searching for survivors after a building collapsed in florida, while distraught families wait and hope. we have full coverage this hour. >> the whole building is sheard off. we can literally see the roof caved in and just the darkness. so now we're -- it's just a mad dash to get down. plus, one family shares how their holiday turned into a scramble for survival. and former police officer derek chauvin learns his punishment for the murder of george floyd. we will bring you reaction from floyd's family and his community. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber, this is "cnn newsroom". we begin here in the u.s. where an intense search for survivors

is under way, more than 48 hours after a catastrophic building collapse in surfside, florida. part of the 12-story champlain towers came crashing down during the early hours of thursday morning. you're looking at right now live pictures, the scene as day break approaches. at least four people are confirmed dead and the whereabouts of 159 others are unknown. it's still not clear what caused the building to fall. rescue teams have faced an uphill battle. they face heavy smoke from fires within the building, heavy winds, lightning and rain. authorities are asking residents to avoid the area due to the large amount of smoke coming from the disaster site and the possibility it contains toxic chemicals. meanwhile, a hopeful wall for the scores of people still unaccounted for now stands just about a block away from the collapse. cnn spoke to miami-dade's fire rescue chief who has a message of those awaiting news of their loved ones. >> have hope. there is always hope.

i was in haiti and eight days after we were there we took a girl out of a collapse. you've got to have hope. we're doing everything that we can to bring your family member out alive. >> one surfside official calls the search efforts painstakingly laborious and stress it will take some time to reach every person. randi kaye has the latest from surfside. >> reporter: the desperate search and rescue operation is intensifying, a race to find survivors in the rubble from the partially collapsed building in surfside, florida. search and rescue teams not stopping for a moment. >> these are the best first responders in the world. these are the ones that are sent to trouble spots. they've been to 9/11, they've been to haiti, they've been wherever there is a disaster and they are bringing that expertise

to bear right here for our residents, for our visitors in surfside. >> reporter: the death count now at four. three of the bodies have been identified according to the medical examiner's office, both heavy machinery as well as small buckets being used to carefully lift and move around debris to access search areas. while 120 people are now accounted for, the number of unaccounted for has increased to 159. rainy weather and intermittent fires breaking out on the site complicating an already difficult rescue effort. an effort that is not without risk to those who are involved. >> 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. >> reporter: president joe biden promising continued assistance. >> i promise you the administration, the congress is doing everything possible to be of assistance now and after.

>> reporter: families standing by trying to hold out hope that their loved ones will be found alive. >> how worried are they in there? is there a possibility that they are alive? truthfully, look at this mess. what are the chances? >> reporter: building resident kevin spiegel was out of town when the collapse happened, his wife was at home. >> i was just there this weekend, we had the most wonderful, wonderful weekend with our granddaughter scarlett. it was wonderful. and how from one second to the next second a dramatic change in life. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: so many families with questions about how this could possibly happen. >> the building falls down in a third world country where they don't have building codes. with all the strict building codes in this country a building shouldn't collapse like that. >> reporter: and promises being made that the answers will come. >> there is a lot of other people throughout this community and really throughout florida who want to know how could a

building just collapse like that, whatever the local efforts are under way with that, the state will support whatever we can to do this right, but also to do it timely so that we get the answers to the families and that we get the answer to the people of florida. >> that report from our randi kaye. so it's been more than 48 hours since the collapse, but so many families are still clinging to hope that their loved ones will be found alive. so this man and his pregnant wife lived in the surfside condominium with her one-year-old daughter remain unaccounted for. chris cuomo spoke to his niece about the last time she heard from her family. >> the last time i spoke to them was on sunday for father's day and i had actually called them to tell them i had just booked a flight to come visit because they've been asking me to come see their home and to meet their

daughter, i haven't met her due to the pandemic. the family, we go through waves of disbelief and hope, you know, you hear and you see tragic things but you don't expect it to happen to your own, especially something like this, it was such a freak thing that happened and it hasn't been explained yet, but we are still hopeful and we're praying for a miracle. we're hoping that there's in some type of a pocket where within the rubble seeking -- just waiting for someone to come find them. >> of course, the collapse happened here in the u.s. but the impact is being felt half a world away. some of the people missing some from venezuela, argentina, colombia just to name a few. matt rivers is in mexico city for us. >> reporter: well, as so many families await news about their missing loved ones in miami right now as more and more time passes we're getting more information about just how many people around the world really have been affected by all of

this. the collapse happened on american soil, but the impact of this tragedy extends far beyond u.s. borders. dozens of citizens from countries around latin america are missing, including venezuela, argentina, clom bee a, uruguay, paraguay and chile. among those still accounted for the sister of paraguay's first lady. the family went to miami to get vaccinated and brought along a baby-sitter, her family told cnn it was her first ever trip outside the country. we're hoping for a miracle, said her cousin, but we just don't know if we should cry now or not. also among the missing a chilean citizen that they say is related to the former chilean president. families from across the regional came to miami for news of their loved ones, news that was difficult to come by.

nothing. we are desperate, she says, the atmosphere changed from yesterday to today, it's not the same. abigail is a friend of an argentinian couple that remain missing along with her six-year-old daughter. like others here she's holding on to whatever small hope she can. she says we are people who are here with a bit of hope because it's all that we have and the only thing they tell us is that there are these kind of micro capsules where there could be survivors. for rescuers the work is continuing digging through debris, heavy machinery involved, occasionally doing what's called an all stop where everyone stops and listens for sounds of people who might be alive, but for families there is only the agony of waiting. many choosing to do so inside a center set up for those with missing loved ones. it's horrible. horrible, says this woman, of what it's like inside the center. you see a lot of pain. people that are desperate. this happened near a part of miami known affectionately by some as little bun knows ears. there are a lot of south

american families who live and spend time here. as the hours go by there is every chance that the number of south americans affected by this goes up, even as the chances of finding people alive goes down. we know a lot of these countries whose citizens have been affected by this have consulates in miami. some of those consulates we're told have been calling around to different hospitals in the miami area trying to get any news about their citizens who are unaccounted for. unfortunately in many of these cases those consulates not getting the kind of positive news they would hope for. back to you. so the questions everyone is asking is how did this happen and could it have been prevented? earlier cnn asked those very questions to john pisterino, a structural engineer hired to investigate the collapse. >> at this particular point in time it's very important not to speculate as far as what caused

this building to go down. engineers have a specific routine how to go about doing a forensic evaluation so that's the way it should be approached. the 40-year inspection program that happened since 1974 was certainly intended to prevent something like this from happening and so nothing really like this has happened until this has occurred. the thing is, though, that we expect building owners to maintain their buildings, you don't -- you don't wait 40 years and then start looking for trouble or signs, the buildings themselves are supposed to be maintained according to the way they've been built originally. >> an attorney for the condos association spoke to cnn's chris cuomo on friday and said that the condo's board had no information that would have fore shadowed thursday's disaster. >> there was no reason for that

and, chris, you have to understand that there are board members with their family members. we have a missing vice president who had two of her adult children living in other units with their families and i think that's an indicator that this was the type of community people liked to live in. normally when you're happy where you're living you recommend to family members and friends, hey, this is a great place to live and we had that. so we have board mebts who are living here, had their families living here and are missing. so if they knew there was a hazard issue they certainly would have taken care of it. also this building has passed every inspection, every life safety inspection to date. >> we'll return to florida in just a few minutes as the desperate search for survivors goes on. we will talk to a family who made it out of the crumbling building. plus, the death of george floyd sparked protests around the world. now the man convicted of his murder faces a lengthy prison sentence. we will have that story plus

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♪ ♪ tonight...i'll be eating cheesy cauliflower pizza with extra broccolini. my tuuuurrrrn! tonight...i'll be eating cheesy cauliflower pizza and yummy broccolini! (doorbell rings) thanks. (doorbell rings) thank you. ♪ ♪ is that my leotard? no. yes... ehh, you can keep it. george floyd's death during an encounter with police last year unleashed a wave of outrage

that grew into global protests. on friday the former officer convicted of murdering him, derek chauvin, received a sentence of 22 1/2 years, that's more than state guidelines recommended, but less than prosecutors wanted. sara sidner has that along with reaction from minneapolis. >> reporter: former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin now knows his fate for murdering george floyd right here outside the cup foods. the judge in the case, judge peter cahill, being very pointed in his sentencing memo saying that mr. chauvin treated mr. floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings. >> the court commits you to the customer of the commissioner of corrections for a period of 270 months. >> reporter: former police officer derek chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in the murder of george floyd. chauvin was convicted in april of second degree unintentional murder and taken back into custody today. the sentence includes a ten-year addition to the state sentencing guidelines, but less time than

the 30 years requested by prosecutors. >> this is the longest sentence that a police officer has ever been sentenced to in the history of the state of minnesota, but this should not be the exception when a black person is killed by brutality by police, it should be the norm. >> reporter: before the sentence came down derek chauvin publicly spoke to the floyd family for the first time. >> i want to give 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 -- some peace of mind. thank you. >> reporter: earlier emotional victim impact statements starting with floyd's seven-year-old daughter. >> do you wish that he was still

here with us? >> yeah, but he is. >> through his spirit? >> yes. >> if you could say anything to your daddy right now what would it be? >> it would be i miss you and i love you. >> reporter: floyd's brothers and nephew repeatedly demanded the maximum sentence for chauvin, describing the harrowing impact of his murder on their lives. >> our family is forever broken and one thing we cannot get back is george floyd. >> reporter: and george floyd's brother terrence addressed chauvin directly. >> what were you thinking? what was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother's neck? >> reporter: in chauvin's corner after a motion to reconsider the case was dismissed earlier this morning chauvin's mother spoke out for the first time publicly about her son, describing him as a good, thoughtful and honorable man. >> the public will never know

the loving and caring man he is, that his family does. >> reporter: outside of the courthouse at cup foods where george floyd was murdered a mixed reaction to the sentence, but a feeling by some that justice was done. while there's mixed reaction from the community as to the sentence and how long it should have been, there is one thing everyone agrees on and that is that their fight isn't over. the sign tells you pretty much what you need to know, one down, three to go. they are referencing the other three officers who still are charged and are awaiting trial. sara sidner, cnn, minneapolis. >> after the sentencing hearing floyd's family called on congress to pass the george floyd justice in policing act. president joe biden wanted the measure to be approved by the anniversary of floyd's death in may, but it remains in negotiations. he weighed in on chauvin's sentence from the white house. listen in. >> well, i don't know all the circumstances that were

considered, but it seems to me under the guidelines that seems to be appropriate. >> our erin burnett spoke earlier with a member of the prosecution team. he said that he thought a longer sentence for chauvin's crime was warranted, but still believes it's a step towards more accountability for police. >> there's no number that is going to in any way adequately reflect the enormity of what was lost, what happened to the world, what we've all experienced and the loss felt by the floyd family. we asked for 30 years because we believed that was a fair sentence and it was legally supported, but 22 1/2 years is a long time, it's a substantial prison sentence and it's a beginning of accountability here. >> joining me now from roseville, minnesota, is anika buh joe the president of the minneapolis naacp. thank you for joining us. the reactions to the sentence

seem varied, to say the least, even among different chapters of the naacp. i saw one chapter saying it was utterly disappointing, another one saying it's an important step towards racial and judicial equality. so what do you take away from this sentence? >> so we just take away one of respect to the judge's decision as well as attorney general keith ellison who prosecuted derek chauvin, but we are in a very complex situation. although there was justice within the criminal courts we know there is still economic justice, healing justice, civil justice, right? community justice that still has been voided by not only our policymakers but just our leaders in general. >> i mean, that's a lot of the questions people are asking is what is justice in this case. how do you feel that the community there in minneapolis is responding to this?

>> i believe, you know, they're responding to the disgrace to see that derek chauvin shows zero remorse or sorrow or acknowledgment of the wrong he exacted. even tried to ask for a new case in the midst of it, right, has reopened this wound of his denial of the harm that he has caused not only to the murder of derek -- excuse me, to george floyd, but just the collateral consequences that we all have to bear, right? he called himself a product of a broken system yet has zero track record of ever trying to fix the system that he actually benefits from, and, you know, this is -- this is just like another modern day public lynching of how we're responding, right? and the people are feeling the historical trauma, the retraumatization, right, of it all as how do we reckon can explaining this to children, you

know, during a time right now on the federal level that they are trying to gut out black history, right, in our school systems but yet covering up the violence that has been inflicted on black lives by police officers. >> that's what i want to get at here, the long-term consequences of this, i guess. there's a lot of ambivalence about the legacy of this case. on the one hand people recognize that this case did force a racial reckoning of sorts, i guess, on the other hand the case doesn't seem to have done anything much of anything to stem the tide of police violence in communities of color. do you think this case and this sentence will be any kind of turning point? >> i think it gives a sense of accountability and a step towards justice to george floyd's family who we want to send our deepest gratitude, right? who held strong throughout this low and deadly process of our

judicial system. but let's be clear, black people in minneapolis alone, aside from the entire nation, knew that derek chauvin was guilty prior to the murder of george floyd. this is an officer who was part of a police department that has hundreds and hundreds of lives on their hands, right? it's very clear that we know that the minneapolis police department has blood on its hands and derek chauvin's sentencing does not wash it away and the people of minneapolis deserve concrete change through policy, through practices, through legislation, law change to ensure that all law enforcement would face real substantial consequences and unfortunately -- >> i want to just jump in right on that because, you know, we heard the family pleading for congress to act on police reform, but deadlines have come and gone, a deal on the bill seems allusive. so what happens if there isn't that systemic change at the federal level, you know, where do we go from here if congress doesn't act? >> well, you know, activists will continue to organize,

strategize and mobilize for change. in the wake of the murder we have saw abolition movement that had rose up to the surface, right, to the mainstream conversation of rethinking how we see policing in the future, right? i think it's important that we invest in truth telling, right? it's time for united states to actually invest in the truth within its education system and invest in the future that no longer needs policing, period. >> all right. we will have to leave it there, but really appreciate your insights into this anika bowie, thank you for joining us. i appreciate it. a woman in france who admitted to killing her abusive husband is now free. even though she was found guilty of murdering him. he horribly abused her for two decades before she shot him.

she was sentenced to four years in prison, three suspended but was immediately released because she has already spent a year behind bars. the prosecutors decided not to request a longer sentence after an overwhelming show of support for beku in france and across europe. some 700,000 people signed an online petition calling for her release. survivors share their stories following that horrific building collapse in florida. still ahead, we will explain what played out inside the building as parts of it came crumbling down. plus how could this high-rise building just collapse? we will tell you what we know about the structure and its integrity before the disaster. we will be right back. stay with us. what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists? it's neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles goodbye! neutrogena® well, well, well. look at you. you mastered the master bath.

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where four people are confirmed dead and 159 remain unaccounted for following thursday's condominium tower collapse near miami. rescue teams are relentlessly digging through massive piles of rubble searching for survivors. cnn's chris cuomo is in the town of surfside and shot this video at the disaster site. earlier we heard from a doctor who is also there who gave us an idea of the search team's mind-set. >> you just never give up hope, you always keep pushing yourself and always keep going. these guys that's in their mindset also we're going to keep going, keep going, keep going, until, like i said, every stone is turned over and all the rubble is removed and that's how we do it. >> meanwhile, one of the big questions remains what caused the building to collapse so suddenly and so

catastrophically? officials are promising an urgent investigation but experts say at this stage it's impossible to pinpoint the cause. as more time passes the chance of finding anyone alive decreases, but emergency crews aren't giving up hope and neither is the community. cnn's ryan young takes a look at how they're coping. >> if you look at that condo building behind me you can see the plumes of smoke coming this direction, that's because firefighters are actively fighting a fire while continuing this rescue mission. 159 people are missing and it has been dangerous for workers to continue this, but they're moving in heavy equipment to make sure they can try to see if there's any more survivors left. we did see people in in community who are praying for the best outcome and they had a pause on friday night to remember those who are lost. ♪

♪ >> reporter: we continue to get updates from officials, but, look, this is quite hard. they're bringing in more heavy equipment and they're going to get assistance from the federal government as well. when you look at how large this building is and what they're trying to do to save lives and also recover people who have been lost, it is a tremendously hard job at this month. they're hoping to be able to provide solace to some of these families, but so far it's going to be tough to see what happens over the next few days. reporting in surfside, ryan young, cnn. >> as emergency crews search for those who are unaccounted for, we're also hearing stories from survivors. chris cuomo spoke earlier with a couple who was in the building when other sections came crashing down and the couple told him it took them a few moments to realize what was happening. >> we were asleep and we hear

this loud thunderous sound, don't know what it is. my initial gut was a loud clap of thunder, the power went out, i thought the building was struck by lightning that's hon lesly what happened -- what i thought happened. she jumps out of bed, checks on the kids. the kids are fine, they say, what is going on, but then she realizes that the command leers and the lights in the apartment are all swinging back and forth so we know it's something more than just a storm. we've lived through hurricane sandy. it wasn't that. now we don't know what it is. i see the fire trucks approaching, they were great, this he got here immediately. we now don't know what it is, i see a gray cloud outside of the outside of the apartment building. i think it's smoke because i still think it's lightning. when i opened to go yell to the fire department i realized it's not smoke, there is no smell to it and it's sticking to my fingers so it's the concrete dust. now i know that a building fell

down. city don't think it's ours because we are intact. >> your unit, just so you know if we go wide for a second, jerry, is right over here, right, it's just out of -- >> the two white chairs on the balcony. second to top floor. >> literally the t. >> yes. >> they are on this part of the t and the other part is what had collapsed. jeannette, when you open the door and get out there when did you realize? >> fortunately for me i wasn't the first one to open the door, they came out first and i think since we had no idea what was going on at the moment and we were still contemplating whether we were leaving, you know, we really at that moment thought should we go back to bed. >> are we safer in the apartment. >> are we safer in the apartment. i hear them say, oh, maybe we should have thought about leaving a lot faster. maybe we're not so safe. and they had taken a look to the left, i still hadn't reached. when i get there and i see what they're looking at it's the whole building is sheared off. we can literally see the roof

caved in and just darkness. so now we're -- it's just a mad dash to get down. >> how many floors? >> 11. >> we were on the 11th floor. >> it's a 12 story building you were on the second-to-last floor. >> the penthouse is above. >> how long did it take you to get down? >> pretty dark, we were yelling to our kids are you guys still there, she had the lead, i had the back. are you fwieg ost. >> what are you thinking coming down. >> i'm thinking we're racing against the clock because the rest of the building is going to come down. i thought if i start to feel something to come down how do i jump on my daughter to save her. >> the couple said some people in the building had trouble opening doors to the stairwell. they managed to get out safely along with their teenage daughter and a doesn't son. >> now everyone is asking how this tragedy happened and if it could have been prevented. cnn's brian todd looks into the

integrity of the high-rise. >> reporter: structural engineers and other experts now scrambling to find answers as to how this collapse could have occurred in an area with some of the strictest building codes in the world. >> it's very unusual to see a building collapse in this way. it reminds me of a building in countries where they had earthquakes and the construction is not in a good condition. >> reporter: the professor of florida international university released a study last year which said that 40-year-old building the champlain towers south had been sinking or subsiding as he calls it at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year between 1993 and 1999. >> it's not clear if the land was moving or the building was moving into the land, but it was obviously that the building itself moved a very small

portion, which is about over the measurement period of six years is about half an inch. >> reporter: he said that sinking didn't occur in other buildings right around that complex. he said the sinking alone likely would not have caused the building to collapse, but experts say it could be associated with tension and possible cracks inside the structure. local officials say there was roof work being done on the building. they're careful to say that may not be the cause of is this disaster, but experts say it could have been a contributing factor. >> potentially working on the roof, potentially the nonmaintenance of certain parts of the building where the connections can come together and fail and create the pancake effect that happened. >> reporter: the location and climate of that area, experts say, also have to be considered. >> there's the corrosion of the steel, you know, as you notice this is right next to the ocean and also the area collapses the ocean side, right?

so corrosion of the reinforcement will compromise the capacity of the column, if the column gail's everything fails essentially. >> reporter: an attorney for the condo residents association says over the past several months the building had undergone what he called thorough engineering inspections in preparation for its 40-year certification. >> nothing appeared either to the engineers or to any of the residents that would suggest anything like this was imminent. nothing. >> reporter: experts say it may take several months before we know the real causes. and as for the possibility of one smoking gun. >> 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. >> reporter: and we've learned a class action lawsuit has been filed against the champlain towers south condominium association accusing that group of, quote, failures to secure and safeguard the lives and property of condo unit owners.

the suit which seeks in excess of $5 million in damages cites a statement from the association's attorney who said that repair needs have been identified but had not been completed. in response to the lawsuit director said he doesn't know and engineers don't know with certainty what caused the building to come down so, quote, how is it that this lawyer knows with certainty what caused the building to fall down? brian todd, cnn, washington. >> now, you can help the collapsed victims and their families by heading to cnn.com/impact and there you will find some links to charitable organizations that have been verified by cnn. again, that's cnn.com/impact. all right. coming up, the delta coronavirus variant is dark europe's hopes of getting back to a sort of normal summer. we're live in london with the details. stay with us. psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms

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in australia the greater sydney area is now under a new stay-at-home order that kicked in a short while ago at 6:00 p.m. local time and it will last for two weeks. the city has recorded dozens of new locally transmitted covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. restrictions are rolling out in the rest of the australian state including a one person per square foot rule both indoors and outdoors. the world health organization says the delta variant is the most transmissible coronavirus strain so far. it's appeared in at least 85 countries. european nations are particularly concerned in the uk delta variant cases are up 46% in a week and germany's health minister warns delta cases are growing significantly and will soon have an upper hand. cyril vanier joins me from london. troubling numbers, especially in the uk. what's the latest? >> reporter: kim, i think we need to start looking at these

numbers a little bit more precisely. you're absolutely right to say that they are troubling. they are troubling because the number of infections and the infection rate just continues to increase week on week because of this coronavirus variant, the delta variant, which now accounts for 99% of all infections in the uk. just to give you a sense of how quickly that has changed, kim, i looked back at my notes. six weeks ago this is what i was writing about the uk, the situation at the time was very positive and i was writing there is a small cloud forming on the horizon. at the time there were 1,000 to 2,000 daily infections in the uk, now it's back up to 16,000 and that small cloud has grown considerably, kim. however, the reason i say we need to look at these numbers with more finesse now is that the number of infections used to be a good bellwether of how bad the covid situation was in a country, how bad or how good,

now in countries that have a significant level of vaccination that's not the full story. you have to ask how many of those people who get covid actually go to hospital and end up dying. whereas the number of infections has been multiplied by five the number of hospitalizations and deaths has only been multiplied by two. yes, the situation has worsened, but, yes, the vaccines are working and they are protecting the population to a very significant degree. >> all right. very well-framed. appreciate that analysis. cyril vanier in london. thanks so much. search and rescue crews are working right now at that florida building collapse. weather conditions are often slowing down those efforts. we will go live to our meteorologist after the break. please do stay with us.

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families are anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones and many have given dna samples to help with identification. officials still don't know what caused the building to collapse so suddenly and say it could be months before they do. now, through today we've been hearing from witnesses and people who were inside the building in miami as it collapsed, so let's listen to some of those incredible accounts. >> it was a really loud clap of thunder. >> it kind of felt like a jet took off above the building. >> the chandeliers and the pendant lights swaying completely and that was not normal. >> at least my husband and i woke up to that, to him grabbing me and saying what was that? the whole building was 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 intact. i looked to the left and the apartment to our left was half

sheared off, i looked forward which is where the elevator 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 rumbling noise out of nowhere and i just see like white clouds of just dust coming out. so i told my mom and my sister, we were outside, i told them to start running. we ran and all we could see was just white dust, like thick. >> 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. we realized that we had to get out of there because staying down there we could drown.

knowing how -- what it looked like outside my door, i thought that 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 gone out to the hallway and seen 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 checking on them and found that rubble and it just -- i -- i don't think i've processed it. it looks like i'm in that moment, but i don't think i really processed what happened. >> and a vigil was held in surfside friday night to remember the lives lost and pray for those still unaccounted for. ♪ ♪ >> any families are cling to go hope that their loved ones will

be found alive, including one woman who spoke with our anderson cooper about her aunt and uncle who haven't been located. >> i think hope is a very valuable thing when people are going through crisis to hold on to, so i'm holding on to a sliver of hope because i know in my heart somebody there is still alive and if it's not my aunt or uncle, i hope it's somebody's father, somebody's son, you know. >> every rescue person we have talked to -- >> yes. >> -- will tell you, you know, people can survive for a long period of time in buildings you can't believe anybody can survive in. >> that's also what i've heard. i'm hoping that there are many survivors. >> well, on top of all the other challenges the summer weather in south florida has slowed the search for survivors. so let's bring in meteorologist derek van dam. yesterday i spoke with the mayor of surfside and he was asking for luck in terms of the weather.

they haven't had much since then, winds, light inning, rain. is it looking any better? >> that's exactly it, search and rescue crews can work through rain but can't work through lightning. that creates hazards. at this moment in time weather conditions are optimal, it's mainly clear outside but things are going to change as we warm up through the course of the day today and i will explain why. right now feeling like 78 degrees, feels like 81 outside, this is a summertime environment across southeast florida near miami and the surfside region. what happens through the course of the day, the land heats up, that causes temperatures and the air to rise and also forces a sea breeze off of the atlantic ocean so an easterly component to the wind interacts with the rising air across the inland locations and what that does, these boundaries react and they allow for cloud cover to cool, condense and create rain and thunderstorms and of course we don't want to see lightning form right along this barrier island

here where surfside is located just north of the miami beach area because, of course, with thunder showers comes dusty winds, that means any shrapnel or debris hanging on to the remaining part of the building could be dislodged and fall off and that could impact the search and rescue crews. also the winds associated with thunder showers, often that gust front pre colluding a thunderstorm can be quite gusty, 30 miles per hour not out of the question so that can also disburse some of the dangerous gases from the broken gas lines that have occurred from this collapsed building. you can see this is pretty consistent with our weather forecast today, starting to see the cloud cover increase, the winds out of the east increase, at that that's the sea breeze i talked about a moment ago and the chances of thunderstorms increasing through the afternoon and evening hours as well. you can see that on our high forecast imagery. by this afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms become more numerous, the chance of lightning increases and of course that could impact the search and rescue operations just as it did on friday morning not 24 hours ago roughly.

you can see not much going on on our radar now but things will start to pick up in activity, you can see the hit or miss showers or thunderstorms right along that barrier island. there's surfside. just going forward in time we do anticipate the showers and storms to continue through at least the better half of the weekend. kim? >> let's hope things stay clear as long as they can. thanks so much, meteorologist derek van dam. appreciate it. and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. we're going to leave you a look at these images from surfside, florida, they were taken about a block away from the partially collapsed building. now, each poster shows a missing person as rescue efforts on site continue. please do stay with cnn. ♪ ♪

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good morning and welcome to your "new day." it's saturday, june 26th. i'm boris sanchez live in surf side florida where search and rescue efforts are underway. they haven't stopped since a deadly building collapse early thursday morning. >> i'm erica hill live in new york. thanks for starting your morning with us today. people across the country and in that tight knit community of surf side praying for a miracle today. re