collapse to carry out a rapid control demolition. the numbers remain unchanged. 24 confirmed dead and 121 unaccounted for. demolition experts are drilling holes in columns to place explosive charges. and officials are hoping to take down the remnants of the structure before tropical storm elsa makes landfall over florida. before the building comes down investigators are gathering as many details as possible from the structure. they're using 3d imaging and other technology and dump trucks are taking debris to a secure location where it's being held as evidentiary material. we want to bring in former miami-dade fire chief david dowdy, also chairman of the international association of fire chiefs, urban search and rescue committee, and a fellow

with the founder of structural engineering partnership. david, we'll start with you. your teams have retreated for this demolition. what are you hearing about the time line of when this can go down? and i'm sure your rescue teams understand why this is happening, but are they discouraged at all that they're unable to keep going right now? >> i wouldn't categorize it as discouraged. they understand the importance of the demolition and the time line that it's going to take to accomplish that. they stand poised, ready to engage. as you heard in the press conference, as soon as the building comes down, teams will be able to move right in and resume their search and rescue efforts. we are maintaining a presence on the site of what we consider rapid intervention teams in the event anything happens with the building while these demolition crews are doing their job. >> okay. joel, from an engineering point

of view here, what is involved in taking this structure down? >> well, as engineers we try to design the building with certain strong parts. these demolition experts review and place charges in the building to bring it down in a manner that's safe and controlled. that way they can control the collapse all the way down to the base. >> and that won't impact, joel, the current site where search and rescue teams have been trying to dig through the debris? >> i'm certain that was part of their calculation and where to place these charges. obviously you have two adjoining sides, so you want to bring the building down and at the same time you don't want to hamper the efforts that have already been put in or destabilize that. so i'm sure that was calculated when they review the drawings carefully and reviewed the site. >> you mentioned some teams are staying there on the ground to

make sure everything with this controlled demolition is safe, just in case they're needed, they're on standby. are other teams right now -- are they experiencing some down time? what are they doing to remobilize them when they get the green light? >> all of the equipment has been pulled back but a safe distance. it's ready to be deployed. the teams are at a constant state of readiness. we're trying to maintain the time line so they can re-engage. right now we're asking them to rest, to rehab. it's been incredibly hot out there. we've been looking at the storm coming but my fear is what's in front of the storm, hot, no clouds in the sky, very humid conditions, and that's what they've been working in. we're trying to get everybody rehabbed, rehydrated and ready to go to work. i can tell you to the person they're ready to re-engage as soon as this demolition is accomplished. >> you just mentioned the storm,

so let's bring in meteorologist michelle grossman tracking tropical storm elsa. we see radar in the lower right-hand corner. what's the latest update? >> the latest advisory as of 11:00, the track has not changed. we need it to move over cuba tonight to see where this track is going to end up. it did weaken down to 16 miles per hour. these are the latest stats. it's 50 miles north of kingston, still moving 15 miles per hour. you remember yesterday it was barreling through at 31 miles per hour. it has slowed down. we expect it to strengthen and tonight it will go over the mountains of cuba. that could weaken it further this is a time line we're talking about florida and we'll see the impacts in the streets of florida, the keys, tonight for the rest of southern florida the biggest impacts will be monday into wednesday. as far as the time stamp late monday into tuesday and then we expect landfall tuesday into

wednesday. so that's the track into the carolinas by thursday and then impacting the mid-atlantic later on this week. here is the difference in terms of tropical alerts. we have a hurricane warning for cuba and the keys and a tropical storm watch along the southwestern coast of florida. again, the biggest impacts will be along the southwest coast of florida but still southern florida is under the gun for wind, for rain, for isolated tornadoes. i really do like that you mentioned hot and humid because that's a big impact when you're outdoors, you're underneath that sun, and that's what we have ahead of this storm. expect heavy rain for cuba, winds in florida, mainly after sunrise tomorrow through wednesday. by wednesday we'll see it strengthen further into the gulf. we're not expecting it to get to hurricane status but still strong at 60, 65 miles an hour, maybe even up to 71 once it gets over the gulf waters. and then we expect the landfall later tuesday into wednesday. again, we really won't know

until it goes over cuba later on tonight. now this is a big thing we're watching. i think the winds will be the biggest threat here. again, it looks like the strongest winds, the tropical storm winds will be west, tampa, naples, marco island. again, all of southern florida is under the gun for these winds where we could see isolated winds gusting up to 30, 35, 40 miles per hour. and even higher than that with some of the heavy downpours. peak wind gusts in key west. 33 naples. tampa, 38. and i put together this forecast, surfside and what we can expect the next several days. we're expecting heavy rainfall. generally an inch but, again, if we get the downpours or training, that is that sit and spin where it sits over a certain region and drops a lot of rain, we could see higher amounts of rain where we see localized flooding, winds

gusting up to 30 miles an hour and could see isolated tornadoes. it's going to be hot. it's going to be humid. look at the temperatures the next three days. by sunday, 88 degrees. monday, 85. tuesday, 88. lindsey, i know we're focusing on the west coast of florida but, still, all of southern california will be impacted and it doesn't take much to impact these recovery sites and it will be a lot of work ahead. >> michelle, thank you for that latest forecast. i want to bring in david and joel. this tropical storm is why we are seeing this controlled demolition so far in advance of when we originally expected and i spoke to the mayor of surf side earlier this morning. he said if there are wind gusts of 25 miles an hour, they don't know if that's enough to blow that tower down, and that's why they're doing this. the miami-dade mayor in that briefing said they're using a process called energetic felling. what is that? >> so, basically what happens is

these charges get placed in different locations and they get imploded in a sequence so it's not sort of one big bang. it's sort of placed in sequences, and that's how the building essentially will come down. as far as the winds, 25-mile-an-hour wind is a fairly strong wind but is a very dense structure with a lot of mass and, of course, mass is a great component to have when resisting wind force. >> david, i know that you mentioned right now that search and rescue teams are standing by, always at the ready. but also, right now, they're told to rest and recharge. they've been through really challenging conditions out there but, also, obviously, the emotion of the task at hand here. how are they doing and what's your message of motivation to

them once they resume? >> well, i know, they are working under some real tough conditions and we spend a lot of time talking to the rescuers. i'm out on the piles as much as i can to do a pulse check and see how people are doing. we put it on the team leaders and the medical managers and the teams to keep an eye on their people. we have a very robust mental wellness unit that miami-dade fire rescue has brought in. that is working with these teams and working with these folks so that we have an ongoing process not only during the efforts but meeting with these mental wellness personnel and then follow-ups. it's something that's in the forefront of our thoughts but i can tell you that they just want to get engaged. they want to bring closure to every one of these family

members who have suffered so much. >> certainly. david downey, joel, we're going to talk to joel again in our next hour. both of you, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. we are also following breaking news out of italy. pope francis is in the hospital for a scheduled surgery. we are following the story at the vatican. what more do we know? >> reporter: well, lindsey, this came as a bit of a surprise. if you think about it only six hours ago pope francis showed up at the window right behind me as he does every sunday to deliver his traditional sunday prayer or message to the pilgrims in st. peters square. you can probably see him in the pictures. a couple hours later the vatican issued a statement saying the pope was being taken to a hospital in rome for a scheduled surgery for the colon.

that is a narrowing of the colon due to the infection of the diverticular that don't cause any problems unless they get infected. this is probably what happened with pope francis. the vatican seemed to have down played a little bit this surgery. even the fact he is going to the hospital for surgery is big news because he's 84 years old. we didn't know anything about it. the nbc news medical team tells me that is the surgery to remove the diverticulosis. he is the pope, of course, that could potentially lead to complications. >> claudio, thank you for jumping in on this breaking news.

the center for emerging infectious diseases and an msnbc medical contributor. what can you tell us about diverticular stenosis? how serious is it? >> claudio covered a bit of it. as we get older the walls of our intestine can get weaker and form pouches. about 20% of people may see a blockage and then an inflammation and most times is due to an infection and in most cases can be handled by antibiotics and fluids. in more severe cases what you see is somebody who has had multiple episodes of diverticulitis or because there's a more severe complication because of the inflammation, maybe a perforation at that level of the intestine and an abscess.

that's about 15% of the people require this surgery. what they do in those scenarios they take out that part of the colon that's inflamed. most people tolerate it well but it depends on the age of the patient and what the risk of the surgery is going to be. >> what's the typical recovery process like? >> right, i will say that in this case the pope is being taken to a medical center that actually has a history of providing care and a patient who has this type of surgery it depends on how invasive the surgery had to be. was it laparoscopic or a full, open surgery? the recovery is two to seven days in a noncomplicated outcome. everything from the anesthesia

required and the time that it takes for healing after the surgery is more complicated and that's why we want to be paying extra attention to that. >> we certainly will be. doctor, thank you so much. a noticeable change happening outside the white house, the details when we return. that delicious scramble was microwaved? get outta here. everybody's a skeptic. wright brothers? more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! it's not crazy. it's a scramble. just crack an egg.

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here's a live look now at the white house where in just a matter of hours 1,000 people will gather on the south lawn for an independence day barbecue. this marks the first large-scale event hosted by president biden. the administration has been spending the weekend traveling across the country touting their vaccination efforts and celebrating america's return to normal. >> and this year not only will we celebrate our independence, we will celebrate our nation's resilience.

because this year america is coming back together. >> new polling from "the washington post" and abc news shows president biden has received high marks for his coronavirus response. 62% of americans approve of his handling of the pandemic. but is biden declaring independence from the virus too soon? the white house has fallen just shy of its goal to have 70% of adults with at least one dose by today. that number currently stands at 67%. and concerns are growing about the unvaccinated as the more transmissible delta variant spreads coast to coast. the same poll shows 20% of americans say they will definitely not get the shot. the most hesitant group being republicans. 47% say they aren't likely to get vaccinated. and over on capitol hill new reaction today from the chair of the select committee to investigate the january 6 insurrection, congressman bennie

thompson on whether president trump will be subpoenaed to testify. >> i am prepared to subpoena anyone who is identified based on the facts and circumstances behind january 6. >> let's go to monica alba. monica, there is a big event planned there tonight. people will be able to get much closer to the white house than they have in a long time. what can you tell us about what's different today? >> reporter: this is new, lindsey. if the crowd in front of the white house can hear the sound checks going on on the south lawn, i think way more people will be tuning in than we previously thought. and that's because the u.s. secret service has removed the fencing and the barricades that once stood right in front of that tall fence in front of the north lawn where i am here because for more than a year due to security reasons, the pandemic, and also some construction on this fence, people could not get as close as

they are right now. so this is a shift sort of sending a signal, really, that we are getting back to some version of normal. of course, nothing is pre-pandemic levels yet but that is something that was a change that took place today and as well as the white house literally opening up its backyard tonight for this major event, there are going to be 1,000 people made up of essential workers and military families certainly marking the largest gathering the white house has seen since president biden took office. but it all comes against the backdrop of what we've been talking about now for weeks, this increase and concern in the delta variant making some health experts a little bit worried about all of the mass gatherings we're going to see take place this weekend. the message from the biden health advisers is if you're vaccinated you really don't have to worry about this so much. but for those who aren't vaccinated they really are putting themselves at unnecessary risk, these experts say. take a listen to what covid

adviser jeff zients had to say. >> we are seeing increases in cases in those areas in the country with these lower vaccination rates. it's important people get vaccinated. the good news is confidence in the vaccine, those saying they're willing to get vaccinated, has increased across time. so we'll continue to make it even easier to get vaccinated, answer people's questions. it's free. it's convenient. most pharmacies, which are within five miles of 90% of americans, have no appointment, walkup vaccinations will continue to deploy mobile clinics to bring vaccinations to where people are. >> reporter: remember, today was the deadline for that goal the president had set. they're going to fall short of it. only 67% of american adults have gotten at least one dose compared to the 70% that they did want to see nationwide.

but in terms of how some states did, at least 20 of them did meet or exceed that goal. but to show you just in terms of where we are all these questions about whether we can get to herd immunity, only about 50% of the entire u.s. public is fully vaccinated at this point. so it will be a lot longer until we get to those higher double digit numbers, lindsey, and health experts are saying here at the white house in particular they will double down on their efforts to get more people vaccinated in july and august, though they're declining to say whether they're going to set any more goals since maybe those will not be effective in motivating people. the other thing they'ring do, they're readying these surge response teams to hot spots particularly for that delta strain. so that's something they're ready to do, again, as we continue to see this alarming rise now accounting for 25% of all new infections according to cdc data.

>> we've seen truck raffles. what can be done. senator whip for the democrats in the house, senior whip, rather, and co-chair of house democratic policy and communications committee. congresswoman, thanks for being with us here on a holiday.sideng through your state to highlight the progress and the covid fight. how do you feel about where we are? we haven't met the goal monica just reported on, but we're pretty close. >> i have very mixed feelings, and i say this as somebody who was really afraid to become vaccinated having had a very serious reaction to the swine flu shot decades ago. i worry about those who haven't gotten vaccinated. i've had a lot of discussions with young people. republicans who are afraid and they are at greater risk because of this delta variant. we saw a really terrible surge in michigan in april and i'm

afraid it could come back. at the same time i can't tell you how great it was to be at the parade yesterday, just being there. everybody could be with each other. seeing those rituals and traditions come back, human connection, is great. but we can't give up on getting people vaccinated. >> yeah, i share your thoughts there. the juxtaposition of where we are. on one hand we're so grateful. last year we were all still stuck inside. but there's still a lot of unknowns here with this virus. the virus is one thing the president has gotten really high marks on. this new "washington post"/abc poll, the attitude toward vaccination efforts. while a large majority of democrats have been vaccinated republicans seem to be more hesitant. we're looking at the numbers here on our screen. 45% have gotten at least one shot. 47% aren't likely to get vaccinated. 38% definitely not going to get

vaccinated. as the country works to surpass this goal here, what approach should be taken to boost confidence? >> i think at this point it has to be done one-on-one. there were a number of people yet to be vaccinated that meet the profile you were just talking about. i had some long talks yesterday. i have to say i'm out, i'm about. we'll probably talk about the floods in a minute. and i'm thinking to myself i should be wearing my mask. i should be putting on that double layer of protection. and we do know that people who have received both vaccinations, they're not dying. those who have had it are not having as awful an impact as people who have gotten cope covid have.

so we just have to talk to people. we just have to get them to explain. i try to do it, and i'll tell you something, everybody in southeastern michigan, if you're afraid, i'll go with you. i'll hold your hand. you have to help people go get it. >> there's the invitation right there for anybody listening. let's switch gears here, congresswoman, and talk about the january 6 select committee. i've talked to you many times since the insurrection. you were inside the building when the capitol was attacked. what's the biggest question you still have that's unanswered? >> first of all, this is the fourth of july, the day we celebrate our democracy. and, to me, that will be one of the most significant attacks on our democracy as they came to the capitol. it shouldn't be a partisan investigation. americans watched what was happening before we knew. we sort of knew something going on. we could hear the crowds, but we had no understanding of how bad it was until hours later, the wee hours of the morning.

we didn't have a television on the house floor and we didn't have a television at our undisclosed location. this was an assault on our democracy. we need to know why it happened and how it happened. people are out there -- there is a group trying to guide us by fear and hatred. i know it's out there. i see it. i hear it when i'm out and about in my communities. we can disagree with each other. we should disagree with each other. it would be boring if we agreed on everything, but we shouldn't be doing it in this angry, violent way that is attacking the fundamental pillars of. it needs to be done not in a partisan way. that is probably too idealistic but we need answers and have to pull together as a country. and this fourth of july, it's a day to think about what our democracy means and how we all

have to come together to defend it. >> congresswoman debbie dingell, thank you for spending a part of your fourth of july with us. those charges against the trump organization, donald trump addressed them head-on last night. what he said next. t. up the sta. when you have an irregular heartbeat, it's more. it's dignity. the freedom to go where you want, knowing your doctor can watch over your heart. ♪♪ cynthia suarez needed to buy new laptops for her growing team. so she used her american express business card, which lets her earn extra membership rewards points on purchases for her business. now she's the office mvp. get the card built for business. by american express.

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new overnight, former president donald trump speaking out for the first time since his organization and longtime cfo were hit with a 15-point indictment. trump lashed out at new york prosecutors during the 90-minute speech calling the charges, quote, reminiscent of a communist dictatorship. ali, what else did he say about these indictments? >> reporter: lindsey, you nailed the tone of what that event was last night. these rallies always tend to be a ticking off a list of grievances. and certainly the newest grievance was these criminal

indictment charges filed in manhattan this past week against the trump organization and allen weisselberg. trump framing it as a partisan move. listen to how he put it. >> think of how unfair it is. never before has new york city and their prosecutors or perhaps any prosecutors criminally charged a company or a person for fringe benefits. fringe benefits. murder is okay. human trafficking, no problem. but fringe benefits, you can't do that. >> reporter: and certainly, lindsey, this idea these are charges that are politically motivated is not something that trump alone is harping on but the lawyers involved with the trump organization have been saying since even before they were officially filed. that seems to be the tone and tenor of the defense even though they have pled not guilty on behalf of weisselberg and the trump organization. but moving forward as we look

forward to a summer that's full of more trump events the last two weeks have been the start of a more public posture as he tries to push ahead, becoming a much more vocal part of the party ahead of the 2022 midterms. one thing that doesn't come up at these rallies, though, is the january 6 insurrection, the republican party, certainly donald trump, trying to put that in the past. democrats keeping it at the fore. many of the representatives involved were asked on the sunday shows if donald trump himself could be called to testify. they're leaving that option open. congressman clyburn saying that's a route if it has to go there. that's not something he wants to see happen. >> we appreciate your reporting. they're partying like it's 1776, and not everyone is happy about it. the scene from mt. rushmore next. ♪

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right now americans are celebrating with big events planned across the country including one of the largest celebrations in new york city right there on the right-hand side of your screen. we're going to get to that in a moment. not all celebrations are going as planned including at the iconic mt. rushmore. cal perry is live. the fight over the fireworks has gone to court?

>> reporter: yeah, absolutely. the governor has been making this a political issue. she's been tweeting about it almost weekly. we had a fresh tweet yesterday. the issue here is really a safety question. the national parks service said there shouldn't be fireworks. there is a high fire danger. the governor said that should be overruled. a federal judge said she did not meet the bar to overturn the national park service's decision. what affect that has on tourism, one business owner worries it will turn folks away from coming next year. take a listen. >> but there are no openings in any of the hotels in any of the grounds in keystone nor in the surrounding black hills. it is so crowded. i've never seen it before. and like i said, it's wonderful. but what is that going to do to the people who didn't see the fireworks? they may not come back next year. we may have a terrible year next year because of that.

>> reporter: our producer reached out to the national parks service. they sent us in the past 24 hours from the national parks service. in 2020 the park service spent over $54 million battling wildfires and over 230,000 acres of national parkland were burned. we are in a historic drought here in the west. that is the concern. the fire danger here is very high. >> well, cal, obviously the business owners are concerned with no fireworks, but do they understand, obviously, the risk you just talked about? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. i will tell you in talking to people on the street the past couple of days, it's been interesting because a number of the locals, folks who live here are saying and telling us, there shouldn't be fireworks. people out of town who don't live here, don't deal with it year after year, think about where we are july 4th this year. a year ago this time this whole team was living in an rv. americans are trying to party this weekend, so can you understand people from out of town want these fireworks. >> hopefully the hotel is better

than the rv. i think maybe a little part of you liked that. it was adventurous, right? >> reporter: miss it a little bit. turning now to new york city, macy's big fourth of july spectacular is back on. last year, you'll remember, it was reduced to a series of smaller surprise pop-up shows to prevent crowds from gathering during covid. tonight's show will be the biggest event in new york city in more than a year. nbc's cori coffin joins us live to tell us all about it. how is ton's show honoring the past year? >> reporter: yeah. it is honoring everyday heroes, lindsey, and what better place than new york. new york knows all about those everyday heroes. that is how the city was able to stay running. this fireworks show will be spectacular for not just one but two reasons. there's going to be one over and if you can see in the distance labor liberty, one in the hudson river here so you'll have these gorgeous views with the statue of liberty in the background and then all the way on the other

side in the east river you're going to get this beautiful manhattan skyline with these hundreds of pounds of fireworks going off about 1,000 feet in the air spanning a mile and it is a welcome site over the past year. and you can see how many tourists are gathering out here at liberty state park where we're at. they're going to get on the ferry and visit the statue of liberty today. i spoke with some of the tourists and there was a sense of exuberance and people just being able to breathe again. listen to how one woman put it. >> things have changed. the world has changed. being in lockdown, there's a total coming out of it and seeing how people are even interacting with each other. yes, there's still space and a bubble, but people are excited to see other people. >> reporter: i got that same feeling, lindsey, from the other people i talked to as well. and just to put it all into perspective this same time last year we were reporting 54,000

new covid cases. we are now down to about 14,000 and, of course, there's still a lot of work to do and we still want to continue to honor those heroes. one man i spoke with earlier, he felt that his family had to work through the entire pandemic. he was going to bring his family out to give them a special honor. this means so much to new york families. just as we heard earlier it's not just new york bringing back their big fireworks displays, it's cities across the nation. and, of course, as we know, the show starts officially at 9:00 p.m. out here but 8:00 p.m. east coast time on nbc. you can start watching it from the comfort of your living room. lindsey? >> i love that plug. cori coffin, thanks so much. that macy's fourth of july spectacular will begin at 8:00 eastern only on nbc. do tune in. the impact of the indictment on a 2024 run. what it all means for the former president next.

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by the way, when we draw crowds, there's not even an election and we are looking at the election. but -- more than looking at it. >> during a rally in sarasotasa florida, trump teased a potential third run for the white house. will he be able to stay out of legal trouble? this was the first time we've seen him since his organization and its cfo were hit with a 15-count indictment on what prosecutors call a sweeping and audacious tax fraud scheme. "the new york times" points out, quote, the manhattan d.a.'s investigation is only one of a smattering of legal obstacles trump may need to overcome including investigations and lawsuits involving his business

dealings, conduct toward women, and role drumming up the capitol riot. joining me now a democratic strategist and founder of the national voter protection action fund, susan del percio, and david jolly, former congressman from florida. trump told fox news this week he has made a decision on whether he's going to run in 2024. he didn't exactly say which way he was leaning but did allude to the country needing him to re-engage. could the potential legal troubles throw a wrench in that? >> no, unless donald trump is in jail, he will be running for president. it's my belief. of course i'm not a republican insider and certainly not a trump insider. i think there are a couple of things going on here. as susan and david pointed out he needs to continue to keep his name in the public eye. and so to pay for this

extraordinary amount of legal jeopardy that he's in. he needs to keep raising money. number two, nobody can beat him. he certainly might continue to try to appear in republican circles as an outlier and other republicans may try painting him where they do not see the future of the party and a place they don't want to go, but nobody else has the numbers to beat him. and i think that reasonable candidates like the former governor of south carolina might not step up to the plate and run because they know numerically he's unbeatable in a primary. >> al i vitali is reporting people at the rallies want to hear the so-called greatest hits. they want to hear him talk about the big lie and tease a 2024 run. do you think they would change their minds if the former president were to get into further legal trouble? >> the people at those rallies?

absolutely not. they would probably send him lots of files to get out of jail. he has those people. i appreciate what don is saying where the former president is. but time will continue to wear away at donald trump. away at donald trump. these legal problems may also force him to eventually have to stop these rallies because the more he opens up his mouth, the more incriminating -- the more often he incriminates himself. for example, last night, it's about fringe benefits. did you notice he didn't say oh, there are charges against my company are false. he just didn't like what he was being charged with. so we'll see. >> let's listen to some of that, shall we? this is how trump addressed the indictment against his organization and cfo last night. >> they go after good hard working people for not paying taxes on a company car.

company -- you didn't pay tax on the car, or a company apartment. you used an apartment because you need an apartment because you have to travel too far where your house is. you didn't pay tax. or education for your grandchildren. i don't even know, do you have to -- does anybody know the answer to that stuff? >> david, i think you're an attorney in a past life. do you know the answer? >> and a business owner about five times over. anybody who operates a business knows that the employee must pay taxes on fringe benefits, on housing, on cars, on education expenses. all of those create a tax liability for the employee, but they also create a tax obligation for the employer. and i think importantly what we've seen in the indictment is prosecutors are alleging a pattern and they are alleging intent. the truth is millions of americans, probably myself as well, often make mistakes on our taxes. so donald trump is trying to

suggest, hey, maybe it's a mistake. maybe they're overzealous prosecutors. prosecutors don't charge unless they can prove a pattern of intent to defraud and a pattern to evade. that's what the trump organization has been charged with. it matters not what donald trump riffs at a sarasota rally. what matters is in a courtroom. i think the company is in trouble right now. >> do you think allen weisel burg is at home saying, please stop riffing? >> weisselberg is on his own now. does he provide information important to prosecutors or is he willing to actually stay silent and probably risk his own conviction and loss of freedom. that's a tough spot to be in, but what we've learned from donald trump in these situations is loyalty only goes one way and weisselberg would be wise to reflect on that. >> don, this rally took place in the same state as the surfside

tragedy and emergency crews are still obviously searching for survivors. that search has been paused meanwhile, while they do that controlled demolition. the rally was hours away from that spot, but the washington post report some florida officials warn it could be a distraction from the efforts there. trump did hold a moment of silence. what do you make of those optics? >> it's really bad optics. day one, ever since he descended down the trump tower in 2015, one of the aspects of his political career is his advisers are incompetent. we see that in breaking the the norms in politics. whether you agree with his policy or things he has to say, we see he just has a junior varsity team of political advisers ands people in his ear, along with his own just general selfishness. the guy is incredibly tone deaf and incredibly just self-centered, such that it would never occur to him, a

selfish him combined with a juvenile cast of characters advising him politically. between those two factors it would never occur this might be inappropriate while there are stilt bodies in that rubble. >> susan, last question to you. there was the governor ron desantis dealing with the surfside tragedy. what do you make of the former allies now potential rivals? >> well, we'll see. but one thing that did stand out is if you look at where the governor was yesterday, he was reacting to a crisis. he was doing his job. he was looking that he was in control of the situation. and donald trump was on a mad rant. when people start looking at the candidates for 2024, this is actually going to be something that helps ron desantis. that being said, ron desantis better watch his back because donald trump will turn on him in a heartbeat. >> all right, susan del percio,

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killing two people and leaving dozens missing. terrifying new footage shows a flood of black mud just destroying homes and downing power lines as it barrels through the town southwest of tokyo. hundreds of thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate because local leaders fear historic levels of rainfall could spark another disaster. good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to alex wit reports. i'm lindsey reiser in for alex. we start with breaking news from surfside, florida. contractors are on the scene of the champlain south side tower. crews will return after the

demolition. the numbers remain unchanged. 24 confirmed dead, 121 unaccounted for. demolition experts are drilling holes in columns to place explosive charges. county officials say the building could possibly be brought down today, but they are hoping it's completed before tropical storm elsa makes landfall over florida. adding that the demolition will not affect the stability of nearby buildings. >> the team is using a method of demolition called energetic felling. this uses small strategically placed detonations and relies on the force of gravity to bring the building down in place, right on this footprint, and the collapse area is confined to the immediate area around the building. however, dust and other particles are an unavoidable biproduct of all types of demolition and as a precautionary measure, we are urging residents in the immediate vicinity to please