Thank you all for being here
this morning.
Our state is in shock
and I want to take this moment to speak directly
to the people of our state,
to our first responders.
I'm in awe of you.
I'm in awe of your courage.
I'm in all of your strength,
in awe of everything you do.
For each and every one of us,
you saw a crisis
and you said, what can I do to help?
And our response teams are doing everything in our power
to rescue and recover
the victims of this collapse. Literally as we speak,
people who as we speak are out. There
are divers,
our air assets,
people right now are working to save lives
and are doing it because the state asked
and we will update the public
as the work continues
to our partners inside and outside of government.
I know this has been a long night.
We started coordinating immediately after the key bridge collapsed.
We've been standing together every step of the way from our county leadership
to our city leadership,
to our state leadership,
to our federal leadership.
And I'm grateful
to call each and every one of you not just colleagues,
but I'm grateful to call you friends
and to the people of Baltimore
and each
and every one of the 6.3 million Marylanders who call our state home.
I recognize that many of us are hurting right now.
I recognize
that many of us are scared right now.
And so I want to be very clear
about where everything stands.
We are still investigating what happened,
but we are quickly gathering details.
The preliminary investigation
points to an accident.
We haven't seen any credible evidence
of a terrorist attack.
Our
administration is working closely
with leaders from all levels of government
and society
to respond to this crisis and not, but just by addressing the immediate aftermath,
but also by building a state
that is more resilient
and a state that's more safe.
That is our pledge
and that's our commitment
and we're going to keep that commitment
and lastly
to the victims
of this tragedy and their loved ones,
all of our hearts are broken,
we feel your loss,
we're thinking of you
and we will always be thinking of you.
We pray for the construction workers
who are on the key bridge and we pray for everyone who has been touched
by this tragedy
and their families
and all of their loved ones.
But Maryland,
we will get through this
because that is the Maryland spirit
and that's what Maryland is made of.
We are Maryland tough
and we are Baltimore strong.
So in the face of heartbreak.
We come together,
we embrace one another
and we come back stronger.
That's what we've always done.
That's what we will continue to do
and that's what we're going to get done together.
And we're going to pray for Baltimore.
And I'd like to turn this over
to
Senator Van Hollen who's done a remarkable job in our fellow delegation
in providing support. So, thank you, Senator.
Thank you, Governor.
As the governor said, we come together,
we come together in Baltimore. We come together in Maryland.
First of all, our hearts go out
to all those who were on the bridge
and their loved ones. We pray for them.
Our gratitude goes out
to the first responders
who as we speak are out there continuing to conduct search and rescue operations.
I want to thank
the governor,
the local, the mayor
county executive.
All the people gathered here as part of Team Baltimore and team
Maryland
and the federal government is with them as a partner.
The Coast Guard as we speak, is also part of this mission,
Coast Guard
cutters,
Coast Guard Aviation Assets.
I spoke twice today
with Secretary of Transportation
Pete Buttigieg.
Pete
Buttigieg has pledged that they will do everything they can
to very quickly release emergency response funds for this important project.
The National Highway Transportation Administration
administrator is on his way to Baltimore. If he's not here already,
they will be releasing those early funds. Once all the parties are fully engaged.
Second,
the National Transportation Safety Board, I
talked to the chair this morning,
she and her team will be conducting
an investigation
of what happened.
And finally, the Army Corps of engineer
naval assets for looking below the surface and clearing
all of this is going to be part of the effort.
The governor is leading team Maryland,
the mayor and the county executive, of course, team Baltimore.
But I'm just here to say
together with Ben Cardin, Senator Cardin
and Congressman fume
and others,
the federal government is your partner in this effort.
Thank you.
And again to the people of our state and the people of this great city.
We're with you.
We love you. We will get through this together.
Thank you, Governor.
Good morning again. Uh Paul Wiedefeld, Secretary of Transportation,
just a few updates uh since our meeting this morning,
um
the uh the crew that was out there working was basically repairing potholes
just so you understand that had nothing to do with the structural issue
at all at the, at in the facility.
Um At this time, one person has been
uh rescued
and so far
and
continue our efforts continue in, in terms of that,
um, engineers are on site right now determining both some of the structural issues,
obviously, some of the debris field
and we'll start to work that,
but we'll hand in hand with the N TSB before we take any further action in that area.
With that. I did want to introduce the FBI for a few comments as well.
Second.
Hello,
my name is Bill Del Bono.
I'm the special agent in charge of the Baltimore field office.
First and foremost, I want to say that our hearts go out to
everyone that is impacted by this tragedy,
especially the victims and their families.
On behalf of the FBI.
I would like to say
that we are with you,
We are with Baltimore and we're with the partners
every step of the way.
The FBI
on very first
looking at
and assessing this matter from an investigative standpoint,
I want to be clear that there is no specific
or credible information
to suggest that there are ties to terrorism in
this incident.
The FBI has been part of this response from the beginning.
We
came within one hour to the command post
and quickly lashed up with our very strong partners
all along the way.
We will bring whatever resources that the FBI has to bear.
We've already brought our crisis response,
our victim services
and just recently, our underwater search
evidence recovery teams are on site
and we will continue
to provide all those resources
as long as it takes.
And as the investigation goes on,
we will take it to its logical conclusion
along with our partners,
to the pe people of Baltimore, to the public.
I asked you be patient
as we go through this and as information becomes available to us.
And lastly, I want to say thank you,
thank you to our partners.
Thank you to everyone who
and
in the FBI and counts on the FBI,
we will always bring what we need to the people of Baltimore
and we are with you.
I next like to introduce
the Coast guard.
Good morning.
The coast guard is still actively searching at this time,
we are using response boat crews from two of our local Coast Guard stations.
One of our hilo crews from air station in Atlantic City and also
one of our cutter crews on one of our 87 ft patrol boats.
We will continue to work with our local
state and federal partners during this tragedy.
Thank you.
Go.
As far as you are aware
was the collapse of that bridge inevitable as that ship hit that part of the bridge.
No, we're still in the process of investigating exactly what happened.
So we don't have any further details about whether or not it was inevitable or not.
No, there were,
in fact, the bridge was actually fully up to code.
So we have no further information about what was what happened during that time.
Go
in
and out of the port now stopped completely.
And do you have any estimate very early on as
to how long it will be before shipping can resume
to
the port?
Yeah, we,
we don't have uh we don't have any estimates on timeline
because right now our exclusive focus is on saving lives.
Our exclusive focus is on search and rescue. You. Can
you
give
us
for the number?
Because we had heard,
I know Mr Wiedefeld said one have been rescued but earlier from Baltimore,
we heard that two have been rescued.
Can you tell us the total numbers we're talking about that maybe
that you're searching for
and how many have been rescued?
Well,
there are eight individuals uh six are being searched for right now.
One is that, um, was taken to the hospital
and one is not in the hospital that we were speaking to. So six
unaccounted for. Yes.
And does that involve
individuals that may have been in vehicles that were in the water?
No,
we believe it's a construction crew
and we
don't think there's anyone in vehicles in the water.
No, we do not believe so.
Here,
take
this
question here,
Governor.
How
did
you
find out about what happened
here? And
what was your
when you
just?
Well, I mean, I it was, uh, I think it was
probably within minutes of, of, of everything,
less than an hour when I know that my phone first rang.
Uh, and you know, first from the mayor of Baltimore and also from our chief of staff.
Um, and
it was, uh,
we know the key bridge,
I've ridden over the key bridge countless times.
So many of us know the key bridge because it is our normal commute.
This is a place that is a normal commute
route for over 30,000 Marylanders every single day.
And so to hear the words that
the key bridge has collapsed,
it's shocking.
Um and heartbreaking
and immediately,
uh the first thought and the first ideas go back to
what happened to the people
where we, what was the impact on, on, on, on human life.
Um But for every single one of us who are Marylanders,
the words that the key bridge is gone.
It,
it still shakes us because for over, for 47 years, that's all we've known.
And so
this is, uh
this is,
this is not just not just unprecedented from what
we're seeing and what we're looking at today.
Um
It's heartbreaking governor. Can you confirm that the crew on the ship
alerted authorities that it lost propulsion and was in trouble?
Uh We, we can, we can confirm that, uh that the crew
notified, uh notified authorities of a, of a power issue
and that they had lost power.
And now you're looking for
like what
I
so
total of eight, excuse me,
a total of eight
one rescued
and in hospital,
one, not in hospital, but it is, uh we have communicated with that person
and then six that we are searching for
the um,
yes, they were all related to the construction program.
Yes,
we heard that
went into the
water.
Any
word
on how many
went into the
water and the condition of those people that were in the
not at this time.
All right
over
here,
was there any way
to
shut down the bridge?
Was there enough time for that distress call to trigger something like that?
The thing that we know is that,
you know, even as the boat was coming in,
you know, we had a ship that was coming in at eight knots.
So coming in at
a very, very rapid speed.
We do know that the investigation is currently going on.
But I have to say, I'm thankful for the folks who
once the
once the warning came up and once notification came up that there was a
Mayday who literally by being able to stop cars from coming over the bridge.
These people are heroes, they saved lives,
they saved lives last night.
The
focus is on rescue now,
but looking forward. Is there any
vision for how long it could
possibly take to remove
the wreckage to rebuild and how it could possibly be done?
Can you look into the future at all? At this
point?
This is going to be a long term build.
It's going to be a build that's going to
require every facet in every aspect of our society.
It is something that I can tell you, we are going to get this done.
We are going to make sure that this is not just not just rebuilt,
but that we are going to rebuild in a way that remembers
the people
who this tragedy has impacted
and also do it in a way that honors the community that it serves.
But right now I could not give you any foreign investment on timing or cost right now.
My and all of our exclusive focus is we're just trying to save lives.
Yes, thank you.
Uh, listen, we,
we know the governor issued a state of emergency but we at the local level, uh,
felt the need to do that too because there may
be some things that we have to encumber with our
fire department and other agencies that will be able to
pull down support for as we all work together again,
as we're focused right now on saving
lives and working through this unspeakable tragedy
that there's obviously
focuses on the rescue and the recovery.
But this is such an important thoroughfare here in Baltimore for drivers,
people trying to get around.
How are they going to be able to manage while that is also going on?
Yeah. So, so we've also already been in touch with people about alternative routes
and ways people can navigate.
Uh Now that this tragedy has happened and I don't know if secretary,
if you want to speak to that as well,
just to give you a sense of scale, roughly uh about uh
35,000 people.
You know,
they use that facility about double that use
the Harvard Tunnel and double that again,
use the Fort mckenry Tunnel.
So basically, we don't have those two other options.
Uh, we'll have, we'll make sure that we have as much, uh,
personnel out there to deal with any incidents because as, you know,
that can cause the backups very quickly and we will
basically put out a lot of communications on different alternatives.
We're also looking to transit alternatives as well where the leg
play in this response,
the
legislature
in this.
Are
there any?
Oh,
yeah.
So we, we are, in fact, you know, we have our, our senate president here,
we have members of the legislature here.
The legislature is going to have a role in all of this.
As will our local elected officials, as will state officials,
as will the federal government,
you know, everybody is going to have a role in terms of how we think about the rebuild.
We don't at this point, we don't at this point.
Correct. Yeah,
and we don't have, we don't have an estimate on timeline as of yet.
Our focus really is right now on just make sure we saving
lives
in the
hospital. Are they able to get out at all or no? I'm sorry, say it again.
The ship that
the vessels that are currently docked at the port? Are they able to get out or no?
Um The one that's, that's captured under the
Oh,
yes, that one, that one still,
yes.
11 last question
was the ship being guided out by tugs. Firstly and Secondly, did you just say that
it issued a May Day in enough time that you were able
to stop all traffic from entering both sides so that the only
casualties we expect
workers on the bridge? Yes, ma'am. So the
going on. So we're going to have
and also all the full details about timeline and the Tik Tok that took place.
But we're thankful that between the May Day and the collapse that we
had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic.
So more cars were not up on the bridge and I can tell
on the bridge
or
not
during the collapse.
Were there some on the bridge?
There have been reports that have been sonar that
have detected vehicles at the bottom of the water
as well as the eight people. There could still be people trapped inside
or potentially have died in
vehicles. Is that
correct? I think, well, the investigation is still going on
to find out exactly exactly how many people in what the situation.
But the thing that we do know is that, is that
many of the vehicles were stopped before they got on to the bridge, which, which,
which saved lives in a very, very heroic way.
Thank
you.