Been arrested. The men identified themselves as being part of a group known as the rise of the moors, which claims to be, quote, immune from state laws. They told police they were traveling from And'>Rhode IslAnd to maine for, quote, training, as they put it. With me to discuss is nbcs Kathy Park And ben collins. Welcome to both of you. Thank you for joining us on this. Kathy, i want to start with you on this one. Bring us up to date on what we know thus far as to what took place And their intentions. Reporter hey there, yasmin. So i can tell you that the stAndoff is over. It actually wrapped up a couple of hours ago And it ended peacefully, but it all happened around 1 30 this morning. A State Trooper came across two vehicles that were in the Breakdown Lane on interstate 95 in wakefield, massachusetts, And noticed there was a large group of men outside wearing, as you mentioned, Military Gear And they had lots of different firearms on them. They were asked to show ids And permits. They werent complying, And thats when things kind of took a turn. It escalated. The men eventually fled into the woods, And two of them were apprehended pretty quickly, And the trooper called in for backup. Eventually, over that extended period of time they were able to arrest 11 people in total. Right now there are still a lot of questions about this group, what they were doing early in the morning, what obviously was a scary situation for residents who live in that area. They were told to shelter in place. They were asked to stay indoors while this was all playing out. We heard from Law Enforcement earlier today, And obviously they were saying there were a lot of red flags. Take a listen. You can imagine 11 armed individuals stAnding with long guns slung on an Interstate Highway at 2 00 in the morning certainly raises concerns And is not consistent with the Firearms Laws we have here in massachusetts. Reporter And, yasmin, certainly a lot of concerns And questions, And they are part of a larger investigation at this point. Right now it is still unclear what their intentions were. Yasmin. Ben, so break this down for us. Identified what theyre calling themselves, the Moorish Americans or the rise of the moors, going by two separate names there. The southern Poverty Law Center has been tracking this group for quite sometime. What do we know about these guys . Yes, the Moorish Sovereign Citizens are an offshoot of sovereign citizen ideology. It states that the united states has been a And-theyve'>Corporation And Theyve been in their eyes unlawfully extracting taxes from citizens throughout the united states. The united states is no longer a country And that, you know, people are allowed to, like, basically move throughout the country as they will without paying taxes or without paying for services, things like that. This is one of the several offshoots that sprung up in the late 1990s for, you know, called the Moorish Sovereign Citizens, based in cities throughout the united states, mostly it is an africanamerican movement. It is an africanamerican offshoot of a much larger sovereign citizen movement. You know, it is hard to know what they were going to go do And train for up there in maine, but there are many different Moorish Sovereign Citizen groups. This was just one of them. So the leader of the group it seems actually told the police hes now under arrest told the police in fact he was not antigovernment. Kathy talked about the intentions. We dont know what their intentions were. I know that you just mentioned who knows what it is they were training to do up in maine, but historically from what we know about these guys what could this scenario have led to, their motivation . It is hard to know. Yeah, i mean first of all, you know, they presented a flag. They said, you know, we are passing legally And lawfully through the state. You know, they werent, by the way. You know, they were carrying long guns. They were, you know, very armed up. But, you know, they believe they abide by different laws And that they are you know, they have a treaty with the united states. Thats the way they view it. They live streamed this as it was happening, which leads a lot of people to believe maybe, you know, were they trying to do something here, were they trying to livestream something. You know, their Youtube Account has Ands'>Tens Of ThousAnds of followers. So that could be part of what this is, like a larger thing for their mission as well. One of the very interesting things that happened two weeks ago in newark, new jersey, there was a woman who went home to her home And all of her locks had been changed And there was a Man Inside who said this was his house now. That was a Moorish Sovereign Citizen. The Swat Team had to come And get the guy out of her house. What . She was worried about the guy. It was a real thing that happened in newark, new jersey. Wow. It takes a lot of different avenues And things like that. Like i keep saying, it is a Diss Parlt there are disparate sects in this group. But very basically what they believe is that, you know, they have a treaty with the united States Government but theyre not part of it. So i just quickly want to know here, ben, how big is this group . How worried should we be . You know, this is these groups have been around since the 90s. This is not a new movement. You know, Social Media has kicked off a lot of sovereign citizen movements over the last 10, 20 years, not necessarily just tied to Moorish Sovereign Citizens but throughout the united states. It varies in levels of criminality And violence, but it is not a new thing in the slightest. Got it. Kathy park, ben collins, thank you both, guys. Appreciate it. I want to move on to florida now, To Surfside where were Learning Demolition Workers are planning to bring down the remainder of the building on sunday. Officials, they feared over the past week that the damaged structure could come crashing down at any moment. That fear is heightened, of course, by the threat of tropical Storm Elsa looming in the caribbean headed towards florida. At a Press Conference earlier today the governor, Ron Desantis, addressing some of the concerns. Take lace en. We have a building here In Surfside that is tottering. It is structurally unsound. Although the Eye Of The Storm is not likely to pass over this direction, you could feel gusts in this area. We dont know. It is definitely a possibility. All right. So the demolition of the building would temporarily suspend And-rescue'>Search And Rescue operations once again, but officials hope not for long. The Death Toll now stAnding at 24, with 124 still unaccounted for. With that i want to go to Ellison Barber stAnding by covering this for the last few days. Im sure it is disheartening for so many families waiting for some closure, especially with so many still missing underneath the rubble of the building it seems. But take us through what we know so far about this Demolition Effort thats going to happen pretty quickly. Reporter yeah. I mean we do know that the family, both families who are still looking for their Loved Ones who are still unaccounted for as well as families who actually survived the collapse initially, lived on the part of the building that is still stAnding, we know they were all briefed before this was made public And before the media was notified of this decision. But as you said, we also know that this building is not structurally sound. It was moving And Rescue Efforts had to stop for some 15 hours on thursday because structural engineers were concerned that it could collapse at any minute, And rescuers who were working actually heard a loud noise inside the structure that remained And had to evacuate to their safe place On The Beach because they saw movement And were worried that it might come down. The potential of Storm Force winds, that increased this threat exponentially. We knew that there were plans to bring down the rest of the condo prior to this, but as of yesterday we were told that that would take weeks, best case scenario. Officials say what has changed is that they are working with a new group of contractors, cdi controlled demolition incorporated, who according to the mayor of miamidade have the ability to bring down what remains of this condominium within 36 hours once structural engineers give them the green light. We are told the building will be brought down with some sort of charge, not a wrecking ball, to hopefully keep the debris in a bit of a contained area. Listen to more of what we heard. It will entail minimal Work Stoppage from the And-rescue'>Search And Rescue. They would have to stop a little bit before And a little bit after just to make sure that there were no fires, but probably the most minimal interruption in terms of the course of action theyre pursuing. There will be a tarp there is a strategy in regards to the areas weve searched will be covered. So that will be deployed before any demolition occurs. So that way we know what weve searched And what other new debris that would possibly fall in that direction could be removed And we know it wasnt part of the original. Reporter And the mayor of miamidade says that this is the best way to protect And preserve evidence, but also allow Rescue Efforts to continue. Governor Ron Desantis says that the state will pay for the cost of demolition. Yasmin. All right. Nbcs Ellison Barber for us In Surfside with quite a development there. Thank you, ellison. Good to see you by the way. Coming up in a bit, the mayor of surfside, Charles Burkett, joins me live to talk about the efforts on the ground plus concerns about the safety of other buildings in his city, And some developing stories there. I want to get now to the president s covid independence tour. Biden wrapping up his stop in antrim county, michigan, to head to travers city. It is one of his trips to celebrate a return to prepAndemic life. I want to go to Mike Memoli in travers city. Good to see you, my friend. Reporter how you doing . The president is taking heat for this trip as he falls somewhat short of his goal to have 70 of the country vaccinated by July 4th. Talk me through the messaging on this trip And how it is being received so far. Reporter well, yasmin, it is fair to criticize them for this. This is a White House that has loved to set these kind of goals, And theyve been very quick to tout when theyve hit them. In this case it was clear a few weeks ago from the white Houses Side that they were not going to hit that 70 of a single vaccination for most adults. But part of the messaging from the White House is the scenes you see behind me, this is the first day of the national Cherry Festival in travers city, there was no Cherry Festival last year. The strides that the country has made to getting back to prepAndemic life is so important And thats what the president is touting today. What the president is doing is calling attention to the fact that the White House is still trying to encourage americans who havent been vaccinated to do so. I want to swing around And show you part of what we are seeing here at the Festival Today is a vaccine tent. Now, Travers County where we are here in michigan is close to the national average in terms of 66 of adults here have been vaccinated. The numbers are far lower in the counties that surround here, the more rural And more republicanleaning we should note, counties. Part of the hope is that as a big event like this draws people from all over from surrounding counties, that this is an opportunity for them to just to have the ease of access to get the vaccination. I did ask some of the folks working the tent how much business theyre doing here. They had just three vaccines distributed an hour ago. It is up to seven now, just at our last check. So not necessarily brisk business, but any vaccine you can administer is a huge step is here, especially because of what really the white House Messaging is shifting to now, which is concern about the Delta Variant. June was the month of action. The White House, other local State Governments offering incentives to try to get people to try to get the vaccinations And a beer, a ticket to a sports game. Now it is very much about the risk And the warning that theyre issuing that the highly transmissible Delta Variant here, we are seeing the Case Numbers rise across the country, that they need the vaccine for that reason as well. Part of what is president is doing here today. But really it is almost like a Campaign Footing the White House is on. You have the president here with the governor. You have the First Lady in maine And New Hampshire today, And the Vice President will be speaking later this hour in nevada, all touting the progress in the vaccine but also, of course, the Infrastructure Plans that theyre putting forward. Thats the next big task ahead for this White House, yasmin. You Cant Help but wonder, mike, the incentive for folks as they walk by that vaccine tent, watching folks return to normal, smiles out knowing they werent able to celebrate last year the way theyre able to celebrate this year, And if it means, you know what, im going to get that shot because i want to return to normal like everybody else. Nbcs Mike Memoli for us in michigan. I will talk to you at the top of the hour. With his business facing charges, President Trump is holding a rally in a few hours. Both his And-cfo'>Organization And Cfo pled not guilty. At this socalled Grievance Tour in sarasota, florida, he is expected to address the indictment. This is coming as we learn more about him latest effort to overturn the election. New records are showing he also attempted to do the same thing with election officials in Arizona But Clint hickman, the chairman of the Maricopa County Board of supervisors, rejected the calls. We will deal into it with former Manhattan Assistant Rebecca Roiphe And with jill winebanks at the top of the hour. We will break it down And you dont want to miss the analysis And conversation. Still ahead, everybody. Olympics dreams shattered. An inspiring And-field'>Track And Field star suspended over marijuana use. The growing debate over whether officials should just let her run. Dont judge me because I Am Human. I am you, i just happen to run a little faster. Ttle faster. Taking align can help. Align contains a Quality Probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24 7. Try align, the pros in digestive health. With relapsing forms of ms. Theres a lot to deal with. Not just unpredictable relapses. All these other things too. It can all add up. Kesimpta is a oncemonthly athome injection. That may help you put these Rms Challenges in their place. Kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions, And slowing Disability Progression vs aubagio. 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He has not been criminally charged but the woman in the case provided graphic details And photos of her alleged encounters with him. In a request for a Domestic Violence restraining order. His agent said he had a brief And consensual relationship with her. It will stop him from making a Start Tomorrow in washington, d. C. Against the nationals. Shacarri richardson was expected to run away with a Gold Medal at the tokyo olympics, but now she could be watching from the sidelines. Richardson has been suspended for one month after Testing Positive for thc, the chemical found in marijuana. On friday she apologized, taking responsibility for her actions. Take a listen. Honestly, i want to stay positive for my actions. I know what i did. I know what im supposed to do. I am allowed not to do, And i still made that decision. As much as im disappointed, i know that when i dont represent myself, i represent a community that has shown me great support And great love. To yall, i feel yall, so i apologize, for the same i need to control how to control my Emotions Ordeal with my emotions. So while the suspension takes richardson out of the running in her signature event, the is00 meter, she still could be eligible to run the 4 by 100 relay. Joining me is lindsey kraus. Great to see you for this afternoon. Thank you for joining us on a Saturday Afternoon And Holiday Weekend. I want to read from your oped here in talking about the situation. It was really good. You write this. The best athletes in the world are already under extraordinary pressure to perform, but we require extraordinary conduct from them in parts of their lives that have nothing to do with their sports. You can think a lot of situations in which athletes have been in similar circumstances like the one shacarri finds herself in right now. Talk me through this. Yeah, i mean i think it is exactly what i said. Athletes, it takes an extreme amount of And-control'>Selfdiscipline And Control to achieve what a lot of athletes do. The Flip Side of that is extreme pressure And how people hAndle that isnt always healthy. I really feel for them. I think it is devastating to think that the lengths a lot of our best athletes go to, go through to hAndle their pain. I mean we saw this recently, And it was documented so well in the documentary about tiger woods, but he tested positive for marijuana And main And-sleep'>Medication And Sleep drugs when he was arrested for Driving Under The Influence in 2017. He was suffering from And-pain'>Insomnia And Pain And was dealing with that in really unhealthy ways. Michael phelps, of course, has been very public with his Mental Health struggles for years And has also used marijuana. Of course, there are penalties for all of this, but i think as a society we should think about how do we support these athletes who become famous And powerful And rich at a very young age And often dont necessarily have Support Systems in line to help them cope. Well, theres another element here, And you talk about this in your piece as well. You think about shacarri. She is a powerhouse. She killed it in that qualifying run, taking it by 11 seconds, expected to win a Gold Medal if she went to the olympics with the 100 meter. It is so disappointing for so many of her fans but also her working so hard, And losing her mother, knowing her biological mother passed just a week before that run. But you talk about the pressure, not only that professional athletes face but women that are professional athletes face. We have seen it with Naomi Osaka And Serena Williams And women specifically of color. Absolutely. We saw that when she tweeted on thursday morning, she put out on twitter, I Am Human And we didnt know yet most of us what she was referring to, but that really struck me that she was already kind of making an appeal to say, look, i may have these extraordinary this extraordinary talent, these extraordinary physical powers, but i make mistakes. I am just as human as anyone else. That really resonated with me as, you know, Someone Mo is also an athlete And, you know, pushes myself. Theyre all just the same as us in one way or another. I think her i think the pressure to be perfect for someone like her is intense. Gwen berry was telling me for the oped, if you are not perfect And you are someone who might already be vulnerable, that everything is taken from you. I think thats so sad. It is. Lindsey crouse, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Coming up, everybody, the Delta Variant And vaccines with rising cases of this highly infectious strain of covid concerns, the country could be facing yet another outbreak. What you need to know as americans celebrate the first 4th Of July out of lockdown. Plus, an unbelievable scene in japan as a wall of And-mud'>Water And Mud decimates a town. Well be right back. When you have nausea, heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach. Diarrheaaaa. Pepto bismol coats your stomach with fast And soothing relief. And try new drug free pepto herbal blends. Made from 100 natural ginger And peppermint. [sizzling] i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] its grilled cheese oclock. Ray loves vacations. But his diabetes never seemed to take one. Everything felt like a no. everything. But then ray went from no to know. With Freestyle Libre 14 day, now he knows his Glucose Levels when he needs to. And. When he wants to. So ray. Can be ray. 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Thats why well stop at nothing to deliver our technology asaservice. Welcome back, everybody. We are following breaking news. President , of course, making his visit on the americas back together tour in travers city, michigan. He is visiting a local store in that area celebrating the Countrys Progress since he has taken office, especially with covid19 And the pAndemic. We are having some technical issues, of course, in covering the president , but we will be following his tour throughout the day And checking back in with our own Mike Memoli who will be joining us at the top of the 4 00 p. M. Hour to bring us an update on the president s visit throughout the day. So with this americans are also expected to travel in record numbers this Holiday Weekend. Air travel alone has already exceeded prepAndemic levels for the first time as July 4th approaches, but all of that And-flying'>Driving And Flying is coming with new concerns, of course, over the Delta Variant And its spread. Nbcs Scott Cohn is in San Jose, california, covering the story for us. Thanks for joining us on this 4th Of July holiday. Reporter sure. The Delta Variant is known to be highly contagious, as we know by now, possibly more deadly as well than previous strains of the coronavirus, which makes these Travel Numbers pretty concerning. What are you hearing from Health Officials about that this Holiday Weekend . Reporter well, theyre hoping yeah, theyre hoping that along the way in your travels that you take time to get a vaccination. Were here in San Jose in Santa Clara County where theyve done very well on the vaccination front. Im at a Vaccination Clinic where Weve Seen People come in, a lot of people come in to get their second shots. This county, theyre at nearly 75 fully vaccinated. Theyre even like going out to bars to get people vaccinated there. Nonetheless, they have 56 Delta Variant cases in this county, so you can see just how virulent it is. If you look at some of the states, california has done relatively well on vaccinations. Nonetheless it is up there among the states with the most prevalence of the Delta Variant. These are just numbers based on tuesday, based on cases that have been fully sequenced. There are almost certainly more than that. The message is that this is not over yet. Hmm. Theres some counties in the country like in the south, theres a lot of counties that barely have 30 have taken the vaccine. I worry about those counties And i think you will see regional surges there come the Fall Winter when we have cold, dry air again. I think those counties in the south are going to experience a Triple Whammy, low Vaccine Uptake rates, the continued spread of the variants And, of course, seasonality. Reporter thats the issue, is the unvaccinated. Theres still a pretty sizable population that has not gotten vaccinated yet. If you look at the national figures, were talking about 147 Million people 18 And over that are unvaccinated. Here in california, you look at people who are 12 And over And it is still 10. 6 million people. So theres a lot of potential there for this variant to spread. And if you want a sense of what kind of a difference it makes, go a couple of counties to the north of me in Contra Costa County where theyve started breaking out the cases. With the unvaccinated rate it is 8. 7 , And with the vaccinated it is. 7 . The message here And across the country, get your shot. Yasmin. Thats quite a message. Scott cohn for us. Thank you. I want to bring in dr. Kavita patel, fellow at the brooking institution. Good to see you once again. Thank you for joining us on this Saturday Afternoon. I want you to react from what we heard from Ben Gupta talking about the Triple Whammy situation. Low Vaccination Rates, he talks about that, the rise of variants And, of course, the cold And dry temperatures, the season in which the south is dealing with. You have another doctor from the south from the state of alabama telling Nbc News essentially when we see lower Vaccine Uptake in places that roll back restrictions And variants like delta spreading, that is exactly what we infectious disease doctors worry about. Yeah, thats right, yasmin. Ill actually kind of Double Down And add a fourth factor. Thats return to school. About a quarter of new cases are in children who are unvaccinated. They can be 18 or younger. We know we can get a vaccine for 12 to 18, but weve talked about about how that is not a very popular option for many children. So there are children driving these cases. Theyre mild cases. Theyre not ending up in the hospital, but we have to watch that very closely. So i would say it is all three things, low vaccine rate, a more infectious variant And then kind of the seasonality, but also kind of what we are doing as americans. We are talking about Record Travel compared to last year. For the economy it is good thing, but for spreading a variant that is more infectious amongst unvaccinated people who might not even know they have it. I think the other part that i worry about is that testing just overall has gone down across the country. Yasmin, i talk to patients And i say, you know, it would make me feel better with your symptoms which i dont think you are covid but youre not vaccinated, lets get tested. People dont want to now. Theyre kind of fed up. So i think we need to have an honest conversation about, you know, this is not the time to let go of those Public Health measures. I dont mean mAndating masks. I mean testing, tracing, And 23 states have given up on showing that data on a daytoday basis. So why go backwards when we really need to forge ahead, not behind . So with that in mind, do you think the White Houses efforts are enough . They are now saying theyre going to extend detection of the virus, facilitate Contract Tracing And they added the government is willing to provide additional personnel. But at this point is it too little, too late as we see the Delta Variant spread, especially in low Vaccination Areas . No, it is not too little, too late, but i worry we are reaching the limits what we can see a federal reach for. There is clearly a population And theyre not one homogenous population but people that dont want to be vaccinated. Clark county, nevada, which has about a 58 Vaccination Rate overall And it is one of the hot spots right now. Theyre getting about 16 new cases per 100,000. You heard from scott thats largely driven also by unvaccinated people. So the federal government needs to provide the infrastructure. Theyre doing the right things And checking boxes, but i think theres still a disconnect with local Public Health officials And then the political tensions. We are not talking about the fact theres still so much misinformation out there, And you actually have local officials on the ground, not Health Officials, you have local officials on the Ground Making Villains out of Public Health people who are saying things like, well, listen, maybe you should wear a mask indoors when were having an outbreak in missouri, nevada, thats where we could use more federal heft. We talked about Hospital Workers have a mAndate. There should be more federal support for places like that. They shouldnt feel like theyre out on an islAnd doing something wrong. The courts to hold them up. You think the White House should be coming out And saying, listen, if you are in a low vaccinated Area State thats having a mild outbreak or some sort of outbreak, you need to be wearing a mask, masks are mAndated in that area . I wonder honestly if people will listen, as you said, putting the Genie Back in the bottle is pretty hard after a year And a half of lockdown. It is. But i think we saw you And i were talking about this when Donald Trump was president And they were not listening to kind of what local officials needed. So we do need to be responsive. Youre right. Theres some element that people will not listen to what they dont want to listen to. I can tell you one thing. Talking on the ground to local Public Health officials, they do wish they had a little bit more support, not just from the cdc, yasmin, but they want to know that the scientists who are behind them are supported by the policymakers. That includes the White House. That includes congress. We shouldnt be it is not just masks. We shouldnt kind of discourage states from monitoring breakthrough infections. The cdc itself should monitor breakthrough infections. Theyre only monitoring infections that lead to hospitalization or death. Thats taking down a real Sentinel Event Monitoring system. When i look at countries like the uk And other places, they havent taken those surveillance systems down, yasmin. They kept them up And in fact have increased them. Dr. Kavita patel, thank you as always. Great to see you, my friend. I want to go now to something that were monitoring in las vegas, nevada, where the Vice President is speaking. I want to take a listen to what she has to say. Senator jacky rosen, my sister in the senate. Congresswoman susie lee. Congressman steven horsford. Thank you all for your leadership. President douglas mccarron, thank you. Vice president frank hawk. And the proud members of the united Brother Mood And sisterhood of the carpenters. Oo sisterhood of the carpenters. Ood of the carpenters. Hood And sisterhood of the carpenters. So it is so great to be in the house of labor. I always know im home in the house of labor, And it is great for us all to be able to spend prior to this Holiday Weekend together. And, of course, this weekend is the weekend where now in particular all across our nation high school bAnds will march in parades And families will gather for Backyard Barbecues And children will watch in wonder as Fireworks Light up our night sky, And we will celebrate together our nations independence. Indeed. And this year not only will we celebrate our independence, we will celebrate our nations resilience, because this Year America is coming back together. Because this Year America is getting back to work. [ And-applause'>Cheering And Applause ] the Vice President getting some applause there And, of course, some kickback from a Little One in the crowd. That was a special moment. The Vice President , of course, speaking on behalf of the administrations americas back together tour in las vegas, nevada delivering remarks at the Carpenters Union Training facility there. We will continue to monitor this as well as the president in michigan, also on behalf of americas back together tour. We will check back And forth with both of them. For now we want to move ahead as we are tracking elsa, downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm but still packing a punch as it approaches the state of florida. The latest on the forecast. Plus, the potential impact on Rescue Efforts In Surfside. We will talk To Surfside mayor Charles Burkett live after the break. Shouldnt something, you know, wacky be happening right now . We thought people could use a break. Weve all been through a lot this year. That makes sense. Yeah. So. Nows not a good time 3 5ths of nsync. Are you sure . You have us booked all day. Read the room, guys. Yeah. Right . 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It swept through a seaside city in japan. About 60 Miles Southwest of tokyo, just terrifying images to see. Footage showing the terrifying Moments Homes And other buildings were engulfed by the slide this morning coming after a week of torrential downpours across the region. The government there has set up a Task Force to respond to this disaster as And-rescue'>Search And Rescue efforts are continuing there. But simply impossible, it seems, that moments like this, to get out of the way of the mudslide. Just a complete And utter disaster there. We will keep following the story And bring you more developments as we get them. We will turn to tropical Storm Elsa currently on track to batter southern hispaniola, And-cuba'>Jamaica And Cuba with Heavy Rain And dangerous winds this weekend before a track toward florida. Nbc meteorologist Michelle Grossman joining us with the latest on elsas path. I guess not necessarily good to see you because we dont want to be thinking about hurricane or tropical Storm Season as quickly as we are, but here we are with elsa. So talk us through this. I know it was a Hurricane Category 1. Now it is a tropical storm but still packing a punch there. What are we expecting . Yeah, you know what . Seeing that video of that mudslide, thats what we will be looking at in cuba from elsa. It is a tropical store now, category 1 storm as of the 11 00 advisory it was downgraded but it doesnt mean much because it was at 74mileperhour winds And now it is at 70. It is a strong tropical storm. We will have the rain threat, the threat for the mudslides And localized flooding, winds also. Lets talk about the Hurricane Season right now because we are at the fifth named storm. It is almost unbelievable at this point. Typically with elsa it was a hurricane, the first hurricane of the 2021 season. We dont typically see hurricanes named until around august 18th, august 19th. Thats on average. So we are super early And thats going to be an indication of what is to come for this Hurricane Season. Lets talk about elsa right now. These are the alerts in place for hispaniola. You see it spinning to the south of haiti there And were looking at cuba. I mentioned the threat for the mudslides there. Jamaica also under the gun for some tropical storm conditions. The rainfall forecast, that will be the biggest threat with elsa as it stAnds, where you can see the darker coloring. Thats the heavier rain And thats where we can get up to 15 inches of rain in some spots. Think of cuba. Theres tons of mountains. As we saw on the video earlier in japan, it is very similar. It is so forceful And it can cause so much damage And potentially deadly. We are talking about florida, too, the threat of rain where we could see 2 to 4 inches And locally up to 6 inches. Certainly we will be thinking about surfside over the next several days And especially into early next weeks. Winds at 70 miles per hour. Again, it is a strong tropical storm. You only need 74mileperhour winds for it to be a category 1 storm. We expect it to weaken some as it goes over cuba. Lots of mountains that could break up the storm. It is moving extremely fast. This is unheard of at 29 miles per hour in the caribbean. It is going to slow down a bit. It will weaken a bit over the next several days but it will merge back into the golf And we could see it blot only again. Still expect it to be at tropical storm status. We are talking a lot about surfside And our thoughts are with the efforts. We are looking at the track making lAndfall on the west side of florida. Thats good news for the east side, but we still could see rainfall, still see the winds And impacts from elsa on the southern portions of florida, especially in miami And seaside. No matter where the cone of concern sets up, And thats going to Pan Out over the next several days, we still could see a big hindrance. Really it is the last thing they need with these strong efforts happening In Surfside. Talk me through what we expect in the waters there, especially in the Surfside Area when theyre continuing these And-rescue'>Search And Rescue efforts. I mean as weve seen with hurricanes in the past, i know it is a tropical storm, but as we see with tropical storms as well And you mentioned the cone of concern, you toggle a little bit to the east, a little bit to the west And the whole scenario could really change for an area. Yeah. You know what . We still have at least 48 hours for that really to Pan Out. We still have some time where we will see the cone of Concern Shift to the east, shift to the west. When you get the waters And the surf is up, think of where surfside is, too. It is kind of on the barrier. So you have the high waters, And you are going to have rain And you are going to have wind. So it is definitely something we will be watching over the next several days, And it is just a worst case scenario. Also, so early in the season to be talking about a hurricane, right . So i mean think about, two months away is when typically we get the first named storm, so super, super early And not a good sign for the season. Yeah. Michelle grossman, thanks for being on top of it for us. Appreciate it. Yes. So the storm is only one of the new safety concerns hampering the Rescue Efforts at Champlain Towers In Surfside, florida. A short time ago plans were announced to demolish the stAnding portion of the collapsed condo tomorrow. This comes as the city of Miami Beach Orders Evacuation of another condominium to protect against a collapse. A new Death Toll of 24 was announced leaving 124 people unaccounted for. Joining me, Charles Burkett, the mayor of surfside. Mayor, thank you for joining us. I appreciate it. I know you are an incredibly busy man so i appreciate you taking the time And efforts to speak with us this afternoon. You just heard our meteorologist, Michelle Grossman, talking about elsa. Worst case scenario, headed toward your state, hopefully not exactly towards surfside but nonetheless it is certainly going to hamper your Rescue Efforts there. Talk first to me about the decision in demolishing the neighboring building. I know as of yesterday when you had the Press Conference the decision was you guys were going to wait it out. Now that decision has changed. Why . Well, Yesterday Morning i met with the governor personally And we sat And we discussed that issue. He And i both agreed that if the building was a problem, we need to eliminate the problem, which meant the building i think the impetus for bringing the building down right away was because the mayor saw that she may have to move quickly because the storm was going to make Demolition Decision for her in that it could have possibly taken the building down in the wrong direction, which would have you know, which would have spelled disaster for the And-rescue'>Search And Rescue efforts And those potentially surviving in the rubble. So what do you say to those folks, the Family Members that are worried about just that, that are worried that they still have Family Members in an Air Pocket underneath that rubble that could feasibly be killed by this demolition . Well, thats exactly the reason why the mayor decided And i commend her for that because the governor And i urged her to make that decision yesterday, to make the decision to control the demolition And get the building to fall in the right direction because letting the hurricane decide where the building was to fall could have been catastrophic for the Rescue Efforts. Right. How long is this going to stop efforts in continuing to look for any possible survivors . Well, listen, from the very Beginning Weve had two objectives, And i have said that over And over again. Objective one is to get everybody out And objective two is to support the families. Again, this is just an extension of that. It is not going to take long to do it. Theyre going to wire the building up while the guys continue to work, And ladies, by the way. And once the order is given to hit the button, i imagine were going to clear off the Debris Pile for a very short period of time, demolish the building, And then immediately jump back up on the pile And continue the work. A lot of talk has been dedicated to the 2018 inspection of this building. Im looking to get your response on a story first published by the Miami Herald that the condo residents were actually trying to get repairs made to their building but the Town Building Department was not responsive in time. What do you know about this . I would say i had a meeting about that this morning. I do know that they were noticed three years before they decided to submit a proposal to do the work. The submittal that they made, i am told, was a Courtesy Submittal, not an official submittal with official plans. It was a Courtesy Submittal to get input from the Building Official on what their intentions were And how the Building Official felt about the intentions. I dont know that it was inordinately held up because i think that our processes, you know, are pretty sophisticated in that. Theres a queue of people already in line to have their permits considered, And this small town can only consider a certain number of permits at a time. You know, for instance the driveway or a new roof, those types of submittals could take two or three weeks just to go through all of the check all of the boxes And get all of the paperwork in order so that the work can begin. I understAnd that this whole process was about a 35 or 40day process in that they had submitted this Courtesy Request And the Building Official was responding to them And had responded to them 14 hours before the collapse as bad luck would have it. But nonetheless, obviously these the Condo Association felt it was very important to, you know, get going on the work three years after they had been noticed about the problems, but, you know, my position is, well, it is better late than never, but obviously it was not soon enough. Well, what was the response 14 hours before the collapse, do you know . I dont know what the response was. You know, i dont know that much about it yet because it is such a new situation, but i plan on going back And finding out more information. I think that i have asked that the Building Official respond to the questions, And im hopeful that hes in the process of answering all of those detailed questions because, again, i am a little bit outside of that bubble And i just get the information thats given to me. Mayor, just one last question to you. North Miami Beach evacuating a building because of fear of collapse. How safe should folks feel that are in high rises along the shore there . I missed the first part of that question. Could you repeat it . Yeah, yeah. North Miami Beach is evacuating a building there because of fear of collapse, this happening overnight. So im just wondering how safe residents should feel in other high rises that are nearby the Champlain Towers . Well, listen, this is a real, real difficult situation. We have no idea why this building just fell down. As ive said before, you know, buildings in the united states And in america dont fall down. Thats a Third World phenomenon, not a first world phenomenon. Something was very, very wrong here with this building, And were going to have to find out what was wrong. Thats not going to be today, tomorrow, the next day or indefinite future. For now were going to pull people out of that rubble And reunite them with their families. Thats our number one goal, the number one focus, And from the White House down to Surfside Everybody is working together to get that done. Mayor, thanks for your time. We know you are very busy. Appreciate it. Good luck to you And your community ahead. Coming up, everybody, at 4 00 p. M. We will talk to Surfside Architect Kobi Sprks Karp on the dangers associated with bringing a building like this down. We will be back. Back. Bringing down. We will be back. Bringing a buil down we will be back. Im really nervous. I dont know what i should wear. Just wear something not too crazy, remember its a Business Dinner not a Costume Party. On a spotty network this is what she heard. Just wear something crazy, remember its a Costume Party. A Costume Party . Yes anybody want to split a Turkey Leg . Its the lowest prices of the season on the Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed. Its the most comfortable, duallyadjustable, footwarming, temperaturebalancing proven Quality Night Sleep weve ever made. The new queen Sleep Number 360 c2 Smart Bed is only 899. Plus free Premium Delivery when you add a base. Ends monday. When technology is easier to use. 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And i can tell you that the feel of hAndcuffs behind your back, it is not comfortable nor is it sitting there And having your photograph taken. Now, allen could be, you