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Safety Feature Could Have Prevented Crash; U.S. Considers Surveillance in South China Sea. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 14, 2015 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:29:42] CAROL COSTELL, CNN ANCHOR: A long-time family friend of the pilot of the missing U.S. marine helicopter is speaking out this morning. He says Capt. Chris Norgren always knew he wanted to be a pilot for the marines. Norgren has degrees in both aerospace engineering and mathematics.

The friend, Mark Bell, said if there's anyone who can get this crew safely on the ground, it's Captain Norgren.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK BELL, FRIEND OF MISSING PILOT: From day one he had what it took. He had the passion and the kids love him. He's great guy with a lot of passion. Always had a lot of passion in everything he's done. And he was doing what he loved most, and that's being a pilot for the marines.

I'd say a prayer real quick and hope that everything is ok. It's hard. But if anybody can do it, Chris can land that helicopter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Norgren's father says his son deployed to Nepal after the first earthquake hit there on April 25th. He says his son sent his mother flowers from Nepal on Mother's Day.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the wreckage of that deadly train crash and the cold reality that it could have been prevented with a safety feature that will soon become mandatory.

We'll step inside a simulator to show you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In Philadelphia investigators are trying to determine whether the deadly Amtrak crash was caused by human error, mechanical problems or both. Regardless, safety officials say an automated system could have prevented the crash. Here is what one NTSB official told us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT SUMWALT, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Well, we at the NTSB have long advocated and called for positive train control. And positive train control, which is required by law to be implemented by the end of this year. Positive train control is designed to prevent the very type of an accident that we're dealing with here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:05] COSTELLO: So what exactly is positive train control? CNN's Paul Vercammen takes us inside a train simulator to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF LUSTGARTEN, METROLINK SPOKESPERSON: The engineer still operates the train. What PTC does is provides an extra layer of protection in order to make sure that the engineer is doing what he or she should do to safely operate the train.

As you can see on the monitor here, the little white dot here represents the train itself. This represents the warning distance when we come up on an area where it actually needs to be taken. The red line represents braking distance that's needed to properly brake the train safely.

You'll see this means we're going up hill. And you'll see this area is a restricted zone which has a restricted speed which will be coming up on shortly. You'll be able to see in just a moment that if we don't take the proper action as the engineer, the PTC system will take over and safely shut that train down.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After that Chatsworth crash in 2008, in which 25 people were killed, you became very aggressive about implementing this cutting edge technology.

LUSTGARTEN: We did. We've been working very hard at implementing PTC for the last four years. It's about $260 million of investment in the system. It involves equipment on our trains, on the right-of-way, communications towers. It's a very elaborate system but one that we think is incredibly important and will ultimately save lives.

VERCAMMEN: So you're that engineer, you're coming into a curve it seems like a little bit hot. What is it telling you?

LUSTGARTEN: So right now my train speed is 62 miles an hour. We're going to momentarily be coming into a zone that's going to ask, it's going to give me a warning saying you need to brake and reduce your speed. It will give me a certain time limit to do it. So now I'll be getting the warning. Now it's saying I have 29 seconds to bring my speed down. If I don't do it, bring my speed down to 20 miles an hour, the PTC system will take over.

Then what happens is the engineer no longer controls the train at that point. The PTC system controls the train and brings it to a complete and safe stop. The dispatching center is notified that there has been a PTC action that's occurred. The engineer will need to have clearance from dispatch in order to restart that train safely.

Here we are, we're about to hit that restricted speed zone. I'm still running hot. And as you can see the PTC system has taken and my train is being shut down safely. VERCAMMEN: There you have it, the train completely shut down.

All part of the PTC technology aimed at preventing crashes by taking engineer error out of the equation.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So safety obviously a top concern because millions of people rely on trains each year. In fact, more than 31 million people rode Amtrak in 2013. Everyday about 2000 trains run along the northeast corridor. That's the busiest stretch of rail in North America.

Here is a sobering fact, though. Amtrak lost a staggering $227 million last year. So there's a question hanging in the air out there, why not just dump Amtrak, sell it to a private company and call it a day.

Let's talk about that now with Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat from Maryland. Good morning, sir.

REP. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER (D), MARYLAND: Good to be here, Carol.

COSTELLO: So why not just dump it, get rid of the government subsidies and sell Amtrak to a private company.

RUPPERSBERGER: Well, I think part of the problem with Amtrak and the cuts last year, $250 million this year. Amtrak would make money if they could just be operating on the East Coast. But Amtrak has the whole country and there are a lot of places, rural areas where members of congress don't want to stop Amtrak.

But more importantly I think what we're really talking about here with respect to this horrible accident and it's so sad for the families -- and I also want to give a shout out to the first responders who did an excellent job once this occurred. But we have this bill called sequestration, which means everything is cut across the board.

This is hurting our country and everything that we do. It's not the way to run a country. And as an example when you cut everything across the board, then you make everything weak. Budgeting is about priorities. Sure we have to deal with a spending level. So until we deal and repeal this law, our country is going to be weaker.

We're competing with Russia, with China. We have all sorts of issues in our military with ISIS and other areas like that. So my proposal, I'm calling out to the President of the United States, the leadership on the senate and the house, our leadership senate and house Republican Democrat to sit down and find a plan and a way to repeal this sequestration because it's not right for our country.

We're the best country in the world. We want to stay that way. But you can't keep cutting things across the board. You can't not spend money to take care of things such as transportation because you're putting our people at risk -- eventually we're going to have more incidents like that.

We had it in Washington, D.C. Ramada (ph), in the system there, now we're having it here.

[10:40:03] COSTELLO: Well, let me throw this by you.

RUPPERSBERGER: Sure.

COSTELLO: So Amtrak is dealing with $52 million in infrastructure problems.

RUPPERSBERGER: Right.

COSTELLO: I mean would a private company assume that debt and say, sure, we'll take Amtrak, a company that lost more $200 million last year. That's not going to happen, right?

RUPPERBERGER: I agree. But look, we have to study that and then come out with what we think is the best system. But you can't keep cutting your way out of issues when it comes to infrastructure.

By the way, if you fix infrastructure it creates jobs, too. I think it's something that has to be on the table. The way I see it in my analysis, I'm an appropriator and I specialize on the intelligence committee so I specialize in more national security.

But when I looked at this issue myself, it's more about the facts that there's tremendous demand on the East Coast and probably West Coast. But in the more rural areas that cost a lot of money to maintain that. So we have to look at that whether or not there will be an issue of restructuring at Amtrak.

But people use it. If you want to deal with the traffic issue you have to have more in the area of rail. People need to have confidence in rail that when they pay their ticket. I use from Baltimore to Washington -- I live north of Baltimore, I use it occasionally. And when you get on and pay your money, you want to make sure that you're safe.

COSTELLO: Absolutely.

RUPPERSBERG: And this thing -- I know the National Transportation Safety Board is looking at this. It appears as if it's probably pilot error -- pilot error, the engineer's error. However, you heard the testimony. You started your program by saying that there's technology out there that should be implemented that they can't implement to slow these trains down on a curve because of money.

COSTELLO: And I want to ask you specifically about that. This positive train control. Supposedly that system was supposed to be in every single Amtrak train by the end of this year but that's not likely to happen because funding keeps getting cut. It's a very expensive system.

RUPPERSBERGER: That is the issue of sequestration. But budgeting is about picking your priorities. Transportation is a priority. Getting people to and from work or wherever they are going to go. We have to make that a priority. We have to deal with spending, there's no question.

But it's about picking what our priorities are. Our priorities you know, helping children, education. We have to have a national security system that protects our citizens. We have to make sure we protect our streets. We just had a terrible incident in Baltimore. We have to deal with that issue from top to bottom, dealing with kids as they start out growing up in conditions like that so we don't have these types of unrest in our different urban areas. That's priority.

Yes, go ahead.

COSTELLO: Here is how it sort of looks. You know we're having problems with the post office, too, but that's not being fixed. It's just kind of lingering out there. That seems like what's been happening with Amtrak for years and years. It's just going to linger until like maybe it will disappear. I don't know. Why can't lawmakers sit down and work this out?

RUPPERSBERGER: Well, a lot of us have been trying. Unfortunately there hasn't been a lot of cooperation in the last couple of terms. Hopefully that will get better.

Again, I want to get back to the issue of budgeting. I used to be a county executive where we had over 800,000 people. I did a budget every year. We couldn't have everything they wanted but you pick your priorities. It seems to me transportation clearly a priority.

You talk about the post office, people have relied on that years ago -- years ago. Now we have to make that a priority and we have to oversee it and manage it. That's part of what a job is of a mayor, county executive, that president, governors -- that's what they do. It's a matter of working things out.

Resolving issues and picking priorities has to be done. That's the way our government has run for years. Right now unfortunately the climate in Washington isn't that way. Maybe this negative incident that just occurred will make sure people come together and work these issues out.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, thanks so much.

RUPPERSBERGER: Sure.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:04] COSTELLO: The U.S. is considering sending warships and surveillance to China. The reason: a buildup of Chinese military assets in the South China Sea. Keep an eye on what one U.S. commander calls the great wall of sand. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in

Washington following this story for us. What is the great wall of sand?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, China is basically building islands -- 2,000 acres of islands to this point hundreds of miles off its coast. This is the South China Sea. If you look at the map, it's much closer to the coast of Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines. The Philippines is an ally of the U.S. with a defense treaty. The concern of the U.S. is that these international waters important not just for trade but also for free passage of the Seventh Fleet of the U.S. Navy which has been there for decades and is a key tool for of projecting U.S. power in Asia.

And the real concern now is that you know, these islands have been under dispute for years and years. The U.S. has been concerned about it. They are getting extremely concerned now because they are worried that China is militarizing these islands that it's manufacturing.

You saw in one of these photos, in fact, this one right here, building an airstrip where you can have fighter planes take off and land, putting in radar installations that will track you as ships. And that really from the U.S. perspective is a step too far.

COSTELLO: They are actually building their own islands at sea and then building facilities on top of them even though these are international waters, right?

SCIUTTO: That's right. And keep in mind -- what they were -- they were atolls. They were, you know, coral reefs that might be underwater 24 hours a day, there's a couple of feet below the surface which they dumped a lot of concrete on to make them physical islands which China is claiming for themselves.

I mean picture Russia, for instance -- maybe it isn't a great comparison but building islands in the middle of the Mediterranean, close to a lot of U.S. navy allies in international waters that are key for both trade but also for defense. And, you know, that's just really a step too far for the U.S.

So now you have on the table, Carol, the U.S. considering really severe options here. You have the possibility of flying surveillance flights over these islands which China will not like, the idea of sailing U.S. Navy warships within a few miles of these islands to demonstrate the U.S. considers these international waters.

They are really concerned about the President here. I'll tell you, Southeast Asian countries -- Vietnam, Philippines -- again a close U.S. ally, they are very scared about this; and The U.S. considering taking a real step here. I'll tell you we've got to know China will not like the steps that the U.S. is talking about here -- surveillance flights, navy ships. They have already expressed that.

You've had the U.S. -- the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. saying that very publicly. But the U.S. is not backing off. This is a real potential for a real standoff.

COSTELLO: Wow. Jim Sciutto -- many thanks to you. I appreciate it. I'll be right back.

[10:49:58] SCIUTTO: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: May I say I love the Canadian reporter you're about to meet. Crashing a reporter's live shot has become a trend. It's a kind of a weird mix of sexism and profanity and absolutely grossness on live television.

Here is Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporters are used to being interrupted, but this is down right nasty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's happened to me, I would say, a dozen times.

MOOS: A phrase so dirty some reporter refer to it by initials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time, I had --

MOOS: Sometimes it even happens more than once in the same live shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People having a good time.

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's very unfortunate, Tanya. I'm sorry you had to put up with that.

MOOS: Finally there came a reporter who wouldn't put up with it outside a soccer game in Toronto.

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey.

MOOS: City News reporter Shawna Hunt turned from the offender to other guys she suspected.

SHAWNA HUNT, REPORTER: Were you guys waiting around to see if he could f her in the p live on TV? Is that what you were waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not you.

HUNT: It's a disgusting thing to say. It's degrading to women. You would humiliate me on live television.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not you. You're actually filming this? HUNT: Well, because you know what, I'm sick of this. I get this

every single day 10 times a day by rude guys like you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sick of it.

MOOS: And then this guy made the mistake of chiming in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

MOOS: He even mentioned the vibrator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're lucky there's not a (inaudible) near.

HUNT: If your mom saw you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom would die laughing eventually.

[10:55:11] MOOS: But you know who didn't die laughing, that guy's employer. Ontario's electric provider Hydro One fired Sean Simos (ph) him from his $107,000 a year job saying he violated the company's code of conduct.

Ontario's premier jumped into the fray tweeting "Whether or not it's caught on film, sexual harassment at work is no joke." One guy who still thinks it's a joke is the man who started it by pretending to interrupt reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyway (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is not a sexual assault toward women. It's just something funny because you don't say that on television.

MOOS: He sells it on t-shirt for $22. He's not giving what this City News reporter got the most recent time she heard the phrase yelled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I turned around to my surprise, it was a child I would peg at about between nine and ten years old. I asked for an apology and he actually apologized.

MOOS: That is one sorry expression.

Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not funny. You look like an idiot.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I so agree. You look like an absolute idiot. I just don't understand why that kind of thing is funny.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)