john berman in for anderson tonight in surfside, florida. we begin with newly released audio from a first responder trying to convey to his dispatcher the magnitude of what he was seeing here just moments after the tower fell. >> a 13-story building with most of the building gone. this is going to be a high priority. we're going to need trts. we're going to need full assignment on this from everybody. this building does not look stable. a quarter of the building that's left -- we still have people standing upstairs that still need to be evacuated.

many people on the balconies. there's no elevators. this is nothing. i mean, it almost resembles the trade center. >> more than he knew in the immediate trauma, a sense of dread, the number of people unaccounted for first became known and then grew. especially in the smallest detail. one official today got choked up talking about a birthday card with butterflies found in the rubble. the card had blood on it. it's so wrong, he said. yet even in the urgency of the dwindling time remaining to locate survivors, this and every newly uncovered item is being treated with the same kind of tenderness and reverence and care we all remember so well from what we saw at ground zero almost 20 years ago. the miami-dade mayor says 210 people are working the site in 12-hour shifts. we will be speaking to one of them shortly. upwards of 3 million pounds of concrete have been removed from the pile, but it is slow going. tonight as we've been doing, in

addition to reporting the latest on the search, we are focusing on two broad tracks. the forensic effort to determine what caused this along with the stories of those who survived, those who did not, and everyone still unaccounted for. since we left you last night, the death toll has climbed by one, the name not given yet. 12 now dead, 149 unaccounted for. in addition, we have learned the names of three more victims. marcus guara was 52 years old. according to local station wplg he moved in less than a year ago. also identified, frank kleiman, 55. according to the "miami herald" he had just married ana ortiz, a single mother with an adult son with muscular dystrophy. their bodies were identified earlier yesterday. michael altman's son nicholas dells the miami herald his father was born in costa rica but moved here when i was 4. he was 50 years old. in a moment we'll be joined by the structural engineer hired by the city of surfside to investigate this collapse.

first, though, cnn senior investigative correspondent drew griffin with the very latest on what we know tonight. >> reporter: as more lawsuits are being filed across south florida in the deadly collapse of the champlain towers south condominium, there is more evidence residents, engineers and the condo board knew their building was deteriorating. a letter e-mailed on april 9, just three months ago, from the skond minutium association board president, warned the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection. that initial inspection in 2018, just three years ago, had determined failed waterproofing was causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below the pool deck and entrance drive. it led to a major assessment. $15 million to repair years of damage. >> there was leaks in the garage. there was cracks on the balconies. so yes, you need the money to fix it. you know?

but unfortunately, it was too late. >> reporter: eric de moura told cnn he received the letter in april, outlining how the concrete deterioration is accelerating. the roof situation got much worse. so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated. the letter was helping homeowners to understand their share of the assessment, anywhere from $80,000 for a one-bedroom condo up to $336,000 for the potenthouse unit. the bigger question remains why the maintenance on the building had been deferred for so long and how and why no one foresaw the potential for collapse, almost unheard of in a modern u.s. building. >> it's extremely rare for a structure that's been standing for 40 years to all of a sudden collapse in this way, but i'm sure that forensically we structural engineers will figure out what happened and we'll get

to the bottom of it. >> reporter: records show a surfside building official had reviewed the 2018 report detailing major structural damage yet told residents it appears the building is in very good shape. the records made public show no sense of urgency to launch repairs as the homeowners' association took three years to review inspections, hire engineers, and begin assessments to start work. an attorney for the condo board cautions patience. >> there is other buildings out there with engineering reports as they near their 40-year certification that reveal more drastic spalling and pitting, delamination, rebar corrosion. we need to figure out what were all the factors that went into making this building fall. >> and drew griffin joins us now. drew, there is word that a florida grand jury will soon look into this tragedy. what does that mean, exactly? is this a criminal investigation or just fact-finding at this point? >> it's more fact-finding. katherine fernandez rundle, the

state attorney for miami-dade county, is going to have this grand jury look ineverything about this to, as she says, potentially strengthen the laws, strengthen the codes, straighten the safeguards to prevent this from ever happening again, john. very similar to what took place after hurricane andrew wiped out so much of the housing down in south florida. >> but it did lead to regulations that have made a big difference after. maybe the same thing could happen here. drew griffin, thank you very much for that. joining us now is allyn kilsheimer who brings enormous experience to bear as surfside's designated investigator. he was part of the 9/11 pentagon investigation as well as the bombing of the murrah building in oklahoma city in 1995 and the world trade center bombing in 12993. alan, thanks so much for being with us. when you look at what's left of this building, the huge pile of rubble, it can be overwhelming. so where do you even begin your investigation? >> the first thing you do is you

take a look at what you see still standing in the air, and then you, to the extent it's possible, you try to find structural drawings of the original design of the building, and then you begin -- at least what we do is make a little list in our head of all the things we can think of that might have caused this kind of problem. and then we begin doing materials testing, ground investigations, structural analysis of the design that's shown on the drawings. we look at the history of the buggs, exposure to hurricane winds, any stuff like that. as you do all that, the list you start with, let's say it's 20 to 30 things, based on experience gets reduced. you have some things you could say, well, that isn't what caused it. what you're looking for is a trigger, because as you all said, this building sat here for 40 years and didn't come down until now.

something certainly -- >> allyn -- >> so the idea is essentially you look at all these things. you will find things that were wrong in the building because every building, just like when a doctor comes to look at you, he might be looking at one thing, but -- [ audio difficulty ] your own health. long story short, as you go through all these analysis, you get rid of some of the things you can prove to yourself that are not a cause, and then you add more things as you go along. what you're looking for is you're looking for the trigger event. and then as you do that, you look and see, well, say we find four things that are not perfect which, like every building has that.

this one thing, would it have still fallen down with the trigger event. you go through all the different combinations. when buildings we've looked at were hit by planes or bombs or things like that, you know what the trigger event was. here you don't know what the trigger event is, and generally speaking, you can't get down to one particular cause unless you can prove that. that's what we'll be doing over a long period of time. >> sorry, allyn, there is a thunderstorm here, so your sound to me is going in and out. i didn't mean to interrupt you. you said you have as many as 30 different theories of what might have happened here. what are a few of them? >> you know, you go through looking for triggers, you know. this is just me thinking this, not any thought -- i have nothing that tells me that any of these were even possible, but you don't know, so you have to find out.

things like a bomb explosion -- [ awed audio difficulty ] things like that, a trigger kind of event. foundations moving around more than a certain amount. all those things are trigger events. sometimes buildings talk to you if you can listen to them, so what happens is it's possible that slabs in the building were deflecting for long periods of time. that means spinning downward and nobody knew anything about it or didn't understand it. all those things can eventually lead to a problem. there are other issues that participated in the collapse. what you want to do is try to find the trigger. >> if you can hear me, allyn, you've obviously seen the pictures in the "miami herald" from a pool contractor that

showed spalling in the concrete, cracks in the concrete, water on the ground there. you know about the 2018 report that was done by the engineer. does any of that raise red flags for you? >> [ audio difficulty ]. you know, while some of those things -- i've seen things like that in lots of buildings. the bottom line is you have this particular building, and a lot of buildings, you have the building tower and then the first floor and the basement stick out further than the tower in the plan, and that's where you have planters and driveways and stuff like that. so you have waterproofing on those things. waterproofing only has a useful life and after some period of time, you have to replace it. the north building, i think, last year or the year before, if i understand it, replaced all their waterproofing, dug up their planters and landscaping and replaced all their

waterproofing. the issue is when water gets into a crack, all concrete cracks, it's made to crack. water gets into a crack. in the north, you worry about it freezing and thawing, because when water freezes it expands and that makes the crack bigger. you also worry about -- [ audio difficulty ] then you can get rust in the reinforcing steel. when rust gets in the reinforcement steel, at first glance it might look like it's really severe, but remember, it's an expanded material. you take a wire brush and you brush off that rust and you might find you only lost a 16th of an inch of a half inch or 5/8 of an inch of a piece of rebar. >> allyn? zblm just seeing rusted reinforcing steel and just seeing cracks in spalls in limited areas doesn't mean that caused the collapse.

it -- >> it's a beginning. it will contribute, i understand. >> incredibly thoroughly -- >> and you're just beginning. allyn kilsheimer, i appreciate you joining us tonight talking to us about the investigation. you're just getting started. vast experience to bear. thank you. next, the mother who came home just in time to save her two children's lives. this is such an amazing story of feeling something simply is not right and then acting on it. later, the story that's emerging behind one of so many images that will not be forgotten. what we are learning about the woman who lived here and is unaccounted for tonight. you oughta customize your car insurance with liberty mutual, so you only pay for what you need. oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, it's the weekend. yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or... chicken?

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when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ in all the heartache here, for all the questions that may never have answers and for everything we've yet to learn, there is this. and we couldn't be happier to bring it to you. a mother and her two children are safe tonight, and they might not have been. sarah near was at home not long

before the tower fell. like seconds before the tower fell, along with her daughter hani, one of the two children that were there. thank you both so much for being here with us. sarah, i want people to understand how close this really was. it was late. or early in the morning. 12:30. 12:40 in the morning. you were doing e-mails, and then you heard a sound. what happened? >> i just came from a party, like spiritual party, and it was 12:30 and it was a little bit noisy. my son and my daughter had been around me. so i didn't pay attention to the surrounding. so about 12:45 i went to take a shower and my son was busy, so suddenly it was quiet. i was sitting checking my e-mails and my messages and then i start to hear a knocking sound. knock, knock here. knock, knock. and i said okay, somebody probably hanging a pictures on the wall. and then it was more intense. i said oh, probably they're doing some small renovation.

and then suddenly around 1:10 i hear like a smash, the wall is collapsing. the wall above me. and i said wow, they are really doing major construction. i need to take care of this problem. it was already 1:10 in the morning. so it doesn't make sense. so i ran to the security guy that -- i live on the ground floor, so it's first floor. so it's really -- a wall separated between my apartment to the security guy. and i went to him and i said, do you hear these sounds? it doesn't make sense in the middle the night, early morning, people doing construction. so he said, yeah, i hear also these noises. i said, so what do you do about that? the minute i said, what do you do about it, there was a big boom and i was running to see where the sound came from. and i saw all the garage collapse. i couldn't believe it. i thought i am in a movie. i look again and i ran back to the hallway and i saw my two kids standing next to the door

the entrance of of my apartment, and don't move. and i was screaming, it's an earthquake. an earthquake. i was thinking very fast. i said it's not construction, it's an earthquake, and while i was running i told the security guy, call the police. put the alarms so people will, you know, be aware about this. so when my daughter was looking at me, i said but i'm with my bathrobe. i said i don't care. run as fast, as much as you can. she was running. with her brother. toward the exit of the building. the security guy, he was shocked. i didn't know what to do. i said call the police. and he said but what is the address of this building? >> he didn't even know. >> he didn't know. he was so confused. and i said no, no. right for me. and i told my son. and we ran out of the building. i told my kids run as fast as you can. crossing the street. we crossed collins. we just crossed collins, god watch us, god was waiting for us to leave the building.

and then another big boom and then we didn't see anything. it was suddenly quiet after the big boom and it was white clouds all over. and i thought i'm by myself in this world and we're still running and i told my son call the police again, call the police again. and probably my son was looking. i didn't tell them to watch what's going on in the back but probably he looked and he saw the building collapse. but i say it's an earthquake, we don't know where is the ground is safe. run. and we're still running and running. i couldn't breathe. i couldn't do anything. and i said, god help, god help. and i didn't know what to do. we'd been really running like three, four blocks away from this building. and then i said i need to breathe. so i said i need to knock on somebody's house to help me. i couldn't do anything anymore. so my kids said mommy, it's already late. nobody will open the door. i said it's an earthquake,

people needs to know maybe to help us. suddenly a guy came with his big dog looking at the window. and i said please open the door, i cannot breathe. he said no. >> hani, when your mother -- when you heard the sounds and your mother tells you you have to go, what did you think was going on? >> i just in the beginning, because i was in the shower, i thought like in the beginning something was doing construction also. so i thought when i was going to go out of like the bathroom i was going to see inside the living room like planks of wood because maybe construction. i thought someone was doing damage into our apartment. and then i ran out and i see like -- just like white particles coming at me. and i was like this is not normal. so then i ran out of the apartment. i'm with a robe and a towel. like i'm not really going out in public like this. so -- like no one really thinks -- in the moment you're

just like you're distraught, what's going on? like things are just collapsing but you don't know, is the whole building about to collapse? you don't know what's going on. >> i know this is your first time back anywhere near the building. just what does it feel like to be here? >> how great a miracle was. it's painful and scary because i see what really, really happened. and how many people, we don't know what's happened to them really. i don't want to say. we don't know. again as i said how lucky we've been and thank god what's happened. and we've really been saved from this trauma but we are still in trauma. the recovery, the pains of we and probably other people going through, you cannot even measure, you cannot really -- i'm speechless. i don't know what to tell you because when i entered this site over here i said the first time i'm very close, i didn't want to come, i didn't want to come close to that area even and it's

so much things i'm going through now. >> i know you feel that god is watching you and i'm so glad that you made it out. i'm so glad you listened to your intuition. and for you, chani, listen to your mother. i think that's one of the lessons here. i'm so glad you're well and i wish you the best going through this. >> i want to thank also god really help us and also all the crews are really helping. the community is amazing trying to help in any way it can do. really i thank everybody that's here and trying to do their best. >> thank you very much, both of you. be well. >> thank you. next, the story behind one of the most indelible images of this tragedy and the woman who lived in this apartment and tonight is among the 149 still unaccounted for.

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tonight we're also learning more about those still unaccounted for, including the woman who lived in the apartment that's now become an indelible image of this tragedy, a bunk bed on the edge of what's left of a penthouse apartment in the building. "360's" randi kaye spoke way friend of this woman and is now able to share some of her story. >> reporter: this was the view that drew linda march to champlain tower south in surfside, florida. the 58-year-old lawyer left new york city in march and rented a wenthouse here just three months before the condo tower collapsed. >> linda saw the pictures. she absolutely fell in love with

it. it was the penthouse level. it had balconies, it had a view of the water, and it was, you know, a building that had everything she wanted. so she was really, really excited about moving there. >> reporter: penthouse number 4. this is what's left of it today, one of the haunting images of the surfside building collapse. with the walls sheered off and the building ripped wide open, those bunk beds in linda's apartment are now teetering on the edge of the top floor. the pink and white-flowered sheet and pillowcases remarkably still intact on the bottom bunk. for days many have wondered if children lived in that unit, but linda's friend tells me she rented it furnished and lived there alone. when cindy saw the building collapse on the news, she quickly compared the address to the return address on a birthday card linda had recently sent her. >> i matched it to the building,

and my heart sunk. we just didn't know what to do. we're like -- we felt so helpless. >> reporter: cindy called her friend. no answer. then she sent this text, asking her friend to make contact. "it's your address, and i'm worried now." >> every time i look at that picture we try to look up diagrams and, you know, floor fl plans and what if she was in this room, what if she's in another room. there's a possibility if she slept on the couch in the living room. we're just all praying that, you know, maybe, just by the luck of god that she is in another room, that she somehow is somewhere else and not where, you know, the shaved-off part of the building is. >> reporter: cindy hinton has known linda march for nearly 40 years and refuses to give up hope. do you think she has the strength to survive something like this? >> you know, one thing we know about linda is she's strong.

you know, even though she is 104 pounds and she's petite, she's one of the strongest people i know. and i know she can feel our vibe that we're pulling for her. come on, linda. we know you can pull through this. we keep the hope. >> linda's friends describe her as intelligent, compassionate and the most generous person they know, always active and full of life, riding around surfside on this bright pink bicycle. >> she got this new pink bike and we were laughing because it was just totally linda. >> reporter: so many questions amid the prayers they'll one day hear linda march laugh again. >> she had a very infectious laugh. when you heard linda laughing, you couldn't help but laugh and laugh with her. there was so much goodness in her heart. >> an infectious laugh.

randi kaye joins us now. what about linda's family, randi? have they been asked to give dna samples like i know so many families are? >> well, john, it's been a really difficult situation. of course her friends don't want it to come down to dena identification. that's the last thing they want. but it turns out that linda has no immediate family. her sister passed away from cancer, her parents are gone. so there's no immediate family to offer dna. her friends certainly can't give dna. he should has an ex-husband. she's divorced. he can't different dna. but i've learned just tonight that they have located an elderly uncle who spends much of his time in rome. in fact, linda went to visit him not so long ago. and he is now in touch with authorities. he has given a dna sample. so of course again they don't want it to come to that, they pray it doesn't but they do now have a dna sample to match to linda march. john. >> important developments. i mean, with so many people do want is closure here. randi kaye, thank you so much. at this moment there are eight search and rescue units with

another 18 requested from other states. for perspective now on their mission from eddie alarcon, a search and rescue specialist and capital nn miami-dade fire rescue. captain, thank you so much for being with us. thank you for what you're doing. just so people know, you go to work at midnight tonight. this is before your shift. you're about to go work for the entire night. so thank you for what you're doing. what's the hardest part about this right now? >> well, i think just the hardest part is, you know, the first day that we got here just seeing how devastating everything was. it's just -- i mean, we're all trained to kind of maintain our composure and do our jobs the way we're supposed to, but -- and i'm sorry, i've been working on very little sleep right now and it's hard not to get emotional about this stuff. it's hard not to put yourself in that situation. you know. not to put yourself in a position that these families are in. we start thinking about it in that way. what would i do. how hard are we going to work to save our family members if something like this were to

happen? >> you're there for the families. >> yes, sir. >> what are you finding mostly? >> it's just so hard to -- i mean, unless you're there you don't understand how difficult this is. all i can say is i thank god for the support of my teammates, all the rescue specialists that are doing an amazing job. i've never seen so many people come together. i'm sorry. >> no, i get it. it's exhausting. it's physically exhausting. it's emotionally exhausting. you want to find people. that's what you do. you're a rescue coordinator. and that's not what's happening here. is it just chunks of cement at this point? >> listen, i can tell you that none of us have lost hope, because i know miracles happen

and i believe in a higher power and i believe that if somebody is going to find them we're going to make it happen and working together as best we can. we train for this kind of stuff all the time. you just pray you never have to use it. but i can tell you, like i said, we've got teams from all over the country, all over the world, working together with us and doing an amazing job and just being so supportive of each other and just looking out for each other. >> walk me through what your shift is like. when you go on at midnight tonight, what will you be doing? >> we'll start with a briefing they'll let us know what exactly happened the shift before. then they'll put us in a staging area, forward staging area where they'll give us our assignment. then we'll march up to that pile and start hammering away and cutting away in hopes that we can find somebody and hopefully -- you know, we're always praying for somebody to be alive but at the very least to give some closure to the families that are waiting to hear from their loved ones.

>> have you had moments over the last several days where you thought you might get that miracle? >> all the time. we don't stop thinking that. that's what we do. >> any signs, any visible or physical signs, though? >> i personally haven't seen any, but it doesn't mean that it can't happen. >> how long do you think this will go on at this point? >> it's hard to say. it's an enormous amount of work. it just seems endless. the pile seems endless. we're working night and day and we feel like we're just barely scratching the surface. but i know we're making a lot of progress. i know we are. >> you said you were trained for this. did anything prepare you? when you walked on to that pile for the first time did anything prepare you for that? >> when i say we're trained, i mean the specialties. working with the tools and everything we do to try to move the debris.

but nothing could ever prepare you for what we witnessed when we first got here. there's just no way to describe it. >> if you could say something to the families who were waiting tonight, what do you want them to know? >> i just want them to know that we're doing everything we can. everything in our power, every single one of us who are here are doing everything in our power to bring somebody out alive or, like i said, just to bring some type of closure and to let them know we're doing everything we can for them. that's all. >> listen, my friend, if they were here, i know they would thank you, and i know they would say they appreciate what you're doing. please take care of yourself. i know you're working as hard as you possibly can, but take care of yourself in this also. it's not easy. >> thank you. >> eddy alarcon. please give our best to everyone you're working with. >> i will. thank you very much. >> thank you, sir.

>> take care. >> we're going to have more on the condo collapse coming up. first some other major events making headlines today. a sharp spike in the spread of a virulent strain of the coronavirus here in the u.s. dr. sanjay gupta on the delta variant and the state of vaccinations in this country when "360" continues. hi guys! check out this side right here. what'd you do? - tell me know you did it. - yeah. get a little closer. that's insane. that's a different car. -that's the same car. - no! yeah, that's before, that's after. oh, that's awesome. make it nu with nu finish.

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[ "me and you" by barry louis polisar ] ♪ me and you just singing on the train ♪ ♪ me and you listening to the rain ♪ ♪ me and you we are the same ♪

♪ me and you have all the fame we need ♪ ♪ indeed, you and me are we ♪ ♪ me and you singing in the park ♪ ♪ me and you, we're waiting for the dark ♪

while we're here in surfside, we want to take a moment to check on some of the other major headlines today including news on the rapid spread of the deadly delta variant of coronavirus. the cdc today reported the variant now accounts for an estimated 26% of cases in the united states. variant concerns are now behind l.a. county's decision to recommend masking inside when in public areas even for those vaccinated. worldwide bangkok is reimposing restrictions. also several cities in australia are in the middle of a lockdown due to the rise of this strain and a low local vaccination rate. cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins me now. sanjay, terrific to see you. i want you to know everyone down here is still talking about how wonderful you were with them when you were here in surfside. i want to talk about the delta variant.

26% of covid cases now in the u.s. what does that mean? put it in perspective. >> we're starting to get an idea of the trajectory of growth. this is not going to surprise you because you know this is a more transmissible variant. we can show you sort of the progress. it was a small percentage in the beginning. we were sort of keeping an eye on it. over time the percentages have grown. and now 26%, as you say, that was roughly as of a week ago. some models say it could be as high as 40%, john. in l.a. you were mentioning probably closer to 50%. at the same time the alpha, which was the u.k. variant we were talking about that used to be the dominant strain here, is now no longer the dominant strain here. this is sort of expected because this is a more transmissible strain, this delta, it's sort of crowding out, if you will, the other strains. >> the "wall street journal" is reporting that some people in

israel who were vaccinated with the pfizer vaccine, that they have become infected with the delta variant, infected. what exactly does that mean and is that alarming to you? >> not necessarily. so these are these breakthrough infections which basically means you've been vaccinated, you got an infection anyway. a lot of times they're found just on routine screening. people get screened for all sorts of different reasons. they feel fine, they have no symptoms, they get tested and they're surprised to find out it comes back positive. that is a breakthrough infection. john, as we've talked about for so long, the real efficacy, effectiveness of these vaccines is in terms of preventing you from getting sick, needing to go to the hospital or dying. i think we have to keep a close eye on israel, and what's going to be really important is they're around 60% vaccination, so a bit higher than we are in the united states. do you start to see a corresponding increase of hospitalizations or evidence of severe illness? we're not really seeing that as of yet, and i hope that we don't and there is a good chance we

won't because of what we know about the effectiveness of the vaccines. let me just show you real quick because this is the good news that has held up in terms of the effectiveness of the vaccines. we have the graphic. basically it shows that if you're looking at these vaccines whether it's alpha, whether it's the delta that we're talking about, you're still getting really good protection against severe illness. just keep in mind the flu vaccine in any given year, 40%, 50%, maybe 60% effective. look at the numbers there. much better. >> much better. and just to be clear, in israel infected doesn't mean sick or hospitalized. right now that's a very important distinction. l.a. county, where health officials are saying recommending, not requiring but recommending people wear masks, everyone, even vaccinated people, inside again. they want to better understand how and to who the delta variant is spreading, they say. what do you make of this decision? >> i think it's the precautionary principle that's

being applied here. they don't want to get caught behind here, not suggesting they will, but the cdc has not yet said, changed their recommendations. they still say if you're vaccinated, you don't need to wear a mask indoors. i think there's a couple things to keep in mind. a lot of times you might be walking into a situation where you simply don't know if people around you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. if you are vaccinated, you should still feel comfortable that you are well protected. that's the good news. if you start to get increasingly transmissible variants, could you potentially be someone who gets a breakthrough infection? still unlikely, but the chances go up as there's more and more of that virus spreading. i think what they're talking about in l.a. and what the world health organization has said as well is that we're not arguing the efficacy of the vaccines. what we're talking about at this point is we want to put the fire out of this pandemic. and the way that we do that is to really contain it strongly, which means for a period of time give this virus nowhere to go.

give it no suitable options. even a vaccinated person who may be the product of a breakthrough infection, stop that from happening. unvaccinated people, get vaccinated, and we can put the fire out. that's what they're essentially saying. >> getting vaccinated is still the best thing that everyone can do. sanjay, super helpful. thank you so much. ahead, more on the condo collapse here in florida. plus rising concern about possible violence whenever the so-called results from arizona's so-called audit of last year's election results are released. and some significant news as well about the next election. all that coming up. 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! with voltaren arthritis pain gel neutrogena® my husband's got his moves back. an alternative to pain pills voltaren is the first full prescription strength gel

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more on the condo collapse in surfside, florida in a moment. first some things on our radar. maricopa county, arizona says in their next election they won't re use any voting machines that have been in the hands of contractors running that audit in maricopa county. they said the machines can pose a risk to free and fair elections after being subjected to inspection by a private firm called cyber ninjas.

as for the voting count itself, no risk for wrong results, if you can call it that. however, there is a risk for possible violence whenever totals are released. for that cnn's kyung lah who has been following this from the beginning. >> in the past america had such a good solution for dealing with such traitors. execution. >> reporter: you are listening to a threat by defenders. maricopa county supervisor and republican bill gates tweeted his response to this video calling it hateful, dangerous, aberrant. this time of rhetoric is why at the maricopa county elections department in downtown phoenix, democracy here braces for what may be coming. the months-long so-called arizona audit is in its final hours on this coliseum floor. a partisan-driven exercise

reviewing maricopa county's 2020 ballots despite two previous audits that showed no evidence of widespread voter fraud. the republican state senate promises it will release what it calls a report in the coming weeks as rhetoric grows more violent. it is why the elections building is being fenced by two layers. we've seen attempted breaches before. last november as we watched election workers counting the vote -- >> there has been a security situation. >> reporter: -- the maricopa county elections department was suddenly surrounded. >> this security situation? >> reporter: a large mob was shouting to break into the elections center. >> you can see a long line of law enforcement, the sheriff's department and a very large crowd. >> reporter: a few sheriff's deputies were all that protected election workers as more scrambled to protect the vote. maricopa county sheriff paul

penzone. when you see that fence go up, what do you think? >> symbolically i think it's a slap in the face of everything we have been as a nation. that's what we see in nations where there is civil unrest, no democracy and no respect for each other. now it's a necessity. that's a sad statement. >> reporter: nearly six months after the insurrection at the u.s. capitol, penzone says the release of a report gives extremists another rallying event. like the lead up to january 6th. arizona has been fueled by extreme anger. and disinformation. >> they want to know when the right time is so they can have that combustible moment. they want to know where it's most impactful. >> reporter: are you getting a feeling of timing of when this should happen? >> no, and we should so we can -- law enforcement best prepare how to deal with potential escalation of violence. by not doing so, you are being reckless on behalf of the

community. >> reporter: penzone says they have shared zero information on what to expect in the audit report. he's left largely guessing, planning for the unexpected with federal agencies. >> not an audit is what's happening there. it's performance art. it is largely a clown show. >> reporter: even if this bamboo hunting uv light using lazy susan spinning exercise appears ludicrous, says former department of security matt masterson, the experienced take this as truth. >> january 6 is the ultimate symbol of the rise of extremism, domestic extremism here in the united states, right, so it is -- if that can happen at the u.s. capitol on the day that election results are scheduled to be certified, we all need to be aware that can happen anywhere and take the necessary precautions for sure.

>> reporter: while arizona awaits the release of this so-called report, the rhetoric is not calming down. after some significant outrage, that oan personality tried to explain the threat but he did not apologize. kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. >> our thanks to kyung for that amazing reporting. the companion building to the one that collapsed with a similar to the one that collapsed with the same design. cnn went in to investigate the north tower.

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here in surfside, there's been a lot of attention to the north tower, an identical building near the one that collapsed and questions about whether the north tower is now safe. cnn's brian todd was allowed inside to have a detailed look around, and brian joins me now. brian, what did you see? >> john, i saw an area where maintenance and upkeep is kind of an obsession to people in the tower with the president and the vice president. we talked to both of them today. they showed us the garage, the roof and the pool deck. it's immaculate. we've seen the garage like sunny aisles condominium and other places. at the garage in the north tower, it was pristine. no cracks, no water, no exposed rebar. there was a sump pump down there that was brand new.