Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Episode Date: March 27, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, top story reporting from Baltimore at the Key Bridge Disaster, a massive cargo vessel, nearly as long as the Empire State Building slamming into a bridge, sending it tumbling into the river. And tonight, six construction workers presumed dead after plunging into the dark and frigid waters. Officials from the construction company making that heartbreaking announcement. The terrifying crash caught on camera jolting people from their beds. Rescue crews pulling two of the eight crew members from the river. The governor issuing a state of emergency. We speak with Governor Westmore tonight about the latest on the search and the long road ahead.

Also tonight, critical Mayday call before slamming into the bridge, the ship issuing an urgent Mayday warning stating they lost power. That call attributed to saving lives, authorities able to stop traffic just moments before the collapse. What we know about that distress call. Searching for a cause. Federal and state officials launching investigations into what went wrong. The questions about how fast the vessel was traveling and a previous crash linked to the same ship. Plus, the massive engineering tasks to remove debris from the water. Abortion access challenged the Supreme Court appearing skeptical about a suit pushing to limit access of a widely used abortion pill.

Justice is questioning anti-abortion doctors on the lawsuit's merit. As large crowds gather outside the court, the concerns the case could undercut FDA approval for other drugs now on the market. Plus, RFK's running mate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., choosing a lawyer and entrepreneur, Nicole Shanahan, as his VP pick, what RFK believes she brings to his long-shot bid for the White House, the backlash he faces from his own family as he presses on with his campaign. Top story starts right now. Good evening. We are live tonight from Baltimore after a terrifying and tragic bridge collapse, forever changing the lives of those who live here. As we come on the air tonight, we're learning that six construction workers are presumed dead after a massive cargo ship slammed into the iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge just behind me. You can still see the massive cargo vessel there.

The tragic news from the construction company just heartbreaking for the loved ones of the missing men who desperately waited for news of their fate. This dramatic video showing the exact moment of impact, a nearly 1,000-foot container ship losing power, plowing into a piling, supporting the bridge, the structure collapsing into the water, the ship trapped in the mangled mess. Devastating images from rescue teams as first responders arrived on the scene searching for survivors. At least eight construction workers plunged into the dark and frigid waters below. Crews rescuing two people, one in serious condition, another miraculously in good condition. And daylight revealing the magnitude of the destruction, piles of twisted metal sticking out of the water, many waking up to the frightening reality that the bridge was gone. Some living nearby mistaking the crash for an earthquake because of the impact and the collapse.

Tonight we speak with the governor about the moment he found out about that catastrophic collapse. The crash cutting off the iconic bridge and the waterway below, both playing a vital role you can see here in transportation. The Port of Baltimore, where the ship came from, is one of the largest in this country. I spoke with a longshoreman who loaded cargo onto the ship just hours before the crash, what he said about the moments before it left port and the disbelief when he woke up to the reality of what had just happened. Before and after video showing the massive undertaking that lies ahead, removing all of that debris, searching for transit, alternatives, and coping with all the tragedy that now leaves a mark on this city. The governor saying the situation could have been much worse had the ship not sent out a Mayday signal, allowing authorities to scramble and stop that traffic seconds before the collapse.

Tonight, we're piecing together what happened, as many questions still remain unanswered. Inside of this disaster zone, the search for six construction workers who plummeted into murky and frigid waters. The record showing the catastrophic collision. and collapse of the Key Bridge. The whole bridge just fell down. Start as whoever, everybody. The whole bridge just collapsed. A live stream capturing the moments

on nearly 1,000-foot cargo ship smashed into Baltimore's iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending it plunging nearly 200 feet. It looked like something out of an action movie. Maryland transportation officials say a construction crew was on the bridge at the time of the crash, filling potholes. The company tonight telling NBC News, six of those workers are presumed dead and just one survived.

We went into the air late this afternoon. As we fly over this disaster, you can actually see how the bridge collapsed. When the vessel crashed into those concrete pilings, they seemed to crack, sending the bridge, all that steel, into the cargo vessel, and then right into the river. The webs of mangled steel that tore through the ship's hall and are still jutting out of the water, making conditions unsafe. for dive teams to enter. On this helicopter, we have a special camera that has a hyper zoom feature. And as we get closer to the cargo vessel, you're struck by how the bridge, something that at one point looks so sturdy with concrete and steel and those pilings, is now almost completely gone or wrapped around the vessel that crashed into it. The vessel identified as the Singapore flag

container ship, Dali, was heading to Sri Lanka out of the port of Baltimore. The ship's operator, Synergy says all crew members have been accounted for and that it's cooperating with the investigation. We chose not to board the vessel today to allow some time for the search and recovery, which we did not want to interfere with. The NTSB, which is leading that investigation, says it will know more about what went wrong once it boards the ship. From up here, you also get a sense of just how big this ship is, right? It's 950 feet long. That's almost about, the same size as the Empire State Building. And when you look at the deck, it is covered in containers, stacked nearly 10 high. Here's what we know right now. At 124 a.m. on the live stream, you can see the ship's lights turn off. Authorities say the ship lost power and propulsion. One minute later, at 125, the lights flicker back on.

Dark smoke starts to billow out of the ship's chimney, and the ship issued a Mayday call, an urgent rush to stop vehicle traffic on the bridge. Transit police issuing this command at 1.27 a.m. I need one of you guys on the south side, one of you guys on the north side, hold all traffic on the key bridge. There's a ship approaching it just lost their steering. So until you get that under control, we got to stop all traffic. At 128, the last few vehicles passed the flashing lights of the construction crew. Being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge, these people are heroes.

They saved lives last night. Just 30 seconds after the last night. last driver clears the bridge, impact. The bridge's superstructure collapsing seconds later. President Biden at the White House today expressing his support for the families of those still missing on the collapsed bridge, one he says he commuted over many times himself. To the people of Baltimore, I want to say, we're with you, we're going to stay with you, as long as it takes. The bridge, which stretches more than a mile across the Patapsco River, saw roughly 31,000 vehicles pass over it every day and soared over the Baltimore Port,

the 11th busiest in the country. I've directed my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible. Just hours before the collapse, Longshoreman Sean Jackson was loading cargo onto the ship. Did you notice anything strange yesterday with the ship or the crew or anything like that when you were loading it? No, I did not. Just a regular day.

You know, I would have never thought in a million years that would happen. How dark is it out here at 1.30 in the morning? It's dark. I mean, even in daytime, you really can't see through the water because it's murky, you know. So at nighttime, it's even worse. And tonight we're learning more about that missing construction crew that was on the bridge. Contractor Jesus Campos worked with the missing men. He says they're from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

They came to Baltimore for a better life and have families waiting at home. He says they were good people, people who came here to work. Residents shaken and confused by the overnight disaster. I thought it was perhaps like a really low-flying, maybe a military jet, perhaps a small earthquake. You wake up and you see how quickly the bridge came down and it's like, I mean, was this thing held up with toothpicks? With a fixture of their community now gone, all that's left for them to do is hope for a miracle. 47 years. That's all we've known. And so this is not just unprecedented from what we're seeing and what we're looking at today. It's heartbreaking. And joining Top Story tonight is Maryland's Governor Westmore. Governor, thank you so much for joining us. I know it's been an incredible day, night for you. When you look over your shoulder and you see the key bridge that way and that massive cargo ship, what goes through your head?

It doesn't look real. That bridge has been here long. than I've been alive. As Baltimoreans, like we, that's part of the skyline. You know, 35,000 people go over the Key Bridge every single day. It's worth about $191 million of economic activity a day. It's a core part of who we are. And so looking at that and knowing the heartache that a lot of families are feeling right now, it just still doesn't feel real.

When you run for governor, you think about days like this, but they're really not real until they actually happen. What has been the toughest conversation you've had today? Well, you know, I had a chance to spend time with the families earlier. And these are remarkable people, brave and prayerful. Families of the people that were on the bridge. The construction workers. And I had a chance to pray with them.

I had a chance to pray for them. And their faith that God was going to protect them and their loved ones was so strong. And I think it's also one of the things that when they let their family member go out that evening to go to work, they never expected that would be the result. And I think that's why they were still on the bridge, why they weren't able to get off, why there wasn't enough time? Were they confused? Honestly, the only conversations I had with them, they were just praying. They were praying for a positive result and just hopeful. I know at this point it would have to be a miracle.

the construction company has told NBC News, it's likely the six are not going to survive this. Are there still active search and rescue operations going on now, or is it search and recovery? Oh, this is very much search and rescue. I have instructed every resource at our disposal needs to go towards search and rescue. That air, land, and sea, all assets that we have available are going towards making sure that we can put our best effort forward to be able to find survivors. Talk to me about the heroes. You mentioned them when you first spoke to the public earlier today, and also about the river pilots.

We understand that they may have been the ones who first issued the Mayday call. Yeah, and that time between the Mayday call and actually hitting the infrastructure and the infrastructure falling, we were literally talking seconds. And I even think about the first responders, the law enforcement officers who immediately sprung into action to try to keep other cars from going on the bridge. They saved countless lives last night.

I think about the first responders who, you know, we had people who, police officers, we had divers in the water, you know, literally in less an hour after this happened. These are people who are just, you know, when we say that we are Maryland tough and that we're Baltimore strong, these are people who epitomize what that means. The people of Baltimore, people of Maryland are going to want some answers, and I know maybe you don't have them right now. It took, I think, three years to build that bridge. It's going to take a long time to clean it up. It's going to take a long time to rebuild. How does the port of Baltimore? How does this area get,

by with that bridge, that main artery now down? Yeah, I mean, well, first, I want people to know we are committed to getting this done and we will get this done. And I'm thankful for the support of the Biden administration. I've already been on the phone with both the president and the vice president. What did you tell the president? What did you ask him?

Did you ask him for anything? I told the president that we need him, and the president said, and you got us. And so hearing the president earlier at a press conference saying that we were going to rebuild this together, he's watching the Secretary of Transportation spend the afternoon in Baltimore. more. It meant the world to us because it really showed that this administration is going to stand

with us every step of the way. Should America be worried that it's a massive cargo vessel, but that it sort of hit this bridge and the whole thing collapsed? Does America need to be worried about its infrastructure? I think it's important for all of us to take a real focus on all of our nation's infrastructure. I think that's actually part of the reason why we've put so much focus on roads and bridges over the process of these past few years because it is important that people have a sense of confidence in their roads and bridges and tunnels that we have you know not just in our state but all throughout all throughout our country if you look at what happened last night any vessel of that size moving at that speed there's there's not many infrastructure projects that could have

taken that but we also do know this is still an opportunity for us to take a real understanding of the infrastructure we have on country no ships going in no ships coming out Have they given you any sense of when the port of Baltimore will be back open? No, I know it's a priority for us to make sure that we can get cargo and infrastructure moving again. But there is no set timeline because my focus right now is still very much on search and rescue. Governor Moore, we appreciate your time. We thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. With the search and rescue mission now underway, questions on exactly how this tragic incident unfolded still remain.

For more on that, NBC's Tom Costello joins us now to break it all down. Tom, we know the ship had lost power just minutes before the collision. Do we know yet if the speed of the ship played any role in this as well? And I know, as I look over my shoulder here, it was a massive cargo ship that was loaded to the brim with cargo. Yeah. Well, I've talked to a civil engineer, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and he said, first of all, you had this ship traveling at eight knots. That's about 9.2 miles per hour.

A pretty good clip when you're inside the port. It had left its position there in the port of Baltimore. It was outbound trying to leave the harbor. And that's when it experienced its propulsion problems. It lost power and therefore couldn't control the navigation. And it slammed into the structure that holds that bridge up, the pylon, if you will, at a pretty good speed. And the civil engineer I talked to it, John Hopkins said, listen, when you're moving that, the law of physics states, when you're moving that much mass at that sort of. speed and you crash into something, you're going to do catastrophic damage. And any bridge in America,

he said, would suffer a similar fate at that speed and with that much mass behind it. The question really is, well, how much protection did those pylons have? In other words, you know, when you see the Rockaway Bridge, or Verrazano Bridge, I should say, in New York, Verasano, you know, it's got tremendous rock base around it to protect it, almost like an island to protect the beach. To protect the base. And the question I think that the NTSB and engineers will look at going forward is do they need to reinforce future pylon bases to protect them in some way? And then Tom, you know, I think something you just said might startle a lot of viewers that this could happen in any port and any bridge around America because we know these cargo ships are all over the east coast, the southeast

coast, the west coast. Along the lines of what you were just talking about, about those barriers, Are there certain standards, and have they changed over the years? Well, I can't speak to how the standards have changed over the years, but clearly this bridge was designed to 1977 standards, and the governor today said it was up to code. But beyond that, I can tell you that there are very strict laws about who is on board the bridge of a ship when it's moving through U.S. ports. Under U.S. law, any ship that comes in must have a lower. pilot therein on the bridge with the captain and that that local pilot therefore is there to navigate waterways that he or she knows very very well because a captain who travels the world and maybe from Singapore cannot expect to understand and know the waters of Portland or Baltimore you name the harbor and we know that a pilot was in fact on this particular bridge a local pilot and he's the one who called in the may day giving the alert to the bridge

personnel to stop traffic so that you had fewer cars on the bridge at the time. So that is a very strict rule that has followed in every port in America. And then, Tom, you know, you cover transportation for us. You heard we talk with the governor about how long this will take. Have you heard from your sources a timeline of what it would look like until the port of of Baltimore? Again, one of the major ports of this great country will reopen? I think they're looking at, I've heard some talk specifically that port, people who work at the port may not be back to work for two months.

I can tell you that the NTSB investigation, they have 24 investigators on the scene. The NTSB is leading this investigation. This will be a very, very long, meticulous process. You probably will not have a definitive decision and announcement from the NTSB about the cause and all the contributing factors. I would say for a year to 18 months, knowing how they operate. They're very methodical. As it relates to the reopening the port, I think you're talking two months probably. And separate from that, when you're talking about rebuilding the bridge, Tom, they're talking about this taking five to ten years, in the words of some civil engineers. This was a massive, massive structure.

And when they build it back, if they build it back better with 21st century technology and making enough room for today's modern trucks, it's entirely possible that that will take a long time as well. You know, Tom, we can never forget what likely is the loss of life here, but what you just reported now, the two months possibly that this port is closed and the years it's going to take to rebuild that bridge, it's going to affect this community and really the country for a long time. Tom Costello, who's been reporting on this for us throughout the day, Tom,

we appreciate having you on top story tonight. I'm sorry. Yeah. Let me just wrap that up. If I can wrap it up. I should have made the point. It's critical because the supply chain is going to be affected on the East Coast in a dramatic way, right? Products that come from overseas, cars that's supposed to come into Port of Baltimore, they're not going to be coming in. And separately, Carnival Cruise Lines has already announced they're moving their Baltimore operations down to Norfolk because they can't get in and out of this port.

So the ripple effect is going to affect multiple sectors of the economy. All right, Tom Costello, putting it into perspective for all of us. Tom, we appreciate all of your reporting for more on this investigation and what we could learn in the coming days. I'm joined tonight by retired United States Coast Guard, Rear Admiral Jim Watson. He was the Director of Prevention Policy for Marine Safety, Security, and Stewardship at the Coast Guard headquarters and was also responsible for ports and cargo safety and security and maritime investigations. We're going to get to the video that I want you to walk our viewers through in just a moment. Again, just like I asked the governor, when you look over your shoulder and you see that, it is incredibly rare. But I think a lot of Americans woke up and they were shocked at the catastrophe and what happened. Yeah, I was shocked.

I mean, you just don't ever dream that that's going to happen. I grew up in Baltimore myself and we've all been over that bridge. And, of course, I've been involved with shipping. And it goes on in a very safe manner for years and years and years. And then you wake up to something like this. just shocking rear admiral i want our director brett holt he's going to roll the live stream video and i know you're an expert in this i wanted to play this video for you so you could watch it and then explain to our viewers the monitors right down here what exactly we're seeing in this

video as the cargo ship appears to lose power yes so yes so i've seen this video before and the ship is is operating it's fully lit up it's uh apparently then loses power because all the lights go off. Now, we know also that it regained its power, and then it went off a second time. Ships have a... And the video we're looking here looks to be a little bit sped up, but I think it's now at regular speed. And so the ship, you know, people are going to be asking why did it hit the piling head on? And essentially they had no control of it? They had no control. They obviously had no control. And I'm sure they were. just, you know, scared of death of what was going to happen.

They put out a May Day, and fortunately, I understand that the police were able to stop the traffic. But in regards to the ship itself, it lost power probably on its main generators or in its main switchboard, where in your house you have a circuit breaker. Well, that obviously blew, and they have an emergency generator and an emergency switchboard. and possibly that one failed. What does the propulsion system do on a cargo vessel like that? Well, it's just a single big diesel engine with a reduction gear and a big propeller.

Single propeller. So there's only one engine, one propeller. No backup? There's no backup on the ship like that, and it has a single rudder. And the rudder requires electric control, too. It sounds like you're saying something very basic. I know it's not that simple,

I appreciate you making it simple for us. But I got to think there's got to be a backup for a ship that size that's carrying all that cargo, and there's not? Well, you do have the backup emergency generator, and that should kick on and regain controls for you. Even if the propulsion is not fully going, you should be able to steer. But when the secondary fails as well, then you might have something like this if it happens in the wrong time and the wrong place. I know it's less than 24 hours, but if you were investigating this like you have in the past, who are you looking at? Who do you think possibly could be to blame here? Well, first of all, we don't start looking for people to blame.

We assume that everybody that is trained and licensed to do what they do, did think properly. But you look into every different aspect. Was it mechanical? Was there a miscommunication of some kind? There's a checklist they have to do before they leave court? There's a checklist. They check the steering. They check the engines. Everything is fully checked. Now, it's possible something like that was missed, but you have pilots in the port of Baltimore to assist the ship's crew, which is a foreign crew, and they're going to look out for the port of Baltimore. That's their main job. And all those things will be cross-checked. The crew will be drug tested, for example.

And then you will look through the ship, and you'll go down into those engine spaces. You'll check those electrical panels and the emergency generator. How long does it have to stay like this while that investigation is taking place, or can they move the ship and start picking up portions of the bridge? You can move the ship. I mean, the biggest challenge you have there is all of the wreckage on the ship, and I'm sure that's going to be the first priority is to get the port back open. And the ship needs to come into a safe harbor so that the structural integrity of the ship can be checked.

You wouldn't want that ship to take on water in that location here. How do they get the ship out? Is it a tugboat? Yes. It'll just pull it right out. Well, once you lift off that bridge structure, you could just use a couple of tugs and you could move it to a berth. And then how long you think it is to like they pick up the pieces of the bridge out of the water? You think it's going to be about two months?

You think it's going to be a while? I can only guess. That's going to be a big job. It's going to take some heavy equipment. But in this part of the country, we do have some pretty heavy equipment. I hope could be brought in quickly. We're Admiral Jim Watson. We thank you for your expertise.

Thanks for joining Top Story tonight. We'll continue our coverage of this bridge collapse tragedy throughout the broadcast, including more on what the search and rescue efforts look like today as crews tried to save those in the water. A diving and salvage expert who has led a team during a major tragedy similar to this joins Top Story. And we're following the day's other major headlines tonight, including RFK Jr., announcing his running mate, who will appear alongside the independent candidate on the presidential ticket this year. Plus, the Supreme Court signaling, it's likely to reject a challenge to abortion pill access, the reaction tonight from Washington. Stay with us, a special edition of Top Story, live from Baltimore.

We'll be right back. We're back now in Washington, where today the Supreme Court heard arguments on everything. efforts to limit access to certain abortion pills. Outside the court, large protests as the case takes center stage in the fight for abortion rights. Here's Laura Jarrett. Today, I believe that we will win. As inside, the justices threw cold water on an effort to roll back access to the most commonly used abortion pill in the country, Miffapristone. On the market for more than two decades, the pill now increasingly used. But a group of doctors and advocates against abortion rights successfully sued last year to make the pill harder to obtain

the first time a court ever invalidated an FDA-approved drug. The FDA violated federal law and it's suiting to keep women safe. Women are now left to receive these drugs in the mail or out in their dorm room without ever having been checked by a doctor for life-threatening conditions. That's reckless. Today, the justices appeared highly dubious, doctors who've never prescribed Miffa-pristone and can't be forced to, under federal law, have the legal standing to sue. I don't think you have it for either one of those doctors.

The legal fight over Miffipristone now focused on the ways the FDA made the drug more widely available, including allowing pills to ship by mail, women to use it later into their pregnancy, and other health care providers to prescribe it. Changes that, if not upheld, would limit access to the pill, particularly in red states where in-person abortion procedures are now largely cut off. The Biden administration and drug manufacturer urging the justices that second-guessing the FDA here could jeopardize approval of any drug on the market. We won't go back. Back outside.

I came out here today because I want to see the abortion industrial complex be dismantled. Melanie Salazar came from San Francisco. I have hope that one day we can live in a United States that is abortion-free in all 50 states. Others, like Alyssa Greenwood, a mom of two, who came to court the day Roe was overturned back today with her now two-year-old. I want her to look back as an adult and say we stood up on the right side of this. For all I know, I get pregnant and I don't want to be. Or I get pregnant and I can't carry it to term and it's a danger and I have to be alive for

my kids who are here. The court is expected to issue its decision by the end of June. Laura Jarrett from the Supreme Court tonight, Laura, we thank you for that. We want to turn out of California where independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has announced a running mate in his 2024 bid for the White House. That pick and his decision to keep campaigning, getting under the skin of other members of the famous Kennedy family, who see him as a potential Biden spoiler. NBC's Von Hilliard has more on who that VP pick is.

I'm proud to introduce to all of you. the next vice president of the United States of America, Nicole Shanahan. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announcing his running mate at a rally in Oakland. I never thought in a million years I would be up here running for vice president. Nicole Shanahan is a wealthy Silicon Valley lawyer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The purpose of wealth is to help those in need. The 38-year-old has no elected experience. A win. well improbable would make her the youngest vice president since the civil war.

Shanahan turned heads as a mega donor to Kennedy just last month when she told the New York Times that she was the one who spent $4 million to air an attention-grabbing Super Bowl ad for him. Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy's renegade campaign combined with some fringe views, particularly on his anti-vaccine positions, prompting some members of his famous political family to speak out against him and vocally support President Biden instead. My biggest concern about Bobby right now, who I love dearly,

is that running as an independent candidate, that he is going to siphon votes from Biden. Kennedy is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. His own father, the former U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, also ran for president and was assassinated on the campaign trail in 1968. RFK Jr.'s independent campaign less traditional. Nicole and I both share doubts about the corporate captured Uniparty and that it can produce leaders capable of imagining a different version of America.

Shanahan's pick caps off a freewheeling VP search that floated famous out-of-the-box names like New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rogers and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, Shanahan, unknown even to some of RFK Jr.' supporters. What do you think of Nicole Shanahan? Never heard of her. I don't really know anything about her, so that's why I'm here. I want to find out what's going on. A recent Reuters Ipsis poll putting RFK support among registered voters at 15%.

That's causing concerns for the Biden and Trump camps over who he'll potentially draw supporters away from in a tightly contested race. As a VP candidate, today's announcement hopes Shanahan to spend much more of her own money on the race with fewer campaign finance restrictions. That could be critical for getting on the ballot as a third-party candidate and competing across all 50 states. Shanahan, saying they are ready to build a movement of voters from both parties. It is a vision that I share too as I spend the next seven months of my life getting him on each and every ballot in this country. Now, Tom, this independent ticket is formally qualified for the ballot in just one state, the state of Utah. But allies say they have collected enough signatures in key battleground states as well, including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. This ticket here, they've got just a few more months to get those signatures.

But as polling suggests, if, in fact, they get on those ballots, they could be a formidable independent ticket. Perhaps maybe not to win the presidential race outright, but to make a big difference in what would be a three-way matchup. Tom? It no doubt could have a huge impact on this race. Von Hilliard from the RFK Jr. campaign trail tonight. When we come back, we'll continue our special coverage from the scene of this bridge tragedy and breaking news just in, the search for those six construction workers suspended for the night. The announcement just in it and what that means for the recovery operation. That's next.

We're back now with more of Top Story from Baltimore, covering that cargo ship crash that resulted in the catastrophic bridge collapse you see just behind me. The Coast Guard saying tonight the search and rescue mission has been suspended for the evening for more on the challenges the search crews are facing right now and throughout this process. I want to bring in the Baltimore County Executive who joins us now, John Olfschesky, thank you so much for joining us, County Executive. I know it's been a wild time for you. As you look over your shoulder and you see this, it's just too dark to search for those missing construction workers, correct?

Yeah, I mean, we've had federal, state, and local resources to bear. We've deployed all of the resources that the Coast Guard, Maryland State Police, local fire and police, both in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, has had. We've been throwing everything at it, and as these conditions are getting dark again, it's just unsafe to have our boats and our divers out there doing any rescue activity. We've heard from the construction company. They don't think that their workers are going to be found alive. Is that your understanding as well?

I mean, we know it's been a long time. We've taken the approach that if there's any sliver of hope, we want to throw everything that we can at it, which is why we've put all of our resources towards this effort. I'm sure we'll re-huddle again in the morning to determine whether this continues as a rescue mission or not. But, you know, certainly our hearts go out to all of those impacted, especially the families of those workers who are on that bridge.

When you look at this right here, and I understand the human loss is obviously something you don't even want to think about, but when you look at sort of the accident and the cleanup, what what concerns you most about that process yeah I mean as you said first and foremost we have the families impacted at our and our thoughts and our actions but we also know that we have to be acting quickly about opening up that shipping channel we're talking about two million dollars daily of economic activity happening here at the port of Baltimore we know that this bridge has meant so

much to this community in terms of connectivity to jobs and schools and just you know getting to their everyday lives when you talk about traffic here and this is going to affect how people get around. We were driving around today. We had to go to the other side. I know you have to find different routes. How big of an impact is that going to be in your community? We're still determining that. We know actually a lot of our families are on spring break this week. And so the traffic impacts have actually been minimized. But, you know, we've had all of our agencies in the, you know, activity center together, working, coordinating. We're going to have a better plan every day. We're going to only,

you know, continue to improve and try to make sure that we're making those adjustments to make sure our residents can get around. But, you know, I just want to make sure that Our residents know that we're resilient. We have all the resources from the federal, state, and local level. The president himself is called, I appreciate the Secretary of Transportation being here. And, you know, we're all hands on deck. Baltimore has had some highs and lows over the last decade. I think that's fair.

How does this impact the community going forward? I mean, I think we're still in shock at this point. And so, you know, as we sort of get through this first day, and I was on scene very early, my chief called me at 2 a.m. I think I was there by 3. just seeing the incredible work of our first responders. I know community members are sort of connected to this bridge in a very personal ways. It's very painful to see.

And so I think we'll still be evaluating that in the days ahead. And we're ready to do what we have to do to get back to where we were. When you got that call, I would think it was around 130. What did they exactly tell you? Did they tell you the bridge is gone? Yeah, we were told that there was a partial collapse and that there was a ship that had hit the key bridge. And again, like, it just didn't feel real. And when you saw it?

And even now, it's hard to believe that this actually happened. So as I look at it, you know, the number of times we've crossed that bridge or, you know, been around it, the fact that we had a star-spangled banner, a buoy placed by the Coast Guard every year to commemorate Francis Scott's keys writing in the National Anthem here in Baltimore. It's still very surreal. And I think we're all still, you know, very much coming to grips with what we experienced today. We've literally just gotten some very sad news from the Coast Guard that it's now being considered a recovery operation. I'm sorry to have to share that with you.

You know, you're put in a leadership position, not for situations like this, but you're going to have to lead now. When you hear that, that likely six lives have been lost here on this collapse, what do you tell your community? It's tragic. And, you know, as I was saying earlier, it's the kinds of things that we try to breaks for and why we throw all of our assets at this work. but we have been continually providing support for the families who were impacted throughout the day because we knew this was a possibility. So my heart grieves for them. We will continue to support those families, just as we will continue to be there for the community in the days and weeks ahead as well.

Baltimore County Executive John Olshevsky, we thank you for your time. I'm sorry to have to talk to you under these circumstances. Thanks for having me. All right, we're going to have much more on the bridge tragedy in a few minutes, but we're following some other headlines right now, other breaking news. In Top Stories news feed, we begin with a military helicopter crash in Washington State. In a statement to NBC News, U.S. Army officials confirming the Apache helicopter went down during a routine training exercise on a base about 9 miles southwest of Tacoma. The two pilots survived and were taken to the hospital.

No word yet on their condition. This crash is still under investigation. Former President Trump hit with a partial gag order. The judge presiding over the New York criminal hush money trial, barring Trump from talking about witnesses and courts. Staffers in the case. That would include his former attorney, Michael Cohen, or adult film star Stormy Daniels, who are both witnesses in this case. We must remind you. It does not include New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, though. The trial is set to begin on April 15th. Two of the world's largest credit card companies reaching a settlement over merchant fees, according to a press release, Visa and MasterCard have agreed to lower swipe fees that businesses pay when their cards are used. Lawyers for the company say the deal would eliminate about $30 billion in fees over $5.5. years. The settlement stemming from antitrust lawsuits filed nearly two decades ago. And an update in the case of Julian Assange, the founder of the controversial organization WikiLeaks, a British court ruling Assange, cannot be extradited from the UK to the U.S.

That just can't happen at this moment. Right now, the U.S. provides assurances that Assange will receive a fair trial without facing the death penalty. Assange is facing charges here in the U.S. for publishing classified documents. A new hearing is set for late May. Okay, we want to turn now to other news as well. The investigation to music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. Tonight, new details emerging about those massive raids by federal agents at several of his properties. And at the same time, authorities arresting a man who is accused in a lawsuit of being Diddy's drug meal, alleged drug meal.

NBC's Stephen Patterson has the very latest, including the statement, Justin from Diddy's attorney. Tonight is a series of explosive sweeping federal raids at the lavish homes of Sean Diddy Combs were broadcast to millions. arrest of a known associate was underway. During the raids, Miami police arrested 25-year-old Brendan Paul at the Opelaca Airport, charging him with cocaine possession. But so far, no word if the arrest was connected to those raids. Stunning images of heavily armed federal agents storming the music moguls properties in Miami and Los Angeles are tied to search warrants connected to an investigation into alleged sex trafficking. But I think it's important to know that the SDNY and the Department of Justice generally does

not go after high-profile celebrities unless they've got a ton of evidence. Law enforcement sources say agents seized cell phones from Combs while he was in the Miami area during the raids before a scheduled trip to the Bahamas. There are reports his private plane has been seen in Antigua. It's unclear where he is now. But in his statement to NBC News, attorneys for Combs said in part, yesterday was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs's residence. There is no exception. for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. Mr. Combs was never detained, but spoke to and cooperated with

authorities, adding, Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. Combs is facing civil lawsuits, including this one, fired last month by music producer Rodney Jones, accusing Combs of forcing him to procure sex workers and pressuring him to engage in sex acts allegations Combs has denied. In that same lawsuit, attorneys also claim Paul, the man arrested yesterday, was Combs's mule and was connected to alleged drug trafficking and sex trafficking operations. Paul's attorney have not commented. Well, of course, we don't know if Diddy himself is the target, although targeting two of his

houses and suggesting more of his homes are going to be a target, certainly implies that they think he may be involved. Federal prosecutors have not charged Combs. But the investigation around him tonight is growing. And late tonight, multiple law enforcement sources tell NBC news that weapons were seized at both properties. So Los Angeles and Miami during that rate. Tom? All right. Steve Patterson for us tonight. We continue top story live here in Baltimore where officials just announced an operation to find six construction workers after a bridge collapse is now a recovery mission.

We'll speak to a diving and salvage expert in just a few minutes about all of this. Stay with us. All right, we are back now with a disturbing story out of Chicago. Today, a law firm representing more than 300 women, filing a lawsuit against local hospitals for allegedly protecting an OBGYN who was sexually abusing patients. Many of the women, the lawsuit says, sent to him because he was one of the few doctors in the area who spoke Spanish. One of the alleged survivors telling her heroin story to our Maggie Vespah and a warning.

According to our viewers, the story contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse. That I'm like, oh my God, you know, is there more, more like me? Tonight in Chicago, a legal reckoning rocking former patients of a one-time trusted doctor turned convicted sexual abuser and taking aim at the hospitals who attorneys argued turned a blind eye as he for years abused hundreds of patients. Most of them, Latina, sent to him, attorneys say, because he spoke Spanish. Women reported. They reported again and again and again. Attorneys addressing reporters today after filing this lawsuit on behalf of Jane Doe 300,

one anonymous woman among attorneys saying the complaint, 300 plus, who they say were abused by now former OBGYN, Dr. Fabio Ortega, at North Shore University Health System and Swedish Covenant Hospital. The suit, the latest chance. in Ortega's legal saga. Back in 2021, the now 77-year-old pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two patients. He was sentenced to three years in prison. This suit now claiming he targeted hundreds more dating as far back as 1989. Many of his patients were Spanish-speaking. Minors, children, pregnant, immigrants, or Medicare patients. He knew that these patients. He knew that these

patients would trust his white coat. The lawsuit detailing allegations of the disturbing experiences of several patients, alleging Ortega performed unnecessary pelvic exams, asked patients intrusive questions about their sex life, and in one case, inserting his fingers into a patient's vagina, comparing his fingers to the size of her husband's penis. The suit also describes how patients allegedly reported abuse to nursing assistants, family physicians, and even Chicago police, but Ortega continued working. NBC News reached out to Chicago PD. We have not received a response. Billion dollar institutions like Swedish and North Shore have a duty to protect patients that look to them for care and treatment. Instead, they place profits over patient safety.

The hospitals now owned by Endeavor Health tell NBC News, we have enhanced and continue to improve and evolve our processes and policies to ensure we have an investment. that supports reporting of threatened or actual abuse. Adding our policies require we investigate all allegations of abuse that are reported to us. What's that emotion? Like, how does that make you feel to read where this case is going now? Angry. Angry. Angry. Angry. Angry. Because they knew what was going on.

Among the women quoted in the lawsuit, a 48-year-old mother from Mexico who asked to remain anonymous, explaining, I have two daughters that I haven't told them, but I went through. The suit describing how in 2018, an employee at North Shore Hospital told her Ortega retired. It continues, North Shore did not share with her that Ortega had just lost his medical license for sexually abusing patients. Today, attorneys say she's far from alone. Did the hospitals ever reach out to patients, especially after he pleaded guilty to abusing two of them, to let them know that this had happened and asked. if they had been victimized.

They didn't, and instead, they continued to cover up and conceal. NBC News asked Endeavor Health about the allegation that hospitals never alerted patients. They didn't answer that question. The hospitals, I feel like they don't care about us, you know, like Spanish or women, Latinas. You teach your kids to be careful when they go out. But how can you, like, prevent this, you know, like, to. then I'd be afraid of your doctor. Maggie joins us now from Chicago.

Maggie, the allegations in this lawsuit are devastating. These attorneys say they've got more than 300 alleged survivors, but they're only filing on behalf of one of them. Why is that? Well, simply put Tom, I mean, we asked them that question, and they just said, more are coming. They didn't want to say how many more. They didn't want to say when they might come.

They also, we asked, why this. wasn't being filed as a class action lawsuit with everybody kind of at once. And the attorney told me it's because with class action suits, everyone essentially gets the same payout. They get the same damages. And when it comes to sexual abuse, every experience is different, every impact is different. Therefore, they want every plaintiff, every alleged survivor to be treated uniquely. So it seems like they're going one by one. And again, they say they have more than 300. And Tom, you and I both know, these are attorneys who we remember from past high profile, very public cases before. In particular, they represented victims of now disgraced, now former USA Gymnastics Dr. Larry Nassar.

So again, they've been in the public spotlight before. They've gone after and gotten big payouts before. And it seems like in this case, Tom, they are only getting started. And one of the more disturbing allegations, of course, that a doctor essentially and allegedly targeted women who didn't speak English, just so disturbing. All right, Maggie Vesper for us, Maggie, we appreciate your reporting when we come back. the recovery mission now underway here in Baltimore. Six construction workers now presumed dead after a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge,

sending it plunging into a river. Up next, we speak to a retired Navy captain who did diving and salvage for another national tragedy. What searching these waters behind me is so challenging. That's next. We're back now with the latest from the scene of the bridge tragedy here in Baltimore. The Coast Guard now saying they are now entering the recovery operation for six construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed. For more on the challenges ahead for the recovery operation, I want to bring in retired Navy

Captain Bobby Scholley. She was the diving and salvage officer for the 1996 TWA Flight 800 recovery in addition to other major underwater recovery missions. Captain Scholarly, I first want to start with the breaking news that happened while we were on the air. It was a search and rescue. it is now search and recovery. Essentially, the Coast Guard is saying they do not believe there are any more survivors. That's right, Thomas. The time since the tragedy happened and under

the conditions that we have, the cold water, the time that the victims would have been in the water has now led the Coast Guard to turn this into a recovery operation. But that doesn't mean that the divers are going to change their commitment to what they're doing. doing. Divers are special first responders. They're going to do the exact same things that they've been doing all along. They're going to go in and they're going to do everything they can to recover those victims. Talk to me about diving in these conditions because even when the sun was out, you look down at the port of Baltimore, these waters and it is so murky. I mean, I bet you can't even see your hand underwater. No. These are some of the most hazardous conditions. Even though

shallow water, relatively speaking, for some of our other operations. The temperature is very hazardous. It's only about 45, 47 degrees. How long can someone survive in this kind of water? I know hypothermia will sit in pretty fast, right? Very fast. You know, we're talking a matter of hours at the very most, depending on what they were wearing. And they probably were bundled up, but still, it's just going to be a matter of hours. And for the divers, they're going to have thermal protection, but that's still going to, the temperature is going to affect them quickly. And from what I saw, they're probably scuba divers. They're in small boats for the divers, so they're not going to be in the water that much because of the

amount of air in their tanks. But the visibility is poor, the debris that they're going through down there, the twisted metal from the bridge structure, the concrete that's down there makes it hazardous and even dangerous for the divers going through the debris field. Are they searching with lights down there? How can they see? Absolutely. They'll have handheld lights. They might even have some lights that are attached to their diving rigs or on their head.

But still the visibility in the daytime as they get deeper is going to be poor with the visibility. So they're only seeing between a couple feet, maybe five or ten feet at the most in front of them. There's mud at the bottom of the river. When the structure collapses, you have... container units that are inside the water, you have parts of the bridge in the water. Is there a fear that that can move around or once it falls and it sinks, it's pretty much lodged in the mud? No, there is some fear that the structure and the debris can move because some of it at the very

bottom might be stable, but the rest of it might still be unstable. And it's incredibly dangerous for the divers as well, right? Because they literally can't see what's around them. As you mentioned, the water is so cold. And now there's the chance that a piece of debris could fall on top of them? Yes. Divers always have to be aware of that. It can not only fall on top of them, but it can foul some of their breathing apparatus.

How long can these teams work? How long a certain team goes in? How long can they stay in the water? For scuba divers, the duration of their tank, depending on the depth of water, they can stay down there, you know, an hour. But the temperature is going to affect that as well. And so some divers, maybe an hour, maybe less than that, depending on how cold they get. Okay, retired captain, Navy, Captain Bobby Scully, who's dived in similar situations.

We appreciate your time. Thank you for being here on Top Story. Again, if you've been watching our broadcast, a bit of breaking news, as we say goodbye, the search and rescue operation now turning into a search and recovering mission here at the port of Baltimore. That's going to do it for us tonight here. Thank you so much for watching this special edition of Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in Baltimore tonight. Stay right there.

There is much more news on the way.