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Deadly Amtrak Derailment; Train Sped Up Before Curve; Missing U.S. Helicopter Found in Nepal; Blues Icon B.B. King Dies. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired May 15, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:14] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Gaining speed as it approached that curve. New information this morning about the deadly Amtrak derailment. When the train's engineer will finally speak about what led up to the tragedy and how available technology may have been able to prevent that crash.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, May 15th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

But we begin this morning we breaking news. The U.S. military helicopter missing since Tuesday in Nepal, that copter has been found high on the steep slopes of a mountain east of Kathmandu. Nepal's defense secretary telling CNN three bodies have been found in the charred wreckage of the helicopter.

Six U.S. Marines were on the American helicopter. They were helping on an aid mission when the pilot radioed about some kind of fuel problem, then contact was lost. CNN's Will Ripley will join us with details in just a few minutes. But again, that helicopter has been found and officials saying there are three bodies in the charred wreckage. We'll bring more to you as we get it.

Now, there is new information on the crash of Amtrak 188. The engineer driving the train has agreed to be interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board. Thirty-two-year-old Brandon Bostian was at the controls when the Washington to New York train derailed in Philadelphia. Eight people killed and more than 200 injured.

NTSB officials hope Bostian can answer some of the many, many remaining questions. Among them, why the train accelerated from 70 to over 100 miles per hour in the moments before the crash?

We are also learning this morning that Amtrak was just months away from installing a safety system that would have prevented the deadly accident.

CNN's Brian Todd is in Philadelphia this morning with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. We have some new details on the investigation of the train derailment

this morning from the NTSB. They say that the engineer of the train, Brandon Bostian, has agreed to be interviewed by NTSB officials. They say that interview will occur sometime in the next few days.

Also, some new data from the train that officials are giving us. They have analyzed the forward facing camera, which was apparently in the locomotive of the train which captured some images of the train up until a few moments before the derailment. That camera also captured a display of the train's speed and what NTSB officials have told us that it shows a gradual build up of speed until just before the end of the recording. And that end of the recording, of course, came just a couple of seconds before the train derailed. It also showed 16 seconds before the end of the recording, the train's speed exceeded 100 miles an hour.

Also, they've done some checks to the signals and controls and track from before this accident. They checked the mechanical records up until the departure of the trip. And NTSB officials say they found no anomalies on those records. They also did a track inspection. They say a geometry vehicle drove over the section of the track before the trip -- the day before this trip and found no anomalies. They also checked some of the signals around the junction of the track. Not all of them, they have checked some of the signals, and so far, they found no anomalies.

We also have some information from my colleague, Rene Marsh, this comes from an Amtrak spokesman, who told her that that system called the positive train control, which defaults and basically kicks in with an automatic system which slows down or stops the train when it's going too fast, that system was in place in the southbound side of the section of the track, but not on the northbound side, which is where the accident occurred.

The reason that positive train control is in place on the southbound side, the spokesperson tells Rene Marsh is because the trains is going from New York south travel at a much greater rate of speed, especially in that section of the track. But it's been a big controversy that that system has not been in place in the northbound section. NTSB officials say if it had been, then this accident would not have occurred -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Brian Todd, thanks for that again. Seventy miles an hour to 106 miles per hour heading into that curve.

Friends and former colleagues of engineer Brandon Bostian are speaking out in his defense. Xavier Bishop worked with him as a flagman until being fired from Amtrak over attendance issues. Bishop describes Bostian as extremely conscientious. He tells CNN's Drew Griffin he never saw Bostian take drink, use his cell phone or drive a train when he wasn't ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Good engineer?

XAVIER BISHOP, FORMER CO-WORKER: Great engineer. I mean, he was on point. If there was something he did not know, he knew who to call to get the information. He did not come off as I know it all, and he knew everything. He knew what he needed to know, and if he wasn't sure about, he wasn't 100 percent, he was going to call and make sure that he got the proper information.

[04:05:06] Because he wasn't going to do anything and, OK, I'm just going to assume something would happen. He was always thorough.

GRIFFIN: You mentioned we all know the speeds. We all know the track. We all know the route. You know that that curve is coming up. You know that you're leaving Philly and you have to go slow for a little while.

What I can't understand then is, how can this guy who you travelled with on these tracks many, many times have gone into this situation so hot?

BISHOP: Again, I mean, that's the million dollar question. To be honest with you, I'm going based on the person that I know. You know, I'm not going to say we can't make mistakes and we don't make mistakes. We're human. We all make mistakes. But, you know, for something like this, I don't know. It just -- there are just not enough pieces of the puzzle for me, like something just doesn't seem right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Amtrak already facing the first in what is likely to be a series of lawsuits. Attorneys for an Amtrak dispatcher filed suit in federal court late Thursday. The suits says Bruce Phillips was riding as a passenger in train 188 when the crash violently hurled him inside the compartment, before slamming him to the floor.

Lawyer Bob Myers tells CNN's Don Lemon his client is hospitalized with a concussion, brain trauma, spinal injuries. Myers accusing Amtrak of gross negligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MYERS, ATTORNEY FOR BRUCE PHILIPS: Anytime a train is operating twice the speed of the restricted speed in that area, this just is not negligence, this is way beyond what any -- any train can be doing at anytime. This is -- this is horrendous, especially you have to remember, the train is going into a curve. So, you are speeding up going into the curve instead of slowing down going into a curve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The death toll from Tuesday's crash climbing to eight now, as crews pulled a body of a man previously identified as missing from the wreckage of the lead car. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter saying that discovery means all 243 people known to be aboard that train have been accounted for.

President Obama offering his prayers for the victims and his thanks to the rescuers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to again express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the Tuesday's terrible train derailment outside of Philadelphia. I want to express my gratitude for the first responders who race to save lives and for the many passengers who despite their own injuries made heroic efforts to get fellow passengers to safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Most of the more than 200 crash victims taken to area hospitals have been released. National correspondent Sunlen Serfaty has more on those still being treated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, two of the patients who have been in critical condition since Tuesday have been downgraded. Their condition has improved. It's leave only six patients now in critical condition suffering from major chest wounds, including punctured lungs and broken ribs.

Citywide, there are still 30 passengers remaining in the six area hospitals. Now, as some starts a long recovery process. We are also hearing the confirmation of lives lost. Eight people have been killed. Seven people identified. Among them, Italian national Giuseppe Piras who was visiting the United States on business, 47- year-old Laura Finamore from New York, and 45-year-old Bob Gildersleeve from Baltimore. His body was found Thursday at the crash site discovered by cadaver dogs -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Sunlen. Thank you for that this morning.

Now, the Amtrak highlights an ongoing fight over federal funding for the rail service. President Obama saying Thursday that we need to invest more government money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Until we know for certain what caused the tragedy, I want to reiterate what I already said, that we are a growing country with a growing economy. We need to invest in the infrastructure that keeps us that way, and not just when something bad happens like a bridge collapse or train derailment, but all the time. That's what great nations do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On Wednesday, a day after the train derailed, the House Appropriations Committee voted to reduce grants to Amtrak by $252 million. It's a drop of 15 percent from the prior year. The committee also defeated an amendment for $825 million to fund the automated positive train control system.

Nine minutes past the hour.

Breaking news: a U.S. marine helicopter that went missing in Nepal earlier this week has been found. Six U.S. Marines on that chopper helping with the earthquake relief efforts when radio contact was lost. A top ranking officer with the Nepal army telling CNN the chopper has been sighted on the steep slope of a mountain east of Kathmandu. The same official saying at least three bodies have been located.

I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley live from Kathmandu.

[04:10:01] And, Will, in the early going of the missing helicopter, there was some optimism, that perhaps because of fuel problems, it safely landed and just needed to be located. It looks as though that is not the case.

What can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very, very difficult news coming out of this headquarters where I am right now. The Nepali army has launched search operations. It was the Nepalese military that spotted this U.S. marine helicopter at about 11,200 feet elevations within the past several hours. This location is 21 miles east of where I'm standing in Kathmandu, in the very remote mountainous area in the Dolakha region, which was hit hard by the earthquake. It's one of the areas the helicopter was delivering humanitarian aid.

We flew over that area yesterday. It is one of the areas where crews have been searching by air and on ground. It was an aerial search that spotted the helicopter. We now know that crews on the ground reached the crash site. The defense secretary here in Nepal is telling us that, again, they found the three bodies and they were burned.

We don't know IDs on bodies. We also don't know the location and the condition of the other remaining crew members. There were eight people on board, six U.S. Marines, two Nepali, so far three bodies have been found.

And they were trying to help -- they were trying to help tens of thousands of people in the region who are badly in need right now of humanitarian aid, food, water and medicine. Their mission was to bring back injured people and bring them back to hospital here in Kathmandu.

It seems from their location they have flown out about 80 miles east and they were trying to head back. There was a radio communication of a fuel problem. We don't know what caused the helicopter to go down, but it appears they were trying to head back towards the airport there, but they didn't make it, Christine. ROMANS: They didn't make it and what was a missing helicopter now

looks as though it is a crashed helicopter. Can you tell us anything else about the marines on board? Do you know where they were stationed or where they were from? Do you know anything more about that helicopter, what kind of helicopter it was? Or obviously, officials might be quiet at this point about where that group was from until they can find out the true nature of the crash and alert their loved ones.

RIPLEY: Well, we believe the helicopter was based in Camp Pendleton in California. According to the postings, the pilot was from Wichita, Kansas. But other than that, there's very little information about the identification of the American crew members, and no information coming out yet from the Nepali military about their two soldiers that they had onboard.

Now that we have learned, now that perhaps the worst fears have been confirmed, that the process now will be to find these people, to see if anybody survived. And if nobody did, to recover their remains and we will start to learn once families have been notified more about the heroes who were on board, who were trying to do what they could to help the people in Nepal who so badly need it.

ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley, thanks for that. We'll check in with you again in another half hour for any developments.

Sad news breaking overnight from Las Vegas. The thrill is gone. Legendary blues artist B.B. King who inspired a generation of musicians has died.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ROMANS: Singer/songwriter, one of the world's great guitar players, not to mention vocalist. King won 15 Grammy awards, including one for lifetime achievement. He was inducted in the rock 'n' roll and Blues Foundation hall of fame. His attorney says King died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas. B.B. King was 89. And up until just very recently, he was performing 100 lives shows a year. The man loved music. And certainly, music lovers love B.B. King.

All right. A new message purportedly from the leader of ISIS calling for new attacks. What he had to say, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:17:08] ROMANS: ISIS trying to prove to the world its leader is alive and well. The terror group releasing a new 34-minute audio reporting. CNN's Arabic speakers say the voice does indeed sound like al Baghdadi. The voice calls on all Muslims to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS or carry out attacks where they live. Recent reports say the terror leader suffered shrapnel wounds and spinal injuries during a coalition airstrike in Iraq.

The Iranians are stirring up trouble in the Persian Gulf. Five of their warships firing on a cargo vessel bearing Singapore's flag. The incident started when the cargo ship was ordered to navigate into Iranian waters. When the crew refused, the Iranians fired on the vessel, but failed to disable it. The cargo ship headed to the shores of the UAE and the Iranian gun boats backed off.

Jurors deciding the fate of convicted Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev about to begin a second full day of deliberations. On Thursday, the panel relayed a question for the judge, a question concerning how to apply the legal concept of aiding and abetting. Tsarnaev faces either life in prison or the death penalty.

A day after appearing to declare for president and back pedaling, Jeb Bush at it again. He has been giving muddled answers of whether with the benefit of hindsight, of course, the Iraq war launched by his brother was a mistake. At an Arizona town hall event, Bush said he would not have done it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: If we're all supposed to answer hypothetical questions, knowing what we know now, what would you have done, I would have not engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Bush, though, says he believes the world is still safer because Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq.

Hillary Clinton telling supporters they can expect to see a more authentic version of herself during the 2016 campaign, meeting Thursday in New York with a group of so-called Hill Starters, donors who've raised at least $27,000 for her. Clinton said she learned from her failed run for presidency in 2008. She plans to find ways to show more of her personal side.

ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos contributed $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years but failed to disclose it in his reporting on the Clintons and their non-profit family foundation. George Stephanopoulos donated $25,000 in each of the past three years. In a statement, he apologized that he should have disclosed the gift to ABC News and is viewers. He said he was giving the money for a deed to fight deforestation and for AIDS research, things that he cares about very, very deeply.

Amtrak just months from installing safety technology that may have been able to prevent the deadly derailment. We'll explain right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:37] ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Welcome back to EARLY START this morning.

The Amtrak engineer who is at controls during that deadly train derailment in Philadelphia, he has now agreed to an interview with federal investigators. They are hoping 32-year-old Brandon Bostian can tell them why he was traveling at speeds topping 100 miles an hour when that train went off the tracks.

The disaster killed eight people, injured more than 200.

We are also learning that Amtrak was months away from installing a new safety system that would have prevented the derailment.

CNN's Tom Foreman with more on that potentially life-saving technology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine, positive train control is about building a matrix of information around trains out there on the tracks.

And it starts with GPS systems, satellites that tell those conductor or the engineer exactly where they are at any given moment. That's augmented by relay stations along the tracks, which pass along switches and crossings and it is all brought together to ground stations which coordinate this information and produce one very clear graphic for the engineer to look at to tells him or her precisely when to start braking to avoid having an accident.

And if the engineer does not respond and does not slow down when necessary, the computer would then take over, that's the positive part of positive train control, and it would slow down or stop the train to avoid an accident.

[04:25:04] This could, in theory, stop a lot of things. A congressional analysis said, if you put this system fully in place, you should have no more major train-to-train collisions, we should basically get rid of accidents where there are switching errors on the tracks, you would not have crews that were working on the train tracks run into by trains. And importantly, you would stop high-speed derailment where a train hit a turn or an overpass too fast for it to handle.

That's would happen because the computer would take over. Now, important to remember, you will only get rid of 2 percent of train derailments or collisions, an important 2 percent because these are the big catastrophic events. But there will be a lot of small events in switching yards and things like that, this whole system, no matter how well it works right now is not designed to stop trains from hitting pedestrians or cars that get on the tracks -- small events that nonetheless take hundreds of lives every year -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Indeed. All right. Tom Foreman, thank you for that this morning.

Our other breaking news this morning. A U.S. military helicopter missing after the earthquake in Nepal has been found and the details are not good. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: A U.S. military helicopter carrying marines missing after Nepal's devastating earthquake has been found. We are live with the details.

Dramatically gaining speed at it approached that curve. Mounting questions this morning into the deadly Amtrak derailment.