Demolition just started probably three minutes ago at this home here in Faithway Drive here in Seffner. Now last night we learned officials here had abandoned efforts of recovering the body of 36-year-old Jeff Bush saying the ground in the area was just too unstable to support a search here. Heavy equipment was brought in late last night as I mentioned.
Now what's going to happen is demolition crews will take off the left portion of the home, so that family members can -- they can actually bring that portion to the road so family members can collect whatever belongings that they can. And after that crews will use that excavator to demolish the entire home.
We're told they're only going to work for a couple of hours today and then they'll finish up the work tomorrow. Now the sinkhole as we're (inaudible) is about 30 feet wide and it's about anywhere from 50 to 60 feet deep and officials are telling us yesterday that there's no hope at this point of recovering Jeff Bush's body because things are so unstable at this point.
And about an hour to an hour and a half before demolition started, we did see a few family members walk up to the home and kneel down and say a prayer for their loved one. But as I mentioned demolition just getting under way about three or four minutes ago here in Seffner.
KEILAR: So they feel -- authorities feel that it's structurally sound enough that they can open up what I presume is not the bedroom that Jeff Bush was in when this sinkhole opened up.
So they feel that it's going to be structurally sound enough that -- that the family members can go in and get some of their personal effects?
GAUNTT: Well what they're going to do is actually tear down a portion of the home and sort of drag that to the street. And whatever belongings that the family members can grab, they can grab at that time but they are not letting --
KEILAR: All right. Unfortunately we lost Josh Gauntt, our reporter there with CNN affiliate Bay News 9, but we have a geologist on the phone, Randall Orndorff, who can kind of give us a sense of what these demolition crews are dealing with.
Randall I imagine there's tremendous concern that even the process of demolition is going to further widen this sinkhole. Is that right?
RANDALL ORNDORFF, GEOLOGIST (via telephone): Yes that would be correct. As you can see they got a crane that's as far away as possible from the hole. Any kind of weight that you're going to put on that surface is going to make it that more unstable.
KEILAR: How big do you think ultimately this sinkhole could be?
ORNDORFF: Hard to say, because we really can't see underground very well. I know they had some -- some geotechnical people doing geophysics across the surface earlier in the week to see if they could detect how large the hole might be underneath. But we just don't have the best methods you have to be able to see underground to really understand that. And that's why all these precautions have to be taken.
KEILAR: So we don't have that. There's no -- there is no technology or no sonar that you can kind of use to test the ground and get a sense of where a potential sinkhole may be?
ORNDORFF: It's very difficult. There are some methods that we're working with to see if we can do that. We've had various success with them. But what's the material on top and the surface a lot of times will hinder what we can actually see underneath the ground. KEILAR: So ultimately, do you think it's just a precaution that the homes adjacent to this Bush family property have been evacuated or do you think they may very well be at risk?
ORNDORFF: I really don't know.
KEILAR: Yes.
ORNDORFF: Again, the precaution is definitely needed. These holes tend to grow when they happen. We've seen in other parts of the country where houses have been -- have collapsed. Luckily people have not been killed in those. But where the inside of the house will collapse and then over a matter of days, that hole will continue to grow and swallow up more area around.
KEILAR: So what -- what was your reaction when you heard about this probably Friday morning?
ORNDORFF: Well, it's you know, it's very, very tragic, obviously, that was the worst thing. But you know, these -- these are -- sinkholes happen all over our country. Almost every state has areas where this could happen. Florida has the largest kind of region. We don't hear about a lot of the sinkholes that occur because they are very localized. It's not like widespread events like you see with hurricanes and earthquakes. So we have to -- you just don't see a lot of these in this situation.
KEILAR: Do you think it's safe at this point for the family members to go in and get some of their personal belongings? Would you be concerned about their safety? Is there a way to make sure that they are safe, some tests maybe that can be done to make sure if the ground is solid?
ORNDORFF: I really don't think so. I think the -- I think the enforcement agencies are doing the right thing.
KEILAR: Sorry -- can you -- can you repeat that?
ORNDORFF: I said I don't believe there really is. I think they are doing the right thing by being cautious.
KEILAR: By being cautious. Ok. If you can stand by for me, Randall, we're actually going to bring Josh Gauntt, our reporter with CNN affiliate Bay News 9, back in. Josh, you were saying that the family members will be trying to get some of their personal effects. As we know they left on Thursday night in shock and with nothing but the clothes on their back.
Tell us again how long this process is expected to take and what some of the precautions that the demolition crew is taking there.
GAUNTT: Well obviously they are keeping a lot of people back far away from this home but at a news conference about an hour ago officials said that they were only going to be working for a couple hours today. They were going to bring some of the family's belongings as I mentioned out to the street so that they could grab them. And then later on today and possibly into tomorrow, then that's when they will demolish the rest of this home.
But as I mentioned, people -- they're keeping people back from this home because they are not too sure what actually is going to happen, once they start demolishing this home. But I can tell you there are probably hundreds of people here who have gathered. They have their cell phones. They have their cameras. They are taking pictures because as officials told us over the past few days, this is an unprecedented event -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Those are just people who -- are they neighbors, people who have come for this? Even though they are familiar with sinkholes, I imagine this is just so bizarre and tragic, obviously, that this happened.
GAUNTT: Yes. We deal with sinkholes here in Florida all the time but this situation is very tragic. The fact that people are telling us it took the man's life. He's actually still in there. But as you were mentioning, those people who have come into this community, its residents and family members to witness this, like I mentioned, this unprecedented event here in this suburb of Tampa -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right, josh. Thank you very much for that. Stand by for us because we're going to be coming back to you as well as Randall Orndorff, our geologist who is on the line.
We're going to take a quick break after we just recap what's going on here. We'll be checking back in on this situation. But this is Seffner, Florida. This is the home where a sinkhole swallowed a man on Thursday night. Authorities have been trying to recover his body. They ultimately decided that it was just too unsafe to do that and now they are demolishing the home.
The homes around it have been evacuated out of concern that this sinkhole will grow. This is a process that has just started and will be continuing to go on here straight ahead.
We'll be right back to take a look at it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Brianna Keilar.
You're watching live pictures from Seffner, Florida outside of Tampa. This is the home of the man who was swallowed by a sinkhole on Thursday night. In the preceding days, authorities there were trying to see if the situation was stable enough to try to recover his body.
Ultimately, though, they decided it would put other folks at risk of injury or potentially death trying to recover his body from that sinkhole inside of this home, which is 50 feet deep, we understand -- maybe 60 feet deep -- and about 30 feet wide. You're watching the demolition which just began moments ago of this home and will continue for some time.
There's I believe it's an excavator, don't quote me on that, but it is trying to very gingerly, as we have watched this, pull what we understand to be obviously some of the rubble of the home now but also -- as we understand it from a reporter on the ground there, with our affiliate Bay News 9, we'll go to him momentarily -- but he was telling us the demolition crew was trying to bring out personal belongings of Jeff Bush, that man who passed away, so that his family can have some things to remember him by, obviously.
They had to leave the home Thursday night with nothing but the clothes on their backs. There was sort of an interesting moment at the beginning. The first moment of this demolition, if we can roll tape on this, was actually a flag taken from the front yard.
It was hard to see what the excavator was doing. It seemed to kind of be testing the ground but then it turned out that's not what it was doing. It was sort of pulling up with a little bit of earth an American flag sitting that was sitting in the front there of the house. That fire and rescue team was able to recover it and fold it up so that they have that. Obviously so the family has that.
You can see right now the demolition going on. This is pulling out what appears to be a dresser -- may have been Jeff Bush's dresser or some piece of furniture in the home.
Let's get to Josh Gauntt with our affiliate from Bay News 9. He's there on the ground, watching this from across the street which is where authorities have people. Josh, set the scene for us. Tell us what's happening there and about folks who are there trying to catch a glimpse of this. What is the mood?
GAUNTT: The mood is very somber. I have witnessed several people in tears while they are taking pictures of this event. As we mentioned, it's an unprecedented event in the area. But the demolition got under way this morning shortly after 8:00 here in this home on Faithway Drive.
Last night we learned officials here abandoned efforts of recovering the body of 36-year-old Jeff Bush saying the ground in this area was just too unstable to support a search. Heavy equipment, the excavator you're seeing there, was brought in last night.
What's going to happen, you're seeing there that they are taking apart a portion of this house. They are going to bring some personal items out to the street so the family members can go to the street and get those belongings. After that, they are only going to work for about an hour or two today. Then tomorrow, they will finish up this work.
The sinkhole, as we've been mentioning, is believed to be about 30 feet wide and about anywhere from 50 to 60 feet deep. The sinkhole has been growing since it started. But as we mentioned, no hope at this point of recovering Jeff Bush's body because they say things are just too unstable at this point.
And as you mentioned, Brianna, this is a slow, methodical process with this excavator. They don't want to go into this house all at one time and the whole thing collapsed. They want to make sure everything is done here in a safe way. And like I mentioned, they are slowly, slowly bringing some items to the street.
As you mentioned there was a dresser there a few minutes ago that we saw so that the family members can collect what's left inside that home -- Brianna.
KEILAR: They have pulled -- we've seen them pull a mattress out. We've seen them for what appears to be some speakers out. It just looks like an obviously, a normal home. And that sort of speaks to the fact that on the Thursday night Jeff Bush was just kind of going about his evening routine, watching television when this happened.
And you know Josh, it's such a heartrending story because we've heard it told from his brother, Jeremy Bush, who obviously loved his brother very much. He jumped in without even thinking into this sinkhole trying to rescue his brother right after this happened.
Has the family said anything about the fact that his body can't be recovered? Obviously, you know, having his remains and being able to bury Jeff Bush would have meant a whole lot to them. I know authorities would have wanted to do that for them. Have they said how this affects them or not?
GAUNTT: I mean obviously the first couple of days they did have some questions. But now I think they are slowly coming to the realization that they are not going to be able to bury their loved one. And this unfortunately will be his final resting place and like you mentioned, just a very, very tragic story here.
As I mentioned just a few minutes ago, his family members I witnessed in tears. One woman fell to the ground, just couldn't take what she was seeing here -- just a very tragic situation here in this area.
KEILAR: So were they there, Josh, the family? Are they watching this or, no, they just can't?
GAUNTT: A few members are watching it. But I did see a few turning away. But there are a few, like I mentioned, watching this take place. A few just, you know, looked to the ground in tears, they just couldn't -- just couldn't take it.
KEILAR: Do you know what they are hoping -- what they're hoping to recover?
GAUNTT: Well, you know, I spoke to his brother over the last couple of days. Their hopes are that they could possibly recover the body so that they can have some closure. We talk about closure in the news business and whether or not it is actually the case -- whether it actually brings closure. But to them, to have the body of their loved one, and to be able to bury his instead of going through this, that's what they want to do. But as I mentioned, I think they are slowly coming to grips that that's just not -- just not going to happen.
KEILAR: Yes. Well, we're hoping, obviously, for their sake in what has just been, you know, a tragedy. You just can't even imagine. A completely freak accident -- such a tragedy that you hope that at least they will be able to recover something that they can remember Jeff by. Obviously this family has been just torn apart by what happened understandably.
I want to bring in now Randall Orndorff. He's a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, to talk a little bit about the sinkhole that is in this house. First off, do you think, Randall that we'll be able to kind of get a sense of what it looks like once this demolition is done? And I know it's going to be a long process that will probably stretch into tomorrow sounds like.
RANDALL ORNDORFF, GEOLOGIST: Yes. It sounds like they already have a good feel for how large the sinkhole is diameter-wise and maybe depth wise. But if they get better access to it, we'll be able to see more. Also maybe understand its shape, which will give you a better understanding of if it grows in other directions, if it will grow toward those other houses.
KEILAR: When you say understand its shape, would it be something besides a circle?
ORNDORFF: Well, depending. It's probably circular, but you know, it could be oval. One direction could be longer than another direction.
KEILAR: How unusual is this what happened? I mean obviously it's unusual. This isn't anything that any of us have ever heard of before. But sinkholes happen a lot in Florida. They also happen in other places in the world. They happen in populated places -- other places of the world. How unusual is it for something like this to happen, to demolish a residence or a place where there are people?
ORNDORFF: Well, I don't think it's that unusual for sinkholes to occur, you know, under buildings like this. I think that same area of Florida it's seen in the years past some damage to houses. But to have a catastrophic collapse like this right under a house is fairly unusual.
Sinkholes happen every day based on what's going on with the weather like heavy rain, during droughts. A lot of those happen out in farmers' fields and woods where we never see them. A lot of them occur on highways because we have a change in the way the water gets into the ground by runoffs. And so you see roadways a lot of times get this, have this happen.
But for houses like this, of course having somebody in the house at the time is quite tragic.
KEILAR: Quite tragic and very rare. Randall Orndorff, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Thank you for talking with us.
Just to bring you up to date, you're watching pictures of the home in Seffner, Florida outside of Tampa where Jeff Bush was killed on Thursday night when a sinkhole opened up in his bedroom and swallowed his bed with him on it.
Obviously very, very sad situation for the family as crews there have had to call off trying to recover his body. They are now demolishing the house, getting started on that, hoping to recover some of his personal effects before this process continues to take the rest of today and some of tomorrow.
We'll be keeping an eye on these pictures for you and update you with any more developments. But for now I'll hand it over to my colleague Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION."
