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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  June 24, 2021 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT

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loves her and misses her. wolf? >> brian todd, thanks for that report. brian todd helping us appreciate this story. to our viewers, thank you very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." follow me on twitter and instagram. tweet the show. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, breaking news. a desperate search for survivors of the florida condo collapse. about 100 people are still unaccounted for. i'm going to speak to a man whose mother and grandmother are missing tonight. plus, breaking news. two major breakthroughs for joe biden. a bipartisan deal on infrastructure, and this just in. a preliminary agreement on the police reform bill. and the delta variant spreading in every state tonight. we are live in missouri where one city's covid hospitalizations have more than tripled in the past few weeks.
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let's go "outfront." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. the breaking news, it is a race against time this hour. rescuers in florida desperately searching for nearly 100 people still unaccounted for after a condo high rise just collapsed this morning. new video that we just got moments ago here shows a frantic effort under way by rescuers. this video is in the flooded basement of that building. the building collapsed, you see those collapse marks, and in that basement, people still desperately searching in surf side, florida, just north of miami beach. >> in there risking their lives to try to save others, because the situation is growing more dire by the moment. 99 people are unaccounted for at this hour.
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that's a number that's been going up throughout the day, as more people realized a loved one could be inside. only one person is confirmed dead. no survivors have been found since the collapse happened 17 hours ago. surveillance video shows that horrifying moment the building came crashing down early this morning as dawn was coming. local officials say the 12 floors of the building literally pancaked, and you can see it from that surveillance video, obviously, about -- that full-length football field away. they still have no idea how such a thing happened. >> i just had a chance to view the site up close, and, i mean, the humanity that you see, the daily lives, the evidence of just people living their daily lives and that everything, everything evaporated in an instant, it's just -- it's enormously devastating.
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>> rescuers have been able to save 37 people, including a 10-year-old boy. the boy you see here pulled out of the rubble. the man who first found that boy describing the moment when he heard the child yelling out for help. >> he was just screaming, don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me. so we wanted to stay with him to make sure we got fire and police over there. so i was able to signal a police officer using the flashlight of my phone. they got up to him. he got a perspective, and then he got fire over there to start digging him out. >> no word yet on the boy's family. but there are so many families holding out hope that their loved ones could still be okay. i'm going to speak to a man who was looking for his mother and grandmother. but first, i want to go to surf side, florida, and rosa flores, who was there. so rosa, we just showed that video just in. they're in the basement there trying to drill.
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everything they desperately can do to try to find people who may be alive. are they still hopeful there are survivors? >> reporter: erin, they are. right now, the focus is the search and rescue mission. those moments like you just described where firefighters are shoring up that building to go inside looking for signs of life. at this hour, according to local authorities, one person has died, 102 people have been accounted for. and firefighters are on a mission to find 99 others. these images appear to show the moment that a 12-story high rise partially collapsed in surf side, florida thursday morning. >> a wife with three or four children. 2, 6, and 9. we just hope -- i'm just asking god, because they're in the affected area. >> reporter: a massive search
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and rescue operation under way for survivors among the rubble of champlain tower south. >> reporter: at least one person is dead, and ten injured, officials say. 99 people are still unaccounted for. >> the rescuers are hearing sounds from the rubble. it's kind of hit or miss. you get into a zone where you're so passionate and so focused and so just determined to make sure you're doing everything possible to save a life in an event like this. >> reporter: this 10-year-old was lucky to get out alive. this man spotted the boy between the rubble and alerted rescuers. >> i saw an arm sticking out of the wreckage. he was screaming, can you see me? >> reporter: another resident narrowly escaped. >> i looked down the hallway, it's a very long hallway, probably a hundred yards, 75
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yards, and there was nothing there. it was just a pile of dust and rubble. >> reporter: while the cause of the collapse remains unclear, work had been taking place on the roof. >> there was work on the building being done to meet the 40-year standard. it's not to say what the cause is. >> reporter: and the nature of the collapse, complicating rescue efforts. >> the problem is, the building has literally pancaked. there's just feet in between stories where there were ten feet. >> reporter: a nearby 50-unit hotel also evacuated. >> the alarms went off, it just got louder. everybody started to panic, and we grabbed children and started running out the door. >> reporter: for now, the focus is on providing survivors with the support they so desperately need. >> we still have hope to identify additional survivors. and the state of florida, we're offering any assistance that we can.
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>> reporter: according to the miami-dade fire rescue, firefighters have not been able to hear voices in the rubble as they're searching. but they have been hearing bangs. that, of course, signs of life. no word yet on what caused this collapse. but at some point, the miami-dade police department will be taking over to figure out what exactly went horribly belong. >> thank you very much, rosa. i'm joined now by pablo rodriguez. his mother lives in the building. his grandmother had been staying with her, and they are both missing tonight. pablo, first of all, i'm so sorry for what you're going through today. you know, how do you even grasp the reality of what's happening? i know they're desperately searching. they're doing everything they can to find survivors. what is the latest you're hearing about the efforts to find your mother and your grand mother? >> to be honest, erin, we haven't heard anything. we went to the community center
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this morning, gave her information. both of their information, and we haven't heard anything from anyone. we've called in, we still can't get any information. they were in the section that completely collapsed in the first tower collapsed. so we're not exactly very hopeful. but we're not getting any information right now. >> umm, i'm just so sorry. i know there were sounds from the rubble earlier today, and look, some people might be injured or not able to speak, but alive. i know you said it's hard to be hopeful given where they were in the building. but do you still have hope that they may be rescued alive? >> you always hold out hope. you know, until we definitively know, we are trying to stay hopeful. but after seeing the video of the collapse, it's increasingly
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difficult, because they were in that section that was pancaked in. and the first section that fell in, and then the other building fell on top of it. so it's not -- not easy to watch. >> i know your mom told you yesterday that she woke up in the middle of the night, and she heard noises. and she -- for her to mention this to you obviously, you know, in the context of everything being seemingly normal, she was worried enough to tell you about it. what did she say? what was she worried significant >> she just told me she had woken up around 3:00, 4:00 in the morning and heard like creaking noises, just like sort of creaking noises. they were loud enough to wake her up, but that was it. i just thought it was nothing. she just didn't sleep well, and that was it. so she didn't really pay any attention to it either. it was like a comment that she made off hand, like that's why she woke up and she wasn't able
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to go back to sleep afterwards. but now in hindsight, you always wonder. >> yeah. i mean, you're right, had nothing happened, you wouldn't think anything of it. but you realize you don't hear that in a building like that. umm, pablo, we were showing pictures of you, you know, your family, your mom, your grandmother. you were in washington, and that's where you had all just gotten back from. your mother, grandmother were going to take your son to lunch today. you had a big birthday coming up for your grandmother in a few weeks. you were living life, finally after -- yeah, you were living life. >> finally getting back to normal after the pandemic. we had gone up to d.c. to visit my brother, because he lives up there. then we went over to philadelphia for a couple of days. it was a great trip with my mom. we got back last saturday, and then today they were going to go
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pick him up to take him out to lunch. you know, they came over every single weekend to spend the day with him. so it's -- my son -- it's going to be difficult. >> i mean, are you even able to grapple with what has happened here? i mean, this is just -- this is something that no person would ever even comprehend or imagine happening. >> it's hard to explain. it's waves of devastation with troughs of disbelief. it's just one second, you know, you're overwhelmed. it's really difficult not to break down now. and then, you know, another you get a semblance of normalcy, because you just see, well, it's impossible. this doesn't happen. buildings don't just collapse. it's not real. so it's been like that all day. >> pablo, i am so sorry. i know i, like everyone, holds out that hope.
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i understand you're being realistic about it, but that hope that you do get a miracle. >> i appreciate that. we're praying for a miracle. but at the same time, trying to be as realistic about it as possible. but yes, until we definitively know there is hope, you know, it's just dwindling by the minute. >> pablo, thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. jimmy is a state fire marshal who has been on the ground coordinating the emergency response. jimmy, i don't know if you could hear pablo. just the devastation that families are facing here. and i know your teams are doing everything they can to humanly do. they're in the basement, doing everything they can to save a life. i mention 8d you had heard some sounds from the rubble earlier today. at this point are there any signs there could still be survivors trapped? >> well, the men and women of task force one and miami-dade
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fire rescue, our boots on the ground, there were almost 50 different departments that responded at 1:30 in the morning last night. they have been working nonstop. the task force working right now, they're a fema task force. they get deployed all over the world. what you'll see at 7:00 at night will be the greatest effort. we'll have over 80 men and women that will be working with other departments all at the same time to save lives. they won't stop until the mission is over. >> i know you're using every device you can, sonar devices among others to hear any activity under the ground. can you tell me what all the rescuers are doing right now? >> so the men and women that are working right now, they can only work in 15-minute shifts. the level of exhaustion is enormous. they are carrying 80 pounds worth of gear, protective equipment, they're carrying concrete saws.
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it has to be used manually pause of the sheer threat of the building that is unstable, as they are crawling under debris to save lives. what is is the greatest challenge for you at this point? i understand what you're saying there, but about 15 minutes in and out, that has to be incredibly difficult. >> so, you know, i would say the greatest challenge is the pace these men have to keep, these women have to keep. but they sign up for the job. they're amazing human beings. the best i've seen in humanity is what's happening behind me. and the equipment that's been here on the ground, whether it's valentine's day, christmas, new year's, you name it. when you dial 911, these men and women show up and respond. that's what they've been doing since 1:30 in the morning. so the greatest challenge is to stay focused and what you're going to see tomorrow morning is the task force from tampa and
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st. petersburg, the task force here from jacksonville. they're going to be coming to back up these guys so they can get a break, because they peer not going to stop until every life that can be saved is saved. >> marshal patronis, thank you so much. >> thank you. and next, the question, what could cause a florida high rise, built in 1981, to just collapse like a pancake in the early morning? were there any warning signs? and more breaking news we're following tonight. joe biden with major breakthroughs on infrastructure and moments ago, breaking news on police reform. plus, the delta variant fueling -- tripling hospitalizations from springfield, missouri. >> what percentage do you think it is that people you have now are unvaccinated? >> in the hospital, it's nearly 100% of the people, hospitalized
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just boom, right off the middle. search for survivors is still under way. right now, one person is confirmed dead, but 99 people are unaccounted for tonight. after the search and rescue is over, officials will focus on the cause of the collapse. this is of crucial import to this building, to buildings nearby. to people everywhere. "outfront" now, the director of florida international university's law school of construction, infrastructure and sustainability. he's a specialist in high rises. in other words, professor, this is what you know. have you ever seen anything like this just happen before? >> you know, erin, this is a very rare kind of event that tykes place. these kind of collapses don't take place just every day. and so i have seen some
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collapses, the collapse of the building in oklahoma city comes to mind. but in this case, i think there is a number of factors that could have contributed to this collapse. and it's going to take some time. i know there's a natural tendency that people want to find out the exact cause of the collapse right away. but the way the structural engineer approaches these types of problems is we collect all the data, and we have the tools and the knowledge that we can simulate these scenarios in the computer and pinpoint exactly what caused the collapse. >> so i understand completely what you're saying, but of course, you're looking at high rise buildings all around this, and the mayor just told cnn there's what he called a sister building a block away, but he says it's unimaginable that this would happen again. of course, now it's not
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unimaginable to anybody, anybody. it may be to you from an engineering perspective. that's my question, how concerned are you that this could happen to another building nearby that may be in the same, you know, the same sand? >> you know what, that depends on what the outcome of the investigation is. let's say, for example, if the outcome of the investigation is that it's because of the settlement, say that might have caused the foundation, then you need to take a look at the other similar buildings sitting in the same kind of foundation and so on. my feeling is that usually a collapse like this doesn't happen just because of one factor. usually it's several factors combined, and it's like a perfect storm. every collapse that i have seen, it's not just one factor, there are several factors that take place. and in this particular case, i
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mean, the investigators are going to have to look at from the design, from the construction, the foundation system. and once all the data is collected, they're going to have to simulate this thing and pinpoint. my feeling is the biggest lesson we are going to get out of this collapse is that we are going to have to inspect certain high rise buildings located in certain locations more frequently. >> yes. >> i think in the case of the bridge structures, for example, because of the collapse that took place in 1967, in west virginia, we inspect every bridge in the u.s. every two years. we don't have to do that in the case of the buildings. but we need to do some inspection, some aspect of the building, maybe every five years or so. i think that's going to be the biggest lesson that will come out of this collapse. but we have to wait.
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i think the biggest thing that -- the biggest message that i can send is that there is a natural tendency, we have to give it time to people who are investigating these things. and do a good job, trying to identify exactly what happened. and then the next step is what changes do we need to incorporate our building code, the way we construct them, the way we inspect them. because the safety of the public is the number one issue. >> as it should be. of course, now people have a lot of fear, as this desperate search continues. professor, i appreciate your time. thank you tonight. and next, breaking news. well, infrastructure, what's happening in washington. and now police reform, moving ahead. what does it mean for other issues that biden said were crucial? plus, alarm and regrets over
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the rapid strain of the delta strain of the coronavirus across the united states and its effects. >> i hope people do think about getting the vaccination. it's your prerogative. i wish i had done it just to avoid this. >> the surgeon general of the united states will be "outfront." l this ink it comes with. big ink tanks. lots of ink. no more cartridges. incredible amount of ink. the epson ecotank. just fill and chill. to prove our aa battery is the world's longest-lasting, we tested it against our competitor's best battery. (meowing) (clicking) and energizer ultimate lithium wins again! energizer, backed by science. this past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. but eventually, with spring comes rebirth.
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on the nations fastest, most reliable network. breaking news on joe biden, breakthroughs tonight on two major priorities for him. moments ago, congresswoman karen bass, cory booker and tim scott announcing they have reached an agreement on a framework for bipartisan police reform. this just hours after biden announced a bipartisan senate agreement on a sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. saying the deal will create millions of jobs, he says it also show there is is still hope for democracy. >> neither side got everything they wanted in this deal. that's what it means to compromise. and it reflects something important, it reflects
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consensus. the heart of democracy requires consensus. as we reaffirm once again, we are the united states of america. >> chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins and manu raju are covering the developments tonight. kaitlan, for biden, these are two huge breakthroughs on agenda items, infrastructure and police reform. biden also delivering on one of his major campaign promises here. >> yeah, bipartisanship. i think the white house is still waiting to see what's happening with this framework on the police reform deal. clearly they're feeling very good about the infrastructure deal today, because you saw biden come out and officially endorse it. so it's still not clear that it is going to pass both chambers of congress, make it to his desk. just the idea that you saw joe biden come out with this bipartisan group and talk about
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this really does speak to what he said all along, he said he wanted to get done if he did make it into the white house. and even today when he was speaking in the east room about this deal, not just the outlines of it, how they want to pay for it and what they want to get done with it, he talked about the fact that there were democrats who encouraged him to stop negotiating with republicans. he said he remained in those negotiations and had his team keep talking to them about it. clearly he believes that's a follow through of what he said he believed could happen. so the question is, how do they get everyone else on board and what does it look like when they take it to the broader group on capitol hill. >> manu, what can you tell us about the breaking news that just happened here by the bipartisan outline for police reform, which just crossed in the past few moments. karen bass and tim scott leading that. >> reporter: yeah, it's different, rosier language. i've been talking to the negotiators over the last several weeks. they've been saying various
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things, they're getting close or setbacks in the talks. it's been going on and on for months. this is the first time they have reached an agreement on a framework. but they do not have a feel yet among these group of negotiators, and they certainly don't have a bill that they have written and they don't have anything that has been accepted by house republicans, by senate republicans, senate and house democrats. so there is a long way to go. that's still key sticking points, namely how to bring civil lawsuits against police officers who are protected now by the qualified immunity standard. there have been discussions about compromised language on that. other issues as well remain on the table, but that qualified immunity issue remains the sticking point. so can they get there? a big question, but the difference in tone among the negotiators today. >> which is something all americans want to celebrate.
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but we talk about a bipartisan deal. for example on infrastructure. nancy pelosi comes out with a warning about the bipartisan infrastructure deal. here she is. >> there ain't going to be an infrastructure bill unless we have the reconciliation bill passed by the united states senate. >> so manu, what she's saying here is that infrastructure bill is bipartisan, but you're not going to get your bipartisan deal if we don't get everything we wanted in it on our own without a single republican vote. maybe i'm not translating it, but how does this boil down to bipartisanship then? >> that's the real challenge here. because some republican senators who are open or supportive of that bipartisan deal may balk now because they don't want to give in to this democratic strategy to try to pass the larger reconciliation bill that
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would include a whole host of biden priorities. today, lindsey graham who endorses this bipartisan deal warned that he would vote against it if the democrats do carry forward with their strategy. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, came out hard against this strategy. he's not weighed in, but he said he's very pessimistic now, because it puts them in a very, very challenging position to endorse this strategy, because the reconciliation bill undoubtedly would propose raising taxes on corporations and higher earners, which is a red line for democrats. but they had to do this, because they need to get their liberals on board behind the bipartisan deal, because they want this larger bill to go through. and then they have to get the people like joe manchin on board to support this larger democratic only approach today. he would not commit to that, because he's concerned about the large price tag they're talking about here. so a long way to go.
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a lot of hurdles to overcome for this to become law. >> and so kaitlan, is biden confident this will happen, this will go through? >> reporter: he said today he didn't want to say he was confident because he doesn't know how democrats are going to vote. but one line he had was really telling. he said yes, the democratic party is divided. but he said they're rational. he thinks at the end of the day they're not going to vote against an infrastructure deal, because there is this in-fighting among them about what the priorities and tactics should be and what this should look like. so he does seem to feel somewhat confident, but he couldn't say it, we should be clear, about what that was going to look like. he made some news in his remarks, as well saying that he would not sign the bipartisan deal that he just negotiated if he did not also get that bigger reconciliation package that the liberal progressives have been pushing for, talking about what they want to see on his desk.
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so that is significant in and of itself, saying that he also agrees, he wants both of those packages on his desk. that'sing? that mitch mcconnell is criticizing him for. >> this is the real question. all of a sudden, if that's your strategy, do you lose your filibuster proof majority? as the delta strain of covid takes hold, pehospitalizations e spiking. britney spears wants her life back. what is her daily life back now? and what's happening right now, live pictures in florida of the devastation, where rescue crews are searching for survivors every moment after that condo collapsed. it's about getting stronger. by turning workforce data into insights that help you make informed decisions about building a team that works as a team. and by using our ai technology
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a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. a week's worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com tonight, the highly transmisable coronavirus delta variant has been found in a cluster of cases at a nevada el men try school, including two with children. it comes as it's spreading, known to be spreading in every state by one. i think it's safe to say it's there, too. but this is what we know technically. and in missouri, the state hardest hit so far, hospitals are again overwhelmed by the virus. martin savidge is "outfront." >> reporter: in springfield, missouri, coronavirus hospitalizations are up more
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than 225% since the beginning of june. the region's two major hospital systems are once more worried about being overwhelmed. >> it appears to be related to the delta variant. we began to get news of the delta variant about five weeks ago. >> reporter: the delta variant, the same variant blamed for the catastrophic surge of covid cases and deaths in india is becoming prominent in the u.s. local health officials say it makes up 93% of covid cases in springfield. >> 34 cases were hospitalized due to covid related illness in mid may. as of yesterday, we have 155 cases hospitalized due to covid related illness. that is the highest it's been since january. >> reporter: the hospitals report many new patients are young. and until recently, healthy. what's more, experts say just
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about all those hospitalizations have something in common. what percentage of people are unvaccinated? >> in the hospital, it's nearly 100% of the people -- hospitalized with covid pneumonia are unvaccinated. >> reporter: the current vaccines are all effective at reducing severity of illness and hospitalizations caused by the delta variant. but the county's vaccination rate is running behind the national rate of 45%. >> of those eligible, we're at 37.7%. >> you realize you're behind? >> we do, yes. >> reporter: in other parts of the state, the numbers are far worse. more than 20 counties in missouri report less than 20% of their population is fully vaccinated. >> they're sending a lot of misinformation that has played a tremendous role in politicizing
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this entire situation, and that information has definitely played a part in people's fears. >> reporter: springfield's health director says local health departments are doing just about anything to encourage more people to get vaccinated. like this event at a local brewery offering free beer and a shot as in vaccine. will brand says it was pressure from his family and not the fear that got him over his hesitancy. what was it that kept you from getting the vaccine? >> umm, you know, fear. i don't really have any other answer other than i was scared of a new thing. >> reporter: louie michael wishes he had got the vaccine. >> i was short of breath for a little bit. >> reporter: he and his wife patty ended up in the hospital with serious covid complications. he says not getting the vaccine was a huge mistake. >> i hope people think about
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getting the vaccination. it's your prerogative. but i wish i had done it to just avoid this. >> reporter: fortunately, michael and his wife are doing much better thanks to expert care. but doctors and nurses say after an exhausting year and a half of battling covid, this latest surge is having a significant impact on morale, saying it's harder to again risk their own health and well-being for someone who chose not to get vaccinated. >> i think when the staff is putting them souselves at risk other people respect aren't wil take the vaccine, that's a hard one for some to swallow. >> reporter: medical experts say if the delta variant can explode here as it appears to be doing, it can happen just about anywhere, where there are low vaccination rates. and they hope that states with low rates are paying close attention to all of these developments. and they also point out that
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this is potentially a much more contagious and much more dangerous variant. they know that they're not out of the woods. in fact, they're barely into the woods here. things could get a whole lot worse. >> martin, thank you very much. i want to bring in the u.s. surgeon general. i'm glad to talk to you again. the delta variant is across this country. in colorado, they're admitting i think what everybody knows, it's a lot more widespread than testing indicates. you saw it happen in the uk. it is what it is. math is math. how worried are you about the numbers right now? >> hello, erin, great to see you again, as well. i'm really worried about the delta variant. this is the most transmissible variant we've seen so far, likely more than double of the version of covid we were dealing with last year in the united
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states. it also appear it will be more dangerous as well in terms of the severity of illness it causes. the uk has been a cautionary tale. the people who were getting sick there with the delta variant are young people. and it's now nearly 100% of the new covid cases in the uk. and rapidly growing here in the united states, exceeding 20% of our cases, doubling in fact in just two weeks. so i'm worried for those unvaccinated. if you are vaccinated, the news is good. we found that the vaccines we know from studies are highly effective against the delta variant. we have good reason to believe the johnson & johnson will be effective, as well. if you are not vaccinated, you are at more risk than you were over the past year. >> i'm glad you mentioned johnson & johnson. we've been waiting, but you feel confident that johnson & johnson will show similar efficacy as pfizer and moderna did? >> we don't know if it will be the same numbers, but we feel
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good it will likely be effective, particularly at reducing the risk of hospitalization and death. you look at the other variants, the one, three, five variant located in south africa, the j&j vaccination has done quite well, and the astrazeneca vaccine is almost like a cousin of the j&j vaccine in terms of the -- both using a similar platform. so good reason to believe j&j should work. >> you heard martin savidge in missouri, and pretty much every single perp in that missouri hospital was not vaccinated. they say nearly 100%. so i don't know if there's a breakthrough case there to raise. but i know they're saying essentially 100%. this is where the politics come in. the states and counties with the lowest vaccination rates voted
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before donald trump. and now here is the republican governor. >> all you're doing is entering the death drawing. if i knew for certain that there was going to be eight or nine people die by next tuesday and i could be one of them if i don't take the vaccine, what in the world do you think i would do? i mean, i would run over top of somebody, because i don't want to take a chance when the wheel spins, that it could come up jim justice. >> does that work? i spoke to the widow of a woman whose husband, he wore a mask, she wore a mask in the interview. he wore masks in florida. he hadn't gotten the vaccine. he had been hesitant. he died. and they presume it's from this new variant. she was still unwilling to tell
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others that they should get the vaccine, despite her grief and great loss. you know, how do you reach people on the vaccine at this point? >> erin, it's such an important question. there are three primary reasons people are not vaccinated right now. one has to do with access. some people are still having trouble getting time off work and getting, you know, to get the vaccine. we've done a lot of things to make that easier. another reason is motivation. people think it's going way because they see cases going away. but the third reason is the most challenging one, which is misinformation. there is so much misinformation out there about the vaccine, coming through so many channels. a lot of it being spread on social media, inducing a lot of fear among people. 2/3 of those unvaccinated in polls say that they either believe the myths about covid-19 or think that they might be true. and that's a large number. so what we've got to do, and what we've been doing over the
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last several months, but speak to people and work with local doctors and nurses, local faith leaders and educators to make sure they're reaching people so make the decision to get vaccinated, recognize thing is the single best way to >> doctor, appreciate your time, thank you. >> take care. >> the breaking news right now, i want to go back to our top story tonight, 99 people still unaccounted for after that building collapse near miami beach. no miracle that we know of in the past few moments as we have been talking about covid. i want to go now to kenneth director, a lawyer who represents the association of residents inside the building. kenneth, you know, in that capacity i know obviously you know a lot of people in the building. can you tell me the concerns that residents have had?
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has anybody been raising issues about the building? >> good evening and thank you for having me. the association has operated the condominium for nearly 40 years and has maintained building the. as a matter of fact, has had extensive engineering studies done over the past several months in preparation for a 40-year certification process. nothing appeared either to the engineers or to any of the residents that would suggest anything like this was imminent, nothing. i'm sorry, erin, go ahead, please. >> no, i just wanted to follow up to that point. i p i talked to a man who was in the part first affected. obviously they are missing. so he said his mother actually just yesterday told him she heard creaking noises in the
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middle of the night the night before last and it was so loud, it woke her up. she told him in that kerks sort of conversationally, but anybody living in a high-rise would say, gosh, being woken up by creeks, that would be disturbing, and hindsight makes you wonder about what she said. had you heard anything like that? does it shock you. >> it doesn't because buildings creek and make noise and i haven't heard anything like that. there are many, many, many buildings throughout florida that have been through 40-year certification, and there are many, many more that have done concrete work and have had a crack in the concrete. i've been at this for 40 years. no matter how bad the concrete has gotten, nobody has ever seen anything like this occur as a result of spalling concrete. >> what are you hearing from
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residents who survived the collapse about what they experienced? >> well, i'm going to go down to the property tomorrow because today was obviously a day of just trying to get their arms around how to process this. the primary concern, as i'm sure you can understand for the next couple days, is the humanitarian issue, to account for the people who are missing and to do everything reasonably possible to not only save lives, but also try to provide some care to the people who were displaced from the building because this was a building where a lot of people lived full time. >> that's clear from the stories we're hearing. kenneth, thank you for your time. >> it's my pleasure. thank you for having me. >> all right. next, we're following the breaking news. we'll be right back. we made it our mission to help change the world... in healthcare, our imaging expertise and ai technology aims to help diagnose disease earlier. but why stop there? when we can apply our expertise
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tonight britney spears speaking out just moments ago for the first time since her bombshell testimony. the singer posting on instagram tonight saying, quote, i apology for pretending like i've been okay the past two years. i did it because of my pride and i was embarrassed to share what happened to me. spears is asking to end the conservatorship that has controlled her $60 million estate for more than a decade. she said she wants her life back, so what is life like for her now? sunlen serfaty is out front. >> if i wasn't under restraints with all the lawyers and doctors and people analyzing me every day and all that kind of stuff, like, if that wasn't there, i'd feel so zblliberated.
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>> reporter: britney spears told the court her daily life is completely controlled by what she calls her abusive conservatorship, leaving her very little freedom. >> it's bad. >> reporter: the pop star says she has no say in the medicine she takes, describing one incident when she did not want to perform an additional show in las vegas. she was forced to go on lithium, describing how the therapist lined up by the conservatorship out of nowhere he took me off my normal meds. i've been on for five years. i felt drunk, she says. they wouldn't let me get my car to go anywhere for a month. spears says making objections about her life like this would often come with consequences, even for simple things. once when she objected to a certain dance move for an upcoming show, she was told she
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wasn't cooperating or following guidelines in rehearsals. that particular incident, along with her refusal to do a las vegas show, spears said, eventually led to her being ford into a mental health facility against her will. i worked seven days a week, no days off, which in california the only similar thing to this is called sex trafficking, making anyone work against their will, taking all their possessions, credit cards, phone, passport. court records obtained by the "new york times" showing the millionaire is limited to a $2,000 weekly allowance, and she said she was made to perform when sick, once when she was running a temperature of over 100 degrees. spears says she is forced to do therapy twice a week and meet with a psychiatrist once a week and is not allowed to have those sessions in her home, but in an office, where she feels exposed by paparazzi.
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it's embarrass and go demoralizing. i deserve privacy when i go. spears' struggles were highlighted in the documentary. >> when i tell them the way i feel, they hear me but they're really not listening. they're hearing what they want to hear. they're not listening to what i'm telling them. >> sunlen, conservatorships are not new among celebrities, but there have been a series, it seems of high-profile ones recently. >> there have been, erin. conservatorships are intended for people who aren't able to take care of themselves. we know actress amanda bines was placed under a conservatorship with her parents in 2013. that was after her high-profile struggle with alcohol and drugs, as was radio icon casey kasem before his death. >> sunlen, thank you very much for your time. thanks very much to all of you for joining us.
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our breaking news coverage continues of that race against time in surfside, florida. let's he had to "ac 360" for that. good evening. we're waiting for a briefing expected shortly from officials in surfside, florida, where at least 99 people are still unaccounted for after parts of a 12-story apartment building collapsed in the early hours of this morning. surveillance video you see captured the moment as one section then the next at champlain towers south, about 55 units in all came down. this was about 1:30 in the morning. crews have been on the scene almost ever since. >> you're good. >> so far, they've o