Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Amtrak Engineer Interview; CNN Hero Robert Lee: Fighting Hunger in the U.S.; IndyCar Driver Goes Airborne in Terrifying Crash. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 15, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] MICHAEL SMERCONISH, HOST, CNN'S "SMERCONISH": So I get to ask him what does he think -

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All those questions.

SMERCONISH: About Stephanopoulos.

PEREIRA: Alright.

SMERCONISH: So added reason to tune in.

PEREIRA: Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. Saturday. You can also hear him on Sirius XM 9:00 a.m. Eastern as well.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You got an CGI (ph) donations you've got to disclose before you do that interview or are you all right?

PEREIRA: Don't forget to tweet us. This good conversation will carry on online.

SMERCONISH: Donating to your charity.

CUOMO: Uh-oh, he didn't answer. That was non-responsive.

PEREIRA: Ah, he avoided.

CUOMO: All right, we have more ahead on the Amtrak disaster. Why did it happen? Was it just human error that sent this train accelerating in its final moments? Was it a technical issue that hasn't been discussed yet? We're going to go through the possibilities so you know more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Investigators in Philadelphia face very pressing questions this morning. We keep saying it's all about speed, but why - why was the train going that fast? Was it just human? Was there any mechanical error involved here? Could it be both? There's a big range of possibility. We have people who have taken this on very well and successfully. Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, and our CNN aviation analyst, of course, and, Mr. Peter Goelz, former managing director of the NTSB and also a CNN aviation analyst. So, we know that the interview with the engineer is coming in days. What are the top questions? Mary, what's the first thing that you want to ask, Mary, when you sit down with the engineer? What do you want to know from him?

[08:35:06] MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, the first thing that there ask, Mr. Zumahl (ph) has already hinted, we need to know exactly his whereabouts for the previous hours and days, the cell phone usage, computer usage, medications, health. All the things about him personally that could explain it. And then also things that you cannot get from the train black boxes. Anything on the train that was unusual that might not have been recorded, et cetera. And those are the things they'll want first and foremost upfront. They've already, obviously, scrubbed his records, his training and all those kind of things and his performance on the job.

CUOMO: No small irony that he was online talking about how they're over worked and there's a need for better safety equipment on the rails.

Peter, we do know from investigators that they believe it was the engineer who threw the emergency brake there at the end but too late. One of the questions surrounding that that go to his judgment and what else may have been involved?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, in aviation we - we have a fairly common issue called lack of situational awareness. You know that's where the pilots, you know, are not quite sure where they are or what's happening. They've lost the ability to see what's going on. I mean this could be a case where the engineer was not quite sure where he was. He might have thought he was starting to come out of the turn. But, you know, the issue of the throttle being advanced entering into the turn is the critical question. And, frankly, I've looked back, I can't find a case of an advancing throttle that was not being manipulated by a human being.

CUOMO: Help us understand what that means, Mary. So the guy's leaving the 30th Street station. This isn't that far away from that. And what - what should have been happening and what may have been happening that explains this full throttle?

SCHIAVO: Well, what should have been happening is obviously paying full attention to your job and not exceeding the speed limit, because we've seen so many train accidents where that's what the cause has been. You've exceeded the limits of the train and the track and you've got to get that much weight at that speed around a curve. You know, anyone who's had some - you know, any - any physics in college at all and or high school knows centrifugal force and the forces are going to tend to send you off the track. So that's what you're supposed to do and he obviously didn't do it.

And what Peter says, I agree completely, in any accident like this in the past, the train - we haven't had a situation where it's a runaway train. The engineer has to have his or her hand on the control and make the train go that fast. Now there's always a chance it could be a first, that we really do have a runaway train, but there's no evidence of that.

CUOMO: Alright, now he says he can't remember certain things, and whether that's because he got smacked around in the train or whether he was just, you know, protecting himself from any exposure of liability or responsibility here, we don't know. That's for investigators to figure out. But it's very easy, Peter, for, you know, outsiders to look at this and say, look, he screwed up. What do I care whether it was because his head was in the game or wasn't in the game or he was on his phone or he wasn't on his phone. He screwed up, end of story. Can it be that simple or what are we missing?

GOELZ: Well, it can be, but it's usually more complex and there are more factors in play, you know? And in the United States, particularly in aviation, we have a non-punitive blanket over safety events in which you try and get the actors to admit, you know, when they make mistakes without the fear of retribution, except in the most egregious areas. And if they're covering up mistakes, then they're less likely to - to reveal them. But in - and so this is a sensitive issue. But in this case, the human factors is really at the forefront.

CUOMO: All right. And we do know one thing, I mean the attorney for the engineer says that he turned over the phone and said, you can have it, it was off. You know, it was turned off, the way it was supposed to be. That takes a big thing off the table for a lot of people who were thinking, you know, we see so much texting and driving on the roads, but now they say that that's not it and they're getting the cell phone records. So we'll see how much that holds and then more - more questions will come after they find out that piece.

Peter, Mary, thank you very much. A good weekend to both of you.

Mick.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris, Helio Castroneves is one lucky man after going through quite - oh, my goodness, watch this. That was just practice for the Indianapolis 500. I want to know what was going through his mind when that happened. He joins us ahead on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:28] PEREIRA: Alright, here we go with the five things for Friday.

At number one, the U.S. helicopter that went missing while delivering aid to earthquake survivors in Nepal, it has been found. A Nepali official says that three bodies have been found in the burned wreckage.

The Amtrak train that crashed Tuesday in Philadelphia sped up from 70 miles an hour to over 100 in just the final minute before the crash. Amtrak now saying technology to prevent a repeat will be in place by the end of the year.

ISIS is launching an assault to take the Iraqi city of Ramadi. There are reports ISIS has already seized the local government headquarters. President Obama is expected to speak at a National Peace Officers

Memorial Service at the Capitol later this morning. That ceremony happening toward the close of Police Week, which draws thousands of police officers from around the world.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell deciding he will be the one to hear Tom Brady's appeal of his four game suspension over deflate-gate. Under the collective bargaining agreement, the appeal must be heard within 10 days.

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

Chris.

CUOMO: Alright. Now, here are two facts. The first one is, people in this country are going hungry. The second fact is, 40 percent of the food made in this country gets tossed in the trash. So this week's CNN Hero quit his job on Wall Street to implement a solution to this. His name, Robert Lee. Here's his story and then go to cnnheroes.com if you know someone who also deserves to be nominated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT LEE, CNN HERO: The club that I was involved in, in college, brought leftover dining hall food from campus to the homeless shelter, and I just thought that the concept could be applied outside the borders of NYU.

[08:45:08] So, welcome, and thank you guys for coming. Today we'll be going to the Long Adeo (ph) Cafe.

(voice-over): In Manhattan alone, there is about 100,000 restaurants. Our strategy is to work with as many restaurants as possible and get that food waste to people who need it.

Looks really good.

We pick up any amount of food, no matter how small it is.

Thanks a lot. Thanks, guys. I'll see you later.

Because that small amount can feed someone.

Let's do this.

Volunteers can sign up on our website.

It's very easy to do. After we drop it off, we always get the weight of the food.

This is so heavy.

That's how we actually measure our impact.

Every little bit counts. That's one person's life that you just changed.

You see the line now, they're actually going in for dinner.

Since we started, we have rescued over 100,000 pounds of food. It's just the beginning.

The need is so great, and there is just so much demand.

Perfect.

With more restaurants, who knows how much more we could do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Pretty impressive. I love that.

Alright. Would you race a car again if this happened to you? Fortunately, Helio Castroneves is just fine. In fact, we're going to talk to the three-time Indy 500 winner as he takes us through those terrifying moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CLIP OF HELIO CASTRONEVES' RACECAR CRASHING)

[08:50:28] PEREIRA: That just gives me chills in my belly. The spectacular crash you're seeing happened during this week's practice for the Indianapolis 500. Inside that car, it was three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, amazingly unhurt in the crash. Castroneves will be trying for a record-tying fourth win later this month.

He joins me live from Indianapolis. (Speaking foreign language), my Brazilian fellow. Please, can you keep your wheels on the ground? How are you doing today?

HELIO CASTRONEVES, INDYCAR DRIVER, TEAM PENSKE: Thank you, Michaela. I have to say, just hearing the noise right now about this crash, it's amazing that I am here laughing and talking to you without any scratch. I am not even sore, to be honest. That's to prove these cars. They are amazing, incredible, safe, and I am a blessed person. I have to say mom, Sandra in Brazil, she is praying all the time and those are the days they count.

PEREIRA: You better send your mother a whole lot of gifts after that because she was probably yelling at you for even choosing this career. You folks are made of different stuff. I know you've had your share of bumps and scratches and crashes, but tell me what was going through your mind when that happened. When did you know something was wrong?

CASTRONEVES: Unfortunately, this is a new aero kit, so something very new, even for the experienced like myself. It really caught me by surprise, and as soon as the car spun out, I was expecting a big shock, you know, and all of a sudden it wasn't. As soon as I went backwards, the car started taking off, and I am looking, I'm like, oh, snap, this is going to hurt, and as soon as I started flying, I closed my eyes, honestly, I have to say that. I didn't keep my eyes open because I didn't know what was going to happen.

Luckily, I landed very softly. When I opened my eyes I was on my feet basically and I could not believe there was no impact and nothing very harsh. Certainly the look, it's incredible, but I have to say that all the scenarios, everything was very smooth and we were able to go back that afternoon and now we are able to keep going, qualifying on Saturday and Sunday and hopefully we get a good time.

PEREIRA: I can't believe you are so excited about going into this after just living through that. As I said, you folks are made of different stuff. I saw your crew rush over there, have they been able to work out what went wrong with the car? What happened?

CASTRONEVES: Yes, unfortunately, like I said, this is a new aero package, which is great because we're probably going to go over 230 miles an hour average and unfortunately, it's new, so we don't have much data, so we went a little bit aggressive on the set up. But it's one of those things, live and learn. We know not the direction to go, but we feel very confident right now that my shell car (ph) is ready to keep going.

PEREIRA: We understand Josef Newgarden also flipped his car. Are you concerned about this aerodynamic kit? Will there be tweaks before this next run?

CASTRONEVES: When you don't have much data, you know, this is all about data, but we don't have much data, everything is new. You know, people try little things here and there, but Chevy's been fantastic sharing a lot of information.

And it happens, this is racing. This is what it's all about. Sometimes people take a little more chance than the others, and that's what happens. We're not concerned. It's all about going to a next level. Like I said, we feel it's going to be fast speeds on Saturday and Sunday.

PEREIRA: Okay, my friend. Real talk. What is more terrifying, that flip that you just did and recovered from and survived and going on Dancing with the Stars in some of those outfits? Be honest with me.

CASTRONEVES: Actually, not knowing, especially when I was with Julianne and Chelsea, not knowing what kind of dress or kind of like costume they were going to put me in, that was a little tough in front of millions of people. But at the end of the day, I am safe and very happy to be with my comfort zone and hopefully we will be in good shape for Sunday and running for, hopefully, another win in Indianapolis 500.

PEREIRA: Alright. As we bid you -- Thank you, and we wish you well this week, and I say (Speaking foreign language), my friend. Take care of yourself and good health, stay well and we will talk to you and we will see how you do this weekend, okay?

CASTRONEVES: (Speaking foreign language). Thank you so much.

PEREIRA: (Speaking foreign language). Chris, over to you.

CUOMO: What is scarier, Dancing with the Stars or what he just went through? What kind of crazy question -- I sound like Speaker Boehner.

PEREIRA: The Stars -

CUOMO: In a second (ph) and versus flying over the things and I dance like someone shot me.

[08:55:01] Alright. So this homeless teen finds a blank money order. All good for him, right? Wrong. And that's why this young man is "The Good Stuff". Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: "Good Stuff". Friday, double good. 18-year-old Montrez Jeffries. This starts out hard. He took a hard road, he made trouble at school, he chose to start gang life. He eventually wound up on the street alone in a North Carolina homeless shelter. He then stumbles on a $500 money order somebody had left behind and he had a chance to make another bad choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTREZ JEFFRIES, HOMELESS TEEN WHO DID A GOOD DEED: A few years, like when I was like 15 or 16, I would have just went and cashed it and wouldn't have thought twice about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: But he's not that person anymore. Montrez is determined to do better. What does he do? He tracks down the owner and gives it back. So no $500 for him. The internet finds out about the story and they start a GoFundMe page, he now has more than $4,000 in his name and climbing.

PEREIRA: Why are you trying to make me cry on a Friday, Chris?

CUOMO: Right? Look. Sometimes you do the right thing, right things come back to you. And now the test for Montrez is what does he use that money for and hopefully people are out there to help him make the right choices.

PEREIRA: Right. People can change. Who you are at 17 doesn't always have to be who you are for the rest of your life.

CUOMO: There you go.

PEREIRA: Alright. On this Friday, we hand it over to our friend, Carol Costello. It is "NEWSROOM" time. Happy Friday.

CAROL COSTELLO, HOST, CNN'S "NEWSROOM": Happy Friday. The best day of the week. Have a great weekend. Thanks so much. "NEWSROOM" starts now.