Twin Cities Tragedy: "The Bottom Dropped Out"
Byron Pitts is National Correspondent for CBS News. He is in Minneapolis, covering the aftermath of the bridge collapse.
Once he got out, he saw dozens of people get out of their cars, and other people on the banks all jumping right in to assist and pull people to safety. When I asked him how he felt when it was happening – he said he had no idea, because "It happened too fast." But his heart goes out to those families who lost loved ones.
I also had an interview with Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. He told me it is so extremely dangerous for the divers, that they will go very very slowly and deliberately in recovering bodies – it could be 3-4 days before they get it all cleared. There is a lot of jagged, twisted debris that could entangle divers, and all the debris increases the strength of the current.
He also said that he knows the death toll will rise because the divers have seen bodies in vehicles. It's sure to take an emotional toll on even the most hardened officers.