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CNN NEWSROOM
Rail Disruptions Hurting Businesses; Looking for Victims after Train Derailment; Iraq War Creates Programs for Jeb Bush. Search for Missing Helicopter Continues. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired May 14, 2015 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:30] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me.
Racing toward disaster. The Amtrak train barreling around the curve at 106 miles per hour. Why was the train traveling at twice the speed limit before it veered off the tracks?
Few clues from the train's engineer. Thirty-two-year-old Brandon Bostian -- he's in the middle of that photo and the investigation. His attorney says a head injury may have erased vital clues. He doesn't remember anything.
And families in limbo. They're frantically searching for loved ones who have disappeared since the crash.
Let's start, though, with the investigation and the latest insights from the attorney representing that train engineer.
CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in Philadelphia.
Good morning.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. The man who could potentially provide vital clues as to why the train was traveling more than double the speed limit that tragic night, well, he says he does not remember what happened. 32-year-old Brandon Bostian has been an Amtrak engineer for the past five years according to his LinkedIn account. He was responsible for the train's operation. His lawyer Robert Goggin told ABC's "GMA" that he suffered a head injury. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GOGGIN, ATTORNEY FOR BRANDON BOSTIAN: I believe as a result of the concussion, he has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events. I'm told that his memory is likely to return as the concussion symptoms subside.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: But he spent six hours with the police, what did he tell them?
GOGGIN: Everything that he knew. Cooperating fully. STEPHANOPOULOS: And what is -- what does he know? What is the last
thing he remembers?
GOGGIN: He remembers coming into the curve. He remembers attempting to reduce speed thereafter he was knocked out and thrown around just like all the other passengers in that train.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: Goggin says his client voluntarily gave authorities a blood sample as well as his cell phone. We understand that authorities are applying for a search warrant to be able to take a look at his cell phone records. The thinking being that maybe he could have been potentially on the phone at the time of the crash. But Goggin says his client suffered no medical issues and was on no medication that night -- Carol.
COSTELLO: What are investigators doing at the scene now?
MCLAUGHLIN: I want you to take a look at the scene behind me really as the hive of activity. Investigators still hard at work. It appears as though they are trying to clear the site. Just to over that way is the end of the train. Yesterday we saw two cars here. And today there was only one you can see they moved heavy equipment in the area. We understand from the NTSB that they're taking the cars to a secure location off site.
They are still very much trying to analyze the tracks, the signals. You can see over there some men actually looking like they're testing the tracks. One of the priorities is not only to figure out what happened but also to get this corridor up and operating again. It is absolutely vital transit area for the northeast.
They're also, as we know, still actively searching for people who could potentially have been thrown from the train. Not everyone who was on board that train has been accounted for -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Erin McLaughlin reporting live from Philadelphia this morning. Thank you.
Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is the busiest passenger rail line in the country. Normally carrying 750,000 passengers. It costs the economy $100 million a day. But as the boards at New York's Penn Station show there was a long list of cancellations again. People are relying on buses and planes to get them to their destinations between New York and Washington. Disruptions are hurting businesses that rely on this service.
Let's talk more about that with Brian Stelter.
Good morning.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This has interested me, Carol, because as you know, as we both know, media executives, business titans, politicians, really rely on this train corridor. It is the most popular sort of way to get back and forth between New York and Washington. Frequent travelers, you know, play a game about whether it's better to fly or take the train. And it's usually better to take the train. But they're having to resort to other options now all this week. And there's no clear answer about when train service will be restored.
We see the map there and it's as if there's been a giant hole cut in the middle of this artery in Philadelphia. You know, like you mentioned, people can be taking planes, they can be driving but the fact that Amtrak has said very little about when the rail service will be able to be restored -- create an increasing frustration.
[10:05:06] You know, at Penn Station this morning, I spent the morning there. And it was weirdly empty, you know, weirdly quiet because people don't really have an option right now.
COSTELLO: I think it's difficult for people to understand who live in other parts of the country, who never take an Amtrak.
STELTER: Yes.
COSTELLO: How vital Amtrak is to the Northeast Corridor.
STELTER: You know, four times as many people rely on the Northeast Corridor trains as they do for the next biggest rail line in the United States. It's four times busier. And that goes to show that this is a unique part of the country when it comes to rail. And yet there is not backup. You know, there isn't a second line that these trains, all these Acela and Northeast Regional trains getting moved onto.
People have been talking a lot about infrastructure in the last 48 hours, and the last 36 hours. Well, you know, regardless of whether the infrastructure was up to date in that particular area, there isn't a second or third line to put these rail lines onto. There are three airports in New York. There are three airports in D.C. But there isn't another way for people to get up and down on the trains.
COSTELLO: And of course the government subsidizes Amtrak, everybody knows that. And there's a question now that maybe the government should get out of the railroad business. And I'm going to discuss that a little later in the NEWSROOM. But it's something that's hanging in the air every time you talk about this.
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: Meanwhile, Amtrak has said nothing since last night about when they'll be able to restore service of. As these days go on, it becomes a bigger headache for people traveling, whether they can even know if they can make plans for next week at this point.
COSTELLO: Brian Stelter, many thanks to you. I appreciate it.
STELTER: Thanks.
COSTELLO: While investigators trying to find out what went so horribly wrong, survivors are left trying to understand and somehow cope with what's happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were going through a curve and whatever speed it was going at pushed it out and pushed it up. And we just flew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything was going fine. And all of a sudden for about two seconds our car started to shake. And before we knew it, we were all flung up against the window.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were upside down and sliding and people were screaming. And it was incredibly awful. Just -- they're not supposed to go upside down. When it fell there was yelling like, no, like oh, like -- and then it was really, really quiet. It's just like all the noise stopped and it was real quiet. And then people realized they were really hurt and it was pandemonium.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In that moment when I was like kind of tumbling, I mean I really thought this might be the -- then you know there's no way to know, like in the darkness. I mean so -- I mean, you just being able to taste (INAUDIBLE) was lovely because you knew that you're alive and OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Many of the injured passengers still remain in the hospital. Even worse investigators have not ruled out that there may be more victims at that crash site. Mayor Michael Nutter says it's possible some travelers could have been ejected. The NTSB says it's also possible that some passengers may have left the site before checking officials leaving them unaccounted for.
Joining us now to discuss this is Sean (INAUDIBLE). He's the vice president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.
Thank you so much for being with us. I appreciate it.
SEAN JEANS-GAIL, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: I think that a lot of people are wondering, why can't Amtrak account for everybody who was on board that train.
JEANS-GAIL: Well, you know, it's a very complex corridor. There's a lot of intermediate stops. And people come off, they get on, it's really one of the more complex rail corridors in -- not just the U.S. but the western hemisphere. One of the values of the corridor is not just the fact that it connects New York City to Washington, D.C. but all these intermediate cities. So it's going to be very complicated.
Amtrak has taken steps by introducing electronic ticketing, which I think a lot of people are familiar with if they've taken a commercial air flight, and that's going to help them. Ten years ago they probably would have been dealing with paper tickets, paper manifests. But again, it's -- there's a lot of different factors to take into account for. COSTELLO: Absolutely. But you know, sadly I was talking to one of
Rachel Jacobs' best friends and her family was frantically trying to find out what happened to her. We've come to find out that Rachel Jacobs died aboard that train. Her name wasn't listed like on a typical passenger ticket so it should Amtrak a little while to find it. That has to be frustrating, though, for families at this particular time.
JEANS-GAIL: You know exactly. And the National Association of Railroad Passengers has 28,000 members. And we are all united by this tragedy and we are united in the sense of disappointment because none of this had to happen. We can look at other countries and see that they have safety records that are unparalleled. Japan has been operating the high-speed rail system for 50 years and there's been not a single fatality for a passenger, from a collision or a derailment.
[10:10:06] So, you know, our members are asking why did this have to happen, and they're looking to Congress to provide a solution so it does not happen again.
COSTELLO: Well, some members of Congress say that they should get out of the railroad business all together and let private industry take it over. Is that the answer?
JEANS-GAIL: Well, you know, here is what we know. This corridor is indispensable to the region. And frankly there's trains all over the country that are indispensable to the towns they serve but the Northeast Corridor certainly is in a class all its own. In the past Congress has tried to say we want to solicit bids from private operators, to comment and take over Amtrak and there hasn't been any interest.
And the reason there has not been an interest is there is a $52 billion state of the repair backlog. It's maintenance. It's not building a new fancy high-speed rail line, it's just bringing what we have into state of good repair. And the private sector is not going to take that $52 billion debt onto their balance sheets. So you know, if we can address the infrastructure issues we can move to a model seen in other countries where you have private operators come and build. But, you know, for House appropriators to refuse to connect the dots between basic infrastructure maintenance and safety and efficiency is irresponsible.
COSTELLO: Sean Jeans-Gail, thank you so much for your insight. I appreciate it.
JEANS-GAIL: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Whatever the cause of the derailment the toll in terms of human lives is gut wrenching. At least seven people died, several of them heading home to their families. Now we're seeing the faces of the victims and hearing from their loved ones.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO (voice-over): A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman, a Wells Fargo Executive, an Associated Press video software architect, a chief executive of a small tech company, a college dean. They are among those killed in a violent derailment of an Amtrak train outside of Philadelphia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a loving son, nephew and cousin, who was very community minded. This tragedy has shocked us all in the worst way.
COSTELLO: Twenty-year-old Justin Zemser from Rockaway Beach, Queens, was a sophomore at the U.S. Naval Academy. The team captain of his high school football team, a valedictorian. Those who knew him called him a great kid, a genius.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Simply put, he was the best person I know. He made me better, we made each other better.
COSTELLO: Software architect Jim Gaines worked for the Associated Press and once won the Geek of the Month Award. His wife released a statement saying, "Jim is more precious to us than we can adequately express." He leaves behind two children.
Wells Fargo executive Abid Gilani, a married father of two, split his time between New York and the D.C. area. His wife says she'll miss his kind spirit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a kind family man and we have suffered a tremendous loss today. He'll be sorely missed. And he was really a wonderful person.
COSTELLO: Rachel Jacobs was chief executive of a small tech company AprenNet. Her family says this was an unthinkable tragedy. She was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, wife and friend. Rachel is survived by her husband and her 2-year-old son.
Dr. Derrick Griffith was dean of Student Affairs at City University of New York Medgar Evers College. He just earned his doctorate in philosophy last month.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[10:17:41] COSTELLO: Damage control does not appear to be Jeb Bush's strong suit. Three days, three different answers on the Iraq war. On Monday the governor angered many conservatives by saying he would have invaded Iraq. On Tuesday he backtracked essentially saying he didn't know. And yesterday in a town hall in Reno, Nevada, he said it would do a disservice to the troops to give a definitive answer. And then at that same event, this confrontation with a college student.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was when 30,000 individuals who were part of the Iraqi military. They were forced out. They had no employment. They had no income. Yet they were left with access to the same arms and weapons. Your brother created ISIS.
