♪ ♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, all eyes on surfside as hurricane e how that condo collapse triggered nearby evacuations. >> we knew we had problems in the building. i never imagined, in my wildest dreams, they were going to kick us out of the building like that. >> now the new questions over safety and what went wrong. and the stories of survival. >> another 24 inches and my unit is gone too. plus the carters celebrating a 75-year-long love story. >> when i first had a date with her, the next morning i told my mother that was the girl i wanted to marry. >> how passion and purpose withstood the test of time. >> what advice do you have for people who want to make it last?

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it's been nearly two weeks since that 12-story condo collapsed, sending ripple effects across the region. officials now re-evaluating other buildings that could also be at risk. here's abc's victor oquendo. >> i really don't know what we're going to do. it's a terrible situation for me, for everybody. i mean, it's 156 families. it's very sad. >> reporter: sonia bortolen is e miami beach condo owner can look at her highrise complex, but she can't go in. >> i own two units and that was my main residence, that was my home. >> reporter: she's lived in crestview towers since 1994. friday she, her husband, and nearly 300 residents were ordered to evacuate the building. sonia, who's undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, was given just a few hours to take only what they could carry. >> i talked to -- i believe it was somebody from the city, a young man.

and he said, yeah, you've got a couple of hours to get out, just grab what you can and get out. the building is shut down. my neighbor has a 6-month-old baby. another one had a practically newborn baby. i saw a police officer helping her carry her baby's car seat. broke my heart. those things broke my heart. when i see people going through stuff like that. >> reporter: crestview is six miles from the champlain towers, the condo complex that suddenly collapsed nearly two weeks ago. more than 35 people are confirmed dead, more than 100 still missing. >> i couldn't believe it. i said, what? this is so weird, it's scary. it scared everybody. >> reporter: the collapse in surfside set off alarm bells all across miami dade county in the storm-prone region, launching a review of highrises and whether they are safe, or potentially not. >> given we cannot currently explain why the champlain towers south suddenly collapsed, i have drafted a letter in conjunction with our staff to provide

residents with a basic level of confidence that their building is not obviously unsafe. >> reporter: for sonia, she says there have been issues in her complex for years, but she had no idea it was this bad. she provided us with a copy of an inspection report on her building from back in january which found that crestview was structurally and electrically unsafe, but she says the residents weren't notified of those results until friday. >> we knew we had problems in the building. i mean, i could tell. we could tell. water was coming in through the windows, you could see the cracks, you could see the patchwork. but i never -- i mean, i never imagined, in my wildest dreams, they were going to kick us out of the building like that. >> reporter: speaking with our affiliate wplg over the weekend, crestview towers condominium association attorney maryelle tolinchi said subsequent inspection was conducted that disputes the january report. >> an unofficial report was released by that engineer, saying the building is actually safe for occupancy, and the

repairs on the structure and electrical can be done with residents there. >> reporter: she added the board of directors is working to get residents home as soon as possible. >> my gut feeling is the more people look at more buildings, the more the guys writing the reports are going to be really careful about what they're saying, therefore, they're going to err way past conservati. >> reporter: allyn kilshimer is a structural engineer who consulted on disasters like the fiu bridge collapse and the 9/11 attack on the pentagon. he's been hired to investigate the champlain towers collapse and the work has been nonstop, nearly 13 days. >> everything's part of our investigation. we're not going to discount anything. >> reporter: over at the site of the champlain towers collapse, crews are working round the clock. but the painstaking work in the rubble is slow going. especially as hurricane elsa churns in the gulf. miami will miss the worst of the storm, but rain and wind make rescue and recovery even harder. >> these teams continue through extremely adverse and challenging conditions. through the rain and through the wind, they have continued

searching. >> reporter: surfside's mayor says concern extends beyond the collapse. officials now worry about champlain tower's sister complex to the north, built by the same developer around the same time. the president of that condo association telling me last week, the building is completely fine. >> we have some concerns about not just some, but deep concerns about that building, especially given that we don't know what has happened there. >> reporter: for 72-year-old steve rosenthal, every day is a reminder of what's lost. how many of those neighbors have you not heard from in the last two weeks now? >> a lot. it just seems like everyone that had an oceanfront unit that i knew is gone. i don't know the exact number. i don't even want to know. >> reporter: he lived in unit 705 of the champlain towers south for 20 years. he remembers when he first moved to this little slice of retirement paradise. >> it was wonderful. you know? great people.

you had the ocean, the beach out here is magnificent. >> what about the building itself? >> fabulous. retirement, this is where i was going to be. >> reporter: rosenthal says what happened on june 24th will haunt him, when three portions of his condo complex came crashing down in the middle of the night. >> the unit next to you? >> 704 line, the people are dead. it stopped. it literally stopped at my door. another 24 inches, my unit is gone too. >> reporter: i first spoke with him last monday, days after the collapse. his arms still bruised. >> the dust starts coming down from the ceiling, hit me in the face. i'm seeing it, i'm going, i'm not in a dream, this is real. i'm seeing everything is falling down. people are yelling, i don't know how many people are yelling, help me, help me, get me out. >> reporter: he got dressed and grabbed his wallet, keys, phone, waited for rescue from his balcony. >> these pair of jeans that i'm wearing, these shoes i'm wearing. two t-shirts, put them in a s

shopping bag. two pair of underwear, two pair of socks. >> reporter: for days he watched his section of the apartment complex stand dark and silent over the rubble of the collapse site. so far, more than 30 bodies have been found. >> we find strollers, baby bottles, stuffed toys. it brings a sense of reality to the moment. >> reporter: this weekend that final section, including steve's condo, brought down in a controlled implosion. >> it was sad. but i was happy it came down. >> why? >> i thought it was dangerous at that point for first responders to go in there. i didn't want any of them getting hurt. >> watching it come down, did you have memories flash through? >> you know -- of course. 20 years invested in there. i mean, i had everything. my whole life is in there. >> reporter: officials say there abc news confirming a letter was sent to residents in april warning that damage had gotten significantly worse, that concrete deterioration is accelerating, and would begin to

multiply exponentially after a 2018 engineering report revealed the need for repairs. but the cost for repairs priced out at $15 million, with residents asked to pay anywhere from $80,000 to $336,000. >> there are times when you want to do maintenance, but you're worried about how much it's going to cost, so you have a tendency to put it off because you think that's not going to be a real problem. >> that's a lot of money. that's what it came down to. a lot of culpability, no question about it. it's not just one thing, it's a combination of things. >> reporter: rosenthal is suing the champlain towers condo association, saying the group knew or should have known the building was deteriorating, pointing to tenant complaints and that 2018 report. so far, the condo association has said it can't comment on pending litigation. over the past 13 days, rescue teams have removed nearly 5 million pounds of debris. >> please keep these victims and these families in your hearts and prayers.

>> reporter: many families still in that agonizing wait for word, like ashley dean, her sister, cassie stratton, was on the phone with her husband when the building collapsed and is still missing. >> i'm holding out every bit of hope with every ounce inside of me as a human being that you might be in there, still alive. >> reporter: a nearby memorial wall covered in flowers displays photos of the victims and the missing. today funeral services were held for seven victims. anna lee rodriguez, her husband, marcus guara, and their daughters lucia and emma, cdi and emmy ainsworth, and 92-year-old hilda noriega, who recently decided to sell her condo and move in with her son. for so many, the wait continues. sonia now shuttles between her office and couch surfing with her family. she can't go to a shelter and risk getting covid since she's already battling cancer. >> this is my second bout, fighting breast cancer.

so right now i'm undergoing treatment for that, which makes it super rough. not being home, not being able to be in my bed. once i get treatment, i need a few days to recover. >> reporter: she like hundreds of others in miami tonight left with more questions than answers. but in a moment of hope and renewal, sonia had to leave our interview and head to the hospital, where she met her newest granddaughter, a much-needed reminder that life keeps going. >> our thanks to victor. coming up, the carters on their love story, beyond the white house. >> 75 years is a mighty long time. >> it is. tackling tough messes can take more time than you have. so, the mess has to wait. but mr. clean clean freak delivers the power of a deep clean in minutes. unlike bleach sprays, clean freak starts deep cleaning on contact with 3x the cleaning power to break down tough messes in seconds

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♪ milestone together, former president jimmy carter and first lady roslyn carter reflecting on 75 years of marriage. as well as the love and life lessons along the way. here's abc's steve osunsami. >> no doubt in my mind, my love for her has brought us through, because we've been through so many things together. >> life with jimmy carter has been an adventure. >> reporter: president jimmy carter and the former first lady know very well they are in the sunset of their lives. and it makes reaching their 75th anniversary this week all the more special. he turns 97 this year, she's

turning 94. we met them in their hometown of plains, georgia, three hours south of atlanta. in the middle time we spent, they gave us a master class on relationships. >> thank you for allowing me to talk to you about your anniversary. >> we're delighted, thank you. >> this 75 years of marriage, what advice do you have for people who want to make it last? >> first of all, choose the right person to marry. and then give each other plenty of space. let the other person have a full life in the way they choose. >> reporter: mrs. carter tells me she remembers to this day falling for her husband when he was really just a picture on the wall of her best friend's bedroom. >> ruth was my best friend. that was jimmy's sister.

i literally did fall in love with that photograph. i would go in that room every time i went out -- >> i think it's the uniform. when i first had a date with her, the next morning i told my mother that was the girl i wanted to marry. about six months later, i asked her to marry me. and she said no. so she held out until may of that year. >> it was a long time. but i had promised my father on his deathbed that i would finish college. but he was persistent, and i gave in. >> reporter: this is the official record with the county showing that james earl carter jr. finally convinced miss eleanor roslyn smith to marry him on the 7th day of july in 1946. he was just 21 years old, seen here fresh from the naval academy on their wedding day. she was just 18 and was literally the girl next door. >> took her a lot longer to decide finally. >> you sound like you're still a

little sore about it. >> no, i'm not. i just remember hurting sometimes. >> abc projects carter is the winner with 272 electoral votes -- >> reporter: jimmy carter, who grew up in a home with no running water or electricity, became the leader of the free world. >> i, jimmy carter -- >> reporter: in january 1977. >> i, jimmy carter, do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: it was a beautiful day. ♪ and a proud evening. as he and the love of his life danced the night away at the inaugural ball in washington, d.c. >> there's no way that we would be here tonight with jimmy president of the united states without your help. we love and care for every single one of you. good night. >> reporter: they were a true team. she became the first wife of a president to sit in on cabinet meetings, have an office at the white house, and the first to

represent the country as a diplomatic envoy overseas. >> i bring you greetings from latin america and the caribbean. [ speaking foreign language ] i've done this for two weeks, and i couldn't resist. >> reporter: it was a difficult time in american life, with rising inflation, interest rates, and unemployment. and those neverending lines to gas stations. american hostages in iran. >> the american hostages were blindfolded, handcuffed, and marched out on the u.s. embassy's front steps by the revolutionary students -- >> reporter: his presidency ended after just one term. as they explained to us in this 1987 interview, they were heartbroken. >> a feeling of grief and frustration. a sense of being a victim of fate. >> you wonder why this happened, you know. why the hostages happened on jimmy's watch.

>> thank you all! >> reporter: but they would find new purpose and new success outside the white house, where together they started the carter center in atlanta, a human rights organization that has literally eliminated diseases from third world countries and has helped to ensure free elections around the world. >> we had a new life, we loved each other more than we did before. >> reporter: the two of them worked together to build houses with habitat for humanity. they've helped build or repair more than 4,300 homes across the world. >> we've talked about covid. how are you both feeling? >> well, even the isolation of covid, we have hardly left our house here in plains. and even that has made us more aware of each other. before that, we had not been together all that much.

>> and so it was just jimmy and me, and it was really wonderful. >> president carter, you say often that marrying mrs. carter was the pinnacle of your life. more than any presidency. >> oh, yes. that was the most important. having roslyn say okay, finally, and stay with me this long, has been the most wonderful thing in my life. >> he's pretty wonderful in my life too. >> our thanks to steve. the documentary "love and service: the carter story" is streaming on hulu. up next, how this dancing queen proved to the world anything is possible. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling.

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millions around the world. frya, born prematurely, living with multiple disorders including epilepsy and cerebral palsy, but not letting anything slow her down. that's a dance of joy. that's "nightline" for tonight. see you back here tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. or staying . good night, america.