this bridge carries some 30,000 people every day. it is a major commuter route, and now it is completely shut down. the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening. i'm norah o'donnell, and thank you for being with us. we are here tonight not far from that catastrophic collapse of the francis scott key bridge in baltimore. the devastation is beyond words, with this massive structure in ruins, twisted and broken. by daylight, the extent of what happened here became more clear. the video is stunning, and it tells us a lot about what happened after the ship lost power, then collided with the bridge. tonight, we are also learning more about the survivors and the missing. construction workers were fixing potholes on this heavily-traveled bridge in the early hours of the morning. the community here, devastated, many telling us this view will never be the same, with the bridge that has stood for decades no longer in the skyline. a state of emergency now issued by maryland's governor, and everyone from the federal government to local law enforcement pitching in to help a community in shock. dramatic video captured the horrifying moment the massive cargo ship, nearly 1,000 feet long, crashed into a support column on the francis scott key bridge in baltimore. >> the whole bridge just fell down. start -- start whoever, whoever, everybody, the whole bridge just collapsed. >> norah: within seconds, a large portion of the bridge collapses, plunging into the patapsco river. >> 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. >> norah: a closer look at the video shows the ship heading south at about 1:24 a.m. when the lights go dark, but quickly on again. a minute later, plumes of black smoke can be seen billowing from the ship's chimney. once again, it appears the ship loses its lights. a minute after they come back on, the vessel slams into the bridge. >> never would you think that you would see, physically see, the key bridge tumble down like that. it looked like something out of an action movie. >> norah: sources tell cbs news multiple alarms rang out on ship. after several failed attempts to fix the loss of propulsion, the pilot issued a mayday call, giving officials time to stop traffic on the bridge. >> these people are heroes. they saved lives last night. >> norah: the impact of the crash was so loud, it jolted donald heinbuch, who lives nearby, out of his sleep. what did it feel like? >> it felt just like an earthquake. we have had some earthquakes here before, and that's exactly what it felt like. and associated with that was the rolling thunder, which i thought was very unusual. >> norah: what was the rolling thunder? >> it was the sound of the bridge collapsing into the patapsco river. >> norah: well, just incredible to see this firsthand. i mean, we are not far from this. and, of course, this bridge carries some 30,000 people every day. it is a major commuter route. and now it is completely shut down. the fbi using robotic cameras underwater to search for six construction workers on the bridge. they are now presumed dead. >> based on the length of time the extensive search efforts we have put into it. the water temperature that at this point we do not believe that we are going to find any of these individuals still alive. >> norah: 24 members of the ntsb are on the site leading the investigation. they want to examine the voyage data recorder. >> it will be critical. it's a critical piece of our investigation, which is why we have a recorders team here. >> norah: authorities say the singapore-flagged vessel was heading from baltimore to sri lanka, going 9 miles per hour. none of the crew was hurt. today, president joe biden said the federal government will "move heaven and earth" to reopen the port and pay for the rebuilding. >> i told them, we are going to send all of the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency. resources. and we are going to rebuild that port together. >> norah: now, federal officials tonight are here on the scene, including the fbi and the national transportation safety board. they are here to investigate. cbs's kris van cleave reports on the timeline of the incident and a similar accident that took place more than four decades ago. >> reporter: by daybreak, the force of the collision was clear. pieces of the mangled francis scott key bridge and crushed cargo containers littered the deck of the dali. but the first sign of trouble, here, when the lights flickered and went out on board. the giant ship had lost its engine, its electronics, and much of its ability to steer, leaving it on a collision course with the bridge and little time to avert disaster. a mayday call went out as the nightmare scenario unfolded. michael kucharski is a former ntsb senior marine investigator. >> losing power as you are approaching a bridge would be just about the worst-case scenario. >> reporter: loaded down with heavy containers, the captain tried to quickly slow down the more than 900-foot long cargo ship by dropping its port anchor. dark smoke could be seen billowing from its stacks, likely the backup generator coming online. but the ship never regained engine power, and it struck one of the two main structural support columns of the bridge. ben schafer is a structural engineer. >> once the bridge was struck by a container ship of that size, there is not a bridge that we build, you know, that is any level of economy and efficiency, that is going to survive that. >> reporter: it's happened before. in 1980, during a blinding thunderstorm, a cargo ship slammed into a support column of tampa's sunshine skyway bridge. the 1200-foot span collapsed. 35 people were killed. since then, cargo ships have more than quadrupled in size. >> in the world of infrastructure system, it's a failure, right? i mean, the bridge is gone, the port is closed, people have died. >> norah: and kris van cleave is with us now. okay, so this investigation is just getting underway. what's the ntsb looking for? >> reporter: well, norah, they are going to have to contend with a lot of debris. this was like a nimitz-sized aircraft carrier into this bridge. so there is debris everywhere. but they want to get on board. they want to find the data and voice recorder that should be on board. they are also going to look at the maintenance history of this ship, including reports that the propulsion system may have failed an inspection over the summer. they also want to look at the bridge's maintenance history and its design. >> norah: yeah, how does the kris van cleave, thank you so much. a short time ago, we spoke with maryland governor wes moore to ask about the families of the missing and the survivors. and what do we know about the victims' families? how are they doing? >> i had the chance to spend time with the victims' families, and they are distraught, and they are heartbroken. but i tell you, the hopefulness that they have. these are -- these are very prayerful families. and i had the chance to pray with them and pray for them. you know, they define what it means to be -- to be maryland tough and to be baltimore strong. >> norah: two people were miraculously rescued. what do we know about the survivors? >> so, there are two people that we know. one who is actually in shock trauma right now. and so we have a remarkable shock trauma unit here in the city of baltimore. and they are actively working on one individual. and another individual, who was actually the leader of that group, who watched it all take place, and i had a chance to spend time with him, and literally, he tells the story where he was actually walking away from the bridge when the bridge began to collapse. and so, he's a -- you know, watching what happened to him, and even as he said, he said, that was all god's grace. >> norah: that's incredible, so essentially he barely escaped. >> he barely escaped. i mean, this was an absolutely catastrophic event. >> norah: and governor, i know so many people depend on this bridge to get to work. how quickly can this bridge be rebuilt? >> this is going to be of a top priority for us. to make sure that we can get this bridge built back up. >> norah: part of our conversation of maryland's governor wes moore. he has actually been at the site of this collapsed since early this morning, and he also told us that every day, $191 million of economic activity crosses over that bridge, and the port of baltimore is responsible for at least 8,000 jobs. so we asked cbs's ramy inocencio to look at the impact for the city, state, and our country. >> reporter: collapsing in seconds, baltimore's francis scott key bridge was the gateway to much of the country. thousands of trucks transported goods on it daily. goods, much of which would end up at this 350,000 square foot warehouse. john smith is vice president and chief operating officer. >> it's going to add probably a couple hundred dollars minimum to every truck load. >> reporter: each truck load carrying everything from dry goods like food to reams of paper and office machinery. what's your warning to consumers? >> your product might take a little longer to get to you. >> reporter: the port of baltimore is 1 of 3 ports along the east coast that are at least 50 feet deep and can handle large ships like the dali. its the u.s.'s busiest port for trucks, cars, and sugar, handling more than $80 billion in goods last year, employing more than 15,000 jobs. >> there is no question that this will be a major and protracted impact to supply chains. >> reporter: amazon, fedex, and other multinationals tell cbs news they are still assessing the economic impact. >> the best case for the port in terms of getting it to be working again is probably about a month. >> reporter: and worst-case scenario? >> you are looking a minimum of a year, and i would be surprised if it is not two years. >> reporter: and before the port of baltimore can reopen, authorities first need to remove all of the debris and then redredge that part of the river, but norah, there is no timeline at all for when that might happen. >> norah: really interesting. ramy inocencio, thank you so much. in today's other major news, nearly two years after the supreme court overturned roe vs. wade, abortion rights returned to the nation's highest court. at issue is access to the widely-used abortion pill mifepristone, along with the fda's authority to regulate other prescription drugs. cbs's jan crawford was there for the oral arguments. >> mifepristone kills! >> reporter: protests made clear the controversy. but inside the court, there appeared to be agreement, with a majority of justices on both sides of the ideological aisle highly skeptical of arguments to restrict use of the so-called abortion pill. a key question: why should courts be second-guessing scientific decisions by the fda on how a drug is prescribed? >> do you have concerns about judges parsing medical and scientific studies? >> reporter: at issue in the case, the drug, mifepristone, used with another drug in nearly two-thirds of abortions. a group of antiabortion doctors argue the fda wrongly expanded access to the pill in 2016, when it extended the window women can take it from 7 to 10 weeks. and during the pandemic in 2021, said an in-person doctor's visit was not needed, allowing mail-order pharmacies to ship the drug nationwide. erin hawley represents the doctors who say those changes lead to increased emergency room visits and compromised women's health. >> women are now left to receive these drugs in the mail or out in their dorm room without ever having been checked by a doctor for life-threatening conditions. that's reckless. >> reporter: abortion-rights supporters say mifepristone is the safest method of abortion, and the fda, not the court system, has the final word on drug safety. >> the fda acted on an extensive body of evidence and well within its authority and in accordance with the law. >> reporter: but in court, most of the 90-minute argument focused not on the merits of the fda's decision to expand access, but whether the doctors even have legal standing to sue. >> norah: and jan crawford joins us now. so, jan, did we get a sense of how the justices might rule? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, i think the arguments suggested it was going to be a narrow, procedural ruling for the fda. and that would preserve nationwide access to the abortion pill. but we should have a decision by the end of june. norah? >> norah: jan crawford at the supreme court, thank you. former president donald trump was hit with another gag order today. this time it was imposed by the new york judge overseeing the trial connected to trump's hush money payments to former porn star stormy daniels. they gag order came after the former president lashed out at the judge and his daughter on social media. in other news, shares of trump's media company soared more than 16% in the first day of trading, which now has a market value of nearly $8 billion. tonight, the first public statement from music mogul sean "diddy" combs, following raids on two of his homes, as part of a possible sex trafficking investigation. cbs's carter evans reports on what authorities may have been looking for. >> reporter: there was nothing subtle when federal agents conducted high-profile raids at two large properties in los angeles and miami, owned by music mogul sean "diddy" combs. raids that tonight his attorney calls a gross overuse of military-level force. why a simultaneous cross-country search? >> well, i think they wanted this to be a bit of a surprise. it's a big raid, and what they were going in was to try to find all types of evidence. >> reporter: there are two distinct images of combs. the iconic performer, and the one named in multiple lawsuits, accusing him of everything from rape to sex trafficking. last december, combs posted a statement saying, "i did not do any of the awful things being alleged." the lawsuits so far have been in civil court. as for the latest searches. >> if it involves sex trafficking or drugs or weapons or other illegal behavior, it can easily go from a civil investigation, to what we see now, a criminal investigation. >> reporter: tmz published video it says was after the raids began. it showed combs walking around opa-locka airport near miami. a short time later, at the same airport, miami-dade police arrested brendan paul for drug possession. paul was described in a previous lawsuit as diddy's mule, someone used to get drugs and guns. >> so what sean combs needs to do is follow his lawyer's advice. which undoubtedly is not to talk to people, not try to hinder the investigation, and not try to flee. >> reporter: now, diddy's lawyer because the law enforcement action an unprecedented ambush. he says his client is innocent, and he emphasized that combs was never detained, in fact, he cooperated and even spoke with investigators. norah? >> norah: carter evans, thank you very much. defense secretary lloyd austin met with his israeli counterpart at the pentagon today. with tensions between their administrations at a wartime high. austin told defense minister gallant that the number of civilian casualties in the gaza strip is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low. israeli forces continue to pound the city of rafah, where more than a million palestinians are seeking shelter from the war. robert kennedy jr. picks a running mate for his independent run for the white house. we'll tell you who it is. that's next. ♪ ♪ living with your albuterol asthma rescue inhaler, but it's a bit of a dinosaur, because it only treats your symptoms, not inflammation. treating both symptoms and inflammation with rescue is supported by asthma experts. finally, there's a modern way to treat symptoms and asthma attacks. airsupra is the first ever dual-action rescue inhaler that treats your asthma symptoms and helps prevent attacks. airsupra is the only rescue fda-approved to do both. airsupra is an as-needed rescue inhaler and should not be used as a maintenance treatment for asthma. get medical help right away if your breathing does not improve, continues to worsen, or for serious allergic reactions. using airsupra more than prescribed could be life threatening. serious side effects include heart problems, increased risk of thrush or infections. welcome to the modern age of dual-action asthma rescue. ask your doctor if airsupra is right for you. wanna know a secret? 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