28 a.m. you can see the last cars driving over that bridge and about 30 seconds later the ship Rams into one of the bridges supports Bringing Down the entire Bridge officials say the ship was moving at 8 knots roughly 9 mph much faster than they should have been so tonight the major questions what happened on this cargo ship in the final moments before the collapse the pilot at the controls is currently undergoing post accident drug and alcohol testing it was a local pilot specialized in navigat
ing the port not part of the ship's crew driving the ship the cargo ship named dolly was heading from Baltimore to Sri Lanka flying a Singapore flag this screen recording from Maritime data provider Marine Traffic shows dol's track as it approached and collided with the Key Bridge you can see Dolly veered slightly to the right at this point before hitting the bridge the FBI saying a preliminary investigation suggests the crash was an accident and that there's no credible evidence of a terrorist
attack a short time ago President Biden promising to rebuild it's my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort this is going to take some time the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt we're not leaving until this job get done and Gio bitez joins us now from here in Baltimore Gio we understand that
investigators are not giving up hope for those missing victims yeah that's right Lindsay right now they are still considering this very much a search and rescue operation but no doubt about it everyone here is thinking about how cold those waters are under that bridge and so no doubt about it those those families must be heartbroken right now just waiting for that word meanwhile the mayor here has announced a prayer vigil Lindsay the dark cold and and long hours Gio bonitz our thanks to you as t
his investigation into how this catastrophe could happen is well underway we are learning new details tonight about the ship and its history and about the construction of that bridge 47 years ago our Terry Moran is on the scene with that part of the story this is the moment that the 95,000 ton cargo ship the dolly was getting perilously close to Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge you can see the power flicker on and off seconds before disaster now the Urgent investigation into how the crash oc
curred and if the crew could have done anything more to avoid it ABC News has obtained records showing the dolly built in 2015 had at least two documented issues in the past a June 2023 inspection found a deficiency for propulsion and auxiliary Machinery concerning gauges thermometers Etc and in 2016 after the ship was involved in a previous crash in in Belgium inspectors issued a deficiency for structural conditions concerning Hall damage impairing seaworthiness this image taken in Belgium show
s the moment in 2016 that the ship hit a wall as for the Baltimore bridge that 1.6 mile long span opened in 1977 experts say it was likely not designed to withstand a crash like the one that occurred overnight once the pier is hit just Falls vertically down you know which would give every indication that either the boat knocked the bridge off of its support so it lost the support that way or literally destroyed um the that first concrete pier and and and it lost um the support all together in th
is satellite photo you can see the protective peers on the power lines running parallel to the bridge clearly visible but transportation secretary Pete Budaj at a press conference on the scene was skeptical peers would have made any difference I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size 850,000 car cars and trucks flowed into the Port of Baltimore last year making it the nation's busiest for US Auto Imports tonight facing the possib
ility of a prolonged shutdown the big three automakers are diverting shipments to other ports as needed Terry Moran joins us now Terry so many questions investigators are trying to answer tonight but I would imagine the chief among them is why that vessel lost power to begin with absolutely that's what maritime experts have been telling us the key question why did the ship suddenly lose power and they say that fire on board that computer system malfunctions even bad fuel are all possible explana
tions to look at they also say that investigators will be carefully scrutinizing those videos that show the moments of catastrophic collapse linday Terry Moran out here from the we hours Terry thanks so much for your reporting Governor West Moore says the focus remain s on the search and rescue mission and he's met with the families of those missing he says the road to recover will be a long one I had a chance to speak with him just a little while ago Governor thank you so much for your time aga
in on on such a hectic day and tragic day and know you were just telling me that you've been talking with some of the the families of of those who still remain missing and and give us a sense of of their reaction to all this today you know they um their strength is just extraordinary um and they're their faithful people they're prayerful people and I uh I prayed with them uh I prayed for them and uh you know they sent their family ones and their loved ones off to work with the full expectation t
hat they were going to come home you know when a person's in a in a work Zone and working on a bridge you don't find that to be a hazardous occupation and it shouldn't be so the fact that we have these families that are now uh that are now hoping and praying uh for for a result or bringing their family members home it's it's it makes this heartbreak that much more heartbreaking uh for those who are not in this area and don't really kind of have a sense of of the lifeline that this bridge provide
s just kind of put that in perspective for us this this represents so much of the economic Vitality of of not just the area uh and not even just the city but of the state I mean this this area is responsible for about over $191 million of economic activity a day uh it's responsible for about 8,000 jobs and so to look at a Skyline that doesn't even look familiar uh that keep Bridge has been there ever since I've been born and so uh this is surreal looking up and and and not seeing it there anymor
e uh but it it has significant economic impacts and that's why our commitment to rebuild it our commitment to work in partnership with the federal government and our local Partners to make it stronger than ever it is uh that is my resolve and we are going to make it happen your immediate reaction when you heard uh I remember when uh my phone rang uh probably a little after 2: in the morning and uh my chief of staff said to me he said the Key Bridge is gone I said what do you mean gone he said it
collapsed um it it took my breath away because that's all that's all we know that's all we remember that Skyline with the Key Bridge uh knowing that over 35,000 people uh travel over that bridge every single day so um it it literally took my breath away when I when I heard those words uttered what kind of uh assurances support can you offer to the Community that's now worried I guess on a smaller level about the traffic but but also now concerned just about the safety the stability of of other
structures yeah I I would say to to everybody in our in our in this community and everybody within our state uh that that their safety has been and will continue to be the number one priority for me and this Administration uh not only will there be a full investigation into what happened here uh what led up to it the aftermath and everything like that uh we are going to make sure that we are going to build back even stronger uh you know I think we have seen even just in the past uh in in these p
ast hours that um that we are we are Maryland tough and we are Baltimore strong and they should know and will know that in our Administration we're committed to making sure that we're building back strong will there be plans to inspect other local Bridges other structures in the area yeah I mean well one thing that's going to happen is we are going to be able to take a look at our infrastructure as a whole that that had actually been a priority that we had even before this and and I know this si
tuation and the full investigation is still got to happen but when you have a vessel of that size moving at that speed and you have an inability to steer The Vessel uh there's not many structures uh that could take on that kind of power and pressure uh and but yet at the same time this does become an important opportunity for us to look at infrastructure as a whole uh throughout our state and one more point before I let you go let's talk about the heroic the the heroics of of the police officers
who were able to to prevent countless deaths you know when when that when that Mayday came across you had officers who immediately jumped into action and started keeping cars off of the bridge uh we're talking seconds that saved countless lives because when you think about the consistent traffic even at late even at late times of night the consistent traffic that tra that traverses over that bridge had you had multiple cars that were on that bridge and backed up when the collapse happened you k
now it this would have been something that was already a catastrophic incident that would have been even more catastrophic so uh those are heroes in our midst Governor we thank you so much for your time really appreciate it thank you so much and now let's bring in Elizabeth schy who joins us from Washington Elizabeth of the Port of Baltimore as we said it's the ninth largest port in the US the second busiest in the Mid-Atlantic give us a sense of the extent of just how disruptive this could be t
o the supply chain and Lindsay you heard it there in your interview with the governor there is an economic impact to the city of Baltimore and possibly on a on a scale nationally as we look to the longer term effect of this disruption and a lot of what this will depend on when it comes to the supply chain is how long this stalling of any ships in and out of the port is in place it was going to take some time to get the ship out you know as you can see there it is surrounded by Steel it's going t
o take time to actually move the ship out until that happens nothing else can go in and out and so that means that any Commerce that would typically go through this port the ninth B busiest in the country the first busiest when it comes to importing cars 850,000 cars come into the port every year that's just not going to happen $80 billion doll in Commerce goes through this port every year just to put that into context Lindsay that translates to about uh 120 two about $200 million every day so w
hat that means is that's Revenue that's not coming through the port there are 15,000 workers who rely on that job D on the port indirectly or directly for work so this puts them in a state of uncertainty as we wait to see how long it's going to take not just to clear the ship then but of course to rebuild the bridge and get that longer term construction underway too and so any nearby Alternatives while this port is shut down and thankfully right now there are we've been talking to a lot of compa
nies and economists who say they have learned their lesson from what we went through during the pandemic when it comes to the supply chain and this is along the east coast where there are a lot of other ports as options companies are already starting to divert some of their operations there all right Elizabeth schy super informative our thanks to you Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott has also been squarely focused on the search efforts but he also acknowledges the ripple effect that this will have o
n the city's economy I spoke with him earlier today and the mayor of Baltimore kind enough to join us now Brandon Scott we thank you so much for coming on the show on what is I know been such a hectic and and tragic day uh just give us the status as far as the latest that you know right now well this is this is still obviously this is a tragic and horrific incident uh here in our city uh this is still an active search and rescue uh the most important thing and I want everyone to hear me and hear
me very clearly right now the thing that we are most concerned with are the lives those six people that we're searching for in that water behind us and that's what is the most important we're talking about families uh that are hoping and hanging on the hope that their loved one will will come back home and that's where our focus is as far as you you know we believe that those at least six people at this point are are construction workers or maybe yes we believe they are are construction workers
who were just simply uh trying to improve uh Transit infrastructure for their fellow marylanders uh and unfortunately we're in this at the place uh wi the British galap it sounds like things could have been a lot worse had it not been for the heroic actions of of police officers yes and those folks are true heroes uh after the MayDay call went out uh police officers were able to shut down uh ongoing traffic in both directions saving countless amounts of lives and we have to thank them and truly
understand how heroic and brave their actions were and it give us a sense of that Mayday call do we know what time it came in and how much of a distance it was from before it crashed we we don't we don't have all the specifics just yet but there wasn't uh that much time uh between the mday call and the and the accident which makes those efforts even more heroic give us a sense just for those who of us who don't live in this area just what a Lifeline this bridge is well 30 over 30,000 uh cars go
over this bridge every day uh but it's not just about the bridge uh this port is the ninth largest in the country it is the largest for car Import and Export in the country and we have to understand the impact that that's going to have on uh the workers who work on the port the supply chain and all of those things but right now that is secondary uh to the search operation that is going on right now the folks that we are trying to save lives tell us about the one rescue that were you were able t
o make early this morning well there was there was two one refused help and and one uh one gentleman was taken to a hospital uh and we we're very hopeful that he'll be able to fully recover but we know that is because of the great work of our First Responders our fire department from baltim bore City Baltimore County and Aro county has been here we had prin Justice County our dive teams from all of those agencies including our police agencies uh we have the US Coast Guard we have the state every
body is working here together as you just heard from the Governor from secretary Budz from President Biden from myself from our Senators everyone is here together uh because this is how we operate in Maryland and in Baltimore we operate as one because what this is about for us is making sure that our community knows that we will come back stronger and better than ever but right now we are all focusing in love with those families and and what message would you like to send to your residents who m
ight be concerned one that this was terrorist and two they're concerned about their transportation yeah listen this we have no indications we've working with our partners and the FBI and our federal law enforcement Partners from from the jump and we have no indications of that of of this being an act of terrorism we know that there will be uh traffic disruptions obviously this bridge was actually built to support traffic because of our our 95 tunnel of having a lot of traffic in the morning time
s we're going to have to understand that they're going to be detours this is going to be a long road but uh when we think about uh the realities of what those families are going through versus us having to spend a little bit more time and traffic we can't even compare uh we will build back we will come back stronger Baltimore always recovers when every time we're counted out we always come back but today we have to continue to wrap our arms around those families and throughout this process becau
se this is a tragic and horrific incident mayor Brandon Scott once again just thank you so much for your time appreciate it thank you thank you and now let's bring in Dr Norma Jean mate former president of the American Society of civil engineers and a member of the Biden administration's National infrastructure advisory Council uh doctor thank you so much for joining us many on social media as you may know are sharing opinions on possible preventative measures uh from your Viewpoint as an engine
er could anything have been done to lessen the damage from this kind of impact so so this bridge um as was mentioned has been service for quite a while about um over 40 years put in put in service 1977 in N 1991 um ashto which is the entity that puts together bridge design specifications published a manual a specification on um vessel Collision for Highway Bridges so this this bridge actually predates that specification but when you look at the specification it talks about navigation Channel cha
racteristics it really is trying to get into the probability of one collapse and a probability that the the ship PE would be hit and that in includes if a vessel goes off course humid era poor weather conditions or loss of power or or the ability to to move or or steer uh and that seems to be the case here but in my opinion that's a very large vessel going pretty fast for a vessel of that size and um a direct hit on a a pier a major Pier that's holding up a three span continuous steel trust Brid
ge um I don't think even if those spe those new newer special specifications had been um used in the design of this bridge that we would see a bridge stand up to that type of force Dr and so the infrastructure bill has opened the door for more bridges to be constructed are bridges would it have been built more recently based on those new specifications that you mentioned are they better capable of sustaining Major Impact like this so maybe not a head-on collision of a of a vessel at that velocit
y and of that size um because you're you're looking at risk and so what is the probability that a bridge Pier there would be hit headon more than likely the risk would include a off a little bit off angle and you could use some some a variety of different techniques to either um absorb the energy or deflect The Vessel or in the case of this rebuild they may want to go with a longer Bridge span that gets uh the bridge the major Bridge peers further away from the navigation Channel or in the case
of the sunshine sky highway bridge that went down in 1980 due to a freighter hitting its Pier um because of bad weather they simply replaced that that bridge uh with a bridge that the that Pier was founded on an island and so the island then C would cause a vessel to run ground before it would reach the pier in the case of Baltimore Harbor I don't think you have the the room really uh helpful information that you have there Dr Norma Jean mat we thank you so much for joining us and we still have
much more to get to here on Prime tonight new developments a day after heavily armed federal agents raided the LA in Miami homes of Music Mogul sha Diddy Colmes ABC News has confirmed he is the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation what did his attorney say just a short time ago actually we are going to we are going to actually join a a coast guard press conference already in process and after that we'll be able to take a few questions uh but we do need to keep it brief because we w
ant to get these folks back to work uh with that I'd like to introduce rear Admiral Shannon G hey good evening everyone first I'd like to say thank you to all of the First Responders that have come out today to assist in looking for these individuals we've had tremendous support across the state and County and City and federal Enterprise you've seen from for yourself the helicopters flying over the small boats that are out there the Coast Guard Cutter that's out there the boats that go back and
forth bringing people out on seeing to search for these individuals so thank you to those this entire Community for helping in that regard second I want to say thank you to the community for the outpouring of support to those First Responders and in particularly the outpouring of support and prayers and support for the families of the six individuals so I'd like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we've gone in the search the extensive search efforts that we've put into it
the water temperature that at this point we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive and so this evening at about uh 7:30 we are going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts Coast Guard's not going away none of our partners are going away but we're just going to transition to a different phase and so I'm going to turn it over to Colonel Butler please good evening and thank you all for being here to Echo the Admiral's comments here we really appreciate
the support from the community to all the First Responders here we appreciate your patience and allowing us to do the best job possible and get the information as it comes up at this point as the Admiral said we're going away from the search and rescue portion to a recovery operation the changing conditions out there have made it dangerous for the First Responders the divers in the water we will still have surface ships out overnight at 0600 hours tomorrow we are hoping to put divers in the wat
er and begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing [Music] people thank you with that we have time for just a few questions we know there's a lot of questions uh that still have to be answered and uh we do have time for just a few so uh if we could take a few pleas so do we think it's it's still just six there's talk maybe other cars on the bridge all the information we have is the six individuals yes sir can you go into detail uh about how difficult this might
be for the recovery uh phase of this now like what kind of challenges are you up against well I I'll start by saying I'm going to turn it over to the experts on diving I'm not an expert on diving but we've got very difficult water temperatures you have structures from the bridge that're in the water that can move with the tides and currents making that dangerous for divers and people in the water to actually try to do recovery and we do not want to injure any of these First Responders in this re
covery effort we we absolutely want to be as safe as possible for everyone involved in this and I'll I'll let see C anything he wants to add can you go into specifics about what the search and rescue entailed like where there scuba divers or was everything above water sonar any sort of equipment that might have been utilized over the past 12 hours from the outset we moved all those resources in with dive teams from various State local and uh County agencies we also use sonar we're doing our very
best in some very difficult times and difficult conditions which is why we're making that transition now the last thing we want to do is put divers in the water which changing currents low temperatures very poor visibility visibility and so much metal and other unknown objects in the water all it takes is one object to strike an individual and all of a sudden we have a first responder trying to recover another first responder I think at 0600 we'll find oursel in a better position to understand
the Dynamics of what we're dealing with and to address the issue in a much safer manner do the authorities have six IDs now and those victims each been contacted those families I should say I can't speak on that that's still in the investigative portion of this you difficult things in actually retreating The Remains have any remains been retreated so far we've also heard reports that there might be individuals trapped inside of vehicles that there might be debris that has made it more challengin
g for FBI and under law enforcement to deploy all of that is unknown at this point and as I said we have to cease operations we can't start again until we can ensure the safety of those divers and the rescue Personnel that are going to participate in this if we look at how how challenging it is at a simple motor vehicle crash to extract an individual I'm sure we can all imagine how much harder it is to do it in Clement weather when it's cold under the water with very limited to no visibility jus
t to clarify no grenades have been removed thus far by SE resue teams other than the two that is correct so Colonel you're confident then that no other vehicles made it onto that bridge before the collapse or as it was collapsing I should say based upon the fact the original information that was provided the Maryland Transportation Authority police department was able to shut down traffic is there the possibility there was another vehicle on there other than those Vehicles involved in the constr
uction process I think we all would have to understand yes that's a distinct possibility as unfortunate as may be it's a distinct possibility however we don't have any information to support that at this point when you bring the divers out do you have an idea of where the individuals are if they were in cars or not and do you know how long recovery we do not know at this point I'm sure as you've seen some of the aerial photos there is a tremendous amount of debris in the water from containers ha
nging off ships we have to make sure those are shorted up we're going to work with Structural Engineers to help them understand how to navigate and address the challenges of having Bridge structure in the water that may be sharp they could puncture a suit they could puncture an airline all of these are things that we must take our time with the Vic this last question by the way I'm sorry loated at this point we do not know where they are but we intend to give it our best effort to help these fam
ilies F closure how might inclement weather tomorrow impact the recovery efforts very clearly it could but we're going to do everything in our power to help these families find closure folks we're going to be we're going to be establishing unified command as well as a joint information center and I know there's a lot of questions um and we're going to be providing that information where we will uh continue to provide updates uh but that is that is the extent of our updates tonight we thank you a
ll for [Music] coming and so we have just heard the Coast Guard give an update on the Baltimore bridge collapse here they are suspending the active search and rescue at this point the operation is moving into a recovery mode and Jay O'Brien joins us now uh Jay you have a number of extenda factors here it's dark it's cold and the duration of time we're now uh in excess of 15 hours since uh the bridge collapsed just over my shoulder and so we had to know that at some point uh they were going to ha
ve to call it and certainly this is not uh the news of the the families of those six people still missing wanted to hear yeah and Lindsay I've been checking in with folks I know uh who who work in search and rescue and and they felt that this announcement was impending for quite some time it's been more than 18 hours as you said of those six people in the water uh where I'm standing here I'm going to different vantage point of the bridge than you but you can get a sense of the kinds of condition
s that they were talking about that make this search and rescue effort in their words so dangerous the temperature of the water on average today has been about 48° uh hypothermia can set in in those conditions in just about an hour you see night is falling around me this bridge collapsed at 1:30 a.m. this morning and so there was a period of those search and rescue efforts that were conducted in darkness in the aftermath of the collapse and now we are entering into another period of darkness and
you heard those rescue officials there say how dangerous it is for First Responders to operate in those conditions changing tides as you noted chilly temperatures in the water and the sheer amount of debris that is right now on the ocean floor it's tough to see from my vantage point but the entire middle section of the bridge uh we just lost our connection with J obrien we'll be right back whenever news breaks we are here in Israel a nation at war after that brutal surprise attack by Hamas on t
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heard oral arguments today in the first major test on abortion since overturning roie weighed almost two years ago the case brought by a group of doctors opposed to abortion is challenging the fda's authority to ease restrictions on a drug used in more than half of all abortions here's Rachel Scott from the Supreme Court tonight hundreds of protesters descending on the Supreme Court as the justices he arguments in the most consequential abortion case since Row versus Wade was overturned the cour
t considering whether to roll back access to the abortion pil Mya prone used in more than half of abortions in the US a group of doctors opposed to abortion rights arguing that if a woman taking the pill needs emergency care would put a doctor who opposes abortion in a terrible position these are life-threatening situations uh in which uh the choice for a doctor um is either to scrub out and try to find someone else or to treat the woman but the justice department argued that doctors who brought
the lawsuit have no grounds to sue FDA is not requiring them to do or refrain from doing anything anything they aren't required to treat women who take myth Prestone FDA is not directing the women who take the drug to go seek out care from these specific doctors and today a majority of the justices seem deeply skeptical of the effort to further restrict the drug I'm worried that there is a significant mismatch uh in this case between the claimed injury and um the remedy that's being sought what
they're asking for here is that in order to um prevent them from possibly ever having to do these kinds of procedures everyone else should be prevented from getting access to this this medication even conservative justices like Neil Gorsuch nominated by Donald Trump also sounding uneasy with limiting access to the pill in this case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action the
only two justices who seemed inclined to side with the anti-abortion doctors and further restrict access to mempa prone Clarence Thomas and Samuel Leo hey Rachel Scott joins us now from the Supreme Court Rachel how has the FDA made access to Mya prone easier over the years and ultimately what's the timeline here for the Court's decision yeah over the last several years the FDA has actually rolled back some of the restrictions like you said making it easier to access the abortion pilm for prone w
hich is used in more than half of the abortions in the United States so you can now get access to the abortion pill by mail you no longer need those three in-person doctor appointments you can also use the pill up and through uh 10 weeks of pregnancy as opposed to just seven weeks in pregnancy the Supreme Court is expected to issue a final decision in June Lindsay all right Rachel Scott from the Supreme Court for us thanks so much former Federal prosecutor and ABC legal contributor Khan now join
s us now and even some of the conservative justices con appeared skeptical of this case brought by a group of anti-abortion doctors the fda's attorneys argued today that the doctors had no standing but I am curious that if they had no standing then how were they successful in getting this case so far all the way up to the Supreme Court well I I I think the success is ultimately because the Supreme Court wanted to hear it and granted sert on it and and I think the reason for that is they just wan
ted to kick it on the issue I think that everyone seems to agree on based on oral arguments they're going to kick it on standing at least the majority of the justices we heard from oral argument were very skeptical that these particular plaintiffs suffered any concrete harm that these particular plaintiffs have standing to bring this legal claim it was a conservative leaning federal district court in Texas that first issued the ruling to limit access to MH prone saying its safety and efficacy ha
d not been sufficiently studied a conservative appeals court then basically upheld that are you surprised to see conservative Supreme Court Justices potentially disagreeing with those previous rulings I I'm not that surprised because I I think this follows in some ways the the principle that's driving the justices the the conservative justices on this court which is they're trying in some ways to State out of certain uh touchy subjects that they think uh really the legislature should decide or t
he the FDA should decide so I'm not too surprised um G given the the nature of the the matter that they were dealing with all right former Federal prosecutor Khan now day thank you so much as always and joining us now is Alexis McGill Johnson president and CEO of Planned Parenthood a National Organization that provides sexual and reproductive Health Services uh thank you so much uh for joining us I'm sure that you've been closely watching the Supreme Court case uh for those who have used M priso
na or could in the future is there reason to worry given what you've heard in court today uh well Myer stone is still safe and still effective and still legal and I think it is very important for patients who you know have uh appointments uh to in the next uh week in the next day to understand that the medication that they may be seeking for abortion care is still legal until or if this court rules otherwise what I heard in the courtroom today uh was a lot of skepticism about the standing uh wha
t I heard was a lot of skepticism about the role of Courts and politicians challenging the medical expertise of the FDA and the real you know base the foundation of five million patients who have safely and effectively uh you know used mistone to terminate pregnancies um without uh without uh much uh repercussion and so I think that both on the on the standing and I think some very important legitimate um kind of pressure tests on the actual um expertise medical expertise that the FDA brings uh
not the court system um was really important and and a very big part of the conversation in the courtroom Planned Parenthood has 600 Health Centers across the country as you know that treats more than two million patients each year how would these women be affected if mea priston was banned or restricted well post job 70% of patients uh at Planned Parenthood Health Centers are choosing to use mistone uh to terminate their pregnancy so it would be uh not just an impact to obviously the the states
where abortion has been severely restricted um under six weeks or so um but even in states where abortion uh remains legal uh any restriction on uh access to to mffa prone whether that is changing the way in which the tele medicine laws work or requiring in clinic visit those sorts of things will add different kinds of burdens to to patients and so you know we're talking about an impact in New York in California and Illinois and I think that's why you know the justices made um such a a importan
t Point around the remedy being so much more outsized than the hypothetical very hypothetical harm that the uh that the alliance for hypocritic medicine um doctors were claiming um because this this remedy would in fact uh if they were to succeed impact uh the entire uh country including those states that allow my prisone um to be uh prescribed and and and used in in states where abortion remains legal medication abortions in the US were rare just 20 years ago but today they're used in 63% of ab
ortions just how important would you say that this pill is for that procedure I think it's very important obviously as I said many uh many patients are are choosing MyPhone um it is it does allow a level of uh a measure of of Freedom uh a measure of privacy and control over one's Destiny and one's future and I think it is you know I think we get into very tricky questions when you have courts and politicians challenging the FDA I think that's one of the reasons why you saw uh the pharmaceutical
industry aligning with the FDA they're not normally um on the same side of of the fence on many other um many other interests and I think it was very interesting that they uh joined with amicus briefs uh to uh to support the FDA because they understand that when you have courts when you have politicians without medical expertise trying to second guess the uh the expertise of of the actual scientists who've been conducting studies uh over um over decades uh that that becomes a slippery soap it im
pacts Innovation it impacts uh really any drug um that someone could object to like a vaccine um that I think could really endanger the health of the population so very big questions uh in the court today not just related to uh abortion but certainly the fact that abortion um and mffa pyone remain uh safe uh today um is certainly that's giving a lot of my um you know my colleagues at Planned Parenthood and the patients that they serve um a lot of um a measure of of of Hope and security there Ale
xis Miguel Johnson president and CEO of Planned Parenthood we thank you so much for joining us tonight thank you and now for a different perspective on this supreme court case over the access to abortion medication myth at prone I want to bring in Kristen Wagner the president CEO and general counsel for Alliance defending Freedom an organization a Christian legal organization that represents anti-abortion groups like The Alliance for hipocratico that was behind today's case Kristen we just heard
the had of Planned Parenthood talk about how a ban on this medication would jeopardize Women's Health across the country your response to that the FDA said to the court today that no one has the right to be able to challenge the fda's action and the FDA betrayed women and girls when it removed Common Sense long-standing safety protections for women including just simply having an in-person doctor visit and then it told doctors and hospitals to handle the Fallout the fda's own label says that on
e in 25 women are going to have to visit the emergency room just because they took this drug and up to 7% according to the fda's own statistics say that they'll have to have surgical intervention as a result I think that we want to remember that this is the same FDA that approved opioids for chronic pain and told us that there would be a low risk of addiction when anti-abortion groups wanted to challenge the fda's approval of this drug they chose not to challenge it in Maryland which is where we
are right now and where the FDA is also headquartered instead they challenged it as you know in Amarillo Texas which didn't even have an abortion clinic how do you respond to critics who say that that you were simply judge shopping for your best way to challenge this at the Supreme Court that's not at all true we represent thousands of doctors who are in this litigation and a number of associations who are based in different places throughout the United States and one of our lead doctors who ac
tually has had to treat women including unconscious women have come into the ER as a result of severe complications who lives right near where this lawsuit was filed I think that it's important for the American public to understand that even as recently as 2020 the FDA said in writing in a formal statement that ensuring in-person visits by doctors when these drugs are taken was not only minimally burdensome to the patient to the woman but also necessary to ensure that these women don't suffer se
vere complications well those examples that you just cite are really contrary to when uh Press today Aaron Maro Holly the law professor who argued against the pill she was not able to identify a single physician who had directly experienced a conscious violation because of these rule changes you were there in the courtroom do you have anyone who's actually been injured uh by this pills approval oh absolutely our doctors who have filed declarations in this case have said and it's confirmed by the
fda's data that when an in-person doctor visit was removed actually they've seen an increased number of women who have presented with severe complications and our doctors in this case have had to help those women in those situations in addition to that the FDA itself recently has said and even in the data most recently in 2021 says that emergency room visits have will increase as a result of their decision to not only remove the in-person visits before a woman is induced in to labor in the in h
er dorm room or in her home but in addition to that that that thousands of women have suffered severe complications because of taking this drug I I am curious to get your reaction to uh Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch who as you know is is known to be a conservative on the court uh who suggested that this was a small case that that shouldn't have been brought to a national level I don't think that's what Justice Gorsuch suggested today he did Express concern about the scope of a nationwide injunct
ion as opposed to ensuring that the remedy in the lower court was tailored to the plaintiffs that filed the case in this particular instance though the associations that were represented here represent thousands of doctors across this country I think something else that's very telling about what happened today was the admission by the drugs manufacturer who say their primary motivation in taking the stand that they did was simply to increase their profits it's to sell more drugs we again need to
understand that in this case the the evidence is not even contested the fda's own statements say that for example since the in-person visit has been removed that patients will be expected in a study it went up 12.5% that women would have to experience unplanned medical interventions as a direct result of the fda's uh involvement and in fact 300% there's been an increase of 300% of hospitalizations since these Common Sense safeguards were removed we're simply talking about one bring I just I jus
t want to I I just want to go because you you seem to think that I mischaracterized uh gorsuch's comments and I want to quote he said that this is just a quote a handful of individuals and that even if they were injured due to the pill the remed of being sought here a nationwide restriction of the pill is disproportionate and Broad he's referring he's referring to the relief that was provided that the lower court and the breath of that relief and having that relief be tailored and that's what he
's talking about is the remedy of the injunction but in terms of what's actually happening in the case the remedy is something that the court considers at the back end the fda's position has been that they can't even be questioned on the data that they site in their own labels right now if a woman goes out and buys M mistone and um takes this drug what they will find out is that the label itself warns them of severe complications and that one in 25 women are going to have to visit the ER as a re
sult and ironically in this one of the restrictions that was removed by the FDA was an obligation of Physicians and others to report serious adverse consequences that's shocking that the FDA would support that kind of a removal in terms of just a basic safety standard Kristen Wagner president CEO and the general Council for Alliance defending Freedom we thank you so much for your time thank you I want to go back now to the big story here the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge here in Balti
more we've just learned from officials the search and rescue operation has now become a recovery operation I'd like to announce tonight that based on the length of time that we've gone in the search the extensive search efforts that we put into it the water temperature that at this point we do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals still alive and so this evening at about uh 7:30 we are going to suspend the active search and rescue efforts so that was just moments ago but
what we do know is that around 1:30 this morning the containers ship called the dolly slammed into a support beam of the Francis Scott Key bridge that spans the Chesapeake Bay at the time eight construction workers were on the bridge just two of the workers survived local and federal officials and the Baltimore Community are now all bracing for a long recovery ahead and we are joined now once again by Jay obrian uh for more Jay what's the latest you've heard on the investigation into the collaps
e well Lindsay we know the NTSB is running the investigation so much of the attention as you'd imagine in that probe is onto that ship the dolly the doll's crew is being praised for doing the right thing when that ship apparently lost power and was headed on a collision course for one of the peers of the bridge the crew issued a Mayday call and that allowed law enforcement time to prevent cars from crossing the ship and that construction crew it appears with the only people remaining on the brid
ge rather when it collapsed but there are questions as to what caused that power outage or that apparent power outage on the dolly and I've also talked to shipping experts who say did the dolly have power redundancies that may or may not have failed to prevent a kind of catastrophic loss of power because controlling a ship like that steering it away from an obstacle without power I've been told is next to Impossible and President Biden said today that the federal government would pick up the tab
for rebuilding this bridge with congress's support should we expect any obstacles to this in Congress well oftentimes there's gridlock on Capitol Hill about anything even things of this nature that have such bipartisan Unity behind them uh but there is one thing in President Biden's corner here Ben carten the senior senator of Maryland who has said he's not going to run for reelection but has said that he's throwing his full weight which is a hefty political weight he is very very well respecte
d on Capitol Hill behind efforts to make sure Maryland has what it needs for the long run the president has pledged to your point that the federal government will reimburse the state of Maryland the city of Baltimore for every dollar it takes to rebuild the Key Bridge but the question becomes does that hit any kind of partisan roadblock in Congress certainly this is going to be a month if not a year long effort we have already heard from state and federal officials who are saying they're getting
ready for the Long Haul as they go out of that first phase of this response which is search and rescue and now on to the recovery phase and then the ultimate third phase which is going to be cleaning up and eventually rebuilding all right Jo o Brian our thanks to you and finally tonight from here in Baltimore where we are thinking about those eight construction workers who were on the Francis Scot Key Bridge early this morning morning six of them who are now presumed to be dead they were hard a
t work literally embodying the expression to build Bridges when catastrophe struck for 47 years this bridge stood as a symbol of what can be accomplished when people work together and that spirit is what this grieving Community will no doubt need on the long road ahead to recovery and ultimately one day build Bridges once again and that is our show for this hour I'm lindsy Davis be sure to stay tuned to ABC News live for more context and anal is of today's top stories thanks so much for streamin
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with us we are coming to you live from Baltimore tonight we're a bridge that took years to construct Came Crashing Down in simply a matter of seconds as shocking as the images are of the collapse the shock waves extend far beyond what transpired this morning the bridge a critical Crossing for 12 million drivers a vital Lifeline as the ninth busiest port in the country and then there is the emotional collapse shattering the psyche of this community and now the grief tonight officials have just an
nounced the search and rescue operation that went on all day has moved to a recovery Mission around 1:30 this morning the containership called the dolly slammed into a support beam of the Francis Scott Key bridge that spans the Chesapeake Bay at the time eight construction workers were on the bridge we know two of the workers survived but sadly the other six are now presumed dead we are learning about the heroic police officers whose fast thinking to close the bridge to traffic save countless li
ves and then there are the mounting questions tonight about why the massive container ship which is about as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall suddenly veered into the support beam what caused the power issues on board and who was warned and when our team is standing by tonight to try to begin answering some of those questions our transportation correspondent Gio bonitz leads us off with the latest on the investigation tonight the image is shocking and devastating a massive nearly 1,000 ft cargo
container ship losing power and ramming into Baltimore Francis Scott keybridge yo the 1.6 miles long bridge crashing down in just seconds plunging into the Patapsco River overnight the Key Bridge the Francis Scott Key bridge just got hit by a cargo ship Baltimore's May are declaring a state of emergency the Coast Guard the NTSB and the FBI all on the scene the intense urgent search and rescue efforts underway sonar detecting Vehicles underwater First Responders fire departments and Coast Guard t
eams all rushing to the scene in the immediate aftermath searching through the overnight hours in the freezing water eight construction workers were on the bridge according to the construction worker construction worker Jesus G says he knows some of the team working on that bridge that was really hard J says we are colleagues from work and friends we pray for the construction workers who are on the Key Bridge and we pray for everyone who has been touched by this tragedy tonight we're learning mo
ments before the crash the ship issued an urgent Mayday allowing quick thinking police to block traffic on the bridge P all traffic on the Key Bridge uh there's a ship approaching has just lost their steering the officers then planning to get the construction crew off that bridge before it collapsed the whole Bridge just fell down start start whoever everybody the whole Bridge just collapsed the quick work of law enforcement who kept more vehicles from coming onto the bridge they undoubtedly sav
ed uh in neurom Minal lives it all happened just before 1:30 this morning you can see cars crossing over the bridge just moments before impact video Tim stamps on this live stream footage showing the ship's lights went off at 1:24 a.m. before turning back on a minute later then thick black smoke begins pouring out of the top of the ship 1:26 a.m. the power turning off again and then back on at 1 127 at 1 128 a.m. you can see the last cars driving over that bridge and about 30 seconds later the s
hip Rams into one of the Bridge's supports Bringing Down the entire Bridge officials say the ship was moving at 8 knots roughly 9 mph much faster than they should have been so tonight the major questions what happened on this cargo ship in the final moments before the collapse the pilot at the controls is currently undergoing post accident drug and alcohol testing it was a local pilot specializing in navigating the port not part of the ship's crew driving the ship the cargo ship named dolly was
heading from Baltimore to Sri Lanka flying a Singapore flag this screen recording from Maritime data provider Marine Traffic shows Dolly's track as it approached and collided with the Key Bridge you can see Dolly veered slightly to the right at this point before hitting the bridge the FBI saying a preliminary investigation suggests the crash was an accident and that there's no credible evidence of a terrorist attack a short time ago President Biden promising to rebuild it's my intention that fed
eral government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge and I expect the Congress to support my effort this is going to take some time the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt we're not leaving until this job gets done the president and offering his Assurance is there our thanks to Gio bonitz for that report as the investigation into how this catastrophe could happen is well
underway we're also learning new details tonight about the ship and its history and the construction of that bridge or Terry Moran is on the scene with that aspect of the story this is the moment that the 95,000 ton cargo ship the dolly was getting perilously close to Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge you can see the power flicker on and off seconds before disaster now the Urgent investigation into how the crash occurred and if the crew could have done anything more to avoid it ABC News has o
btained records showing the dolly built in 2015 had at least two documented issues in the past a June 2023 inspection found a deficiency for propulsion and auxiliary Machinery concerning gauges thermometers Etc and in 2016 after the ship was involved in a previous crash in Belgium inspectors issued a deficiency for structural conditions concerning Hall damage impairing seaworthiness this image taken in Belgium shows the moment in 2016 that the ship hit a wall as for the Baltimore bridge that 1.6
mile long span opened in 1977 experts say it was likely not designed to withstand a crash like the one that occurred overnight once the pier is hit just Falls vertically down you know which would give every indication that either the boat knocked the bridge off of its supports so it lost the support that way or literally destroyed um the that first concrete pier and and and it lost um the support allog together in this satellite photo you can see the protective peers on the power lines running
parallel to the bridge clearly visible but transportation secretary Pete budajudge at a press conference on the scene was skeptical peers would have made any difference I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size 850,000 cars and trucks flowed into the Port of Baltimore last year making it the 's busiest for US Auto Imports tonight facing the possibility of a prolonged shutdown the big three automakers are diverting shipments to oth
er ports as needed our thanks to Terry Moran for that and joining us now is J O'Brien and Jay what's the latest you've heard on the investigation into this collapse well as Terry noted it's the sheer force of the ship experts have told me hitting one of those peers that was just irredeemable was always going to cause a collapse I've heard from civil engineers so that's why the investigatory efforts I've been told are focusing on uh the dolly in that ship and how it lost power and why it lost pow
er as Terry detail we know the NTSB is conducting that investigation and that is going to be one of the key focuses the other Focus obviously as we've heard officials say earlier in the night as you noted is that this is now transition from being an active search and rescue to a recovery effort for those six who are still missing and now presumed dead Lindsay and today as you know today the president said that the federal government would pick up the tab for rebuilding this bridge with congress'
s support should we expect any obstacles to this in Congress it's interesting because we've seen natural disaster funding or any kind of funding of a tragedy like this in the in the aftermath face some kind of hurdles before wildfires in California and things of that nature so there's always that possibility that the president isn't able to get Congress to help him make good on that promise of refunding the building effort of the new bridge uh by every dollar but he does have a key Ally as you a
nd I have been talking about over the course of the night who's Ben Carden the senior senator of Maryland who is stepping down and not running for re-election but a serious force on Capitol Hill who committed at the press conference today that while this is going to be a long effort the federal government he says is going to be there every step of the way as the president committed as well and you've spoken to a few civil engineers about what happened what have they said about how this happened
and why it's interesting because the peers and it's tough to see it over my shoulder because night has fallen it's one of the reasons why they said they've suspended at least for the evening a search and rescue now recovery efforts but the the the the bridge was had two peers right in the center of it and the dolly struck one head on and one of the things that the civil engineers and other Bridge experts have told me is that while those peers may be able ble to withstand a brush from a ship or k
ind of a glancing blow and even that with a ship of the dolly size might be an open question a direct hit as you heard the transportation secretary say in Terry's package is what made this in their view so catastrophic and immediately a took out that first pier and took out that second pier and caused the middle section of the bridge to just immediately collapse right there into the water all right J Brian our thanks to you for your reporting today as the area faces that prolonged shutdown many
are wondering what's next I got a chance to speak with Senator Ben Carden earlier today about just that and now kind enough to be joined by Senator Ben Carden thank you so much for your time really appreciate it uh I know that you've been under you I understand that you've been able to talk with the president and also the Secretary of Transportation Pete Budaj what kind of assurances were they able to give you well the president was very clear that he wants to make sure that the federal governme
nt's there every step of the way do everything think it's necessary to deal with this tragedy that means helping us in getting the channel reopened helping us in replacing the bridge helping us with the damage to our economy and of course our first mission is search and rescue in regards to those that are missing so uh the president was very clear about that secretary buha judge has been clear about it you have Federal Partners here from the Coast Guard from the Army Corps of Engineers small bus
iness administration all here to help us and what kind of assurances would you in turn give to those uh residents who are are really concerned not uh just about the traffic but also just the the the chaos that that has been created here well the impact on our economy will affect everyone it's supply chain challenges of getting product to the market it's direct employment that's going to be very much impacted people not getting paychecks and not being able to participate in our local economy the
way they did before indirect jobs are going to be lost it's going to have a Major Impact for for a significant amount of time can't get this done overnight the channel is blocked we got to make sure it's stable before we can remove uh the debris uh so it's going to it's going to take some time and when we talk about time and obviously it's just a few hours old and the the priority as it's been stated multiple times is the rescue effort but is this a a years even if this is a FasTrack this is a y
ear multiple year long Endeavor it's going to take time we don't know how long the rescue missions will be completed pretty quickly we expect that uh we then go into assess what we can do to remove the debris and it's not stable so we have to make sure no one gets hurt in removing the debris that will take some time we're not going to get that done overnight it's going to take some time and you need heavy equipment fortunately we have some heavy equipment in the region so it it'll take a a bit o
f time to be able to assess what we can do to clear the channel which is our first priority then replacing a bridge is going to take some time uh uh I know that we can streamline it cut through some red tape but still going to take take some time your immediate reaction this morning when when you heard about this I I was just shocked I I I knew it was going to be Major Impact on all of us but when I when you start to to look at the the indirect impact of of this tragedy how many people are going
to be affected by it of course we think of the victims and their families first but so many people are going to be impacted the supply chain is going to be disrupted getting product to Market's going to be more difficult and of course those are not going to have a paycheck because the port Baltimore is closed how vital is this bridge oh it's critically important to the uh North South traffic it's one of the major uh uh Bridges connecting the I 95 north south uh it's very important to the Port o
f Baltimore from the point of view of Commerce it is a commuter uh bridge for people who work on one side of the bridge or the other and live in the other uh it is a major thorough air for traffic Interstate as well as commuter all right Senator once again we thank you so much for your time really appreciate you joining us good see you and still much more to get to tonight coming up protests broke out while the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments in a case that could severely restrict the s
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ood to me the Moose started chasing a dog first thing in the morning America this morning America's number one early morning news on ABC News live what does it take to be the most watched newscast in America we are part of an operation is this our combat Operation Center we're approaching the gate militants came in from different directions reactor so you have a couple loaded and ready to go the house is destroyed but the flag not a in it how important it made the USA great work hi appreciate Yo
uk it's David David I'm David I know who you are watch you every night ABC's World News Tonight with David mure is America's most watched newscast why do so many people start their day here from ABC News this is start here to be in the know and get a different take on the day's top stories a lot of news today so let's get into it listen now to the Daily News podcast honored with four Edward R ml Awards and see why the New York Times calls it a a news podcast worth listening to start here ABC New
s make it your daily first listen now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming wherever you get your podcasts start here reporting from the nuclear armed ballistic missile submarine the USS Kentucky in South Korea I'm Martha RIS you're streaming ABC News live and we're going to go now live to Governor Wes Moore who is giving an updated press conference at this hour to reach back out yet um cuz it's been a pretty overwhelming day we just want to let them know how much we appreciate
it uh you know and the thing that we know is that for all the people who are offering support this is going to be a long journey um you know that that the people for for people who are offering support we know that tonight uh is challenging and difficult we know that tomorrow is going to be challenging and difficult that next week is going to be challenging and difficult the next months are going to be challenging and difficult so the thing that I would say to everybody who wants to find ways to
support uh stick with us because we know that this is going to be a long journey that Maryland we're going to we're going to get it right and we're going to win and we're committed to it and we're committed to doing it in partnership with everybody who's reached out to offer support Governor this is the second time in a year that we've lost this many of these you know immigrant Highway workers what's your reaction to that oh it's it's part of the reason that I'm so thankful for the lieutenant g
overnor and the work that she's done around work Zone safety you know when when we saw this massive need for the state to be able to move aggressively on this issue to say that you know there's certain occupations where we understand that there's there's dangers Associated to it you know our our Law Enforcement Officers etc for someone feeling potholes you don't think that's one of those professions and so part of the reason that I'm so grateful for the leadership of our lieutenant governor and
even the legislative package that she has authored and pulled together in this legislative session is it something that we have to take Serious U and it's something we have to have a greater sense of uh just a more aggressive approach to it to making sure that people who are in work zones feel a sense and measurement of safety but also that people who are outside are respecting those who are working in those zones as well and there's anything you want to add as well to that yeah sure so as the g
overnor mentioned you know one of our value statements is to leave no one behind and that means every worker in the state of Maryland and many of them are ones that put themselves In Harm's Way every single day as part of their job including the uh the folks that we just lost recently uh on this incident as well as an incident that happened over a year ago on 695 so we're going to do everything we can to strengthen our laws uh increase enforcement um you know make sure we get the education out t
here to let drivers know to be careful as they drive not to speed uh and in this case we're going to have to make sure our Mary Tom um safety is also part of that thank you at the Baltimore Sun we spoke to the construction company Bronner Builders and they told us of seven employees six that were missing and one that were recovered so there's a discrepancy discrepancy there between what the company said and what the transportation sority said with eight individuals so can you offer any insight t
here was there a third- party inspector maybe a state inspector on there yeah any insight into that difference yeah know the um the the number that we have and the number working with is uh it's the uh the the eight people total uh and that includes the two people who were uh um who one who's in shock trauma and the other one who's uh recovering with without injuries okay but no no insight into whether they were off in one company or one was in state inspector perhaps or no I think that that's t
hat's information that we're still sorting through okay thank you Governor what legislative or executive tools might you have at your disposal to accelerate the recovery and rebuilding process well I think these are conversations that we're going to have with um with our with the general assembly uh same thing with conversations that we're having with the Biden Administration right now uh we know that this is going to have to be all hands- on Deck um when we're talking about the long-term recove
ry and for what it's going to mean not just for elements of the Key Bridge but all the other elements that this has impacted uh you know we're talking about a bridge and we're talking about a a a harbor that's you know responsible for over $191 million of economic activity daily uh something that's responsible for 8,000 employees and so we know that there's not one angle one facet or one uh or one part of our society that um that we're going to be leaning on to be able to address this so it will
include conversations with the general assembly but it also will include conversations with our federal Partners as well Governor have you been able to reach out to the families and talk to them um following this incident uh yes we have um we've had a chance to spend time earlier today with the uh with the families and um they're remark able they're uh they're prayerful people and we had the chance to pray with them we had a chance to pray for them and um and we want to let them know that uh th
at we are going to keep on praying for them and not just us but they have got 6.3 million people and they've got a whole country and a whole world who's uh who's praying for their peace anything that they shared about their family members that you think it's important for people to know you know some people saying obviously they're hardworking people anything else that they shared with you that you think it's important or I think they um they wanted people to remember that they were family membe
rs they were fathers and brothers they were cousins they were uh they were sons and um and to get a chance to spend time with the family members who were remembering them uh not not just not exclusively as as hard workers who are working on something that's very important to our long-term success and our long-term Pride as a city and a state but um but these are grieving family members who are grieving their family members when will you be back out Governor uh well this is uh so we we'll be we'l
l be back out tomorrow um yes and and and we we are going to make sure that uh again this is going to be a long-term Journey for our state to recover but if there's something that I know that has been on full display today uh we are Maryland tough and we are Baltimore strong and we are going to make sure that as a state we are going to get through this together we are committed to getting through it together and we will be in uh we will be in consistent and constant communication with the people
of the State uh to make sure that everybody understands our Collective role in uh in doing right Governor we heard from some experts earlier today talking about the supports of the bridge and maybe there should have been something some bridges have something to deflect in a hit like this is that something you want to look at Statewide and the result of this you know talk a bit about your thinking of looking at other Bridges and maybe trying to you know find ways to protect them from you know si
tuations like this yes it's something we're going to explore uh you know we're we're we're going to do a complete and full analysis of of not just what happened in this scenario in this situation and this is a relatively uh you know this is uh an unprecedented situation right where you have a ship and a of of a cargo mass that large moving at that speed it's difficult to understand what infrastructure could have taken that level of that level of hit and that level of Direct Hit so we do understa
nd the uniqueness of this situation and part of the heartache of this is the uniqueness of this situation but we also do think that this warrants a time for us to really think about our infrastructure as a whole uh our our Maritime infrastructure rail infrastructure all infrastructure and making sure that Maryland uh can lead the way and having real core infrastructure assets that are uh that are both safe and effective and I know we had a couple folks just joined so if youall want to ask one mo
re question I I'm so sorry I'm so late to this we were on the complete wrong side can you kind of give me a reaction to the Now update news with the six people who are they're like kind of ending recovery tonight or switching to recovery now as the search and rescue uh it's um it's a uh it's a it's a it's a really heartbreaking um conclusion to a challenging day uh we we put every single asset possible uh air Land and Sea assets to bring um to add to the member survivability for these families u
m while even though we're moving on now to a uh to a a recovery Mission we're still fully committed to making sure that we are going to use every single asset to now bring a sense of closure to the families every the community that they one of the workers was uh uh recover and identifies is something you can confirm as say that one of the workers was found and identifi is something you can confirm yes there's uh one one of the one of the workers uh is in shock trauma and there you have the words
from Governor West mois saying it was a heartbreaking outcome to a challenging day and finally tonight from here in Baltimore where we are thinking about those eight construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key bridge early this morning six of them who are now presumed dead they were hard at work literally embodying the expression to build Bridges when catastrophe struck for 47 years this bridge stood as a symbol of what can be accomplished when people work together and that spirit is
what this grieving Community will no doubt need on the long road ahead to recovery and ultimately one day build Bridges once again and that is our show for this hour I'm lindsy Davis ABC News live is here with you all night with the latest news context and Analysis you can always find us on Hulu Roku plutot TV the ABC News app and of course on abcnews.com for now streaming live from Baltimore Maryland I'm lindsy Davis have a good [Music] night this is ABC News live the crush families here in Po
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a lot of news today so let's get into it listen now to the Daily News podcast honored with four Edward R murl Awards and see why the New York Times calls it a news podcast worth listening to start here ABC News make it your daily first listen now that's a part of the story I bet you didn't see coming wherever you get your podcasts start here first thing in the morning there's a lot going on get another Avalanche warning that's up to catch you up with what happened overnight a dangerous I storm i
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le loaded and ready to go the house is destroyed but the flag not a car how important it made the USA great work hi apprciate it's David David I'm David I know you are you every night ABC's World News Tonight with David mure is America's most watched newscast I'm zorine sha reporting from the New Hampshire primary wherever the story is we'll take you there you're streaming ABC News live this is [Music] Nightline what do you like to do when you're out of school um get on my phone Tik Tock Ashley
is everything you think a typical seventh grader would be but not everything is as it seems at just 13 years old Ash became a mom to a little baby boy nicknamed peanut they've asked us not to show their faces or use their real names tell me about what the last year has been like for you um kind of good but not that good though perhaps the understatement of the year if you ask her mother who found out her daughter was pregnant by rape when the nurse came in the police came in I'm like what the he
ll is going what is going on as a mom when you're listening to your daughter describe at 12 years old that she was raped did you think that there would be an option for you in this state yes a rape should be like you automatically you can have an abortion you see this timid little girl I mean she's literally a little girl and she was like a deer in the headlights she had no idea what was going on this young family story now center stage and the Raging debate after the overturning of R versus Wad
e Mississippi has banned abortion but does allow it in cases of rape so by all the rules Ashley should have qualified for one but here she is with an 8-month-old baby why as states keep passing new abortion restrictions rape victims are caught in a web of conflicting laws and confusion left asking the question what do I do and often finding no answers so what did you think when you realized that your baby is going to have to deliver this baby so she was scared you sad she didn't want to go throu
gh it that was probably one of those days that we just stick in my head forever I'm sorry I'm getting a little emotional it's sad I think about a woman a girl with no rights of her own basically she can't make a decision about her own body since the fall of row the number of rape related pregnancies in states with restrictions is in the tens of thousands it's become a national flasho and in some states with no or minimal exceptions for rape politicians left defending those laws Texas will work t
irelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas god is perfect God does not make mistakes and for some reason he allows that to happen I think it could be fair to say that there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about abortion across the country what happen Reg never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would be a grandmother at just 33 years old it's been a really tough last year for you and your family oh yes it's very tough like I ain't cry as much as
I did last year do you struggle to make ends meet yes it's hard very hard especially people with kids Regina has three kids all girls she holds down a job during the day and attends nursing school life was hard but doable one of the poorest counties and the poorest state in the country that wasn't until late 2022 when her middle daughter who we will call Ashley started withdrawing she quit the cheer team and stopped going outside then Ashley started getting sick really sick she end up throwing u
p she was throwing up a lot we took her to the hospital they took her to the back the nurse like you're pregnant and that's when I just broke down just started crying maybe she's 12 she don't know nothing about having no babies nothing there wasn't even enough time for the shock to wear off before the next bomb hit Ashley said she had been raped by a stranger in her own yard put his hands over her face over her mouth and took her to the side of the house to the back and stuck his stuff inside he
r then I was like that's rape she didn't know him she she didn't know his name nothing to hear what she's describing at 12 years old I was hurt baby my heart broke I was on call at the hospital Dr Erica ballop is a board-certified OBGYN one of only seven in the Mississippi Delta Region I perform the ultrasound and the two of them watching it together and Mom tears are just streaming down her face 11 weeks mhm 11 weeks and I asked about options what's the options abortions she said the closest on
e is in Chicago I said Chicago it's like $800 $1,500 have an abortion up there then I'm like I got to drive I got to leave work I can't afford that since the fall of R all the states surrounding Mississippi instituted similar bans and restrictions some without rape exceptions at all abortion access basically disappeared across the whole region none in Tennessee none next door in Arkansas none next door in Alabama none so the only option for a woman that can afford to travel is to travel hundreds
of miles away take off work find a sitter do what they have to do while Mississippi law does include that exception for rape those cases must be documented with law enforcement Ashley's rape was reported to police but with so much confusion about the laws Regina didn't know they could use that to ask for help and even finding a doctor to do an abortion would be a challenge she was failed by the system because she had a rape that she actually reported Physicians have so much at stake in terms of
losing their medical license Financial penalties and in some cases criminalization leading to jail time if you meet the exception and you can afford to still get an abortion in this state where do you go you can go to any OB office if they are willing if they are willing the provider has to be willing most people wouldn't do it here in the state they would refer you out do you believe that these laws are designed to make it nearly impossible even for a victim of rape to have access to an aborti
on that's a loaded question um yeah I do I do the numbers back that up in 2021 there were about 3800 abortions provided in Mississippi but the Mississippi Department of Health says that in all of 2023 there were only four abortion exceptions granted in the entire State they did not track whether any of those were in cases of rape we reached out to a number of Mississippi hospitals to ask about protocol and rape exceptions none wanted to comment specifically and yet the numbers also show across t
he 14 states that restricted abortion researchers estimated using historical data there may have been nearly 65,000 pregnancies caused by rape the reality is that rapes are under reported and so when you have a situation where you have an abortion ban that requires a report is women are much less likely to use that pathway to get an abortion when they feel that they need one we wanted to ask lawmakers in Mississippi about cases like Ashley's we repeatedly reached out to the office of Governor Ta
te Reeves and to several State lawmakers including some who had talked about eliminating the rape exception we also reached out to Mississippi senators and representatives in Washington none responded Regina decided to keep her daughter's pregnancy private homeschooling Ashley then over the summer of 2023 after turning 13 she gave birth to a son she didn't have to go through this this not her time to go through this he took my child innocent police arrested the accused rapist last year Regina sa
ys they used DNA from the baby to prove the link he remains Behind Bars charged with felony rape was that any sort of relief yes it's Justice baby Regina says her priority now is making sure her daughter can still be a kid which means raising her grandson herself did did Ashley start to realize what had just happened in the situation I she know she got a baby I let her be a child so I raise him there she go when Ashley arrives fresh off the school bus she jumps into to help but even just helping
is a lot for a kid describe like what your typical day is like you mentioned you go to school and then you come home and change your diapers making bottles I don't like shining pamp like that you stay busy between homework and caring for the baby give be a lot though feed him take his Bell a lot you have to juggle yes a lot Regina and Ashley say they want the world to know the real impacts of laws like these on real families like theirs should your daughter who told you she was raped at 12 year
s old have had to give birth no ma'am she didn't have to give birth to your rapist child what are your hopes for Ashley she want to be a nurse I'm going still continue raising a baby let her finish her childhood I want her to go to college um be that nurse um get me up out of here [Music] this is ABC News live the crush of families here in Poland at Refugee Cent In Putin Russia on the ground in Ukraine close to the front line from the capital destructive Cat 4 storm along I Boston is in the bull
seye let's go ABC News live America's number one streaming news anytime anywhere streaming 247 great to you for free thank you for making ABC newsline America's number one streaming news
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