rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. of course, cnn is going to stay on this story. there is so much yet to learn. there's so much of the reality yet to be revealed. thank you for watching our segment of the coverage. it's time, of course, for don

lemon tonight. in a situation of uncertainty, i got the privilege of walking that site. i saw the efforts myself. and there are a lot of people there working very hard in very challenging circumstances, and they are all of one heart and sense of purpose. and the conditions are getting worse, don. this smoke is thicker. it's more acrid. they're advising even we need to have masks on this far out. imagine the site. i showed the video on the top of what they're dealing with. it's a two-front fire burning inside the building and under the ground of the collapse. it's very hard. the work is going to be slow. but there's a tremendous sense of duty and hope with the people there, and this community needs it. there is so much pain and so many people putting their arms around one another as can only happen in crisis. and we're hoping that in the worst of situations, we see the best in the people here and there are some miracles to come.

>> the most important word you just said is hope. because you and i have both been on scenes where people have been trapped. they have been beneath the rubble. everyone said you know, we don't know what's going to happen. they thought maybe they were lost, and then they find lives beneath that rubble. so we're certainly holding out hope. chris, i've been watching your coverage and cnn's coverage throughout the day. you're doing a great job. we're going to continue with the breaking news and other news of the day. you be safe and we'll see you soon. this is "don lemon tonight". a big news night. multiple huge stories. we have more this hour on the breaking news tonight as the search and rescue mission in surfside continues. as you heard chris say, there's a lot to deal with there. no you see they're up against many obstacles. we want to continue to hold out hope for the folks who may be beneath the rubble and they're trying to save them. nearly 45 hours after the

building suddenly collapsed in the middle of the night while hundreds of people were sleeping. four people are confirmed dead as of this hour. 159 still unaccounted for. though, we don't know for sure whether all of them were in the building at the time. so please keep that in mind. we have more live from the scene coming up. and this is also the day people in this country and around the world were waiting to see. i've got to be honest. people were waiting for this day to see what was going to happen. and that is the sentencing of expolice officer derek chauvin who was convicted of murdering george floyd. he was sentenced to 22 1/2 years. that is the longest sentence for an ex-police officer in the state of minnesota. more than the guidelines called for, but less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted. >> the court commits you to the kcustody of the department of

corrections for 270 months. that's a ten-year addition to the 150 months. this is based on your position of trust and authority. and also the particular cruelty shown to george floyd. >> so i want to quote from the judge now in this case. judge peter cayhill writing in the sentencing. the quote is here mr. chauvin rather than pursuing the mpd mission treated mr. floyd without respect and denied him the dignity cowed to all human beings and would have extended to a friend or neighbor. the president of the united states, joe biden, saying this. >> well, i don't know all the circumstances that were considered, but it seems to me under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate. >> so let us remember exactly what happened on may 25th, 2020.

as if any of us could ever forget, really. chauvin kneeling on george floyd's neck for 9.20. literally squeezing the life out of him while he begged for his mother and cried out, i can't breathe. george floyd's brutal murder prompting millions of people to take to the streets last summer demanding justice. more than a year later, the george floyd justice act is stalled in congress. minnesota attorney general keith ellison calling on congress to act now. >> i call on leaders and members of congress to pass the best and strongest version of this bill that can be passed and to pass it now. lives are depending upon it. it's just that simple. >> that as just days after senate republicans refused even to debate the for the people act to protect voting rights. the doj announces it's suing georgia over the assault on the

vote. this t law that includes giving state officials the power to take over local election boards and making it a crime to give food or water to voters waiting online. a lot more to come on all of this tonight. a very big news night and we have all of it for you. i want to get to the sentencing of derek chauvin who was convicted of murdering george floyd. joining me now is the special prosecutor for minnesota in the trial. neil, i appreciate you joining us. thank you so much. it's good to see you. this was a -- >> thank you. >> prosecutors asking for 30 years. derek chauvin had 22 1/2. family members are frustrated. are you satisfied with this result? >> well, you know, don, you know, criminal sentences aren't something that's supposed to bring someone satisfaction. they're about the judicious application of the law, and the sentence from the court here which is 22 1/2 years and as you pointed out, is one of the longest a police officer has ever received for unlawful use

of force, i think that's important, and it's far above what the minnesota sentencing guidelines say and sets a new standard for police accountability going forward. and it's important to remember 13 months ago today george floyd was callously murdered, and whether it's 22 1/2 years or 30 years, the sentence is not going to bring him back, and you and i have talked in the past, even before the floyd stuff, about just the nation's history here. and how sad it's been that people don't get any justice at all, the victims. so this is a start today. it's only a start. >> neil, i want to continue to talk with you. before we continue, i want to play more of what we heard from judge cay hill, and then we'll discuss. here it is. >> i'm not going to attempt to be profound or clever, because it's not the appropriate time.

i'm not basing my sentence also on the opinion. i'm not basing it on any attempt to send any messages. the trial court judge, the job of a trial court judge is to apply the law to specific facts. and the deal with individual cases. >> so the judge here is saying he wasn't attempting to send any sort of message, but seeing a sentence like this against an officer is really not the norm. what message does it send? >> i think it does send a message. we are not used to convictions like this at all or sentences like this when it comes to comps. this is a fork in the road in our history. the fact that this case was brought at all, historic. the fact that these charges include murder? murder against a cop?

historic again. the fact that officer after officer testified how wrong this was again historic. and so look, i understand the judge's role here which was to apply the law to the facts. and i think the message that is being sent even though it wasn't intentionally what he was doing, but at least is, you know, the area, the era of police immunity of over. the era in which you get to do this stuff and this epidemic of violence that's plagued the african american community, that's got to end, and it's a start, and by using the epidemic, it's not like covid, something that's new. i mean, and you've been better about this than anyone on the networks in talking about this -- this way goes way back to our founding. b today is a start. >> as i was watching the sentence being handed down today, i -- when they said 22 1/2 years, my immediate thought was okay, time served for good behavior.

15 years or so. 12 to 15 years is what he'll serve. i know there's federal charges that's going to impact the sentence. am i right? how is that going to impact the sentencing? and what do you think we're seeing here? actual time served? >> sloom. there's a further federal prosecution that has been signalled and announced, and those charges could be as long, equally long to the kinds of numbers you saw today. so today is just one of two different proceedings that derek chauvin is going to face. with respect to credit for good time served and so on, i don't want to basically prejudice. those are arguments down the road. so i don't want to say anything about that precisely, but i will say, you know, that there were -- the normal sentence here would have been 15 years tops for second degree murder for someone who has zero criminal offense history points. the judge said nope, this is an aggravated sentence. we have to go beyond that

because of the crime, because of the gravity of the crime, the abuse, a position of trust and the like. >> yeah. so listen, chauvin is not alone. there are three other officers facing charges here. charges are expected -- they're expected to be tried together in 2022. they pleaded not guilty. will it be more challenging to get a conviction in their cases, neil? >> well, i'm special prosecutor on those too. i'm not going to comment on whether it's harder or easier. but i will say that we are gearing up for that. our attorney general, keith ellison, we're going to announce this week to shift gears and start focusing on the trial of the other three cops, and we won't rest until justice is done. as they say, they're -- police impunity is over at this point. we saw the video and know what happened, and we stand ready to vindicate the people's wishes in this case. >> how do you make sure that

this outcome isn't the exception in cases, and these cases of police brutality? >> well, such a good question, don. because today is great. there's a victory. the conviction is really important and the like, but honestly, these cases are incredibly hard. they're huge. they're resource intensive. and you can't imagine the amount of effort that went into the prosecution of just this one cop and will go into the prosecution of the next three. and what i've learned from this process, you know, more than anything, and i've read about it on the outside but never really been on the inside, is criminal prosecutions are at best, you know, a week tea remedy. the real thing to do is prevent the violence before it happens. that's why the george floyd act is so important, because you've got to do the things in police departments out front so you don't have these incidents and episodes happening later on and then trying to bring the

prosecution after the fact. that's not going to work. these bills are pending in congress now. there is no excuse. no excuse. i think every american now knows what has happened. we've got to do it. >> yeah. >> neil, i'm so grateful you could join us. you're the perfect person to discuss what happened today, and what happens next moving forward. thank you so much, i appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. thank you. george floyd's family reacting tonight to the sentence for his murder. i'm going to talk to the family attorney. that's next. >> if you could say anything to your daddy right now, what would it be? >> it would be i miss you and i love you.

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that's police officer derek chauvin sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of george floyd. it was an emotional hearing with members of the floyd family speaking out, including his seven-year-old daughter, gianna. >> i ask about him all the time. >> if you could say anything to

your dad now, what would it be? >> it would be i miss you and i love you. >> i want to know from the man himself why. what were you thinking? what was going through your head? >> our family is forever broken, and the one thing i can't get back is george floyd. >> well, joining me now is ben krump, and attorney for the family, and george floyd's brother also. good evening to both of you. how you guys doing? >> good. >> good. >> good to be with you, don. >> good. first question, derek chauvin, you know, the sentence he got 22 1/2 years in prison for your brother's murder. the question is how -- i asked

how you're doing. what about your family tonight? >> they're doing okay, but they feel the same way i feel. we believe that from chauvin should receive the maximum amount of time. we just felt that our brother suffered for nine minutes and 29 seconds, and we will never be able to get him back. we just wish that he would have received the max. >> ben, i thought it was interesting. you said today represents, and i quote here, represents an opportunity to be a turning point. why did you say that? >> because, don, we have to put it in the context when you think about as attorney general keith ellison said, this was the longest sentence that a police officer had ever received in the state of minnesota, and on top of that, it is the first time in the state of minnesota that a

white police officer has been sentenced to prison for killing a black person on top of that, don, we have to look at the progress we're making. mcdonald shot 16 times in the back by a chicago police officer, convicted of second degree murder just like danger shoefren. he only received six years in prison. the young man in dallas who the white police came in and shot him in his own apartment and she claimed self-defense. the jury convicted her of first degree murder, and she only received ten years for a prison sentence. today we're steady making progress. do we have further to go? absolutely, but we're make progress in our quest for accountability. >> okay. another question, ben. federal charges against chauvin still pending. do you think he could still get the maximum sentence?

you heard his brother saying the family hoped he'd got the maximum sentence, but there's still federal charges. what are you thinking there? >> i do, don. i think that he could get the maximum sentence as the floyd family desire, and i would too. if that was my brother, i would want him to get life in prison if not worse. the way he tortured george floyd. i think about the accountability and the civil case. i think about the accountability in the state criminal charges, and then i think about the accountability that george floyd is likely to get in the federal case, and then i think about the accountability on the policy level with the george floyd justice and police, and that's why i think george floyd represents an opportunity to be a turning point in american -- black people and people of color can get accountability and it's

not the exception, don lemon, but it is the norm. >> before the sentence came down, derek chauvin spoke directly to your family for the first time. this is what he said. >> my condolences to the floyd family. there's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and i hope things will give you some peace of mind. >> what do you think about his condolences, and do you have any idea of what information he's talking about? what's he talking about? >> that's something that the world wants to find out. the world wants to know. i don't know. but it was finally that he did show, i guess any type of remorse. that was the first time that he

ever said anything toward us. but it was probably something good, whatever he wanted to say a long time ago, but at the same time, i would never be able to get my brother back. my brother was killed. he stayed on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. he had a lot of opportunities to stop, but people tried and he didn't care. and the other three officers that were with him, they did the same thing. they didn't try to stop. they could have stopped him and pushed him away. a lady tried to resuscitate him. they didn't give her that chance. i don't know what else to say. what can we do? people are tired of seeing the same thing over and over. my brother, he was tortured to death just like a lot of other people all around the world. you have pamela turner. she passed away because an officer killed her. let me rephrase that. she was murdered by a police officer. you can go to anthony mcclain.

erik garner was murdered. people are killing these police officers -- this is a good thing that he received 22 years, because african american people, we never get any type of accountability. we never get justice for anything. so this was a statement. >> yeah. >> you know what? those other three officers are on trial next year. what do you want to see happen to them? >> i want to see the same thing, the max, because they had the opportunity. because if i would have went with any of my friends and would have had killed somebody, they could have gave me the maximum amount of time. no ands, no buts about it. i would have been in jail, the first day, not in my bed asleep. >> but don, we're making progress, and i think with the passage of the george floyd policing act, we can hopefully prevent some of these deaths, because real justice would be

george being here with his family and his daughter, and this journey to justice ends, don lemon, when black people and other people of color won't be killed by police just because the color of their skin. that is what this journey to justice is for us, to end these unnecessary killings. >> much appreciated, both of you. thank you so much. >> thank you, don lemon. >> thank you. rescuers scrambling to find any of the 159 people unaccounted for. though the numbers are fluid in that condo collapse in south florida. you're looking at live pictures here. the fire chief has a message for people desperately waiting for news about their loved ones. >> have hope. there's always hope. i was in haiti, and eight days after we were there, we took a

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you're looking at live pictures. look at that, that is surfside, florida. 10:30 p.m. eastern time. you can see the smoke coming off the rubble in that building. search and rescue teams are there now. still digging frantically tonight fklooking for survivors. miami dade's fire chief telling families of some of the 159 people still accounted for not to give up hope. at least four people confirmed dead. i want to bring in joe

hernandez, an urban search and rescue expert. joe, it's good to have you with us. joe is on the scene. the search and rescue operation being hampered all day by rain and fire and smoke. it's really dangerous work. what can you tell us about what they are doing, and how it is going? >> thank you for having me on, don. i think they are doing a fantastic job. i think the coordination between the different task forces, both federal and state, have done incredible trying to get the work done. you are correct. the weather has caused a little curveball to what's going on. just hampering the conditions that are there. the wind also being able to work its way through some of the breezeways has increased some of the smoke. of course, increased some of the flames going on inside there. so hampering some of the entrances, although the water that is being placed on those

fires, it's just enough to keep it under control and still allow the rescue to continue. >> so joe, there are four people who are confirmed dead. 159 others are unaccounted for. families are desperate. family dade fire rescue chief andy alvarez told wolf blitzer he's holding out hope. we are now more than 40 hours into this. are you still hopeful? >> absolutely. you never give up hope. as long as there is rescuers looking, searching, and definitely willing to not give up, and we still have plenty of time. there is no reason to stop and/or to give up hope. and i'm sure that's the way the rescuers feel at this time. >> joe, listen, we all remember watching the rescuers on the pile after 9/11. they would listen for noises and think they heard something and

work would stop and try to find the source of the sound. is that happening now and are they hearing anything? everyone would get quiet. they would say everyone get quiet. remember 9/11? is that happening now? is it similar to that? >> absolutely. that is a standard procedure that goes on during a search e rent vent. you can see during some of the events, a few of the workers on top of the rubble pile, they're trying to place listening devices to be able to capture any kind of sound, moaning, tapping on a wall, and could mimic somebody trying to seek help. at the same time, you can see the rescue workers being able to pry up part of the pile, part of the surface. they call it delayering it. picking it up on one side, applying, cribbing and shoring to be able to keep that end open, and then able to send in their search k-9s to see if they're getting any hits on live victims. that would be followed by a

search camera and the technical crew that would try to do location of victims that could possibly be in there. >> water is being pumped into the site to fight the fires, but that water is making the pile heavier, and that makes it riskier for crews. that rubble is pretty unstable. right? >> of course. all rubble is unstable. definitely not a place you want osha to look at. the water causes hindrance, but the crews are being careful enough to put enough to allow the rescue workers to get into there to see if they're able to find any victims while we still have the time. as you also said, it displaces the sand. of course, we're on the beach. that sand as you build a sand castle kind of turns hard like a rock when you add water to it. and the act of rain doesn't help

either. >> yeah. i can't even imagine. so listen, we say -- i can sit here and say we're looking at smoke at the scene. but in that smoke, i mean, there are a lot of chemicals, a lot of toxins as well. can you talk to us about that, joe? >> absolutely. we worried about it during ground zero. the world trade center. all of us really belong still to a registry for our health reasons, especially during our lungs, et cetera. we were exposed and covered with masks. the same precautions are being taken here by the rescue workers. even the citizens are being exposed. to see well-doers that are trying to pay tribute to those rescuers here. we don't know what it is. it could be as simple as a mattress or as complex as chemicals under somebody's sink.

>> joe, look, we're in the united states. we think we've got the best standards in place. we've got the systems in place. everything is stable. you walk into a building and think it's inspected and all good. we don't expect something like this to happen in the u.s. this area has some of the strictest building codes. any idea what could have caused this? >> not being an engineer, of course, i wouldn't take a stab at it. i'm sure even the engineers are staying quiet until there is a complete assessment. i live on the coast. i grew up here my whole life, and we do see the complications of salt water intrusion into the steel inside of the concrete structures, movement of our soil, movement of our sand. we do live on a live stone plateau. don't believe any sink holes in this area have been for a very long time. however, it is a porous rock

underneath us. >> joe hernandez, thank you so much. >> yep. thank you, don. the biden administration making a big move against efforts to restrict voting rights, and a state with a new law that makes it harder to vote is in the cross hairs. lor cartrs in your printer ready for another school year? what's cyan mean? it means "cyan-ora" honor roll. the epson ecotank. no more cartridges. it comes with an incredible amount of ink. just fill and chill. (man) i've made progress with my mental health. so when i started having unintentional body movements called tardive dyskinesia... ... i ignored them. but when the movements in my hands and feet started throwing me off at work... i finally had to say, 'it's not ok.' it was time to talk to my doctor about austedo. she said that austedo helps reduce td movements in adults... ...while i continue with most of my mental health medications. (vo) austedo can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in

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the biden administration taking the first major action to combat a republican-led assault on voting. suing the state of georgia over the new law making it harder to vote. merrick garland saying it's clear who the law is intended to target. >> today the department of justice is suing the state of georgia. our complaint alleges that recent changes to georgia's election laws were enacted with

the purpose of denying or abridging the right of black georgians to vote on account of their race or color in violation of section 2 of the voting rights act. >> georgia governor brian kemp b pushing back saying it legally and constitutional is dead wrong. joining me now, laura coats. laura, thank you. garland saying the doj will sue georgia and it was purposely enacted to harm black voters. does he even need to show this was done intentionally. >> the section two of the voting rights act, i used to work in the voting rights act of civil rights division. you have a results test under section two which says essentially you don't even have to prove the intent you would under, say, the 14th amendment for the idea of equal protection

of the law or the 15th amendment. you can say somebody has violated their constitutional rights if the result of their action has caused there to be that abridgment on the basis of race. to have that impact. here you have combined what he said, the purposeful intent which makes an even stronger case to do so. that's why he's bringing it under this provision. >> yeah. so garland went as far as to say if the supreme court hadn't struck down a provision of the voting rights act in 2013 that required states with a history of discrimination to clear any voting rule changes, this georgia law wouldn't have gone into effect. what do you make of that? >> what a profound and strong statement. he's talking about section five. it required any state that was covered under that formula to get the preclearance of the department of justice for making anybody related change. he's essentially saying look, had that been in effect, we

would never have permitted these laws to go into effect. why? because they can violate section two rights. section five is a proactive measure that guards against the laws from going into effect. it guards against them from being passed. section two is the less preferred method because you first have to have the violation in order to be able to really pursue it. and so an ideal voting rights act would include both the section five component and the section two to have the proactive and reactive measure. the attorney general said but for what the supreme gutted, this would never have been an issue. we would never have had to pursue a lawsuit against the state of georgia. >> yeah. laura, republicans are pushing this effort all over the country, really, 14 states have enacted 22 new laws that make it harder to vote. is this the first of many cases to come?

>> i think it might be, don. because, remember, if the pattern here is that remember, one of the things that he said was this should have been a cause for celebration. the increased voter participation. instead, it was the impetus to change laws without having a reason. there was no widespread fraud. there was no idea of it. it was the idea of creating a law, a cure in search of an actual disease is really telling about a pretextual pattern against america. he's looking at georgia, of course, because it's an example of a state-led legislature. they said look, there was no widespread fraud. there was no issue. he was talking to former president trump. and now you've changed the laws to account for that which did not happen. this creates an interesting legal paradigm where you've already said there was no real reason to pursue these and now you have what he believes is a

purposeful basis to try to disenfranchise black voters to make it harder to vote. georgia is one place to start. we see other states that have tried to get ahead of the curve like florida, for example, or other states that have tried to. in texas there's an example, tried to do this very thing. this might be the first of many to come. >> you know, laura, garland also announcing that he is directing u.s. attorneys to closely track threats to election workers. what does this tell you about the political divisions in this country? >> well, look at the rage that we have seen. the rage that you on your program called the other night while playing one of the major military leaders, talking about the idea of january 6th and what happened there. i mean, look at what the impact of the election has had. stoking people talk about the big lie. stoking the flames in many respects here. the idea there are attacks or threats against election workers

who would normally volunteers who were just essentially volunteering or they're hired in some capacity to just help you to vote, to have these threats upon us tells you a lot about the political division in our country, and it's incumbent upon the government to ensure a fair and free election doesn't just main you have an unabridged access to the ballot. but it also should mean that to actually perform and create the environment to have these fair and free elections should also be part of the equation. so having these u.s. attorneys have these sorts of proactive measures is another indication of the political division that we've seen and the fallout from january 6th as well. >> laura, much appreciated. thank you so much on this friday evening. >> thank you. d.c. metropolitan police officer who defended the capitol on january 6th finally getting a meeting with house republican

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we have news tonight on d.c. police officer michael fanon attacked by riter rioters. he got a meeting with mike mccarthy. he's a personal friend and been on this program numerous times recounting the horrors he suffered at the hands at the rioters. mike suffered a heart attack and concussion and dealing with traumatic brain injury anddisor. joining him, harry dunn who

defended the capitol that day has been on this show, as well. he is angry some republicans are down playing what happened. >> i went there with specific request. i asked kevin to denounce the 21 house republicans that voted against the gold medal bill, which would recognize and honor my co-workers and colleagues that fought to secure the capitol on january 6th. i also asked him to denounce andrew clyde's statements regarding january 6th specifically that it was something of a normal tour day here at the capitol. i found his remarks to be disgusting. i also asked him to publicly denounce the baseless theory that the fbi was behind the january 6th insurrection.

>> ultimately, mike was disappointed. mccarthy would only commit to addressing these false conspiracy theories with his members in private. michael fanone holding the powerful accountable. also want to make sure you know about my podcast, "silence is not an option" and i'm taking on hard conversations about being black in america. you can find that on your favorite podcast app and non-other than christopher cuomo is on the podcast. it called "the hand off." make sure you listen. you'll love it. thank you for watching, everyone. our coverage tonights, continues. continues.

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♪ i'll be looking at the moon ♪ ♪ and i'll be seeing you ♪

good evening at the dimming of another rough day here in surf side, we're waiting for

late word on the state of search rescue and recovery operations. we expect a press briefing to happen any moment now. we'll bring that to you live. already, though, the news has been difficult. today we saw the number of people unaccounted for and potentially trapped or lost in the rubble of the towers behind me just over there you can see the smoke. that number rose sharply. the news only adding urgency for rescue teams already who are working nonstop and have been throughout the night. it is, however, the most delicate job imaginable. under the toughest conceivable conditions, where even one wrong move could cost lives or maybe even saving lives, making it harder to save lives than it already is. >> these first responders are going in through tunnels. they're working from the top. they're working from the bottom. it has to be done very, very carefully. debris is falling on them, as

they do their work. we have structural engineers on site to assure that they will not be injured. but they -- they are proceeding because they are so motivated. >> as she said, debris is falling on them as they try to rescue others, as they search for those who are trapped somewhere in that rubble. the weather complicating efforts, rainy weather, as you heard. they've also had to contend with fires breaking out on site. you can see in the shot on the side of me, on the left side of me, i believe it is, the -- just the smoke coming off the rubble of this building and it permeates this whole area, as they search what could be as many as 159 people not yet accounted for. they can't be sure of exactly who's in the building at that moment. they're trying to trace as many vehicles that are in the garage as possible. thinking that will give them an indication of, well, if somebody's car is in the garage, there was a good chance they were in the building. for most, that means family

members, friends, and neighbors have been gathering at a local community center, waiting for word, holding out whatever hope they can muster, and finding it in surprisingly good supply. >> there's absolutely survivors in here. there's no question there are survivors in here. i hope it's my family and i hope it's everybody. >> well, that's mike silver, who rushed here from new york, whose uncle and four other family members are among the missing. so far, only four bodies have been recovered. four people have been recovered dead. three have been so far identified. waiting families tell cnn, they're having dna samples taken in case they need to identify what could be many, many more. they are also, of course, waiting and looking for answers. >> building falls down in a third-world country where they don't have, you know, building codes and stuff. but with all the strict building codes in this country, that building shouldn't collapse like that. >> his parents are missing in the rubble right now. today, florida's governor

promised a speedy investigation into how this could happen. president biden pledged federal assistance. and at an emergency meeting today, town officials said they're hiring an outside engineering a firm to evaluate the structural integrity of other area beachfront towers. tonight, though, the search takes priority. with me now is vatina obias. her aunt and uncle live on the building's tenth floor. thank you for being with us. how you holding up? >> i'm trying to be strong, because my aunt was a very strong woman. >> she was like a mother to you. >> yes, she was like a mother to me. she was the matriarch of the family. >> you flew here in the afternoon. didn't know -- >> in the early morning. >> when did you realize that they were in this building? >> when i actually grabbed my things from the baggage claim, i found out that from my sister -- she's a nurse here, a front

liner -- that my aunt's apartment condo collapsed. so when she asked me to -- as soon as i heard this, my sisters were still asleep, i grabbed an uber and came here. and -- >> you just came down to the site? >> yes, i came to the site. and as soon as i saw this, i fell apart pretty much. because when i saw this, i knew that they were gone. it's hard for me to take a look at it right now. >> and it's one thing to -- you know, one sees things on television and when you're here and the smoke and the reality of it, it's overwhelming. >> yes, it is actually -- when something like this you see on television, you're pretty much detached, but when it becomes a part of you, your family, it hits you really hard. >> you've been to the center

where family and loved ones can go. what is that like? i know they give update evers four hours, but there's not a lot to update, i imagine >> when i came there yesterday, they were very much quickly very organized. i think that the red cross was there and they took a lot of information. they were trying to gather as much data from everybody that were missing. we didn't have a lot of information as to how many people were missing at the time. so they asked me where my aunt's apartment was located. i said, it's 1001, and they were quiet. so they checked the list of the people who were in the hospital and people who were in the survivors -- people whose whereabouts they can account for. >> yes, yes. and i knew when i saw that it wasn't there and i saw this, i just had a very strong feeling that they're gone. yeah. yes. >> are you -- are you -- do you hold on to hope? >> i'm actually very much a pragmatist. at the same time, also -- >> you want to be prepared for

anything. >> yes, yes. i think hope is a very valuable thing when people are going through crises to hold on to. so i'm holding on to a sliver of hope, because i know someone buried still alive. and if it's not my aunt or uncle, i hope it's somebody's father, somebody's son. >> every rescue person we've talked to said, people can survive for very long periods of time in buildings you can't imagine they would survive in. >> that's what i've heard. so i'm hoping there are many survivors. i hope that they get to them >> what do you want people to know about your aunt and uncle? >> i want them to know that my aunt and uncle were -- my uncle was a united nations legal counsel, a retired one, and my aunt was a -- she was a international military fund budget officer, official. so as a matter of fact, my uncle, i don't know if you know the former president of chile,

is his niece. >> oh, wow. >> this is a very international building. >> yes. >> i know there are people from paraguay who lived here who have -- a lot of people in paraguay are watching right now, very concerned about this. people all over the world are watching very closely. >> there are a lot of people actually that are from international, expecting people tomorrow. and chile. >> does it help in some ways to be able to be here and see that there are so many search and rescue people here, to see that there's a lot of folk on people trying to do everything possible. >> yeah, sometimes you see people, you want them out and people are getting frustrated, but these people are experts they've been through a lot of -- they've been through a lot of these kinds of rescue. we're just hoping that we're

still in the rescue portion, not the recovery. and that's what we're hoping right now. >> bettina, thank you so much. stay strong. thank you very much. we are expecting a press conference very shortly. it is a very active situation here. there are obviously medical search and rescue teams coming and going, police and fire units, structural engineers, city officials and again, there is this sort of otherworldly feel with this smoke, as you can see behind me. sanjay gupta is with us. you've been here throughout the day. you were here for another story yesterday and you came down here. talk about what you've seen throw the day. >> well, you know, it's been an on again/off again sort of search and rescue. you know, there's been weather, you can see right now, this is more activity, i think, than we've seen in a few hours. so for a period of time, when all the rain was there, it really did hamper their efforts.

>> it's such a desire to find somebody and get to them as quickly as possible, and the very real dangers of the structure collapsing on them. of them removing debris can shift the structural balance. >> we're seeing a portion of a building, obviously, that is still standing, that has another portion that's gone. so we're very worried about that. and also, you can smell the air here. all the fumes. these rescue workers are in 15-minute shifts because they want to reduce the exposure to these fumes. >> which is something a lot of folks learned after 9/11. this smoke is not good. >> it's not good. and obviously, this sort of duration, hopefully, won't be as big a problem as what we saw after 9/11 when people were on the pile for days and weeks on end. but 40-year-old building, you have asbestos in there, probably, you have chemicals,

and all of this stuff that's burning and that's what we're smelling. >> and there's also a concern about the water that was pumped into that building, some of the video we saw yesterday that was released by miami-dade fire and rescue, they're working in water, that's water that has been pumped in from put out fires in the build and such, that actually adds to the weight of the structure, and that causes even more concern. >> it's a big concern. and even packing down the pile more with that weight of the water makes it really challenging. i know you'll speak to some of these search and rescue guys later on, but the point you're making, we are doing this obviously at risk to ourselves, it's always a risk/benefit ratio. at which point does the inflection sort of flip, right? in the sense that, as you well know, anderson, most successful rescues occur within the first 24 hours. you mentioned 9/11. the last successful rescue on 9/11 was 27 hours. >> you know, we saw in haiti, i mean, there was -- i remember being on site, it was at least seven days after. >> and there's always those

stories. that's the hope versus honesty kind of thing. but balancing it with the risk that these search and rescue guys are putting themselves into, as well. as you mentioned, debris falling on them. when you start to learn about engineering, i hadn't realized that there's different kinds of collapses. there's pancake collapse, which is what this is, but apparently, for some who have been really examining the video of the collapse, there's a whole variety of -- there's a v-shaped collapse, there's different kinds of collapses, lean-to, all of which make it possible that for somebody to have a space where they can stay safe. i understand the press conference is just getting underway. >> they are passionate about this. they are dedicated to finding

people in the rubble. so we stand with them. and we're going to give them all the support they need to get the job done. we've been joined by teams from all over the state and we have the best people for the job and we have the right people for the job. the people who are here are highly skilled and trained. they are the ones that go all over the world, wherever there's a trouble spot needing this kind of rescue. and they are using the skills and the tools to get this job done and as well, they continue to believe that there are people that they can reach, getting through the crevices, pushing through walls, removing debris, safely, with the advice of our structural engineers and so we stand with them to get this job done. so, to the families who are waiting for news of their loved ones, we are giving them twice-daily briefings, with

details of exactly how the search is being conducted. we are providing for their living and hotels and meals. they're with chaplains. many are celebrating the jewish sabbath right now at sundown. and we know that they are feeling very, very concerned, of course, and anxious, and wondering, and we are telling them that we are here working, praying, and really still hopeful that we will find more of their loved ones. unfortunately, the numbers are the same that they were this morning. we have not found anybody else in today's search, but through the night, we will continue and god willing, there will be some good news later tonight or in

the morning and we will be back. we have created a village here a village of media, people all across the world watching, waiting, caring, donating, the world is watching and the world is caring what happens right here in surfside in miami-dade county. we are so grateful for the support of our cities, of our state, of our federal government. fema has come to the rescue. we're going to have more resources to pay for this expensive search and rescue and to give us access to more teams for the rescue later, for the clearance of the rubble and for the assistance for the families, as they put their lives back together. so we're here, we'll continue, and please stand by us.

stand by us, as we stand by the family. thank you. >> that was the mayor of miami-dade county here with dr. sanjay gupta. you can hear metal being cut, so there are things happening. but as we were talking about, and as you've been talking about throughout the day, it's kind of on/off in terms of how active they can be. even the question of whether they start to remove debris at this stage. >> i think that's the thing, is that there's been all sorts of different reasons for it, in terms of the weather and other things. but obviously, the mission is still search and rescue. that is what it's been called. but obviously, we're at 41 hours now at this point. so i think that's part of the reason you've seen the activity sort of start and top from time to time.

this is probably the most activity i've seen in several hours right now. so i know something in particular has happened as we're looking at the images. i know they're throwing more water on to the fires and things like that. this is the most i've seen. >> and so many questions still remain about exactly what it was that caused this. a lot of different theories. we'll go into that and have more on rescues and the search efforts taking place when we come back. what the moment looked and felt like for survivors, some of whom were just down the hall from some parts of the building that are no longer there. plus, we'll be joined by a trauma surgeon who had been working with rescue crews about the complications of being on site so close and getting into that rubble. we'll be right back.

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get outta here. everybody's a skeptic. wright brothers? more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! it's not crazy. it's a scramble. just crack an egg. all throughout the day, we have been hearing from people who were on site when the

building went down. people who lived next door, people who live in the same towers, just not too far from the tower that went down. we've compiled some of what we have heard throughout the day from a number of people. let's listen in. >> it was like a really loud clap of thunder. >> it kind of felt like a jet took off above the building. >> the chandeliers and pendant lights just swaying completely. and that was not normal. >> at least my husband and i woke up to that. to him grabbing me and saying, what is that. and the whole bedroom was just shaking so violently that honestly, i was prepared for the building to come down, because it was not something stable. there was nothing going on that seemed normal about it. >> really, until we opened the door, we didn't know anything happened to the building. the unit was in tact. i looked to the left and the apartment to our left was half sheared off.

looked forward, which is where the evaluate shaft is, and it was just a hole. so that was the real thing. at that point, we knew it was a race against time, because i didn't know if the rest of the building was coming. >> i hear this large, like rumpling noise out of nowhere and i actually just see like white clouds of just dust coming out. so i told my mom and sister, we were at the park outside. i told them to start running. we just ran and all we could see was white dust. >> i looked down the hallway and there was nothing there. it was just a pile of dust and rubble and paint falling from the ceilings. we went down to the garage in the basement. water was pouring down from the pipes and we realized we had to get out of there, because if we stayed down there, we could drown. knowing what it looked like outside my door, i thought that at any minute, we could be that same pile of rubble. >> i just don't know why we're

here and the rest of the people aren't. having going out to the hallway and seeing that it was mere feet from the wall that my kids were sleeping in. it could have been a very different thing. i could have walked into the living room and checking on them and found that rubble. and it just -- i don't think i've processed it. it looks like i'm, in that moment, but i don't think i've really processed what happened. >> some of the voices of those who survived. we're here with dr. sanjay gupta. also dr. howard lieberman, who is part of the team of miami-dade rescue. it's extraordinary, what you and the men and women have been doing in search and rescue.

explain what it's like working on this site. >> you know, the pictures basically say -- you know, sum it all up. it's a pretty devastating site. you know, the good thing is, though, we're working with a group of men and women that are absolutely extraordinary. every search and rescue from miami-dade fire rescue, they're amazing people. it's a pleasure to work with them. >> your job is, if you find somebody with injuries, you want to have people on scene who can immediately treat. >> so my job is sort of multi-factorial. my primary responsibility is to make sure that guys that are up on that pile and searching stay safe. if they get injured, we take care of them. and that's what we're primarily there for. obviously, as a surgeon, as a trauma surgeon, and being with the urban search and rescue division for a couple of years now, we do and are capable of doing other things as well. if we find patients, we'll tree treat them. if there's a limb that's caught or mangled, we can amputate that on the scene. we can provide any kind of care that we need to provide to stabilize them, so they get transferred to the hospital. >> it's -- it's incredibly difficult work. how risky this site? >> it's very risky work. one minute it's sunny, the next minute it's raining, it's wet, slippery, clear everyone off the pile.

>> so when it rains, work stops. >> yeah, because of the lightning, because you can't really see anything. things get really slippery up there. it's not worth risking everyone's life there to -- it's better to take a pause, keep everyone safe and, you know, able to keep the search going. as soon as the work stops, we're right back on top of it. but there's a lot of hazards there. but these guys are professionals. this is what they do. >> i'm curious, because there's disasters that this team has rescued all over the world. >> absolutely. and and you know, we were talking about this earlier. how different is this? i think it's a little bit different, because it's literally in our backyard. i think everybody is one or two

degrees of knowing somebody who lived in that building. >> you live not far from here. >> i live a block or two from here. my colleague from medical school, he's missing a cousin and that cousin's wife, who was pregnant, and their 1-year-old baby. so, yeah, it touches close to home. and i think you'll find that there's a lot of people like myself who you have that one or two degrees of separation from someone. everyone's getting text messages. like, hey, have you seen so-and-so? it's miami, it's our home. you know, it's a relatively small community. >> you're also going through the rubble of people's homes and seeing possessions and things. that's one of the things that has always struck me on sites heroic this when you come across the reality. >> absolutely. you think about rubble and metal and twisted steel, but we're seeing stuffed animals, teddy bears, box of diapers, you know, a child's bunk bed and finding a

lot of pictures, family pictures. and it's a little bit more emotional than going someone, where you know there's no one -- especially for a hurricane, where they had enough evacuation time and they got out, but this you know happened in the middle of the night. and for the first time, i just saw the video, and it's pretty oppressive. >> have you -- i know there's obviously dogs on site. there's devices where you -- you know, sound devices you put into rubble. i know in other places, sometimes even -- like everybody calls for quiet on the site, just so you can hear, in case anybody is tapping. >> yeah, there is -- prior to me getting there yesterday around 1:00 p.m. or so, they did hear some tapping. there was some noise. and, you know, it kept up for a while and then over the course of the day, they sort of -- that dissipated. >> you know, this is a tough question to ask, but you know, you want to be hopeful. we're 41 hours, 42 hours. how do you sort of balance this? the hope versus the honesty, you

know? >> it's kind of been my nature, my background as a trauma surgeon. you just never give up hope. you always keep pushing yourself and you keep going. these guys, you know, that's their mind-set also. we're going to keep going, keep going, keep going until, like i said, every stone is turned over and all of the rubble is removed. and that's how we do it. you know, they're used to it. i'm sort of used to it. both from the trauma surgeon end of it and being with the urban search and rescue department for a few years now. and you know, we motivate each other, and it's like a brotherhood, sisterhood. we're all sort of one big family here and lean on each other and support each other and we don't back down. some of those guys, you may have heard it before, you kind of have to pull them off, because they'll just kip going.

>> when you're working -- >> i mean, we're looking at images right now of people climbing over a pile of what we would call rubble. how do you -- what do you -- where do you begin? >> so, you know, so what they're doing here, in this particular footage, they're obviously searching by hand. that's why they have the buckets. they're taking brick by brick, stone by stone, debris by debris, into a bucket and taking it off the pile, looking for voids, looking to see -- they'll bring cameras in. sometimes they'll have the dogs walk on the pile first. >> and i assume it's got to be done kind of by hand, at this stage, because you don't want a backhoe going to an area where there may be somebody. >> right. so for really obviously, large, heavy structures, you're not going to be able to move them, so then you get the heavy equipment to move it, and then once that's de-layered, you can do the hand by hand, piece by piece, doing the different devices, infrared, heat-sensitive equipment. >> do you divide it up in grids? >> yeah, yeah. there's a whole search pattern divided in grids. and you know, it's numbered, and they just basically do a grid search. and once that grid is searched and they know there's nothing there, then that's it, and they

move on to the next one. it's very thorough. >> you know, i see you have the mask on and we were just commenting, you can really smell the acrid sort of heavy metal smell in the air. how dangerous is that, do you think, and also for the other residents that live around here? >> obviously, the longer you're exposed to it, the danger increases. we have a hazmat team that's here. we do decontamination wherever we leave the pile or the scene. we get our boot decontaminated. we have radiation detectors and stuff like that. so our health is being monitored. the air quality is being importanted. we're all supposed to wear ppes. this goes back before the time of covid. we're all gowned up, gloved up here. here it's masks, eye protection, ear protection. do whatever we can to keep ourselves safe so we can do the job we have to do.

>> you've got to be exhausted. >> uh, yeah. i won't lie. i'm used to it. working at ryder trauma senior is, you don't stop. and i've been with these guys for a couple of years now. i'm kind of used to it, but you can feel it. if i stop moving at any time, i'll probably pass out. >> and i think for families who are watching and loved ones who are watching and all around the world, it's got to be some modicum of hope that just seeing how hard y'all are working and how seriously y'all are taking this and how personally you're all taking this. >> we're taking it very personally. we're all from the miami area. this is like home. people know people who have loved ones who they haven't heard from.

so it's very personal and that's what keeps us going. and it's just in everyone's nature. whether you're a surgeon or a search and rescue, you have that personality where you just don't quit. you don't give up. and you just keep going. >> well, we're glad you do. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> coming up, as workers continue the exhausting work to try to find survivors here, the latest in the investigation into why this building may have pancaked into the ground. and an update on the teenager rescued from the rubble that we told you about last night. what happened to his mom, ahead. the world around you may seem like an immovable, implacable place. it is not. it can be bright. quiet. and safe. it's a change that will be felt from this street. to this street. to no street. and everywhere in between. all it takes is the slightest push in just the right place and that will be the tipping point that changes everything. ♪ ♪

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as we've been reporting, the known death toll tonight still stands at four. one of those killed, sadly, is the mother of a teenager who was rescued in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. last night, i talked to a man named nicholas balboa who was out walking his dog. he went around to the back of the building after it collapsed, he said he heard someone screaming and helped lead first responders to where the boy was originally rescued. 15-year-old noah handler was under a mattress and a bed frame and you see him being brought out. here's what nicholas balboa told me last night. >> he told me it was him and his mother in the apartment. and i could see him, but i couldn't see his mother or hear her. and at this time, from what i've gathered from the crews and stuff like that, they still haven't been able to find her yet. >> so he didn't know where his mother was or how she was?

>> no today, family members confirm that jonah's mother, it is a stacy fang did not survive. as to why the condominium collapsed, the explanations right now obviously elusive. drew griffin joins us right now with what we know and what we don't know. drew, what are investigators looking at right now, talking about to try to figure out what happened? >> the only thing they really have right now, anderson, is that horrific surveillance camera video, which shows the moments when that building collapsed. they don't have access to the site, obviously. they don't have access to the materials or the ground underneath it to determine what would happen. and in talking to engineers and forensic experts all day long, can i tell you that anybody who tells you how or why or what happened to this building, it's just pure speculation at this point. what will be key and i'm sure investigators are moving on is a series of infectiouses that this

building was just undergoing. the building is 40 years old. by florida law, it was required to be recertified and it was going through that process, which means for the last several months, major inspections were taking place on this building so it could reply for that recertification. those records we've been trying to reach, we've been talking with town officials, they apparently do not have them or have not made them public, but i think, anderson, those will be key in determining whether they at least tart to see if there were any problems with this building. >> we know 40-year-old building, do we know much about the history of it? >> you know, by all accounts, from what we can see from the records that we have, there weren't many big problems with it. there was a lawsuit in 2015. there was an exterior crack, which caused leaking into a unit, but the damages there were only added up to about $15,000.

there was a study done by a florida professor looking at the sinkage of the building back in the 90s. it sunk about half an inch over a six-year study in which they studied this. but again, the professor is saying that alone would not have caused this problem. and from what we gather, one town official, one building official was actually on the roof of that building, looking at the roof repairs that were going -- taking place just 14 hours, anderson, before this collapse took place. jim mcginnis. and he says, look, it was a professional roofing job. everything was permitted, everything was in order. so there wasn't any clear indication of anything going on that we can see at this point, with this building. other than it was 40 years old, going through recertification, and it's a building built on sand, on the ocean. >> yeah. any sense of the timeline? i mean, obviously, everyone wants answers quickly and obviously the focus for

everybody right now is the search and rescue. what's the timeline look like for sort of understanding more of what actually went on? >> you know, to really understand what took place, we're told it's going to be months, not weeks. and unless you have a smoking gun kind of incident like terrorism or somebody smashed into one of the pillars, when you have to put together what happened, it's much like a plane crash. one small failure leads to another failure leads to another failure, so you have this string of things that take place. unraveling that often takes months. anderson? >> yeah. drew, appreciate it. thank you. as we reported at the top of the program, town officials here are hiring an engineering firm to help evaluate the integrity of other buildings in the area. with me now, kobe carp and structural engineer can be kit niamoto, who has engineering experience around the world. kobe, thanks for being with us. obviously, there's more that we don't know than we know right now.

i know you've been looking at that video of the fall a lot. what can you tell from that? >> i think that just like the gentlemen said before, it's a lot of speculation. but really, you can see in the video that the interesting thing is that the southwest l-shaped building stood. this building was built in 1981. i was in high school, i was 18 years old. this building is not old. we are working similar buildings up the and down the straight here that were built in the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s. >> the building right next to it, that looks to me like a 1920s, '30s building, art deco building that has been rehabbed. >> you're absolutely correct. that building was renovated and all of our buildings get renovated.

that's the issue right now. this is an event that we have never had before. you can look at it, you can speculate how it happened, but at the end of the day, it will take us months. >> it will takes months. how do you even begin to do that? >> engineering is the way to go. and the way these buildings were built which is all the same ways. concrete piles. concrete reinforcement around the staircases and elevators, which is the spine of the building, and you can see how the building pancaked. so most people believe that there was a failure between the horizontal and the vertical. but that has to be looked at, that has to be junlgd, that has to be agreed upon. at the end of the day, the reason that the northeast corner is down and the southwest corner is still up, that's a mystery. you can see the vertical shaft holding it up, that's the spine. >> you call the vertical shaft the spine? >> most of the buildings here in florida are built in a similar matter, where the emergency staircases act as our sheer walls, that's what holds us up, our spines. and horizontal slabs is what pulls it in. >> i want to bring in kit in .

you and i spoke last night, and it was so fascinating, your description of what you saw in that video. i'm wondering now, 24 hours later, what comes -- what's on your mind in terms of what you want to do, what you feel like we know more about. >> i think it's a classic collapse. if the column fell, everything comes down with it, right? so the question is why the column failed. and we talked about yesterday, a possible corrosion of the metal inside the column or a possible settlement or sinking of the ground in certain areas, at a different rate from others. and more potentially, just lacking to the column. that's highly unlikely, but those things happen. but you have to think about the culmination of it. because the building actually is hard to collapse. there's a lot of redundancies in

the building system. that's why you don't see the collapse like this. it's hard to collapse, actually. so even the area, where we live in california, that the probable collapse of a building is 1% over a 50-year time. and the maximum, maximum earthquake. it's really hard to collapse. so maybe a whole different reasons. so maybe i think eventually, the engineers can figure it out. but you can definitely know that it's down to bottom. >> kit pointed out, it's the side facing the ocean. salt corrodes metal. and we see a building, it's the rebar inside the concrete. and the salt can get to that and corrode, right? >> yes, it does. and what we do is we come back ochbt caps and take care of

that. that's part of the 40-year certification. >> to do that, do you have to cut away all the concrete? how do you get to a rebar that's in the middle of concrete? >> that's very good. a lot of times we look at it and figure out that the cancer is bigger than what we expected. >> that's what people call it. actually like a cancer, that the weakening of that bar. the expansion of that bar cracks the cement. >> absolutely. and in the old buildings, we >> that's very good. a lot of times we look at it and figure out that the cancer is bigger than what we expected. >> that's what people call it. actually like a cancer, that the weakening of that bar. the expansion of that bar cracks the cement. >> absolutely. and in the old buildings, we used beach sand with more salt in it. so the corrosion is even

greater. but at the end of the day, for this to crash like this is a very unique and special situation. you can see, the steel is inside, and the steel generally speaking, once you start to clean it up, we find more of the cancer within it. >> what do you make of -- we've heard there were engineers who looked at this building in this part of this certification thing. they wrote up a report. there was planning being done on the roof, as well. how serious an inspection is it for a certification like this that would it catch -- should it have caught issues like what may have led to this? >> first of all, the statute of a 40-year is going to be one of the best practices in the world. like in california, we don't

have something like that. and especially if the major corrosion going on in a column, you will see cracks in a column, so a wall or four. you will see the potential risk exist. but, again rebar is the inside of concrete and there is the finish around it. you have to kind of get down into the heart of it to see what's going on. i think that eventually, what's going to happen here is it's going to get down to the failure mode and you can simulate how it actually gets down and why it happened. that will be definitely happening down the road. >> right. well, kit miamoto, i appreciate your time. and i understand you know my friend, jean mark in haiti. kobe, thank you so much. appreciate your expertise. >> thank you. up next, from here in surfside, as the rescue effort continues, the tight-knit jewish

community have come together to help one another. some family members of a local synagogue are still missing. our randi kaye joins us with that when we continue. people!!! less with the puns. more about the moms. they want healthy, affordable options. moms want to save that dough. hold onto that green. enough with the puns! land o'frost premium. fresh look. same great taste.

as the second day of this enormous rescue effort continues into the night, we want to focus on the especially close jewish community that surrounds surfside. for many, faith is crucial at a time like this. they are leaning on religious leaders for support. randi kaye joins us now with more. i know you spoke to a rabbi from this area. >> i spoke to rabbi lipskar and he told me he believes at least 20 people associated with his synagogue are missing, possibly in that rubble pile. ages from 20 years old to 60

years old and he's been spending time the last couple days with one woman who she believes she is missing seven of her family members and this is what he told me about their conversation. >> the one that's really touching me, the most, is this -- the family came for a funeral of a dear friend of theirs. and multiple family members were staying in that building. they have apartments there. and they are missing seven or eight family members. i'd never seen the strength of a mother that, herself, went through her own, miraculous recovery from a devastating disease. and she's completely distraught that her daughter came for a funeral for someone, a dear friend. she was there because, she said to me, her daughter is the only one that could bring solace to others. so, that story has -- continuously, resonates with me because i'm just blown away by her faith. by her strength.

even through her breaking down, i think, that's her strength. >> earlier, i spoke to the family of the young man who came with his girlfriend for that funeral. was the rabbi especially close to -- to anyone who may be missing? >> yeah, he was. he told me about another couple, about who is 26 -- both of them, 26 years old. a doctor who is a member of his synagogue, also, missing. great friend to the community. but he is especially close to this one couple. they are the parents of his childhood friend who he grew up with. he knew this man's family very well. he knew this couple, this older couple, the boy's parents really well and he is personally devastated by the fact that they are missing and we talked about them as well today. >> obviously, my dear friends that are from here, that i grew up with, my whole life. to watch the family's plaain. it's hard for me to describe because i know them from my

life. their parents, the brothers, the sister. it's just been heart-wrenching. the not knowing and not being able to, really, deal with this magnitude of the tragedy that's unfolding. >> you knew their parents? >> i knew them since i am a little boy. >> what can you tell me about them? >> amazing people. house was always open, warm. kids are awesome. all, taken different paths in their lives. but it's a family that has been a part of my life since i can remember. i stayed at their home, many times. >> reporter: and he also, told me, anderson, that his friend he's been talking about who is missing his parents. he was trying to talk to his own son, and explain where his grandparents are to him. and, you know, for us, as adults, it's hard to comprehend what's happened here so this man trying to explain it to his son and he shared some of how he tried to do that. and this is just heartbreaking. >> so, one of my childhood friends. he -- he told me his son last night because i was at his house at 1:45 in the morning.

and he says, what am i telling my son? emt e he wants to know how he can go to sleep when grandfather and grandmother are laying in the rubble. why are we not there? why are we not pulling off the cement blocks and bricks? so it -- it's -- it's -- there's no words to -- just give him a hug. give him a hug, give him a kiss and say we are here as a family, together. >> he said he just wanted to get out there, on his own, and just dig through the rubble and try and find his grandfather. but the community is pulling together. about 5 or 6,000 individual donations. people are bringing pillows and bringing cash and bringing blankets because many of these families are homeless, anderson. they have nowhere to go. >> yeah. it's a time like this, where a faith community can really make such a big difference in -- in people's lives. randi, thank you so much. we will be right back. we have more how you can help the people here. we will be right back. son ecota. no more buying cartridges.

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if you want to look at organizations that are helping families here in miami, you can go to cnn.com/impact for more information. that's it for me. want to hand over our coverage to chris, who is on scene here, with me, in miami. chris. anderson, appreciate it. thank you very much. of course, i am chris cuomo and welcome to "prime time." it's good to be with you, brother, as always. we are live in surfside, florida, tonight, continuing our coverage. look. these are people dealing with the agony of the unknown. this community has come together. but there is a lot of hurt here. and it doesn't stop, at the site. over my shoulder, what's happening there is unlike anything i have ever seen in this country, before. except for 9/11 and that was -- look, different circumstances precipitated that. the scale was very different. i just got the privilege of a walkthrough at the site. and