haven't deployeded the request. due to the recent five-day forecast with two storms, you know, we decided that it would be best to go ahead and activate them so make that request so the one will head this way and then we'll look to see what two, you know, we'll go ahead and release. >> [ indiscernible question ] >> so we have structural engineers on site. they are monitoring extremely closely everything that's happening there because obviously, we cannot put our first responders in danger. and we're removing items that we can that might fall off the building. so we are taking necessary measures to avoid those sorts of

falling items, but at this time, it's not considered that the building is at risk of collapse but it is unstable and so we are no longer entering into the building. >> carlos with nbc 6. my question may be for the fire chief. dump trucks arrived early this afternoon. can you walk us through where they're staging? is there hope to start moving some stuff out now? >> yes, those dump trucks are going to our evidence debris collection site. we're moving debris as fire rescue does what they're doing. they move the debris. we're relocating it to a location to be collected, sifted through, cataloged, photographed for future investigation purposes. >> how do you decide what gets hauled away? >> there are detectives on the scene, engineers. they're just loading the trucks. it's going to a d.o.t. secured

site. when it's there it's cataloged and placed in certain areas and as the investigative process goes, it will be sifted through and analyzed. thank you. ma'am? >> [ indiscernible question ] >> the first question in regards to fire rescue personnel. one individual appeared to have dehydration so yes, they were transported to be further evaluated in stable condition. in regards to the building, yes, that's definitely a concern. this whole scene that we're working on, you know, i can't emphasize enough, you know, the dangers we're encountering. we're definitely monitoring it throughout. our structural engineers, we had several other engineers on site

evaluating, as well and constantly monitoring. >> is there a plan to sure up before these storms potentially arrive? >> no -- well, that i can't comment. that would be difficult in that sense now. again, the primary focus is the rescue efforts. >> [ indiscernible question ] >> i'm not aware of that. we don't have machinery propping up the building. we have a zone to make sure we stay a certain distance from the building. >> debris is part of the pile -- >> the debris there we are leaving that there in regards to, again, the concerns for the structural integrity of the building. as the mayor stated, we won't make any other entries into the building and we'll monitor it

and yes, that's why we're not clearing out the area. [speaking foreign language]. you're watching a press conference, of course, in south side, florida, i'm erin burnett. the officials telling us the latest in the deadly condo collapsed and they have recovered another body from the rubble tonight. that puts the confirmed death toll now at 12 with 149 people still unaccounted for. this as we're hearing for the first time what first responders said when they arrived in site in newly released dispatch calls. one firefighter comparing it to 9/11. >> 13-story building -- we have a 13-story building with bmost f

the building gone. this is going to be a high priority. we need a full assignment on this, everybody. >> 76 command. we have people upstairs that need to be evacuated. i see many people on the balconies. the building is gone. there is no elevators. there is nothing. it almost resembles the trade center. people are evacuating saying it sounds like a bomb. >> you have people on the balcony saying they are drotrap inside of their apartment? >> we're learning more about the building. the condo board was aware of at the time of the collapse. we obtained a letter from the bored president to owners written just two months ago detailing damage to the building. and in that letter, it warns quote that the concrete damage observed would begin to multiply exponentially. exponentially. that was from the board to

owners. we have much more on that in a couple moments but right now, i want you to understand what is happening there. you see the throngs of first responders, hundreds of them from 60 agaencies on the ground. more than 3 million pounds of concrete, 3 million pounds, let me say that again, removed from the site. rain throughout the day. the white house saying today president biden and the first lady will be heading to surfside on thursday to thank first responders and rescue teams and meet with families. boris sanchez is "outfront" in surfside tonight. what more are you learning about what could have led to this unacceptable event, this collapse? >> reporter: well, erin, the exact cause of the collapse remains a mystery. in fact, experts say it could have been a combination of different factors that ultimately led to the tower coming down. despite that, we're learning that there are mounting signs, red flags that were potentially under appreciated or perhaps

ignored by building officials. we should also point out for the first time we're hearing dispatch audio, the conversations that rescue workers were having as the unthinkable unfolded. >> according to journalists left we have people standing upstairs that need to be evacuated. >> reporter: as families brace for news about loved ones tonight, new details emerging about structural decay inside champlain towers south. in a letter first obtained by cnn ea's erin burnett "outfront the condo's building president saying it needs $15 million in repairs. the concrete atdeterioration is accelerating and extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated adding the observable damage in the garage got significantly worse since the initial inspection. that initial inspection a 2018 survey completed by a consulting company outlining mayor

structural damage including significant corrosion and cracking beneath the pool and entrance drive. the area below the pool drawing scrutiny as these photos obtained monday by the "miami herald" taken b below the pool deck showing standing water and damaged concrete. in 2015 building management settled a lawsuit alleging water frequently seeped in through the structure's outer walls. by 2021 board president genewood nicky saying new problems have been identified and warning rebar holding portions of concrete together was rusting and deteriorating beneath the surface. >> that was a total alarm going off that something needed to be done on an emergency basis and conversations that we're having with victims is that they were told not such a big deal. everything is fine. we can put it off. so people didn't take these

warnings seriously and now we see the results, you know, and it's devastating. >> attorney adam schwartz filed a class -action lawsuit, at leat the third lawsuit filed against the building's management. his grandparents lived in the tower for three decades and complained about water leaking into the garage more than ten years ago. >> we're talking about decades of people raising serious issues about water intrusion, about problems with the building and the condo association sitting on their hands, and waiting and waiting until it was too late to do something about it. >> reporter: erin, officials vowed the investigation into the collapse will be thorough and extensive and case in point, the mayor of miami-dade county supporting a push by the state attorney in the county to

essentially inpaninpanel a grany to investigate. either way, the push to get answers this effort is going to be -- it is going to take a long time and be excruciating for the families to get answers about the loved ones and those missing but of course, the causes of this calamity. >> boris, thank you very much. i want to go to sharon. she survived the collapse at the s champlain towers south. sharon, thank god for that. this whole horrific situation i know for you has a deeply personal feeling every step of the way here. i know you've lived there for about four years. did you ever notice any problems with the building? >> excuse me. well, there was a lot of water in the garage constantly and you saw cracks around the building. but i was constantly told that

they were going to be recertifying the building shortly. they had renderings in the lobby for several years. on and off, they would start, they decided to put it on hold because that was a deciding factor if i would renew every year. i didn't want to live in a building i would be closed in and a lot of construction, and i was also -- then they started with the roof. they were repairing the roof a couple months ago and at one point they said they would be starting in september to do more construction in the building. >> so as you mentioned, you're renting the apartment. so you did not receive the letter that i have here from the board, from the condo board president to the owners. it's a pretty terrifying letter. i have to imagine how many people actually read it at the

time and had it sink in obviously now knowing what has occurred, it horrific to read it. i want to read part of it again, so people understand, sharon, this was in april 2021 so just two months ago and it talks about all this extra work needed on top of the work that they said they found out was required after 2018 inspection found major structural damage. so the new letter reads and i just want to quote in part, sharon, to you, that estimate of how much money indicated that the concrete damage observed would begin to multiply exponentially over the years and the observable damage such as in the garage got significantly worse since the initial inspection. the concrete deterioration is accelerating. the roof situation got much worse so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated. it's a pretty terrifying thing to read. when they're using words like exponential. did you notice it in the past

few years getting much worse? >> so the garage kept peeling and it became where the whole ceiling was peeling. first, it was just in sections and then every day there were water pockets. a couple months ago, the engineers asked me to go through the building to go on the terraces. i'm not sure what they were doing but they had to either take off debris or observing the rails but i know the engineers were in the building preparing for major construction, but the garage was getting to a point where it was dripping on my car and causing, you know, a little bit of damage. ot the other day i called i guess one of the building superintendents and he helped get something off of my car but the whole ceiling was peeling massive, massively every day, and you could see cracks in the building and it needed a lot of

work. >> so -- >> since -- go ahead. >> no, no, no. it's obviously like now you look at the things and obviously see them differently but i mean, it's awful. the condition obviously needing to do a lot of work that had not been done when it should be. sharon, let me ask you what your experience was the night of the collapse. tell me what happened and what you saw and heard from where you were. >> so my apartment is on the 11th floor facing the ocean, and around 1:30 i heard -- i thought a thunderstorm was coming that night so my apartment doesn't have hurricane doors but that's okay. it was very sturdy and a storm never really affected, you know, the doors, and i hear a roar. i hear thunder. started rambling and then all of a sudden, it felt like an earthquake where it was holding the bed and my dog was running

around. she was very frazzled to the point where the electricity went out and i went to the bathroom to just wash my eyes first and there was no running water. so i went to the glass doors by the terrace, i didn't open up the glass doors and normally, there is hotel next door, a boutique hotel that's white but i don't really see any brightness because of the obstruction of that part of the building that unfortunately, was, you know, demolished and i saw nothing. and i'm saying to myself where is my building? i thought i was dreaming. i thought i was in a nightmare. where is my building? and then i started lighting up scented candles because it was pitch black and i hear a noise outside in my hallway and i see a family that lives catty corner to my apartment with a flashlight and they said come with me now the building is

collapsing. i said please go. i have a dog. i'm going to follow you. i didn't want to hold them back and i was in pajamas and looked straight ahead to an apartment i knew the couple well and i see a door open and i don't see an apartment. i see that white building straight through. so i quickly put on my jeans, t-shirt and grabbed whatever i grabbed, a phone, charger, water, my dog, a leash and flashlight and i started going down the stairs. i got to the eighth floor. there was an elderly woman, poor thing with a walker and the stairs on my side, on my exit side were already starting to deteriorate. we saw rubble. it looked like it was separating from the stairs and the stairwell and so i didn't want her to be scared but i couldn't help her. i said wait a minute, i'll get help and i said don't worry, i'm going to help you. so she would hear me and feel some type of connection and i

just went very gingerly down because i -- you never knew if the building would collapse at any second until i got to the ground floor and see a couple i recognize and another woman from my floor aquacquaintance of min that made it down before me and the couple, he had a stick and he was trying to jam the door open, the emergency door. he couldn't get out because of the debris. so then we had to go in the garage. we were, you know, a little concerned because -- >> right. >> apparently, we were told that it collapsed but you have no choice. so we just have to get out. so it was like titanic. it felt like the movie "titanic." we step into the garage and two feet of water. we were trying to find the light. i had a flashlight. i said let f's find the light because that will show an exit and we did. we got to the back of the building. and we didn't see rescue people yet and that's when i first saw the collapse from the ground up.

and -- which was the most terrifying moment. they were all terrifying but that was just a shock moment and then we had to in order to get out, we couldn't walk out the front door, we had to climb over vehicles that -- and there was obstruction in the front. so finally, the fire rescue came and they were asking people to walk on the cars and climb over the car to get to the front of the building so one person climbed on the car but fell in because i guess it wasn't sturdy after all the debris was falling. so they got a ladder. they helped us. i, you know, helped people push up because they had to climb on a tire to get up. i'm pushing people up and they're pulling them over and we finally got out and that's when you saw the lights and you really -- the impact of what was going on. there were rescue, you know, cars, the flashing lights, the green lights.

north of collins and it was endless and you look south and all you saw were hundreds of rescue cars and, you know, they came and triage was working with survivors, i guess, comieieing of the building and you saw someone you knew you hugged then and said you're a survivor not realizing how many people were taken in that part of building. it was devastating, absolutely devastating and. >> i mean, it's terrifying to hear it but thank you for sharing it. i mean, it's just -- yeah, it's terrifying to hear it but so important for people to understand. just to see those acts of -- those small but so important acts of heroism you saw with so many you did yourself. see the greatness of what people are capable of. >> the people were -- those firefighters, you know, amazing.

i just want to let all the firefighters in the country know that i have the utmost respect in how they handled this situation with such care and delicate in such a traumatic experience. >> amazing. >> so. >> sharon, thank you very much. my thoughts are with you as you -- >> thank you. >> -- try to, you know, get your heart and head around what happened to you. thank you so much. >> i had friends. i was heart warming. so. >> thank you. i want to go to matthew robelz who is a structural engineer. you hear this and obviously you hear it as a human perspective but also of course, from a professional perspective all this means a lot to you. you know, in this letter that i have and it's a long letter that the board sent, you know and got all the math in the back of why the costs are going up. it notes the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the

initial inspection. when you can visually see the concrete spaling, cracking, that means the rebar holding it together is rusting and deteriorating beneath the surface. when you take that together with what you hear from someone like sharon talking about as a renter just, you know, all the water and peeling to the extent she had to have someone in the building help her deal with what the damage to her car from that object falling down, what do you hear? >> well, i hear just ignoring all the warning signs. the professionals such as myself come out to a lot of times a scene like this and convince owners that you shouldn't make economic decisions over life safety and, you know, i don't know. i'm not there but it's unfortunate that this was ignored or put off for so much. $15 million is a lot of money but, you know, what's the cost of a life? >> well, that's the thing and, you know, yesterday i was talking to a reporter from the

mi "miami herald", matthew, and she was showing me pictures taken 36 hours before the collapse by a pool contractor. you see standing water all over the parking garage. he told the"the herald" it was standing water. he said at 1:30 of the morning of the collapse she said the building was shaking and said there was a sink hole where the pool used to be. that call was at 1:30 a.m. the line went dead. we don't know what happened to her yet. when you hear this as a structural engineer, do you think the pool area could have been part of the cause? >> you know, like many, many of us know that there is no one reason why a building collapses. they kind of progress to one cause, another cause, another. i'll tell you something. water itself and water migration

into a concrete structure especially given the solid kityf that area is evil. it does a tremendous amount of damage and when you see the spaling, when you see the cracking, that is the purpose, one of the purposes of using reinforced concrete is you have a warning sign. you have that sign that something is wrong and to see it go ignored is baffling quite frankly. >> you know, there is a sentence in this letter. they say a lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by but this is where we are now. you know, matthew, is there at some point there was a point of no return. of usually, they could have prevented this. but when this letter goes out in april, was it still preventable what happened now or was it inevitable given the speed with which inspections and construction moves that this was going to happen? >> i don't know definitively but

we've gone through places where we say this is bad and within a day or two we put up suring to mitigate or prevent a collapse. it seems to me that just, again, i'm not involved in this but it seems to me if things were that bad they could have in april called a suring company in and done something to mitigate this, and as you know, you're only as strong as your foundation and watching the videos, i'm of the opinion that it kind of started from the bottom and was progressive on the way up. if they had done some sort of suring from the bottom up, i think they could have at the very least mitigated the loss of life and possibly prevented this. >> well, i guess this is an opportunity for other buildings to take action based on what you've said but just horrific that it could have been -- >> everybody should -- every homeowner's association and everything should go through because there are probably

letters all over and there is probably economic decisions made because the severity of this isn't understood because the philosophy of a lot of people is it's so incomprehensible that a building that's been around for 40 years can collapse. as you see, it doesn't happen often. it does happen. i would encourage everybody to go through, look for these letters and make decisions of life safety over economics. >> if you got this letter and read, you would have been terrified knowing what you know now but obviously, they didn't. all right. matthew, i really appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. next, you've seen him on the show every night since the condo tower collapsed. his mother and grandmother still unaccounted for tonight but tonight, he's vowing to find those responsible and hold them accountable. pablo rodriguez is back. plus, a rescuer on the ground says the collapsed bedrooms are under 13 feet of

concrete. he's "outfront" with the latest on this heroic rescue effort. is america about to put masks back on? growing concern tonight over the delta variant as officials warning masks may when in order whether you're vaccinated or not. ♪ every bubble ♪ ♪ every scrub ♪ ♪ every spray ♪ ♪ every day ♪ ♪ dove and degree fund local youth programs. ♪ every day u does good ♪ unilever we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪

front desk. yes, hello... i'm so... please hold. ♪ i got you. ♪ all by yourself. ♪ go with us and get millions of flexible booking options. expedia. it matters who you travel with. we're coming to follow breaking news in surfside, florida. officials holding a press conference moments ago.

149 people still unaccounted for. 12 now confirmed dead after one more body was recovered today. the victim's families are demanding answers tonight about how something like this could possibly have happened. "outfront" pablo rodriguez, we've been speaking with him since this tragedy happened. his mother and grandmother are unaccounted for in the collapse. pablo, you are coming on and you are speaking day in and day out because you want answers and you want people to remain focussed on the necessity for answers. i know you've been searching for clues and emails that your mother received from building management over the years, combing through those. what more have you been able to piece together today? >> erin, thank you again for having me and letting me continue to tell the story and keep focussed on this. i don't have any new information. what we do know and from every piece of information that comes out, every photo that comes out, you see the negligence happening here was over many, many years. i mean, possibly decades.

buildings don't get like that from one day to the next. this is a condo board receiving over a $1 million a year in maintenance fees. where were the fees going? nobody is saying the entire board is corrupt and the board stole the money but somebody knows something and the finances should be investigated because there was a lot of money that went in here that did not go towards maintenance. >> it's amazing. your mother received that email we reported on earlier in the show from the condo board, the owners and it just was two months ago warned that the damage to the building had gotten much more severe and said quote the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection, the concrete deterioration is accelerating. now p new problems have been identified and there is this sentence. a lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by but this is where we are now. perhaps the most damming sentence in this entire damming

letter. what was your reaction when you read those words? >> it confirmed what i suspected. buildings don't fall down one day to the next. it showed that the maintenance that should have been an on going thing over the last 40 years, that's why the buildings collect monthly maintenance fees for the operations and maintenance of the building. the maintenance was not being done and so there is clear negligence there on the part of those responsible and i hope that there is an investigation into it and they continue to look. i think also, erin, this goes to show that we need serious reform because these are life or death decisions that are left to lay people that do not understand construction. i don't understand construction. i read the report and don't understand the gravity. you're expecting people to self-govern hoping they do the

right thing and if you get any board member that is doing something shady or not right, it could jeopardize the entire building without anyone knowing. i don't think anybody thought this building was collapsed. i don't think any board member thought this building would come down. >> no. >> i'm not saying that. there was clear negligence the money was not used for what it was supposed to be used for. and now people have died. that's criminal negligence or not that's for a prosecutor to decide and somebody to make an investigation on. what i'm hoping for is that there is some kind of reform because individual citizens should not be responsible for trying to understand building codes and concrete work on a daily basis and it has an effect on everybody's life. >> so i understand president biden is going to be visiting surfside on thursday. that was announced, pablo. he'll be meeting with family members. you know, what do you want to hear from him and what do you want him to commit to doing? >> it's kind of a hard question,

erin, because i would like for there to be some kind of cohesive overall reform. at the same time, i understand this is more of a state issue. the federal government is limited in what they can do but i think there should be some kind of federal law involved mandating more stringent inspections. so maybe, you know, leave it up to the states to decide certain factors but there should be an overall governing principle that buildings need to be inspected every 15 years, every 20 years. 40 years is a lifetime. i'm 40 years old. that's as if i was born and never go to the doctor until i'm 40 and then be like is everything fine for the past 40 years? >> yeah. >> it's crazy. >> you know, pablo, you've been -- it's been an honor of speaking with you every night we've been on the air since the collapse. what is giving you the strength and motivation to continue speaking out? >> it's been extremely

difficult, erin, to be able to talk and do this day in and day out and every time i think about, you know, stopping because it's just too much, my wife reminds me like if you're mother was here, she would be the first one in front of every camera and jumping on cars and screaming at the top of her lungs to make sure that this not only doesn't go away but the people responsible are brought to justice but reform happens so no family has to ever go through this again. this wasn't an earthquake or terrorist attack, this was a building. people went to sleep and then they died. >> pablo, thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. >> and as pablo asks for answers and demands answers as he should, i want to go to the vice mayor of surfside tina paul at the briefing just 340moments ag. i appreciate your time. you know, you hear pablo rodriguez, who is grieving although he has not yet heard what happened formally to his mother and grandmother.

they are still unawtnawe u they are still unawnaccounted f. it's clear from these letters they knew there were problems and something needed to be done and said this is where we are. what do you say as all of this comes to light? >> well, erin, first of all, i want to thank you for covering this tragedy that our community is going through. we're a beautiful community and we just are devastated what we're seeing and what is happening. these are neighbors and friends and what i can say is we're looking into it. we hired independent structural engineering team and we are gathering as much information as we can and they are considering everything and looking at it. in addition to that, i've spoken with the building official and our manager and we will work on strengthening what is now, i spoke with the condo building manager and he suggested that

inspections, you know, should be like a five-year plan. so every five years, a building should look at what is going on and what they need to repair and get that done. it's such a shame and tragedy and i don't know how this happened because i've been an elected official for five years. i did not get complaints about the condition of this building and i do know people that live in that building who survived and four are still missing. so it's of great concern to our community. i can't tell you how much. >> it is just so terrifying. you know, the email that we obtained from april and the condo company warns the decay is worse and talk about words like ex ponential and say a lot of this work could have been done in years past. they doubled the estimate what they think the costs will be.

you know, you say to yourself how could a situation have escalated to a point like this, right? to your point without anyone knowing. i mean, who do you think needs to be held accountable for this because the families will demand and should demand that somebody be held accountable for it. >> yes, erin, i understand that and i don't know who because we don't have all the information of where the ball really dropped and what i'd like to know because you referenced the letter that was sent two months ago, i'm not aware of that letter and i'm curious did that go further than the condo board? did it reach somebody in the city? >> good question. i don't know the answer to that. >> you know -- right. i've not seen that letter. just what you've mentioned about it because there was reference to an inspection report from 2018 and i didn't see that, either, as an elected official. these are things that normally wouldn't come before me but go before the building department

and town manager. a resident that received that letter sent it to me specifically and said i'm concerned about my building and sadly, that didn't happen. >> no, no, it didn't but this is an important question you raise. you talk about how you know people who live in the building, who are okay and four who are still missing. i'm so sorry for that as you worry about your friends. you know, there are some concerns a surfside mayor may have given family members a false sense of hope. he says he told them about instances where people are pulled from the rubble more than two weeks later and that's true. that's happened. here is what he said. >> a woman was pulled from the ruins of a factory in bangladesh 17 days after it collapsed. so i think as the governor said earlier, nobody in the -- the lieutenant governor, nobody is giving up hope here. >> miami-dade fire officials told our nick valencia that may not be a fair comparison because

the materials of this condo are different from what was in bangladesh or haiti. everyone wants to cling on to hope and hope for a miracle and the first responders are in this horrible position of having to say when this mission changes from finding life to not. do you have any fear that families are being given a false sense of hope at this point? >> erin, i can't say that because i believe in hope. i believe in miracles, and i am hopeful we'll find some survivors. i think families have visited the site. they know what the situation is. but you cannot give hope when you love someone and want to know where they are. >> that's true. >> we're not giving up hope as a city. >> appreciate your time. i hope your friends, you know, we all do hope for miracles. thank you. >> thank you very much, erin. >> up next, more on the breaking

news from surfside. 3 million tons of concrete have been removed by the heroic first responder from the scene. 3 million. we're going to talk to a rescuer on the ground. are there signs of hope tonight? and is america about to be told to mask up again? la county is recommending it again if you're vaccinated or not as the delta variant spreads across the nation. with customized car insurance from liberty mutual! nothing rhymes with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (upbeat pop music in background throughout)

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it's been 138 hours since the surfside condo building collapsed. they are still looking for life and in a moment i'll be joined by the commander of the israeli defense forces. he says he still has hope. he'll tell you why. but first, ryan young is "outfront". >> reporter: tonight, rescue teams are still searching through the debris of the deadly south florida condo collapse for a sixth day. the search getting dangerous for rescue teams as debris started to fall from the building that is still standing. >> those first responders are breaking their back trying to find anybody they can and will

continue. >> reporter: 800 responders from 60 agencies are on the ground. >> you're talking about 12 stories. subterrained with garages within the same footprint. i'm trying to emphasize the magnitude of what we're encountering and seeing and we still keep pushing forward. >> reporter: officials say more than 3 million pounds of concrete have already been removed from the debris site. heavy machinery continues to be brought in to help remove debris and dozens of dogs are on site to do what humans cannot. >> they will search for the person we can't see. >> and the rescue team are the ones that come across the personal effects. >> one of the first responders who found a birthday card. [crying] nobody is going to let that get lost. it's so raw. families are going through such an unnalt reatural set of exper. >> family members waiting for

update on loves ones. at the community center where families are gathered to wait for news, dozens of resources have been set up for them even therapy dogs on site to comfort families. >> and he's just provided a soft coat to cry into or to hug or to say nothing at all, which is really what's best about them is that they just sit there and you don't need a conversation. >> reporter: daylight waning for the day, but these rescuers will continue on through the night non-stop as they have for the last six days. >> we're trying our hardest 24 hours a day and we hope to bring closure one way or the other, you know. either by finding their lost relatives or, you know, finding hopefully a live victim. >> reporter: erin, it's been so tough for these families talking to them on a day to day basis, they are really heart broken about what is going on but pleased with the international resources that have come in.

especially the israeli team. they are glad to see those men and women here to help out in the effort. >> all right. thank you so much and you know, you mentioned the israeli team. the israeli team is there with a lot of expertise in this came as fast as they could. i have a colonial with the israel defense force and he's commanding the israeli team in surfside. appreciate your time and the efforts of your crew. i know you've been around the world at disaster sites. this is, though, one of the most difficult you've ever encountered. why? >> this site is very difficult is the collapse from outside in, that's what we are looking for the bedrooms, they are under tons of concrete but i can say

that the firefighters are doing a very, very good job right now. >> when you mentioned the concrete for the bedrooms, i know that could be 13 to 16 feet of concrete that you could have, you know, that's where people may be, and i know that the disaster site is very dangerous. how hard is this right now? how risky is this for the first responders trying to get in under all of that concrete? >> i would say that we are talking about risk management all the time. we must find those people. we must find them. so the firefighters and us we are all inside and the engineers keeping our back, watching our back and we are working from above from below from the sides and we are finding people, unfortunately, we found few more people the last two

but with our methodologies and our techniques with our fellow americans, i think we should find more people in the next few hours. >> in the next few hours. so let me ask you, colonel, the hard question here. you say you found a few more people in the past did you happen he -- couple of hours. do you think you found where the bedroom line was? is that what you think happened? >> yes, yes. exactly what i wanted to say was when i say we have still hope, which means we are five and a half days from the collapse, w when i'm talking about bedrooms, i mean that maybe people in bedrooms will be still alive because although the side is

very, very tight, the pancake has no many free spaces but there are narrow tunnels we find all the time, and we are tunnelling and penetrating to these bedrooms, and we are on the sixth, seventh strip of bedrooms that we assume we'll find more people there. >> so i think this is so important, colonel, because i know, you know, we don't want people to still have false hope. there are some people who say we should be honest with people, that people aren't alive, but you're the one who has done this, and you're the one saying that now you have not given up hope, that you believe there could still be people alive. >> yeah. i believe that we can find people alive. each day there are reduced chances, of course, but people were found alive in haiti after

two, three weeks. i personally extracted one person alive after five days, and i believe that there is still hope, yes. >> on that note we all will just hope, hope that you are right. and thank you so much for your unceasing efforts, you and your team. colonel, thank you. >> thank you very much. and next as officials start to recommend americans put masks back on we on whether you're vaccinated or not, the big question is this. will americans listen? ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for her.

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♪ all by yourself.♪ - oh. - what? rain. cancel and stay? done. go with us and get millions of felixble booking options. expedia. it matters who you travel with. tonight masks are coming back. the national department of public health is asking that masks come back. this comes as israel is order masks to be worn indoors. jon jonathan reiner advised the medical team under president bush. when people were vaccinated, you were an early proponent of saying, look, the right thing to do here is take your mask off if

you are vaccinated because you don't pose a risk to others and it shows people what can happen when you get the vaccine. where do you stand now when you think about this variant that's now spreading and these mask mandates starting to come back? >> hi, erin. i think these mask mandates are the way to get the unvaccinated to wear masks. we don't have a way to know out in public who is vaccinated and who is unvaccinated. so if we need to get masks back to protect the unvaccinated, we have to mask everybody up. there is very little risk to folks who have been vaccinated particularly with the mrna vaccines. recent data out of the u.k. shows that vaccination has about a 96% efficacy in preventing hospitalization against delta. but delta is almost 60% more

transmissible than alpha and alpha was 50% more transmissible against the original wild type that came out of wuhaj. if you are unvaccinated now, this virus is looking for you and this virus can kill you. so we really need to get all the folks in the way of this virus who is not vaccinated to wear a mask. >> most americans have heard of the delta variant, 84% of them, according to an "axios" poll. but the number of people wearing masks has declined because they've been told they can take them off. i understand it's if you're vaccinated, but who knows which is which, right? you've got people encouraged to go to big mass events now, full capacity, yankee stadium. the doors are shut, the air-conditioning is on and they're packed indoors. this is the way america is going. doctor, this is my question to you. if they said suddenly, look,

people are dying again, we have to put the masks back on, we have to turn this around, is there any way that would happen? >> well, when hospitals start to fill as they are in parts of missouri now, you know, people will start to get the message. look, you can't have it both ways. you can't be anti-mask and want to keep masks off forever and also anti-vaccine. if you don't want to wear a mask now, there is a simple solution. get vaccinated. you are very well protected from this virus, from all the variants, if you wear a mask. and you won't have to wear a mask. if you are vaccinated now, you don't need to wear a macsk in public. if you are unvaccinated, you are still at risk of dying from this virus. >> just a quick follow-up because you've been making this point on twitter. what have we heard from j&j and their vaccine and whether we need to adjust it, here?

>> the problem is we don't know the effectiveness of the j&j vaccine. we need to know because we have two very effective mrna vaccines, and if j&j is not effective, it shouldn't be on the market now. also, we may need to boost people. >> which is crucial. everyone at j&j needs answers. thank you very much, dr. reiner. it was nice talking to you. now it's time for "anderson 360." john berman in for anderson tonight in surfside, florida. we begin with audio of a first responder trying to tell his dispatcher of the magnitude of what he was seeing here just moments after the tower fell. >> this is going to be a