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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says “we don’t fully know” conditions for Baltimore bridge repair
Washington — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that as officials eye rebuilding efforts, it’s not fully known the condition of what remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it collapsed days ago when it was hit by a cargo ship.
“A lot goes into how that reconstruction will be designed, how the process is going to work,” Buttigieg said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He noted that he didn’t have an estimate on the rebuilding timeline, but the bridge itself took five years to initially construct. “Right now we don’t fully know everything we need to know about the condition of the portions of the bridge that did not collapse.”
First, as officials are working to clear debris and reopen the channel. Buttigieg said it remains unclear how long that process will take, but the work is “underway.” He said that it’s going to be a “very complex process,” noting the process for dismantling what remains of the bridge safely.
“It has to be done because that is the only way to get into most of the Port of Baltimore,” Buttigieg said, making clear its importance not only to Maryland but also for national supply chains.
Then there’s the process of rebuilding the bridge, which is expected to take longer. Buttigieg noted that work is already underway there as well, after the federal government released $60 million in emergency relief funding. Additional emergency funds are expected to follow.
“This is not going to happen overnight, but we’re going to help Maryland do it as quickly as they responsibly can,” Buttigieg said.
The administration is expected to turn to Congress to approve additional funding to rebuild the bridge. Last week, President Biden outlined that he wants the federal government to pay for the entire cost of the bridge’s reconstruction, adding that he expects Congress to support the effort. But they may face opposition from some Republicans.
Buttigieg said the pitch to lawmakers is that “your district could be next.”
“This has historically been bipartisan,” he said, noting support for bridge rebuilding funds in a 2007 collapse along with support for the Bipartisan Infrastructure package in 2021. “If there’s anything left in this country that is more bipartisan than infrastructure, it should be emergency response. This is both, and I hope that Congress will be willing if and when we turn to them.”
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U.S.-allied Kurds in Syria say 12 killed in strikes as Turkey responds to attack on state-run defense firm
Turkey launched airstrikes late Wednesday in Kurdish-held parts of Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a deadly attack at a state-owned defense manufacturer in Ankara that saw at least two attackers kill four people and wound more than a dozen others.
The Turkish government blamed the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a “nefarious” attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters outside the capital.
Video verified by CBS News Confirmed showed damage to electrical infrastructure in Kobani and Qamishli, the de-facto capital of the semi-autonomous region controlled by Kurdish-majority forces in northeast Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — who were key U.S. allies in the war against ISIS in the region — said Thursday that 12 people were killed, including two children, and 25 others wounded in widespread Turkish air and artillery strikes. Turkey’s defense ministry said it struck 47 “terrorist targets” in Syria and Iraq.
Social Media/via REUTERS
SDF commander General Mazlum Abdi condemned the Turkish strikes as indiscriminate, saying they had hit civilian infrastructure, including health centers, in northeast Syria.
“We have repeatedly shown our readiness for dialogue. Meanwhile, we affirm that our forces are ready to defend our people and land,” Abdi said in a post on X.
Some 900 U.S. forces remain in the region as part of the international coalition against ISIS, and the SDF has long been America’s primary partner on the ground in northeast Syria. Neither the U.S. Defense Department nor its Central Command had commented on the attack in Ankara, or on Turkey’s retaliatory strikes, by Thursday morning.
Ankara considers the U.S.-backed SDF and its civilian body, the YPG, to be directly linked to the PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey.
The PKK, long designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and the U.S., is nominally headquartered in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq. Turkey regularly strikes the region.
No group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack in Ankara, which came at a time of renewed talks between the Turkish government and the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey for more than two decades.
On Thursday, Ocalan’s nephew Omer, a member of Turkey’s parliament, conveyed a message from the PKK leader suggesting he was prepared to end the violent conflict that has raged since the mid-1980s.
Erdogan ally and Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli had earlier invited Ocalan to address parliament, and said the 75-year-old could be paroled in exchange for disbanding the PKK.
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American Airlines will add oat milk creamer to its in-flight menu after animal welfare advocates successfully petitioned the carrier to introduce a vegan creamer option.
The airline will introduce the new alternative to its menus beginning in November, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a statement Tuesday.
PETA has called on airlines to offer vegan creamer options, which the group says benefits cow while also providing a healthier, more environmentally friendly choice for passengers. The group says that industrial milk production practices are cruel to cows and that many travelers are lactose intolerant.
Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines introduced oat milk options to their menus last year, with United Airlines and JetBlue adding oat milk creamer on board this year. American is the fifth major carrier to add vegan creamer to its menu.
PETA is also pressuring Southwest Airlines to help consumers ditch dairy, and has garnered nearly 44,000 signatures from people urging the carrier to offer vegan creamer on its flights. Southwest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
