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FBI Gets Involved in Amtrak Investigation; Lawsuit Filed Against Amtrak; Legendary Climber Among Dead at Yosemite; Obama Talks Demilitarizing Police. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired May 18, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:26] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: BALDWIN: Coming up, could marks on the locomotive's windshield here hold important clues for the deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia? We'll show you what the FBI is looking at today.

Also, he was a pioneer in the world of extreme sports. Investigators say legendary rock climber, Dean Potter, was among two people who died BASE jumping in Yosemite National Park. I'll talk to someone who climbed with Dean many, many times, knew him very well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:12] BALDWIN: The very first Amtrak train since last week's deadly derailment rolled between Philadelphia and New York today. This happening as the federal investigation into what caused Amtrak 188 to flip, killing eight passengers and injuring more than 200 continues. The FBI is now looking into whether an object hit the train right before it derailed. Specifically, they're examining a mark found on the train's windshield.

Meantime, another lawsuit was filed today against Amtrak on behalf of four wounded passengers.

Let's go to Philadelphia, to Erin McLaughlin, who has been following it.

Let's begin with that lawsuit, Erin. What can you tell me about it?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. That's right. CNN spoke to the attorney filing a mass-action lawsuit on behalf of four injured passengers. It's the first passenger lawsuit we've seen. It alleges the following points. It alleges excessive speed of the train as well as lack of available preventive technology on the tracks. It was filed this morning against Amtrak, and it's seeking compensations for lost wages, medical bills, as well as pain and suffering.

Now, on Friday, the first Amtrak employee filed a lawsuit, seeking damages of $150,000. It's worth noting that currently federal law caps damages from a single train crash to $200 million. Some lawmakers today are looking to change that as well -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: All right. We have to talk about -- I know we have the picture, guys, if we can put it up, of the windshield of this train and the shatter mark here. What is the NTSB, what are investigators revealing could have happened?

MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, we're still waiting to hear from the NTSB on that. We understand that they've called in the FBI to take a look at what they say is a fist-sized circular mark on the left-hand side of the windshield. They think it was there before the crash, but they don't know what caused it. They don't know how it got there. So they're leaning on the FBI for that forensic expertise. At the same time, it appears they're beginning to discount or doubt the account of an assistant conductor that was on Amtrak 188 that night. She told investigators she thought she heard the 32-year-old conductor, Brandon Bastian, tell the dispatcher some sort of object struck the train. She said that happened moments before the crash. But the NTSB says they gone through all the radio transmissions from that evening and they have found nothing to back that up -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: This is an area -- you hear about, what, bottles and rocks occasionally being thrown at trains.

MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely. I spoke to one Philadelphia native who was very familiar with this area. He told me he was not at all surprised. He said that it is a very common occurrence for kids to go out on the tracks and throw rocks on trains.

BALDWIN: Erin McLaughlin, thank you so much in Philadelphia.

Still ahead, this rampage among five different biker gangs leaves nine people dead. We'll talk with someone who went undercover and spent years infiltrating these biker gangs before seeking refuge in the Witness Protection Program. Do not miss this interview. That's straight ahead.

Also coming up next, tragedy at Yosemite. This well-known climber among two people found dead. I'll talk with a close friend who knew them well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:57] BALDWIN: His dream was to fly, pushing the limits of gravity at places around the world. But on Saturday, extreme sports legend, Dean Potter, died while BASE jumping in Yosemite. He and friend, Graham, Hunt were attempting an illegal jump of about 3500 feet. Friends reported the pair missing, and a day later their bodies were found during a helicopter search.

Potter was renowned for his exploits, sometimes even taking his dog, Whisper, along for the ride in a backpack. Last year, Potter and Whisper spoke with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN POTTER, EXTREME SPORTS LEGEND: I've been climbing and wing suit flying and tight-rope walking for the last 27 years. I always like to bring my dog and my best friend with me. So the idea just came from not wanting to leave my dog in the house or car. You know, I want to bring my best friend with me everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're going to talk about Dean with his good friend and climbing guru here, Chongo Chuck, in just a second in Sacramento.

But, Stephanie Elam, to you first.

Tell me more of just what you know happened.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've been spending the morning talking to people who knew both of these men. As you might expect, the people who are involved in these extreme sports or BASE jumping, they're a small-knit community. They all know each other. They're really feeling this today. Wile Dean Potter is definitely the more famous among the two, from what I understand, Graham Hunt, the 29-year-old with him that also died, was also a well-known jumper in the community. People there saying that these two men in this community were just humble men who would give back, give back of their time, speak with the kids, but also really love doing what they did because it fulfilled them. They didn't want to go around and brag about it. This was something they loved to do. Since you also brought up whisper, Brooke, I can tell you that I did confirm that whisper was not with Dean on the day of this jump. I know that he was just seen in Yosemite yesterday. Still, devastating for the people that are part of this community.

And for people who don't know, BASE jumping is basically jumping off a fixed object. You have other people jumping from a plane, BASE jumping is something you do from some place on earth. So BASE is an acronym about that. So this is something that meant a lot for them. It's illegal in Yosemite, but yet many people still went ahead and did it anyway -- Brooke?

[14:45:23] BALDWIN: Stephanie, thank you so much.

And, Chongo, I'm coming to you in a second. I want to talk more about Dean.

But first, I have to go now live to Camden, New Jersey. We need to pause and take a listen to the president of the United States speaking today about the demilitarization of police.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- to just five minutes. And when I was in the center, it was 1.3 minutes right when I was there.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And perhaps most significant is that the police and residents are building trust.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Building trust.

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Now, nobody is suggesting that the job is done. This is still a work in progress. The police chief would be the first one to say it. So would the mayor. Camden and its people still face big challenges, but this city is on to something. You've made real progress in just two years. That's why I'm here today, because I want to focus on the fact that other cities across America can make similar progress.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Everything we've done over the past six years, whether it's rescuing the economy or reforming our schools or retooling our job training programs, has been in pursuit of one goal. And that's creating opportunity for all of us, all our kids. We know that some communities have the odds stacked against them and have had the odds stacked against them for a very long time. In some cases, four decades. You've got rural communities that have chronic poverty. You have manufacturing communities that got hit hard when plants closed and people lost jobs. They're not only cities but also suburbs where jobs can be tough to find and tougher to get to because of development patterns and lack of transportation options. And folks who do work, they're working harder than ever, but sometimes don't feel like they can get ahead. And in some communities, that sense of unfairness and powerlessness has contributed to dysfunction in those communities. Communities are like bodies. If the immunity system is down, they can get sick. And when communities aren't vibrant, where people don't feel a sense of hope and opportunity, then a lot of times that can fuel crime and that can fuel unrest. We've seen it in places like Baltimore and Ferguson and New York. It has many causes from a basic lack of opportunity to some groups feeling unfairly targeted by their police forces. And that means there's no single solution. There have to be a lot of different solutions and different approaches that we try.

So one of the things we did to address these issues was create a task force on the future on community police. This task force was outstanding because it was made up of all the different stakeholders. We had law enforcement. We had community activists. We had young people. They held public meetings across the country. They developed concrete proposals that every community in America can implement to rebuild trust and help law enforcement. The recommendations were released in March. They were finalized today. They include everything from enhanced officer training to improving the use of body cameras and other technologies to make sure that police departments are being smart about crime and that there's enough data for them to be accountable as well. And we're trying to support the great work that's happening at the local level, where cities are already responding to these recommendations.

And before I go further, I just want the members of our task force to stand because they've done some outstanding work and they deserve to be acknowledged.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

[14:49:35] OBAMA: We launched a police data initiative that's helping Camden and other innovative cities use data to strengthen their work and hold themselves accountable by sharing it with the public. Departments might track things like incidents of force so they can identify and handle problems that could otherwise escalate. Here in Camden, officers deal with some 41 different data systems, which means they have to enter the same information multiple times. So today, we've brought a volunteer elite tech team to help. They're going to work with the police department here to troubleshoot some of the technical challenges so it's even easier for police departments to do the things they already want to do in helping to track what's going on in communities and then also helping to make sure that the data is used effectively to identify where are there trouble spots, where are there problems, are there officers that may need additional help, additional training. All that can be obtained in a really effective, efficient way.

Today we're also releasing new policies on the military-style equipment the federal government has in the past provided to state and local law enforcement agencies. We've seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like there's an occupying force as opposed to a force that's part of the community that's protecting them and serving them. It can alienate and intimidate local residents and send the wrong message. So we're going to prohibit some equipment made for the battlefield that is not appropriate for local police departments.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: There is other equipment that may be needed in certain cases but only with proper training. We're going to ensure that other departments have what they need but also that they have the training.

We're doing these things because we're listening to what law enforcement is telling us. The overwhelming majority of police officers are good and honest and fair. They care deeply about their communities. They put their lives on the line every day to keep them safe. Their loved ones wait and worry until they come through the door at the end of their shift. So we should do everything in our power to make sure that they are safe and help them do the job the best they can.

BALDWIN: So on that note -- and you've been listening to the president. The White House announced they will be prohibiting, as the president said, items used in the battlefield will not be used in communities. Let me be specific. They're banning a tracked armored vehicles, bayonets, grenade launchers, ammunition .50 caliber and higher, and some kinds of camouflaged uniforms. This is according to this report released by the White House. By the way, this is all in response to that task force the White House put together in the wake of Ferguson, what happened there last August. That was the task force on 21st century policing, all in an effort of the demilitarization of police forces in our communities. The president speaking there in Camden, New Jersey. When we come back, we'll loop back to where we started just a few

minutes ago. We'll take you back to the tragedy at Yosemite and this well-known climber among two people found dead. We'll talk to a close friend who knew him very well.

Also, this bloody rampage among biker gangs leaves nine people dead in Texas, some 170 people arrested. We have a live report from there coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:04] BALDWIN: We were just talking before the break about extreme sports legend, Dean Potter, who died over the weekend while BASE jumping in Yosemite. He and a friend, Graham Hunt, were attempting, which is illegal, an illegal aerial descent into Yosemite. A day later, their bodies were found during a search.

Joining me now is climbing guru and a dear friend of Dean's, Chongo Chuck.

Chongo, I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend. I was just told that you were in touch with him as recently as a week, a week and a half ago. When you heard this happened -- and you don't BASE jump yourself. But each and every time he went out to BASE jump, were you nervous?

CHARLES "CHONGO CHUCK" TUCKER, CLIMBER: Well, I'm nervous -- I was nervous about him doing it in the first place. It's a very dangerous sport.

BALDWIN: Why do you think he embraced it so?

TUCKER: Because he loved to do things like that. He was a very, very gifted extreme athlete. He was just able to do things that other people didn't seem, or at least in his time, were not able to do. So he just kept on doing them. I don't know. Dean's a very safe climber. All the things he did, he was very, very safe about it. In the early days, there were some close calls, but he thought things out. It's kind of -- I'm actually surprised this happened. I wouldn't have expected this to happen. I don't even know how it could have happened. I'm really surprised because Dean was safe. These sports, you can be safer than people think, but you can make no mistakes at all. No single mistake. That can be the end of everything.

BALDWIN: I mean, I used to cover this one particular BASE jumping event in West Virginia some years ago. As it was explained to me with BASE jumping, you have mere seconds. You only have one parachute. There is no back-up. I imagine that's perhaps part of the thrill, although I'm hearing you say he really was this gifted athlete. So it really wasn't just about the rush for him.

TUCKER: It might have been a lot about the exhilaration of life. If you do exhilarating things, then you are sometimes compelled to continue to do exhilarating things. And that may have been the case with Dean. I don't know. I never could understand why he'd take the chances he did. He'd tell me about the times he nearly -- you know, when things wouldn't have turned out so good. Once in Patagonia, another time when he jumped in the caves in Mexico.