LIVE: Maryland Governor Gives Updates on Collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

Good evening. Today we're thinking about the families of Droleon Cabrera and Menor Sandoval who recovered and identified yesterday. We pray for all of the victims of the Key Bridge collapse and also all of their loved ones. And our hearts are with their families and we are so sorry about this tragedy. Nuestros corazones están con las familias. Lamentamos mucho esta tragedia. Now before I walk through our progress today, I want to provide a breaking update that we just received in the last few hours. This morning, we submitted an initial $60 million request to the Biden-Harris administration for initial mobilization, operations, and debris recovery efforts. And I can report that as of this afternoon, the Biden-Harris administration has approved that request. We are deeply grateful to President Biden, to Secretary Buttigieg, to our federal delegation and all of our federal partners. I was thankful to receive a call just about an hour ago from Secretary Buttigieg and I'm grateful for the way that the administration has continued to lean in and support us. And I recently had a chance to thank them all personally for their continued work. And this evening, I'm also thinking about the first responders and the emergency professionals who have been with us every step of the way. This afternoon, our team was at Camden Yards for opening day where we met with first responders and their families who joined us for the game. And we spoke with three members of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Sergeant Paul Pasterek, Corporal Jeremy Herbert, and Officer Gary Kurtz. They saved lives this week and they are true heroes. We had a chance to speak about not just the lives that they saved by being able to halt traffic just as the bridge was collapsing, but also the unimaginable reality that even after the bridge had collapsed, had that traffic not been stopped in the darkness, cars would have continued to come. So the life-saving work that they did cannot be overstated and our gratefulness is everlasting. Earlier today, we also visited the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. And as you know, one of the survivors of this tragedy was treated there. The folks at Shock Trauma, they are our angels and I want to thank all of our emergency personnel to include the United States Coast Guard, the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Transportation Authority and the MDTA Police, Natural Resources Police, Baltimore City Fire and Police Departments in Baltimore City, Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, and also Baltimore County. And I also want to thank people who have been reaching out from all across the country and all across the world. And this evening, I want to give a few special thank yous. One to our members of the General Assembly in Maryland, who as we're coming to the process of wrapping up another legislative session, have just been consistent partners throughout And I know that any response that we have is going to be a collective one. But also, I want to give a special thanks to all the governors who have contacted me. I've heard from many chief executives, both past and present. I have heard from governors who are both Democrats and Republicans, governors from big states and little states. They've shared their support and they share their counsel. And they've reminded me that in this moment, Maryland is not alone. At this point in the recovery, we are moving at full speed on a number of key priorities. And I've issued four directives to this team. The first, we need to continue to focus on recovery because it is our obligation to bring a sense of closure to these families. The second, we need to clear the channel and open vessel traffic to the port because the health of the Maryland economy and the national economy depends on it. Third, we need to take care of all the people who have been affected by this crisis. And that means the families, that means the workers, that means the businesses, that means the first responders, that means everybody. In the military, I know I was taught something, and one of the things we were taught is you always take care of your people, and we are going to make sure that in this moment we take care of our people. And fourth, we need to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Going forward, you can expect regular updates on each of these four directives, but I want to be clear, this work will not take hours. This work will not take days. This work will not just take weeks. We have a very long road ahead of us. We understand that, and we're prepared. And yesterday morning, our team and members of the federal delegation traveled to the site of the collapse on a Coast Guard cutter. You've had a chance to see the wreckage from far away. Yesterday we had a chance to see it up close. And when you have a chance to see that wreckage up close, you fully understand the enormity of the challenge. This is an incredibly complex job, and our timeline will be long. And all of us can remember when the container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal a few years ago, when that happened, it's important to remember that it took five weeks to dislodge that ship. Well, if you think about what the Dali is, the Dali is almost as long as the Eiffel Tower. And the Dali has the key bridge on top of it. We're talking three to four thousand tons of steel that's sitting on top of that ship. So we've got work to do, but we're moving. So first, on recovery, the best evidence we have at this time suggests that to advance our recovery efforts, we need to do more work in order to clear the channel. As of last night, the Maryland State Police have suspended diving operations due to security concerns, and further engineering analysis is ongoing to determine our next steps to bring closure to the families and set the course for salvage operations. As of this morning, I also received a briefing from the Unified Command on the extraordinary conditions our divers are working under. What our divers are seeing right now is this, is that water is so dark, and the debris is so dense, that in most instances, our divers cannot see any more than a foot or two in front of them. So much of the operation is simply feel. These divers have been methodical, they've been disciplined, they have been courageous, diving in darkness with objects all around them. And so to all of our divers, I want to let them know that we are grateful for their service. Second, on clearing the channel and opening the vessel traffic to the port, I've said it before, I will say it again, and I will keep on saying it, this is not just about Maryland, this is about the nation's economy. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other port in America. And at least 8,000 workers on the docks have jobs that have been directly affected by this collapse. Our economy depends on the Port of Baltimore. And the Port of Baltimore depends on vessel traffic. Yesterday, we were briefed by the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Baltimore District, and she laid out her team's efforts with the U.S. Navy to mobilize major resources from around the country at record speed to clear the channel. Under the leadership of Colonel Pinchasen, the Army Corps is moving the largest crane in the eastern seaboard to Baltimore to help us. It is estimated that that will arrive later on this evening. And third, taking care of our people. I want to provide two updates. The Maryland Department of Labor now has established a hotline for unemployment insurance for workers affected by the collapse. The number on that hotline is this, 667-930-5989. I will say it one more time, 667-930-5989. I've also appointed an administration liaison to work with the families of the victims in their time of need and letting them know we are going to be here for them and with them. And I want to thank the leaders and organizations that have stepped up in order to help these families as well. Fourth, on rebuilding. We cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the debris. We are working closely with our partners to marshal the funds to move forward on that build so we can be ready when we reach that point of the work. And I want to end by assuring the people of Maryland that this work is moving together at a full clip. And this work is moving forward together. The best minds in the world are here, right now, in Baltimore. We are working on this project in a methodical and rigorous way, and we are continuing to work with leaders in the community to provide the support to the families and all of those affected. To the people of this state, I say we are going to get through this. Because we are Maryland tough, and we are Baltimore strong. And in this moment, before I hand it off to the U.S. Coast Guard, I want to say we're also here joined by the Maryland State Police, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Department of Transportation, Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Kweisi Nfume, a representative from the Federal Highway Administration, County Executive Johnny Olaszewski, the Mayor of Baltimore City, Brandon Scott. And I'm grateful for all the partnership that they have all shown in this time of need. So now, I will hand it off to the Coast Guard, and a briefing by Rear Admiral Gilreath. Admiral? Thank you, Governor. Good evening. I'm here representing the Unified Command tonight. My name is Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath. But the people that you see to my right, they are people that make up that Unified Command. They are some of the key leaders in that Unified Command, and they are making a difference in helping us accomplish our number one priority, which is to reopen the Port of Baltimore. We're going to do that in some steps. Step one of that is we're going to clear the debris from the channel. Step two is we're going to remove the vessel. And step three is remove the rest of the bridge debris from the waterway. And we've got the cranes on their way to help us do that. But before we can actually engage in lifting, we've got to complete the assessment process of the bridge and the pieces of the bridge that are in the water so that we can figure out how to cut the bridge into the right size pieces so that we can actually lift them with the crane. And we are doing those assessments right now with underwater surveys, with engineering teams back in the Unified Command, with our Army Corps of Engineers, with our Navy Super Salve, with Coast Guard, with all of our partners that you see up here. That is our number one priority, is to reopen the Port of Baltimore as fast as we can and do it safely. And that's what we're committed to do, and that's what we're going to continue to work towards. Governor, thank you for the opportunity to brief this evening. Thanks, Governor. Good evening again. Paul Wiedefeld, Secretary of Transportation. First, again, I also want to echo the governor's thanks to the Biden administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, excuse me, and our delegation for receiving those dollars, that $60 million today, within hours of, in effect, asking for those. These dollars are essential for us to proceed quickly and safely with the debris removal, the demolition, traffic operations, and other emergency needs. We're very grateful, obviously, for the quick response. As you heard, our federal partners are focused on clearing the channel as the number one priority. MDOT's focus is also in that area, but also we have to do other things. First, we've got to deal with the traffic implications of losing part of the 695 Beltway. Second, we have to work with the Port on the job issues and on their business needs. And then third, we have to start the planning and design for the rebuilding of the Key Bridge. In terms of traffic, we are already seeing impacts along the alternative routes in our communities. Since the collapse, each day, about 15,000 additional vehicles are traveling through the Fort McHenry Tunnel I-95. And about 7,000 additional vehicles are using the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel I-895. The bridge was also a crucial route for tractor trailers that cannot use these tunnels, the two tunnels. We anticipate 2,500 of these tractor trailers will use the west side of I-695. We are continuing to evaluate traffic flow in and around Baltimore and across the region and can make adjustments as needed. To help the alternative corridors moving, we have deployed additional emergency response vehicles to respond quickly to any motors in need of assistance and clear crashes. The second area of focus for us, again, is the workforce support that we're providing to the Port of Baltimore workers. To continue this work in partnership with the Maryland Department of Labor, as the Governor mentioned, to identify impacted needs and what we can do. We're also looking at available USDOT programs in that front as well. We also are looking at what we had achieved during the COVID era when we were helping workers as well. And tomorrow, we will hold a stakeholders meeting to address business and labor needs with the Port community. The third area that we're focusing on, obviously, is the rebuilding of the bridge. We're working with, again, with our partners at USDOT. We've had several meetings today to start that process. That will take a little bit longer as we start the planning design of what that will be. And then we will have an ask for funds in very short order there. In closing, obviously, we understand the enormous impact this is having on families, commuters, and the region as a whole. We ask everyone to be patient as you can be. And we ask them to please travel slowly, give themselves some more time so we don't create other issues, particularly for the work that we're doing out there on our highway system. And I can assure you we're going to work as quickly as we possibly can, but we're also going to work safely. Thank you for your attention. Senator Ben Cardin, I want to join all that are here with our prayers and condolences to the victims and their families. Our hearts go out to you and our thanks to the first responders who literally saved lives and are working every day to get the port open and to get this bridge rebuilt as quickly as possible. Governor, I want you to know your federal delegation is with you. We thank the Biden administration for the quick action in regards to the emergency funding. We are pledged to work with you for any action that's necessary from Congress to make sure that you have the support you need to get that port open as quickly as possible, the channel opened, and to get the bridge replaced with the type of bridge that we need to meet the current needs. We are committed to working with you. Our top priority right now is to get the channel opened because we recognize the economic impact that it has. I want to just underscore the point that we recognize that people are going to be disadvantaged and hurt by this transaction. We want to do everything we can to help. Let me just give you one example. We're working with Governor Moore and his office and the SBA administrator to make sure that those small businesses and independent contractors have the full services of the Small Business Administration to deal with their cash needs as because their business is going to be affected and they may not be entitled to the same rights that employees are entitled to. We want to make sure these businesses move forward. So we're going to do everything to make sure this happens. I just really want to underscore with Senator Van Hollen and Congressman Mfume, we've heard also, Governor, from our colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, recognizing that what happened in Baltimore, a catastrophic event against critical transportation infrastructure, that we at the federal government have a responsibility to make sure that we give you all the help you need to restore the port and restore the bridge. So we are committed to working with you, that you have all the tools you need so we can quickly open up the channel and rebuild the bridge. Thank you. I'm going to turn it over to Senator Van Hollen. I want to start where the governor did and where Senator Cardin and others have. Our thoughts are with the families of the six construction workers who died. And we will be with them every step of the way. Thank you, Governor, for all the support your team has given to them and also to the first responders who the governor described in detail the kind of risks they've taken on themselves to undertake this effort. I just want to provide a couple other facts about the federal role. And it's great to be working with my colleague and friends, Senator Cardin, Congressman Mfume, and the entire Team Maryland. We are united and as Senator Cardin said, we are hearing from our colleagues from around the country, Republicans and Democrats. I want to thank the President and the Biden administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, other federal agencies have deployed, they've been on site from the very beginning. Secretary Buttigieg was here and remains fully engaged. And the Army Corps of Engineers will cover the full costs of clearing the channel. We all recognize that getting the Port of Baltimore running again at full speed is a priority given all the jobs that are associated with it, all the small businesses, all the other businesses. And as the governor has pointed out, this is not just a Maryland issue. It's a national and global question. So I'm very pleased the Army Corps will be picking up those costs. As I understand it, there are 32 members of the Army Corps of Engineers on the ground right now, surveying the situation. The Navy has been contracting with the salvage operation. There are 38 contractors under the Navy's oversight with respect to that. So this is happening right now. And as the governor said, we've got one of the big, big lifts, cranes coming. I think it's a thousand ton crane coming around midnight and another 400 ton crane coming Saturday for the operations to clear the channel. A word about the quick action that the governor and the secretary and others took to get the application in for the Federal Emergency Relief Program. This is a federal program designed for this kind of emergency. And as you heard, they've already been authorized for the $60 million from the federal government to cover all the costs of dealing with the surrounding traffic and issues that have come up since the bridge right now, of course, is collapsed and is on top of the ship. Importantly, that emergency relief program is also what will cover the lion's share of the costs of rebuilding the bridge. And the Department of Transportation also found the state eligible for that program today. So they authorized $60 million, but they have found the state eligible for the emergency relief funds, which will help cover the lion's share of the costs of reconstructing the Key Bridge. And Senator Cardin and I, working with the president, working with the governor and others, will be introducing legislation to cover the remainder that is not already covered under the emergency relief program. So we are here together as Team Maryland. I want to thank everybody who's been part of this effort. Governor, thank you again for bringing us all together. To the mayor and the county executive, thank you all for your leadership and the members of the General Assembly who are here. Again, the families remain in our prayers. We are going to get this done for the state of Maryland. And let me now turn it over to you. Congressman Iffumic. Thank you very much, Chris. Governor, I don't know if it's been said enough, so let me just say it, that the fact that you have made this a very transparent process is important. Because people all over the country are getting unfiltered, real facts in real time about what's happening. And I think that helps all of us in the process. I'm Kweisi Iffumic. This is my congressional district. And Senator Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, the three of us, represent just a part of Team Maryland. On this issue, I think it's fair to say that all of Maryland and their congressional delegation is a team. And you've seen some of the statements that have gone out and the one that will be going out. A couple of quick things. The main thing is the main thing is the main thing. So allow me to be redundant for just a moment. These families that are impacted can never, ever get enough of our condolences, our prayers, or our sympathies. It could have been any of us, anytime, anywhere, in a situation that we could not have predicted. So the reason we keep lifting them and asking you to lift them in prayer is because they will never be the same again. Now as you've heard, the priority here is to clear the channel, to allow commerce to start up again. It is not an issue that just affects Baltimore. It affects supply chains all over the country in every state of the union. And so we are seeking to find a way to bring all assets to bear to make a real difference to allow that process of commerce to begin again. Are there secondary matters? Yes. We're talking about the third largest estuary in the world and the first and largest estuary here in America, the Chesapeake Bay. It's a channel that's important for so many different reasons, whether it's aquatic life or anything else. We want to again say, as the governor and others have said, that these divers are putting themselves at great risk, but they continue to dive. We understand that there were hazmat materials in several of the containers. We're concerned about what happens if that gets into the bay. And we are concerned also that if for no other reason, people look at this as an American tragedy, not a tragedy just for this region. I've been in touch with the Speaker's office today. I expect that Speaker Johnson and I will talk at some point tomorrow morning. Because one of the things that's important here for me on the other side of the aisle is to make sure that I say to my colleagues who are across the aisle that this cannot and ought not be a partisan issue. And I've seen some of the comments that have come about and some of the things that are being said. Please resist that. Democrats and Republicans have to find a way to work together on this, otherwise we will never get through it and we will never decide the kind of future that we want. So that things like this are met with in the right way and dealt with in the right way. So my plea is to end any potential partisanship here and to find a way as Americans all over this country to work together. There will be insurance claims, yes. Money will be returned, yes. But in the process, we've got to move swiftly to clear the channel. And thank you, Governor. I want to thank the mayor and the county executive, all the other persons who have been involved. The Commandant of the Marine, of the Coast Guard will be here tomorrow and I suspect we'll get even more information. Thank you very much. Good evening. My name is Shailen Batts. I'm the Federal Highway Administrator. And on behalf of Secretary Buttigieg at the U.S. Department of Transportation and President Biden, I just want to say first and foremost on the infrastructure side, we'll come to that. But, you know, everybody here has begun by talking about people and I don't think we could have a president who has more empathy when there is loss of life. And I think that has been communicated clearly that for the workers who lost their lives, I think the president has deep and abiding concern and also for the workers who are being impacted by the closure of the port. I was up here with Secretary Buttigieg on Monday touring the site with the governor, the delegation, and it was a really fantastic turnaround of this application for the $60 million. And just to be clear, the Emergency Relief Program that flows through the Federal Highway Administration, you know, this is the program that states will turn to when there are floods, fires, hurricanes, and other disasters. And this fits that category. And so we want to be clear that this is just a down payment, the $60 million. It is not the final payment. We will be here with Maryland DOT and Governor, I have to say that your DOT team, the Toll Authority team, have just been fantastic on top of the game as we work forward with this. The Corps is very focused on getting the channel open and from a DOT and Federal Highways perspective, we're looking at the longer term prospect of getting that bridge rebuilt because we know that's also critical to the region. So we'll continue to be a partner and just want to commend all the great work that's gone on so far. Thank you very much. Good evening, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, and these are truly unprecedented trying times. And in the midst of dealing with unspeakable tragedy, we're also trying to then also move forward with a road to recovery and resiliency and to have leadership in this space led by our Governor, but to have leadership at all levels stepping forward in this moment is truly heartwarming. I know people are feeling this very deeply in a very personal way, including the families who have lost their loved ones. We know that the majority of those who were impacted and lost in this tragedy were Baltimore County residents. And I want to just assure that in addition to all other resources, Baltimore County will be there to provide everything that we can to those families who have been impacted by this horrific tragedy. I want to thank President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, and the Governor for their prompt and swift action on this application. I think the swift approval speaks volumes just to how serious our partners take the work ahead of us. It is making good on the President's commitment that all federal resources necessary will be marshaled to move forward on clearing the channel and rebuilding the bridge. And as we speak to the family, and I had the opportunity to do that yesterday as we talked to port workers and impacted businesses, we know that certainty and that clarity is so important. And so to the families affected, you are not just in our prayers. To our dock workers, you are not just in our prayers. We are seeing action in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy. And I just want to again echo the Governor's call to thank our first responders who continue to this day, at this moment, to be out there actively working for and on behalf of our residents. It is a privilege and honor to serve alongside you, Governor, and the incredible representatives who will continue, not just this day but the days ahead, to make sure we move forward together. Thank you. Good evening. Mayor Brandon Scott of the City of Baltimore. First and foremost, our prayers and thoughts continue to be with the families of those who we lost and the thousands of people who are impacted by this horrific tragedy. As you know, both the Governor and I were at Opening Day today. We had time to spend with those heroic members of the Transit Authority Police Department who saved lives by shutting down bridge traffic. I also had the time to spend with some of my Baltimore City Fire Divers who dove right in and bravely searched for those who we tragically lost. Speaking with them, however, made a few things crystal clear for me. One, the dedication, determination, and selflessness of our first responders should never be questioned, ever. But two, the spirit and greatness of this city and state are in its people, like those courageous public servants. And that is why we cannot be broken. I looked into the eyes of these men who looked death dead straight in the eye and continued to do their job bravely. I didn't see brokenness or despair. I saw hope and determination, just as I see in all the well wishes coming from all over Baltimore and all over Maryland, all over this country, for our city and our state to rebuild. Following the recovery of the two victims yesterday, we remain hopeful that in the course of this salvage work, we are able to recover those who remain missing and bring them home to their families. I have directed my administration to work directly with Governor Moore and his fabulous team on any and every effort that must be taken. And Mr. Governor, while we thank our president for moving swiftly, we have to thank you. We know this is a very heavy burden to bear, and you have been leading with courage, with dignity, but also in the right way. So thank you very much. Also, the city is actively working with our partners to help families through this incredible time. The U.S. Office of Immigrant Affairs has set up a fund through the Civic Fund to provide assistance to those directly impacted and is facilitating connections with local community-based organizations who are providing direct support in case management, crisis support, and mental health to the families. There has been a tremendous amount of outpouring of support, and our team is working alongside our partners at the state and the federal teams, all the nonprofits and businesses and partners to make sure that we are coordinating these efforts to make sure that these families are not overburdened in the toughest time of their lives. We know the value of the Port of Baltimore to our city, the state, and the country. Our residents, everybody depends on it. But our first priority continues to be making sure that we bring these people home. I just want to reiterate all my thanks and gratitude to everybody that has reached out, to everybody who donated food for our first responders, to everybody who just prayed for our city and our state. We appreciate you greatly. We will continue to work together to recover. Thank you. The NTSB is reporting a hack, and the chair herself said she's – yesterday, did you see the sheen? And can you go into detail about mitigation efforts? And I just want this news for people, because some people are really concerned about what's going on in the water. Yes, I know of the 4,000 containers that are on the ship, it's been indicated that 56 contain some form of hazardous materials, and when we're talking about hazardous materials, that includes things like lithium batteries, perfumes, et cetera. We know that as of right now, already deployed, there have been over 2,400 feet of boom, which has been there to be able to contain any of the leaks of pollution. And the thing we can say is that there is no risk to the people, and we ensure that both for the first responders who are operating, but also for the people inside of the area. We know the NTSB is going to continue doing their investigations, but of the 4,000 containers, it's been 56 that have shown some type of hazard. Did you see the sheen? When did you see it on the water? I personally did not, no. I have a question about the families. How many of the ship's persons who survived, who were hearing, declined medical treatment? Have you met with that individual as well? If those reports are true? So the people who we met with today at shock trauma were actually the physicians and nurses and doctors and medical personnel who were there on site that night to treat the individuals and so I just spent some time with them just to say thank you for their work. I did have a chance to speak with one of the survivors prior, but that was two days ago that I had a chance to speak with him. And I did have a chance to speak with a roomful of family members of the victims, and that was when I had a chance to both share time with them and also pray with them and for them. Yes, I would point them to the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and that fund because we know that that one is working with the families and organizations that would be working directly with them. Do you have any answer as to if there were containers that were dropped in the water, hazards, how many, and what? So what we know right now, there are 14 containers that were impacted, and those containers that were impacted contained soap, perfume, and some resin material. So that's what we know. As far as what part of that is still on board the boat inside parts of those containers or what part might have gone overboard, I can't tell you those percentages because I don't know those. But we've put in place air monitoring on board the vessel to keep track of any potential threats there, and we haven't had any of those threats come up on our air monitoring. And we've got boom around the vessel to also collect anything that comes off of it. The sheen, I think has been reported, I think has to do with there's a bow thruster on the front of the ship that allows the ship to normally move to port or starboard as it's coming into port, approaching a dock, etc. There's some oil associated with that bow thruster, and we think there were roughly 80 liters of oil in that area. So we think that's really where the sheen is coming from, but our ability to get directly underneath that is really too dangerous because that's where those containers are hanging off the side of the ship, as well as the pieces of the bridge that are there, and we're trying to keep our first responders, as the governor and everyone else has said up here, we're trying to keep them as safe as possible. We do not want to make this tragedy for those families worse. It is everything from the bridge falling on them, and they're potentially cracked open the container, to more serious damage to the container, and they're in different stages of that when you look at it. We know that NTSB is conducting a thorough investigation into what happened, and I think it's still early days of the investigation, so we would not want to speculate as to what could have or should have prevented it. The thing that we know is that we are going to and will continue to focus on making sure that our infrastructure and our state is safe, but I know in that specific incident, NTSB is still in the early stages of their investigation. Do you have anything about how you just give us the exact number of remaining outstanding individuals? Yeah, so the investigation is still ongoing as to how individuals were notified once the initial Mayday call came in, and what we know right now is that there are still four individuals who we're still on account for. What do you say to the people of Baltimore in particular regarding what you call the very long road out there that happened, notably when talking about how this would certainly affect the views, people's work, and their daily lives? I say to the people of Baltimore is that there is no higher priority than making sure that we can return not just a sense of normalcy to them, but also continuing to give them an opportunity to live in a community that is growing and thriving. We have been moving on this literally since the early hours of when the incidents happened, and we haven't stopped, and we're not going to stop. But every priority in terms of how are we thinking about alternative routes in terms of supporting their transportation needs, about making sure that we are both caring for the families and the victims, while also making sure we're prioritizing the clearing of the channels, and making sure that we are going to get the Port of Baltimore opened and get this bridge rebuilt. And that is our core focus. To follow up, please, with Mayor Scott, same question, Mayor. I think the Governor hit the nail on the head, Keith. This is a priority for all of us, but what we have to ask our residents is to be patient. Because we have to not only do this quickly, but do it the right way, so that every T is crossed, every I is dotted, and that we make sure that we are building our infrastructure to be stronger in the most quickest and fastest way. We all understand the importance, and we'll be there to support our residents, but we have to do it the right way. Mayor? There is nothing that we will not do to be able to speed up in making sure that we have a swift and a proper conclusion, and make sure we're getting it complete, and making sure we're also doing it safely, making sure that we're also doing it in a coordinated fashion. And the thing is, if you look at the precedence on this, we understand that this is daunting. This is complicated. It's complicated because of so many of the variables that have been laid out before. We mentioned before about the vessel and the container ship in the Suez Canal, just simply moving that took five weeks, just simply to dislodge it. And what we saw when we went out there on that Coast Guard cutter, we saw a vessel that was almost the size of the Eiffel Tower. If the Eiffel Tower was laid down, this vessel is almost the size of the Eiffel Tower, and the only difference is that it now has the key bridge laying on top of it. This is remarkably complicated, while this is also having a salvage operation with many, many moving variables. The reality is that at this point, there are far more unknowns than knowns. And so the thing that we can say to everybody in our state is that this is a team that is coordinated. This is a team that is not just working hard, but working around the clock to making sure we get to a proper completion. But we also know this is going to be a long and a complicated process, and we are going to not just need people's patience on this, but we want to let them know we are going to get this done. This is going to be a long process, because it's a very complicated process, but people should rest assured we are going to get this done, and they can bet on that. So we're going to actually have a collective rebuild. This is going to be a rebuild that will include our federal partners. This is going to be a rebuild that will include the state and our local partners. This is going to be a rebuild that will include the private sector. This is going to be a rebuild that will include our unions. This is going to be a rebuild that will include everybody, because we understand the complexity of being able to put this up and put it together in the first place. And remember, the initial construction of the key bridge took five years. So we know that we are going to move with speed and we're going to move with safety, but it is going to require everybody involved in that process. It's still too early to go through individual companies. Yes, Telemundo 44. Governor, this morning I just told me his son, he gave his life for this cause. What about this? And why is your office and your office and I just said Telemundo 44? So, our heart breaks for these families, because these families are living a nightmare. They are receiving information, and that night when this tragedy first happened, they received news that none of us would ever want to receive. And so when we say that we stand with them, and when we stand with them, it's both that we are praying for them and they have prayer angels all around them, but it's also making sure that they know that this is going to be a larger community that will be there for them. And so it still comes back to the basic humanity of this situation. These were, I remember when I met with many of the family members, the thing they most wanted me to remember is that these were fathers, and they were brothers, and they were cousins, and they were husbands. They were people whose families loved them. And I can tell you, as the son of an immigrant myself, as a, you know, I know my partner in the work, our Lieutenant Governor, is the first immigrant ever elected to statewide elected office in our state's history. But it still comes back to the basic humanity, and our heart breaks for these families. Last question, Davey. To the state police on that one, they're doing the diving here. Based on this morning's briefing, once we cease diving operations with physical divers, we sent remote vehicles down there with sonar arrays that were able to plot what's actually down there. We know there's at least one vehicle, larger in size, that is completely encapsulated by the structure, the superstructure of the bridge, concrete, rebar, etc. It's gonna take some time to get to that, and it's gonna take some time to do that carefully, and then to sure that up before we can put divers in there to recover that, whatever's in that vehicle. Thank you all. Thank you. Guys, thank you all. Thank you.