vessel yet. 985 feet long. a 95,000 gross tons that went into that bridge this morning and collapsed it in a matter of seconds. that's going to do it for us this hour. make sure to join us for chris jansing reports every weekday, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern. very busy day. a lot of breaking news. our coverage will continue with katy tur reports right now. eporw good to be with you. i'm katy tur. at least six people with still missing according to officials. although the ntsb won't say an exact number, they do say though that search and rescue is ongoing according to the news conference we were watching a moment ago. and the wreckage of baltimore's francis scott key bridge will not be touched while those search and rescue efforts are ongoing. the bridge collapsed last niegs around 1:30 in the morning after

a container ship slammed into one of its supports. the ship issued a may day call minutes before saying it lost power and steering. that warning allowed officials to stop traffic from getting on to the bridge but not enough time to clear the overnight construction workers who were filling potholes on that bridge. joining us now, nbc news correspondent, george soliz. you're on the banks of the bay there where the bridge collapsed. what else did we learn from this news conference? >> reporter: i think i may have lost you, but what i can quickly tell you is that we are on the rooifr and behind me, you can really see the aftermath of this wreckage, of the collision. i'm going the step out so you can really get a sense of what we're seeing. that is the cargo ship, the dali. behind it is the francis scott key bridge partially submerged. at this hour, the search is on going for those six souls

presumed to be in the water. you heard from the ntsb chair that they are not going to be boarding the vessel because the focus is on finding the individuals in the water. all of these people working on the bridge fixing potholes. we heard there were vehicles in the water as well, which is sort of part of what the investigation was looking at using the sonar technology. scenes out here have been playing out like a movie, which is like a cliche, but when you see some of the imagery with the low flying helicopters and the boats on the water, all crucial in this search for those people. what you also heard from the chair this afternoon is that she's working with our singapore counterparts who will also be here. there's a lot of information about what went wrong here and of course, so many of those questions will remain to be answered. again, we've heard from the governor today, local officials and the feds that right now, they are just keenly focused on trying to find those individuals.

here on the ground on this side of the water, what we've been hearing from are the locals here. people who use the bridge day in and day out who say this is more than just a bridge to them. this is the francis scott key bridge named after the author of the star spangled banner. very close ties to baltimore. it's part of the baltimore beltway. so people use this to get to and from their jobs, to their homes. there's a lot of emotion tied to this bridge. so right now, everyone again just keenly watching to see if those individuals are found and finding out what went wrong. >> george, thank you. again, this is a human tragedy. certainly a quality of life tragedy for those who live in the area. it could been an environmental tragedy for the bay. it's also going to be an economic, major economic hardship for the entire northeast corridor and for shipping globally. that is a giant port. we'll get into all of that and that might have happened with the ship. you can see its power going on and off.

but we want to turn to our other top story. today, the supreme court heard its first major abortion case since roe v. wade in 2022. a group trying to roll bacak success to the abortion pill. on grounds the fda broke the law when it made it easier for women to get the pill. all but one of the justices sounded pretty skeptical of the group's right to sue the fda in the first place. here are the justices press the attorney on standing. >> take dr. francis. she's on the labor and delivery floor. >> sorry, i don't want to hypothesize. tell me in her declaration where she talks about not wanting to pose an objection. >> she talks about -- >> can you point me to any place in the declarations where a

declarant states? >> no, your honor. >> at least they read more like the conscious objection is to participating in the abortion to end the life of the embryo or fetus. and i don't read either scott or francis to say they participated in that. >> when i looked at dr. francis' and scott's, there's nothing you have there. other requirements that you need, but at the very least to be able to say well this happened to them in the past. i don't think you have it for either one of those doctors. >> that was basically the tone of the arguments toemd. joining us now, mark josepher stern and lisa rubin. lisa, i think it was surprising for a lot of people that all of the justices except maybe alito, were pretty skeptical of the arguments. >> you heard skept about the

standing. you heard some from other justices about what the appropriate remedy would be here even if some of individual plaintiffs have standing. particularly from gorsuch. that was a big surprise for me to hear him say a nationwide injunction against the use of mifepristone might not be appropriate even if doctors felt they had been harmed by access. >> we have that audio. >> they're looking at studies and you're saying the court can look at studies, maybe different studies, maybe the same, and critique their conclusions about them. so what deference do we owe them at all with respect to their assessment that these studies establish what it is they say they do about safety and efficacy? >> i don't think that's an

accurate portrayal of the issue here. we're asking this court to look at what fda said. the fdca says you have to have -- >> didn't the lower courts go beyond that? representations were made that the lower courts relied on studies that have been found discredited and removed. so they were obviously look at not just what the fda was looking a t. >> that wasn't quite the right sound bite. that was jackson arguing why should the courts get into this. mark joseph stern, how did that go? >> very poorly for the anti abortion advocates here represented by erin hawley. she said we've proved time and again it poses a threat to women but as judge brown pointed out,

it's a very safe drug. safer than viagra and tylenol. they sited these studies that purported to show it was actually dangerous and caused excessive bleeding but in between those decisions and today, those studies were retracted for being insufficiently rigorous and sponsored by abortion groups that had an ax to grind against abortion. i think when the justices did reach the merits, there was very little that erin could do here to persuade them that this pill is especially dangerous. it falls squarely within the fda's usual regulatory regime to say we think the benefits outweigh the dangers and none of the justices except for perhaps alito seemed to want to let any random doctor walk into court and secure a nationwide injunction on the grounds they don't like the drug. >> lisa, they have the arguments in front of them.

when should we expect a ruling? >> probably by the end of june. normally when we're talking about more controversial cases, particularly ones toward the end of term, we generally wait until the end of june to see a decision. here on the other hand, because there was more unanimity than we expected, perhaps we'll see it earlier. >> democrats are looking at late june as a way for them to use the abortion issue to remind people of what is at stake. the rulingmifepristone would work in favor. a ruling that allows mifepristone to stay on the market would be good for a lot of women. and looking forward to what might come next, you heard, mark, that erin kept referring to the comstock act. you heard frit the justices. what might we see even if this ruling ends up going against her

and the antiabortion activists behind this case. what might we see in the future recording the comstock act? >> as lisa said, i think the court's likely to get this case on standing but it probably won't address the core of the plaintiff's argument which is that the core of the act is law designed to ban birth control, to ban abortion, designed to ban feminist literature in the mail. that that law is still on the books and that it effectively imposes a federal ban on medication abortion and perhaps all abortions, procedural and medical, throughout the 50 states. that is a sweeping argument. it requires i think a rather exaggerated reading of the text, but it's one that the heritage foundation is currently making. it's won that jonathan mitchell, one of trump's top lawyers is currently making, and one that a lot of antiabortion leaders are

urging trump to invoke if he's elected on day one. to issue an executive order saying under the comstock act, i have the authority to ban all abortions nationwide and i am going to do it. so even though the court will likely sort of ditch this case, the sword will hang over the head of abortion providers around the country that if trump wins or if erin and her associates cook up a more plausible case, they will be able to secure some day criminal penalties against abortion providers under a zombie law. >> we're going to ask her about this in a few minutes when she joins us. the lawyer who argued against the fda's expansion of mifepristone. lisa, the other news we have that just broke as we were coming on the air is a gag order from judge merchan here in new york city. what's this regarding? >> the d.a.'s office asked judge merchan to place a gag order on

former president trump with respect to his extrajudicial statements. a fancy way of saying anything he says outside the courtroom. they asked for three categories. for prohibitions on what he said about known or potential witnesses. they asked for prohibitions on what he could say about any counsel in the case other than alvin bragg himself, the elected district attorney. and any court staff as well as any family members of those people that are made with the intent to or with the realization that they would interfere with the administration of justice and finally, they asked that he be prohibited from making public statements about any prospective jury yor in the proceeding. that's a recognition that just having an anonymous jury here wouldn't be enough to protect the jurors. in this case at least on my first look, everything the d.a. asked for in that gag order, they got today. with some really harsh words from judge merchan about the impact of trump's statements on people outside this case and within this case.

>> appealed gag orders before but they violate his free speech. might we expect them to appeal this one? >> we can expect they'll appeal it and i think it will fall on deaf ears because with each passing case, trump accumulates a record of threatening participants in the judicial proceedings. it's held up at the d.c. circuit. i suspect the new york court will sustain this. >> the new york gag order was limited. it remained in place but wasn't as broad as it was initially laid out. am i wrong about that? >> no, it was scaled back somewhat, but this is modest. it's targeted with respect to three categories of individuals and it talks not just about making statements. for example, trump can make statements and witnesses in the case. what he can't do is, i'm quoting, concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding. so can he say i don't like michael cohen? absolutely. can he say that michael cohen is a purgerer and is likely to

purger himself in this testimony? no, he cannot. >> thank you. still ahead, california's attorney general joins us with what his state submitted to the court today. what he fears will happen if they lose the mifepristone case. plus, attorney erin hawley joins us. why can't her clients just opt out of abortion care? and the ship's power was going on and off. you can see it in this video. an expert in cargo ships explains what could have happened in the moments the dali took out baltimore's francis scott key bridge. stay with us. we're back in 90 seconds. we're back in 90 seconds

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(man) excuse me, would you mind taking a picture of us? (tony) oh, no problem. (man) thanks.t clicks. (tony) yes, problem. you need verizon. get the new iphone 15 pro with tons of storage. so you can take all the pics! (vo) trade-in any iphone in any condition and get a new iphone 15 pro and an ipad and apple watch se all on us. only on verizon. arguing in support of the federal government, the fda today was a coalition of 24 state attorneys general who signed on to a brief to protect mifepristone. it could quote drive many individuals to undergo waunted procedural abortions, push procedures to later in pregnancy and sharply increase risks, costs, and delays and deprive many individuals of access to abortion care all together. joining us now, attorney general for the state of california, rob banta. mr. attorney general, thank you very much.

so lay out what you are arguing in your amicus brief? >> thanks for having me. honor to be here. we filed an amicus brief with two arguments. one, that mifepristone is safe, has been safe for over 20 years. five million people have used it safely. has zero risk of death. very, very low risk of any adverse health consequences. we've also said that returning the rules to the pre 2016 fda rules would be against the public interest. it would make mifepristone less accessible by creating more in-person visits. not allowing it to be accessible during up to ten weeks of gestation. only having physicians be able to make prescriptions. no availability by mail for prescriptions and no accessibility by telehealth. those were our major arguments and we feel that the safety argument and the public interest

argument were well absorb and understood by the court and we're hopeful for a positive ruling based on today's oral argument. >> mifepristone has been on the market for decades. expanded access has been around for about eight years. has the state of california had an uptick in emergencies related to mifepristone? >> no. it's safe. it's been safe over 20 years and you know, it's the most common method of abortion in the united states. it's safer than tylenol. than a colonoscopy, safer than viagra, safer than wisdom teeth removal. it's safe. it's been determined by study after scientific study for years and years and making sure that those who need it have access to this safe abortion method is critical. the fda has seen that in its wisdom and based on scientific

evidence, based on indish of safety has created pathways to more availability. >> what's your sense of what might happen? >> you know, after the arguments, i think there's a likelihood of a decision based on standing. that the, those who brought this case were unable to show the appropriate nexus between the alleged offense and their alleged injury. and that the fda is rims, their rulings on risk evaluation and mitigation will remain in place based on the scientific evidence that supports them and that there could be some dissents that raise issues like the comstock act, but i think it will be the fda who prevails likely based on standing. >> do you expect to see litigation on the comstock act

going forward? >> perhaps. i think it's sort of lingered as a place where those who seek to attack what had long been for over 50 years a constitutional right to an abortion. those who are not satisfied with the dobbs decision which allows states to decide and want it to be banned nationally. i think it's been an area of interest for those folks. and so i think it is a potential pathway for them for additional challenge but it's old as it's been described. it's a zombie statute. i don't think it will carry the day. it's sort of an outside hail mary attempt that could be tried, but will it be tried? i would not be surprised if it were. >> one of the arguments the justices brought up is that if you do not want to perform a procedure because of religious reasons, you're allowed to opt

out of it. you don't have to perform that procedure. can you explain the statute they were talking about? >> there's an exemption based on conscious accommodation already in the existing law that individuals that based on their own conscious don't want to be participate as a physician in prescribing mifepristone don't have to. so that was pointed out by i think both conservative and non conservative judges on the court today as a clear accommodation already existing in the law. and i think that was a problem for those challenging the fda's approval of mifepristone. >> thank you very much for joining us. . coming up, the attorney fights to keep mifepristone off the market. the expand access. she'll join us. plus, what went wrong?

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assuming we have a world in which they can actually lodge the objections you say they have, my question is isn't that enough to remedy their issue? do we have to also entertain your argument that no one else in the world can have this drug or no one else in america should have this drug in order to protect your clients. >> so, again, your honor, it's not possible given the emergency nature of the situation. >> let me interrupt there. i'm sorry. recently, i think what justice jackson's alluding to, we've had what might call a rash of universal injunctions or vacaytures. and this case seems like a prime example of turning what could be

a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an fda rule or any other federal government action. thoughts. >> yes, your hono again, i have to say it's -- to raise an objection. the district court remedy here was perfectly appropriate under section 705. >> in 2022, erin hawley was part of the team that got roe v. wade overturned. today, she acted as the lead attorney on trying to roll back access to the abortion pill. joining us now, erin hawley who represents a group of anti abortion doctors and associations that claim the abortion pill is a danger to women. it's great to have you. congratulations on arguing your

first case against the supreme court. i just played justice gorsuch, should have the right to impose a nationwide injunction on the rest of the country when a more tailored remedy would be more appropriate. why can't your clients just opt out of performing abortions as they suggested? >> i think one of the most shocking things we heard was from the department of justice and the department of jus sis said that no one would be able to challenge fda's reckless removal of safeguards. even admitting if they were unlawful, that wouldn't matter according to doj because no one could challenge these provisions and that's not usually how a law works. >> but let me ask you again. why can't your clients, your doctors, just opt out of performing abortions? they're allowed to. there's a statute that allows them to. >> so two reasons. we are delighted to hear the

federal government concede in court today that our clients are entitled to federal conscious protections. they said the opposite in other court cases involving emergency situations, so we agree these should apply, but the fact of the matter is that these are emergency situations. you may not know until you're in the operating room whether or not it's a miscarriage or an abortion that that has been, has taken place. and so it's really impracticable for these doctors to have a conscious objection up front. >> why could your doctors not have a discussion with the doctors beforehand to say that i blanket will not be involved in these emergency procedures where that will be a question. that is also allowed. >> most of our doctors are obgyn hospitalists, but when there's on ob emergency, they are the doctor on call to go down and take care of these sorts of

emergencies. again, they won't know before or after or until they get in the room whether it's a miscarriage or something else. in addition, the fda really was saying before the supreme court today that even acknowledging that one in 25 women go to the emergency room after taking mifepristone, that that didn't matter because no one could challenge it. that's a scary view of administrative law. >> even if they are hospitalists and i understand what a hospitalist does, if they have agreed to not be a part of a procedure where this may be question, the hospital would have to employ somebody else along with that person in order for them not to perform the procedure. so there's a way to opt out of this, because a handful of doctors are worried they may be involved with something that doesn't agree with their

religious believes. >> it's not about access. the only thing at issue in this case is whether women who choose to take mifepristone will take it according to the protections that just a few years ago fda called necessary and minimally burdensome. this includes a visit to screen for things like ectopic pregnancies and get the gestational age. >> my team and i have read through the declarations you include. can you just clear something up because i was confused. do any of your clients, have any of your clients performed an abortion against their will? >> so i think there was some confusion as to the breadth of our conscious objections. our doctors object not only to actually completing an abortion and taking an unborn life, but also to scraping out a woman's uterus baby parts and pregnancy

tissue. again, those are things the government conceded are conscious rights but what it said is something new. it didn't take that position in other federal litigation and it's really something to require doctors to obtain these conscious objections when until recently, the department of justice has been saying they're not entitled to that. >> but have any of your clients actually performed any of those procedures against their will? >> yes. we have a number of deck la rents that have performed dncs. yes. >> i didn't see that specifically, it wasn't clear they were for abortions, but they could have been for miscarriages. >> i don't think that's correct. the context of those was talking about abortion drug harm. each of those declarations were talking about women they had seen suffering from abortion

drug harm. we know 1 in 25 women go to the emergency room. we know up to 7% of them require surgical intervention for bleeding or ongoing pregnancy. that's not a small number of women especially when you factor in nearly 650 million women take chemical abortion drugs each year. >> you brought up the comstock act in your brief. it was brought up by the justices today. is the goal of this litigation to take us one step closer to banning abortion access nationwide? >> no. at issue before the supreme court is whether or not when women choose to take abortion drugs they do so with the protections that until very recently, the fda said was necessary and minimally burdensome. we should all be able to agree the drug company profits should not trump womens' health. >> why bring up the comstock act. >> it prohibits the mailing of

abortion drugs, which is precisely what the fda allowed in 2021. and we think that violates the comstock act. ilt relied on studies that were not accurate. especially when they're regulating important things like womens' health. >> it can also be used to stop any equipment that is used for abortions to be mailed nationwide. if you're able to use the comstock act here, that is opening the door to stopping medical equipment being crossed state lines which would open the door to abortion being illegal across the entire country. >> i don't think that's a correct interpretation. what it prohibits is mailing things if they're designed or intended for causing abortion. so if it was a general surgical

implement, that could be mailed to a medical device store and planned parenthood could pick it up there. what is at access is safeguards to womens' health. >> thank you very much for joining us. appreciate it. again, congratulations in arguing your first case in front of the supreme court. and robert f. kennedy jr. has announced his running mate. he has chosen nicole shanahan, a silicon valley lawyer who was previously married to google's cofounder. she has donated to multiple campaigns even partially funding rfk's $7 million ad that aired during the super bowl this year. joining us now from oakland, california is vaughn hillyard. >> reporter: we expect her to take the stage here any minute. robert f. kennedy jr. who's running as an independent and

trying to qualify for the ballot was anticipated to make this pick. nicole shanahan is now his selection. for folks at home who have not heard of her, you are not alone. she just had about 1200 followers on x. she does not have a large public profile by any means. she is 38 years old. never served in public office. she is a tech lawyer. a philanthropist. somebody who is at the age of 38 years old, has inserted here into politics here on behalf of robert f. kennedy. you said it there. that $4 million donation that went toward developing a super bowl ad that turned a lot of heads. that is largely to robert f. kennedy getting a closer relationship with her and at a time in which he needs frankly funds to help gain ballot access and gather those signatures in states across the country. this is a potential cash

infusion for him if she does invest their own presidential bid to try to help that effort. of course at a time that not only is the biden campaign concerned about the impact of his candidacy, but also the trump campaign. this is really over the next seven months going to come down to how many folks in both camps convince to not peel away from them and vote for robert f. kennedy. he's got positions that some appeal to donald trump, others who would vote for biden. having talked to folks at multiple events when i ask them would you vote for biden or trump if it's not kennedy, you get a good split between the two. that's something we're going to look at here as he ramps up the campaign. >> thank you very much. coming up, more than 30,000 vehicles cross baltimore's key bridge every day. what its sudden collapse mean for those who rely on it to transport goods or to get to work. don't go anywhere. ansport goodso work don't go anywhere.

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pete buttigieg along with some other notables from that state. let's go there now. >> good afternoon. since we last had a chance to speak, we've had the opportunity to spend time with the families. had the opportunity to pray with them and pray for them and the strength of these families is absolutely remarkable. and we want to let them know that we are here with you every single step of the way. we are praying for you now and always. and we always will. we've also had the chance to spend time with a lot of our first responders who we mentioned before the work that they have done since early in the morning and they have not stopped since, is truly remarkable. these are individuals who were in the middle of the night jumped into some very challenging environments. some very challenging territories and have not stopped in their quest in making sure that each and every person is seen and supported and lifted

up. so to our first responders, today and always, we just want to say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. also had the chance to speak with the president and the vice president who have been full throated in their support of everything that we're doing here in maryland and we just want to say how grateful we are to them. how grateful we are to the secretary of transportation, and department of transportation who within hours of this happening, i was on the phone with the secretary of transportation, i think secretary buttigieg called me at 3:30 in the morning and now he and his entire team have been down here looking at the efforts, the damage, and also identifying what they can do to support and help. can't tell you how much we appreciate that, mr. secretary, and also please let the president and vice president know how much we appreciate it as well. we've also had a chance to be here with our remarkable congressional delegation. from the earliest parts of the

morning, the delegation has been there throughout. i always say i'm grateful that i've got such a remarkable congressional delegation and today, i just have another example as to why i am a very lucky governor to have the congressional delegation that i have and our state, local, elected officials. mayor scott who literally got a call from the very first thing in the morning, i know you have had no rest in a long time, sir. we appreciate you. also it's to the members of the philanthropic community who have been reaching out and offering support. the members of the private sector. the sandwich companies who have said we're going to shutdown because we want to make sure the first responders are getting meals. everybody has stepped up. everybody has raised their hands to serve. and i can tell you it is so deeply appreciated. it's so deeply felt. and for everyone who is offering prayers and supports, i can tell

you those prayers are working and we are grateful. the thing i would ask for people to remember is this. the first, this is very much still a search and rescue mission. we are still actively looking for survivors. we know and that's the pledge we've made to these families and this is still very much an active search and rescue mission and there's not a single resource that we will hold off on deploying. i've already authorized the deployment of everything from air, land, and sea resources to make sure that this search and rescue operation is carried out to its fullest intent. the second thing i want to remind people is that this will not be short. there's going to be a long road. there's going to be a long road not just as we go from search and rescue. there will be a long road as we talk about what does the future of this region, future of the area look like.

we're going to need each and every one of you. we're thankful to have partners in the biden harris administration, in our federal delegation, the partners in our state and local leadership. we're thankful for the partners we have in the private sector and philanthropic community. we're thankful for the partners we have in the moore miller administration. for each and every one of you. both marylanders and non marylanders who have reached out and offered support. we feel it, we need it and we are truly grateful for it. i think just in this time, this state has been able to show what it means to be maryland tough and baltimore strong. and this state and this city will continue to show exactly that. and so with that, i want to turn it over to our secretary of transportation, pete buttigieg, with a deep sense of thanks and appreciation. i apologize. before i hand it over, i want to

turn it over to the dean of our delegation. and someone who has been leading from a front this entire time and we are deeply grateful for the leadership of senator ben cardin. >> governor moore, first of all, thank you very much for getting our whole team together to meet this challenge and our prayers are with the families of those that are lost at sea at this moment. as the governor said, it's still a search and rescue. so we are hopeful and we are with the families. i also want to underscore our thanks to our first responders. they did an extraordinary job, acting very quickly and saved lives so we thank them for everything they have done. i just really want to underscore a couple of points. our first priority is the search and rescue for those that were on the bridge. we then need to make sure that the channel is reopened.

it's critically important to our economy. it affects many, many jobs. it affects not only jobs here in maryland, but around the country and world. so our next priority is to make sure we get that channel opened and then we need to fix and replace the bridge for the surface transportation. we're going to work together as a team. i am very impressed by all the partners that are with us today. we heard from them. at the state level, the local level, the federal level. particularly want to acknowledge our federal part ners, secretary of transportation is with us. we have the coast guard. army corp. of engineers. the small business administration. they're all here because of the partners that work together. a special thanks to president biden who's made it very, very clear that he'll do everything in his power to make sure we get the help we need to deal with this challenge, but as secretary buttigieg told us in our briefings, he's going to need

the help of congress in order to get things done. so i want to acknowledge our team, senator van hollen, my partner in the united states senate on the appropriations committee, the work he's doing. congressman trone is hear. our federal delegation is committed to working together. we got calls from our leadership that said they're prepared, secretary buttigieg to do everything we need to do in congress to make sure we have the federal resources to get the job done. i want to thank senator schumer for his call and comments. senator murray, senator carper have all been in touch with us. it is a team effort and we're going to do everything we can to protect our economy and protect the people of our state. and with that, let me just turn it back to the governor or secretary buttigieg. this guy woke all of us up. >> thank you. i want to thank senator cardin and the entire delegation for

their leadership. they have been on this from the first moments and as the senator mentioned and i'll say more about this in a moment, we'll will needing to work together to make sure we render all the support that is needed at the federal level. i want to recognize the leadership of governor moore who was already wide awake and hard at work when i reached him in the middle of the night. we just had a very informative briefing with his extraordinary leadership team. and i was moved to see the partnership between state as well as county and city personnel led by the county executive and the mayor working hand in glove with us and with our sister federal agencies. if there's one thing i have to say today is a note of gratitude for the extraordinary and courageous work of the first responders. some of whom are in that cold water right now. some of whom are from right here. some of who have traveled in to render mutual aid.

all of whom are responding with extraordinary professionalism and whose work has already saved lives and to those state and county and local responders, i would add the extraordinary work of the united states coast guard. we should also recognize that this is an excruciating day for several families who went to bed last night having it be a normal night and woke up today to news that no one wants to receive. they are hoping and praying and we are hoping and praying with them. we are all putting our arms around the community of baltimore and that is true for all of this country. i've even heard from counterparts as far as away as the united kingdom reaching out to express their support. i've been in close contact with the governor, the mayor, county leadership, and the congressional delegation and as president biden has made clear, the federal government will provide all of the support that

they need for as long as it takes. this is no ordinary bridge. this is one of the cathedrals of american infrastructure. it has been part of the skyline of this region for longer than many of us have been alive. so the path to normalcy will not be easy. it will not be quick. it will not be inexpensive. but we will rebuild together. in order to make sure that happens, the president's plan is to work with everyone here in order to rebuild this bridge and reopen this port. including our readiness as a department to approve emergency funding as soon as we receive that request. meanwhile, our maritime administration will help with port, harbor, and supply chain operations. our federal highway administration will assist when it comes to the bridge itself and any ways that we can help ease roadway congestion for

residents and commuters who can no longer use this major thoroughfare. the federal aviation administration is even involved working to keep the air space above the bridge clear for emergency personnel. our pipeline hazardous safety administration is on the scene to help with any hazmat issues and our newly stood up freight office is already at work preparing for supply chain impagts that we know are coming. we're going to be working closely with the national transportation safety board as they lead their independent investigation and with the coast guard as they continue operations in the water. i've also spoken with secretary mayorkas who is working to make sure that all dhs assets integrated. so our work is just beginning to rebuild this bridge and deal with impacts in the meantime. to reopen this port and deal with supply chain impacts in the meantime. but today we are most acutely

focused on the emergency operations for -- that are underway and the families impacted. i have no doubt that we'll rebuild together and that baltimore will come back stronger than ever before. and with that i'll turn it back over to the governor to lead media questions. governor. >> governor, any news on -- >> there is no new information about the search efforts. that we know we still have the six individuals who are missing. >> governor, when you talk about the investigation standpoint, how concerned are you if there were any safety violations on this ship or the track record of the owner, operator and mr. secretary, if you could speak to that as well. do you have any concerns about that? mayor scott, we didn't hear from you. what are your thoughts on this tragedy today? >> well, i'll take it first in that capacity. i know that there is a thorough investigation that is going to be going on about everything

that took place last night, the things that led up to it and also the aftermath and so i don't have any further comments about any concerns that we have about the companies that are involved because there is still a thorough investigation that will take place. >> thank you, mr. governor. i think we all know this is an unspeakable tragedy and while as the governor just said, the investigation is still underway, all of that can wait. right now, this is about the lives of those individuals that we are searching for. and nothing else. everything else of this team of folks that will work together to make sure that we rebuild and do everything we need to do for our port. but this is about the lives and families that are deeply impacted. >> this is -- we see now several bridge collapses happening over the last couple of years. this is a catastrophic event. but that bridge fell very quickly. how concerned should americans be about the bridges that

they're traversing every single day in this urnt coo. >> well this is a unique circumstance. i do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to with stand a direct impact from a vessel of this size. any time anything happens to any bridge, we as a country take that and learn from that. learning from incidents diverse as what happened to i-95 in philadelphia, what happened to i-10 in los angeles. or another case that we're learning a lot from here which is the 2007 collapse of i-35 west in minnesota. let me emphasize, that was a very different circumstance with very different causes an the ntsb by design is in dependently leading the investigation into what those causes are. no question that we'll take all of that information and apply it in our future work. >> mr. secretary, how long are you preparing for the shipping channel to be closed and you menged supply chain, what else are you doing to make sure that other ports are prepared to take

on some of that? >> the port here in baltimore does most vehicle handling of any port at all. and that is just talking about the vehicle side. you have also container traffic. there is no question this is a major impact to supply chain. it is too soon to offer estimates on what it will take to clear the channel and reopen the port. this is one part of the facilities here, trade point, which is located at sparrow point which is outside of the part that is blocked but the main part of the port of baltimore is inside of the channel that is blocked. this is why we're fortunate to have the new office with along with the maritime agency, is we're going to make sure that we coordinate. there is no central authority that directed maritime traffic like with air traffic. so it is important to have a number of dialogues step lished with ocean shippers an beneficial argo owners and everybody else who plays a role

here. >> governor, just for clarity, i question from this morning. it was unclear if there were any vehicles on the bridge when the vessel hit it? do you have an update now whether there were actually vehicles on the bridge? >> it appears there is still an investigation going on about which vehicles that we have that were on the bridge. the thing that we know, that we could also verify is the quick work of our -- of public officials and law enforcement who kept for vehicles from coming on to the bridge. they saved a number amount of lives. >> and you're still looking for six people, as far as you know. >> our investigation has not changed on that. >> could you tell us about the companies involved? the shippers an the owners? >> we'll come back to that. >> thank you, all. >> wes moore there, the transportation secretary, pete buttigieg and senator ben cardin among others talking about the tragedy, the bridge collapse in baltimore. asked about whether there was a problem with the infrastructure

of the bridge, as we know infrastructure has been an issue in this country as a lot of our bridges and our tunnels and et cetera not getting the greatest grades. but the transportation secretary saying that there just aren't a lot of structures that are pead to with stand an impact like that. again, it was a giant cargo ship with 10,000 containers that slammed into one of the supports on that bridge. the question is what was going on with that cargo ship? is an investigation ongoing, as you heard from the multiple officials and the ntsb, but we did want to see an expert of what happened. and you could see the lights going on and off. you could see the lights are off and then they go back on and then adjustment in the direction of the boat and then it hits the bridge. former merchant mariner, sal. thank you for being here.

if we pull the video up, you could see the lights go off and back on and then they go off again and then they come back on before hitting the bridge. what does that say about what might have been happening on board that ship? >> thanks for having me, katie. so the worst sound you could hear on a ship is silence and that is what they heard on this ship. this meant that the engine dropped on them is the phrase. so they were without power. you would stop revolutions on the propeller but you lost control to the rutter. and even when the lights pop back on, that may have been the emergency generators coming back on. that doesn't indicate that you have control of the vessel. and due to the wind and the current there, at the time, it was going to push the ship toward the southern end. even though they tried to drop an if anchor and they did drop their port anchor at 8 knots, and over 100,000 tons, it is impossible to bring that ship to a fast and sudden stop. >> so, is there anything that you could do in that situation?

what it -- was there enough time so send out a tugboat to redirect the ship? >> well tugboats are used to escort vessels. this used to tugs to come off the personal. but you don't have tugs escorting vessels through areas. there is a big debate about that. should that be done. but it involved cost and delays and unfortunately, because of the velocity and volume of cargo that we move around the world today, there isn't a lot of time. and so this ship dropped his tugs and proceeding on. i pilot is a maryland state pilot, that helps assist the ship master and they called the mayday and did everything they could to try to stop the vessel from hitting the pylon. but that ship and that bridge was built 50 years ago and the peer was much smaller. so it is not designed to handle a ship this size. >> it was going 7 knots at the

time, how fast is that. >> about 10 miles an hour, which is not fast but you're dealing with a vessel over 1200 feet long and over 100,000 tons an the momentum is impossible to stop. >> what redundancies might need to be put in place going forward to prevent something like this? is it just tugboats escorting them out into the open ocean through the harbor or are there on board redundancies put in place to avoid a tragedy like this. >> i think one of the big things we have to talk about is in specs of these vessels. it got a clean bill of health, but there not enough inspections done of vessels that come in and out of our ports that operate at a very high tempo. and so we just don't know what the maintenance was on the vessel and how well the engine was being taken care of and had problems coming up and that is what we have to look at and expand the infrastructure in our ports. for example, building up the dolphins so they could resist a

ship like this and building them further away from the pier because the ship went over the top of the dolphins and physically struck the bridge. >> yeah. sal, thank you very much. we're out of time. again, this port is a major u.s. shipping port. having it shut down is going to be very disruptive. there is also a major transport lane now shut down because the bridge collapse. the i-695 corridor, 40% of the country's gdp goes up and down the northeast corridor so that is major as well. that is going to do it for me today. a lot of news in this hour. a lot more news to come. "deadline: white house" starts right now. hi, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york. for an ex president facing 88 felony counts, just weeks away from becoming the first ever