Jimmy Patronis talks about Surfside and Florida heroes

On a new State of Emergency, Peter Schorsch and Jared Moskowitz talk with Florida Chief Financial Officer — and state Fire Marshal —Jimmy Patronis.

Topics include:

— Jimmy recounts the middle-of-the-night phone call about the collapse of Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside.

— As Fire Marshal, he bolted to the scene, describing it as a “giant anthill crawling with first responders.”

— When disaster strikes, Jimmy says Florida first responders are there. They are true heroes.

— Surfside was the third-largest building disaster in U.S. history (behind Oklahoma City and the Twin Towers), and it was not an attack.

— A firsthand description of the devastation and heartbreak in the search for survivors and comforting the victims.

— Jared said that FEMA “broke every rule” to get federal help to the scene. As someone who represented the area in the Florida House, he took the disaster “in a personal way.”

— Every elected official in the region came to offer help, support, and leadership.

— Comparing the personal difficulties of Surfside with those of the Parkland shooting.

— As for politics, Peter and Jared talk about the latest polling in the Governor’s race, and how it is just a “snapshot in time.” COVID-19 will probably not be a winning issue in 2022.

— The challenges of COVID-19 and politics; how the national media helped Gov. Ron DeSantis politicize the pandemic response.

— DeSantis’ likability takes a hit; will it come back?

— The controversy surrounding Regeneron and accusations against DeSantis. How monoclonal antibodies are “real medicine saving lives.”

— Don’t politicize unless you have evidence, Jared says.

— Puerto Rico and the results of Jared’s colonoscopy.