New details on Baltimore bridge wreckage removal, emergency passageway and more

Balti

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Criser has taken some important steps to reopen the city's port after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Workers have begun cutting the

bridge

into pieces and have already moved tons of debris in what is now a 247 operation. Transportation Secretary Pete Budes talked about rebuilding the massive

bridge

on Face the Nation yesterday, we haven't received estimates yet about. I can tell you that the original bridge took about five years to build, but that doesn't necessarily tell us much about the timeline, um, about the reconstruction. goes into how that reconstruction will be designed how the process is going to work at this point we don't fully know everything we need to know about the status of the parts of the bridge that didn't collapse Nicole skanga is in Balti

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with more steel girders Once vital to the Francis Scot Key Bridge in Maryland, now surgically cut into pieces as part of a complex debris

removal

operation, is an L-sail disaster.

Col. SD Pinas, unified commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says that crews will scan a concrete underwater superstructure. and Twisted Metal after each cut, they are very careful not to send divers or teams without knowing for sure that they are reducing the risk by not guessing that the bodies of two construction workers and four others have been recovered. The victims are missing and presumed dead and Maryland State Police have identified four missing vehicles. There could be possible places where there are vehicles and possibly human remains. The U.S. Coast Guard is now marking clear sections of the channel, possible

passageway

s for smaller ships.

Captain David Oconnell I anticipate that you know there are smaller draft commercial vessels, perhaps some small tugs in the coming days. Meanwhile, we are learning more about the actions taken by police moments before the collision. Hang on to Key Bridge. There is a ship approaching and it just missed. your management are heroes they really are the police chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Union credits three officers for their quick actions to stop traffic saving dozens of lives when they stopped traffic there were at least 25 to 30 vehicles stopped behind them, each had these officers delayed even seconds longer more people would have died as a storm system moves through the area four anchors attached to the stern of the dolly and a tugboat are holding that huge container ship down , officials say it's a precautionary measure to ensure the ship doesn't spin causing more damage Chanel Nicole thank you CBS News Baltimore reporter Alexis Dilla is covering the bridge collapse and joins us now from Dundock Maryland uh thanks for being on with us Alexis guides us through today's operation How will it work well?

We expect some changes especially. Today, because of this storm that we're dealing with, we had lightning and thunder early this morning, so we're still working to get some updates on what the crews will be able to do, but we do know that the crews were able to secure the cargo ship. and duck it that way it will no longer move in the surrounding area destroying it and also this storm will not swing it in any direction but another piece of information we are very excited to hear is this. Hopefully, we have the idea of ​​creating some new routes so that that way we can create some vessel flow into the Port of Baltimore and start to recover some losses that we have in terms of the economic impact of the interruption of vessel traffic, so , what are we gonna see? today actually two temporary routes are opening two temporary canals Canal excuse me, open today there will be one on the northeast side and then another one on the south side, but there are some restrictions here, no boat would be able to pass through, we know that.

The north side can accommodate boats requiring 10 feet of water or less and the south side will accommodate boats requiring 10 14 feet or less draft. That being said, there is still some debris that the US Navy talked about, up to 4,000 tons of debris, but there is still some in that area on the south side that they want to clear so that way this can give some flow and have that temporal channel. Now these vessels, although they are only for commercial vessels that have been deemed essential, are not fully open to the maximum. ability to allow all that traffic to come back into the port of Baltimore in terms of the debris, we know we're going to expect more equipment to arrive here today and we're also expecting another crane, this will be number four to arrive and get some of that debris out and Alexis .

I can hear the rain in your shot. We know more bad weather is coming right now. How might this affect progress? So we thought this will definitely stop some of the recovery or excuse me a little bit. of the

wreckage

collection efforts, we are still working to learn more about the barges and what can be delivered to them as they are removing more, so we are staying in touch with the command center to learn a little more about how many It is possible that the dive teams can come today or what is going to be discussed if it will be delayed a little longer because we know that this rain storm is not going to end today it will continue through Tuesday and Wednesday.

Alexis Dilla, thank you. Nancy, we've been almost a week since that bridge collapsed in Baltimore in the harbor there and almost immediately President Biden said he would pay a visit. I think as soon as possible, as soon as possible, now we hear that Friday is that date, how significant the visit is. In the wake of this collapse, it's significant, particularly for Tony, because the White House has made it clear, the Administration as a whole has made it clear that they believe the federal government has a role to play in rebuilding this bridge and paying for it. rebuilding This bridge, which is undoubtedly going to cost billions of dollars, so the president there on Friday is a powerful symbol.

They hope that this bridge will need to be rebuilt, not only for the people who use it every day as travelers, but also, of course. For port traffic in and out of Baltimore, we still don't know much about what he's going to do when he gets there, how exactly he's going to survey the damage, where exactly he's going to speak, but this is the president keeping a promise by saying. that I would visit as soon as it was safe to do so at a time when there are some in Congress who are wondering particularly on the right whether the United States should shell out more money to pay for the reconstruction of this bridge that we started in Baltimore, where the crews are Taking major steps to try to reopen the port after the deadly bridge collapse last week, the US Coast Guard has opened an alternative channel for ships involved in clearing the debris, workers are also cutting into pieces what What remains of the bridge and moving tons of debris every time someone enters the water risks every time we move a piece of the structure the situation could become even more dangerous we have to move quickly but we cannot be careless.

I have been clear with this team that we have to prioritize safety and my directive is to complete this mission without injuries or casualties. We have already lost six Marylanders in this crisis. I refuse to lose any more Nicole Skanga has the latest from Baltimore. Good evening, Nicole, today the unified command announces that. will lift a 350-ton chunk of debris, a mangled and twisted steel portion of the bridge at the north end by the end of the day, all in an effort to clear that 700-foot-wide stretch of the Canal, it was also announced today that there are There is a smaller channel on the northeast side of the waterway open to some traffic, including commercial barges and some vessels, which will be an integral part of salvage operations in the coming days.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it is also working to open two more channels, one along the south side and a third channel that can accommodate larger ships once more debris surrounding the dolly is removed. container ship. All of this activity comes before President Biden arrives in Baltimore on Friday and the White House announces today that the small business administration has opened two business recoveries. Centers in Baltimore for small business workers who were directly affected by the bridge collapse to visit and apply for loans of up to $2 million in the coming days. Some worry that the weather could slow these rescue efforts.

We are waiting for a storm. The system will start working from tomorrow, uh, right now. Crews have anchored the container ship Dolly, four anchors attached to the ship's stern, and a tugboat in anticipation of that weather to ensure the container ship does not spin and cause further damage. Nicole I will send it back to you. Let's bring in President Biden's senior advisor and assistant, Tom Perez. He is also the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Thank you so much for being with us, and first, tell us more about President Biden's visit. Baltimore, what can we expect next Friday?

Well, the president said immediately after this tragedy that we are going to move heaven and earth to help the victims, their families, the community and the reconstruction, and he will be there on Friday to see it for himself. The progress that has been made, the unified command is truly unified, we have federal, state and local partners working, this is a really challenging task, it's 110,000 tons, when you add the ship and the bridge debris, 10,000 tons, so that there is a lot of work. To be done, we still need to recover four bodies and that work will continue.

That's something Governor Moore said correctly. We will put safety first. In the meantime, we want to give closure to families, as you rightly point out to the small business administration. has already acted, the Department of Labor at the federal level is working closely with the State Department of Labor to make sure that we move forward to help displace workers. There are many workflows at once and we are doing them all and We are doing them all as effectively and safely as possible. They talked about some of the families and I know they met with some of the victims' families last week.

Will the president also meet with them on Friday? Yes, we are planning the day. right now, I've met with the families and it was deeply sad and, as you know, the president himself is no stranger to tragedy in his own life and that's why as soon as he found out about this, one of the first directives to I was: make sure we're with the families, make sure we support those families, uh, I mean, these are, you know, they do the work that a lot of people wouldn't do in the middle of the night, you're out on a highway making sure that the next day people can get to work safe and sound uh the most important right that a worker has is to return home safe and sound and that did not happen for these workers, which is why the president places a very high value on making sure to protect the safety of workers and take care of families, and that will be a big part of what we do in the coming days and weeks and, as you know, many of the victims were from Mexico and Central America in terms of some of the support from the What you're talking about is that the White House does something specific to help their family members, especially those who may live outside the United States.

I personally participated in the last half hour on a phone call. exactly about that, there is a way to take loved ones to a country called humanitarian parole when you lose a loved one this way and you have, perhaps, a brother, a mother or some other relative who lives in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador, which are the four countries involved here. There is a process to allow them entry for a certain period of time so they can grieve with their families, so we are working with the Department of Homeland Security to process those requests. We will continue to sit, listen and learn from families.

I cannot overstate how tragic it was that these were the breadwinners. Not only did they support their families here, but in most cases they sent money. Back home to their loved ones and that's a big part of this tragedy, the White House has already allocated about $60 million to help the state of Maryland after the collapse of this bridge. Transportation Secretary Pete Budaj has asked Congress to provide more funding. I told Face the Nation what his district could be next and also this has historically been bipartisan and I'm not just talking about times past. Remember the infrastructure package itself.

President Biden's infrastructure plan was carried out on a bipartisan basis. Remember that in 2007 Congress approved aid two days after a bridge collapse in Minnesota. Do you think the same type of cooperation can be obtained in this Congress? I do it for several reasons, firstFirstly, the port of Baltimore is a resource that is not simply for the state of Maryland, but for the country, I mean, more cars are imported and exported from the port of Baltimore than any other port in the United States, so this It's a national resource that's a big part of our national supply chain for so much. many critical goods coming into the United States and leaving the United States secondly, that vote that you mentioned in Minnesota, that Secretary Budage mentioned the vote to help the people of Minnesota after that tragedy. 421 to zero um this is not about Republicans and Democrats, this is about maintaining a critical aspect of our economy and making sure that we can continue to be the strongest nation in the world in terms of our economy and moving forward making sure that we can do that.

I am confident that we can do it in a bipartisan manner and we will continue to work toward that end. The president has been very clear about ensuring that the federal government plays a very important role on this issue and we will continue to work with our federal delegation but, frankly, with all members of the US House and Senate because, as correctly pointed out the secretary uh we don't know where this will happen next we hope it never happens anywhere else but history teaches us that these types of incidents happen that's when we come together and this incident as you mentioned earlier has put highlights some of the dangers many immigrant workers face according to Bureau of Labor statistics Hispanic workers are more likely than any other racial and ethnic group to die on the job.

So do you think reforms are needed to make some of these jobs safer? The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating this. You may know that about a year ago on one of Maryland's interstates there was another incident involving the tragic loss of life. Know? Immigrants make up about 25% of construction workers. These heroic people were doing a job that, frankly, few people are willing to do in the middle of the night. They are trying to build a bridge to opportunities for their own families and by doing so. made the ultimate sacrifice, we have to make sure that what I told you earlier in this conversation that the fundamental right that all workers have to return home from work safely is a right in fact and not just empty promises and I'm sure that everyone who works in occupational safety and health, who used to run the Maryland Department of Labor, as well as the US Department of Labor, I know the professionalism that is there and we are going to learn from these tragic incidents here and the other. that happened a year ago in Maryland and make sure we do our best to prevent this from happening again.

Okay, Tom Pérez, it's a pleasure to see you as always, thank you for being with us, thank you, let's not forget that we are coming off a holiday weekend but for the men and women of this operation, the work did not stop, the work did not stop. The work did not stop on the study of the area the work did not stop on the environmental monitoring the work did not stop on developing better images of the remains so that we can move forward and in a safe and efficient manner, and this morning the team was there again under the rain and wind keeping the job going, so it's hard to overstate how dedicated and extraordinary this team really is, from the unified command to leaders at the local and state levels and our federal levels and our federal delegation to our partners in the private sector. to our partners in the philanthropic sector to each and every one of you I thank you today I will provide you with updates on the four directives that I have issued to this team and as a reminder, we must first recover the four remaining victims and bring closure to these families, second, we must clear the channel and open the ship to traffic to the port, third, we must take care of all our people who have been affected by this crisis and fourth we need to rebuild the Key Bridge and we will make sure that the new bridge honor the spirit of the city of Baltimore this morning.

I received a briefing from the unified command now. I have spoken with leaders at all levels in response to this effort all day and therefore, first in our recovery efforts, we must work harder to clear the channel so we can move forward. Now I know there is urgency to act quickly and no one feels that urgency more than the people here today, but we need to be clear about the risks. This is a steel bridge over a container ship in the middle of the Patapsco River. We are talking about tons of steel. smashed and leveraged can We're talking about water that is so murky and so full of debris that divers can't see more than a foot or two in front of them We're talking about a situation where a portion of the bridge underwater has been described by the un by unified command as a chaotic disaster every time someone enters the water they run a risk every time we move a part of the structure the situation could become even more dangerous we have to move quickly but we cannot be careless.

I have been clear with this team that we have to prioritize safety and my directive is to complete this mission without injuries or casualties. We have already lost six Marylanders in this crisis. I refuse to lose one of the army's mantras anymore. The mission is always people first and that is the mentality we are going to apply to this work now to clean the Federal Canal and reopen vessel traffic to the port. The unified command has moved forward with its first crane operation, they cut and lifted a piece of On the northern section of the Key Bridge, the entire operation took 10 hours and in that time they were able to cut and lift a 200 ton span of the bridge.

Now, when we were getting that information, UniFi command said something that really caught my attention, where, uh, Admiral. He says this was a relatively small lift, we are talking about 200 tons, we are talking about something that is almost the size of the Statue of Liberty and what Aral said is correct, it is a small part of what we are talking about the scale . To be clear, this project is huge and even the small elevators are huge, this is how we have to move forward. A temporary channel on the northeast side of the collapse opened today will help us get more boats on the water around the site.

After the collapse, the temporary channel will be marked with government lights to aid navigation and will have a control depth of 11 feet. We are also now moving forward with creating a southwest channel for deeper draft vessels that will allow for deeper drainage of that channel. It is approximately 15 feet deep and will be open in the next few days. UniFi Command has scheduled another lift for later today pending conditions specifically pending lightning and they will lift an estimated 350 ton piece of the bridge. Work is progressing. Mission continues. We are never going to lose sight of the workers who have also been affected by this collapse because at least 8,000 workers on the docks have jobs that have been directly affected by this collapse and just today, the deputy governor, executive count, the mayor and others met with the local Long Term International Association 333 these are individuals who work hard, never complain and always get the job done and many have continued to work on the docks, many have not been able to return to work and even those who have returned to work At the docks they know that the situation still feels very uncertain and we want to let all those people know that we support them because they have always supported us.