0:00

Hi, this is Andy Katz, host of March

0:02

Madness 365, presented by Grammarly. This

0:05

week on the podcast, tune in as

0:07

we discuss March Madness players, upsets, matchups,

0:09

and bracket busters. Listen to March

0:11

Madness 365 with Andy Katz, presented by

0:13

Grammarly, wherever you get your podcasts. Grammarly

0:16

is a secure AI writing partner that gives your

0:18

team an instant first draft in a few clicks,

0:20

not a few hours. Companies that use

0:22

Grammarly save an average of 19 days per

0:24

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seamlessly across 500,000 apps and websites. Get

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0:38

easier said, done. This

0:40

is CNN Breaking

0:42

News. Welcome

0:45

to Inside Politics. I'm Manuraju, in for

0:47

Data Bash, and we're following breaking news.

0:49

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman is about

0:52

to answer questions on the catastrophic bridge

0:54

collapse in Baltimore. We'll bring that to

0:56

you when it begins any minute now.

0:59

And these are live pictures of what's left

1:01

of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, where search

1:03

and rescue teams are desperately looking for survivors

1:05

in the Patapsco River. This

1:07

video shows the moment of impact when

1:10

a large container ship hit a support

1:12

column on the massive bridge, plunging cars

1:14

and people into frigid waters.

1:17

Officials are describing it as a mass casualty

1:19

event. The damage that you see

1:21

here up close is just hard to comprehend, especially

1:23

for the time it's tens of thousands of people

1:26

that cross over the bridge every day. And

1:28

that includes Maryland Governor Wes Moore. We

1:32

know the Key Bridge. I've

1:35

ridden over the Key Bridge countless times. So

1:38

many of us know the Key Bridge because it is

1:40

our normal commute. This is a place that is a

1:42

normal commute route for over 30,000 Marylanders

1:45

every single day. And

1:48

so to hear the words that

1:50

the Key Bridge has collapsed, it's

1:53

shocking and

1:56

heartbreaking. the

2:00

scene. Gabe, you have been there for hours

2:02

talking to officials. What are you learning? Well,

2:07

Mona, we know this search and rescue operation is still

2:09

unfolding just down the river from where I'm standing. I'm

2:11

going to step out of the way and let you

2:13

take a closer view of that

2:15

massive container ship just down

2:17

the way. You can see mangled

2:20

pieces of steel what's left of the Key

2:22

Bridge laying across the front

2:24

of that ship as well

2:26

as steel on either side of the boat

2:29

there down in the water. You

2:31

can also see there are boats, several

2:34

of them still out there with divers

2:36

that have been searching through the water

2:38

still looking for six construction workers that

2:40

are believed to be in the water

2:42

still missing. Over the past few hours

2:44

they managed to pull two people from

2:46

the water. One of them was basically

2:48

unharmed. The other taken to

2:50

the hospital with serious injuries. Look, we

2:53

are more than 10 hours into this

2:55

operation at this point and we are

2:57

talking about freezing cold water, Manu. I

3:00

was here, as you mentioned, early this

3:02

morning. Conditions were brutal. Strong

3:05

winds, choppy water, things have definitely

3:07

calmed down since then, but of course

3:09

that is a long time for anyone

3:12

to be in this water. We have heard from

3:14

officials who talked about

3:16

the moments before the bridge collapsed, that

3:18

vessel seeming to lose

3:20

control, maybe losing power. You talk

3:22

about flickering lights that we saw

3:25

just before it collided

3:27

with the column of that bridge, but

3:29

we do know they are still very

3:32

much in search and rescue operation mode.

3:35

We have seen vehicles along

3:37

the riverbank not far from the

3:39

site where this is unfolding, but

3:41

bear in mind this is not

3:43

a small section of river that

3:45

they are searching. It is a

3:47

huge part of the

3:49

bridge that fell early this morning.

3:52

We have watched Coast Guard

3:54

helicopters and so many more

3:56

than a dozen of these rescue boats that

3:58

have been combing the water. are just searching

4:01

for any indication of life.

4:04

But the reality is the clock is ticking.

4:06

We have heard that from

4:08

first responders, from officials who have given

4:11

these press conferences, but they have said

4:13

they are still going

4:15

through with this search and rescue even

4:17

as the morning turns into afternoon. Manu,

4:20

they are holding on to hope that

4:22

they can find someone, find

4:24

people and save some lives. Gabe,

4:28

can you just talk about the people who are

4:30

saving lives as a result of

4:32

this May Day call that happened just

4:34

before this crash occurred? Yeah,

4:39

so we heard officials talk about that a little earlier

4:41

that as the boat, as

4:44

this vessel seemed to be

4:46

losing control and was heading toward that column,

4:48

it sent out a May Day call. We

4:50

don't know the exact timeline of it, but

4:52

according to officials, transportation crews

4:54

were given enough time that they were able

4:56

to stop at least some traffic from getting

4:59

onto the bridge. We don't know how many

5:01

cars we are talking about there, but

5:04

they say as a result, the vehicles

5:07

that ended up in the water as well as the eight people

5:09

who ended up in the water, they were

5:11

all part of this construction crew that

5:13

was up there. Otherwise, it sounds like

5:15

because of this May Day call, potentially

5:17

lives were saved and cars were kept

5:19

off at least this section of the

5:21

bridge. Because bear in mind during

5:24

rush hour, this is a highly traffic

5:26

bridge. Of course, this was in the

5:28

early hours of the morning, but if

5:30

this had happened during rush hour, Manu,

5:32

with no warning, we would be talking

5:34

about dozens, if not more, cars into

5:37

this river. They believe that that

5:39

May Day call likely saved lives in

5:41

this case. Wow, amazing. And then

5:43

with absolutely desperate moments here in

5:46

the search and the rescue operation. Thank you, Gabe.

5:48

Keep us posted and we'll turn back to you

5:51

with any new information. I Do want to turn

5:53

now to CNN's Brian Todd, who is actually in

5:55

a boat live along the Patapsco River. Why?

6:00

Mana this is a different angle Hear from

6:02

where are Dave was transmitting from. You can

6:04

see the vessel just over my left shoulder.

6:07

Here will assume as Qb. Schools.

6:09

Human closer to where you come to Rescue

6:11

operations are ongoing. Here is several smaller vessels,

6:13

police vessels and others. I've gotten some buzzing

6:16

around these. The main ship there that's the

6:18

Dali about a thousand feet long slammed into

6:20

the Brits are you can see from our

6:23

angle here for about a thousand yards away

6:25

maybe a little bit more. Thought was a

6:27

fully loaded take her shift. The just slammed

6:29

into this bridge with massive force. This was

6:32

fully loaded because it was outgoing at the

6:34

time of the accident and you can see

6:36

the entire cetera of the bridge is just

6:38

dawn. Remnants of the bridge on to

6:40

the left, answer the right, in the water

6:43

and a statement from his ankle. You can

6:45

also see from Aura or you can see

6:47

parts of that bridge kind of lying across

6:49

the bow of the ship itself on the

6:51

other side there and you can see some

6:54

of the damage there's with Suman title heels

6:56

of this. As we mentioned

6:58

thought this was an ongoing rescue operation. The

7:00

only vessels that are allowed here are rescue

7:02

and recovery votes and there but divert.teams in

7:05

the water all morning. So we have mentioned

7:07

the treacherous conditions for them as well as

7:09

water is extremely cold forty six to forty

7:11

eight degrees Fahrenheit Very treacherous conditions for diverse

7:13

and of course for anyone who might have

7:16

fallen in the water is the only survive

7:18

in that water from in one to three

7:20

hours according to experts. So since as a

7:22

condition of the water and the currents the

7:24

water is smooth right now the surface with

7:27

the currents. Are also a factor. Pretty strong

7:29

currents are coming in and out of. here

7:31

is where the Baltimore Harbors of Tough Skull

7:33

River area here on what we can sell

7:35

you also is that this bridge. is

7:38

a is a important hub for transportation

7:40

or up and down the east coast

7:42

for hazardous material hazardous materials not allowed

7:44

in through the tunnels are around baltimore

7:46

that where most of the vehicle traffic

7:48

goes up or down the east coast

7:51

but it is allowed on this bridge

7:53

going up and down the east coast

7:55

or as her husband materials cannot be

7:57

transported here this is also massive disruption

7:59

because know vessels, no ships, no cargo

8:01

ships, no container ships can come in

8:03

or out of here and that could

8:05

take days to rectify. I

8:07

did speak to a gentleman here who's involved

8:09

in the effort to kind

8:12

of salvage whatever's left of the bridge. He said

8:14

it's going to take days just for floating cranes

8:16

to get here to be able to pull some

8:18

of this wreckage out of the water and when

8:20

they get here they're going to have to cut

8:23

parts of the bridge that have collapsed into smaller

8:25

pieces in order to remove it and that could

8:27

take days. So, Manu, that gives you an idea

8:29

of the disruption here. Yeah, Ryan Taub, thank

8:31

you for that. I report from the Bogle

8:33

again, check back in with you as well,

8:35

especially in this key moment, these desperate moments

8:38

where hopefully there's some good news in the

8:40

search and rescue operation. Ryan Taub, thank you

8:42

for that. Now, the White House

8:44

says that President Biden is actually going to

8:46

speak and address this incident in just a

8:48

matter of minutes. He was briefed earlier today.

8:50

The White House releasing this photo showing this

8:52

briefing that occurred earlier this morning. We expect

8:54

him to talk before he heads out to

8:56

a campaign event in

8:59

North Carolina this afternoon. Later this afternoon, we'll

9:01

bring that to you live when he does speak. But

9:03

first, I want to play some sound for you about

9:05

what happened this morning. This is

9:07

the emergency dispatch call to the first

9:09

responders as they were on route to

9:12

the scene. He

9:15

advised the entire bridge, the entire key

9:17

bridge in the harbor. I advise again,

9:19

the entire key bridge has fallen into

9:21

the harbor. Joining

9:25

me now, Andrew McCabe is the former

9:28

deputy director at the FBI and senior,

9:30

CNN senior law enforcement analyst and CNN's

9:32

Pete Montine, who is live near the

9:34

scene. Pete, when you

9:36

see the images of the collapse and you

9:39

just see how quickly this entire bridge falls

9:41

into the river, what is your takeaway? We

9:46

watched an out of control vessel

9:48

and this calamity happen really in

9:51

slow motion. All of

9:53

this really was very condensed though in

9:55

about a few minutes time and

9:58

really we're hearing about a crew that was

10:00

sort of. outclassed by the problem here. Transportation

10:02

Secretary of Maryland Paul Wiederfeld tells me that

10:04

a local pilot from the Baltimore Harbor, the

10:07

port of Baltimore, was on board the boat

10:09

and in command of this ship 950 feet

10:11

long as it careened at eight knots toward

10:13

one of the center pilings of this trust

10:16

bridge. I want you to look behind me.

10:18

You can still see it in the Patapsco

10:20

River back there with the containers

10:22

on it. This ship is about 9, 95,000 gross tons.

10:24

So a lot of inertia and

10:29

a lot of mass was headed for this

10:31

piling when it hit. Just

10:33

before that at 124, that's when it was cleared

10:36

on the bridge that there was a problem.

10:39

And then the lights flickered and then they

10:41

flickered once again on board. So what investigators

10:43

really want to know now is what really

10:45

entailed the power loss? What did that mean?

10:48

And what did that mean for the controllability

10:50

of this boat? The NTSB will brief us

10:52

here at 1 p.m. That will probably be

10:54

a very preliminary, just the Faxman briefing. Then

10:56

we will get a little bit more information

10:59

as the day goes on. Typically around 7,

11:02

8, 9 p.m. is usually when they brief after

11:04

something like this and they will sort of lay

11:06

out the details as they're getting them, at least

11:08

preliminarily. But really this is something that was a

11:11

crew that was really outclassed by this issue and

11:13

they were able to, they were not able to

11:15

stop this boat in time. We

11:17

also want to know how steerable and

11:19

how controllable this ship was after

11:22

this incident happened, after the apparent

11:24

loss of propulsion. You've

11:27

probably been in a pleasure boat before. Usually

11:29

when the throttle is at idle you can't turn

11:31

the bow left or right, port or starboard as

11:33

the nautical term goes. So this

11:35

may have been really, really difficult to

11:38

try and keep this out of harm's

11:40

way as this boat sort

11:42

of careened with the course changing to the

11:44

right and toward that big piling of the

11:46

Key Bridge. And Pete, the

11:48

governor of Maryland says this bridge was

11:50

quote fully up to code but this

11:52

bridge was built in 1977. So what

11:54

questions does

11:57

that raise? 47

12:00

years old, really not all that old in the grand scheme

12:02

of bridges. There are plenty of older bridges here in Maryland

12:04

that has a big bay bridge. The first span of that

12:07

was completed in the mid 1950s. So

12:10

bridges are aging and the American

12:12

Society of Civil Engineers issues a

12:14

report card every year on the

12:16

infrastructure in America and specifically roads

12:18

and bridges in America. So this

12:20

was not a structurally deficient bridge,

12:22

according to Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

12:25

It served about 13,000 cars a day,

12:27

a few million every year. So this

12:29

is pretty critical. The good news here, and

12:31

maybe the only silver lining in all of this,

12:34

is that this may not pose that much

12:36

of a problem for traffic in the Baltimore

12:38

area because there are two other tunnels. The

12:41

Francis Scott Key, sorry, the Fort

12:44

McHenry Tunnel, and then also the

12:46

Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. So people

12:48

will still be able to get around, although this is creating

12:50

a little bit of a bottleneck, at least here for now.

12:53

The good news, and maybe one more silver

12:55

lining, this did not happen at rush hour,

12:57

although you can't help but think of the

13:00

crew that was on top of this bridge

13:02

doing that pothole repair as this

13:04

took place. And the search is still on for them.

13:07

And Andy, the governor says the investigation

13:09

suggests a collapse was an accident and

13:11

that there's no indication of terrorism. So

13:13

what are we expect the FBI doing

13:15

at this moment? Have they interviewed the

13:17

crew on board, the ship? What questions

13:20

have they posed to them, do you

13:22

believe? Well

13:25

there's really two things you're doing, Manu.

13:27

The first is providing resources and assistance

13:29

to the recovery effort. The FBI has

13:31

a lot of things

13:33

to be able to contribute there, not

13:35

the least of which is the underwater

13:37

search and rescue team. They have a

13:39

lot of experience using side scans, sonar

13:41

deployed from boats, divers in

13:43

the water to help find things, people,

13:45

vehicles, whatever that might be on the

13:47

bottom. And they need a lot

13:49

of those resources right now with a crime scene

13:52

this large. So I'm sure they're doing that. As

13:54

far as the investigation goes, they

13:56

are likely helping process the

13:59

review of kind of backgrounds of

14:01

the folks who are

14:03

identified as crew members and of

14:05

course the pilot. They may

14:07

participate in interviews of those individuals

14:10

to rule out things like terrorism

14:12

or criminal activity. But

14:15

all the indicators so far is

14:17

that that's the direction we're headed.

14:19

This seems to have been essentially

14:21

a tragic kind of industrial-size accident.

14:24

There may in fact be recklessness

14:27

or negligence underlying some

14:31

of what took place on the boat. We

14:33

don't know that yet. If there is,

14:36

criminal charges certainly are not impossible in

14:39

those circumstances. But the big ticket

14:41

items like terrorism and intentional sabotage

14:44

of the vessel or the bridge,

14:46

it seems that those things have been

14:48

ruled out at this point. Yes, so

14:50

many questions. This investigation is just beginning.

14:53

As the Governor said, the first mission is to

14:55

see if there are any survivors of the search

14:57

and rescue operation taking place. Pete

14:59

Muntee and Andy McCabe, thank you for that. Coming

15:02

up next, we're following another big story today.

15:05

The battle over the abortion bill and it

15:07

makes its way to the Supreme Court. At

15:09

stake, access to the most widely used abortion

15:12

method, even in states where it's still legal.

15:18

Hi this is Andy Katz, host of March

15:20

Madness 365, presented by Grammarly. Next

15:23

week on the podcast, tune in as we

15:25

discuss March Madness players, upsets, matchups, and bracket

15:27

busters. Listen to March Madness

15:29

365 with Andy Katz, presented by Grammarly,

15:31

wherever you get your podcasts. Grammarly

15:34

is a secure AI writing partner that gives your

15:36

team an instant first draft in a few clicks,

15:38

not a few hours. Companies that use Grammarly save

15:40

an average of 19 days per employee

15:42

per year. Grammarly works seamlessly across

15:44

500,000 apps and websites. Get

15:47

personalized on-brand writing help everywhere your

15:50

team works. Learn what better

15:52

writing can do for your company at grammarly.com. Grammarly.

15:55

Easier said, done. just

16:00

finished hearing arguments in a monumental case

16:02

threatening access to medication abortion in the

16:05

U.S., even in states where abortion remains

16:07

legal. The lawsuit, brought by a group

16:09

of anti-abortion doctors and medical organizations, alleges

16:12

that the FDA violated the law and

16:14

how it regulated Mipha Pristone. CNN's Paula

16:16

Reed is outside the Supreme Court. So

16:18

Paula, what were the key arguments in

16:21

this case, and did the justices give

16:23

any inclination on how they may rule?

16:26

Yeah, Amano, at this point, it appears the

16:28

majority of justices are skeptical that they have

16:30

this conservative group has standing or the right

16:33

to bring this lawsuit. And that was the

16:35

focus of most of the questions throughout this

16:37

hearing. Now, this conservative group argues that, you

16:39

know, the medical professionals within it could at

16:42

some point be called upon to issue medical

16:44

treatment to someone who has had complications from

16:46

using Mipha Pristone. And they say they object

16:48

to that, and that's what gives them standing.

16:51

But lawyers for the government have said, wait a

16:53

second, you haven't actually been harmed. There's no imminent

16:56

harm. And there are already

16:58

federal exemptions and protections for you if

17:00

you object to something related to abortion

17:02

in terms of medical treatment. So

17:05

it's interesting to hear the justices across

17:07

the ideological spectrum press all the lawyers

17:09

on this question of standing. Now,

17:12

let's take a listen to what Justice Alito

17:14

said about this issue. Could

17:18

you provide a more specific answer

17:20

to the first question that Justice

17:22

Thomas asked you? Is

17:24

there anybody who could challenge

17:27

in court the lawfulness of what the

17:29

FDA did here? In this particular case,

17:31

I think the answer is no. Well,

17:33

that wasn't my question. Is there anybody

17:36

who can do that? Let's

17:38

start with the states that intervened below.

17:42

Justice Alito clearly did not like that answer,

17:44

but the Supreme Court has recognized the fact

17:46

that there are cases where, you know, not

17:48

necessarily in each case, if someone somewhere have

17:50

standing. Now, this would be an offer, as

17:52

Manu, for the justices, if they don't even

17:55

want to get into the issue of medication

17:57

abortion and instead say, look, if you're a

17:59

judge, you group doesn't have standing. And

18:01

we also heard from a lawyer from a

18:03

drug company because the stakes here are incredibly

18:06

high, not just for people who may need

18:08

access to this drug, but also for the

18:10

FDA and other medications that it has approved.

18:12

So this is absolutely one of the most

18:15

high-stakes cases the justices are looking at today

18:17

and hundreds, hundreds of protesters gathered in front

18:19

of the court today. Yeah, of course. And

18:21

all in the middle of a critical election year,

18:24

thank you for that reporting. Paula. And

18:26

we're going to break this all down with my

18:28

great panel, seen as Joan Pascupic, who is actually

18:30

inside the courtroom during the arguments and made it

18:33

back here in time. Bloomberg and

18:35

CNN's Nia Malika Henderson and CNN's

18:37

Kristen Holmes. Thanks for joining me.

18:39

Sure. It's impossible how quickly you got

18:41

here. It literally just ended minutes ago. I know, I know, but it's

18:43

so great. I'm coming back to be able to tell you what it's

18:45

like. Yeah, see, what was it like?

18:49

Well, you could really feel the

18:51

weight of the moment. Just think

18:53

of how important medication abortion is

18:55

nationwide, especially in the two years

18:57

since the Dobbs ruling when the justices reversed Roe

18:59

v. Wade. This is the most common

19:01

way that women who want to end a pregnancy

19:04

are able to end a pregnancy. So there's a

19:06

lot of stake here. And I just want to

19:08

tell you that whenever there's a big argument like

19:10

this, you know, you get

19:12

lots of people coming there as a

19:14

field trip and for different reasons. And

19:16

you know, I'll just mention a couple

19:18

people. I'm not sure if this is

19:21

just right up your street. Senator Josh

19:23

Hawley was there because his wife, Erin

19:25

Hawley, represents the challengers here saying that

19:27

physicians who are anti-abortion are harmed by

19:29

these FDA provisions and they're

19:31

the ones challenging it. But also Letitia

19:33

James, the New York Attorney General, because

19:35

the states are very much involved on

19:37

the periphery of trying to have a

19:40

stake in this. So I can tell you

19:42

that it was, you could feel the energy

19:44

in the room, but you could also feel if

19:46

you take this at face value, just face value,

19:48

and I'm going to give you a caveat on

19:50

why. The justices, key

19:53

justices, Justices Kavanaugh, Justices

19:56

Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts,

19:59

seem to have enough. skepticism that

20:01

these anti-abortion

20:04

physicians who do not prescribe mifepristone but

20:06

who are claiming that their emergency room

20:08

work are affected by botched abortions, that

20:11

they have standing, but there was a

20:13

lot of suspicion about that. Do they

20:15

really, have they ever had to really

20:18

participate in terminating a pregnancy? But

20:20

I do, the one caution I have

20:23

is that sometimes Justice's Kavanaugh and Barakin

20:25

send a little bit of a false

20:27

signal, especially on the issue of abortion,

20:29

but I think as it stands, the

20:32

court will probably knock it to the

20:34

merits of the FDA's provisions that they

20:36

will stop it and say, this particular

20:39

group had no grounds to bring the

20:41

lawsuit. And again, I just want to

20:43

emphasize the state, since so much medication

20:45

abortion is how most people end a

20:48

pregnancy, and also to reiterate the

20:50

importance of FDA having

20:52

its own expertise in

20:55

scientific studies to write

20:58

drug regulations and what is permissible. And

21:00

just to point out what you're saying here about the

21:02

use of medication abortions in

21:04

America, just look at the increase, look at

21:06

this chart, from 2000 up until 2023, up

21:08

to 63% in this country.

21:13

Nearly two-thirds of all abortions were medication abortions.

21:15

We'll be just, if the justices do side-step

21:17

this issue and say the plaintiffs don't have

21:19

standing on this, we'll see how the American

21:22

public reacts. Just look at the polls on

21:24

how people view this right now, about the

21:26

idea of banning the use of medication abortion

21:28

nationwide. This is from the Kaiser

21:30

Foundation poll, 32%, just that's 32% supported, 66% opposed it, and

21:37

similarly about criminalizing mailing abortion pills

21:39

where abortion is banned, just 37%

21:41

supported. So, I

21:43

guess the question is, if the justices decide

21:46

to side-step this and say they have no

21:48

standing, what impact does that have

21:50

electorally? Because look, the Biden campaign, Biden

21:52

and Harris are down in North Carolina today campaigning

21:54

against what the Supreme Court is doing, but maybe

21:56

the Supreme Court will keep it labeled. for

22:00

Republicans if they do keep this legal,

22:02

right? If all of a sudden the

22:04

Supreme Court steps in here and says

22:07

this very common way of having abortions

22:09

is now all of a sudden illegal

22:11

in the country, I

22:13

think this would be a bad thing for Republicans. You

22:15

can tell Donald Trump himself

22:18

is very uneasy, right, with where the

22:20

country is in terms of abortion. He

22:22

on the one hand wants to take

22:24

credit for, as he calls it, killing

22:26

Roe v. Wade, but he also now

22:28

is trying to figure out something much

22:30

more politically palatable, right, voting 15 weeks.

22:32

He also likes 16 weeks apparently because

22:35

it's a nice round number apparently.

22:37

So they know, Republicans know that

22:39

this is just a political minefield

22:43

for them given where the country

22:45

is, but again, this is what

22:47

they wanted and now they

22:49

have been paying the political price over and over.

22:51

It's been a dog who caught the car since the

22:53

DOB's decision and just before you jump

22:55

in, just so viewers know what Trump was saying as

22:57

near just a little bit about where he stands on

22:59

this issue. The

23:02

number of weeks now, people are agreeing on 15

23:05

and I'm thinking in terms of that, and

23:08

it'll come out to something that's

23:10

very reasonable, but people are

23:12

really, even hardliners are agreeing, seems to

23:15

be 15 weeks, seems to

23:17

be a number that people are agreeing

23:19

at, but I'll make that announcement at

23:21

the appropriate time. How

23:25

is Trump infinessing this issue? I

23:27

mean, I don't know whether he's finessing it. A

23:29

lot of people say that that gave

23:31

some clarity into his stance on abortion,

23:33

I don't think it did. I think

23:36

when Donald Trump talks about abortion, he

23:38

uses convoluted terms, he intentionally says things

23:40

like I might back this, I'm looking

23:42

at this. He never says

23:44

definitively that something related to abortion is

23:47

good or that he's going to enact

23:49

a national ban and that's all

23:51

intentional. I mean, yes, is he floating this

23:54

idea right now? If

23:56

you talk to anyone on his campaign, do they think it's

23:58

gonna happen? No, there are no plans for. roll out.

24:00

This is, as Mia said, one

24:03

of the things that's going to dog him

24:05

throughout the entire general election, because he wants

24:07

both sides. He wants to be able to

24:09

talk about abortion like this to make sure

24:11

that his conservative hardliners are in line and

24:13

behind them. But he also wants to completely

24:15

sidestep the issue and not have to deal

24:17

with it. And just to your point, we've

24:19

spoken to a number of Republicans who also

24:21

hope that this just goes away because if

24:23

this came out and there was a ruling

24:25

in June, they believe they could look at

24:27

the exact same thing that happened in 2022,

24:29

which was Roe v. Wade being overturned, then

24:32

they're significantly lost. Give a quick PS on

24:35

the phone. Yeah, the only thing I was

24:37

gonna say real quick is this is not about whether

24:40

this drug would be banned. It's the availability at seven

24:42

weeks versus 10 weeks. And they all drugs just so

24:44

people don't think that this could all go down the

24:46

two. That's a great point of clarification. Thank

24:48

you. That's why we've job is good.

24:50

Give us critical analysis. All right. Coming

24:52

up, we're expecting President Biden to speak

24:54

any minute now on the bridge collapse

24:56

in Baltimore. The search and registry operation

24:58

is still on the way. We're waiting

25:05

for President Biden to address this devastating Baltimore

25:07

bridge collapse that we have been following all

25:09

morning. He's gonna expect to talk about his

25:11

briefings when he's learned about this incident. We

25:13

will bring that to you live. Then he

25:15

heads off to North Carolina for an official

25:17

White House event with Kamala Harris. I said

25:20

a campaign event earlier. This is an official

25:22

White House event. We expect the

25:24

president to talk here, though, at the White House before

25:26

heading off with the vice president. We'll bring that to

25:28

you in a matter of minutes. Now,

25:31

this video shows the moment

25:33

a huge container ship slammed into

25:35

a column supporting the Francis Scott Key

25:37

Bridge. And these six people remain unaccounted

25:40

for. And now joining me to talk

25:42

about this is a Democratic Congressman Dutch

25:44

Ruppers program of Maryland who represents the

25:46

region. Congressman, thank you for joining me

25:49

right now. I understand you

25:51

have been briefed about this incident.

25:53

What have you learned about how

25:55

this ship could have lost

25:58

power and what ultimately led to

26:00

this crash? Well, the

26:02

first thing, we don't know a lot at this

26:04

point. And we have a lot of people doing

26:06

a lot of things. And the first thing we're

26:09

trying to do is to make sure that we

26:11

have everyone who is

26:13

still alive that we can help

26:15

them. It doesn't look too good.

26:17

We have one person that literally

26:19

jumped in the water and swam

26:21

to safety and is now in

26:23

Maryland's world-renowned shock trauma,

26:25

and they're attempting to save his

26:27

life. So that's

26:29

kind of the status now. But

26:32

we have Coast Guard. We have local,

26:35

state, federal. It's an all

26:37

hands on board situation. Let

26:41

me get into some of the things I think you

26:43

might be interested. First thing,

26:45

I've been representing this area. It's a blue

26:47

collar area. Used to be the home of

26:49

Betham Steele, which had over 40,000 workers at one time. And

26:54

I've been representing them for over 20 years in

26:56

Congress. And I was their county executive

26:58

before that, which is the mayor. It's

27:00

a major artery and part of our primary

27:02

beltway in Baltimore. It is

27:05

absolutely critical to commuters. And

27:08

there are 14,000 cars a day. Thank

27:12

God that this didn't happen during the day.

27:14

And of course, commerce is one of the

27:16

major shipping channels in the

27:19

whole East Coast. Now, initial

27:21

reports from the Coast Guard indicate that

27:23

a harbor pilot and assistant were on

27:26

board. And these are pilots

27:28

who are specially trained. They live in

27:30

Baltimore to navigate this shipping channel. And

27:32

they are the best of the best.

27:36

They've been around for many years. Now,

27:38

the Coast Guard said the pilot

27:41

reported power issues, multiple alarms, and

27:43

loss of propulsion prior to

27:45

the incident. And according to

27:47

the National Transportation Safety Board, and they're

27:50

going to be investigating this, the

27:52

eastbound lanes of the bridge were shut down

27:54

due to minor maintenance filling potholes.

27:56

And the westbound lanes were open to

27:59

traffic. Now, as soon

28:01

as the call came in, police

28:03

were notified and began clearing the bridge.

28:05

And that did save some lives. Rough

28:08

numbers are that eight or nine victims were

28:10

involved, but potentially upwards of

28:13

14. And we're really

28:15

concerned that they, those people are

28:17

no longer with us. Yeah. Police are using

28:19

lights in it, which is sad. Yeah.

28:22

Absolutely. But we still haven't identified them

28:25

yet. I mean, we know there's one

28:27

car with its lights on underwater. And

28:29

there are about five cars underwater, I

28:31

believe now. And police

28:33

are using scanners and lasers, lights

28:36

and all to get

28:38

a head count. Yeah. And we're waiting

28:40

to learn more about that. Congressman,

28:44

can you also talk about just the

28:46

Patapsco River? You know, it

28:48

is so critical for shipping and commerce.

28:50

People may not realize it. So just

28:53

temporarily even shutting it down or shutting down for

28:55

the long term, what kind of economic impact does

28:57

this have? It

29:01

will be a tremendous economic impact. Baltimore

29:04

is one of the biggest, largest ports on

29:06

the East Coast. Every day,

29:08

day and night we have shipping coming in

29:10

and out throughout the world, throughout the

29:13

United States. So this, I

29:15

can't even imagine how

29:18

much we will have to deal with

29:21

on the issue. Another thing that we have to

29:23

be concerned about is

29:26

when you, the bridge that

29:28

is there that collapsed, it

29:30

took five years to build that. So

29:33

who knows what we're going to

29:35

do? We have two other tunnels

29:38

that connect the parts

29:40

of the area to the water. This area

29:42

of Eastern Baltimore County, again, is where Beth

29:44

and Steele, there's a large

29:49

center really called Tradepoint

29:51

Atlanta and they have tremendous

29:53

amount of people and development.

29:55

It's a billion dollar project and that

29:57

would be impact to what we do.

30:00

work it out. So what does the incident

30:02

tell you about the vulnerability of bridges

30:04

nationwide and whether local and federal

30:07

officials need to do more to

30:09

ensure bridges are properly reinforced? Well

30:12

we need a lot. I'm an appropriator

30:15

and I'm concerned about some of the things

30:17

that my friends on the other side of

30:19

the aisle just are cutting and say we

30:21

don't need this anymore. This it's amazing we

30:23

haven't had an issue. I can

30:26

compare it to the our

30:28

airplanes and how

30:30

we had very few incidents with some

30:34

close calls and that's

30:36

this is something

30:38

that amazes me. Bridges and that

30:40

we haven't had more of these

30:42

issues. But this we had everybody

30:44

from what I see first we

30:46

had bay pilots there. We had

30:48

everyone that we needed. We had a

30:50

full ship and then all of

30:53

a sudden we lost control right before and

30:55

that's where this occurred and thank

30:58

God it was at

31:00

1 30 in the morning and

31:02

we had maybe a minute or so before

31:05

we knew what was going on and what

31:07

happened. And we expect more details of the

31:09

top of the hour in the National Transportation

31:12

Safety Board. Congressman we have to leave

31:15

it there. We appreciate your time

31:17

and your expertise and knowledge of course of

31:20

this region. We wish the best for

31:22

your community as well. Okay

31:24

thank you. All right. As

31:27

we wait for the president to come out

31:29

we're going to talk about next Donald Trump

31:31

richer than he's ever been before in the

31:33

on paper. The latest on what's driving Trump's

31:35

fortune to new heights. President

31:41

Biden set to address the nation after being

31:44

briefed about that tragic bridge collapse that happened

31:46

in Baltimore learning details about everything that happened

31:48

there. We'll hear from the president in a

31:50

matter of moments he'll be speaking from the

31:53

Roosevelt Room in the White House but as

31:55

we await the president let's turn to Kevin

31:57

Littak who is outside the White House. Kevin,

32:00

tell us what you are here, what you

32:02

expect to hear from the president here in

32:04

a matter of minutes. Yeah, and you see

32:06

the podium in the Roosevelt Room. The president

32:08

should be walking out any moment now. And

32:10

he will be speaking after convening

32:13

briefings with top officials in the

32:15

Oval Office to discuss this

32:17

incident. We saw a photo of it.

32:20

You saw maps, sort of schematics that

32:22

the president was looking at. And really

32:24

the message that you've been hearing from

32:26

officials today is that all federal resources

32:28

are available for Baltimore as they conduct

32:31

this search and rescue. You've seen

32:33

Coast Guard resources in the

32:35

air, on the water there, looking

32:37

for potential survivors, those who are

32:40

still unaccounted for. The other

32:42

message that you've been hearing from the White

32:44

House and other federal officials is that they

32:46

do not detect any signs

32:48

of nefarious intent. They say this was

32:51

an accident. And they do want to

32:53

make that clear, just given how dramatic

32:55

these images are, they don't necessarily want

32:57

to create any fear among

32:59

the American people. So when we hear

33:02

President Biden speak, I wouldn't be surprised

33:04

if it is a fairly short statement.

33:07

Typically when we're in the very beginning

33:09

stages of these events, presidents are

33:12

somewhat limited in the extent of

33:14

the details that they can provide. But

33:16

President Biden certainly wants to address the

33:18

American people and ensure that they know

33:21

that federal resources are available. The

33:23

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been

33:26

on the phone since very early

33:28

this morning speaking with officials in

33:30

Maryland, the mayor of Baltimore. He

33:33

is expected to be on the

33:35

ground in Baltimore later today. And

33:38

certainly President Biden, I think, will also

33:40

want to speak with officials at some

33:42

point. The big question now

33:45

is what kind of federal resources will

33:47

be needed to reconstruct

33:49

this bridge after this recovery

33:51

effort is over? Certainly

33:53

this is a major thoroughfare in Baltimore,

33:55

I-695. It's a major

33:58

thoroughfare for trucking, for... commuters

34:00

and the federal government is going to

34:02

play, I think, a major

34:04

role in getting that bridge back

34:06

up and running, potentially using funds

34:09

from the infrastructure bill that President

34:11

Biden signed into law a couple

34:13

of years ago. Now after President

34:15

Biden speaks, he is expected to

34:17

head to North Carolina. He's planning

34:19

to speak about health care with

34:21

the Vice President Kamala Harris. There's

34:24

President Biden. Good

34:28

afternoon. Before I leave for

34:30

North Carolina, which I've been doing a few minutes, I want

34:32

to speak briefly about the terrible incident and

34:34

accident that happened in Baltimore this morning. At

34:37

about 1.30, a container ship struck the

34:40

Francis Scott Key Bridge, which I've been

34:42

over many, many times commuting from the state

34:45

of Delaware. He's been a trainer by car.

34:47

He's been in Baltimore Harbor many times. The

34:52

bridge collapsed, sending several people and vehicles into

34:54

the water, into the river. And

34:57

multiple U.S. Coast Guard units, which

34:59

are stationed very nearby, thank God,

35:01

were immediately deployed along with local

35:03

emergency personnel. And the

35:05

Coast Guard is leading the response to

35:07

the port, where it represented us from

35:09

the Federal Highway Administration, the FBI, the

35:11

Department of Transportation, the Army Corps of Engineers,

35:14

as well as Maryland officials in Baltimore Police

35:16

and Fire. They're all working together to coordinate

35:20

an emergency response. Still

35:22

that the scene estimates eight people were

35:25

unaccounted for still, not still were unaccounted

35:27

for. Each two have been rescued, one

35:30

without injury, one in critical condition. And

35:32

the search and rescue operation is continuing

35:35

for all those remaining as we speak.

35:38

I spoke with Governor Moore this morning, as well

35:40

as the Mayor of Baltimore, the county executive, to

35:43

both United States senators and the congressmen. And

35:46

my Secretary of Transportation is on the scene. I

35:49

told them we're going to send all the

35:51

federal resources they need as we respond

35:53

to this emergency. I mean all

35:55

the federal resources. And we're going to rebuild that

35:58

port together. far

36:00

indicates that this was a terrible accident.

36:03

At this time we have no other indication,

36:05

no other reason to believe there was any

36:07

intentional act here. Personnel on board

36:09

the ship were able to alert the Maryland

36:11

Department of Transportation that they had

36:13

lost control of their vessel, as you all know

36:15

and reported. As a result, local

36:17

authorities were able to close the bridge of

36:20

traffic before the bridge was struck, which

36:22

undoubtedly saved lives. Our

36:25

prayers are with everyone involved in this terrible

36:27

accident and all the families, especially those waiting

36:29

for the news of their loved one

36:31

right now. I know every

36:33

minute in that circumstance feels like a

36:35

lifetime. You just don't know. It's just

36:38

terrible. We're incredibly grateful

36:40

for the brave rescuers who immediately rushed to

36:42

the sea and to the

36:44

people of Baltimore who want to say, we're

36:47

with you. We're going to stay with you

36:49

as long as it takes. And like

36:51

the governor said, you're Maryland tough, you're Baltimore

36:53

strong, and we're going to get through this

36:55

together. And I promise we're not leaving. Here's

36:58

what's happening now. The search and

37:00

rescue operation is our top priority. Ship

37:03

traffic in the port of Baltimore has been

37:05

suspended until further notice, and

37:07

we'll need to clear that channel before the

37:10

ship traffic can resume. The

37:12

Army Corps of Engineers is on the spot

37:14

and is going to help lead this effort

37:16

to clear the channel. The

37:18

port of Baltimore is one of the nation's largest

37:20

shipping hooks. And I've

37:22

been there a number of times as a

37:24

senator and as a vice president. It

37:27

handles a record amount of cargo last year. It's

37:30

also the top port in America, both

37:32

imports and exports of automobiles and light

37:34

trucks. Around 850,000 vehicles

37:36

go through that port every single year,

37:38

and we're going to get

37:40

it up and running again as soon as

37:42

possible. 15,000 jobs depend on that port, and

37:44

we're going to do everything we can to

37:47

protect those jobs and help those workers. The

37:50

bridge is also critical for travel,

37:52

not just for Baltimore, but for

37:54

the Northeast Corridor. Over

37:56

30,000 vehicles cross the Francis

37:58

Scott Key Bridge in a daily life. on a daily

38:00

basis. Virtually,

38:03

it's one of the most important elements

38:06

for the economy in the northeast and

38:08

the quality of life. My

38:10

transportation secretary is there now. As

38:12

I told Governor Moore, I directed my

38:14

team to move heaven and earth to reopen

38:16

the port and rebuild the bridge as soon

38:18

as humanly possible. And we're

38:20

going to work hand in hand with the support of

38:23

Maryland to support Maryland whatever

38:25

they ask for. We're going

38:27

to work with our partners in Congress to make sure the state gets

38:29

the support it needs. It's my

38:31

intention that the federal government will pay

38:33

for the entire cost of reconstructing that

38:35

bridge. And I

38:37

expect the Congress to support my effort. This

38:40

is going to take some time. The people

38:42

of Baltimore can count on us, so, to

38:44

stick with them at every step of the

38:46

way until the port is reopened and the

38:48

bridge is rebuilt. You know,

38:51

we're not leaving until this job gets done. We're

38:54

not leaving until then. I

38:56

just want to say God bless

38:58

everybody who everyone harmed this morning

39:00

and their families. And

39:02

may God bless the first responders who many

39:04

of them risk their lives. And

39:08

I'm going to, the reason I'm not going to

39:10

take a lot of questions, there's remaining issues that

39:12

are open and we've got to determine what's

39:15

going to happen in terms of the

39:17

rescue mission and the like. But I'll...

39:19

You're glad to go to Baltimore, sir, and if so,

39:21

how quickly? I do, and as quickly as

39:23

I can. You said that the federal government

39:26

is also going to pay for the repairs. I'm just curious,

39:28

this was a ship that appears to be at fault. Is there

39:30

any reason to believe that the company behind the ship should be

39:32

held responsible? And then also you mentioned... That should be, but

39:34

we're not going to wait for that happen. We're going

39:36

to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and

39:38

open. What did you make of the

39:40

decision not to attend this meeting this

39:42

week? I

39:45

don't want to get it. We will have plenty of time to

39:47

talk about it, Robert. You mentioned the port. Can

39:49

I ask about the port? About the

39:51

port. Thank you, Robert. Thank you, guys.

39:54

Thanks, everyone. We'll get out. Thanks, everyone.

39:57

We'll repeat this until the phone is yours. It's on file. Thank

39:59

you. And the president

40:02

there addressing the devastating bridge collapse

40:04

in Baltimore and making news on

40:06

several fronts. One saying that

40:08

the federal government would be there to rebuild

40:10

this bridge, saying they would move heaven and

40:12

earth to do that, and that the federal

40:14

government would pick up the tab for rebuilding

40:16

that bridge. That's something he said that Congress

40:18

would have to address. He noted the economic

40:20

impact, 15,000 jobs impacted

40:23

here in this area as a result of

40:25

it. All the federal

40:27

resources we need to deal

40:30

with this massive search and rescue

40:32

operation that is now underway. He

40:34

called this a, quote, terrible accident,

40:37

as officials have ruled out terrorism

40:39

in this incident. He did

40:41

say that he would also go to Baltimore. He didn't

40:43

give a time frame for that, but the president is

40:45

addressing this major incident here. And

40:47

we're going to continue following the breaking news out of

40:49

Baltimore. Stay with us. Hi,

40:54

this is Andy Katz, host of March Madness, 365. This

40:57

week on the podcast, tune in

40:59

as we discuss March Madness players,

41:01

upsets, matchups, and bracket busters. Listen

41:04

to March Madness 365 with Andy

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Katz presented by Grammarly, wherever you

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