THANK YOU. UNIFIED COMMAND IS PREPARING TO REMOVE THE SPAN OF THE KEY BRIDGE LYING ACROSS THE DOLLY CARGO SHIP. AND THIS IS A MILESTONE IN GETTING THE BRIDGE CLEARED AND CHANNEL REOPEN. AND THE DOLLY REFLOATED. SKY TEAM 11 BALTIMORE ONLY NEWS HELICOPTER CAPTURED THESE AERIALS OF THE PROGRESS HAPPENING ON THE PATAPSCO RIVER. IN ORDER TO LIFT THIS PORTION OF THE BRIDGE, SALVAGE TEAMS WAS COMBED THROUGH ROPE, BED AND CONTAINERS AND BRIDGE FRAGMENTS AS WELL, AND IN THE HOURS AND DAYS AFTER THAT COLLAPSE, FEDERAL AGENCIES DESCENDED ON THE BALTIMORE AREA. BUT UNLIKE OTHER U.S. DISASTERS, GOVERNOR WES MOORE DECIDED NOT TO REQUEST A PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATION. 11 NEWS INVESTIGATES REPORTER TOLLY TAYLOR JOINS US NOW. AND, TAYLOR, YOU LOOKED INTO WHY THE GOVERNOR DECIDED NOT TO SEEK THIS OUT, RIGHT? YEAH, RIGHT. THE EXPERT I SPOKE TO SAYS THERE’S LITTLE DOUBT THAT A PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATION WOULD HAVE EXPANDED FEDERAL RESOURCES TO THE BALTIMORE AREA AFTER THE KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE. BUT THE QUESTION OF WHY GOVERNOR MOORE DIDN’T ASK PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR THIS LIKELY HINGES ON COMMENTS THAT BIDEN MADE SOON AFTER THE COLLAPSE, AND THE MURKY DETAILS SURROUNDING WHICH DISASTERS QUALIFY FOR THIS SPECIFIC FEDERAL AID. THE PEOPLE OF BALTIMORE WANT TO SAY, WE’RE WITH YOU. WE’RE GOING TO STAY WITH YOU. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TYPICALLY ISSUES MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS FOLLOWING NATURAL CATASTROPHES LIKE HURRICANES OR TORNADOES, BUT THEY’VE ALSO BEEN ISSUED FOLLOWING THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. NINE OVER 11 AND MOST RECENTLY DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC. IN EACH INSTANCE, FEDERAL RESOURCES POURED INTO THE AFFECTED AREA, HELPING PEOPLE WITH TEMPORARY HOUSING LOANS, COUNSELING AND LEGAL SERVICES, AND HELPING THE COMMUNITY REBUILD. THERE ARE THREE BASKETS OF GOODS THAT COME OUT OF THAT. THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL PUBLIC AND AND MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. AND THE GOVERNOR HAS TO MAKE THE REQUEST AND THEN THE PRESIDENT UNILATERALLY CAN SAY YES OR NO. AND AT THAT POINT, FEMA DECIDES HOW MUCH MONEY TO PUT INTO THIS UMMC POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR BRIAN GRODSKY STUDIES DISASTERS, BUT 11 NEWS INVESTIGATES CAUGHT UP WITH HIM AT THE ARBUTUS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, WHERE HE SPENT YEARS HELPING THE COMMUNITY. SO HERE’S THE THIS IS THE SWIFT WATER UNIT THAT RESPONDED. BRODSKY WASN’T THERE THE NIGHT OF THE KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE, BUT HIS COWORKERS WERE SOME OF THE FIRST TO RESPOND. BRODSKY SAYS GOVERNOR MOORE LIKELY DIDN’T ASK PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR THE DECLARATION BECAUSE MOORE FELT MARYLAND HAD THE RESOURCES IT NEEDED. A BIG REASON WHY, WITHIN HOURS OF THE SHIP DESTROYING THE KEY BRIDGE, PRESIDENT BIDEN VOWED THAT CONGRESS WOULD PAY THE FULL COST TO REBUILD IT. I THINK CONGRESS PROBABLY WILL COME FORWARD. AND, YOU KNOW, ONCE THEY GET AROUND THE FREEDOM CAUCUS, THEY WILL GET GET THIS PASSED. IT WOULD BE PRETTY SHOCKING IF THEY DIDN’T REQUEST DISASTER DECLARATIONS. ALSO PRESENTS A RISK. GROTSKY SAYS PRESIDENTS DECLINE ABOUT 20% OF THEM, AND THEY TEND TO BE APPROVED MORE OFTEN IN POLITICALLY COMPETITIVE STATES. MARYLAND DOESN’T FIT THE BILL. IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT WOULD GET DECLINED, BUT IT INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD AND ALSO MAN MADE DISASTERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE DECLINED AS WELL BECAUSE THERE IS THAT QUESTION OF PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF THE DISASTER. THIS IS ANOTHER KEY POINT. THE LAW’S NARROW LANGUAGE IN DEFINING MAJOR DISASTERS, GROTSKY SAYS. BESIDES NATURAL CATASTROPHES, PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATIONS ARE USUALLY LIMITED TO TRAGEDIES THAT INVOLVE FIRES, FLOODS OR EXPLOSIVES. IT’S AMAZING TO THINK THAT IF THIS SHIP HAD CAUGHT ON FIRE AND OR EXPLODED UNDER THE BRIDGE, THAT THIS WOULD EASILY QUALIFY AS A MAJOR DISASTER. IN RESPONSE TO 11 NEWS INVESTIGATES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY GOVERNOR MOORE DID NOT REQUEST A PRESIDENTIAL DISASTER DECLARATION, A SPOKESPERSON SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT GOVERNOR MOORE IS GRATEFUL TO THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND OTHER FEDERAL PARTNERS FOR THEIR COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE AND WROTE IN PART, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS PROVIDED MARYLAND WITH THE TOOLS NECESSARY TO QUICKLY AND SAFELY RECOVER VICTIMS, REMOVE WRECKAGE FROM THE SITE OF THE COLLAPSE, AND CLEAR CHANNELS FOR SHIPS, BRODSKY SAYS. WITH BIDEN’S BACKING, MOORE IS PUTTING HIS FAITH IN CONGRESS TO PAY FOR THE KEY BRIDGE REBUILD WITHOUT A DISASTER DECLARATION. HE REALLY NEEDS CONGRESS TO PUSH THIS THROUGH IF HE WANTS TO GET IT FULLY COVERED. GOVERNOR MOORE SAID ON TUESDAY THAT HE WOULD BE ON CAPITOL HILL THIS WEEK TO PUSH FOR FUNDING FOR THE KEY BRIDGE REBUILD IF CONGRESS REFUSES TO COVER THE COST OF REBUILDING THE KEY BRIDGE. GROTSKY SAYS IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT GOVERNOR MOORE COULD THEN TURN TO PRESIDENT BIDEN AND REQUEST THE DISASTER DECLARATION, BUT GROTSKY SAYS IT WOULD BE UNPRECEDENTED AND WOULD LIKELY RESULT IN A LEG