Maryland Gov. Wes Moore gives update on Baltimore bridge rebuild | full video

and we are all here to bring you support I also want to recognize our First Responders and all of our emergency Personnel whether you serve in uniform or whether you have raised your hand as civilian whether you are here and were here on the day of the collapse or you joined the mission this week whether you were born and raised in Maryland or whether you traveled here from around the country you are and you continue to be the very best of us and we are deeply grateful now this morning I received a briefing from UniFi command and today I will provide updates on the four directives that I've issued to our team first we need to give close Ure and comfort to the families second we need to clear the channel and open the vessel to all traffic to the port third we need to take care of all the people who have been directly impacted by this crisis and four we need to and we will rebuild the Key Bridge first I'm providing closure to the families last week Maryland State Police police recovered the remains of one of the remaining victims Maryland is praying for the family of Menor sandal and all of his loved ones they're in our thoughts in our hearts and we'll always have our support and In This Moment it's important that we not just recognize the tragic loss of these six marners who perished during keish glass but also remember the ways in which they had lifted our state up in the way that they lived the night of the collapse these men were tending to our state's infrastructure for our Collective benefit their work had dignity their contributions will never be forgotten on the day of the collapse I said that we would stop at nothing to support these families the Maryland State Police currently has over 25 Personnel assigned to recovery operations on a daily basis our director of immigrant Affairs Adriana Lee has been in direct and constant contact with each of the families and we currently have 30 members of state government assigned to helping these families in their hour of need and that work will continue second on clearing the federal Channel and opening The Vessel traffic to the port I've said it before and I will keep on saying it this work is remarkably complex I ask you I'll show you on the slide here what we're dealing with so this over here this over here is an aerial vision and aerial rendering of what we have as you see here the dolly tra underneath the bridge the thing I want to point out here what's important to recognize is this piece over here as well as this piece over here not only are they massive and when I say massive we are literally talking thousands of tons that are sitting on top of the dolly and thousands of tons on the other side of the channel but also as as Paul henkins pointed out or our director sup pointed out also Colonel pin Chason that it'd be one thing if the part that you don't see here it'd be one thing if it looked like that it'd be one thing if the bridge kept its structural Integrity the problem is the bridge no longer looks like that the bridge now looks like that so as colon p Chason always and accurately points out what we're seeing from the top is one image in many ways what's even more complicated is what we don't see because this part up top here is now that mangled remnants of the Key Bridge that now sits in the Patapsco River so when we talk about the overall complexity of the operation that's just an idea of what kind of complexity that we're talking about and the kind of complexity that all the members of the army Corp Engineers the members of the Coast Guard Navy soup solve that they are trying to identify and work through that type of wreckage with that type of damage that was done to the Key Bridge so the thing that we know and we continue to highlight is we've got a long road ahead of us but I'm proud to say the remarkable work of this team that we keep on moving last week the US Army cor Engineers released an aggressive timeline for fully reopening the Fort McHenry Channel and we are on track to open up a thir 35t deep Channel by the end of April and the length of that channel is also going to be 280 ft we're also on track to clear the channel and Restore Port access to normal capacity by the end of May we've already completed two temporary channels one temporary channel is on the northeast side of the collapse with a controlling depth of 11 ft and the other temporary channel is on the south side of the collapse with a control ring depth of 14 ft as of this morning there have been 58 commercial movements throughout those two channels but let's be clear even with those 58 movements we're still only talking about 15% of what vessel traffic look like before the collapse so even when you factor in the vessels that are going to trade Point Atlantic the economic activity is likely even lower than that 15% since we are talking about that death of no more than 11 ft that we're also now talking about smaller cargo and smaller ships so I want to thank our friends in trade Point Atlantic for the work that they're doing and for raising their hands and I also want to say the commitment to making sure that we can get a deeper Channel remains consistent and they have a channel when you're looking our friends at trade Point have a Channel with a controlling depth of over 35 ft and that has been instrumental in helping us to find creative ways of keeping our commercial operations flowing so to the entire tradeo team we all collectively want to say thank you we're also working to remove containers from the dolly and this will help us to access additional parts of the bridge and to prepare to refloat the vessel but I want to be clear on that as well that work is complicated and that work is dangerous because just one empty vessel just one empty container that's sitting on the vessel can have a weight of over 1 and 1/2 tons and that's an empty vessel as of last night we have removed 34 containers and our present goal is to remove around 178 containers total third on taking care of our people since they opened last week our new Maryland business Resource Centers have helped a combined 200 businesses yesterday we opened a third permanent business resource center in anero County and that permanent site is located at 710 aquaart Road Glen Bernie Maryland 2161 I encourage everyone to visit sba.gov for more information on ours and resources and please take advantage of these resources that are currently available yesterday I was also proud to sign the port act into law this legislation will support businesses and workers that have been affected by the collapse and I want to thank president Ferguson delegate clippinger and also Senator saing not only for their stewardship of this bill but also for partnering with this Administration in the entire process among the many Provisions this bill will create new permanent scholarship programs for the families of transportation workers who died on the job and just like every other bill that we introduced this session every other bill that we introduced this session and last session the port Act passed with votes of both Democrats and Republicans bipartisan support because in our Mar we don't just talk in Partnership we move in Partnership it's part of who we are and we all collectively have been working together since day one across political ideologies across party lines across layers and levels of government and we're going to keep on doing it because this is what we do now fourth on rebuilding yesterday I visited leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss the rebuilding efforts with our federal delegation and our federal delegation has been remarkable throughout this entire process we met with leaders all across government including secretary Budaj the Secretary of Transportation the director of The Office of Management and budget shelanda Young and the assistant Secretary of the army for Civil Works Mr Michael Connor in fact earlier today Mr Connor actually came and was in Baltimore and was with us on the ground and also then went out on the water in our meeting yesterday I stressed the importance of bipartisan Federal support in this moment the house and the Senate have a long tradition of bipartisan cooperation in the wake of disaster because on August 1st 2007 when I35 West Mississippi River Bridge and Minnesota collapsed that tragedy resulted in the death of 13 people and the closure of a major thoroughfare Democrats had majorities in both the house and the Senate at the time and they worked with a Republican president George Bush to provide $250 million in emergency funds the day after the bridge fell so now members of Congress of both parties must come together again and act with the same level of urgency and partnership that they did in 2007 now for our part this Administration is ready and willing to work with anybody and everybody so to members of the US House and the members of the US Senate my message is simple come to Maryland work with our Congressional Delegation sit down with me and my team get up close to the wreckage see it for yourself see what we've been seeing for 2 weeks see what it looks like when a Steel Bridge falls on top of a shipping vessel that is the size of the Eiffel Tower see what it looks like when a catastrophe that even the Lloyds of London has said could be the most expensive Maritime catastrophe in history see what that looks like up close and while you're here get to know some of the 30,000 commuters who used to travel across that bridge every single day while you're here meet with some of the 8,000 Port workers whose jobs have been directly impacted by this tragedy get to know them and then you will understand the importance of rebuilding this bridge as quickly as possible I know we can come together I know we can win this moment and I know we're going to win this moment because we're going to choose to do it together every day I meet more and more people who inspire me more and more people who reminds me what it means to be Marland tough and Baltimore strong and today we're joined by Alex delorto Jean reap and the team from Anchor Bay East Marina now they started receiving calls from First Responders at 3:00 a.m. the morning of the bridge collapse and our team needed help getting fuel and supplies and it was Anchor Bay who stepped up they stayed open for extended hours to help help those working in the chess in the Key Bridge response and so far they have served over 550 meals to our First Responders so Alex Jen and the entire team thank you for raising your hands to serve thank you for continuing to remind us why the state is so special thank you for reminding us what it means to be Maryland tough and Baltimore strong in this moment thank you all so much and in a moment I will turn it over to Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller and then following her she'll be joined by the following speakers adal Gil reath speaking for unified command Colonel pin Chason speaking for the US Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Roland Butler speaking for the Maryland Department of State Police and Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott and I want to thank all of our additional partners that are here today and thank them for all their work Service as well I will now turn it over to Lieutenant Governor r m thank you so much Governor good afternoon everyone I'm Aruna Miller lieutenant governor of Maryland and I'm honored to be leading the efforts with the short-term and long-term financial and economic recovery efforts for individuals and business business es that have been impacted by the Key Bridge collapse our administration's recovery efforts are Guided by Three core pillars ensuring that workers remain attached to their current jobs keeping businesses operating including the port and providing support for dislocated workers to support these three pillars the governor has convened the intergovernmental economic resp response team which I chair the response team includes representatives from our partners at the federal state and local levels as you know nothing can be done in a vacuum that requires Partnerships at all levels the main priorities of our work include ensuring that the federal state and local programs are not duplicative of each other while maximizing their impact on Maryland businesses and workers sharing data to ensure we are effectively reaching all affected communities and that includes making sure that we provide information in Spanish and other languages deploying rapid response teams to businesses during this significant crisis and creating a centralized repository of information where businesses and workers can readily access and ident identify all available programs and resources in a userfriendly manner since the group's first meeting the following efforts have been accomplished a third small business administration business Recovery Center as as the governor stated to earlier opened up yesterday in Anar rundo County and today I had the pleasure of visiting this site and it was incredible to see the dedication among the workers that are there not not only are they providing services to small business uh owners but also they have wraparound services including providing services for mental health to makeing sure that they have rental and housing facilities and food pantries those are just some of the wraparound services that are being provided here so big shout out to County Executive Stuart Pitman and his entire team for making that possible Governor Moore as you know also signed an executive order to released $60 million in state resources to Aid in financial relief for individuals and businesses he also signed as you heard the port act into law just yesterday which modifies eligibility requirements to meet the specific needs of Port workers we're grateful to the partnership of the entire Maryland general assembly in making this happen so quickly finally we're also grateful for the several local PR program initiatives that have been launched at the local levels from Baltimore County to Baltimore City to anondo County these Collective efforts will quickly provide resources to workers and businesses to help replace lost revenue and paychecks when the block channels reopen these initiatives will help business to remain in Maryland maintain their Workforce and resume full operations thank you and above and beyond all of this our hearts our prayers and our thoughts continue for the victims and their loved ones with that I'd like to turn it over the microphone over to Admiral gillery who I have admired from day one since he started on unified command thank you thank you liutenant governor for those down words first I'd like to say thank you to all the members of the unified canand and the great work that you have been doing while I'm standing up here speaking on behalf of unified command the real work is going on by people you see represented to my right and sometimes to our left they are really doing that hard work that we need to have happen to restore Commerce to the Port of Baltimore and I couldn't be proud of them the beauty of a unified command is that every agency brings their authorities their resources and their expertise to the table in order for us to do things quicker and faster through Unity of effort in simple terms that allows us to put the right person in the right place at the right time with the right piece of equipment to get this done as quickly as possible and that's what's happening here in this unified command and I'm so proud of all of their efforts so to update you specifically on where we are our Priority One is reopen that deep Draft channel and we've made some significant progress along those lines I'm going to let Colonel pin Jason talk about that in a little bit more detail but to highlight some of those things in addition to all the planning that you've heard her talk about and that Captain Suarez has talked about we are now actually beginning to be able to cut some of the steel on the top portions of some of those sections of the bridge inside the Deep jaft Channel and that's tremendous progress and we're really excited about that and what that means for us long term and as the governor said we are on track for those goals that have been set priority number two is again is to remove the ship and we're making progress there as well along those lines as the governor mentioned we are removing containers from the bowel of the vessel and the reason we're doing that is so that can give us better access to the bow so that we can safely remove those pieces of the bridge that are on top of the bow because that is essential to us to be able to refloat the vessel and remove it so that's what we're doing with removing those containers and as those operations will continue the third priority is remove the rest of the bridge debris from the Waterway and the state and their contractors are making great progress along those lines and they have removed significant portions that were above the water they've cut off significant portions above the water put them on barges and transferred them back to trade point so they're making great progress along those lines as well and I'm really proud of those efforts so I'd like to turn it over to Colonel pchas to give you more of an update on that Priority One restoring Commerce to the Deep Draft channel thank you hon Governor Moore thank you thanks for being here again today it's an honor to be able to tell the story of all the hard work that our teams are making out there as you know our supervisor of Salvage from the US Navy is coordinating the Salvage operations across all three efforts and really maximizing the capability of that team they're sharing lessons they're applying them immediately they're sharing information equipment expertise and they're really designing our way ahead step by step it's inspiring to me as an engineer but also as an American to be able to see that in action and so I I hope that everyone can take comfort knowing that we've got the right team here as as adal just mentioned what we're what we're working towards right now even though the focus is on opening the limited access Channel the 35t deep 280t wide channel the effort is ongoing throughout the focus is to make sure that we're going to provide some relief to the port and I'll explain here I think we have a Graphic where we'll be able to talk about that effort right now but I just want to reassure everybody that while that's kind of front and center we're going to hit that at the end of April we're still planning all the operations and synchronizing them deconflict resources making sure that safety is still in all that we're doing uh throughout the entire Waterway so I think we're going to move over if we can uh to The Graphic to explain the next key step so I apologize in advance if can you hear me is this working it's going to be hard for me not to geek out on the engineering stuff right now thank you okay so so as Governor Moore explained whenever we're talking about the far side of the channel we mean that we're talking about the area that's on the other side away from the vessel and I know that when we look at the skyline I believe we have a picture when you look at the skyline you see these these trusses that are going into the water and our imagination tells us that that's how how that might be further down but we have a massive amount of wreckage we call it a wreckage field or debris field right in the middle but this area this big span is about 240 ft across and this is the area that we're going to be cutting we've actually started cutting it already it's about 1,500 tons and the salvers are tackling this by cutting it into two major sections but what's really critical to this is to understand that this truss is actually going into let's try that again it's actually going into the water and into the mudline so while up here above the water it's beautiful you're able to see it they can see what they're doing as they're getting under the water remember the water is extremely murky for those divers how are you going to cut something that's under the mudline so what they've done is up top up top here we're going to get it we're going to get it okay okay in this section here they've actually created a gap by creating a hole in order to lower a bucket to be able to dig out the roadway and the debris that's laying on top of the bottom part of this truss it's not that it's all just clean sitting there the way that the wreckage C came into the water the roadway actually came all the way on top so it's not exposed they've actually had to dig it out in order to be able to cut it and so they've they are going to lower then once they dig out and expose the cords on the bottom of the truss that they have to dig out they're going to then lower the hydraulic shears divers are going to go into the water place the hydraulic shears on the spans that they're going to cut in here once it's exposed the divers are going to go up and they're going to be able to cut them just explaining that wrapping our heads around that it's it's hard to imagine but that's what they're doing and when you talk to them about it that I mean that's how they that's what they do that's what they're designed to do and they explained it in such a methodical way that it's clear that we've got the right team handling this but that 1,500 ton span is going to be broken up into 720 and about 794 tons each and then we're going to see the chessian action taking it out over to sparis point looking forward to it I'll be followed by Colonel Butler good afternoon thank you Colonel P Jason Governor Moore lieutenant governor Miller the Maryland State Police Aviation command Works around the clock to secure the airspace surrounding the site of the bridge collapse we want to remind everyone this is a no drone zone one more Mar 26 a temporary flight restriction or TFR was implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration at the request of the Maryland State Police the FAA classifies the airspace above the site is restricted due to the bridge collapse under a recently modified TFR for special security reasons the restricted airspace extends from the surface to, 1500 ft above the bridge or above the water line actually and two nautical mile radius from on the bridge in accordance with the TFR criminal penalties may be imposed for those that violate the restricted airspace the Safety and Security of our Personnel is of the utmost importance the unified command in partnership with local state and federal agencies is committed to identifying investigating and Prosecuting any unauthorized use of drones and the restricted airspace Mayor Scott thank you Colonel B Mr Governor M lieutenant governor uh let me start uh this afternoon as I always do by honoring those families who continue to suffer uh the most direct consequences of this Unthinkable prep tragedy uh particularly those families of those who we lost on the bridge and again say to them that we are with you now and will be with you forever every single day we are hopeful that our efforts bring us closer to bringing them home and offering more closure to those families and our community as a whole and I'm proud to to be back here with this group after a brief hius albe it for good reason uh one with the president's visit last week and of course s di in the general assembly ending earlier this week both of both of those occasions I think are critical critically important to this effort I want to thank uh the president again for his incredible partnership on this effort making available every single resource uh that we have needed and we know he will continue to do that his visit S signifies the collaboration and partnership that we've had at every level of government throughout this entire process and that is what is allowing us to move so quickly on such an aggressive timeline I have to again say thank you and commend the unified command Mr Governor and everyone on the progress that is being need every single minute but most importantly again doing it all together we continue to be hopeful as that time proceeds of course pending weather or any unforeseen circumstances in the meantime though uh we in partnership with our our federal and state Partners at the local level will continue to do everything we can to take care of the families impacted by the closure of the Port of Baltimore uh yesterday I was glad to stand with the governor the Senate President delegate Clipper uh the speaker and all the members in the general assembly at the signing of the Maryland Port Act bringing even more resources uh to bear on this effort so thank you Mr Governor M Senate President Madame speaker last week I had a call with acting HUD secretary toddman and she uh brought up that if you can't pay your FHA insured mortgage due to the collapse of the bridge you can contact your lender about temporarily pausing or reducing your monthly mortgage pay her approve housing counseling agencies and stand ready to support additionally today I was proud to announce that the city of Baltimore has taking additional steps that are under our preview we released an updated action plan this afternoon which seems to bring together all the efforts being done uh in Partnership represented here and within city government we outline a few additional items that in that action plan uh that are being implemented as we speak we're evaluating the addition uh uh of another $1 million to our previously announced wage substitute program and new today a we we announcing that we are offering utility bill and rental assistance to those family impacted by the port closure we are going to run these programs through our existing program to support families who need assistance I've directed uh the entire city government to provide workers impacted by the bridge collaps access to energy assistance through the Maryland energy assistance program and water bill support through the city's water for all assistance program additionally we'll be providing $500,000 into our ongoing rental assistance program specifically for eligible Port workers these two buckets of support will be going directly to City residents impacted by this tragedy to help address one of the biggest looming problems bills coming due when there's not much work to be had more information on these programs the entire action plan released today and information on how to access assistance and other types of assistance offered by a variety of sources can also be find found on our website and I know uh with the state standing up a central website as well we'll make sure that all information is in one unified place as we've been throughout this tragedy in a unified measure we want to continue doing everything that we can do to support baltimoreans as they grapple with the Fallout to this tragedy and I know we will continue to emphasize that same coordination and cooperation that has defined of this response thus far and we will continue to do the most important thing Center the people impacted and what that I want to thank everyone again for their leadership for their hard work each and every day and turn it back over to my governor for questions thank you very [Music] much so the the 58 vessels that have come in and out are mostly barges and tugs um I don't have all the information on their caros we have had some additional vessels that have transited through including the Pride of Baltimore came back through last week and so they made it back into Port as well sir I don't have the total number right off the top of my head but there are several vessels that have called at trade point to offload cargo that had planned to call inside the where the bridge is at now yes sir some have called in there yes sir so right now we're looking at our dredging options but the the digging that's taking place is just to clear the area in order to do some cutting of the trusses themselves but the dredging is the dredging that may need to occur to free the vessel like we did with the ever forward that's still under that's still under the planning phases let me show you so this photo this photo is like you're standing this way Baltimore the city of Baltimore looking this way the vessel was going outbound when we go to the next photo The Vessel would be on this side and this is the pier that is still standing so the vessel is over here and this is the trust this TR sitting on top of the vessel is over here and so what you have in the middle we we identify these if you've got four spans you actually have two that have collapsed on top of each other if you can imagine you've got one two that you see outside but you actually have two that are in a big mangled mess right in the middle and that's what's going to be extremely complex so we're very confident with this timeline because it is it is science-based we've had our Engineers pouring over this and I'm proud to say they've been they've been looking this and analyzing this arguing over this the passion that you see them display when they're figuring out the right way to do it engineering the lifts engineering the operations DEC conflicting and managing the resources that we have this is a realistic timeline and we are considering things like weather we're considering things like the unknown we are making sure that we have time to go in and ensure that it's going to be safe that with each layer that we PE back and we're looking to see how that load responded how the rec reacted that we're being methodical about it and to use our army phrase that slow is smooth and smooth is fast right it's so true because we're not going to rush to failure we're going to take the time to make sure we get the engineering right and that in turn will make it as fast and as safe as possible problem have you seen to how many offenders have what are well I can't give you the exact number of offenders that we have we have a number that are being looked into closely by state and fedal authorities the biggest problem with the number of incursions that you have it's a distraction to the workers we are using drones for certain things to help them decide where to cut when to cut the moment a worker is distracted while cutting or doing anything else they're at risk they're cutting with some pretty severe equipment the Torches they're using they're also looking out for a shift in the metal all it takes is one moment for them to take their eyes off of what they're supposed to be doing the metal shifts and they're at risk so we cannot impress upon you enough if you have a drone stay away obey the no drone zone let the workers do their job let the workers stay safe address this you just mentioned and Rental and that people well I think it's extremely critical when you are out at the Port like the governor I've been and we're talking with those workers when you talk to those small business owners is both uh the support directly to the workers and the folks that need that assistance for for rent or to pay their water bills or if you need to for us to have that wave subsidy for a small trucking business that only has three employees that doesn't have any work to be able to allow that company to stay afloat and those workers stay on that that prevents families from losing their homes down the line that prevents people from not being able to cut the lights on it's a critical thing and we're so glad that all of us are in that work to do that to protect that for those families and those workers together the afro to build my my my thinking is my entire Focus right now is bringing Comfort to these families and making sure that we can support these families making sure that we can get these channels reopened and get Commerce going again uh making sure that we can protect those and support those who have been impacted by this crisis right now to include family members and Port workers uh and First Responders and making sure that we are going to get the the bridge rebuilt uh I think that any conversations uh about anything else uh there will be time for any and any and all of the conversations but right now if we're not focused on those four things then we're being distracted and just to add I think that what we have to do as the governor just said there will be a time for that but now is not that time we haven't these families haven't had funerals for their loved ones we haven't recovered everybody and we should be having those conversations as we would say in church in decency and in order and when we we would not want someone to be talking about renaming something if we lost a loved one that we haven't even had the ability to identify yet we have to have those conversations in the future and as the governor said we will but right now we have to be focused on those families and how they would perceive that conversation about moving past uh their loved ones to talk about a bridge uh uh that will be built in the future correct there there were 4,000 vessels that were on the dolly uh as they began the journey and as and as it impacted the the Key Bridge we will not have to remove all 4,000 off in order to refloat the dolly uh that's where the the number came in the loan number the 136 vessels but eventually all will be removed but that's just but the smaller number is what we're going to need in order to refloat the dolly and that's 247 operation yeah everything that's going on is a 247 operation no we haven't had any of that uh information come across yet it's something we're preparing for we want to make this transition for the families and to get their relatives here as the mayor said so they can find closure we're going to do everything to expedite that process once we get the information no out of this point IED to you the CH responden was in Hill toomin heing some updates on the investigation and cator Ted Cruz said he doubts that the federal government is fully recognizing this as an emergency and he said he wers was happing in China the would days resp I'm sorry Senator crw said the f government is not recognized this in a crisis um I would say it was the federal government and it was this Administration who called my phone and all of our phones at 3:00 in the morning it was the Federal Administration and the Biden Administration who was on the ground that morning it was the Secretary of Transportation who was on the ground literally as the sun was coming up it was the Federal Administration that has been here and has been in constant communication with our Administration with unified command with the mayor with everybody else I I personally have not received a call from Senator Cruz so I think the federal government uh you know I'm not sure what what leg Senator Cruz has to stand on about responsiveness or connectivity to this issue we'd love to welcome them all right thank you all thank you you call so that we can [Music] days like this actually love my job hey it's Andy uh I'm just fixing up Instagram on my phone so are you ready to shut things down got right IOP to edit

Channel: CBS News

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Keywords: cbs news, news, live news, livestream, breaking news, wes moore, maryland, port of baltimore, baltimore, francis scott key bridge, collapse, congress, congressional

Id: bp8XNl39utU

Length: 45min 25sec (2725 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 10 2024