JUDY WOODRUFF: Our second major story tonight is in Miami, where rescuers searched the ruins
of a beachfront condominium building after it collapsed before dawn. At least one person
was confirmed killed, but nearly 100 were missing. John Yang reports. JOHN YANG: Chaos
early this morning in Miami-Dade County when part of a 12-story condo building suddenly
collapsed. It happened around 1:30 a.m. in Surfside, Florida. Emergency crews rushed
to the scene to search for people trapped in the rubble. The catastrophic destruction
became more apparent as daylight broke. This is what part of the building looked like before,
housing about half of the building's 130 units, now just a pile of rubble. CHARLES BURKETT,
Mayor of Surfside, Florida: The building has literally pancaked. There's just feet in between
stories where there were 10 feet. That is heartbreaking because it doesn't mean to me
that we're going to be as successful as we would want to be to find people alive. JOHN
YANG: Search operations continued, as many residents remained unaccounted for. A reunification
site for residents and relatives was set up at a nearby community center. Some embraced
one another. Others wept. Nicolas Fernandez has friends who live in the building. NICOLAS
FERNANDEZ, Florida Resident: I came running here. And I'm trying to see what's going on.
And when I saw the building, like, I'm just hoping that I'm dreaming. JOHN YANG: Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis toured the scene. GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): TV doesn't do it justice,
I mean, it is really, really traumatic to see the collapse of a massive structure like
that. JOHN YANG: As the search for survivors and victims continues, the search for the
cause of the collapse begins. For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang. JUDY WOODRUFF: And
for the very latest on this, we're joined now by phone now with the mayor of Surfside,
Charles Burkett, whom you just heard in John's report. Mayor Burkett, thank you so much for
talking with us. Please tell us, what is the very latest on the search for survivors? And,
again, we are so sorry for the loss. CHARLES BURKETT: Thank you. The latest is, is that
we have our resources completely focused on pulling people out of the rubble. And we will
continue to do that until that job is done. There's no time limit on that. We will just
continue to do that until we finish. We have had a couple of setbacks today. The weather
did not cooperate as much as we would have liked, but we're back on track right now,
and we're running at full force. JUDY WOODRUFF: There have been news reports of sounds coming
from the rubble. Can you confirm that that's the case? CHARLES BURKETT: Well, listen, we
were out there. I was out there at 2:00 this morning, so it's been -- it's been a long
day of stops and starts. The dogs got here around 4:00 in the morning. We did have some
hits, which is good, but not enough. You know, we did find a little boy in the rubble, which
you probably are aware of. And we have had other meaningful hits, although the work continues
right now. JUDY WOODRUFF: A little boy alive? CHARLES BURKETT: A little boy alive, 10 years
old. JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Mr. Mayor, is there a sense, do you have the materials you need,
the people you need to pursue this as aggressively... (CROSSTALK) JUDY WOODRUFF: Go ahead. CHARLES
BURKETT: Well, I will tell you that I have had a call from the president of the United
States. Both of our United States senators have called me, Scott and Rubio. The governor
has been here. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is here, and the mayor of Dade County has been
here on scene. The resources are unbelievable. We're not short on resources. We're just a
little short on luck right now. And I'm hoping that's going to change. JUDY WOODRUFF: Is
there any information at this point, Mayor Burkett, on what might the cause have been?
CHARLES BURKETT: So, you know, this is America. This is the United States. We're a First World
country. Buildings do not fall down like this. These two buildings went down not unlike what
we saw in 2001. It was just horrific. And it's almost -- there are no words for it,
except that we're dealing with it. And we're going to stay on it until the job is done.
The answer to your question is, is, no, we don't have any information on why this happened,
other than a couple of theories. But now is not the time for those theories. Now is the
time to save lives, and that's what I intend to do. JUDY WOODRUFF: And, just in connection
with that, we can understand that. We -- there are also reports that the building was about
to undergo refurbishing having to do with the structure. Can you add anything to that?
CHARLES BURKETT: I don't know that that's completely accurate. I do know that they were
re-roofing the building. And, as you know, buildings are re-roofed all the time, and
they don't fall down. So it's hard to imagine that that was the impetus. I mean, there was
obviously something seriously wrong here. And we need to get to the bottom of it. And
we will. That, I promise. But, right now, we're focused 100 percent on saving lives
and pulling people out of that rubble, because that's all that matters. We're going to do
it 24 hours a day, and we're going to do it around the clock until it's done. JUDY WOODRUFF:
No question about it, that is the priority, Mayor Charles Burkett of Surfside, Florida.
And, again, our thoughts are with everyone in the community. CHARLES BURKETT: Thank you
for your help.