i want to bring in somebody who has a unique and specific perspective, retired chief dave downey.ood morning. thanks for having me. >> i know in your career you haven't seen anything exactly like this, right? can you give us a sense, based on your expertise, what these first responders are doing now at this point? we're eight-plus hours into when the collapse actually happened. we are told it is search and rescue. the mayor told us a couple of minutes ago on this show that she is hopeful, right, that maybe they'll find more people alive in the debris. what's going on from your perspective? >> absolutely. there's a very specific process that takes place with building collapse, search and rescue. first the units on scene, we're removing those that were on the surface so we could get those folks out. then you get into the more methodical void search and rescue. that's what's happening right now. it's a very specific, step by step process. it's a large area of collapse. they're literally looking for needles in a haystack. so they'll be running our search and rescue dogs over the rubbl

we still have chief dave downey with us. chief downey, listening to what they were saying there, tell us what stood out to you and what your hopes are as they continue to look for survivors. >> well, i think the best news was the fact that they have, you know, rescued another victim. we all saw the early reports of the young man that was coming out of the rubble. so they got to another victim. and they're engaged in these void search and rescues, so it's a very arduous process. they're having to stabilize the structures as they move in and tunnel in. it's going to take some time. it's a true team effort. we'll use the canines to get an area of concern. we'll have sound devices that can hear something as quiet as a watch ticking or person breathing. we can use visual cameras so we can poke a little hole in and find the void space. this is going to take a bit of time. but it was good news seeing they got another victim out of there. >> to reiterate for everyone, again, this number that you can call if you fear anyone you knew,

joining me is dave downey and the president and ceo of the florida chapter of the associated buildersthanks to you both for joining us this afternoon. dave, i'll start with you. give us a sense of what the search and rescue efforts look like at this hour and how do teams even prepare for something like this, preparing unimaginable, a building collapse and a fire right next to it. >> well this is what we prepare for, what we train for. this is an unfortunate change in events the last 45 minutes. i don't know the extent of the fire, but it's not uncommon to have these smoldering types of fires in collapsed structures. the team that is working there, my former department, has tremendous amounts of training and experience. they're part of the urban search and rescue in the united states, one of 28 teams. and they're going to continue to press on. what they've been doing is void searches, looking for those that could be in collapsed voids and performing any rescues for those that they encounter. they've removed those that are lightly trapped and removed those that were on top of the rubble

dave downey, the former chief of miami-dade fire rescue.hat's what we are actually seeing as you see you'll see teams of people going back and forth. there is a tent, many food tents where they can get refreshments and food. and then they go right back in. all this talk about how they're losing hope, doesn't apply to the search and rescuers here. we're hitting other news after a quick break including the former president's mounting legal troubles. the manhattan district are district attorney could hit the trump organization with criminal charges as early as next week. the details next on "velshi." xt. or last minute gift shopping rashida rashida: i'm putting a bow on it! wow. even sneaking away for a vacay rashida. rashida: shhh! i've earned this? from home improvement, drugstores, select travel and more earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle. ♪ sometimes you wanna go ♪ ♪ where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪♪ ♪ and they're always glad you came ♪ welcome back, amer

i am joined by chief dave downey. he is the former miami-dade fire rescue chief.>> well, good morning, john. thanks for having me. # they have been working since the collapse in affecting rescues. first, they took the people off the rubble, those who are lightly trapped. all through the day and night last night, they have been conducting more meticulous void searches and area searches. also, they have been trying to stabilize the areas that need to be stabilized. we had heard earlier about, you know, the danger of a secondary collapse. they've got monitoring devices on the existing building. paying attention to any movement of that building. they are also trying to secure some of those -- some of that hanging debris. so, the rescuers can continue to operate, continue to do the void searches. today, we're moving in more search-and-rescue personnel. and we are, also, moving in some equipment to start a very precise de-layering to lift up some of those heavier slabs. and again, start to uncover any, potential void spaces. so this is an ongoing, very deliberate, very

chief dave downey, appreciate it. michael fagel, appreciate it. as well. we are going to take a short break and our coverage continues, in just a moment. the. it comes from within. it drives you. and it guides you. to shine your brightest. as you charge ahead. illuminating the way forward. a light maker. recognizing that the impact you make, comes from the energy you create. introducing the all-electric lyriq. lighting the way. ♪ ♪ i'm so glad you're ok, sgt. houston. this is sam with usaa. do you see the tow truck? yes, thank you, that was fast. sgt. houston never expected this to happen. or that her grandpa's dog tags would be left behind. but that one call got her a tow and rental... ...paid her claim... ...and we even pulled a few strings. making it easy to make things right: that's what we're made for. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. this is the sound of change. the sound of a thousand sighs of relief. and the sound of a company watching out for you. this is the sound of low cash mode from pnc bank, giving you multiple op

retired miami-dade fire chief dave downey. >> right now, they're essentially looking for needles in aack. while this building came down relatively straight, they're not-- you know, victims and survivors are not going to be located in the exact area where the building used to stand. >> reporter: overnight, three more bodies were pulled from the rubble. today, thunderstorms and small fires slowed down the search. 54-year-old stacie fang is the first known victim of the collapse. ( alarm siren ) just yesterday, rescuers pulled her 16-year-old son out of the rubble alive. >> all of our training tells us that for at least the first 72 hours there are a high likelihood of people that could be alive in there. >> reporter: so far, eight task force teams have been deployed from across the state for the search-and-rescue mission. six more are on standby, major. this is an effort that is likely to last very well into next week. >> garrett: manuel bojorquez, thank you so very much. for the families of the missing the wait for any development no matter how small has been agonizing. as the number o

we have dave downey joining us, the former miami-dade fire chief and now he is the head of the disaster respond plans in miami-dade. what is the l antonia? >> i'm struck by the level of complication and the dangerousness that the first responders and rescue teams have been facing here. the heaviness of the concrete, the sheet rock that is shifting. fires that have blinded some of the workers. they had to construct a 125 foot long trench to make more efficient access through the rubble. bringing more closure to the families. i'm also struck by the fact that we have recovered one more body. still 151 people are unaccounted for. this is has just been agonizing and fear in this neighborhood has been spreading, fueled by that 2018 report as people that live in the sister tower, the north tower, a short way down the block they worry is my home unsafe too? seeing that report, news of structural damage and areas like the parking garage and the pool deck has them worried in the very similar building the same could be the case for them. i spoke with a woman that lives in a building in front of th

i want to bring in now the former miami-dade fire chief dave downey. we've talked about. we've spoken under some other conditions, nothing this bad. good evening to you. thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> 99 people are unaccounted for tonight. what's being done right now to find anyone who may still be trapped in this rubble? >> well, there's an established process for any type of collapse search and rescue. so early on, as we saw, those surface victims, those victims that were lightly trapped were removed. then we brought in the technical search personnel. these are highly trained, highly experienced personnel. they're part of -- they're team members. they're right here locally, and they are now engaged in what we call the void search. so what they're doing is systematically going across the rubble pile, looking for any indication of life. they'll use k-9s. they'll use search cameras that they can put into small spaces. they'll use listening devices, anything available to them to try to locate any survivors. and they're going to do this as a step-by-step process. man

former miami-dade fire chief dave downey.. thank you for having me. >> chief, you got 37 years in search and rescue. you went to the world trade center, you went to hurricane katrina. can you tell us what these search and rescue teams are dealing with right at this moment? >> well, this is obviously a devastating event. and the first responders, you know, are all trained at different levels, the initial responders would get in there and start doing the surface removals, getting those that are lightly trapped, and assisting them out of the building. i was talking to some of the on-scene units, stairs were compromised. a lot of those that weren't injured had to be taken out via the aerial ladders that you see on the news there. as those lightly trapped get removed, then we start moving in with our technical search people to do the audio and visual and run the dogs, the k-9s to look for those that are trapped in spaces. that's what's going on right now. we're moving these are trapped in any void spaces. and all the while being a

i talked to dave downey earlier, you had him on at 4:00.re people in there that could have survived. >> the chrite, as you know, dav, is incredibly unstable. part of the building is still standing. how great a risk does that pose to these heroic rescue teams that go in there, they risk their lives to find survivors? >> they're trying to find voids in the parking lot, they're going through the rubble pile to get down far enough where they can find the voids. they understand that. but we have structural engineers on the scene, they're monitoring every movement, they're monitoring every squeak that they hear to make sure this thing doesn't come down. don't forget, the rubble pile is right up against the rest of the building that's still standing. as they move that stuff out of the way, they're going to have to be very cautious that the whole structure doesn't come down. >> is there a point, david, when this operation goes from being a search and rescue operation to becoming a recovery operation, meaning that they don't think anyone is still al

let's get some analysis from dave downey with me here. the chief of miami-dade fire and rescue. thank you very much for joining us. what does it say to you, day four, and the numbers really haven't changed all that much. there was one, four dead, five dead, now nine dead. basically the same for a while. 152 still unaccounted for. what does that say to you? >> well, we're still continuing to remove the rubble. and it is a very slow, methodical process. so it is not something we can do very quickly. so it is going to take some time. we're still in rescue operations. our shifts start at 12:00 noon and end at 12:00 at night. i just saw some of my guys coming off at noon and they were spent. exhausted. i just randal into them on the way over here. they're refreshed, ready to go to work. listen, we're doing everything we can to rescue these people. >> yeah. these men and women are real heroes. a lot of people don't realize. they themselves are risking their own lives going into what could be a rather dangerous situation. >> absolutely. there's still a possibility of a secondary collap

dave downey is joining us. a retired of the miami-dade fire rescue team.ter the 9/11 attacks in new york. david, you're he're with me. tell us about the concern so many are feeling based on the report and 2018, three years ago there was major structural problems there. and nothing was really done to try to fix it. and in fact, the people were reassured oh, the building is in great shape. >> well obviously there will be tremendous concern. i haven't read the report so i don't know the details. but it is important that we look at everything. and it's going to be very important to look at what caused this building to collapse and how we can make changes and so this never occurs again. >> let me get to tom's thoughts on this. you fully appreciate this search and rescue operation that is underway, the dangers all of the men and women involved in the search and rescue operation themselves are going through. it is a very tenuous situation over there in parts of that building probably still very unstable. >> -- worried about the people that have -- fire rescue and

are desperate for answers as search efforts stretch into a six day former miami dade fire chief dave downey says rescue workers are doing everything they can that every rescuer here is maintaining hope. they're putting themselves in harm's way. try to recover any victims that they can. the search is treacherous. with 6 to 8 teams working at a time on 12 hour shifts crews carefully make their way through layers of steel and concrete, hoping to find anyone who may have survived in a pocket of space. for now, officials say the situation remains a rescue operation. the human dimension of this is huge. the uncertainty that you could be leaving someone alive behind by ending too early versus the concerns about continuing to push it a high risk rescue mood today, engineers will begin conducting a thorough safety review of the condo sister building audits of safety with certifications for all buildings. four stories are taller are also underway. surfside residents say the impact of thursday's tragedy will last a long time. there's an overwhelming sadness. things are not the same down here. the weat

was not in bad shape former miami-dade five cheer and urban search and rescue deputy coordinator dave downeyg, dave. >> good morning. ainsley: good morning. so, when you hear that, that residents were told and reassured back in 2018, what do you think happened? did someone know something and then was there a cover-up? >> i wouldn't have any idea. you know, i don't have any of the details of the original report nor any of the conversations that took place. ainsley: let me ask you about the fires. what's causing the small fires underneath the debris? >> well, first, to start with the good news the fires have been suppressed over the last 24 hours we haven't had any sign of even small smouldering fires. but, originally there was some fire, it's tough to guess how that occurred. there is a good chance that as the building was collapsing there still was power in the building. and smoldering fire could have ignited. as the winds off the ocean and air flow changes through the pile. air gets introduced and the fire is allowed to start to grow. so, it's mostly ordinary combustibles. it wasn't cars bu