LIVE UPDATES: President Biden praises bipartisanship in Surfside collapse response

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan and the IDF search and rescue team received a warm welcome from Florida residents Thursday for their efforts helping local and federal crews race to try and find additional survivors of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, his chief of staff told Fox News.

Israel's National Rescue Unit arrived in Miami Sunday morning. The ambassador flew down on Thursday and said he was briefed by the commando unit.

"My heart goes out to the families of those killed and missing," he wrote on Twitter earlier in the day.

The residential high rise partially collapsed in the early hours of Thursday, leaving dozens of people missing.

As of Thursday evening, the death toll was at least 18 and 145 people remained unaccounted for.

Rescuers working at the site of the collapsed condo building outside Miami aim to expand their search area as they continue searching the rubble.

Firefighters have confirmed 18 deaths so far in the rubble of the Champlain Towers South collapse site in Surfside, Fla., Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a news conference Thursday evening. That was the same number officials had shared at their prior briefing. The families of 17 of the victims have been notified, she said.

“Please join me in praying for their families and loved ones, and those who are still waiting,” she said.

Firefighters were eager to return to their round-the-clock search after a brief pause over safety concerns Thursday afternoon, according to Cava. They were using technology like cameras and drones to search the rubble, and engineers were onsite continuing to evaluate the structure in order to allow the rescuers to safely expand their search area.

“We will continue to search feverishly as we have done all along to search in the parts of the collapse that we have access to,” Cava said.

Officials are also monitoring the progress of Tropical Storm Elsa, which is expected to impact South Florida on Sunday night with heavy rain and strong winds.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit memorial wall covered in flowers and photos of the missing after the Florida condo collapse Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett announced Thursday evening that search and rescue work has resumed at the Champlain Towers South collapse site outside Miami. They had been paused earlier in the day.

He said the decision came from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky. No explanation was given.

President Joe Biden speaks in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, about the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The president offered prayers for the victims' families and said the recovery process was ongoing, although he warned that relatives were being "very realistic" about the prospects as time drags on an no new survivors have been rescued.

Eighteen people have been confirmed dead and 145 remained unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon.

"My message today is that we're here for you, as one nation," Biden said.

The president and first lady visited the scene Thursday, a week after the Champlain Towers South apartment building partially collapsed, killing at least 18 and leaving dozens unaccounted for -- many of them believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

The president is speaking now at the scene of the Miami-area condo collapse that killed at least 18 people and has left 145 unaccounted for in the past seven days.

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A new Instagram video shows President Biden's remarks to a group of relatives of Surfside collapse victims.

"The people you may have lost -- they’re gonna be with you your whole life -- a part of your soul, a part of who you are,” he told the gathering.

The president is expected to deliver additional remarks to the public following the meeting, which was also attended by the state's two sitting U.S. senators, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava..

Christians United for Israel tweeted out a series of images showing Israeli troops aiding U.S. search and rescue efforts at the collapsed Champlain Towers South high rise outside Miami.

“We believe there are still people alive.” IDF Col. Elad Edri told the organization.

At least 145 people remain unaccounted for in the collapse, which happened a week ago.

New Jersey Task Force 1, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team, is en route to Florida to assist with the rescue efforts at the Champlain Towers collapse in Surfside, Fla., Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Thursday.

"We will always step up to help our fellow Americans," Murphy wrote.

The team is one of just 28 such FEMA groups across the country. The group says it started as a state resource in 1996 and was brought into the federal system in 2016.

New Jersey Task Force 1 was previously deployed to disasters like Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, Hurricane Florence in North Carolina in 2018 and Hurricane Dorian in Florida in 2019.

A Coast Guard boat patrols in front of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday. (AP)

Miami-Dade County Chief Alan Cominsky is speaking out following the report mentioned here earlier that first responders who showed up at Champlain Towers South last week were unable to save a woman who pleading for help underneath the rubble. 

“Unfortunately, during our initial search-and-rescue efforts while we were working underneath the structure, the same structure that’s significantly compromised right now, we did hear audible sounds,” Cominsky said Thursday. “And they were searching for a female voice, is what we heard, for several hours and eventually, we didn’t hear her voice anymore, and we continued searching." 

“And again that’s emphasizing the magnitude of what we’re going through. The effort that all our fire rescue personnel, anyone that’s here on scene, trying to do the best we can in these heroic efforts. And, unfortunately, we didn’t have success in that,” he added. 

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Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, has arrived in South Florida ahead of meetings with local Florida officials and the Surfside community, including its Jewish community. 

Erdan also is expected to meet with the search and rescue team from Israel that is at the Champlain Towers South condo collapse site. 

Operations at the site remain suspended early Thursday afternoon as officials are citing structural concerns with the portion of the building that is still standing. A total of 18 people have been confirmed dead in the collapse, while 145 remain unaccounted for. 

Workers peer up at the rubble pile at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building on Thursday. (AP)

Ignacio Maza, whose sister was visiting the Surfside, Fla., condominium when it partially collapsed last week and is now missing, told "America’s Newsroom" that he is "lost without her." 

"At this point, we just hope that my sister's remains are found so that we can have a proper funeral service and memorial to honor her and recognize her," Maza, who spoke from New York, said.  

He described his sister, Rosa Saez, a longtime resident of the Surfside community, as "an extraordinary human being." 

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(AP)

President Joe Biden is pictured here meeting with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday. 

“The job you are doing is incredible," President Biden told a group of first responders in Florida who have been working the scene of the Champlain Towers South condo collapse.

“What you are doing now is hard as hell to deal with, even psychologically," he added. "And in the end I just wanted to say, thank you.” 

President Biden is now meeting with first responders in Surfside, Fla. 

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President Biden is telling Florida officials that the federal government is offering its full assistance in the search and rescue effort. 

“This is your show – we just want to make sure whatever you need,” Biden was heard telling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and others. 

Click here to read more about Biden’s visit to Surfside today. 

The scene of the collapse in Surfside, Fla., as seen this morning. (AP)

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) says it will conduct a “full technical investigation” into what caused the Champlain Towers South condo building collapse. 

“This is an unspeakable tragedy, and like all NIST investigations, we will conduct a fact-finding study to prevent tragedies like this in the future,” James Olthoff, the acting NIST director, said in a statement. “We intend to undertake a thorough technical investigation into what caused the collapse, to ultimately make recommendations that would make our buildings safer and keep something like this from happening again." 

NIST says the investigation could take years. 

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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are going to be briefed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other local officials on the condo collapse in Surfside, Fla. 

Click here to watch live. 

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky says the search and rescue efforts stopped around 2 a.m. based on concerns about “building stability” from engineers on scene. 

The concerns included 6 to 12 inches of movement in a large column hanging from the structure that could fall and cause damage to other support columns in the garage area, and slight movement in concrete floor slabs in another part of the structure that “could cause additional failure of the building,” he says. 

There also was movement recorded in the debris pile, Cominsky added. 

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says search and rescue efforts at the Champlain Towers South condo collapse site are on pause over “concerns about the standing structure.” 

“As many of you have already seen we were forced to halt operations on the collapse in the early hours of the morning due to structural concerns about the standing structure,” she told reporters Thursday morning ahead of a meeting with President Biden. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that the safety of the first responders is paramount and to continue our search and rescue operation as soon as it is safe to do so.” 

Cava says engineers are currently assessing the scene. 

“We have already informed the families this morning who are waiting, and waiting about this development and we have worked to answer all the questions that they have about the operation,” Cava added. 

Florida officials are set to give an update momentarily on the ongoing search and rescue efforts at the Champlain Towers South condo collapse site. 

Reports emerged this morning that work has been halted there out of concerns that the remaining structure is unstable – and could soon collapse. 

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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden have landed in Miami, Fla.

They will first meet today with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other local officials in Surfside.

They then will visit first responders and search and rescue teams before meeting with the families of those still awaiting word on the status of their loved ones. 

Video has emerged purportedly showing water gushing into the garage of the Champlain Towers South condo building last Thursday, minutes before its collapse. 

The footage was captured by a tourist who was staying in a hotel nearby, according to WLS-TV. 

Adrianna Sarmiento told WLS-TV that she and her husband were swimming in their hotel’s pool when they heard a loud noise coming from the Champlain Towers South site. 

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Coast guard boats patrol in front of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden on Thursday. Search and rescue workers, who have had to contend with summer rainstorms, fires within the debris, and the threat of collapse from the still standing portion of the building, were not visible atop the rubble on Thursday morning, as scores of people remain missing one week after the collapse. (AP)

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava – who is set to meet with President Biden this morning after he lands in Florida – said in a tweet that she wants "reassure the public that his visit will have no impact on our search & rescue mission.” 

“We're deeply grateful that our community remains a top priority for the president as he continues to provide the full support of the federal government,” Cava added.  

The Champlain Towers South condo building following its collapse Thursday, last week. (AP)

First responders who showed up at Champlain Towers South immediately after its collapse last week heard a woman pleading for help underneath the rubble – but ultimately were unable to save her, a report says. 

“The first thing I remember is thumping on the wall and then I remember her just talking, ‘I’m here, get me out. Get me out,” a fire rescue worker who asked to remain anonymous told WPLG . “We were continuously talking to her. ... ‘Honey, we got you. We’re going to get to you.’” 

A supervisor wrote in an email that his crew was “involved with an active conversation with the female trapped next to the bed about 10 to 11 hours after the collapse. … She was aware her parents were also trapped next to her,” the station adds. 

However, a dumpster, metal rebar and a concrete wall reportedly stood in the way and the supervisor wrote that a fire that broke out forced first responders to retreat “as we know she passed,” according to WPLG. 

It is not immediately clear who the woman was. 

Rescue workers are seen sifting through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South site on Wednesday. (AP/Miami Herald)

Search and rescue efforts at the Surfside building collapse site reportedly have stopped this morning amid concerns that the remaining structure could soon topple. 

The Miami Herald is reporting that multiple police officers and rescue personnel said they were hearing warnings around 2 a.m. that the vacant portion of Champlain Towers South that is still standing has been shifting – and the instability could cause it to collapse itself. 

People have since been moved away from the rescue area, the newspaper adds. 

“It’s on stand-by right now,” one officer was quoted as saying to the newspaper in regard to the status of the search and rescue effort, which has entered its second week with 18 confirmed dead and 145 unaccounted for. 

(AP)

A man prays during a session of evening prayers dedicated to people impacted by the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building, at St. Joseph Church on Wednesday in Miami Beach, Fla.

Local resident Louis Thompson touches pictures of friends missing in the collapse of Champlain Towers South, as he visits a makeshift memorial to the scores of people who remain missing or were killed, nearly a week after the condo building partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Miami-Dade police on Wednesday night identified four additional victims, including two sisters, Lucia and Emma Guara.

Their father Marcus Guara, 52, was confirmed dead after he was pulled from the rubble Saturday and identified Monday. The girls and their mother, Anaely Rodriguez, 42, were recovered Wednesday.

"We have identified four additional victims who tragically and unexpectedly lost their lives in the Surfside building collapse," Miami-Dade police tweeted. "The Guara sisters were only 4 and 10 years old."

"Please keep their families and loved ones in your prayers," police added.

https://twitter.com/MiamiDadePD/status/1410386566875340808

Search and rescue crews work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing after it partially collapsed the week before, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News on Wednesday that global warming does not appear to have had an impact on the tragic condominium collapse in Surfside in Miami-Dade County, Fla. last week.

At least 145 people remain missing with 18 confirmed dead from the collapse. 

DeSantis told "The Story" he wants an investigation into what truly caused the tragedy.On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested during a TV interview that global warming and ocean water levels could have played a part in the destruction at Champlain Towers South, located along the famous beachfront strip, A1A.

"Obviously, we don’t know fully, but we do know that the seas are rising. We know that we’re losing inches and inches of beaches, not just in Florida but all around," the former Michigan Democratic governor said.

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