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New Day

Rail Safety; Walk for Two Minutes for Healthier Life; Iranian Boats Fire Shots at Singapore-Flagged Vessel; John Berman Wins Celebrity Jeopardy! Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 14, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:40] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We are live in Philadelphia and there is new information to tell you about here in the deadly crash of Amtrak Regional Train 188.

We'll start with the engineer at the controls, Brandon Bostain, 32- years-old, of New York. He spoke only briefly with investigators, saying he could not recall his speed at the time of the crash. We now hear that Bostain, through his lawyer, doesn't even remember the crash itself. This cuts against what officials are saying is that he is certainly the one that threw the emergency break. That happened in the moments right before the crash.

They also say that this train was going 106 miles an hour on a curve where it was supposed to be entering at 50 miles an hour and they're looking at why. Is this about distraction, simple human error, is this somehow part and parcel of what was going on with that train. And, obviously, the concern here is driven by those who were hurt and lost. Seven people died, over 200 hurt. And there are still those who are fighting serious battles in the hospitals, so we are staying on that.

But there's also this bigger issue of whether this should have happened at all. That doesn't end in our analysis with the engineer. Let's bring in Robert Smith. He's the former Amtrak board chairman and current chairman of the Transportation of America. That's an organization aimed at investing in transportation itself.

It's very good to have you with us this morning, sir.

The big issue is, did this need to happen at all? Regardless of what the engineer did or did not do, shouldn't this have been avoided by a braking system on the tracks themselves?

JOHN ROBERT SMITH, FORMER AMTRAK BOARD CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Chris. Thank you for having me.

And certainly as a former member of the Amtrak family, let me express my thoughts and prayers for the crew and the passengers and the families of those that were impacted by that derailment in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

To answer your question, I was board chairman from 1999 to 2003, and I hired David Gunn as president of Amtrak, and he made bringing the railroad into a state of good repair his first order of business. And we began the implementation of positive train control in 1999. And it's only logical that you start at the part of the cart where the legal speeds for Amtrak are the highest, where a train is going in excess of 100 miles an hour legally and safely, approaching 150 miles an hour, and that's from the north end of the car.

So we began the implementation of PTC in 1999. President Joe Boardman, the current president of Amtrak, and his team have followed through with the implementation of Positive Train Control. This curve, keep in mind, was legally a 50-mile-per-hour curve. You would certainly not expect a train to be going at that excessive rate of speed. You protect first those areas where you do expect those trains to legally travel approaching 150 miles an hour. But it is a function of investment. The northeast corridor needs $20 billion of infrastructure investment today. And that's just replacing Civil War tunnels and bridges to bring the railroad into a state of good repair, and yet Congress appropriates $1.4 billion a year for the entire national system. So I think you need to put it into perspective the assets -

CUOMO: All right, I understand that. I understand the money issue, and we're going to talk about that. But I just want to get one quick answer to the original question. If PTC had been in this section of track where this crash happened, it doesn't matter what the engineer was doing, this still would not have occurred, yes or no?

SMITH: Yes, right. PTC is designed to overcome human error.

CUOMO: Yes. Right. OK. Because people are saying the analysis here should end with what the engineer was doing. Infrastructure is irrelevant. And I just wanted to make sure that you were on the record agreeing that that's a silly assumption and that PTC would have made a difference, this crash would not have occurred.

Now let's go to why the PTC isn't here. You're saying you start with where your priorities should be, where the trains are going fastest. That's not here because this is only a 50-mile-an-hour curve, so that's why you don't have PTC. But that assumes you haven't had the money and the time to do it. You say yourself, since 1999, you've been starting this process. Why isn't it done? Plenty of money goes to Amtrak. Is the money spent well enough?

[08:35:03] SMITH: Actually, plenty of money does not go to Amtrak. If you look at, again, $1.4 billion for a national -

CUOMO: Billions.

SMITH: Billions for a national system, and you've got $20 billion of need just in a corridor from Washington to Boston. I think you have to have that relationship to understand the magnitude of the need and the minimal amount of is actually invested in the passenger rail in this country. And that's been for decades. And you can't starve any transportation system and then beat it for not performing at the very highest level that you would demand.

And we can make reference to what China spends, I think it's 9 percent of their GDP on their transportation, what Europe spends, around 6 percent, and what our country spends, which is around 2 percent. But we don't invest properly in any surface transportation mode, highways, bridges, transit, and especially rail, and that's an issue Congress must address because our economy, as well as our people, ride on the backs of that transportation system.

CUOMO: Your friends in the Republican Party hear that and they hear, oh, boy, here they go, they want to throw more money at a problem and not manage it right so that nothing's going to get done, and that's why, in the House, you just had the Republicans vote to cut the budget that goes to Amtrak and other budget allotments for the railways. What is your response to that move, sir?

SMITH: Well, let's look at the history around Amtrak. And, Chris, I was the Republican mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, for 16 years where we built the first Multi-Modal Transportation Center in this country.

CUOMO: I know that.

SMITH: But the last time a passenger rail was authorized and the national system was saved and invested in, it was led by two men, Trent Lott, a southern Republican from Mississippi, conservative, and Frank Lautenberg, a liberal Democrat from New Jersey. They understood that passenger rail looked different in each of their states and to their people, but it was important to the nation and they worked together. Today a bill will be introduced in the Senate. It will be the Senate's rail reauthorization. And, again, it's a Mississippi/New Jersey connection. Roger Wicker, conservative Republican from Mississippi, Cory Booker, liberal Democrat from New Jersey, yet they have come together again to begin to address this issue of properly governing, of properly administering and beginning to invest more significantly than the House did in passenger rail. So transportation and infrastructure -

CUOMO: Right. But what do you say to your critics who say, what do you mean beginning to invest?

SMITH: Yes, trans -

CUOMO: But what do you say to the critics who say -

SMITH: Well -

CUOMO: What do you mean beginning to invest? The president was saying that he was going to have shovel-ready jobs -

SMITH: Well, I mean -

CUOMO: It was like, you know, a huge number that was supposedly allocated. There are billions that go to Amtrak every year. Your brothers and sisters in the Republican Party are saying more money is not the answer. What do you say to them?

SMITH: Well, I say more money is definitely part of the answer. And it's not just rail. It's all modes of service transportation. And I believe that message is being heard - I certainly hear it being heard in the U.S. Senate. And infrastructure shouldn't be a bipartisan issue. It should be a bipartisan issue.

When I was mayor, I never met a pothole that could identify itself as a Republican or a Democratic pothole. I found they all had my picture in the bottom of it. And it was an infrastructure issue I had to address in any part of the community in which I had citizens, and they were all my people to respond to. We need to take that same view, Republican and Democrat.

Again, Republicans used to be very strong in infrastructure. It's concrete, it's asphalt, it's steel rail. It's not soft and fluffy, it's what economies - builds economies, local economies, regional economies. And if you care about the national economy, you'd better care about local and regional economies, and they are connected by transportation.

CUOMO: Mr. Smith, thank you very much. Appreciate the perspective on this. As you know, it is a big, hot issue in the Congress right now. So we'll be following it very closely because we do not need to see another situation like this happen again if it can be avoided. So, thank you very much.

And, Mic, maybe now we understand why the politicians don't fill potholes sooner. If they see their own pictures in the bottom of them, that could explain a lot.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good point. Still got to do better, don't we, and I'm glad you're staying on top of that. Thanks for looking for answers for us, Chris, we appreciate it.

CUOMO: Oh, yes.

PEREIRA: We're going to stay on top of that breaking news, but we also have breaking news that we're getting out of the Persian Gulf. An incident solving Iranian ships firing on an Indonesian flagged boat. We're going to bring you up to date. Barbara Starr will join us after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:43] PEREIRA: All right, here are the five things we need to know for today.

At number one, officials are focusing on the engineer in the deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia. That train was going 106 miles-an-hour, more than twice the limit in that curve before the engineer tried to apply the emergency brakes just moments before the crash.

A U.S. military helicopter that vanished without a trace in Nepal Tuesday night still missing. Six U.S. Marines were among eight crewmembers aboard conducting an earthquake relief mission.

President Obama hosting leaders from six Arab nations at Camp David today. The countries oppose a nuclear deal with Iran have asked the U.S. for help fighting what they call Iranian aggression in the Middle East. One of two Secret Service agents accused of driving drunk through an

active bomb threat investigation at the White House is now planning to retire. The news coming ahead of a report that says the agents were likely, quote, "alcohol impaired" in that March incident.

Tom Brady has until 5:00 p.m. today to appeal his four game suspension for deflate-gate. The Player's Association has hired big-time attorney Jeffrey Kessler to represent him. He has successfully helped other players challenge punishments by the NFL, so watch for that.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a small change to your day that can make a big difference for your health. Cristina Alesci is here with today's "New Day, New You."

[08:45:04] Tell us what we can do.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a big shocker here. We're all spending too much time sitting at our disks at work, on the couch at home. But a new study shows there's an easy way to reverse some of the damage done from our sedentary lifestyles.

According to researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine, standing up alone has little effect, but simply walking around for two minutes every day can reduce the risk of premature death by 33 percent. So instead of sitting down, just go out or take a stroll and get some coffee. You don't have to run five miles.

CAMEROTA: So the standing desks don't do much, but you need a portable desk that you wheel around -

PEREIRA: Like a harness on you.

ALESCI: All kidding aside, I actually know a very good source of mine has a treadmill as a desk. So he literally has his computer set up there he is just walking all the time.

CAMEROTA: That's the right answer.

ALESCI: There you go.

PEREIRA: Thanks so much.

ALESCI: Of course.

PEREIRA: Alright, so we have breaking news that we're watching. Iranian boats have opened fire on a vessel in the Persian Gulf. We're going to bring you a live report on that incident right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news to report right now because five Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf have opened fire on a Singapore ship.

[08:50:00] Let's get right to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr for all of the breaking details. What do we know, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. U.S. officials are now telling CNN that just about five hours ago five Iranian gun boats approached a cargo vessel in the Persian Gulf, a Singapore cargo vessel, and they opened fire, firing warning shots across the bow of this cargo vessel transiting in international waters.

These fire Iranian gun boats, typically they're manned with .50 caliber machine guns. The belief at this early hour is the Iranians, again, were making now a third attempt to stop a cargo vessel transit in these international waters.

This is the vessel, Alpine Eternity, that's the name of the vessel, no U.S. personnel onboard. But the cargo vessel, when it was fired upon by the Iranians across its bow, then escaped. How did they do it? They turned and went into the national waters of the United Arab Emirates, the UAE. At that point, there is a lot of drama here. The UAE sent three of its Coast Guard vessels out to protect the ship that was now in its national waters and the Iranian turned back.

Look, this is very concerning. The Persian Gulf is an economic waterway for the world. For gunfire to be there against cargo vessels, a lot of concern about what this will mean to shipping rates, and you can recall that the U.S. Navy, just a few short weeks ago, was accompanying cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Because of the Iranian uncertainly, the U.S. Navy stopped that a few days ago saying things have settled down.

But now this morning, just about five hours ago, five Iranian gun boats, again, firing against a cargo vessel, attempting, the belief is, to get it to stop, to possibly take it into Iranian custody, that vessel escaping by getting help from a nearby Persian Gulf nation. And this, of course, as President Obama is meeting with those Persian Gulf nations here in Washington to talk about the problems in the region. Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: The stakes are so high, Barbara. We know you are working your sources there at the Pentagon for what the U.S. response will be and we will check back with you. Thanks so much.

PEREIRA: Alright. So you guys get familiar this time of day that we have "The Good Stuff," and we know "The Good Stuff" is about good people doing good things, often against the odds, for the betterment of fellow man.

People, do you know who won on Jeopardy! last night? My man, John Berman, is our "Good Stuff."

CAMEROTA: Look at his response. His face, priceless.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(JEOPARDY! THEME SONG PLAYING)

[08:57:37] ALEX TREBEK, HOST, JEOPARDY!: That was 600, which takes us over to John Berman. Did he not do his math properly? He came up with the correct response, and his wager was - enough. $20,500. He is the winner of $42,900.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That was our very own John Berman. I'm proud as punch. I really am.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Math is hard.

PEREIRA: Math is hard. Being crowned the winner on last night's Celebrity Jeopardy! He is our "Good Stuff" today because it doesn't get any better than that because he's donating all the money to his charity of choice, Friends of Karen. JB is here this morning. You will tell us about Friends of Karen in a second.

But that moment, that moment when you knew you beat Mo Rocca, who you know.

BERMAN: I know Mo. I've known Mo for over 20 years. We went to school together. Look, I didn't know I had won until they did the math for me because it was so rushed and it was such a messy cloud of blur.

CAMEROTA: So that wasn't a head fake? That like, no, wasn't -- You were not faking it there?

BERMAN: At that point I knew I had the right answer, but I was just praying I didn't mess up the math.

CAMEROTA: Oh my god. And you did it!

BERMAN: I did it.

CAMEROTA: Tell us about the moment.

BERMAN: I was not ahead for very much in the game. Mo was ahead almost the entire game and it was not until deep into Double Jeopardy! that I sort of pulled ahead on Shakespeare, of all things.

PEREIRA: Who knew?

BERMAN: Not me! Not me! There were no sports questions. So Shakespeare, I pulled ahead, yeah.

PEREIRA: Someone told me that there was a bit of a -- Were you having some issues? Was it the buzzer?

BERMAN: People who play Jeopardy! will tell you the biggest issue is the buzzer because it isn't who knows the answer first. You have to wait until Alex is finished asking the question then a light comes on. So you can buzz in too early, and if you buzz in too early -

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: One of our colleagues, Jake Tapper, has a really heartfelt and kind message of congratulations.

PEREIRA: Beautiful.

CAMEROTA: Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, I guess congratulations? What is strange to me is that Jeopardy! went looking for people to play on their game and apparently if you lose at the "CNN QUIZ SHOW", then that's the qualification that "Jeopardy!" is looking for. So I find it intriguing. Congratulations on finally winning one of these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Jake Tapper is like Apollo Creed at the end of "Rocky". Everyone in the world knows that Rocky is the hero, yet Apollo is all upset.

PEREIRA: Friends of Karen is -

BERMAN: Friends of Karen is a wonderful charity here in New York that does direct assistance to families who have really sick kids and are working through those illness, and they get $50,000!

(APPLAUSE)

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Congratulations. We're so psyched for you.

PEREIRA: Do you know how much I love you? Muah. I love you even more.

CAMEROTA: That's great.

PEREIRA: You're amazing.

CAMEROTA: Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

(CROSSTALK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going to cry, I'm so proud. John, congratulations. You guys have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.