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Focus of Amtrak Crash Shifts to Train Engineer; Who Were the Victims of the Amtrak Derailment?; Amtrak Crash Affects Nation's Busiest Railroad; Obama Hosts Persian Gulf Summit. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We have complete coverage of this story. Here's what we know so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, (D) PHILADELPHIA: No way in the world a regional train should be doing 106 on a curve.

CUOMO (voice-over): Speed, excessive and deadly speed, may be what catapulted hundreds of Amtrak passengers, sending seven train cars and the engine off their tracks Tuesday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were all flung up against the window.

[07:00:00] GABY RUDY, SURVIVED AMTRAK CRASH: There were people catapulted up into the luggage bins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hit by a flying seat.

CUOMO: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter blaming the engineer at the helm, 32-year-old Brandon Bostian.

NUTTER: Clearly, it was reckless.

CUOMO: Nutter responding to speculation that the engineer might have been speeding to make up for lost time.

NUTTER: I'm sure they would not have minded being another 20, 25, 30 minutes late, as opposed to dying unnecessarily in a train wreck.

SUMWALT: You're not going to hear the NTSB making comments like that.

CUOMO: Still conducting their preliminary investigation, the NTSB's taking issue with the mayor's comments, calling them inflammatory. But they do agree Bostian hit the emergency brakes too late.

ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB MEMBER: In the next three seconds, three or four seconds, the speed of the train had only decreased to 102.

CUOMO: This surveillance footage, along with initial examination of the data, reveal the train was traveling at 106 miles an hour, twice the appropriate speed entering the sharp turn.

SUMWALT: He was already in the curve at that point. You're supposed to enter the curve at 50 miles an hour.

CUOMO: Bostian spoke to Philadelphia police the night of the crash. And according to a law enforcement source, told them he couldn't recall his speed. His lawyer says he doesn't even remember the crash itself.

ROBERT GOGGIN, ATTORNEY FOR BRANDON BOSTIAN (via phone): He remembers going through that area generally. Has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual.

CUOMO: Police now in the process of obtaining a search warrant of the engineer's phone records to determine if he was distracted during the time of the crash.

Lawmakers and critics also saying, even if human error is the cause, this crash raises issues about safety systems that still are not in place and could have saved lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: So right now this investigation is dealing with concerns about what we still don't know and what we do know. What we don't know, why was the train going as fast as it was going? Is it as simple as just human error? Or was there equipment failure involved, as well? That's what the NTSB says.

And then there's a concern about what we do know, which is even if human error is the reason behind the crash of Train 188, it still didn't need to happen if safety systems were in place that should be, yet aren't.

So let's get to CNN's government regulations correspondent, Rene Marsh, who's drilling down on these all-important questions -- Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, the NTSB saying very plainly yesterday that they felt strongly that this incident could have been prevented. I want to show you live here this morning. This is the section of track you can see. That people are already out on the tracks starting work here.

And clearly, what the NTSB is saying is that, if there was certain technology in place, known as positive train control, this could have made a difference.

But this section of track that you're looking at was not equipped with this automated speed control system. In plain terms, what the technology does is it uses GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor the train. And when the train is going too fast, it slows down the train, even able to stop the train. We do know that certain sections of the Northeast Corridor does have this safety equipment.

But again, this section did not. Congress has mandated that all the nation's railroads have this technology in place by the end of 2015. So the end of this year. But there has been some push from the railroad industry to extend that deadline, Chris. But again, you said it off the top, 106 miles per hour in a 50-mile-

per-hour zone. What they're trying to figure out right now is what is the reason for that, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Rene, thank you so much for laying out the right questions. Now let's get some answers from somebody who knows how to do the job that is before us. Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation and CNN aviation analyst.

Mary, it's great to have you this morning. Now, first, tell us what are the priorities of the investigation in terms of what they need to know?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, first and foremost, they have to find the facts. It's their job to find out why the train crashed.

And then the second part is the investigation will come a little later where they will make recommendations. It's the NTSB's job to recommend things that need to be changed so this kind of thing cannot happen again.

So they'll have a two-part investigation, first the factual causes: what happened, when and why. And then how do we make sure this doesn't happen again?

CUOMO: So let's address the common sense that hits you in this situation. A hundred and six miles an hour going into a 50-mile-an- hour curve. Engineer screwed up, end of story. What else do you need to know?

SCHIAVO: Well, you need to know why he was doing that and if he was cognizant. In accidents in the past, of course there have been many reasons: use of cell phones, sleep apnea, medication problems, illegal drug problems. We don't know in this case, but I'm saying in crashes passed. So they will have to find that out.

[07:05:06] And if it's problems of, you know, distracted workplace or medical issues, et cetera. They will make recommendations for that. And then, of course, they will also be looking at why this train, when Amtrak had put it on other parts, didn't have the positive train control. The short answer to that is the law says it has to be done by the end of the year, and they still have time to do it.

CUOMO: Well, still have time to do it. There's another short answer, which is they haven't done it; and they were supposed to. It's just about, you know, as we both know as lawyers, just because this is the end of your timeline doesn't mean you didn't have an ability to do it up until now.

SCHIAVO: Right.

CUOMO: So let's address that. Politics is poisoning what you see very clearly. People are saying, no, this is -- this is the engineer. I don't want to hear about infrastructure. I don't want to hear about that. That's not what it's about. It's just about what he did. Sounds naive to some. What do you think?

SCHIAVO: Well, I think it is naive, because we know this has happened before. We have other train crashes where human error has cost human lives. And that's the whole point of positive train control. We want to take some of the human error or all of the human error, eventually, if we could ever get to that point.

But we want to take the human failure out of the system to save the passengers, save the train and save the rail system. And, you know, they're already -- not -- I'm not just saying Amtrak. Railroad lines across the country and their lobbyists have said we're not going to make the 2015 deadline.

And Congress is already talking about letting that go. But Congress does that repeatedly. They pass laws, and they say you're not going to make the deadline. OK, we'll extend them. That's very common in the Department of Transportation, and it's a deadly extension.

But it goes on all the time. Not just in trains, all across the transportation modes.

CUOMO: And that leads us to the next question, which is, oh, you know, they get so much money. And you don't know how it's being spent. And they're not doing what they're supposed to do. The map tells this story. This is where you have this track control and all these spaces where you don't. And why should we just keep throwing money at this problem if they're not spending it the right way? What's your take?

SCHIAVO: Well, my take is your take. You know, that's a problem, because the Office of Inspector General, my old office, does lots of reviews of the expenditure of the federal funds not just on Amtrak but on all sorts of transportation modes.

And Amtrak has had problems. They've had problems with fraud, waste and abuse. They've had problems with how they have spent their money and on management on the money they've been given.

And remember, this is federal subsidy of a train that provides riders on one small part of the country. And so there's a big issue on how much should each passenger's ticket be subsidized by the federal government? And that's a huge issue. That debate goes on almost every year when it's time for the appropriations budget for transportation and for Amtrak. And that's a real issue.

But other modes of transportation are subsidized, too, of course. And all subway and light rail and metro systems are subsidized. So it's an issue. But the point is at what point is the subsidy too great?

CUOMO: Right. Now, I just want to address this one more time and kind of cement it for people. Because infrastructure has become a political buzzword. And people want to run away from it on the right, because it seems to equate with more money.

Yesterday very early on, I was leaning on what I was told by investigators at the scene, where they said, "Whatever we find that this engineer was doing," because speed was obvious because of how the cars were mangled, that they were going to look on that, they say, "It doesn't matter because if we had the track control here this wouldn't have happened. You have to get that message out."

So I was early on it, and I was getting attacked by political types, who were saying, "No, no, no, that's about money."

Just be clear with people, Mary, even if this engineer screwed up, if you had the safety system in place, would this have happened?

SCHIAVO: No, positive train control would have prevented this crash. There are many that it wouldn't prevent, like a tractor-trailer driving on the tracks. That's not going to stop it in time. It will take eight football fields to stop a train going about 60 miles an hour. Here, you would have needed 10 or 15. So here, positive train control would have prevented this accident, I think without a doubt.

CUOMO: All right. Mary Schiavo, thank you very much.

And for you at home, why am I hammering this point? Why are we doing this? Because politics is poisoning it right now. And we don't want this to happen again. And "we" certainly includes the loved ones, the families of seven people who lost their lives in this train crash.

We know there are still victims missing. Now, why is that? Why are there people unaccounted for? Investigators tell us it's not because people are buried in the rubble at the scene. It's about dealing with the system.

And we also know that there are people still in the hospital with bad injuries. So let's get to Temple Hospital -- Temple University Hospital with the latest -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, as you said, there is still an untold number of passengers who are still unaccounted for. But according to "The Philadelphia Inquirer," they're reporting that 12 people, as many as 12 people, could still be missing, including Robert Gildersleeve. He's a 45-year-old executive and father. His family is still looking for him today.

[07:10:09] And we are starting to know more about the seven people killed. We have confirmation of five of those killed. Among them is 49-year-old Jim Gaines. He was a father of two who worked at the Associated Press. He passed away here at this hospital, at Temple University Hospital of a major chest trauma yesterday.

And Abid Gilani, a Wells Fargo executive from Rockville, Maryland, he was traveling on that Amtrak train en route to New York for work.

Now, here at Temple University, 22 people remain hospitalized, Chris. We heard from a spokeswoman just moments ago at this hospital that one person was released overnight. But Chris, eight here in this hospital remain in critical condition -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Sunlen, so let's stay on that. Because obviously, we want to know how everybody's doing that was impacted in this crash. We'll check back with you.

You also have the practical impact on what happened in Philadelphia. These tracks behind us being twisted into ribbons. This is one of the nation's busiest railroad sections. It's called the Northeast Corridor. Millions are using it between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.

So we have CNN's Brian Stelter at New York's Penn Station with that part of the story. What's going to be the deal today?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: More of the same, Chris. As it stands right now, you can see on the board behind me "Canceled, Canceled," and a few trains on time. That's because there are some local trains that are able to get as far south as Trenton, but no further. Basically, to get to Philadelphia, you've got to drive or you've got to fly today. Again, Amtrak announcing on the speakers above us, saying service remains suspended indefinitely.

And frankly, there hasn't been much information from Amtrak about when that might change. So people are having to rent cars and figure out other ways to either move south or, if you're in Washington or Philadelphia, move north toward here in New York.

Let's look at how this Northeast Corridor looks by the numbers. Because as you said, millions of people rely on this transportation route. Actually, 750,000 people per day. So that cues up to many millions over the course of weeks and months. Much more popular to go by train, actually, than it is to fly between, say, New York and Washington or vice versa.

And these are very important routes for media types, for business leaders, for politicians. We have seen some airlines add some additional flights in order to help relieve the burden here. We've also seen bus lines trying to pitch in. And we've heard of a lot of orders for rental cars between New York and Philadelphia and Washington.

You know, in the rest of the country, train travel not nearly as popular as it is here. This train line happens to be four times as popular as the next busiest route in the United States.

Chris, back to you.

CUOMO: Important to point out. Thank you very much, Brian. Appreciate it.

There's a lot of other big news for you this morning. Let's get back to Alisyn in New York with that.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, thanks so much. We'll get back to all the developments in Philadelphia shortly.

But first, President Obama and leaders from six Persian gulf countries head to Camp David today for a summit. But there will be some conspicuous absences. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House to tell us about this lonely summit -- Michelle. MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, yes, I love

the way you guys are calling that. I mean, to hear the White House described this, "There's kind of nothing to see here, everything is great. All the leaders who should be here are, and we're going to get a lot done."

Even though the Saudi king backed out at the last minute, only two of six heads of state are here. And a Bahrainian king, instead of coming to President Obama's big summit, decided to go to a horse show in England to see the queen.

Now, it is true that some of these leaders wouldn't travel anyway, because of health reasons. And, no, they might not get the defense pact with the U.S. that they were hoping for. Maybe not even all the reassurances that they want over the Iran nuclear deal. But we do expect to see some things come out of this.

One will be a continued commitment to fighting terrorism, fighting ISIS and cyber terror. Another will be a better coordination of missile defense throughout that region. And also possibly a bigger status for these nations by the U.S., to non-NATO allies, which would mean things like better equipment and coordinated training and, yes, more arms from the U.S., Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Michelle, thank you.

Meanwhile, the House is expected to vote today on a bill that would give Congress the ability to review an emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The Senate approved its own version of the measure last week. If the House bill passes, it would then go to President Obama, who has said he would sign it, as long as it doesn't change drastically from the version approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a few weeks ago.

CAMEROTA: Listen to this story: a Florida hearse driver and a funeral director fired for stopping at Dunkin' Donuts while transporting the body of an Army veteran to his funeral. A witness videotaped the flag-draped coffin in the back of their parked hearse. You can see it right there. And they posted it on Facebook, where it quickly went viral.

Now, the two men, they are brothers in their 70s, and they're defending their actions, claiming they knew they had a long day ahead of them and would not get another chance to eat. Their boss says during a military transport, the hearse cannot make stops.

[07:15:07] PEREIRA: Double parked, as well. I am sensing that that's a lapse of judgment that they will feel terrible for.

CAMEROTA: Correct.

PEREIRA: For a while. I mean, that's one of those things.

CAMEROTA: Insensitivity. I mean, everybody understands needing coffee.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: But the insensitivity.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: All right. We hope you'll stick around for this, because one of the victims of the derailment was a 20-year-old Naval Academy midshipman named Justin Zemser, and he was, by all accounts, an extraordinary young man. Two of his best friends tell us why next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN ZEMSER, MOTHER OF JUSTIN ZEMSER: Our son was Midshipman Justin Zemser. He was born on March 25, 1995. He was his high school valedictorian and was just finishing up his second year as midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. He was a loving son, nephew and cousin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, that was Susan Zemser, the mother of 20-year-old Naval Academy Midshipman Justin Zemser, who is among the seven people killed in Tuesday's Amtrak train derailment.

We are joined this morning by Justin's close friends, his teammate Devin Graves, and his roommate, Brandon Teel. Guys, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. We're so sorry for your loss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: We know that you called your friend Justin "Z" in honor of his last name. and we want to talk about "Z" this morning with you. Devin, I want to start with you, because we understand that all of the midshipman were called into a meeting to get the news of "Z's" death. Can you tell us about that moment?

DEVIN GRAVES, FRIEND AND TEAMMATE OF JUSTIN ZEMSER: Yes. We -- we were all together for a brief. And we were all sitting together and the brief was delayed rather for about 45 minutes. And we started looking around, because that's not typical in the military. And we decided that -- or we noticed that, when the commandant came on and kind of said that Justin had passed, it kind of took us all back, and we were all in shock for a little bit.

CAMEROTA: Of course. Of course you were.

on, you were his roommate. And I have to tell you, the more I read about "Z," the more impressive he is. I mean, he sounds really extraordinary. He was the valedictorian of his high school. He was the class president in high school. He was the captain of his football team. He wanted to be a Navy SEAL. I mean, it sounds like not just you, his best friends, but our country lost someone who was really going to make a difference. Brandon, can you tell us what made him so special?

BRANDON TEEL, ROOMMATE OF JUSTIN ZEMSER: Absolutely. He was a phenomenal human being. Simply put he was the best person I know. He made me better. We made each other better. And just his desire to constantly get better. He wanted to better himself. He wanted to better other people, and he wanted to better this country. He cared so much. I think that's what really defined him.

CAMEROTA: And, Devin, we understand that he also looked out for other people. He was considered sort of a big brother. Can you tell us about that experience?

GRAVES: Absolutely. I was a freshman on the team, and many of the guys, you know, we looked up to him because our teammate is a brotherhood, and we all stick together. And "Z" definitely showed his selflessness and his love for his entire team. He dedicated his whole entire life to our team and making sure that everybody around him was happy.

CAMEROTA: Brandon, as you -- you guys are talking, we're looking at these photos that you've supplied to us. And it shows just how close you all are. I mean, your arms are around each other. In one point, he's on your back or your shoulders. You guys just look like you're having a lot of fun. What is that? Tell us about that -- the bond that you shared.

TEEL: Absolutely. I mean, we're all so close here. "Z" and me particular, I mean, we were roommates. You know, we slept within ten feet of each other every night for two years. He came home with me on spring break. We did everything together. He's just -- the bond is incredible. I mean, he's like a brother. I mean, I know him better -- I've only known him for two years, and I know him better than many people I've known for my whole life.

CAMEROTA: Devin, you talked to "Z." You saw him the morning right before he left to get on the train to go home. What was that conversation like?

GRAVES: So it was 3 a.m. in the morning at a -- at a physical training evolution. And "Z" was leading the group. And I saw him, and I ran up to him. I gave him a chest bump and a hug and told him that I loved him, like we always do on our team. And, you know, just told him I'll see him later in the day. And he told me to push through it and keep my head held high.

CAMEROTA: Brandon, how are you all there at the academy processing this now?

TEEL: All of us are in shock. I mean, it was -- I mean, he was typical. He's taken this train home many times. He was just home. He just came back for the physical training evolution yesterday. Or two days ago. And, I mean, it's -- it's almost like no one can believe it yet. It's just -- we're all in shock. We're all so close. It's just a giant family. So none of us can really comprehend that this has happened.

CAMEROTA: Devin, do you and all of your fellow midshipmen have a plan? A memorial? Any way that you'll honor "Z"?

GRAVES: We're still waiting to hear all the details about what's to come in the future. Right now the most important thing is sticking together with the team as a brotherhood. You know, we're each other's backbones.

To "Z's" mother, I know you only had one son, but your son had 65 brothers here. And we love you, and we support you.

CAMEROTA: That is so sweet. That will be so important for his mother to hear, because she did lose her only son.

Brandon, what will you remember most about "Z"?

TEEL: Justin was -- I don't know there will be one thing I'll remember most about him. Just everything. He just -- he drove me to be better when I didn't -- when I was struggling, he lifted me up. When he was struggling, I lifted him up. It was sort of a give and take relationship.

[07:25:19] We both -- I mean, I can't even -- I can't even begin to describe the one thing. Just the person he was can't be narrowed down to one specific time or characteristic.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, guys, we hear your pain. And we're so sorry for your loss. And thanks so much for sharing the pictures and taking the time to tell us about this extraordinary young man. Take care of yourselves.

GRAVES: Thank you, ma'am.

TEEL: Thank you, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: All right. Let's go back now to Chris, who's in Philadelphia with all the developments on this crash.

Hi, Chris.

CUOMO: And it is good to hear the midshipman remembered, for his family and also for the focus on making sure this doesn't happen again.

And the more the investigators look into it and the more they talk to us, the more they say this Amtrak crash could have been prevented. How? And how do you make sure it doesn't happen again? Is there exposure for Amtrak here on the system, on the politicians? We have someone who has unique perspective on that. Join us for that conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)