coast guard. so i would refer you to the coast guard for that information. reporter: cbs news. [inaudible] can you give us a rough timeline and curious what can you tell us about the timeline? how much time elapsed between the pilot notifying authorities? chair homendy: there is a question on the timeline. again, i know this is all information you are looking for. the information we get, which often happens in a large event where there are a lot of entities, is there is conflicting information. the ntsb focuses on the facts. so we will figure that out and be able to provide that information in the coming days. today is far too early for that. reporter: nothing on the timeline? chair homendy: nothing on the timeline so far. reporter: how critical will th recorder be to investigating? chair homendy: how critical wil voyage data recorder be to investigating this? it will be critical. it is a critical piece of our investigation, which is why we have a recorder team here. reporter: have you been able to figure out why the ship did not immediately drop anchor when th power went out a

coast guard. we have a very cooperative relationship with the u.s. coast guard. i particularly want to thank deputy commandant for operations, vice admiral. i want to thank admir gill , and captain o'connell, the sector commander. on, on behalf of the ntsb, i want to extend our deepest have been affected by this significant event. the ntsb, as i mentied does many significant transportation events, not just aviation. we do accidents and incidents in marine safety as well, and of course with for this, there were many that were affected by this collapse, and our deepest sgo out to the families, loved ones, and others who have been affected. i'm going to get■n questions on fatalities and injuries, which i am not going to answer. that is not something that the ntsb answers. i will refer you to local authorities on all of that information. what i can tell you is a search-and-rescue is still underway. soarry hopeful and again , our thoughts are with the families and their loved ones. again, we got here at 6:00 a.m., and we are standing back to allow the coast guard and

our team went out with the coast guard just a few hours ago, including the coast guard commandant, to survey the damage. to see the wreckage up close. to see if freight -- a freight that is nearly the size of the eiffel tower. and to see that same freight with the key bridge restaurant top. to see shipping containers that were ripped in half as if they were papier-mache. to know that out there you have to navigate high winds and electrical wires. to go out there and to see it up close, you realize just how daunting a task that is. you realize just how difficult the work is ahead of us. with a salvage operation this complex and, frankly, a salvage operation this unprecedented, you need to plan for every single moment and every time you take action to move a piece of wreckage, you understand that that requires you to reassess the situation. when i lead soldiers in combat, i knew that preparation was everything. you do not go into the field of battle without getting intelligence that you need first. so as the mission continues, you need to stay frosty, you need to reassess, and you need

in the incident, a time when he is coast guard pursuits of a chinese fishing vessel. let the death of 2 trying these fishermen trying his coast guard has increase patrols around and then tie we tie what needs. officials say that is raising the risk of an accident spiraling into conflict. a correspondent james che, to reports now from japan. taiwan from the beach is as high ones, doman items chinese skyscrapers a well with the nice side to man to play with these to the compton home can seeing has long walks to narrow stretches of horses separating the 2 sides. but since 2 chinese fishermen died in a recent incident with tie one's coast guard, he's been much more crowded when heading out to see the table and do it. i don't know the full we used to go over there, but we can't anymore it because the chinese coast guard is the trolling oven. we used to come across them quite often and there wasn't a problem because the now we just do our best not to go that the policies, incidentally capsizing videos on chinese social media, show the coast guard, pressing ahead with more p

now in this incident, a tie one east coast guard, the suit of a chinese fishing vessel. let the death of 2 chinese fishermen i'm trying to is. coast guard has increased patrols around and men tie when he is official. save. that is raising the risk of an accident spiraling into a conflict of correspondent james chase. a reports now from jenman. taiwan are from the beaches of taiwan steaming items. chinese skyscrapers a well with the nice side to man. typically when use to the content home can seeing has long walks to narrow stretches of which is separating the 2 sides. but since 2 chinese fishermen died in a recent incident with tie one's coast guards, he's been much more crowded when heading out to see the table and the full we used to go over there. so we can't anymore it because the chinese coast guard is patrolling, and i've been, we used to come across them quite often and there wasn't a problem. because the now we just do our best not to go the policies, incidentally, capsizing videos on chinese social media, show the coast guard, pressing ahead with more patrols ar

we expect to hear from transportation secretary pete buttigieg, and a key coast guard official at the white house this hour and desperation in gaza so as palestinians drown, trying to recover food, aid dropped in the ocean, the latest tragedy underscoring the threat of starvation, even as talks over a these fire have ground to a halt. >> plus running out of time, the melting ice caps at the north and south poles aren't only an environmental concern, they could would actually be changing how we measure time itself. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central >> today the search for victims began. the search for answers after the deadly bridge collapse in baltimore. right now, federal investigators are pouring over data from the ship's black box and they're moving to injury for view, crew members at the same time, divers are searching for the six missing victims who are doing construction on the francis scott key bridge at the time of the collapse and are now are presumed dead. we're going to bring a live updates from officia

ntsb bef the complex nature of this investigation, we will be providing coast guard investigatorsor what we call a marine board of investigation which is our highest level of investigation at the coast guard that will ordinate with the ntsb investigation as that moves forward. i think the secretary closed with some topline messages and for us, i can tell you that our unified command which is essentially a term that we use in the united states for how we mobilize against crises with all of the appropriate federal, state, local agencies and other stakeholders, we have a tremendous amount of talent on their and a lot of resourcing and given the magnitude and importance of this response, it will be very aggressive moving forward and we will keep you informed with that. thank you. >> we've obtained a government memo that the dali had hazardous material that was contained in the containers on the ship. can you update us on that investigation and is there a threat to the public from any of the materials on board the ship? >> there is no threat to the public from the hazardous materials o

we understand the coast guard has three small boats and one coast guard cutter there doing the search and rescue. what do you think about the type of resources that they put in play? >> i mean, they put everybody they got in the area in the water. they have probably got -- i mean, they have got as many resources as they need on station. the big question is whether or not anybody is able to survive for five hours under water in a car. i think the chances. >> brian: we have one being hospitalized. the other one turned down care, does that give you hope? >> i'm going to be honest with you there is not a lot of hope in my mind at this point. it's a recovery operation. >> lawrence: you know, jake, with these uavs that they put into the water. they pretty much know what they're working with right now, right, these drones? >> i think there is probably a lot of ambiguity around the situation. i said it before. there's a lot of dangerous conditions right now. you have a bridge that's collapsed into the water. you have containers in the water. you have shifts tide current coming in at peak flow

of course, the coast guard has been taking the lead on that. and if there's a way to find or get or rescue anyone, the united states coast guard can do it. so i do think that we will hear from the coast guard at this briefing and in these instances, you've named a lot of these agencies. there's so many different agencies and local law enforcement, county law enforcement. >> that's >> that's participating in trying to help. how do they go about organizing all of that, making sure that everybody has to kind of stays in their own lane. and that everybody is affected div as they possibly can be >> well, the national transportation safety board will have oversight because of course, we've already heard from the fbi that there's no indication of criminal activity of criminal foul play if there was the fbi would be the lead agency until they sort out the criminality. but the the fbi and other law enforcement has said, no, we see no indication of terrorism or criminal activity. so the ntsb will be a lead. the lead, >> and the way they get their work do

the coast guard, which a bit different from aviation, the coast guard is also having a parallel investigation where ntsb is on their team, and ntsb is conducting an investigation with coast guard people on the ntsb's team. at any point, they can make changes. things will be learned, decisions will be made sooner than later, so, again, i have the confidence in the coast guard and the ntsb to make the right call. you need enough factual information, and analysis to make recommendations or to make changes in the maritime system. >> working for the ntsb, you also know the pressure that can be brought to bear already. obviously money is going to be spent, how much and when we don't know but from the federal government at the request of maryland, they want to be able to get things going. how much is -- how high is the pressure, and how difficult is it to not respond to that pressure, and in fact, get ahead of where things might be. >> you know what, chris, the ntsb is expert at not letting financial pressure drive their decisions for investigations or recommendations. they are completely independen

nevertheless, the coast guard keeps the histories, safety histories of all the vessels in u.s.hat in terms of the investigation. >> thank you, vice admiral. can you discuss your degree of confidence in the victim numbers that we have heard so far? we have seen evidence that there's sonar that's picked up cars at the bottom of the river. do we know that all of those cars belonged to the construction workers or is there a chance that other cars may have fallen into the river? >> we have heard similar reports in the news, and so basically the coast guard is going off of the numbers of individuals that have been provided to us by the state of maryland as they were the ones who were administering the bridge and had the best idea of how many individuals may have been involved. >> secretary buttigieg, you mentioned earlier that there is not an air traffic control-type body for shipping. is that an indication that you think there should be something like that for the future? >> no, it's a very different system, but i think it's important for the public to understand that. if a runway o

so we can't anymore it because the chinese coast guard is patrolling an oven. we used to come across them quite often, and that wasn't the problem. because now we just do our best not to go that the abilities incidentally capsizing videos on chinese social media, show the coast guard, pressing ahead with more patrols around seeing that sometimes even using the hakim language coming be spoken in taiwan typeface of several chinese vessels. events, it prohibited which is during those patrol badging, which claims solvency over taiwan. says such restrictions don't exist. it's not fundamental disagreements which is raised fees, a spot to could ignite. why the conflict? some of the right thing here. you appreciate just how small the margin for error is. this land behind us is the chinese city of charlotte with millions of residents, the why invest so in the distance over the if the chinese coast guard on this line right here is controlled by taiwan. now with china, sending mall coast guard patrols into these voices type pay faces a dilemma. do nothing, can they risk c

we must get a coast guard with some of these coast called vessels. um, you know, with, with the facilities and the capabilities, they look closer and closer to the ministry vessel would look like. and so, you know, again, just a testament really to the direction of travel here in the, in the pacific. and where are these maritime tensions, especially with a china that's more sensitive in, in pursuing its claims in these waters in the south trying to see what it was around taiwan. and that's again, causing these governments to respond in time. james taylor correspondent in taipei, thank you. the test was european car plants near berlin has halted production after a suspected arson attack cut off its electricity supply. local media published a letter from a far right group, claiming a was behind the incident. police funds near the desk left land just outside the german capital berlin. a fire broke out or to high voltage electricity violent, which led to a power failure. authorities believe it was an act of sabotage. and that under today, criminal police

that is the coast guard.urs has said that right now, the focus is on those folks and on their families. second part though and this is critically important and tom costello, my nbc colleague asked this question. there are recorders on board the vessel. voice data recorders. she said that would provide significant information. that's a very important piece of the puzzle. they have not gone on to that vessel yet. 985 feet long. a 95,000 gross tons that went into that bridge this morning and collapsed it in a matter of seconds. that's going to do it for us this hour. make sure to join us for chris jansing reports every weekday, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern. very busy day. a lot of breaking news. our coverage will continue with katy tur reports right now. eporw >>> good to be with you. i'm katy tur. at least six people with still missing according to officials. although the ntsb won't say an exact number, they do say though that search and rescue is ongoing according to the news conference we were watching a moment

charlotte with millions of residents, the why invest so in the distance over the if the chinese coast guard and this land right here is controlled by taiwan. now with china, sending more coast con patrols into these voices type pay faces the die. lemme do nothing. can they risk china replying, even more pressure, but react to strongly. and those risk of escalation of this is common key political moments to both of aging in taipei, taiwan go. so you know, great since new presidents, a man who badging openly dislikes and in china this week is the national people's congress. the, the country's leaders height, the defense budget, by more than 70 percent, and to shoot tough words on what they call re unifying taiwan with china by military force. if necessary, gentlemen, still wears this call is the value of conflict with china, which continued to show the group of islands well into the 1970s. local counselor don't send file says that may explain residents muted response to more frequent chinese patrols. but he's quick to add, the fundamental tension still exists. now it just looks different. it'

the coast guard and the response community is deeply saddened that the missing individuals have not survived.theate of maryland's leadership and humidity in supporting the family members of the missing. i would like to per responders for their heroic search and rescue efforts. where we didn't achieve the outcome we hope for, it was a tremendous team effort in the treacherous operational conditions. as this aspect of the response shifts to recovery operations and consistent with the pr port up and running as soon as possible, the coast guard's highest priority now is restoring the waterway for the daily blast live and removing it from the site, and coordinating a retirement iestigationóp under the leadership of the national transportation and safety board. a couple of words on each of those, in terms restoring the waterway, the coast guard is very tightly connected to the army corps of engineers as they lead the federal agency on that effort. as we were in the oval office, the president called the spelman, the ceff the army corps of engineers on site, general spelman and i had a number of convers

we also know that the coast guard is involved. they have given us some details about their resources coming from annapolis and other coast guard stations, a helicopter from the coast guard station in atlantic city actively engaged in this search and rescue. what else are you hearing it? and are you? to seeing if you want to show us your vantage point over the river, we currently have up some live pictures of the bridge from are affiliate, but i know you have a unique viewpoint as well. >> yeah. kcl. i'll step out of the way and just give you a look at what we're seeing behind because it, it really paints a clearer picture even from this distance. look, we can't get any closer. those police and first responders still have the area around the bridge on both sides completely shut down as the rescue operation is underway. but you can see enough from our vantage point to see where the bridge just suddenly ends and where that container ship just to the right of it is still sitting it seems in the middle of the water no lights on it. it

we saw coast guard vessels and other tugs come to the assistance. but unfortunately, when you lose power on a vessel that large, you are really at the mercy of inertia and winds and currents so i do want to go to some new fresh sound. we have just into cnn and play it for you. this is a port worker who says that the dali cargo ship suffered a severe electrical problem while it was dark for two days before the crash. let's listen to the sound now it was just him power failures left and right so whenever it left port some of us feel like it should have left when it was daylight, so they could take care and see what issues they were having to. but we can't stop the ships from leave import the issues that it was having and shipping line knowing hi, the issues at hand, they shouldn't have let the ship leap port. antony got it under control honestly, it was here for two days because it was a two day working ship and those two days they were having serious power outages >> that is significant cell that is julie mitchell. she's a code administrator of conta

inspections, we would ask the coast guard. parties to the investigation are the united states coast guard, maryland transportation authority, the association of maryland pilots and we've invited grace ocean private limited. grace ocean is the owner of the vessel. cindy g -- synergy is the operator of the vessel. again, these parties are part of the fact-finding. they do not connect analysis for the ntsb. the ntsb does that independently on its own and then we do our own findings, our own probable cause, and our own safety recommendations. now in order to effectively carry out an investigation, we have experts throughout the ntsb in different areas. so we break up our investigation into groups. those groups focus on their particular areas of expertise. in this safety investigation, we have a nautical operations group. this group gathers evidence to document the actions taken by the vessel, the procedures for the safe operation of the vessel, company oversight, waterway management, safety management, and regulatory oversight. th

the coast guard inspect these vehicles. is it on a regular basis to see if all of those items are being followed or do you do spot checks? >> pretty thorough. every ship that comes to the united states port has to report to the coast guard and customs and border protection 96 hours in advance. what we do then is look at cargo, look at the vessel history, look at the individuals on board and we will put them through a risk matrix to determine based on their past history and another set of factors on whether we should board and inspect or not. it's a pretty thorough process. >> vice admiral and mr. secretary, when does cleanup begin? we are hearing after the first stage of rescue and recovery and the question is at once cleanup starts, will there be one channel to come through? because this port, not just for baltimore, but for the country to include the midwest with the farming equipment that goes on the csx line that is right there and also how are you going to push back to republicans that don't want anything to come throu

bridge reported down to the coast guard.ll convene a group of experts to review the entire recording and develop a detailed the event alarms is recorded. >> a few areas that i just want to clarify the data that we received from the coast guard, they were able to obtain on the bridge by log the information from the pdr from midnight to 6:00 a.m.. that's a stan immediately so we can see the timeframe around when the accident or ió$nciden occurred. knowing that we can go back and get the rest. there should be 30 days there. this is the immediate information that they give us but it's -- i don't want anyone to think that anything was being held back. that's ry stand information. i want to thank the coast guard for that. it was done right away and they provided us with a thumb drive evaluate back in our lab at headquarters. and i'm si do want to also say'n a lot ofomparison between the pdr and cvr and fdr's and black boxes on commercial airliners. fdr would give you 1000 parameters. that's not this. pdr is basic. it's a snapshot

coast guard helicopter flying overhead. and what from our vantage point looks like maybe a dozen boats in the water looking for people it is so disturbing just to watch that collapse happen that happened around 130 in the morning, we should also mention that the police chief >> james wallace, has said that sonar has detected the presence of vehicles in the water underneath the water. so those rescue crews are out there desperately searching for anyone who may still be alive after this this claps. and as you said, up to seven or more people they believe are still missing gabe cohen. thank you so much for your reporting this morning. i'm going to toss to you, john >> all right. let's give people a sense of exactly where this bridge she is right now. you can look here on this map, this is baltimore, this is the key bridge. you can see it is the outer bridge from downtown baltimore and this span right now, it is in the water. it is in the potassium sco river in baltimore, right now. i just want to play again so people can see s

coast guard. with the u.s. coast guard. i am particularly wanting to thank deputy commandant for operations, vice admiral cotija. i want to thank admiral gilbreath who is commander of the fifth coast guard district and captain o'connell who is the sector commander. before i go on, on behalf of the ntsb, i want to extend our deepest sympathies to those who have been affected by this significant event. the ntsb as i mentioned does many significant transportation events. not just aviation. we do accidents and incidents in marine safety as well and of course with bridges and other highway infrastructure and for this, there were many that were affected by this collapse and our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and others who have been affected. i'm going to get questions on fatalities and injuries which i am not going to answer. that is not something that the ntsb answers. i will refer you to local authorities on all of that information. what i can tell you is a search and rescue i

coast guard cutters, coast guard aviation assets.pete buttigieg. he has pledged that they will do everything they can to very quickly release emergency response funds for this important project. the national highway transportation administration administrator is on his way to baltimore and they'll be releasing the early funds once all the parties are fully engaged. second, the national transportation safety board, i talked to the chair this morning, she and her team will be conducting an investigation of what happened. and finally, the army corps of engineers naval assets for looking below the surface and clearing all of this is going to be part of the effort. the governor is leading team maryland, the mayor and county executive team baltimore. i'm just here to say together with senator cardin and congressmen and others the federal government is your partner in this effort. thank you and again to the people of our state and the people of this great city, we're with you, we love you, we will get through this together. thank you. >> se

coast guard, i want to say we're also here joined by the maryland state police, the u.s. army corp of engineers, the maryland department of transportation. senator ben carton. congressmanvan fullman. a representative from the highway administration. the mayor of baltimore city, brandon scott. and i'm grateful for all the partnership that they've all known this time of need. so now, i want hand it off to the coast guard and a briefing by rear admiral gilrie. >> thank you, governor. good evening. i'm here representing the unified command tonight. my name is rear admiral gillrie the people you see mind me are some of the key leaders and they're making a difference in help helping us to accomplish reopening the port of baltimore. we're going to do that in steps. we're going to clear the debris from the channel. step two, is we're going remove the vessel. and step three is remove the rest of the bridge debris from the wear way. we've got the cranes on their way to help us through that. but before we can engage in lifting, we've got to complete the assessment process of the bri

inspections, we would ask the coast guard.ies to the investigation are the united states coast guard, maryland transportation authority, the association of maryland pilots and we've invited grace ocean private limited and synergy marine private limited. grace ocean is the owner of the vessel and synergy is the operator of the vessel. again, these parties are part of the fact-finding. they do not conduct analysis with the ntsb. the ntsb does that independently, on it's own, and then we do our own findings, our own probable cause and our own safety recommendations. in order to effectively carry out an investigation, we have experts throughout the ntsb in different areas. and so we break up our investigation into groups, those groups focus on their particular areas of expertise. in this safety investigation we have a nautical operations group. this group gathers evidence to document the actions taken by the vessel, the procedures for the safe operation of the vessel , company oversight, waterway management, safety management and

coast guard, i want to say we are here joined by the maryland state, the u.s. army corps of engineers, the maryland department of transportation, the senator ben cardin, senator chris van hollen, congressman quite see if you make, a representative from the federal highway administration. county executive -- and the mayor of baltimore city brandon scott. and i'm grateful for all the partnerships they have all shown in this time of need. so now i will hand it off to the coast guard and a briefing by rear admiral -- by a rear admiral. admiral? >> thank you, governor. good evening. i am here representing the unified command. but the people that you see to my right, they are people that make up that unified command. they are some of the key leaders and that unified command, and they are making a difference in helping us accomplish our number on clarity which is to reopen the port of baltimore -- our number one priority. we are going to do that in some steps. step one of that as we clear the debris from the channel. step two is we're going to remove the vessel and st

we would ask the coast guard so parties to the investigation or the united states coast guard maryland transportation authority the association of maryland pilots. and we've invited grace ocean private limited and synergy marine private limited, grace ocean is the owner of the vessel and synergy is the operator of the vessel. again, these parties are part of the fact-finding. they do not conduct analysis with the ntsb. the ntsb does that independently on its own and then we do our own findings our own probable cause, and our own safety recommendations. now, in order to effectively carry out an investigation, we have experts throughout the ntsb in different areas so we break up our investigation into groups. those groups focus on their particular areas of expertise. in this safety investigation. we have a nautical operations group. >> this >> group gathers evidence to document the actions taken by the vessel. the procedures for the safe operation of the vessel company oversight, waterway management safety management, and regulatory oversight that group would and has collected and has as

that's where we are now as tensions between china and taiwan are reaching a fever pitch, china's coast guard showing force around a group of islands controlled by taiwan within spitting distance of the mainland. will ripley is outfront just off the foggy coast. you're taiwan's frontline, jianmian islands, the chinese coast guard intercepts a taiwanese tourist boat. taiwan's coast guard calls it an unprecedented forced inspection triggering panic among passengers and the public. >> it was very scary. i was afraid that i might not be able to return to taiwan. >> these are the waters where that incident happened, where the chinese coast guard boarded the taiwanese tourist boat and checked everyone's id, spoofing a lot of the people on board you can see how close we are to the skyline of the chinese city of shaman. there are chinese construction boats all throughout these waters. pretty easy to mix up, which side the chinese side of the taiwanese side, you're on? you're this close cross strait tensions rising here ever since the lunar new year holiday a chinese speedboat capsized in a chase with

between its coast guard ship and a chinese vessel in the south. china sea vision claimed sovereignty in the region. despite the un permanent court of arbitration finding these claims to have no legal basis. now we have to china where delegates to the national people's congress are trying to come up with solutions for the countries pressing, economic and demographic challenges. the highly choreographed and national people's congress event has just kicked off in beijing meters have announced a target of 5 percent economic growth in 2024, far below the double digit growth at once, power the chinese economy. they also plan to increase defense spending by 7.2 percent. the same rate of increase as last year. the annual big, long gathering is mostly ceremonial in nature. all key decisions have already been made behind closed doors by the communist party. for the in customer and beijing explained how the government says that it plans to meet the 5 percent growth target . it's yeah, that is really the big question. uh, 5 percent growth, as you mentioned, is actually much lower than what a chi

the coast guard cutter, it's out there.ack and forth bringing people out on scene to search for these individuals so thank you to those this entire community helping in that regard. second, i want to say thank you to the community for the outpouring of support to those first responders. and in particularly the outpouring of support and prayers support for the families of the six individuals. so i would like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we've gone in this search, the extensive search efforts that we put into it, the water temperature that at this point, we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive. and so the seeming at about 7:30, we're going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts coast guard is not going away. none of our partners are going away, but we're just going to transition to a different phase. i'm going to turn it over to kernel butler, please. >> good evening. and thank you all for being here to echo the admiral's comments here, we really ap

we do what we can, coast guard does what it can. the situation has deteriorated, we have unprecedented array of folks in the water. we have florida fish and wildlife, florida law enforcement, highway patrol people out there helping the coast guard. it would be good if the biden administration would plus up resources for the coast guard, they don't have enough resources to be able to protect our shorelines. we sent a message that it is not worth getting in a boat and doing that, chance of you makikg it is small. you will get intercepted and go back and we have not actually seen some major uptick in vessels from what we had been seeing recently, i think it is the case, if you want to come to the u.s. from haiti, easiest way is not to take a boat, but to go to mexico and walk across the border and that is how most of the haitians under biden have come through the southern border. >> lawrence: you have been so gracious to send your men and women to texas to help us secure the border there. >> yeah, i was the first state back in 2021 to

and we have reached out to the coast guard. the ship had a length of about 300 meters. that's 984 feet. it was 100 feet wide. and when you do watch that video, you can see this ship again, 140, 50 57 feet wide, striking that sort of support column. you see it there on the left-hand side of your screen, it strikes that column directly and you just watch that bridge collapse in into the river gave were obviously, as you've been careful to note, we've had reports of at least seven people people in the water. it has been described as a mass casualty event here in terms of the responders, what does it been like for you trying to get access to? i know you said that that first responders have this cutoff pretty well. what are you hearing in terms of their plans to communicate with you to let us have access to this scene if anything at this hour >> okc, it's a totally clear right now. as i mentioned, they really have the area locked down. as we're still seeing those crews coming in and out. and look, this is a really industrial area, shipping containers are constantly coming in

and they're working in tandem with the chinese coast guard. they appear to be members of china's maritime militia away for beijing two project power here in the south china sea >> beijing now >> accuses the philippines of being dishonest and deliberately stirring up trouble. >> even tintin the philippines rights infringing and provocative attempts will not succeed but the philippines remains defiant >> on china is still weekend definitively so they will be sgt the night before the confrontation, we steamed past a us navy ship, the uss mobile. >> apparently being shadowed from a distance by this chinese navy ship and helicopter a looming question. would the us come to the help of its mutual defense treaty ally the philippines? if tensions escalate further with china, owner of the world's largest navy now, there really is the risk having witnessed this firsthand, erin, there is the risk that something could go wrong here >> the >> these giant ships are essentially playing chicken and they don't stop on a dime. the crews are uniformed on each oth

follows a directive that i secured in recent coast guard authorization.ongress and state department as we hit the end of this year. can i have your commitment to review those findings as they are available. >> absolutely, and coast guard leadership in pacific has bee second pacific island summit, one of the most effective events wel2 had was at coast guard headquarters. >> thank you. we'll looks forward to those findings and any counsel you might have about how this committing can be helpful and informed by those findings doing whatever is needed to empower state and our coast guard to help address illegal fishing activities. thank you, so much. >> thank you, senator. >> sense. senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you for your testimony and service, and amen to senator's young's questions we guarding maritime security and protecting fisheries. and i know a lot has been covered in this hearing already, i want to stress, i know you know, that when we're dealing with you know china's influence in pacific island region, it just can't be all down work

the coast guard, the ntsb, and the fbi all on the scene. the intense urgent search and rescue efforts underway. sonar detecting vehicles underwater. first responders, fire departments, and coast guard teams all rushing to the scene in the immediate aftermath, searching through the overnight hours in the freezing water, and they have not stopped. six construction workers on the bridge at the time working to repair potholes. late tonight the coast guard saying they are now suspending their search for the workers. >> based on the length of time of the search, the extensive search efforts we've put into it, the water temperature that at this point we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive. >> reporter: construction worker jesus campos says he knows some of the team working on that bridge. "that was really hard," jesus says. "we are colleagues from work and friends." >> we pray for the construction workers who were on the key bridge. and we pray for everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. >> reporter:

and so this evening at a 7:30 we're going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts coast guard is not going away. none of our partners are going away, but we're just going to transition to a different i'm going to turn it over to kernel butler, please >> good evening. and thank you all for being here to echo the most comments here. >> we >> really appreciate the support from the community to all the first responders here. we appreciate your patience and allowing us to do the best job possible and get the information as it comes up. at this point, as the admiral said, we're going away from the search and rescue portion. so recovery operation the changing conditions out there have made a dangerous for the first responders. the divers in the water, we will still have surface ships out overnight at 0600 hours tomorrow we're hoping to put divers in the water and began a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people thank you. >> with that, we have time for just a few questions. we know there's a lot of questions. they still have to be answered and we d

and as you may see, there is a large chinese coast guard ship directly in front of this philippines coast guard vessel and we've been watching this over the course of the last hour. these are supposed to be an international waterways with free passage. i'm aboard this philippines coast guard ship that was part of a convoy of four vessels that were headed towards a place called the second thomas shoal. and before dawn all of sudden these philippine ships were swarmed by much larger and many more chinese ships that are more off to our port bow. these are not marked like the chinese coast guard ships, but they're clearly operating with them. and operating in very close proximity to this philippines coast guard ship. in fact, i've seen them in the past, cutting this off and what they've succeeded in doing it's not only pretty much stopping our ship in its tracks, but it has separated this ship from the other boats in the philippines. convoy coy, which included too small resupply vessels that were trying to get to the second thomas shoal. now, part of what is at play here is a territorial disp

our team went out with the coast guard just a few hours ago, including the coast guard commandant toee the wreckage up close, to see a freight that is nearly the size of the eiffel tower and to see that same freight with the key bridge resting on top of it. to see shipping containers that were ripped in half as if they were paper mache. to know that out there you have to navigate high winds and electric wires, to go out there and to see it up close, you realize just how daunting a task this is, you realize how difficult the work is ahead of us. with a salvage operation this complex, and frankly with a salvage operation this unprecedented, you need to plan for every single moment, and every time you take action to move a piece of wreckage, you understand that that requires you to reassess the situation. so when i led soldiers in combat, i knew that preparation was everything. you do not go into the field of battle without getting the intelligence that you need first. so as the mission continues, you need to say frosty, you need to reassess, and you need to adapt. that's the mindset th