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Train Was Going 70 MPH And Accelerating; Engineer Has Agreed To Be Interviewed; Funeral Held Today For Navy Midshipman; Engineer Wrote About Train Safety; Railroad Has $200 Million Per Crash Cap; Jeb Bush's Tough Week; How Does Hillary Clinton Learn From Jeb; Air Fares Between NYC And D.C.; Nepal Helicopter Crash; Texas Man Supports ISIS. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 15, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with the deadly Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the train to accelerate to more than 100 miles an hour in the seconds just before the accident. Surveillance video from a nearby business shows a bright flash and flying sparks as the train derailed.

The National Transportation Safety Board says another video shows the train barreling down the tracks at 70 miles per hour. That was 65 seconds before the crash. It continued to accelerate. The investigators are hoping to learn more from the train's engineer, Brandon Bostian. He has agreed to be interviewed, although his attorney says he doesn't remember the accident.

And one of the eight people who died in the crash is being laid to rest today. The funeral for Naval Academy midshipman, Justin Zemser, taking place on New York's Long Island.

We're also learning more about the train's engineer, Brandon Bostian. And, apparently, he was an advocate for the kind of safety equipment that might have prevented Tuesday's crash. Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin is standing by. He's digging into this part of the story. Drew, you're in Philadelphia. What have you learned?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: It turns out he's been an avid writer about trains and transportation since back in his high school days. But it's specifically some blogs that we believe are related to Brandon Bostian. Back in 2011, where he is talking specifically about the exact safety equipment that would have, according to the NTSB, prevented this accident from happening.

Take a look at this blog post that he wrote after an engineer caused a crash while texting. Wolf, he says that any point over the previous 80 years, the railroad could have voluntarily implemented some form of this technology on the line where that fateful wreck took place, but instead it took an act of Congress to get them to do it. And yet another blog, he writes, I wish the railroads had been more proactive from the get go. The reality is that they've had nearly 100 years of opportunity to implement some sort of system to mitigate human error but with a few notable exceptions have failed to do so. That was the engineer who was involved in this train wreck posting on blogs years ago.

BLITZER: It's an -- it's really amazing when you think about it. You also had a chance, Drew, to speak to a friend of Brandon Bostian's. What did the friend have to say?

GRIFFIN: Not just a friend but a colleague on this very route. He was a flag man on Brandon Bostian's crew for several years. He ran hundreds of routes from New York down to Washington, D.C. and back. And he says this engineer always checked out fine. There was nothing that would alarm him about anything when the engineer was behind the train.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Let me ask you some tough questions. Ever see him drinking?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.

GRIFFIN: Ever see him too sleepy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.

GRIFFIN: Texting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

GRIFFIN: Phone calls?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never had his phone out. It didn't matter what the situation was. Never had his phone out.

GRIFFIN: Let me ask you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GRIFFIN: What do you think happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I honestly don't know. I really believe something happened prior to him getting to that curve. We all know what the speed limits are and it's not a mystery to us. And, again, I went up and down these rails with Brandon hundreds of time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Wolf, Xavier Bishop, that flagman, says the crews of these Amtrak trains, especially experienced ones, know every inch of that track, know the speed limits. He says he can't imagine what the explanation is but it must come, he says, from the engineer Brandon Bostian.

BLITZER: We'll see what develops during this investigation. All right, Drew, thank you.

Let's examine the latest threads in this entire case. The engineer, his online postings and the first lawsuit actually to be filed in the case. Already joining us, our Aviation Analyst Peter Goelz. He's here with me. Our Aviation Attorney Justin Green is joining us from New York.

Peter, let's get your reaction to what we just saw in that report from Drew Griffin. This engineer was blogging about the safety concerns he has. He was right in those blogs, wasn't he?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: He was correct and everything I've heard about this guy is that he was an outstanding employee and an excellent engineer which makes it all the more, you know, just in explicable what happened.

BLITZER: Was he right that it took an act of Congress to even begin some of the safety measures?

GOELZ: Well, this was a major expenditure. In the end, it's estimating PTC is going to cost $9 billion. And it did take an act of Congress to mandate that it be done on the 60,000 miles of rail in the U.S.

[13:05:00] BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about the legal parts of this, Justin. As you know, with the first lawsuit that has already been filed. Let me play this clip and then we'll discuss. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL OLLEY, ATTORNEY: Mr. Philips is an Amtrak employee. As such, he does not receive or is subject to state workers' compensation law. His only remedy is against his employer under what's called the Federal Employers Liability Act which is a statute that mandates that in order for him to recover against his employer, he has to prove that his employer failed to provide him with a safe place to work. During the period of time that he is unable to work, he is not eligible for any kind of compensation benefits, such as a regular employee would be under state compensation law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, this was the lawyer for one of the Amtrak employees. What do you make of this potential lawsuit?

JUSTIN GREEN, CNN AVIATION ATTORNEY: Well, I think when lawyers file a law suit so soon after an accident, sometimes the filing is more motivated by a desire for publicity in order to get other cases. Now, everyone who's watching this now knows there is a lawsuit filed. And now knows the name of the lawyer who filed the lawsuit and may contact that lawyer.

So, I think it's -- the truth is that there should be really no rush to file. Most of the very seriously injured people we -- you need to figure out what the extent of the injuries are before you start bringing claims. One thing is is there is a federal law that requires the Amtrak to cover -- to have $200 million worth of insurance to cover the compensatory and the punitive claims. And so, in this case, with the extent of the injuries and the -- and the deaths involved, we're going to see whether that's enough money to even just provide compensation for the families.

BLITZER: Peter, I assume there's going to be a lot of lawsuits in the aftermath of this horrific accident. You've been -- you've been an investigator in a lot of similar kinds of accidents. What's going to happen legally as we go down? How much trouble -- for example, the engineer, Brandon Bostian, how much legal trouble, potentially, is he in?

GOELZ: Well, that's right. There's a question -- usually in the U.S., there are no criminal proceedings following an accident such as this. We understand that people make mistakes and it's not a criminal act. Unlike the EEU where they do file almost immediately a criminal investigation. But as indicated, there's a $200 million cap. With the number of injured, the number of dead, they're going to hit that cap very quickly.

BLITZER: What do you think, Justin? How much trouble is Brandon bastion, the engineer, in legally?

GREEN: Well, it's actually a very good question. This seems to be a repeat of the 2013 MTA derailment where the engineer, in that case, said that he fell asleep. They investigated him for criminal charges. And ultimately said, we're not going to charge him. And I think in America, we don't send people to jail for making, what I might call, an honest mistake. However, if they take his blood and they find out he's on some sort of medication that he shouldn't be on, illicit drugs, if they -- if they see on his phone that he was texting at the time, I think he could be in quite a bit of trouble.

BLITZER: Well, his online blogging warning of the dangers out there help him or hurt him going into any possible legal battle?

GREEN: I don't think it -- I don't think it will matter. You know, I think we'll have to see what his -- you know, in the law, we have this thing called men's rea (ph), what his real intent, his evil intent was. If he has no evil intent, if this was, you know, an accident -- I think one thing that strikes me, just like in the Germanwings case that we talked about about a month ago, you know, you have the safety of everyone onboard this airplane in the hands at -- kind of the whim of the health of one person or the mental well-being of one person or the good intentions of one person. And I think that's something that has to be looked at, whether that's -- you know, without the safety devices we've been talking about, whether, you know, it's a good plan to have one person's -- in charge of everyone's safety.

BLITZER: I think he makes a good point, Justin. Don't you agree, Peter?

GOELZ: Yes, there have been debates about one-person and two-person crews for many years. The railroads, obviously, want one-person crews because it cuts their labor costs. The labor unions point to safety as a reason to have a second person in the crew cab.

BLITZER: Peter Goelz, Justin Green. Guys, thanks very much.

Still ahead, more on the Amtrak derailment impacting traffic up and down the east coast here in the United States. Flights jam packed. Airline ticket prices soaring. We'll take a closer look at the economic damage.

And later, it's not easy being related to a former president of the United States. Jeb Bush learned that over and over this past week. So, how does he move forward now and what can Hillary Clinton learn from him? We'll talk about that and much more coming up.

[13:10:08]

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BLITZER: The Amtrak derailment is still impacting travel throughout the Northeast causing major problems here in the United States. Many rail passengers are now turning to the airlines packing flights, often paying exorbitantly high prices for those tickets.

Our MONEY Correspondent Cristina Alesci is joining us from New York. How much are airfares rising right now?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know, Wolf, a typical ticket from New York to D.C. could cost anywhere between $200 and $400. And I was just on all of the airline sites. I'm seeing fares up to $1,000 for just regular airfare. We're not talking about first class service here. And I'm pressing the airlines to really address this issue whether or not this is price gouging.

Initially, the airline said, look, this is what's left over. All of the cheap fares are taken. But I was just tweeting at American Airlines and it says that it offers a variety of fares. I tweeted back saying, look, I can't find any cheap fares. Please direct me to them. I'm waiting to hear back. But, clearly, this is something that's really infuriating a lot of consumers. And there's been quite a reaction on Twitter already.

BLITZER: Are they taking unfair advantage of the situation, the airlines? Is there anything illegal, for example, about the prices going from a one-way ticket, let's say $300 or $400 to $1,000 or even $1,200?

ALESCI: The airlines had initially told us there is nothing illegal. What they're doing is perfectly within the realm of the law and that it's just a matter of supply and demand and the only tickets that are left are the ones that are higher priced.

[13:15:00] But, honestly, Wolf, have you ever seen a ticket from New York to D.C., even in the most exorbitant kind of class you want to take, at $2,000? I have, personally, never seen that.

BLITZER: Number. And I do it all the time, I go between Washington and New York on either the Delta shuttle, the US Airways shuttle and the tickets go from $200, $300, $400 maximum that I've ever heard, a one way. We're talking about coach. We're not talking about first class. And if they're charging $1,000 for a coach ticket, I've never heard of that myself. But we'll do some more checking.

What about Amtrak? When do we expect travel to resume through Philadelphia? Between Washington and Philadelphia? Washington and Philadelphia, I think, is going. But from Philadelphia to New York?

ALESCI: Yes. I mean that - Amtrak is saying at this point it hopes that Tuesday is the day that it can resume somewhat normal service. But this is costing an exorbitant amount of money to business when you talk about lost productivity and travel disruption related expenses. Amtrak says it's totaling total economic costs are about $100 million a day. So the outages started on Tuesday. You're talking about potentially $700 million in total costs.

And just to put this into context, we're talking about 260 million people who use the northeast corridor on an annual basis. Many of them to get to work. And Amtrak said that workforce contributes $50 billion annually. And I think it's important to point out, these costs, as Washington debates the financial support that the railroads needs to really - railroads need to upgrade their system and implement technology, like Positive Train Control.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Cristina, thanks very much for that report.

Up next, a missing U.S. Marine helicopter is finally found. We have more on the recovery efforts on a mountain side in Nepal and word from the crew, from the commander. Stay with us.

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[13:20:25] BLITZER: Moving into Nepal now. United States military commanders say they are still committed to the humanitarian effort underway there, even with the discovery of the wreckage of a U.S. Marine helicopter that went missing earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. JOHN WISSLER, COMMANDER, (ph) U.S. MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: It was a very severe crash. And based on what we saw and the condition of the aircraft, we believe that there were no survivors.

They were courageous. They were selfless individuals dedicated to the international humanitarian aid mission here in Nepal. We are deeply saddened by the discovery of this wreckage and we will remain dedicated to the recovery effort until every last Marine and Nepali soldier is brought home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Will Ripley is joining us now live from Katmandu in Nepal.

Will, what is delaying the recovery efforts, the identification of the victims?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are several factors, Wolf. First of all, the conditions in this area, about 21 miles east of Katmandu, 11,200 feet up at the side of a very steep mountain. The weather conditions were deteriorating throughout the day, so it was deemed to be unsafe for the crews on the ground to remain there. And it was also deemed to be unsafe for aircraft to fly throughout that area.

And you heard the lieutenant general there describing what apparently was a very violent crash. Three bodies so far that were burned have been at least located. But they are having to scour the area to try to locate the rest of the crew. It's really an awful picture that we are painting as we learn more details.

BLITZER: Certainly is. Do they have any knowledge about what caused the crash?

RIPLEY: So, on Tuesday, when this helicopter disappeared, and, remember, it was - it was conducting a humanitarian mission. It had just dropped off a load of badly needed supplies to some of the remote mountain villages that have been cut off since the earthquakes. And it was on its way back and there was a report of a radio transmission, possibly a fuel problem. We believe the helicopter was heading back east towards Katmandu from a location about 80 miles west. It got within 21 miles of the city and then, of course, the helicopter lost contact. So was it a fuel issue? Did the weather conditions change drastically? Those are going to be the questions that investigators are asking whether they head back out to the crash site tomorrow weather permitting.

BLITZER: All right, Will, we'll check back with you. Will Ripley in Katmandu for us. What a horrific scene that disaster must have been. Thank you very much.

Up next, a Texas man arrested after allegedly pledging allegiance to ISIS. I'll speak live with the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul. He's here with me. We'll talk about the ISIS online strategy, the arrest in his home state of Texas, and much more when we come back.

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[13:26"47] BLITZER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

The governor of Ramadi in Iraq now says ISIS has launched a wide scale attack to retake that critically important Iraqi city. We know the terror group has seized control of the main government building. Ramadi, by the way, is just 70 miles or so west of Baghdad. If the city is captured by ISIS, it would be their biggest victory yet during this current campaign. Earlier they took Mosul, the largest - second largest city in Iraq.

Meanwhile, an audio message said to be from an ISIS leader - the ISIS leader, I should say, Ab Bakr al Baghdadi, has been released. It calls for new recruits to join ISIS or to carry out attacks on behalf of the terror group. Al Baghdadi's fate has been unclear amid reports of air strikes by U.S.-led coalition fighters.

In Syria, meanwhile, Palmyra, an archeological gem of the Middle East, is now under threat. ISIS is within striking distance of some of the world's most magnificent antiquities right now.

There was a hearing in Texas this morning for an Iraqi-born American citizen who the FBI now says pledged allegiance to the ISIS leader, Ab Bakr al Baghdadi. Bilal Abood is accused of lying to the FBI about the ISIS-inspired tweet. He admitted to investigators that he did travel to Syria. He fought alongside the Free Syrian Army.

Here with me now is Texas republican Congressman Mike McCaul. He's the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. Chairman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. MIKE MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY CMTE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: I know you're just back from the region.

MCCAUL: Right.

BLITZER: You were actually in Iraq. I want to get to that in a moment. But the arrest of this Iraqi-born American citizen in Texas, who was supposedly supportive - sympathetic to ISIS, what do we know about this?

MCCAUL: Well, it's very significant. He - we know he traveled to Syria. He said he fought with the Free Syrian Army. I believe that was a false statement. He actually is one of these foreign fighters that left the United States, trained in Syria and then came back, in this case to Dallas, Texas.

These foreign fighters was a subject of investigation by my committee. We went overseas to look at the travels. They go in and out of Iraq and Syria through Turkey. The Istanbul airport is not fully secured. And then they go into Europe, where they do not screen European citizens past a watch list and then their visa waiver countries that can come into the United States.

BLITZER: Were you reassured by what you heard? You met with leaders in Turkey, right?

MCCAUL: I was - you know, they - they were doing nothing a year ago. They were letting the foreign fighters go in to fight Assad. Now they were screening inbound, but it's the outbound screening that's completely inadequate. And that's what we're most worried about.

BLITZER: So you're worried about still what's going on in Turkey right now because it seems to be a relatively easy gateway to go between Europe and Syria and then eventually Iraq to that matter.

MCCAUL: Correct. It's sort of the epicenter of transit for the foreign fighters. And not to mention we were in Iraq, met with the prime minister of Iraq. As you mentioned in your piece, Ramadi is now falling to ISIS. The black flag is going up.

BLITZER: I thought - I thought the coalition, the Iraqis backed by Shiite militias, the Iranian backed Shia militias, they were taking over Ramadi? What happened? It's been a couple of weeks and all of a sudden ISIS is back in control?

[13:29:58] MCCAUL: Well, it's a - it's a bad sign. I think what disturbed me the most, Wolf, is the fact that they're bringing Shia militias -

BLITZER: Who's bringing in Shia militias?

MCCAUL: The Iraqi government. The Iraqi national army is so inadequate and so ill-prepared, they cannot defeat ISIS.