President Joe Biden met with fire and rescue personnel in Florida Thursday who are engaged in the wrenching and laborious task of contending with the devastating building collapse and its aftermath, telling the responders 'What you're doing is incredible.'
Biden scheduled a meeting with dozens of first responders soon after arriving at a hotel blocks from the disaster seen of the Champlain Tower collapse.
'I just want you to know - I understand,' he told them. 'I just want to say: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,' he told them.'
Biden met the responders, who wore Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue jackets, FEMA patches, and police uniforms, at the St. Regis hotel in Bar Harbour, where he is devoting a day to meeting with families, public officials, and responders.
'What you're doing is incredible,' President Joe Biden told first responders are responding to the tragic building collapse in Surfside, Florida
At one point, he recounted how first responders used 'jaws of life' to pry his children out of the vehicle during the 1972 car crash that took his first wife, Neilia, as well as his infant daughter, Naomi.
He urged them to 'be careful' in the work, amid concerns that shifting or instability in the rubble could pose a risk. Work was suspended after about 2 am amid the safety concerns.
'I promise you: I know. What you're doing here is incredible,' he told them.
'What you’re doing now is just hard as hell to deal with, even psychologically, to deal with,' he said.
The event was a photo 'spray,' and reporters weren't invited to stay for long. Other notables, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio, arrived shortly after it began, with an apology from staff.
His visit came on a day when work was being suspended indefinitely due to safety issues.
The rescue teams continued to work with 145 people still not located
Earlier, Biden told DeSantis 'we're here to help' shortly before he met with rescue crews looking for the 145 people still missing in the rubble of the collapsed