their families. but again, that count, the number of missing unknown. the president briefed on this. two dead. and 19 injured. i'm reporting live here in northern manhattan in east harlem. we'll continue to follow this story here on cnn. i'm ashleigh banfield. my colleague, wolf blitzer, my colleague, wolf blitzer, starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we're watching two major stories. one, a deadly explosion in new york city that's caused two buildings to collapse. we'll have a live report from the scene in a few moments. stand by for that. we're also now in the fifth day since a malaysia airlines plane simply vanished without a trace. there are still more questions than answers about the plane's mysterious disappearance. here's what we know right now. malaysian officials have expanded the search area. now covers 27,000 square miles. almost double the size from just

a day ago. the last words heard from the crew of the plane were, quote, "all right, good night." that, according to the "strait times" newspaper. one of the crew members seen here earlier in cnn video. the last message reportedly sent as plane entered vietnamese air space. asking experts to help analyze radar data that suggests the plane reversed course, headed back across malaysia. let's bring in our cnn aviation correspondent, rene marsh, watching this for us. let's begin, rene, with the airliner's last confirmed location. what are malaysian officials now saying? >> reporter: wolf, here's what we know for sure. take a look at this map here. the last location of the plane based on civilian radar, puts it at 150 miles off the coast of malaysia, over the south china sea. now, all other information about the plane crossing the peninsula you see there and ending up in the middle of the malacca

straits is still not definite. and we'll explain why in just a moment. the bottom line is, today malaysian authorities acknowledged they need more help from experts to make sense of all of this radar data. take a listen. >> the way forward, ladies and gentlemen, is to be more express to analyze both the civilian and the military data. in the east or in the west. and this is exactly what we are doing today. >> reporter: all right. well, three ntsb investigators are there. the faa, which has expertise in air traffic control. they have two experts and a regional rep there. they have been on the ground for two days. also boeing, the manufacturer of the 777, also there. they're there to answer any questions about the plane's technology, how it works, the capability of the plane. but to be very clear, wolf, they are not asking the ntsb to lead

the investigation. we are still very much in the search process. wolf? >> so what's the major challenge in appreciating, understanding this radar data? because it seems to be open to some interpretation. >> reporter: absolutely. so here's what we have so far. the civilian radar, and let's throw back up that map one more time. it says that the plane's last known position was right there. over the south china sea. and we know that it was the plane, because at that point, the transponder was on. but the military data now that we've been talking about since yesterday, authorities are saying it may have, an emphasis on the may have, picked up the plane, veering hundreds of miles off course, putting it in the middle of the malacca straits. but the reason why they're not certain is because military radar only detects the presence of an object in the air. it doesn't identify the plane to know that it was malaysia airlines flight 370.

they don't have those identifying factors. there were other planes that were in the air at the time. so this military data is limited in that sense, in that you only know that something was there in that area. but they are hedging it a lot. saying they believe it to be. but they really have to get in and that's why they've called in the ntsb, to analyze this, to get a little bit more certainty as to whether that was truly the plane that showed up on the military radar, wolf. >> all right. the ntsb has a lot of experience in this area. thanks very much, rene, for that. let's dig deeper with steven wallace, former director of the faa's accident investigation and our cnn law enforcement analyst, tom fuentes, former assistant fbi director. steven, now that the ntsb, steven would lasso owe now that the ntsb apparently involved, why is it difficult if the malaysian air force says it spotted this plane going across malaysia, no transponder, but

they have radar, why is it so hard to interpret that radar? >> well, i'm glad to hear just now that the u.s. experts and ntsb has some very first-rate radar experts and faa experts as well looking at that data. without the transponder on, you're just looking at the bounce off the skin of the airplane. this is basically radar that is designed to help you see somebody who doesn't want you to see them. like an enemy. so that primary radar is just a sort of -- can be kind of a fuzzy blip. so -- and whereas with the normal transponder, you're going to have a data block as to where the airplane is, the speed and altitude and all that. >> so it's -- so they think the malaysia air force, this was the plane, the 777, flying across malaysia, over the sea to the west of malaysia, without the transponder going for an hour and ten minutes. what you're saying, it's open to interpretation, they can't be sure? >> well, that's right. you're focusing on the right question here. there is really -- there is some

lack of confidence in this data. but it's good now that i hear the u.s. experts -- >> will the ntsb be able to clarify that? >> i think they will greatly be able to improve our confidence in it. >> we have been talking, tom, about cooperation with the malaysian authorities right now. you're very familiar -- the fbi has a couple resident agents who are in kuala lumpur all of the time. >> right, wolf, i've been able to verify those agents were invited into the malaysian command post the night the plane disappeared. >> that would be saturday morning. >> five days ago. >> 1:30 a.m. or 2:30 a.m. saturday morning overnight, between friday and saturday. >> yeah. the fbi has an outstanding relationship with the royal malaysian police department. and that cooperation is -- has been in the past and is currently excellent. but the situation here isn't the law enforcement dilemma. it's the technical dilemma of why the transponders were off, what happened to the aircraft, the physical aspects of what happened to the aircraft and why. and then the look at all the other information. >> because, steve, and you've done these kinds of

investigations over at the faa, you know, the key question is, why was that transponder -- the two transponders on that boeing 777, why were they shut down. and there are a lot of theories out there, four main theories. mechanical failure, hijacking, pilot error, terrorist attack. we don't know, obviously. and i suspect no one knows right now. >> so, investigators are loathe to speculate, but they draw on what they have seen in the past. so airplanes have gone off course, korean airlines 007 because of a misuse of the nav system, recently we had the ethiopian pilot decide to fly his own airplane to geneva. and we've had transponders turned off by pilots. the combination of the change in course and the simultaneous loss of the transponder signal, it has to raise further the specter. >> does it suggest mechanical

failure to you or some human development, whether terrorist, hijacking, a pilot suicide desire, something along those lines? >> that sort of human element. the likelihood of a failure like this is extremely remote. the airplane has redundant transponders, multiple means of communication, data link and different kinds of radios. and there was no communication. so the mechanical failure here is probably not likely. >> take us inside the investigation, tom. i know the fbi is already involved, ntsb officials are either there or on the way or whatever. malaysian authorities -- international community, everyone wants to know how could this happen. so if -- assuming it may be a human who is responsible for turning off those transponders on that boeing, how do they go about -- do they look at everybody on that plane? what do they do? >> they'll look at -- that information about the transponders being shut off, who shut them off. immediately you look at the character, the background of the individuals flying the airplane. is there something wrong, had

they had other issues going on in their personal lives that might affect this. they might want to take their own life and take other people with them. that has to be looked at. did somebody get in the cockpit. these reports that some of the pilots may have entertained young ladies in the cockpit while they're flying, or other people may have come in, you know, does no good to build a fortress around the flight deck if you allow visitors to routinely visit. that means you're opening that door, creating a vulnerability that someone could exploit and get into the cockpit, take control of that airplane. as steven mentions, if you physically shut off the transponder and radio and then don't radio, that airplane is still good to go. it had enough fuel to fly to china, to beijing, china. that means it's good to be in the air another 3,000 miles. they could have flown that plane to new dehli, they could have flown to australia, to the philippines. you know, so it could have gone down over the indian ocean, it could have gone down over the pacific ocean. that would just massively increase the search area for the physical location of the

aircraft, and until that location is determined, and until the flight recorders are recovered, there is going to be no certainty about what happened in that cockpit that night. >> how extraordinary is this disappearance? disappearance of this huge plane, simply vanished. in all your years investigating these kinds of situations, give us a perspective, some historic perspective on the disappearance of this flight. >> this is most unusual. particularly because it's such a modern, high-tech airplane. i mean, in the jet air, we had airplanes crash because of -- disappear because of massive structural failures. we don't have those anymore. >> or pilot error. >> or pilot error. or, you know, an engine exploding or bulkhead failing that causes loss of the control system. but in any of those cases, there should be time for distress call. and besides, those are accident causes that have been virtually eliminated as recurring events. we have to keep in mind, it's not unlikely at the end of the day, i'm confident we'll solve

this. it will be something we haven't seen before. >> ever. >> yes. >> we'll continue to watch. thank you very much, steven wallace, former director of the faa's office of accident investigation, and tom fuentes. we'll have much more coming up this hour and another major story we're following. a massive explosion ripping through two buildings in new york city, causing both of them to collapse. there are now fatalities, serious injuries. we're taking you live to the scene when we come back. [ male announcer ] you've never watched her like this before. but something about spending this time together -- sailing past ancient glaciers in alaska -- makes you realize how old time is and how short life is. she can take all the time she wants. princess cruises. come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your seven-day cruise from just $549. call your travel agent or 1-800-princess.

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york city. emergency crews on the scene of a horrific explosion in new york. it's caused two buildings to collapse, and severely damage several surrounding buildings. at least two people are confirmed dead. 18 others are injured. the blast happened nearly four hours ago in east harlem. set off a five-alarm fire that is still burning. a con edison official tells cnn there was a report of a possible gas leak 15 minutes before the explosion. investigators smelled gas in the air. law enforcement officials stressed to cnn, they are seeing no connection, not seeing any connection to terrorism. mayor bill de blasio held a news conference a few moments ago. here's what he had to say about the operation under way right now. >> we know we've lost two people already. we know at this moment preliminarily that 18 are injured. different levels of injury. we also know that there will be

a search through the rubble of the building as soon as the fire is put out, looking for those who are missing. there are a number of missing individuals. i emphasize that those who are missing could well be safe in another location. >> let's go to the scene right now, don lemon is joining us. he's there. don, you know this area well. you don't live all that far away. i know you live in harlem. first of all, tell our viewers -- a lot of people know new york. where exactly these buildings are located. >> reporter: they're located between -- hang on, wolf, sorry. i had a mask on my face. they're handing out masks to everyone in the neighborhood. this building is between 116th and 117th street on park avenue. which is a major artery right in east harlem. some people call it spanish harlem. this is east harlem. and this is a heavily trafficked area. it's right next to the metro north train station, all those metro north trains have been stopped. but let me just give you some color from the scene.

i believe i have the best vantage point here, and it's too bad i don't have a camera with me. i've managed to get inside the police line before they closed it off. and i went into the community board office with the councilwoman, and she allowed me to stay in. so i'm looking from perhaps just a few hundred feet away, not that far. i am seeing firefighters with buckets sort of in a chain kind of -- you know how they hand the bucket -- pick up the debris with their hand, put it in the bucket and hand it to the fireman behind him and he hands to the fireman behind him. and they make a new pile from that debris. there were cars parked right out in front of the building, wolf. and what they did, the nypd came in with their tow truck, the nypd tow truck, they removed about four cars so they could make more room for the piles of rubble, and also for the medical examiner. and i do have to say this. again, this is confirmed from my eyes. i don't know if this is an additional death or additional body. but just about ten minutes ago,

i saw a body being put on a gurney, and being put inside the medical examiner's truck. i don't know if it's one of the two who are dead or i don't know if it -- an additional body. but the medical examiner has set up, of course, a medical examiner truck. and i'm looking at movement now. all of a sudden -- hang on, the firefighters are moving in. it appears they have cleared an area, wolf. and they are -- they have a number of them have moved closer to the area and i don't know what that means. but i haven't seen them do that since i have been standing here the past two hours. anyway, the medical examiner set up a truck on the sidewalk with a black tent over it, and that's where they're bringing the bodies, if they do find bodies inside of this rubble. the smoke -- the fire is still going. it dissipates for a bit, and then it builds back up. and then they -- there are still two hoses they are -- at least that i can see from here, that they are spraying on the fire,

and the smoldering -- i imagine there are hot spots inside of there. but i am noticing now the firefighters are standing on top of this huge rubble pile, wolf. and they're taking these buckets and moving them back and forth, and i guess when they find their way or make room, they move in a little bit closer to the area. and i don't know when they move in like that that, if that means they have found another body or something that's interesting, if they have heard something, but since i have been standing here, i have not seen them move in with such force. and, again, the wind keeps changing. everyone who is in the area, all the emergency people, the firefighters, the police department, members of the medical examiner's office, the con edison, gas and electric company, everyone here has on one of those facial masks. and you can smell -- there's -- the -- i'm smelling gas. the smell of gas is getting

heavier and heavier in the air. and that concerns me. because we are standing not far from where con edison, i would imagine, is trying to turn off some sort of a gas main or get to the gas main. but all of a sudden, the smell of natural gas or whatever -- the agents they put in it so it smells, is really heavy in the air here, wolf. and that's the latest from the scene that i'm seeing here. >> that sounds ominous to me, don. you may want to start moving away from that area, because in the initial explosion, people smelled gas about 15 minutes before the explosion, and then all of a sudden there was this explosion. these two buildings in the surrounding buildings, these are old buildings, right, built before world war ii. >> reporter: yes. >> were they residential, office? what kind of buildings were they? >> reporter: it's mixed use. so here's the thing. as you and i -- we have discussed this. harlem is in the middle of what

they call regents -- it's in a republican instannaissanc renaissance. nothing is cheap in harlem anymore. if you're on the east end of harlem where this is, this is the new upper east side, upper upper east side. on the west side where i am, it's the new upper west side. so it's mixed use. there are a number of tenant buildings built probably prewar. there are -- i'm looking at the building on the corner next to this building. and this is a brand-new building, has to have been built within the last three or four years. and the community center that i'm standing in is probably a building that was built back in '20s, maybe the '30s. they believe this was in -- there was a residential area on top of this building, a piano store, and then also -- man, that smell of gas is really -- >> all right. >> reporter: really strong. >> let me recommend. you may want to get away from that area. >> reporter: they're not moving anyone out, wolf. >> maybe they should. >> reporter: yeah, maybe they should. but if they start to move, i'll

let you know. but there is also a church and then a piano store. and then now all of a sudden -- i'm not sure which -- i can't see it. but now the smoke is really, really heavy over this building. and i don't know if that's change of wind or if the hot spots -- if one of the hot spots, you know, is all of a sudden here. and now i'm seeing more police officers and this is nypd tactical unit on the scene going door to door now to talk to people, wolf. that's the latest. >> are they wearing gas masks? >> reporter: no, no one is wearing gas masks. every once in a while -- listen, there's the smell of gas that happens. it's been a faint smell that has been here since this morning. and i would imagine the people who are -- who live here, that's what they smelled this morning. but it gets stronger, you know, occasionally. and i don't know if it's from a change of wind. what i just smelled now i haven't smelled in the last two hours since i've been here.

it is really strong. but no one seems to be put off by it. some of the electrical workers are not running or moving or moving anybody back. they're just sort of taking it in stride. so i would imagine if they have it under control -- but you're looking at live pick it terse of the scene now. i'm standing really close to the scene and i can barely see the firefighters from my vantage point. because of the smoke and the haze. and just to sort of give you an idea of what i'm looking at. i'm standing right on the -- just on the north end of 117th street. and where this building is collapsed is just on the sort of south of 117th street. and so i'm looking uphill. and if you're on the other side of 116th, you probably can't see what i can see, because you're looking uphill and you can't see the firefighters. i'm looking dead on at the firefighters. they're standing on this debris and i'm looking as if i'm standing on my front porch,

looking at my neighbor's house. and what i can tell you i'm seeing right now, they're taking buckets and putting debris in them. they're also taking big chunks of 2 x 4 and metal rods and handing them and throwing them back. and the pile of debris they're standing on now is the manmade pile they pulled from the building. so they -- went into the building, removed the debris, and then build another pile and then stand on that pile, and then they go -- and then they dig and build another pile behind them and dig and build another pile. and they just keep gingerly going into it like this, you know, a little bit at a time. and they're using their hands, they're using picks. and i've seen them use shovels, and there's also a backhoe that they have been using, as well. and i also am keeping a close eye, wolf, on the medical examiner's office, because i'm seeing gurneys, as well.

but i've only seen one body they have put into that medical examiner's van. wolf? >> don, stand by. i'm going to get back to you. i want you to -- if you have a chance, ask some of the firefighters, the other authorities there, what's going on, that intense gas smell that you're -- that you clearly are smelling right now. i worry, should we be -- we'll get back to you, don, momentarily. don't go too far away. but if that gas continues to escalate, that smell, you may want to get a little bit further away. we'll check back with don lemon in a few moments on this explosion, two buildings collapsed in new york city. also, we'll update you on the search area for flight 370. it doubles in size, malaysia now asking for outside help. experts are needed to pinpoint where to even look. we have new information, right after this. spokesperson: the volkswagen passat tdi clean diesel can go 795 highway miles on a single tank. huh...

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we're going to get back to don lemon in a few moments. he's on the scene of those -- that explosion in new york city, collapsing two buildings. don lemon is there for us. we'll get back to him in a few moments. let's get some more now on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight 370. did that airline -- did that plane veer off-course and go in the opposite direction? and if it did, why? what was the last radar contact with flight 370? five days after the plane simply van earned, officials still don't seem to have many answers, if any. tom foreman is joining us right now. tom, malaysian authorities have failed to clarify the aircraft's last known moments. movements, shall we say.

what can you tell us about the search area, though? >> wolf, the search area is just getting bigger. that is not it typically what you want to see happen in a circumstance like this. very hard on family and friend out there who want to know what happened. this is what we know. we know when the plane took off. we know when it stopped sending a transponder signal. but then it gets very murky. one of the things we were being told yesterday was this idea that there is a radar reflection over here. why does it say reflection? that means the plane was not answering. normally when a radar is sending out a signal here, it's saying, "i see something" and the plane is answering saying yes, we're the malaysian air flight. there was no answer. they just saw something on radar out here. the indication we had, because authorities thought the plane had turned, somehow it followed some kind of line like this and wound up here. but now this is all in question as to exactly where it was or if this was even that plane. and the result is exactly what you said, wolf. a question of what happens to

the search areas. the search areas were focused up in this area. now they have been expanded over land. they have been expanded out here. and this isn't a simple task. every time you expand it, you really tremendously expanded the job. effectively what they do is they create a grid and then planes and other search vehicles must travel throughout that grid, one by one, eliminating every one of those squares. the search area now is officially at about 29,000 square miles, although one official put it closer to 40,000 square miles. point of reference. that's about a quarter of the search area that was conducted for the air france flight that crashed after leaving south america. and it took them two years to find that wreckage, even though they found debris within a matter of a couple days when that plane went down. and they have no debris here. so this job is just getting more and more complicated with this new information coming in. and it will be even further complicated if, in fact, the

plane is in water somewhere, could possibly be on land. this strait here they're talking about, one possible location, maximum depth, 328 feet. pretty shallow in other areas. this is very, very different than the air france crash. so finding something here, seemingly would be easier. but you have listen for the pinging of these devices they're looking for on the plane. and that could be complicated by the fact this is one of the busiest waterways in the world. so while you're trying to listen, you're going to have all sorts of ships going past at all hours of the day, although maybe, wolf, maybe, if the plane went down here, somebody might emerge from one of those ships eventually saying they saw something. >> yeah, let's hope they find something, and find something soon. tom, thanks very much. while the searchers are trying to figure out where the malaysia airlines plane is, aviation experts are also looking at what may have gone wrong. i'll speak live with a veteran airline pilot and our own richard quest about the possible scenarios that are unfolding.

that's coming up.

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there. let's bring in our aviation expert, richard quest, also joining us the veteran airline pilot, kit darby. richard, first of all, you have some new information, a statement just released from the national transportation safety board? >> yes, wolf. this follows on from the statement made by the head of transportation in the investigating authority in malaysia, in kuala lumpur a few hours ago. they said they were going to be seeking further expertise from the faa, and the ntsb. and for those who with specialist knowledge of radar. the national transportation safety board, who are by far and away the most experienced in investigations, they say -- one of the few statements they have put out since it began, investigators with expertise in air traffic control and radar are providing technical assistance to the malaysia authorities who are working on locating the missing jetliner. in simple english, it means the american experts in looking at radar and those who have done

this over many years in many circumstances, are now getting to grips with the investigation on where that plane might be. >> kit, five days into this hunt for this missing plane, simply seems to have vanished, they're now doubling, tripling the area that they're searching for. how troubling is that to you? what does it suggest? >> well, the few pieces of information we had that began to give this investigation some direction have now been challenged for their authenticity. and we don't really know. so we have the scenario of the airplane continuing, that this track is false. we have -- the track could be accurate. and now leads us in another direction. so we double the search area. we're really looking at the pilots. there's a slight chance they were involved or made a mistake, perhaps, with a mechanical problem that was shown. and we're looking at the threat of terrorism. so really three areas. the airplane, the threat of terrorism and pilots. but they could interact in many different ways. so without more information, we

need to find this plane and we need to get hold of the black boxes to get direct information, or we need to find someone else who has more direct information, perhaps some of the data outputs. but the takeoff, the climb, the radio conversation, all normal. we don't really have any indication of anything abnormal from what we have been able to gather from the airplane or atc. >> richard, the police in kuala lumpur, the capital of malaysia, they say they are now searching the home of the airliner's captain. 53-year-old veteran pilot from malaysia airlines. what would they be looking for, based on the information you know? >> i would say that it's common sense that they would be looking to see was there any reason to suspect that this captain might have been involved in any shape, form or description. they're going to be looking for anything. anything at all that will give them a clue as to why the captain didn't communicate, if his aircraft, if his airliner,

is in trouble. he is the master of the ship. it is entirely under his command. so you're going to want to know, what's in his home, was he on any medications they didn't know about. what was he reading, what was on his computer at home. what was he thinking? anything at all. because you are -- again, and again, you are cutting the pieces of the jigsaw that will make the picture. and by going to the captain's home, talking to his friends, talking to his family, this is all normal stuff when you've got to basically do a full-scale forensic examination of every aspect of this flight. because as kip was saying, we don't have anything here that we would normally expect to have to lead us towards a clue or solution, a reason. >> kit, if there was some catastrophic mechanical failure, all electric power was destroyed for whatever reason, there would still be no way to send out any

distress signal, is that right? is there any backup system that is included in a plane like this, which is the most sophisticated out there? >> well, the -- in this airplane, like you say, one of the best. one of the most sophisticated. it has redundancy on top of redundancy. it has two engines to power generators, each engine has two generators, it has an automatic i will re power unit and backup batteries. it's inconceivable. the reason i think it's the most likely scenario, i can't find any way in my reasoning to understand how all those things could go off simultaneously. the only way i see for that to happen is oh to cut the power. and that's conjecture on my part. it's simply the only way i see for this type of thing to develop, without there being some type of information from the airplane or radio call from the captain. now, the captain could easily be hands full of airplane and not -- his first priority would not be to call us. the first priority would be to

save the plane and with it himself. so he's motivated to do that. if he has time, he'll give us a call. but there's other data coming from that plane, all of which stops at this moment. it makes no sense. >> richard, button this up for us. >> well, there's one bit of data that we can't pin down. but the rumor is, the new scientists newspaper has rolls-royce, the plane's engine manufacturer, has received data, big data, because it monitors all engines from rolls-royce aircraft around the world. that rolls has got data, from the engines. but needless to say, rolls-royce not only would they not confirm they've got the data, obviously they wouldn't tell us what the data is. so we're still following that lead, as well, wolf, whether or not rolls-royce, the aircraft manufacturers of the engines, actually knows a little bit about this story too. >> richard quest, kit darby, guys, thanks very much. we're going to have much more coverage of the missing plane as mystery continuing.

also another story we're watching, a huge explosion leveling two new york city buildings. we'll have the latest on the victims, the cause of the blast, the major search and rescue operation is under way, in new york, right now.

a frantic search now under way in the rubble of two, yes, two collapsed buildings in new york city. they came crashing down after a huge blast, possibly a natural gas explosion, at around 9:30 this morning. at least two people are confirmed dead. 24 hours are injured, including a child reportedly now in critical condition. the blast set off a five-alarm fire that's still burning right now. a con edison official tells cnn there was a report of a possible gas leak about 15 minutes before the explosion. investigators smelled gas in the air. law enforcement officials stressed to cnn, they are not

seeing any connection to terrorism. our own poppy harlow is on the scene for us in harlem in new york city. poppy, what's the latest? what are you learning? >> reporter: well, wolf, just take a look behind me. we're going to pan in so you can see what dozens and dozens of fdny new york city responders, digging through the rubble of what was two buildings of two residential apartments, 1644 and 1646 park avenue. as you said, 24 injured and being treated at this time. we know two are dead, two women. mayor de blasio calling this a tragedy of the worst kind because of the lack of advanced notice. again, the only notice they were given was that call of someone in the area smelling gas just about 15 minutes prior to this explosion. also, i want to tell you that an nypd detective told me, quote, 1644 park avenue appears not to be there anymore, a total

collapse of these buildings. an extended operation under way. this is very much a search and recovery effort still at this time, wolf. they have literally just been putti putting out the final flames from this fire, now searching through all of the rubble. we got here just about half an hour after it happened, 45 minutes or so, and talked to people who lived in buildings right on the block that were impacted by this. listen to what one 21-year-old angelica told me. >> my neighbors came banging on my door, telling me to get out, that i guess they were evacuating the building. and i couldn't get out. my door was jammed. everything off my window sill fell and i guess the impact of the explosion jammed the door, as well. >> reporter: and now, you know, we also met people here this morning looking for their loved ones, running up, embracing others, very worried about what would have happened. i think the big question at this time, and the mayor said time and time again in the press conference, he will not name the number of people unaccounted for. it is just far too early to do

that. they could well be alive, not injured, just not being reached or not found by their friends and family. they're not giving us that number. that is the key question now. how many people are unaccounted for. are there anymore fatalities, and also the structural integrity of the buildings on this block, wolf. the mayor said there was a huge impact structurally. the question is, are these buildings intact or is there concern going forward about the structural integrity of the buildings connected on the block. we have reached out to the department of buildings, we're waiting to hear back from them on that. >> yeah. two buildings collapsed in new york city, a huge explosion. we'll stay on top of this story. thanks very much, poppy, for that. other news we're following, including republicans, they score a major win in a florida special election. so what does that signal for president obama? and the democrats in the upcoming november elections, not good news. our chief political analyst, gloria borger, standing by. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage.

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>> florida elections that might indicate serious trouble for the democrats in the mid-term elections. republican david jolly won in the special election of florida's 13th congressional district. he will fill out the term of bill young who died in october. national republicans frame it as a referendum on president obama's health care act. they are looking at the race for the bell weather for the mid-term elections. gloergia borger is here. what do the results say to you? >> it was an important race. it was a perfect storm where you had a district that is a swing district that had been held by a republican, a swing district with two candidates pretty well-known. neither of them ideal candidates. $9 million in outside money. pouring into the district to try

to appeal to independent voters and what you had was a fight over obamacare. the fight that republicans have been itching to have and in this particular race, you have the republican candidate is a disaster and the democratic candidate saying you know what, don't end it. mend it. the republican won. you talked to democrats about this and they say look, it would have been worse for her if she had not talked about actually fixing obamacare. people don't want to kill obamacare. you talk to republicans and they say this message about obamacare will have resonance in the 2014 election and make a difference in every swing district. >> based on this result last night, plenty of pundits are saying for the democrats, forget about taking over the house and you will probably lose the senate. >> here's the problem for the president and every fund-raiser he has gone to.

the problem for the democrats is, they are not turning out to vote. their base is not as motivated in the 6th year of a democratic presidency to go out there and support democratic candidates. republicans who are angry about president obama who don't like him and don't forget, only 26% of the people in this country according to a poll believe it's headed in the right direction. that's not going to motivate you if you are a democrat to support a democratic candidate, but it will if you are a republican and you want to see a change. what the president is doing is telling democrats okay, i know you come out during presidential years, but you have to come out for democrats in the mid-term election or you are going to have this result. >> thanks very much. reporting for us and going back to harlem in a moment. don lemon is standing by at the scene of that massive explosion. two buildings collapse and the search for survivors continues.

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. >> watching the breaking news out of new york city, disturbing news around 9:30 a.m. eastern and leveling two buildings in manhattan. don lemon is in harlem. don, you got us worried when you said the smoke seemed to be accelerating and getting worse. what's the latest? >> they were taking care of it.

they were reporting from inside and the police are aware that they are here now and they are already here. since they are here, stay. make sure you wear your mask. i am standing right in front of the coned people who have gotten into the hole and capped off whatever they need to. when i spoke to you, it was an opportune time that they had just gotten to the main thing that they needed to reach in order to shut it down. i have done it. i don't smell anymore. this video i shot, as i was standing here, there was a drone flying over the scene that flew over the scene for several minutes, about 10 or 15 minutes back and forth. i'm not sure if it's the nypd.

i think it is, but people do have personal drones. this did look official to me. drones flying over the scenes, they are keeping officials informed. >> don, i want you to stand by because brooke baldwin is in new york as well. she will pick up our coverage right now. thank you so much for being with us on this thursday. busy, busy news day as we follow two major stories this afternoon. first right here in new york city. look at these pictures. incredible amounts of smoke, deadly scene there in harlem as fire crews and new york police department's bomb squat went after an explosion and two buildings collapsed