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s 1800851177. call now i melanie zanona on capitol hill. >> and this is cnn a long road >> to recovery >> baltimore faces challenge are reopening the port, which is the economic heart of the city and crucial for american commerce while divers tried to find the remains of the six missing workers who are presumed to died in the bridge collapse. we expect to hear from transportation secretary pete buttigieg, and a key coast guard official at the white house this hour and desperation in gaza so as palestinians drown, trying to recover food, aid dropped in the ocean, the latest tragedy underscoring the threat of starvation, even as talks over a these fire have ground to a halt.

>> plus running out of time, the melting ice caps at the north and south poles aren't only an environmental concern, they could would actually be changing how we measure time itself. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central >> today the search for victims began. the search for answers after the deadly bridge collapse in baltimore. right now, federal investigators are pouring over data from the ship's black box and they're moving to injury for view, crew members at the same time, divers are searching for the six missing victims who are doing construction on the francis scott key bridge at the time of the collapse and are now are presumed dead. we're going to bring a live updates from officials throughout the day. now, let's go though on the scene to cnn's gabe cohen gabe tell us what you're seeing. does it look to be any terms of progress? so when it comes to clearing some of the

wreckage or debris or even just investigating it >> well, ran i can tell you we are awaiting a press conference has been pushed back. we're expecting in the next hour or so, though that timeline is a little unclear in terms of the recovery effort that search and read sq that to become a recovery. no word yet on any updates their those crews are dealing with really brutal conditions on the water. a lot of rain today, choppy waves clark very lack of visibility, dark conditions under the water, a lot of debris. so they're having a difficult time. and as of just a little while ago, they had still not found anything a substantial. and as you mentioned, there are a couple of dozen ntsb investigators who were here that have been on that ship. they've spoken with the crew and they've been collecting electric trawniki including the data recorder that black box you mentioned that they're currently analyzing and they're hoping to release more information later today that can provide a bit of a timeline as to what went wrong here,

what caused that terrible blackout when pilate when the pilot of the vessel lost power lost the ability to steer, ultimately creating that collision with the column and the bridge and the collapse. so we're still waiting on a lot of information there and gave what are we learned? learning about the victims >> rionda, we're learning much more about their stories today in frankly, they're harper, harper breaking two here. we have heard from the brother of one of the construction workers. that's missing right now. that is 38 year-old main are sandoval he's an immigrant from honduras. he has been in the united states nearly 20 years described as one of eight siblings, married with two kids 18 year-old son, and a five-year-old daughter and the brother told our team that he is holding onto hope as is the family that his brother is going to be fast found alive. i

want to read you what he said a portion of it he said we still have faith until this moment. god grant the miracle. it would be beautiful. we still have hope i know that time is our worst enemy. we're also learning about a man named miguel luna, a father of three from el salvador, who has also lived in maryland for nearly 20 years. that is just a snippet. briana of the tragic stories that we're hearing these six missing construction from workers presumed dead at this point as crews are still looking for them, and the area that they're searching has only grown wider because of the currents in that river but as you heard their family members still trying to hold on hope and awaiting answers. and again, we are expecting that press conference in a little while. we're hoping have some more answers as well. >> yeah, they need those answers for sure game. we'll be watching for that. thank you so much. worse >> let's get some expert analysis on the recovery from butch hendrick. he's a veteran

rescue diver who founded and runs lifeguard systems. bush. thank you so much for being with us. so maryland's governor describe the conditions of the dive as treacherous. you have frigid temperatures low visibility, and not to mention all the debris that's in that scene. what is it like for divers going into water like that >> it's extremely >> difficult because we have to add a current and the current is going to be a very major factor in not only the ability to, for the divers to move around on the bottom, but b. the any be near any type of debris that would be still dynamic and moving >> one >> of the things that's difficult as well for us is that we train public safety divers, please fire even military sorry. >> to be able to find >> an object like a human body. it's on the bottom out to find evidence. i don't around a

vehicle or two that are ended up in the physical water we have not training them how to work in an operation. is this magnitude the way the bridges collapsed, the amount of debris that's interactive. and when i say interactive, if you don't mind something of this or we visually see a bridge and our mind's eye. but right now every piece is twisted, mangled, and turned in another format in something as simple as moving one piece can move multiples. >> so >> if you open the door on a car that might be entangled in it that would that combination of current could very quickly change a whole dynamic. and another series of pieces could break loose so they're searching on the outskirts of the debris. and they certainly got to be very careful with no visibility. everything is in braille. they're touching say

not even sure if they're under debris because they can't they can't see it. >> but they're down there searching for >> obviously, let's bring some closure to the families if we can. >> yeah >> yeah. you're describing it as braille is really instructive because they're feeling their way around the space. just looking at the images on the outside, it looks like sections of the bridge are sort of precariously still perched on the vessel itself. and i'm wondering if you think that these divers are these crews have gotten any word from engineers? that there's no concern over stuff shifting above them if not, it seems especially dangerous, right >> i certainly is. i can only imagine with the number of people are there and the way that governor has handled this, that they have already made sure that anything that else that can move is being secured

they're way ahead of their game out there. >> and yes, the >> chances that one of the containers could be coming off. everything has got to be removed from the top un each piece when the commercial divers do get there, there's a good possibility they're going to be cutting portions of steel out to remove them knowing that that piece can be moved without another piece or they've got to secure 1.2 to move piece number three, or the whole thing will continue to recollapsed. >> it's a >> dynamics non-stop process. >> yeah. so there is a scenario in which they start the sort of salvaging effort of getting stuff off the scene before they're able to recover the bodies of those that were still unaccounted for if those bodies are in in the physical structure yes. what's going to ask again, what has to happen

is pieces of metal and steel and cement have got to be moved prior to the divers removing a vehicle or put loro finding a body and trying to move a bunch of steel to get the body out another piece dynamically shifts. >> and you could have >> 20 parts that are suddenly going to change position diver could be dead in a matter of seconds and he wouldn't even know it >> wow >> yeah, it is it is a difficult scenario to process and just to imagine the danger that those divers in those teams are facing, our hearts are with the families of those who remain unaccounted for a butch, we have to leave the conversation there. i appreciate your time >> thank you very much. of >> course. >> brianna peter goelz is joining us now. he was managing director of the ntsb and peter, can you talk to us a little bit about the kind of information insights that these black box these data recorders may be

giving investigators >> well, probably the most important information brianna will be the bridge voice recorder, which will give investigators a complete picture of what was going on during the minutes proceeding, the impact of the bridge and it will tell us whether there was chaos, whether the pilot was in command. and it appears as though early evidence says the pilot made all of the right goals in a timely manner, but the voice recorder will confirm that, you know, in the sinking of the el faro the ntsb recovered the voice recorder from that tragedy. if 15,000 feet below the surface and it gave them an incredible picture of exactly what happened for

the data recorder, it will tell you what was going on with the vessels engine and why it apparently lost power and whether it actually regain power or whether that was they alton a generators kicking in. i mean, i think this investigation all of the pieces are in place to have a successful conclusion the real challenge will be, how do you prevent this from happening again? >> the ntsb is obviously working to that end. they will be speaking with the members of the dali crew synergy saying that it was a 22 person crew from india but we should note it was a local pilot from the harbor. who is helping pilot the ship through this local area with that expertise, knowledge to get it out into the bay. what questions would you have for crew members and for that local pilot >> well, i think for the crew members, your most important questions. will be of the

engine room crew, what was going on what was were there any indications that the engine was coming into difficulty? what steps did you take to combat it and for the for the pilots, the question is, when did they realize that there was a potential tragedy coming? and what steps did they take? two bose warn the bridge and to try and avert the collision. and i think the the voice recorder will we'll lay that out in detail, but it seems early on that that the pilots were on top of it and we just don't know oh, what caused the engine to to seize up and cease operating. >> and so that is really going to be the focus the dali was last inspected in september, so several months ago, no

deficiencies found at that time but it did have a propulsion problem a few months before that also a problem with auxiliary machinery like gages. how much of a red flag does that raise for you >> well it's certainly important to look at. i mean, we're the repairs that will put in place correct. where they monitored was this a reoccurring problem these are all questions that the investigation will will examine and i can tell you a brianna across the country. this was a low probability, terribly high consequences event they report directors that are looking at their own risk assessments to see whether they've got something similar on the books and how to avoid it in the future. >> yeah, there is a sense that this could have happened anywhere, so they certainly do need to be looking at that lot of focus about the lack of buffers or fenders around the pillars of the bridge. do you think that would have even mattered? >> i think this vessel was far

too large. i mean, they the the the bumpers of the dolphins requirements in the protection of the pylons really came into being after the sunshine sky way collapse in florida in 19 jt. and this bridge was open for business in advents of in advance of that so it's construction did not have to accommodate the new recommendations, but they will look at whether dolphins splayed out in front of the pylons could have prevented it, but i think this was such a massive ship that that's probably a fool's errand. >> yeah, we can see the perspective of it. it is gigantic and that pylon really i was no match for it. peter, great to have you. thank you so much for your insights >> thank you >> and the head this hour on cnn news central, on-hold.

again, why an appeals court just stopped texas from enforcing it's controversial border law that would allow state officials to bypass federal law and arrest and deport undocumented immigrants themselves. and see it's fire talks between israel and hamas reach a stalemate. another attempt to get aid to palestinians turns deadly, plus diddy's attorney speaking out after that the stars homes are rated as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation >> if you work in spaceflight, this is just the worst possible thing that can ever happen >> my dad died doing what keith bug space shuttle columbia. he final flight from your sunday, april 7 at nine on cnn cracked windshield. >> schedule would say flight and will come to you to fix it. this customer was enjoying her morning walk. we texted her when we were on our way and she could track us and see exactly when we derive a few moments we

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the measured would allow texas officials to arrest people they suspect of entering the country illegally. this is another temporary win for the biden administration, which has been locked in this high-stakes tug of war with texas over the border crisis let's take your now live to houston with cnn salsa, florida so rosa, why is the fifth circuit keeping this hold in place >> or is it for the same reason that the lower court had an issue with this law, and that's because of issues of constitutionality. let me get you up to speed here. because in the majority opinion, the chief judge made it very clear that it is likely that this law as before, is not in line with the constitution. here's an excerpt from that majority 30 opinion? it states, quote, the texas removal provisions bestow powers upon itself that are likely reserved to the united states now, to a degree, the chief judge acknowledges that texas is frustrated because texas argues that it is, quote,

been invaded and that the federal government is not doing enough. and of course, the state of texas maintains that this is a constitutional measure well, the chief judge acknowledges that and says, the thing is one of the root causes for the executive branch not to take enough section is because of the legislative branch, because of congress, because congress is not funding it properly. so that there could be a proper response at the border. and here's what the justice says, quote, texas, no bleed and admirably some would say, seeks to fill at least partially the gaping void, but it is unlikely that texas can step into the shoes of the national sovereign under our constitution and laws, the judge takes it even further and it says, look, it doesn't just impact domestic policy. it impacts foreign policy. here's what the judge said, quote, the dynamic nature of relations with the other countries requires the executive branch to ensure that enforcement

policies are consistent with this nation's foreign policy with respect to these and other realities and borer is of course, the plaintiffs here and civil rights and human rights organisms nations have issued statements saying that they agree with this decision by by the appeals court and they know that the fight is not over i should add that the appeals court rule have oral arguments on this on april 3. so it's not over bourse. >> it is not an rosa how is mexico reacting to all less back-and-forth? there was some criticism from the mexican side when this law passed mexico has >> maintained that they condemn this measure. they believe this measure is unconstitutional, that it is unjust, and that it could be, it could be applied in a discriminatory manner. now, mexico has said that this measure could impact us. mexico relations. and if sb four goes into effect, that it could have significant remnant vacations

and that bilateral relationship. now, mexico to go has issued issued a statement saying and park quote, enforcement of sb four would inappropriately burden the uniform and predictable sovereign-to-sovereign relations between mexico soko and the united states. and creating diverging removal requirements between and among individual states. and the national government or as mexico. so concerned about this, especially surely about the potential of racial profiling of mexican nationals here in the state of texas who might be here legally, they are having all of the consulates in this state that are mexican console. it's provide services to individuals who are mexican nationals just to make sure that they feel that their government is supporting them. >> boris are rosa flores life for us in houston. thanks so much frozen row. >> turning now to the israel-hamas war ceasefire talks between the two sides have reportedly hit a stalemate with one diplomat calling the negotiations stuck, but ongoing

israel had agreed to release around 700 palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 israeli hostages as part of a six-week ceasefire. but hamas is pushing for more, including a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of all israeli troops from gaza. those demands are nonstarters for israel as a vows to destroy the group in the wake of the october 7 attacks next in the meantime, palestinian officials say is really airstrikes on a residential building killed at least 11 people today. and rafah, in response, though israel's military said it wasn't aware of any strikes during that time and place. and in northern gaza at least 12 palestinians who tried swimming to some airdrop supplies that had landed in the sea drowned we have to warn you some of the video that we're about to show you is hard to watch. cnn's jomana karadsheh has this report as they spot a plane. >> and the aided begins to drop. they run as fast as they

can it's the rush of people so desperate so hungry we do anything to feed their children now on the brink of starvation >> this >> is what survival in gaza has come to fighting for food that little bit of aid that makes it into the north where man-made famine now looms people chase parachutes, fell into these choppy waters his desperation that drives them into the sea. what you're about to see next is disturbing it's the reality of war growing more cool by the day the fastest, the fittest emerged with boxes of american issued meals ready to eat others didn't make it out alive. people gather around thin, frail body of a man who drown, trying to reach that aid 12 people drowned according to paramedics, by still want about this box to parents chutes fell into the water of a hamad says, people want to eat. they went

into the water and drowned current was so strong, they didn't know how to swim it's what you do when you have nothing left to lose money. but, um, the, the man goes in swimming to get food for his children. he returns dead. this man says bring us aid through land crossings our children are dying, we are dying. what are you doing? where >> is the world? the world has been piling up life-saving aid into trucks stuck at land crossings seemingly powerless in the face of israel. that's accused of using starvation as a weapon in this war. it charge, it denies for some the international community to resort to dropping aid from the sky. several countries carried out aid drops on this day, deliveries that have been criticized for being ineffective insufficient, an unsafe earlier this month, another airdrop disaster when parachute failed in a packages can crashing down, killing at

least five people it's award that's testing humanity. and many say this is what failure looks like. jomana cannot choose cnn, london >> we're going ahead to the white house now where the white house press secretary is being i'm joined by pete buttigieg, the transportation secretary, and also a key coast guard official, vice admiral peter go ta, involved in the bridge recovery and obviously, what's going to be moving forward here in a incredibly long on project for the american government. let's listen, has remained in close contact with secretary buttigieg, who was in baltimore yesterday to start the discussions about luck on term rebuilding efforts and help the on ground response. the president has directed a whole of government response, but coast guard has set a unified command and the department of transportation, us army corps

of engineers, fbi, the national transportation safety board, and federal highway administration are all on the ground supporting state and local authorities in their recovery and rebuilding efforts joining us today, as you all can see behind me to provide additional details about this administration's whole of government response. our transportation secretary pete buttigieg and vice admiral go ta deputy no commanded for operations of at the coast guard >> with that, i >> will turn it over to secretary buttigieg, followed by the vice admiral sector thank you very much. green. i want to start by thanking device admiral, in the whole coast guard for their extraordinary partnership and recognized leader ship of president biden, who from the very beginning has been acting to make sure that we have a whole of government response to support the people of baltimore yesterday, america awoke to shocking images of the francis scott key bridge collapses after it was struck by a neo

panama x container vessel by the time most americans saw those images this first responders in rescuers had already been at work for hours to save lives. that quick work, unquestionably made an enormous difference. and they have, are gratitude. in fact, if not for several factors, including those responders efforts, the mayday call, the maintenance closure that was already underway and the time of day of this impact, the loss of life might have been in the dozens, but tragically, six people did lose their lives into seven was badly injured these were workers who went out to work on a night shift repairing the road surface, while most of us slept, work is undergoing to recover however, there remains and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones whose lives are never going to be the same. even as those families come to terms with this grief and even as those recovery operations continue, work is underway to investigate what

happened and to restore the key transportation resources that were impacted when it comes to the investigative work led by the ntsb and supported by the coast guard. i will respect their independence and not comment on that work, but i do appreciate hey, being able to engage with ntsb coast guard and other personnel yesterday at the site. i also spent time with governor more and i want to express my appreciation for his leadership. the governor's responded to this unthinkable event with focus and compassion. and we're going to be working closely with him and with his state's dot to support maryland in their work to rebuild the bridge and reopen the port. also want to thank mayor scott county executive olszewski for their work and their teams work insuring all resources are brought to bear in that response while the investigation in the response continued, president biden has made clear that this whole administration will be providing support in every three respect for the recovery and rebuilding process from a department of transportation

perspective, that really comes down to four major focus areas reopen the port deal with the supply chain implications until the port does reopen rebuild the bridge, and deal with the surface transportation implications until the bridge is rebuilt. each of those is a distinct line of effort and we're already taking steps toward each goal with regard to the port. again, the coast guard in coordination with the army corps of engineers will lead on the chain panel, cleanup and the reopening so that that port can get back to full operation. we are concerned about the local economic impact with some 8,000 jobs directly assault seated with port activities. and we are concerned about implications that will ripple out beyond the immediate region because the roles excuse me, because of the ports role in our supply chains this is an important port for both imports and exports and its america's largest vehicle handling port, which is important not only for for car imports and exports, but also for farm equipment no

matter how quickly the channel can be reopened, we know that it can't happen overnight. and so we're going to have to manage the impacts in the meantime, we're working to mitigate some of those impacts, including using tools that didn't exist. just a few years ago following the disruptions to supply chain danns from the covid pandemic. president biden's infrastructure package included the establishment of a new freight office within our department to help coordinate goods movement in ways that were not possible before to be clear, ocean shipping is not centrally controlled that we might expect with, for example, air-traffic control. so having these tools allows us to create coordination that just didn't exist before. it's held us to smooth out supply chains after covid, it's helped us to manage the red sea crisis and we're using it now to help the hundreds of different private supply chain actors get better coordinated to keep goods moving tomorrow, i will be convening shippers and other supplies by chain partners to understand their needs and to promote a coordinated approach

as they adapt to the temporary disruptions. while we plan mitigations that said the port of baltimore is an important port. so for our supply chains and for all the workers who depend on it for their income, we're going to help to get it open as soon as safely possible now for the bridge, now, we are going to be working with ntsb. is they lead their independent investigation. it's too early to speculate. of course, what ntsb will find, but if they discussed ever or determined anything that should be considered in the regulation inspection, design, or funding of bridges in the future, we will be ready to apply those findings. what we do know is a bridge like this one completed in the 1970s, was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support appear from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds, orders of magnitude bigger than cargo ships that were in service in that region at the time and that the bridge was first built >> we also

>> know that this is yet another demonstration of the importance of our roads and bridges, which is one of many reasons why the biden harris administration works so hard to get the infrastructure package passed. and why roads and bridges or the single biggest category in that package. we are committed to delivering every federal resources needed every federal resources needed to help maryland get back to normal and we're going to work with them every step of the way to rebuild this bridge. it is not going to be simple when we helped to pennsylvania pena and california swiftly reopen i95 and i ten respectively. there was terrific done work there, but that was addressing comparatively short spans of bridges over land relative to this span over water. and of course, in the baltimore case, we still don't fully know the condition of the portions of the bridge that are still standing pending or of infrastructure that is below the surface of the water. so rebuilding will not be quick or easy, or cheap, but we will get it done. as i mentioned, we're working with city, county, and

state and i also want to add that we've been closely engaged with the maryland congressional delegation, many of whom were on hand yesterday and who are doing a tremendous job advocating for their state, they made it clear that they will work with us to push for any help that we need from congress. bottom line, as president biden has made clear, the federal government will provide all of the support that maryland and baltimore need for as long as it takes and we will work with congress to deliver on that i'll end with this for the families of those presumed boss, for the people of baltimore who are going to be feeling this closure in day-to-day life and for everyone affected by the port closure and its supply chain impacts the president and the whole government we'll be here with you until everything is rebuild. stronger than ever our country put its arms around florida when the sunshine sky way bridge collapsed in 19 at america rallied around minnesota after the bridge there collapsed in 2007 this will be a long and difficult path, but we will come together

around baltimore and we will read built together >> thank you, mr. secretary and corinne so let me just add to what the secretary has already put you on here. so yesterday evening, i think as you know, after an intense and thorough multi-agency search on the water and from the air. the coast guard incident commander rear admiral shannon gilreath spended the search for the individuals missing from the bridge collapse he did this after consulting governor moore and many other agencies that were involved the coast guard and the response community is deeply saddened the that the missing individuals have not survived. the coast guard appreciates the state of maryland's leadership and humanity in supporting the family members of the missing like to personally thank the state and local responders for their harrak search and rescue efforts. while we didn't achieve that outcome that we had hoped for, it was a tremendous team effort in the treacherous operational conditions as this aspect of the response shift recovery

operations and consistent with the president's direction to get the port up and running as soon as possible. possible. the coast guard highest priority now is restoring the waterway for shipping stabilizing the motor vessel dali, and removing it from the side. hi and coordinating maritime casualty investigation under the leadership of the national transportation and safety board. so just a couple of words on each one. one of those in terms of assessing, restoring the waterway, the coast guard is very tightly connected to the army corps of engineers as they lead in that role, as the lead federal agency for that effort as we were in the oval office, the president called general spellman, the chief of the army corps of engineers, who's on on site. general spellman and i had a number of conversations yesterday in terms of the coordinated approach, moving forward. and they are moving very aggressively and putting resources isn't mobilizing the necessary equipment conducting

analysis in the underwater surveys to do that in terms of continuing to stabilize the vessel mitigating any pollution threat? and removing the vessel from the area the vessel is stable, but it still has over one-and-a-half million gallons of fuel oil and lube oil onboard and it does have 4,700 cargo containers on board. 56 of those contain hazardous materials and two are missing overboard. the ones that are in the water do not contain hazardous, hazardous materials. and then around 13 or so on the bow of the ship were damaged as the bridge collapsed it impacted the front of that chip so the coast guard is moved aggressively to board the vessel and we have teams on board. the responsible party, the ship operator has mobilized activated their marine salvage which plan in addition to their marine pollution response plan, both things that are required by the united states coast guard that solver is a resolve

marine incorporated and they have begun mobilizing resources to take the next steps appropriate to reflow the vessel and remove it from that area. the real critical thing here is that as you know, portion of the bridge remains on the bow that ship and we will be coordinating very closely with the army corps of engineers and their cost contractors to first affect the removal of that debris before the vessel can then be removed. the vessel bow is sitting on the bottom because of the weight of the bridge debris on there and they're underwater surveys that are happening by remotely operated vehicle. divers will be in the water today to complete get that underwater survey there's no indication that there's any flooding or any damage underneath the water line to that vessel. and that effort will continue. keep your in him that. >> then >> lastly, in terms of the casualty investigation, is the secretary had said this is led by the national transportation

safety board i've had a couple of conversations with chair homendy on this account and basically what we've done is we've activated a membrane of understanding between the coast guard in n-tier sb and because the multimodal and complex nature of this investigation we will be providing coast guard investigators for what we call a marine board of investigation. which is our highest level of investigation, the coast guard that will fold in and coordinate with the ntsb investigation is at moves forward. i think the secretary close with some top-line messages for us, i can tell you that our unified command, which is essentially a term that we use in the united states for how we mobilize against crises with all the appropriate federal, state, local agencies, and other stakeholders we have a tremendous amount of talent on there. and a lot of resourcing and given the magnitude and importance of this response is going to be

very, very aggressive. moving forward. and we'll keep you up the form to that. thank you >> variable that was contained in some of containers on the ship. can you update us on that investigation? and is there a threat to the public from any of the materials on board the ship? >> there is no threat to the public from the hazardous materials on board. so we've obtained the vessel manifest that container ships carry and done analysis of the types of hazmat set are on board. we have a very specialized hazmat team on board called the atlantic strike team. we have three of those around the country. and we have air monitoring them there to detect if there are anything that are coming off of those containers the majority of those containers are closer to the pilot house and completely unaffected by the damage to the bow of the ship and there we have not determined that there's any kind release at

this time. >> would you assess as the risk? >> those materials spill. >> so most of these things are things like mineral oils. and even though they're hazardous we've determined that there really isn't any kind of threat to the secretary for you, >> preserve biden has said the federal government should front the full cost of reconstructing the bridge way that really estimate say that cost will be unhelpful get that money. >> we don't have $1 estimates yet, but we actually have provisions that allow us to begin releasing funding even while that is being determined. my understanding is, as we speak this afternoon, a an emergency relief funding request has come in from the maryland state dot will be processing that immediately to start getting them what they need. also later today, there will be a design and procurement oriented meeting that will participate in our federal highway administration along would then dot again, obviously, it's early days but now is the time to begin scoping that out so that they can get to work

>> related to that, mr. secretary? >> how much is >> how much existing money is there now within dot coffers to handle such as other one m dot is, do you have funding through there'll highway administration through the infrastructure law or four, when do you anticipate having to go to congress for potentially a supplemental request on the bridge costs so the infrastructure lodge did authorize funding into the emergency relief account, which is the mechanism that is >> most likely to come into play. here last i checked there was about $950 million available, but also a long line of needs and projects behind that it. is certainly possible. i would go so far as to say likely that we may be turning to congress in order to help top up those funds. but that shouldn't be a barrier to the immediate next few days beginning to get the ball roll >> defending >> that i think it's too soon

to know the mechanics of that >> sorry for the vice admiral can you discuss bradley just the safety of maritime shipping in general, the strength of the regulations that govern it particularly the inherent international nature of the maritime business could potentially create issues, especially if you have shifts based in different countries with potentially weaker regulation you speak to those broader issues. >> absolutely. so despite what happened, 36 hours ago in baltimore the maritime mode of transportation, merchant shipping isn't crumbley, incredibly safe mode of transportation, not just here in the united states, but worldwide. while we do have a regime of regulations that are just comprehensive and terms of the vessel conditions, the cargo that they carry, and how they do that. the qualifications and certifications from the mariners who operate these ships, those are actually networked with a global set of regulations that we negotiate and uphold through the

international maritime organization in london so this ship was flying by singapore. that was the flag state a minute administration. i spoke with the administration in singapore just a few hours ago. there'll be participating in the investing nation. we do something called flag state examinations to ensure that even though these are not us flag vessels coming in, we do an inspection to. assure that they meet the high international domestic standards that we demand >> secretary buttigieg i know that you said they recover the rebuilding efforts that just beginning, but when it comes to the actual pores, can you give us a sense of what the timeline would be for reopening, is it days, weeks? is it months? >> and same for the bridge? are we talking about? >> six, months. are we talking about years too soon to be certain what i'll say in the case of the bridge is that the original bridge took five years to construct. that does not necessarily really mean it will take five years to replace. but that tells you what went into that original structure going up, again, we need to get a

sense of the conditions of the parts that look okay to the naked eye. but we just don't know yet, especially in terms of their foundational infrastructure. so it is going to be some time were commuters are going to need to depend on that 95 and 895 tunnel. and it's going to put pressure on them as far as the port again, too soon to venture an estimate the vast majority of the port is inside height of that bridge? no, which means most of it cannot operate, although there is a facility at what's called sparrows point that can handle some amount of cargo shipping, but nothing close to the totality of baltimore. >> and for the court workers you mentioned there's going to be an economic cost, but also encouraged to them. i'm sure any of the funding that you're talking about in terms of emergency funding with that cover down as well >> this is a major concern the president has directed the administration to find any and all resources that could come into play here. don't know this to be an automatic eligibility for the emergency relief funding that i mentioned earlier. but we're going to turn over every stone we have.

and of course beyond dot, there may be other resources the company when to play more quickly, >> have you been any communication with the owners of this vessel in terms of them paying some kind of consequences here i have not had really referred to ntsb and law enforcement for that >> mr. secretary, do you envision that this would be constructing a very different bridge going forward, you referenced the 1970 state of affairs then do you believe it would be an entirely new span and would you envision different safety mechanisms? as you are, assessing this >> i can't speculate on that. what i will note is that some of the other bridge collapses, that our word rob, these proportions notably the minnesota bridge collapse, happened because of a design flaw in the bridge spontaneously collapsed. this is of course, not that this was the result of an impact, but we don't yet know what ntsb will find or how that might inform plans going forward based on what you've seen so far, do

you recommend that any other fans take any steps based on what we've learned about. however remarkably unusual it was for that impact. you think there needs to be different steps to protect other fans going forward, some modern bridges around the world, especially after the 1980 tampa incident, have been designed with different features to mitigate impacts and protect their peers, right now, i think there's a lot of debate taking place among the engineering community about whether any of those fees insurers could have had any role in a situation like this. again, it's difficult to overstate the impact of this collision. we're talking about this is not just as big as a building, it's really as big as a block. 100,000 tons all going into this pier all at once. but one other thing i would add more broadly speaking there's its presence infrastructure package has the first ever dedicated federal fund for resilience largely that's been construed in terms of seismic resilience

resilience in the face of extreme weather events. but certainly something we'll be looking at going forward knowing what we've experienced in baltimore. >> lastly, the status of the crew of the cargo ship, maybe admiral is better suited for that, or they still on board and are they fully cooperating with what you need the cruised is cooperating with what we need there. they remain on board and the predominately in india and crew. and once sri lankan crew member on board, but there's still there and very much engaged in the dialogue and investigation through le's add role. are >> there any early indications of what caused the dali to lose propulsion during its voyage? and what are some the areas of focus so far when it comes to the investigation into the accident >> yeah. i think we all want to know as quickly as possible, at least some initial findings, but i really need to refer you to the next national transportation safety board and their messaging in terms of moving forward very deliberately in a factual basis to uncover some of those answers

>> the kataib flew to judge you talked about how bridge simply was not built to withstand impact of this nature. but your view that the bridge was built strongly enough? didn't have some of the defensive structures around the support column as many other bridges due >> again, i don't want to get ahead of any investigation either. i will say that part of what's being debated is whether any design feature now known would have made a difference in this case will get more information on that is the investigation proceeds >> thank you, sir. february buttigieg, you've been talking about the president valley to pay for the cost of the bridge unfold to expedite that rebuilding process. what are you going to go after the shipping company >> any private party that is found responsible and liable will be held accountable, i think our emphasis in the president's goal is to make sure that that process is not something we have to wait for in order to support maryland with the funds that they need. and that's what these emergency relief tools can help us do. >> look about accountability looked like.

>> again, i don't want to get ahead. they've law enforcement, ntsb, or any of the other players here, but needless to say, there's a lot going to be a lot of focus on that. anybody who is responsible will need to be accountable. >> rebuilding. obviously will eat then you talked about possibly needing to give that supplemental request to congress. how much money are we talking about just too soon to say, i'm just one question for the vice when it comes to getting situation cleaned up in recovery at first, what are the biggest challenges that you're facing and the kind of equipment that you have to i think the main challenge here is, as you can see by the imagery on scene, is removing that those large trusses and steel members off the bow of the ship. once that happens, so it will have the underwater water survey complete in terms of how that vessel is connected to the bridge pier there but i think once that's done, i think the salvage we'll be ready to do the necessary actions to reflow that vessel and remove it >> contests the ships are on

those 4,700 containers besides the fuel and oil and hazardous materials. can you give us some general categories of what are their goods or on board? >> well, i can do >> said in any given >> container ship, you can have a very, very wide range of packaged, packaging materials. consumer goods, and many, many other things. so it's going to be very, very broad cross-section of cargos >> and then on the other ships that are stuck at the port. and can you talk a little bit about what coordination is being done with those ships and what kind of cargo they have. and where they're bound for? >> yeah, absolutely. so i think we can give you some more specifics on the ships in the port, but i think roughly we've got about a dozen ships that remained in the port that are unable to get out. the majority of those are foreign flagged vessels and i think just sort of typical of what we see in the port of baltimore in terms of dr. dry both carriers, car carriers, and other things, there are a number of maritime administration ships that are there as well. >> and then your buttigieg regulations requirements. are

you discussing waiving any regulations or apartments to help speed along the reconstruction of this bridge, >> too soon to say what exactly administrative issues hey, come up, but certainly we have a clear direction from the president to tear down any barriers bureaucratic as well as financial that could affect the timeline of this project. >> thanks, green secretary, you mentioned you were meeting with shippers and supply chain operators tomorrow, but just sort of curious about your early assessment so far do you expect the closure of the pore to lead to a full-blown supply chain crisis, or what is your early assessment so far? >> well this is of the proportions of, for example, la and long beach when it comes to container traffic, that's one port complex or two ports that collectively represent 40% of us contained and our traffic. it's nothing like that, but it is an important port and important system of the east coast ports. now a lot of the goods that come on or off there go as part of runs, where ships

also visit the ports of new york and new jersey and virginia. and so right now, i think they're already diversions taking place to those and other east coast so sports helping to absorb some of that need so those are the kinds of things were getting more information on right now. and i'm looking forward to getting a better sense tomorrow after talking to the differs >> quick question, onset of safety reviews, obviously this ship was involved in an accident in belgium. i believe in 2016 is this incident going to prompt a full-scale review of vessels like this >> so we've seen what's in the news terms of that particular incident. i don't know whether that's particularly informative to this. probably a different vessel crew, different pilots, different weather conditions, and so on and so forth but nevertheless, we have the coast guard keeps the histories of safety histories of all the vessels that call into us sports. and so we're reviewing that in terms of the investigation

thank you for the vice admiral. can you discuss you to create your degree of confidence in the victim numbers that we've heard so far, we have seen evidence that their sonar has picked up a cars at the bottom of the river. do we know that all those cars belonged to the construction workers or is there a chance that other cars may have fallen >> so we've heard similar reports in the news and basically the coast guard is going off of the numbers of individuals that had been provided to us by the state of maryland as they were the ones who are administering the bridge and had the best idea of how many individuals might have been involved >> secretary buttigieg, view mentioned in earlier that there is not an air traffic control type of body. for shipping. is that an indication that you think that there should be something like that for the future? >> no, it's very different system, but i do think it's important for the public to understand that if a runway or an airport goes out of service, and then there's immediate instructions from a central authority on what to do and where to go. it just doesn't work that way in shipping, what i will say as we have felt a

since the summer of 2021, that there needs to be more coordination than there has been in the past. i think sometimes even not just as a matter of practice but as a matter of culture different shippers and other entities that have been rivals, just don't coordinate we built a program called flow, which invites different participants cargo owners, shippers, ports, terminal operators, and others to begin sharing data. that's something that's served us well, going to the red sea issues, it's certainly serving us well right now because that data can help us get a sense of how these effects are rippling through other ports. so we welcome that coordination were trying to promote it, but that doesn't mean that it's happening on a command and control basis. >> thanks. thank secretary buttigieg, when was this bridge last inspected? >> was it on a list of replacement? it's more than 50 years old. and can you give he doesn't figure of when you reopen the port i. you said five years on the outside for rebuild the bridge, but just ballpark if fermi days, weeks, months, years to reopen important finally, what's the estimator? get economic impact

for the closure of the support and the downing of disparate >> it's on the first one i'll refer you to the state. the have the most up-to-date information on the bridge? >> inspected it, but what i'm asking was it on list of and they noted it was 50 years old and they also noted that it had some quest's parts to it, but was it on willis to be replaced with the infrastructure bill? >> certainly was not the subjective and immediate discretionary grant to replace it or something, anything like that? we do have some work going on on a 895, but to my knowledge, nothing immediate in terms of any discretionary grants going to the bridge economic numbers about 8,000 jobs we think are directly implicated and over $100 million of cargo moves in and out of that port a day. and what was the middle question? >> the ballpark that when you're going to learn the port will be reopening the port is a different matter from rebuilding the bridge the port that's just a matter of clearing the channel is still no simple thing but i would

expect that can happen on a much quicker timelines and the full reconstruction of the bridge. >> so kenya ballpark it just a little. >> you can imagine i'm asking our teams the same question. jim, but i don't want to put something out just yet. weeks, >> months, years. >> we just got to keep going but just give >> us something there >> we have something else. >> secretary buttigieg and other supply chain issue for you has to do with a significant amount of automobiles, car first trucks, whole kaelyn g that goes through the port of baltimore. what will be the impact on the supply chain on those specific industries? >> yes. so this is one of the key ports again, for vehicles and some vehicles were actually finished at facilities that are on port grounds. so it is significant that being said, of course, it's not the only facility that can accommodate roll-on roll-off vehicles. you see that in savannah? certainly. in new york, new jersey, and virginia the

tractor equipment will be more complicated than the ordinary light duty vehicles. these are exactly the kinds of information that we're going to be seeking over the coming days, including tomorrow is convenient. and you expect >> because of those supply chain issues that we could see impacts on the us as a result of those supply chain issues. >> we want to get a little more fidelity on how disruptive it can be. again, we're not talking about a single point of failure that it's the only possible place to get through or even something that is as impact at full as some of the issues that are the panama canal, for example this does not automatically mean that a trip to the east coast has to be substituted with a triptan for the west coast, which would be much more of a cost impact. it can probably be accommodated up and down the east coast. but the effect clearly will not be trivial >> thank you. mr. >> secretary, you said that you had received a request for emergency funding from the maryland for worries. can you tell us what that number was?