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At Least Four Dead, 159 Missing In Condo Collapse; Derek Chauvin Sentenced To 22.5 Years For George Floyd's Murder; U.K. Delta Variant Cases Up 46 Percent In A Week. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired June 26, 2021 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[05:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Rescue crews are desperately searching for survivors after a building collapsed in Florida, while distraught families wait and hope. We have full coverage this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole building is sheared off. We can literally see the roof caved in and just the darkness. So now we're -- it's just a mad dash to get down.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Plus one family shares how their holiday turned into a scramble for survival.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And former police officer Derek Chauvin learns his punishment for the murder of George Floyd. We will bring you reaction from Floyd's family and his community.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BRUNHUBER: We begin here in the U.S., where an intense search for survivors is underway, more than 48 hours after a catastrophic building collapse in Surfside, Florida. Part of the 12-story Champlain Towers came crashing down during the early hours of Thursday morning.

You're looking at right now, live pictures, the scene as daybreak approaches. At least four people are confirmed dead and the whereabouts of 159 others are unknown. It's still not clear what caused the building to fall.

Rescue teams have faced an uphill battle. They face heavy smoke from fires within the building, heavy winds, lightning and rain. Authorities are asking residents to avoid the area due to the large amount of smoke coming from the disaster site and the possibility it contains toxic chemicals. Meanwhile, a hopeful wall, for the scores of people still unaccounted

for, now stands just about a block away from the collapse. CNN spoke to Miami-Dade's Fire-Rescue chief, who has a message of those awaiting news of their loved ones.

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CHIEF ANDY ALVAREZ, MIAMI-DADE FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT: Have hope. There's always hope. I was in Haiti and, eight days after we were there, we took a girl out of a collapse. And you've got to have hope. And we are doing everything that we can to bring your family member out alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: One Surfside official calls the search efforts, quote, "painstakingly laborious" and stressed it will take some time to reach every person. Randi Kaye has the latest from Surfside.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The desperate search-and- rescue operation is intensifying, a race to find survivors in the rubble from the partially-collapsed building in Surfside, Florida. Search-and-rescue teams not stopping for a moment.

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D-FL), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: These are the best first responders in the world. These are the ones that are sent to trouble spots. They have been to 9/11. They've been to Haiti. They've been wherever there is a disaster and they are bringing that expertise to bear right here, for our residents, for our visitors, in Surfside.

KAYE: The death count now at four. Three of the bodies have been identified, according to the medical examiner's office. Both, heavy machinery, as well as small buckets, being used to carefully lift and move around debris to access search areas.

While 120 people are now accounted for, the number of unaccounted for has increased to 159. Rainy weather and intermittent fires breaking out on the site, complicating an already-difficult rescue effort, an effort that is not without risk to those who are involved.

CAVA: Debris is falling on them as they do their work. We have structural engineers on site to assure that they will not be injured. But they -- they are proceeding because they are so motivated.

KAYE: President Joe Biden today promising continued assistance.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I promise you, the administration, Congressman, will do everything possible to be of assistance now and after.

KAYE: Families standing by trying to hold out hope that their loved ones will be found alive.

MARIELA PORRAS, FRIEND OF MISSING FAMILY: How buried are they in there?

Is there a possibility that they are alive?

Like, truthfully, look at this mess.

I mean, what are the chances?

KAYE: Building resident Kevin Spiegel was out of town when the collapse happened. His wife was at home.

KEVIN SPIEGEL, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: I was just there this weekend. We had the most wonderful, wonderful weekend with our granddaughter, Scarlett. It was wonderful. And how, from one second to the next second, a dramatic change in life, it's unbelievable.

KAYE: So many families with questions about how this could possibly happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Building falls down in a third world country where they don't have building codes. And with all the strict building codes in this country, a building shouldn't collapse like that.

KAYE: And promises being made that the answers will come.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): There's a lot of other people throughout this community and really throughout Florida who want to know, well, how could a building just collapse like that?

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DESANTIS: Whenever the local efforts are under way with that, the state will support whatever we can to do this right but also to do it timely so that we get the answers to the families and that we get the answer to the people of Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: That report from our Randi Kaye.

So it's been more than 48 hours since the collapse. But so many families are still clinging to hope that their loved ones will be found alive.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This man and his pregnant wife, who lived in the Surfside condominium with their 1-year-old daughter, remain unaccounted for. Chris Cuomo spoke to his niece about the last time she heard from her family.

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SARINA PATEL, NIECE OF MISSING COUPLE: The last time I spoke to them was on Sunday, for Father's Day. And I had actually called them to tell them I had just booked a flight to come visit, because they've been asking me to come, see their home and to meet their daughter. I haven't met her due to the pandemic.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: You know for a fact that they were home at the time that this happened?

PATEL: Yes, they were home. And we have tried calling them countless of times and there's just been no answers, text messages, nothing.

And someone - we have a very large extended family and they always stay in touch with someone every day. And they haven't contacted anybody. We've called multiple hospitals within that area and there's no sight of them anywhere.

CUOMO: And you have not been told by any of the authorities that anyone that has been recovered matches their description or you haven't gotten any word that they have been found --

PATEL: No.

CUOMO: -- thus far?

PATEL: No, we have not, no.

CUOMO: This had to be such a special time in the life for your family, to have in the new niece. Having a baby in the family often does that.

And how is the family coping with not knowing where they are and the worries about the worst?

PATEL: The family, we go through waves of disbelief and hope. You hear and you see tragic things but you don't expect it to happen to your own. And especially something like this, it was such a freak thing that happened and it hasn't been explained yet. But we are still hopeful. And we're praying for a miracle. We're

hoping that there's in some type of a pocket, somewhere within the rubble seeking, just waiting for someone to come find them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Of course, the collapse happened here in the U.S. But the impact is being felt half a world away. Some of the people missing come from Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, just to name a few. Matt Rivers is in Mexico City for us.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So many families await news about their missing loved ones in Miami right now. As more and more time passes, we're getting more information about just how many people around the world really have been affected by all this.

RIVERS (voice-over): The collapse happened on American soil but the impact of this tragedy extends far beyond U.S. borders. Dozens of citizens from countries around Latin America are missing, including Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. Among those still unaccounted for, Sophia Lopez Morela (ph), the

sister of Paraguay's first lady, along with Lopez Morela's (ph) husband and three children. Paraguay's foreign ministry says the family went to Miami to get vaccinated and brought along a babysitter, Laidi Vanessa Luna Bielda (ph).

Her family told CNN it was her first-ever trip outside the country.

"We're hoping for a miracle," said her cousin, "but we just don't know if we should cry now or not."

Also among the missing, a Chilean citizen, relatives say, is related to former Chilean president Michel Bachelet. As word spread about the accident, families from across the region came to Miami for news of their loved ones, news that was difficult to come by.

"Nothing. We are desperate," she says. "The atmosphere changed from yesterday to today. It's not the same."

Abigail Pineda (ph) is a friend of an Argentinian couple that remain missing, along with their 6-year-old daughter. Like others here, she's holding on to whatever small hope she can.

She says, "We are people who are here with a bit of hope because it's all that we have and the only thing they tell us is there are these kind of microcapsules, where there could be survivors."

For rescuers, the work is continuing; digging through debris, heavy machinery involved, occasionally doing what's called an all-stop, where everyone stops and listens for sounds of people who might be alive.

But for families, there is only the agony of waiting, many choosing to do so inside a center set up for those with missing loved ones.

"It's horrible, horrible," says this woman, of what it's like inside the center. "You see a lot of pain, people that are desperate."

This happened near a part of Miami known affectionately by some as Little Buenos Aires. There are a lot of South American families that live or spend time here. And so as the hours go by, there is every chance that the number of South American citizens affected by this collapse goes up, even as the chances of finding people alive goes down.

RIVERS: We know that a lot of these countries whose citizens have been affected by all of this actually have consulates in Miami. Some of those consulates, we're told, have been calling around to different hospitals in the Miami area, trying to get any news about their citizens who are unaccounted for.

Unfortunately, in many of these cases, those consulates not getting the kind of positive news they would hope for -- back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: So the questions everyone is asking is, how did this happen and could it have been prevented?

Earlier CNN asked those very questions to John Pistorino, a structural engineer hired to investigate the collapse.

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JOHN PISTORINO, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, COLLAPSE INVESTIGATOR: At this particular point in time, it's very important not to speculate as far as what caused this building to go down.

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PISTORINO: Engineers have a specific routine as to how go about doing a forensic evaluation. And so that's the way it should be approached.

The 40-year inspection program that happened since 1974 was certainly intended to prevent something like this from happening. And so nothing really like this has happened until this has occurred.

The thing is, though, that we expect building owners to maintain their buildings. You don't wait 40 years and then start looking for trouble or signs. These buildings themselves are supposed to be maintained, according to the way they've been built originally.

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BRUNHUBER: An attorney for the condos association spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo on Friday and said that the condo's board had no information that would have foreshadowed Thursday's disaster.

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DONNA DIMAGGIO BERGER, ATTORNEY FOR CHAMPLAIN TOWER SOUTH CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION: There was no reason for that. And, Chris, you have to understand that there are board members with their family members.

We have a missing vice president, who had two of her adult children living in other units with their families. And I think that's an indicator that this was the type of community people liked to live in. Normally, when you're happy, where you're living, you recommend to family members and friends.

CUOMO: Right.

BERGER: "Hey, this is a great place to live."

And we had that. So, we have board members, who are living here, had their families living here, certainly--

CUOMO: And are now among the missing.

BERGER: -- and are among the missing.

So if they knew there was a hazardous issue, they certainly would have taken care of it. Also, this building has passed every inspection, every life safety inspection, to date. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: We'll return to Florida in just a few minutes, as the desperate search for survivors goes on. We will talk to a family who made it out of the crumbling building.

Plus, the death of George Floyd sparked protests around the world. Now the man convicted of his murder faces a lengthy prison sentence. We will have that story plus community reaction straight ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: George Floyd's death during an encounter with police last year unleashed a wave of outrage that grew into global protests. On Friday, the former officer convicted of murdering him, Derek Chauvin, received a sentence of 22.5 years. That's more than state guidelines recommended but less than prosecutors wanted.

Sara Sidner has that along with reaction from Minneapolis.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin now knows his fate for murdering George Floyd right here outside the Cup Foods.

The judge in the case, Judge Peter Cahill, being very pointed in his sentencing memo, saying that, "Mr. Chauvin treated Mr. Floyd without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings."

JUDGE PETER CAHILL, HENNEPIN COUNTRY DISTRICT COURT: The court commits you to the custody of the commissioner of corrections for a period of 270 months.

SIDNER (voice-over): Former police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder and taken back into custody today.

The sentence includes a 10-year addition to the state sentencing guidelines but less time than the 30 years requested by prosecutors.

BEN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: This is the longest sentence that a police officer has ever been sentenced to in the history of the state of Minnesota.

But this should not be the exception when a Black person is killed by brutality by police. It should be the norm.

SIDNER (voice-over): Before the sentence came down, Derek Chauvin publicly spoke to the Floyd family for the first time.

DEREK CHAUVIN, FORMER MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER: I do want to give my condolences to the Floyd family. There's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest. And I hope things will give you some peace of mind. Thank you.

SIDNER (voice-over): Earlier, emotional victim impact statements starting with Floyd's 7-year-old daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you wish that he was still here with us?

G. FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S DAUGHTER: Yes, but he is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Through his spirit?

G. FLOYD: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you could say anything to your daddy right now, what would it be?

G. FLOYD: It would be, I miss you and I love you.

SIDNER (voice-over): Floyd's brothers and nephew repeatedly demanded the maximum sentence for Chauvin, describing the harrowing impact of his murder on their lives.

BRANDON WILLIAMS, GEORGE FLOYD'S NEPHEW: Our family is forever broken. And one thing we cannot get back is George Floyd.

SIDNER (voice-over): And George Floyd's brother, Terrence, addressed Chauvin directly.

TERRENCE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: What were you thinking?

What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother's neck?

SIDNER (voice-over): In Chauvin's corner, after a motion to reconsider the case was dismissed earlier this morning, Chauvin's mother spoke out for the first time publicly about her son, describing him as a good, thoughtful and honorable man.

CAROLYN PAWLENTY, DEREK CHAUVIN'S MOTHER: The public will never know the loving and caring man he is but his family does.

SIDNER (voice-over): Outside of the courthouse, at Cup Foods, where George Floyd was murdered, a mixed reaction to the sentence but a feeling, by some, that justice was done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say his name.

PROTESTERS: George Floyd.

SIDNER: While there's mixed reaction from the community as to the sentence and how long it should have been, there is one thing everyone agrees on and that is that their fight isn't over. The sign tells you pretty much what you need to know: one down, three

to go. They are referencing the other three officers, who still are charged and are awaiting trial -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: After the sentencing hearing Floyd's family called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. President Biden wanted the measure to be approved by the anniversary of Floyd's death in May but it remains in negotiations. He weighed in on Chauvin's sentence from the White House. Listen in.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I don't know all the circumstances that were considered but it seems to me, under the guidelines, that seems to be appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BRUNHUBER: Our Erin Burnett spoke earlier with a member of the prosecution team. He said that he thought a longer sentence for Chauvin's crime was warranted but still believes it's a step toward more accountability for police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SCHLEICHER, SPECIAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, MINNESOTA: There is no number that is going to in any way adequately reflect the enormity of what was lost, what happened to the world, what we all experienced and the loss felt by the Floyd family.

We asked for 30 years, because we believed that was a fair sentence and it was legally supported. But 22.5 years is a long time. It's a substantial prison sentence and it's the beginning of accountability here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now from Roseville, Minnesota, is Anika Bowie, the vice president of the Minneapolis NAACP.

Thank you for joining us. The reactions to the sentence seem varied, to say the least, even among different chapters of the NAACP. I saw one chapter saying it was utterly disappointing; another one saying, it's an important step towards racial and judicial equality.

So what do you take away from this sentence?

ANIKA BOWIE, VICE PRESIDENT, MINNEAPOLIS NAACP: So we just take away one, of respect to the judge's decision, as well as attorney general Keith Ellison, who prosecuted Derek Chauvin. But we are in a very complex situation. Although there was justice

within the criminal courts, we know there is still economic justice, healing justice, civil justice, right?

Community justice that still has been avoided, by not only our policymakers but just our leaders in general.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, that's a lot of the questions people are asking, is what is justice in this case.

How do you feel that the community there in Minneapolis is responding to this?

BOWIE: I believe, you know, they're responding to the disgrace to see that Derek Chauvin shows zero remorse or sorrow or acknowledgment of the wrong he exacted, even tried to ask for a new case in the midst of it, right, has reopened this wound of his denial of the harm that he has caused not only to the murder of Derek -- excuse me, to George Floyd but just the collateral consequences that we all have to bear, right?

He called himself a product of a broken system yet has zero track record of ever trying to fix the system that he actually benefits from. And, you know, this is -- this is just like another modern-day public lynching of how we're responding, right?

And the people are feeling the historical trauma, the retraumatization, right, of it all as how do we reckon, can explaining this to children, you know, during a time right now on the federal level, that they are trying to gut out Black history, right, in our school systems but yet covering up the violence that has been inflicted on Black lives by police officers.

BRUNHUBER: That's what I want to get at here, the long-term consequences of this, I guess. There's a lot of ambivalence about the legacy of this case.

On the one hand, people recognize that this case did force a racial reckoning of sorts, I guess; on the other hand, the case doesn't seem to have done anything much of anything to stem the tide of police violence in communities of color.

Do you think this case and this sentence will be any kind of turning point?

BOWIE: I think it gives a sense of accountability and a sense toward justice to George Floyd's family, who we want to send our deepest gratitude, right, who held strong throughout this slow and deadly (ph) process of our judicial system.

But let's be clear. Black people in Minneapolis alone, aside from the entire nation, knew that Derek Chauvin was guilty prior to the murder of George Floyd. This is an officer who was part of a police department, that has hundreds and hundreds of lives on their hands, right? It is very clear that we know that the Minneapolis Police Department has blood on its hands and Derek Chauvin's sentencing does not wash it away.

And the people of Minneapolis deserve concrete change through policy, through practices, through legislation, law change, to ensure that all law enforcement would face real substantial consequences. And unfortunately --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNHUBER: I want to just jump in right on that because, you know, we heard the family pleading for Congress to act on police reform. But deadlines have come and gone, a deal on the bill seems elusive.

So what happens if there isn't that systemic change at the federal level, you know, where do we go from here if Congress doesn't act?

BOWIE: Well, you know, activists will continue to organize, strategize and mobilize for change right.

[05:25:00]

BOWIE: In the wake of the murder we have saw (sic) a abolition movement that had rose up to the surface, right, to the mainstream conversation of rethinking how we see policing in the future, right?

I think it's important that we invest in truth telling, right?

It's time for the United States to actually invest in the truth within its education system and invest in a future that no longer needs policing, period.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We will have to leave it there but really appreciate your insights into this, Anika Bowie, thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A woman in France who admitted to killing her abusive husband is now free even though Valerie Bacot was found guilty of murdering him. He horribly abused her for two decades before she shot him. She was sentenced to four years in prison, three suspended, but was immediately released because she has already spent a year behind bars.

The prosecutors decided not to request a longer sentence after an overwhelming show of support for Bacot in France and across Europe. Some 700,000 people signed an online petition, calling for her release.

Survivors share their stories following that horrific building collapse in Florida. Still ahead, we will explain what played out inside the building, as parts of it came crumbling down.

Plus how could this high-rise building just collapse? We will tell you what we know about the structure and its integrity before the disaster. We will be right back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Four people are confirmed dead and 159 remain unaccounted for following Thursday's condominium tower collapse near Miami. Rescue teams are relentlessly digging through massive piles of rubble, searching for survivors.

CNN's Chris Cuomo is in the town of Surfside and shot this video at the disaster site. Earlier, we heard from a doctor, who is also there, who gave us an idea of the search team's mindset.

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DR. HOWARD LIEBERMAN, MIAMI-DADE FIRE-RESCUE: You just never give up hope. You just always keep pushing yourself and you just keep going.

These guys, you know, that's their mindset also. They're just, we're going to keep going, keep going, keep going, until, like I said, every stone is turned over and all the rubble is removed. And that's how we do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, one of the big questions remains, what caused the building to collapse so suddenly and so catastrophically?

Officials are promising an urgent investigation but experts say, at this stage, it's impossible to pinpoint the cause.

As more time passes, the chance of finding anyone alive decreases. But emergency crews aren't giving up hope and neither is the community. CNN's Ryan Young takes a look at how they're coping.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you look at that condo building behind me, you can see the plumes of smoke coming this direction. That's because firefighters are actively fighting a fire while continuing this rescue mission; 159 people are missing.

And it has been dangerous for workers to continue this but they're moving in heavy equipment to make sure they can try to see if there's any more survivors left.

We did see some people in community, who are praying for the best outcome and they had a pause on Friday night to remember those who are lost. (MUSIC PLAYING)

YOUNG: We continue to get updates from officials but look, this is quite hard. They're bringing in more heavy equipment and they're going to get assistance from the federal government as well.

When you look at how large this building is and what they're trying to do to save lives and also recover people who have been lost, it is a tremendously hard job at this point but they're hoping to be able to provide solace to some of these families. But so far it's going to be tough to see what happens over the next few days -- reporting in Surfside, Ryan Young, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: As emergency crews search for those who are unaccounted for, we're also hearing stories from survivors. Chris Cuomo spoke earlier with a couple, who was in the building when other sections came crashing down. And the couple told him it took them a few moments to realize what was happening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALBERT AGUERO, CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE SURVIVOR: We were asleep. And we hear this loud, thunderous sound. Don't know what it is. My initial gut was a loud clap of thunder. The power went out. I thought the building got struck by lightning. That's honestly what happened, I mean, what I thought happened.

She jumps out of bed, checks on the kids, right?

Kids are fine.

They say, "What is going on?"

But then she realizes that the chandeliers and the lights in the apartment are all swinging back and forth. So we know it's something more than just a storm. We've lived through Hurricane Sandy. It wasn't that.

Now we don't know what it is. I see the fire trucks approaching. They were great. They got here immediately. We now don't know what it is. I see a gray cloud outside of the - outside of the apartment building. I think it's smoke because I still think it's lightning.

When I opened to go yell to the fire department, I realize it's not smoke. There's no smell to it. And it's sticking to my fingers, so it's the concrete dust. And now I know that a building fell down. I still don't think it's ours because we're intact.

CUOMO: Their unit, just so you know if we - if we go wide for a second, Jerry (ph), is right over here, right?

A. AGUERO: Yes.

CUOMO: It's just out of...? A. AGUERO: Has the two white chairs on the balcony.

JANETTE AGUERO, CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE SURVIVOR: Well...

A. AGUERO: I don't know, second of top floor.

J. AGUERO: Right.

CUOMO: So literally the T?

A. AGUERO: Yes.

CUOMO: You're on--

J. AGUERO: Yes.

CUOMO: -- they're on this part of the T, and the other part is what had collapsed.

Now, Janette, when you opened the door and you get out there, when did you realize?

J. AGUERO: Fortunately for me, I wasn't the first one to open the door. They came out first.

And I think since we had no idea what was going on at the moment and we were still contemplating whether we were leaving, we really at that moment thought, should we go back to bed?

And is it just --

A. AGUERO: Are we safer in the apartment?

J. AGUERO: -- are we safer in the apartment?

And I hear them say, "Oh, maybe we should have thought about leaving a lot faster. Maybe we're not so safe."

A. AGUERO: And we got to clear.

J. AGUERO: And they had taken a look to the left. I still hadn't reached. When I get there and I see what they're looking at, it's the whole building is sheared off. We can literally see, the roof caved in and just darkness.

[05:35:00]

J. AGUERO: So now, we're - it's just a mad dash to get down.

CUOMO: How many floors?

J. AGUERO: 11.

A. AGUERO: We live in the 11th floor.

CUOMO: It's a 12-story building. So, you were on the second to last floor?

A. AGUERO: Yes. Only the penthouse was above.

CUOMO: How long did it take you to get down?

J. AGUERO: Pretty --

A. AGUERO: Pretty quick. I know it was pitch dark.

We were just yelling back to our kids, "Are you all still there?"

I had the lead and she was in the back and it was, "Are you guys still there? Are you -- are we all OK?"

Keep--

CUOMO: So, what are you thinking as you're coming down?

A. AGUERO: I'm thinking we're racing against the clock because the rest of the building is going to come down.

J. AGUERO: We're racing against the clock.

A. AGUERO: I realized that when I opened the door. And then what I'm thinking is if I start to feel something come down, how do I jump on my daughter to save her?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The couple said some people in the building had trouble opening doors to the stairwell. The Agueros managed to get out safely, along with their teenage daughter and adult son.

Now everyone is asking how this tragedy happened and if it could have been prevented. CNN's Brian Todd looks into the integrity of the high- rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, structural engineers and other experts scrambling to find answers as to how this collapse could have occurred, in an area with some of the strictest building codes in the world.

PROF. SHIMON WDOWINSKI, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: It's very unusual to see a building collapse like in this way. It reminds me of building in countries where they have the earthquakes and constructions. It's not in good conditions.

TODD (voice-over): Professor Shimon Wdowinski of a Florida International University released a study last year that said 40-year- old building, the tower south had been sinking or subsiding as he calls it at a rate of about 2 millimeter as year between 1993 and 1999.

WDOWINSKI: It's not clear if the land was moving or the building was moving into the land but it was -- obviously, the building itself moved very small portion which is about over the measurement period of six years is about half an inch.

TODD (voice-over): Wdowinski said that sinking didn't occur in buildings around that complex. He said the sinking alone likely would not have caused the building to collapse.

But experts say it could be associated with tension and possible cracks inside the structure. Local officials say there was roof work being done on the building. They are careful to say that may not be the cause of this disaster but experts say it could have been a contributing factor.

KOBI KARP, ARCHITECH: Collusion effects of potentially working on the roof, potentially the non-maintenance of certain parts of the building where the connections could come together fail and create a pancake effect that happened.

TODD (voice-over): The location and climate of that area experts say also have to be considered.

KIT MIYAMOTO, STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Especially the corrosion of the steel and the area collapse is the ocean side, right?

That's what the corrosion is. So corrosion of the reinforcement will compromise the capacity of column. If the column fails, everything fails essentially.

TODD (voice-over): An attorney for the condo residence association says over the past several months, the building had undergone what he called thorough engineering inspections in preparation for its 40-year certification.

KENNETH DIREKTOR, ATTORNEY FOR CONDO ASSOCIATION: Nothing appeared either to the engineers or to any of the residents that would suggest anything like this was imminent, nothing.

TODD (voice-over): Experts say it make take several months before we know the real causes and as for the possibility of one smoking gun.

ATOROD AZIZINAMINI, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING: Usually, a collapse like this doesn't happen just because of one factor. Usually it's several factors combined and like a perfect storm.

TODD (on camera): And we've just learned a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association, accusing that group of, quote, failures to secure and safeguard the lives and property condo unit owners.

That suit seeking in excess of $5 million in damages, cites a statement from the Condo Association's attorney Kenneth Direktor saying that repair needs had been identified but had not completed.

Now in response to the suit, Kenneth Direktor said he doesn't know and engineers don't know with certainty what caused the building to come down.

So, quote, "How is it that this lawyer knows with certainty what caused that building to fall down?" -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: Now you can help the collapse victims and their families by heading to cnn.com/impact. And there you will find some links to charitable organizations that have been verified by CNN. Again, that's cnn.com/impact.

All right. Coming up, the Delta coronavirus variant is dashing Europe's hopes of getting back to a sort of normal summer. We're live in London with the details. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In Australia, the greater Sydney area is now under a new stay-at-home order that kicked in a short while ago at 6:00 pm local time and it will last for two weeks.

The city has recorded dozens of new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Restrictions are rolling out in the rest of the Australian state, including a one person per square foot rule, both indoors and outdoors.

The World Health Organization says the Delta variant is the most transmissible coronavirus strain so far. It's appeared in at least 85 countries. European nations are particularly concerned.

In the U.K. Delta variant cases are up 46 percent in a week and Germany's health minister warns Delta cases are growing significantly and will soon have an upper hand. Cyril Vanier joins me from London.

Troubling numbers, especially in the U.K.

What's the latest?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, I think we need to start looking at these numbers a little bit more precisely. You're absolutely right to say that they are troubling.

They are troubling because the number of infections and the infection rate just continues to increase week on week because of this coronavirus variant, the Delta variant, which now accounts for 99 percent of all infections in the U.K.

Just to give you a sense of how quickly that has changed, Kim, I looked back at my notes. Six weeks ago, this is what I was writing about the U.K., the situation at the time was very positive. And I was writing, "There is a small cloud forming on the horizon."

At the time there were 1,000 to 2,000 daily infections in the U.K., now it's back up to 16,000. And that small cloud has grown considerably, Kim.

However, the reason I say we need to look at these numbers with more finesse now is that the number of infections used to be a good bellwether of how bad the COVID situation was in a country, how bad or how good.

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VANIER: Now in countries that have a significant level of vaccination, that's not the full story. You have to ask how many of those people who get COVID actually go to hospital and end up dying.

And whereas the number of infections has been multiplied by five over the last six weeks, the number of hospitalizations and deaths has only been multiplied by two. So, yes, the situation has worsened but, yes, the vaccines are working and they are protecting the population to a very significant degree.

BRUNHUBER: All right, very well-framed. Appreciate that analysis, Cyril Vanier in London, thanks so much.

Search and rescue crews are working right now at that Florida building collapse. Weather conditions are often slowing down those efforts. We will go live to our meteorologist after the break. Please do stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Let's recap our top story.

Rescue teams are working through the night again, searching for the scores of people still unaccounted for after Thursday's building collapse. At least four people have now been confirmed dead and the whereabouts of 159 others are still unknown.

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BRUNHUBER: Families are anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones and many have given DNA samples to help with identification. Officials still don't know what caused the building to collapse so suddenly and say it could be months before they do.

Now through today, we've been hearing from witnesses and people who were inside the building in Miami as it collapsed. So let's listen to some of those incredible accounts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a really loud clap of thunder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It kind of felt like a jet took off above the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chandeliers and the pendant lights just swaying completely and that was not normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least my husband and I woke up to that, to him grabbing me and saying "What is that?"

And the whole bedroom was just shaking so violently that honestly, I was prepared for the building to come down because it was not something stable. There was nothing going on that seemed normal about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, until we opened the door, we didn't know anything happened to the building. The unit was intact.

I looked to the left and the apartment to our left was half sheared off. I looked forward, which is where the elevator shaft is and it was just a hole. So that that was the real thing. At that point, we knew we -- it was a race against time, because I didn't know if the rest of the building was coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear this large, like rumbling noise, I don't know where and I actually just see like, white clouds like -- of just dust coming out. So I told my mom and my sister who were also parked outside, we'll have to start running. We ran -- all we just see was just white dust like thick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked down the hallway and there was nothing there. It was just a pile of dust and rubble and paint falling from the ceilings.

We went down to the garage, in the basement, water was pouring down from the pipes and we realize that we had to get out of there because staying down there, we could drown knowing how -- what it looked like outside my door, I thought that any minute we could be that same pile of rubble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just don't know why we're here. The rest of the people aren't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having gone out to the hallway and seen that it was mere feet from the wall that my kids were sleeping in, it could have been a very different thing.

I could have walked into the living room, checking on them and found that rubble and it just -- I don't think I've processed it. It looks like I'm in that mode but I don't think I've really processed what happened.

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BRUNHUBER: And a vigil was held in Surfside Friday night to remember the lives lost and pray for those still unaccounted for.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Many families are clinging to hope that their loved ones will be found alive, including one woman, who spoke with our Anderson Cooper about her aunt and uncle, who haven't been located.

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BETTINA OBIAS, NIECE OF MISSING COUPLE: I think hope is a very valuable thing when people are going through crisis to hold on to. So, I'm holding on to a sliver of hope. Because I know in my heart, somebody there is still alive. And if it's not my aunt or uncle, I hope it's somebody's father, somebody's son, you know.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Every rescue person we have talked to, will tell you, you know, people can survive for a long period of time in buildings, you can imagine somebody survived.

OBIAS: Yes, that's what I also heard. So, I'm hoping that there are many survivors. So, I hope that they get to them.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, on top of all the other challenges, the summer weather in South Florida has slowed the search for survivors.

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BRUNHUBER: And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. We're going to leave you a look at these images from Surfside, Florida, they were taken about a block away from the partially collapsed building. Now each poster shows a missing person as rescue efforts onsite continue. Please do stay with CNN.