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Find Help and Information for Crime Victims

We are committed to helping victims of crime. This resource page includes links that can help connect crime victims to the support, services, and information they need.

Hotlines and Contact Information

• Resources for Crime Victims  

Hearing Notification and Case Information

Victim/witness complaint procedure.

• National Toll-Free and Online Hotlines , Office for Victims of Crime
• What You Can Do if You Are a Victim of Crime
• Qué Puede Hacer si Es Víctima de un Delito
• Reporting Elder Abuse - Resources by State
• Each of the 94 U.S. Attorney's Offices has a victim-witness program to assist victims and witness of federal crime.

Make an application

Steps to apply for victims support, 1. check you are eligible.

Visit  Eligibility criteria  to find out if you're eligible for victims support and to learn about the time frames to make an application.

2. Collect information and documents

All applicants will need to submit a completed application form and a clear copy or image of their current government-issued identification. To find out what types of identification we accept, visit Supporting documents .

If you’re applying for financial assistance or a recognition payment, you will need to provide extra supporting documents and details of a bank account in your name. If you would like victims support payments to be made to an account in another name, please contact the Victims Access Line or Aboriginal Contact Line before submitting your application as we will require you to provide further documentation to accept your application. 

Check what you’ll need to provide for each support type:

Counselling  

Financial assistance  

Recognition payment  

There are different documentary requirements for family members of a homicide victim to submit with their completed application form. Please see Family Victims – A Fact Sheet About Supporting Documents (PDF, 71.2 KB) to learn more.

Visit Supporting documents for more information and access to optional forms to help you gather the information we need. 

3. Submit your application form and supporting documents

We have different application forms for different types of applicants.

Select the relevant online application form and follow the instructions to complete your application:

Primary victim, parent, step-parent or guardian:  Primary Victims

Secondary victim or a victim applying for counselling only:  Counselling

Family member of a homicide victim:  Family Member of a Homicide Victim

Funeral director applying for funeral expenses on behalf of a homicide victim:  Funeral Expenses for a Funeral Director

Service provider applying for forensic cleaning expenses on behalf of a family victim:  Forensic Cleaning Expenses

Our online forms are compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 or greater.  

If you’re unable to apply online, you can download a  PDF application form  and send your completed form and supporting documents to us by:

• email  [email protected]

post: Commissioner of Victims Rights    Victims Services Department of Communities and Justice  Locked Bag 5118   Parramatta NSW 2124

Authorising a representative

If you have applied for victims support, you can authorise someone to represent you. This allows your authorised representative to communicate and exchange information with us. You can also select for them to receive correspondence, including decisions, about your application(s).

Your authorised representative can be a legal representative, someone from a support service, a family member or friend. 

To authorise a representative, you can complete the relevant section of the application form. If you have already submitted your application, you can complete the  Authorising a Representative form (PDF, 357.4 KB)  and email or mail it to us.

You do not need to complete this form if you have legal decision-making power for an applicant, such as parental responsibility, or a guardianship or financial management order. Simply attach a copy of your order to the completed application form or provide a copy of the order along with a written request to act on behalf of the applicant.

What happens next

Once you've submitted your application, you'll receive a confirmation email or letter from us. We will assess your application and notify you of the outcome. If we need further information or documents, we will contact you.

Support workers and agencies

If you are a support worker or agency assisting a client with their application, you can help them in several ways. Visit  Supporting your client’s application  to learn more.

We're here to help

We know violence and modern slavery can affect people in different ways and understand it may be difficult to fill in an application. 

If you have any questions about your application or need help:

• call the Victims Access Line on  1800 633 063   or the Aboriginal Contact Line on  1800 019 123  (Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm)

If you have a hearing or speech impariment, call the National Relay Service on  13 36 77   (TTY) or   1300 555 727   (Speak and Listen).

If you need an interpreter, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on  13 14 50 .

A support worker, friend or family member may also be able to assist you with your application.

• Victims Support Scheme Quick Guide (PDF, 355.7 KB)
• Family Victims Fact Sheet (PDF, 71.2 KB)

Last updated:

23 Feb 2024

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Victims Access Line : 1800 633 063 Aboriginal Contact Line : 1800 019 123 Mon – Fri, 9am to 5pm (excluding public holidays)

For the National Relay Service , call 13 36 77 (TTY) or 1300 555 727 (Speak and Listen). 

For interpreter support, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50.

[email protected]

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We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future. 

Informed by lessons of the past, Department of Communities and Justice is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.

You can access  our apology to the Stolen Generations .

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An official website of the United States government

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Watch Live at 11:30 a.m. ET: Results of Nationwide Law Enforcement Effort Press Conference

View the latest ICE guidance on COVID-19

ICE Check-in for Noncitizens

Get information about how to check in with your local ICE Office here .

Reportándose con ICE: Obtenga información sobre cómo reportarse a su oficina local de ICE aquí .

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Call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE to report suspicious activity Report Crime

Victims Engagement and Services Line (VESL)

Toll Free Hotline

1-833-383-1465

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Victims Engagement and Services Line (VESL) serves as a comprehensive and inclusive support system for all victims, regardless of immigration status or the immigration status of the perpetrator. This includes guidance on available U- and T-visa resources and information about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign to counter human trafficking.

Services Provided

VESL will serve as a streamlined and all-encompassing access point for all victims with several service options:

• Detention Reporting and Information Line (DRIL) 888-351-4024 – Provides victims the ability to report incidents of sexual or physical assault, abuse, mistreatment or human trafficking in ICE detention.
• Victim Notification System Access – ICE and DOJ/BOP’s longstanding VINE and VNS systems provide push notifications about a detainee’s or inmate’s custody status, case outcome and other basic information to victims, lawyers and others with a vested interest in the outcome of a case.
• Victim Assistance Support – Provides general assistance and information for victims including assistance for victims of child exploitation, assistance for victims of human trafficking, assistance with local resources and social service professionals, U- and T-visa information, and training and other services provided by ICE for law enforcement agencies and community organizations.

Victim Services and Information

Immigration benefits t/u: law enforcement certification – signature on i-918b/i914b.

Question: I (My client) am (is) applying for a (U or T) Visa and I (my client) need(s) to obtain a law enforcement signature on the form (I-918B/I-914B). How do I submit my (my client’s) package for a law enforcement signature?

• Please visit the www.ice.gov/contact/field-offices page, which lists all ICE field office locations.
• If it was Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), select Homeland Security Investigations from the drop down.
• If it was either Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), or a facility investigator, choose Office of Professional Responsibility.
• If it was handled by a local law enforcement entity, please route the package directly to that entity for certification consideration. Do not send the package to ICE for a law enforcement certification signature.
• Locate the servicing office.
• Mark your package to the attention of that specific field office and include the address. If you know the name of the investigator, include the name in the package as well.

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Scotland’s new hate crime law: what does it cover and why is it controversial?

The government insists the law, coming into force on Monday, is needed to protect victims but critics say it limits freedom of expression

A new law to tackle hate crime in Scotland will be implemented on 1 April, and in the past few weeks there have been escalating concerns about how it will be policed and how it might affect freedom of speech. Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf , has hit back at “disinformation and inaccuracy” being spread about its implementation.

What are the aims of the new hate crime law?

The Scottish government says that Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act will provide greater protection for victims and communities. It is intended to consolidate existing hate crime laws, but also creates a new offence of “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred” on the grounds of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics. These additional provisions add to longstanding offences relating to stirring up racial hatred, which have been in place across the UK since 1986.

The law, which was passed in 2021 and has taken an unusually long time to come into force, had a rocky passage though Holyrood , with MSPs voting to strengthen freedom of speech provisions after earlier iterations provoked an outcry from religious and arts groups.

Yousaf, who was justice secretary at the time and helped bring the bill through parliament, assured MSPs that it balanced protections for victims of hate crime with safeguarding freedom of expression.

Why does the new law not include misogyny?

There was anger at the time that the bill excluded hatred of women. Even before it was passed, an independent working group, led by Helena Kennedy KC, was established to consider whether adding sex to the list of other protected characteristics or creating a standalone offence would better tackle misogynist abuse.

The group later recommended that the Scottish government introduce a misogyny act to crack down on street harassment and organised online hate. It was included in Yousaf’s programme for government last September but has yet to be published and there is no further information available about its timetabling.

What are the concerns about the new laws and who is raising them?

There is concern that the new measures could be used maliciously against certain groups for expressing their opinions, in particular gender-critical feminists.

The SNP MP Joanna Cherry has said she has no doubt that the new law “will be weaponised by trans rights activists to try to silence, and worse still criminalise, women who do not share their beliefs”.

Some people who disagree with the gender-critical stance of the author and activist JK Rowling have already threatened to lodge complaints about her with Police Scotland from 1 April.

Whether these threats come to pass or not, gender-critical women also raise the prospect of the wider – and hard to quantify – effect of the legislation.

There are worries that allegations of hate crime can be made anonymously – although third-party reporting centres where this can be done have existed for 10 years and are a legacy of the Macpherson report .

The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has raised serious concerns about the pressure it will put on an already overstretched force, warning that there is “enough anger and hateful bile online to occupy every police officer in Scotland”, given that current guidelines state that all hate crime complaints should be investigated.

The Scottish Police Federation says officers have not received sufficient training in how to mediate such complex territory, citing a “inadequate” two-hour online module.

What assurances have been made?

Yousaf has insisted there is a “very high threshold” for prosecution and a “triple lock” on freedom of expression in the act, including an explicit clause, a “reasonableness” defence, and compatibility with the European convention on human rights.

Adam Tomkins, a former Tory MSP and convener of Holyrood’s justice committee who was closely involved with the passage of the bill in 2021, said: “Asserting that sex is a biological fact or that it is not changed just by virtue of the gender by which someone chooses to identify is not and never can be a hate crime under this legislation.”

Tomkins and others have warned that social media postings and some reporting on the act has wrongly suggested that it is criminalising comments that are merely offensive to others.

While many groups covered by the new act welcome the extension and streamlining of the law, some worrythat the focuson the row about transphobia will deter other communities from reporting hate crimes.

What is a ‘non-crime hate incident’ and how does that fit into the picture?

While supporters of the act insist that the bar for prosecution is set high, this sits uncomfortably with the police policy of recording “hate incidents” that do not meet the criminal threshold and are based on the perception of the victim or a bystander.

Last year, freedom of information requests made by the Guardian revealed a gradual increase in the numbers of these non-crime hate incidents being recorded. The Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser last week threatened the police with legal action after he was logged for a complaint about a social media post in which he stated: “Choosing to identify as ‘non-binary’ is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat.”

Although this method of recording has been in place for many years as a means of monitoring community tensions (for example to track the levels of race hate in an area), Police Scotland is now reviewing its procedures after a court of appeal ruling stated that a similar policy in England could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

• Scottish politics
• Transgender
• Humza Yousaf

More on this story

Hunt faces Scottish MPs’ revolt over energy firm windfall tax extension

Humza Yousaf ‘naive’ about links to evangelical Christian donor, say rights groups

Higher earners to be taxed more heavily in Scotland to protect public services

Sturgeon refuses to say if she kept pandemic WhatsApp messages

Scotland’s Alba party has its first MSP after Ash Regan jumps ship

Today in Focus Is the SNP’s independence dream fading?

Call to extend Scottish FoI laws to private firms running public services

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• Health and social care
• Public health
• Health improvement
• Drug misuse and dependency

Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide

A Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) report looking at the use of substance misuse treatment services by victims and suspects of homicide in England.

Applies to England

Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide: report, drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide: data tables.

ODS , 18 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide: pre-release access list

This report from the Better Outcomes through Linked Data ( BOLD ) programme is an official statistics in development publication from the Home Office and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, part of the Department of Health and Social Care.

The analysis looks at the use of substance misuse services by victims and suspects of homicide in England. It linked records from the Homicide Index database between April 2019 and March 2021, with records from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.

The report and accompanying data tables present information and findings from this analysis, including the:

• treatment characteristics of victims and suspects, such as their sociodemographic, accommodation and employment status
• characteristics of the homicide, such as the surrounding circumstances of the homicide, the relationships between victims and suspects and whether the homicide was drug-related

These findings will contribute to the evidence base for homicide prevention policy and will help us to better understand the relationship between homicide and substance misuse treatment.

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Here's who could be responsible for paying for the Baltimore bridge disaster

• The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a container ship collided with it.
• Several entities could be on the hook to foot the bill in the aftermath of the disaster.
• The maritime insurance industry will likely be saddled with the highest costs. 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed on Tuesday after a large container ship ran into it, leading to six presumed deaths and millions of dollars in possible damage.

It's still too early to estimate the total economic impact of the disaster, but between the cost of rebuilding the decades-old bridge, compensating the victims' families , and paying out damages for disruptions to the supply chain, the eventual cost of the disaster is expected to be significant.

Who will pay to rebuild the bridge?

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the federal government should be responsible for paying to reconstruct the damaged Francis Scott Key Bridge.

"It is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect Congress to support my effort," Biden said.

The bridge was built in the 1970s for about $60 million, but the cost of rebuilding it could be 10 times its original price tag, an engineering expert told Sky News. 

Baltimore is among the busiest ports in the nation , with more than a million shipping containers passing through each year. The collapse — which closed the port to all maritime and most road traffic until further notice — is already beginning to wreak havoc on the supply chain.

The cost of building the bridge back fast enough to offset diversions as much as possible could saddle the government with a more than $600 million bill, David MacKenzie, the chair of the engineering and architecture consultancy COWIfonden, told Sky News.

Who will pay for damages to the ship and its cargo?

The container ship, the Dali , is owned by a Singapore-based firm. The ship's charterer, Maersk, confirmed to Business Insider that vessel company Synergy Group operates the ship. 

However, the companies with cargo aboard the Dali could ultimately be responsible for some of the ship's damages and cargo costs, according to Ryan Petersen , the CEO of the supply-chain-logistics company Flexport, which had two containers on the ship.

Related stories

The Dali was carrying 330 containers that must now be rerouted, Petersen said in an X thread.

An ancient maritime law known as " general average " dictates that companies with even a single container aboard a ship split certain damages pro rata based on the number of containers they had on board, ensuring all the stakeholders benefiting from the voyage are splitting the risk, Petersen said.

General average situations can occur when a ship is stranded or when cargo is damaged or thrown overboard to save the vessel, according to Flexport . The concept helps ensure that all parties who have a vested interest in the vessel share the cost and concern of protecting it.

It's too soon to know whether damages incurred to free the Dali in the coming days will qualify as a case of general average.

Who will pay for everything else?

The majority of the financial fallout is likely to lay primarily with the insurance industry, according to media reports.

Industry experts told the Financial Times that insurers could pay out losses for bridge damage, port disruption, and any loss of life.

The collapse could drive "one of the largest claims ever to hit the marine (re)insurance market," John Miklus, the president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters, told Insurance Business.

He told the outlet that the loss of revenue from tolls while the bridge is being rebuilt will be expensive, as will any liability claims from deaths or injuries.

The Dali is covered by the Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association Ltd., known as Britannia P&I Club, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In a statement to Business Insider, Britannia said it was "working closely with the ship manager and relevant authorities to establish the facts and to help ensure that this situation is dealt with quickly and professionally."

Britannia is one of 12 mutual insurers included in the International Group of P&I Clubs, which maintains more than $3 billion of reinsurance cover, sources familiar with the matter told Insurance Business.

Britannia itself is liable for the first $10 million in damages, both FT and Insurance Business reported. Whatever remains is dealt with by the wider mutual insurance group and Lloyd's of London, a reinsurance market in the UK, the FT reported.

Update: March 28, 2024 — This story has been updated to include additional information about general average and clarify that it is too soon to know whether general average will apply in the case of the Dali.

Watch: The container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge has crashed before

• Main content

Watch CBS News

Havana Syndrome mystery continues as a lead military investigator says bar for proof was set impossibly high

By Scott Pelley

March 31, 2024 / 7:42 PM EDT / CBS News

This report is the result of a joint investigation by 60 Minutes, The Insider, and Der Spiegel

Tonight we have important developments in our five-year investigation of mysterious brain injuries reported by U.S. national security officials. The injured include White House staff, CIA officers , FBI agents, military officers and their families. Many believe that they were wounded by a secret weapon that fires a high-energy beam of microwaves or ultrasound. This is our fourth story and for the first time, we have evidence of who might be responsible. Most of the injured have fought for America, often in secret. And they're frustrated that the U.S. government publicly doubts that an adversary is targeting Americans.

One of them is Carrie. We're disguising her and not using her last name because she's still an FBI agent working in counterintelligence. She says, in 2021, she was home in Florida when she was hit by a crippling force.

Carrie: And bam, inside my right ear, it was like a dentist drilling on steroids. That feeling when it gets too close to your eardrum? It's like that, you know, times ten. It was like a high pitched, metallic drilling noise, and it knocked me forward at, like, a 45 degree angle this way. 

She says she was by a window in her laundry room. 

Carrie: My right ear was line-of-sight to that window while this thing was happening in my ear. And when I leaned forward it kind a—it didn't knock me over, but it knocked me forward. I immediately felt pressure, and pressure and pain started coursing from inside my right ear, down my jaw, down my neck and into my chest. 

• Statements of White House, FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence to 60 Minutes

At the same time, FBI agent Carrie told us, the battery in her phone began to swell until it broke the case. Finally she passed out on a couch. Because of chest pain, she was checked by a cardiologist and then returned to duty.

Carrie: And I remember complaining to my colleagues for months after that I felt like I had early Alzheimer's. Short term memory, long term memory, confusing memories, uh, multitasking. My baseline changed. I was not the same person.  

Carrie's story matches those we've uncovered over the years.

Olivia Troye: It was like this piercing feeling on the side of my head. It was like, I remember it was on the right side of my head and I, I got like vertigo. 

Olivia Troye was Homeland Security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. In our 2022 report, she told us she was hit outside the White House. 

Anonymous: And then severe ear pain started. So I liken it to if you put a Q-tip too far and you bounce it off your eardrum. Well, imagine takin' a sharp pencil and just kinda pokin' that. 

And this man told us he was among the first publicly known cases in 2016 from our embassy in Cuba. That's how the incidents became known as "Havana Syndrome." He's medically retired from an agency we can't name-- blind in one eye and struggling for balance. 

A major medical study for the government was led by Dr. David Relman of Stanford University. In our 2022 report he told us… 

Dr. David Relman: What we found was we thought clear evidence of an injury to the auditory and vestibular system of the brain. Everything starting with the inner ear where humans perceive sound and sense balance, and then translate those perceptions into brain electrical signals.

His study found, "directed pulsed (radio frequency) energy…appears to be the most plausible mechanism…" For example, a focused beam of microwaves or acoustic ultrasound. More than 100 officials or family members have unexplained, persistent, symptoms. 

Carrie: If I turn too fast, my gyroscope is off, essentially. It's like a step behind where I'm supposed to be. So I'll turn too fast, and I will literally walk right into the wall or the door frame. 

Now, for the first time, the case of FBI agent Carrie suggests which adversary might be responsible. She spoke with the FBI's permission but wasn't allowed to discuss the cases she was on when she was hit. We have learned from other sources one of those cases involve this Mustang going 110 miles an hour. 

• Havana Syndrome in Vietnam: Possible Russian role in attack on Americans, according to new evidence

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): Pull over, Pull over!

In 2020, near Key West, Florida, deputies tried to stop the Mustang for speeding. It ran 15 miles until it hit spike strips laid in its path. 

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): Get out! Put it down! Get on the ground now.

A search of the car found notes of bank accounts.

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): Citibank…Discover Savings $75,000… 

And this device, that looks like a walkie-talkie, can erase the car's computer data including its GPS record. There was also a Russian passport.

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): What's your first name?

Vitalii Kovalev (on bodycam video from 2020): Vitalii. V-I-T-A-L-I-I.

Vitalii Kovalev was the driver, from St. Petersburg—Russia not Florida. 

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): Why did you run? Be honest with me.

Vitalii Kovalev (on bodycam video from 2020): I don't know.

Deputy (on bodycam video from 2020): You know why you ran.

And we don't know why he ran. But what we learned suggests he was a Russian spy. 

Christo Grozev: What we see here is Vitalii Kovalev fitting exactly this formula. 

Christo Grozev is a journalist, legendary for unmasking Russian plots. In 2020, he uncovered the names of the Russian secret agents who poisoned Vladimir Putin's rival Alexey Navalny. Grozev is lead investigator for our collaborator on this story, The Insider, a magazine by Russian exiles. We asked him to trace Vitalii Kovalev. 

Christo Grozev: He studied in a military institute. He studied radio electronics with a particular focus on use within the military of micro-electronics. He had all the technology know-how that would be required for somebody to be assisting an operation that requires high technology. But then all of a sudden, after working for two years in a military institute he up and decides to become a chef.

Kovalev immigrated to the U.S. and worked as a chef in New York and Washington D.C., even appearing at far left, in a TV cooking segment. 

But Kovalev was actually a Russian military electrical engineer with a top secret security clearance. 

Scott Pelley: Can someone like Kovalev simply decide to drop all of that and become a chef?

Christo Grozev: It is not an easy job to just leave that behind. Once you're in the military, and you've been trained, and the Ministry of Defense has invested in you, you remain at their beck and call for the rest of your life. 

We don't know what Kovalev was up to but our sources say, over months, he spent 80 hours being interviewed by FBI agent Carrie, who had investigated multiple Russian spies. Kovalev pled guilty to evading police and reckless driving. He was sentenced to 30 months. While he was in jail, Carrie says she was hit in Florida and, a year later, when she awoke to the same symptoms in the middle of the night in California. 

Carrie: It felt like I was stuck in this state of, like, disorientation, not able to function. Like, what is happening? And my whole body was pulsing, 

Mark Zaid is Carrie's attorney. He has a security clearance and for decades, has represented Americans working in national security. Zaid has more than two dozen clients suffering symptoms of Havana Syndrome, which the government now calls "anomalous health incidents."

• The 5-year investigation into Havana Syndrome

Mark Zaid: I have CIA and State Department clients as well, who believe they've been impacted domestically. There are dozens of CIA cases that have happened domestically that is at least believed. And, and we're not even just talking about physical manifestation. We're talking about evidence of computer issues in the midst of the incident where computer screens just literally stop working or go flicker on and off.

Scott Pelley: Do you know whether there are other FBI agents who have also suffered from these anomalous health incidents?

Mark Zaid: There are other FBI agents and personnel, not just agents, analysts. I represent one other FBI person who was impacted in Miami. And I also know of FBI personnel who believe they were hit overseas in the last decade.

Scott Pelley: Were any of these members of the FBI counterintelligence people in addition to Carrie? 

Mark Zaid: The one thread that I know of with the FBI personnel that is common among most if not all of my clients other than the family members connected to the employee, was they were all doing something relating to Russia. 

Vitalii Kovalev served his time and in 2022, went back to Russia—ignoring American warnings that he was in danger because he'd spent so much time with the FBI. Christo Grozev found this death certificate from last year, which says Kovalev was killed at the front in Ukraine. 

Scott Pelley: Do you think Kovalev was sent to Ukraine as a punishment?

Christo Grozev: One theory is that he was sent there in order for him to be disposed of.

Scott Pelley: Is Kovalev really dead, or is this another cover story? 

Christo Grozev: That is a very good question. And we actually worked on both hypotheses for a while. I do believe at this point that he was dead.

Carrie: We're dealing with energy weapons. It's not going anywhere. Look how effective it's been. It's next generation weaponry. And, unfortunately, it's been refined on some of us, and we're the test subjects.

U.S. intelligence says, publicly, there is no credible evidence that an adversary is inflicting brain injuries on national security officials. And yet, more than 100 Americans have symptoms that scientists say could be caused by a beam of microwaves or, acoustic ultrasound. The Pentagon launched an investigation run by a recently retired Army lieutenant colonel. Greg Edgreen has never spoken publicly until now. 

Scott Pelley: Are we being attacked?

Greg Edgreen: My personal opinion, yes.

Scott Pelley: By whom?

Greg Edgreen: Russia.

Greg Edgreen ran the investigation for the Defense Intelligence Agency. He would not discuss classified information but he described his team's work from 2021 to 2023.

Greg Edgreen: We were collecting a large body of data, ranging from signals intelligence, human intelligence, open-source reporting. Anything regarding the internet, travel records, financial records, you name it. Unfortunately I can't get into specifics, based on the classification. But I can tell you at a very early stage, I started to focus on Moscow.

Scott Pelley: Can you tell me about the patterns you began to see?

Greg Edgreen: One of the things I started to notice was the caliber of our officer that was being impacted. This wasn't happening to our worst or our middle-range officers. This was happening to our top 5%, 10% performing officers across the Defense Intelligence Agency. And consistently there was a Russia nexus. There was some angle where they had worked against Russia, focused on Russia, and done extremely well. 

Scott Pelley: What has been the impact on American national security?

Greg Edgreen: The impact has been that the intelligence officers and our diplomats working abroad are being removed from their posts with traumatic brain injuries. They're being neutralized.

Tonight, we're reporting for the first time, an incident at last year's NATO summit in Lithuania—a meeting that focused largely on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and was attended by President Biden. Multiple sources tell us that a senior official of the Department of Defense was struck by the symptoms and sought medical treatment. We told Greg Edgreen what we'd learned.

Greg Edgreen: It tells me that there are no barriers on what Moscow will do, on who they will attack, and that if we don't face this head on, the problem is going to get worse.

The problem first appeared in public in 2016. U.S. officials reported being hurt in Cuba and the incidents became known as Havana Syndrome. But we have learned it started two years earlier when at least four Americans reported symptoms in Frankfurt, Germany. There is also evidence of what could be revenge attacks. For example, in 2014, three CIA officers were stationed in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's obsession. 2014 was the year that a popular revolt overthrew Putin's preferred leader. Later, those CIA officers went on to other assignments and reported being hit, one in Uzbekistan, one in Vietnam, and the third officer's family was hit in London.

If it is Russia, investigative reporter Christo Grozev believes he knows who's involved. In 2018, Grozev was the first to discover the existence of a top secret Russian intelligence unit which goes by a number, 29155.

Christo Grozev: These are people who are trained to be versatile assassins and sabotage operators. They are trained in countersurveillance, they are trained in explosives, they're trained to be using poison, and technology equipment to actually inflict pain or damage to the targets.

Grozev works with our collaborators on this report, a magazine called The Insider and Germany's Der Spiegel. he has a long track record uncovering Russian documents. And Grozev says he found one that may link 29155 to a directed energy weapon. 

Christo Grozev: And when I saw it, I literally had tears in my eyes, because it was spelling out what they had been doing.

It's a piece of accounting. An officer of 29155 received a bonus for work on quote, "potential capabilities of non-lethal acoustic weapons…" 

Christo Grozev: Which told us that this particular unit had been engaged with somewhere, somehow, empirical tests of a directed energy unit.

Scott Pelley: There it is, written down in black and white. 

Christo Grozev: It's the closest to a receipt you can have for this. 

We've also found that Russia's 29155 may have been present in Tbilisi, Georgia when Americans reported incidents there. 

Scott Pelley: Do you believe that you were attacked?

Anonymous: Absolutely.

She asked us to withhold her name for her safety. She's the wife of a Justice Department official who was with the embassy in Tbilisi. She's a nurse with a Ph.D. in anesthesiology. On Oct. 7, 2021, she says that she was in her laundry room when she was blindsided by a sound.

Anonymous: As I'm reaching into the dryer-- I am completely consumed by a piercing sound that I can only describe as when you listen to a movie and the main character is also consumed by the sound after a bomb goes off. That is similar to the sound that I heard. And it just pierced my ears, came in my left side, felt like it came through the window, into my left ear. I immediately felt fullness in my head, and just a piercing headache. And when I realized that I needed to get out of the laundry room, I left the room, and went into our bedroom next door, and projectile vomited in our bathroom 

We have learned that hers was the second incident that week. Sources tell us, earlier, in the neighborhood, a U.S. official, their spouse and child were hit. We have also learned of a phone call that was intercepted nearby. A man says in Russian, "Is it supposed to have blinking green lights?" and "Should I leave it on all night." We have no idea what he was talking about but, the next day, the incidents began. 

Sources tell us that an investigation centered on this Russian, Albert Averyanov. His name, on travel manifests and phone records, appears alongside known members of Unit 29155. He is also the son of the commander.

Christo Grozev: He was groomed to become a member of the unit since he was 16. His number is in the phone books of all members of the unit. Clearly, he's more than just the son of the boss. He's a colleague of these people.

Grozev found Albert Averyanov's phone was turned off during the Tbilisi incidents but our sources say there's evidence someone in Tbilisi logged into Averyanov's personal email during this time. Most likely, Grozev believes, Averyanov himself—placing him in the city.

Christo Grozev: We believe members of Unit 29155 were there in order to facilitate, supervise, or maybe even personally implement attacks on American diplomats, on American government officials, using an acoustic weapon.

Scott Pelley: After you were able to get out of the laundry room, call your husband, what did you do then?

Anonymous: I went downstairs. I first looked on our security camera, which is right beside our front door, to see if anyone was outside. There was a vehicle right outside of our gate. I took a photo of that vehicle and noticed that it was not a vehicle that I recognized. And I went outside. 

Scott Pelley: Did you see anyone around the vehicle?

Anonymous: I did.

Scott Pelley: We sent you a photograph of Albert Averyanov. And this is the picture that we sent you.

Anonymous: You did.

Scott Pelley: And I wonder if that looks anything like the man you saw outside your home.

Anonymous: It absolutely does. And when I received this photo, I had a visceral reaction. It made me feel sick. I cannot absolutely say for certainty that it is this man, but I can tell you that even to this day, looking at him makes me feel that same visceral reaction. And I can absolutely say that this looks like the man that I saw in the street.

This 40-year-old wife and mother is among the most severely injured people we have met. 

Anonymous: My headaches and brain fog continued. Later on into that weekend, I started having trouble walking down the stairs, specifically at night. I had trouble finding the steps to get down the stairs. So my coordination and vestibular system started just really falling apart. 

She was medically evacuated. And now doctors say she has holes in her inner ear canals—the vestibular system that creates the sense of balance. Two surgeries put metal plates in her skull. Another surgery is likely. 

Anonymous: It's devastating. It's absolutely devastating.

Despite experiences like hers, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said last year it's " very unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible ." But the DNI also acknowledged that some intelligence agencies had only "low" or "moderate" confidence in that assessment. This month, the National Institutes of Health reported results of brain scans. NIH said there's no evidence of physical damage. but the medical science of so-called anomalous health incidents remains vigorously debated. For its part, the Director of National Intelligence says the symptoms probably result from "… preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors." Attorney Mark Zaid represents more than two dozen ahi clients.

Scott Pelley: What do you make of the intelligence community assessment? 

Mark Zaid: So I've had access to classified information relating to AHI. I can't reveal it. I wouldn't reveal it. I will tell you that I don't believe it to be the entire story, and I know of information that undermines or contradicts what they are saying publicly. 

Scott Pelley: Are you saying that the government wants to cover this up?

Mark Zaid: There is, in my view, without a doubt, evidence of a cover up. Now, some of that cover up is not necessarily that, oh, we found a weapon and we don't want anybody to know about it. What I've seen more so is we see lines of inquiry that would take us potentially to answers we don't want to have to deal with, so we're not going to explore any of those avenues. 

Greg Edgreen: "You know, if my mother had seen what I saw, she would say, 'It's the Russians, stupid.'"

Greg Edgreen who ran the military investigation told us he had the Pentagon's support but, in the Trump, and Biden administrations, he says, the bar for proof was set impossibly high. 

Greg Edgreen: I think it was set so high because we did not, as a country, and a government, want to face some very hard truths.

Scott Pelley: And what are those?

Greg Edgreen: Can we secure America? Are these massive counterintelligence failures? Can we protect American soil and our people on American soil? Are we being attacked? And if we're being attacked, is that an act of war?

After what he learned in his classified investigation, Greg Edgreen retired from the Army to start a company to help the victims. He hopes to channel government contracts into treatment programs. 

As with all spy stories, much is classified and what remains is circumstantial. None of the witnesses tonight wanted to speak. Some fear for their families. But all felt compelled to shine a light on what they see as a war of shadows –a war America may not be winning.

Christo Grozev: If this is what we've seen with the hundreds of cases of Anomalous Health Incidents, I can assure that this has become probably Putin's biggest victory. In his own mind this has been Russia's biggest victory against the West. 

Scott Pelley: In terms of the long-term, would you consider this to be life-altering?

Anonymous: Absolutely life-altering. For our whole family. 

"Targeting Americans" statements

Prior to 60 Minutes' March 31, 2024, broadcast which featured correspondent Scott Pelley's report on Havana Syndrome, we reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the White House, and the FBI for comments on our story, "Targeting Americans."

They responded to 60 Minutes with the following statements:

Office of the Director of National Intelligence:

"We continue to closely examine anomalous health incidents (AHIs), particularly in areas we have identified as requiring additional research and analysis. Most IC agencies have concluded that it is very unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible for the reported AHIs. IC agencies have varying confidence levels because we still have gaps given the challenges collecting on foreign adversaries—as we do on many issues involving them. As part of its review, the IC identified critical assumptions surrounding the initial AHIs reported in Cuba from 2016 to 2018, which framed the IC's understanding of this phenomenon, but were not borne out by subsequent medical and technical analysis. In light of this and the evidence that points away from a foreign adversary, causal mechanism, or unique syndromes linked to AHIs, IC agencies assess those symptoms reported by U.S. personnel probably were the result of factors that did not involve a foreign adversary. These findings do not call into question the very real experiences and symptoms that our colleagues and their family members have reported. We continue to prioritize our work on such incidents, allocating resources and expertise across the government, pursuing multiple lines of inquiry and seeking information to fill the gaps we have identified."

White House:

"At the start of the Biden-Harris Administration and again following the 2023 Intelligence Community assessment, the White House has directed departments and agencies across the federal government to prioritize investigations into the cause of AHIs and to examine reports thoroughly; to ensure that U.S. Government personnel and their families who report AHIs receive the support and timely access to medical care that they need; and to take reports of AHIs seriously and treat personnel with respect and compassion. The Biden-Harris administration continues to emphasize the importance of prioritizing efforts to comprehensively examine the effects and potential causes of AHIs."

"The issue of Anomalous Health Incidents is a top priority for the FBI, as the protection, health and well-being of our employees and colleagues across the federal government is paramount. We will continue to work alongside our partners in the intelligence community as part of the interagency effort to determine how we can best protect our personnel. The FBI takes all U.S. government personnel who report symptoms seriously. In keeping with this practice, the FBI has messaged its workforce on how to respond if they experience an AHI, how to report an incident, and where they can receive medical evaluations for symptoms or persistent effects.

Produced by Oriana Zill de Granados and Michael Rey. Associate producers: Emily Gordon, Kit Ramgopal and Jamie Woods. Broadcast Associate: Michelle Karim. Edited by Michael Mongulla and Joe Schanzer.

• Havana Syndrome

Scott Pelley, one of the most experienced and awarded journalists today, has been reporting stories for "60 Minutes" since 2004. The 2023-24 season is his 20th on the broadcast. Scott has won half of all major awards earned by "60 Minutes" during his tenure at the venerable CBS newsmagazine.

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Multiple women online say they were punched while walking around New York City

Several women have come forward on social media sharing incidents in which they said they were punched by men while they walking the streets of downtown Manhattan in broad daylight in the last month.

Multiple videos — which were uploaded to TikTok — have picked up traction in the last week, with women online sharing their safety concerns in comments and reply videos. One woman said she was assaulted walking home from class. Another said she was assaulted on her way to work. A third woman said she was attacked walking her dog. At least two of the women described suspects with similar characteristics. 

New York police said they made an arrest in one of the incidents and are investigating another. While police wouldn’t confirm that the incidents described in the TikTok videos are those they are investigating, they shared that they’re looking into cases that are very similar to accounts posted on social media.  

Officials said it’s unclear whether the two incidents they are investigating are connected. 

The videos have circulated amid widespread perceptions in the U.S. that crime is rising, despite recent FBI data that suggests it decreased last year . 

Concerns over public safety have continued to loom in New York City. A series of recent high-profile crimes in the subway system prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to send National Guard members to some of the busiest stations.

In February, police reported a decrease in shootings, murders and other crimes, like grand larceny, as opposed to February of last year. However, there was a 3.6% uptick in felony assault, with 1,968 incidents reported to police last month. According to crime statistics for this past week , misdemeanor assault is up 10.3% from this time last year, and it has gone up 15.7% in the past two years. 

A police spokesperson declined to answer any additional questions about the recent assault incidents, including whether they represent an uptick in violent crime against women in the city or whether the police department is taking any additional measures to ensure their safety.

Sarah Harvard, 30, was among the women who shared her experience online after she saw other women post videos. 

Harvard, who posted Tuesday on X , said she was walking to her comedy gig on the Lower East Side when she was punched in the back of the head near the Delancey Street and Essex Street station the evening of March 19. 

“I was not on my phone. I was walking somewhere, and I got attacked from behind,” she told NBC News. “So it’s really violating that I didn’t see it coming and there was nothing I could’ve done, really, to prevent it from happening.”

She described experiencing a “spiky pain, throbbing feeling” in her head as she was walking home after the incident. The rest of the night, she said, she had nausea, headaches, dizziness and blurry vision.

Harvard said she initially didn’t go to the police because she thought that it was an isolated incident and that officials might brush it off. Since she learned that more women have come forward online to say they’ve been assaulted, she said, she plans to file a police report. 

Since the attack, Harvard said, she is struggling with feeling unsafe in the city she calls home.

“What’s really unbearable is that general never-ending feeling now of feeling unsafe and feeling constantly alert, constantly looking over my shoulder,” she said. “This anxiety is manifesting physically, too. I slept last night for two hours; the night before, I slept for four hours. I’m having trouble breathing, and my chest is getting really tight.”

In their TikTok videos, women have echoed similar sentiments describing their interactions with their alleged assailants. 

A woman said she was walking out of the Times Square subway station on Saturday when a man came up to her and punched her in the head.

The woman said she was able to capture video of the man, as he was walking away. Police said the 25-year-old woman was attacked on 7th Avenue and West 42 Street. Police publicized in a poster how the suspect was wanted for assault.

The woman said on TikTok the "traumatic" experience will stick with her the "rest of my life."

"We are always cautious about walking at night, now we have to be cautious about walking in broad daylight," she said.

Mikayla Toninato, a Parsons fashion design student, also shared a TikTok video saying she was punched in the face while leaving class in Manhattan as she was looking down at her phone and texting.

“Out of nowhere this man just came up and hit me in the face," she said in the clip, with a bruise visible under one of her eyes.

“He hit me right on my cheekbone. This doesn’t hurt as bad as the concussion does,” she said in an interview aired Thursday on NBC's "TODAY" show.

Dealing with the aftermath has also been emotionally taxing.

"It’s been really really hard," she said. "I think it hits me in waves. A lot of crying because it’s been really scary."

Another woman said she was walking Monday when a man punched her in the face, causing a big lump to develop on her head.

“You guys, I was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face,” she said tearfully in a TikTok video . “Oh, my God, it hurts so bad. I can’t even talk.”

The woman didn’t say where exactly she was when she was assaulted. NBC News conducted a geolocation of where she was walking in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. 

Police said an incident happened at 10:20 a.m. in the area of West 16th Street and 7th Avenue when “an unknown individual hit her in the head.”

“The victim fell to the ground and suffered injuries to the left side of her face. The victim was treated at a local medical facility,” police said in a report shared with NBC News.

She shared an update to TikTok in which she said she was looking at her phone when a man walking a dog assaulted her.

“There was so much room on the sidewalk, and, like, literally nobody was around, and I guess this man — I don’t know if he punched me or if he elbowed me. I literally passed out,” she said. “So I don’t really remember, but I think he just was really mad that my head was down.”

Skiboky Stora, 40, of Brooklyn, was arrested Wednesday on an assault charge in connection with the incident, police said.

Stora has sought public office in New York since 2021, public records show. He participated in a New York City mayoral debate in 2021. In 2022, he filed a handwritten petition to get on the ballot for New York governor. Last year, records show, Stora ran for the District 9 seat on the New York City Council.

Stora and the suspect wanted in the assault outside the Times Square subway station on Saturday, do not appear to be the same person.

Over a week before the Monday assault, in an area just over a mile south from where that victim was, another woman reported getting punched by a man who apologized before he hit her.

“I literally just got punched by some man on the sidewalk,” the woman said in a TikTok video . “He goes ‘Sorry’ and then punches me in the head.”

Police say an incident happened at around 11:48 a.m. March 17 while a woman was walking her dog in the area of Kenmare and Mulberry streets. 

“No injuries were reported as a result of this incident,” police said in a report.

In an update posted to her TikTok account , the woman addressed questions she received about what she was doing leading up to the assault.

“I wasn’t looking down at my phone,” she said. “I was just literally across the street from my building walking my dog to the dog park. I had seen the man. He was, like, slightly walking toward me, and I didn’t think anything of it. And then he says, ‘Sorry,’ and hits me and was immediately gone.”

She said a woman who witnessed the assault came over to help her. 

Neither of the women who posted on TikTok responded to requests for comment. Several others who also posted videos didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Many women online have since expressed that seeing the videos of other women sharing their alleged experiences have left them feeling uneasy.

“I have never felt so unsafe in the city than I do now,” reality TV personality Melinda Melrose, who was on the show “Too Hot to Handle,” said in a TikTok video . “This is another reason why I packed all my things out of my apartment, put them in storage and I’m moving. I do not got time to end up on the news and become someone’s victim.”

Breaking news reporter

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.s. department of the treasury releases report on managing artificial intelligence-specific cybersecurity risks in the financial sector.

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report on  Managing Artificial Intelligence-Specific Cybersecurity Risks in the Financial Services Sector. The report was written at the direction of Presidential Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) led the development of the report. OCCIP executes the Treasury Department’s Sector Risk Management Agency responsibilities for the financial services sector.

“Artificial intelligence is redefining cybersecurity and fraud in the financial services sector, and the Biden Administration is committed to working with financial institutions to utilize emerging technologies while safeguarding against threats to operational resiliency and financial stability,” said Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang. “Treasury’s AI report builds on our successful public-private partnership for secure cloud adoption and lays out a clear vision for how financial institutions can safely map out their business lines and disrupt rapidly evolving AI-driven fraud.”

In the report, Treasury identifies significant opportunities and challenges that AI presents to the security and resiliency of the financial services sector. The report outlines a series of next steps to address immediate AI-related operational risk, cybersecurity, and fraud challenges: 

• Addressing the growing capability gap. There is a widening gap between large and small financial institutions when it comes to in-house AI systems. Large institutions are developing their own AI systems, while smaller institutions may be unable to do so because they lack the internal data resources required to train large models. Additionally, financial institutions that have already migrated to the cloud may have an advantage when it comes to leveraging AI systems in a safe and secure manner.
• Narrowing the fraud data divide.  As more firms deploy AI, a gap exists in the data available to financial institutions for training models. This gap is significant in the area of fraud prevention, where there is insufficient data sharing among firms. As financial institutions work with their internal data to develop these models, large institutions hold a significant advantage because they have far more historical data. Smaller institutions generally lack sufficient internal data and expertise to build their own anti-fraud AI models.
• Regulatory coordination.  Financial institutions and regulators are collaborating on how best to resolve oversight concerns together in a rapidly changing AI environment. However, there are concerns about regulatory fragmentation, as different financial-sector regulators at the state and federal levels, and internationally, consider regulations for AI.
• Expanding the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.  The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework could be expanded and tailored to include more applicable content on AI governance and risk management related to the financial services sector.
• Best practices for data supply chain mapping and “nutrition labels.”  Rapid advancements in generative AI have exposed the importance of carefully monitoring data supply chains to ensure that models are using accurate and reliable data, and that privacy and safety are considered. In addition, financial institutions should know where their data is and how it is being used. The financial sector would benefit from the development of best practices for data supply chain mapping. Additionally, the sector would benefit from a standardized description, similar to the food “nutrition label,” for vendor-provided AI systems and data providers. These “nutrition labels” would clearly identify what data was used to train the model, where the data originated, and how any data submitted to the model is being used.
• Explainability for black box AI solutions.  Explainability of advanced machine learning models, particularly generative AI, continues to be a challenge for many financial institutions. The sector would benefit from additional research and development on explainability solutions for black-box systems like generative AI, considering the data used to train the models and the outputs and robust testing and auditing of these models. In the absence of these solutions, the financial sector should adopt best practices for using generative AI systems that lack explainability.
• Gaps in human capital.  The rapid pace of AI development has exposed a substantial AI workforce talent gap for those skilled in both creating and maintaining AI models and AI users. A set of best practices for less-skilled practitioners on how to use AI systems safely would help manage this talent gap. In addition, a technical competency gap exists in teams managing AI risks, such as in legal and compliance fields. Role-specific AI training for employees outside of information technology can help educate these critical teams.
• A need for a common AI lexicon.  There is a lack of consistency across the sector in defining what “artificial intelligence” is. Financial institutions, regulators, and consumers would all benefit greatly from a common AI-specific lexicon.
• Untangling digital identity solutions.  Robust digital identity solutions can help financial institutions combat fraud and strengthen cybersecurity. However, these solutions differ in their technology, governance, and security, and offer varying levels of assurance. An emerging set of international, industry, and national digital identity technical standards is underway.
• International coordination.  The path forward for regulation of AI in financial services remains an open question internationally. Treasury will continue to engage with foreign counterparts on the risks and benefits of AI in financial services.

As part of Treasury’s research for this report, Treasury conducted in-depth interviews with 42 financial services sector and technology related companies. Financial firms of all sizes, from global systemically important financial institutions to local banks and credit unions, provided input on how AI is used within their organizations. Additional stakeholders included major technology companies and data providers, financial sector trade associations, cybersecurity and anti-fraud service providers, and regulatory agencies. Treasury’s report provides an extensive overview of current AI use cases for cybersecurity and fraud prevention, as well as best practices and recommendations for AI use and adoption. The report does not impose any requirements and does not endorse or discourage the use of AI within the financial sector. 

In the coming months, Treasury will work with the private sector, other federal agencies, federal and state financial sector regulators, and international partners on key initiatives to address the challenges surrounding AI in the financial sector. While this report focuses on operational risk, cybersecurity, and fraud issues, Treasury will continue to examine a range of AI-related matters, including the impact of AI on consumers and marginalized communities.

Read Treasury’s AI Report here.

Massive crane arrives to clean up Baltimore bridge collapse

A floating crane that officials said was one of the largest on the East Coast arrived at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore on Friday, part of a large flotilla being assembled to clear debris that has crippled one of the nation’s largest ports and spread economic pain.

The Chesapeake 1000, which can lift 1,000 tons, will play a featured role in the cleanup from the disaster , but Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Friday it will be joined by 10 other cranes, 10 tugs, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats that will arrive over the next several days.

But even as officials raced to restore access to the Port of Baltimore, which generates thousands of jobs and handles tens of billions of dollars worth of cargo each year, the Chesapeake 1000 sat idle Friday, underscoring the complexity, length and danger of the operation.

Officials said they couldn’t move forward with clearing debris until they had finished a careful assessment of the scene, where massive trusses sit twisted in 50-foot water and a large section of the Key Bridge is draped precariously across the bow of the cargo ship that struck it Tuesday.

Baltimore bridge collapse

The assessment included divers below the surface of the Patapsco River, survey boats and an FBI helicopter, which buzzed over the 985-foot Dali container vessel collecting images that would be used to figure out how to carefully and safely remove the steel and concrete.

Moore once again declined to offer a timeline to recover from the disaster, as he and other officials have repeatedly done in the days after the disaster.

“It is not going to be days or weeks or months,” he said. “This is going to take time.”

He and other state and federal officials spoke at a windswept news conference near the towering Chesapeake 1000 at Tradepoint Atlantic, a deepwater port that is the only shipping site still accessible by water in the Port of Baltimore. Officials said they hope to tap it more extensively while the rest of the port remains inaccessible.

During the update, an official from the Environmental Protection Agency addressed one of the most pressing concerns about the Dali: its 764 tons of hazardous materials that remain onboard. Earlier in the week, an official from the National Transportation Safety Board said some of the 56 cargo containers containing corrosives, flammable liquids and lithium ion batteries had broken open, and she had noticed a sheen on the Patapsco.

Adam Ortiz, the EPA’s Mid-Atlantic regional administrator, said testing of the water did not show major issues.

“At this time, there is no indication of active releases from the vessel nor is there presence of materials that are hazardous to human health in the water,” Ortiz said.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said at the news conference the recovery will move forward in three phases — clearing the channel so the port can resume some shipping, freeing the Dali and moving it, and finally clearing the remaining debris from the river and its bed.

Gilreath said that includes breaking “the bridge up into right-size pieces that we can lift.” Moore said the section of the Key Bridge resting on the Dali weighs between 3,000 and 4,000 tons , illustrating the challenge that lies ahead.

Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. of the Maryland State Police said divers are on standby to recover the bodies of bridge workers who were lost in the Patapsco River once conditions permit and the cleanup reaches the right point. Two of the six workers have been recovered. Officials said Wednesday night they had discovered what appeared to be a large vehicle stuck in the wreckage of the bridge at the bottom of the Patapsco.

Meanwhile, President Biden told reporters Friday that he plans to visit Baltimore next week with Moore.

Andrew Middleton, the director of a Christian ministry in Dundalk, Md., said he had been in touch with crew members aboard the Dali on Friday morning. The 21-member crew, most of whom are Indian, will remain on the ship.

Middleton said Friday that the crew requested WiFi and new SIM cards to communicate with family back home. The ministry director said he knows the crew has a TV on board but was trying to figure out whether they had access to live local programming.

Middleton said he is coordinating with other ministries and local companies to get WiFi, SIM cards and antennae to the crew members. He expected the first delivery to go out Saturday.

After federal officials allocated $60 million in emergency funding for bridge recovery Thursday, former Maryland governor and current Republican U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan said in an interview with Fox News that he would “push” his party to fully fund the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“I’m going to push them as hard as I can,” he said. “I already called a couple of Republican Senate leaders. I started working them.”

Emily Davies contributed to this report.

How it happened: Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a cargo ship . The container ship lost power shortly before hitting the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said. Video shows the bridge collapse in under 40 seconds.

Victims: Divers have recovered the bodies of two construction workers , officials said. They were fathers, husbands and hard workers . A mayday call from the ship prompted first responders to shut down traffic on the four-lane bridge, saving lives.

Economic impact: The collapse of the bridge severed ocean links to the Port of Baltimore, which provides about 20,000 jobs to the area . See how the collapse will disrupt the supply of cars, coal and other goods .

Rebuilding: The bridge, built in the 1970s , will probably take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild , experts said.