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CNN Special Report: ""To Heaven and Back"; Train Derails in Bronx, Four People Killed; Actor Paul Walker Killed in Fiery Car Crash; White House: ObamaCare Site Working Great; CNN Hero Dale Beatty Profiled

Aired December 01, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, certainly everyone has their own vision of heaven. Over my shoulder here you see what the director of the film, "Resurrection" and how he sees it. Tonight Anderson Cooper has the stories of those who say they have seen it. A woman in the final throes of stage IV lymphoma, comatose, she said she was given a choice to return to the living or die.

Her dramatic story is one of three told in the AC special report, "To Heaven and Back." Our Randi Kaye has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: But you could still see your husband? And how was he reacting to the fact that you were in this coma and he thought he was losing you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very distraught. He was there by my bedside. He was holding my hand. And I could feel he was willing me to come back.

KAYE: And you had a choice to make.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a choice as to whether to come back or not. At first, I absolutely did not want to come back because why would I want to come back into this sick and dying body? But then it was as though in the next moment I understood why I had the cancer, all the years of beating myself up, feeling flawed, had turned my own energy against me and manifested as cancer.

KAYE: Fear, in a way, poisoned your body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it did. And I understood that now that I knew this, my body would heal.

KAYE: You had this huge revelation and Sony (ph) and your father both affirmed what needed to be done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both of them said to me go back and live your life fearlessly. And it was around that time that I started to come back.

KAYE: So how long were you in the coma? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 30 hours. I was in the intensive care unit, but within four days, they were able to take off the oxygen. They were able to take out the food tube and the tumors shrunk by 70 percent.

KAYE: And the doctors, they kept testing you, right? They kept looking for your cancer; they kept treating you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were saying there is no way that cancer disappears like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: "To Heaven and Back" is Anderson Cooper's special report airs tonight at 7:00 pm Eastern right here on CNN.

And I'm Miguel Marquez, in for Fredricka Whitfield. These are the stories that are topping our news this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): A Metro North passenger train in The Bronx comes off its tracks as it rounds a corner, killing four, injuring more than 60. We have exclusive pictures of the aftermath and a live report from the scene coming right up.

"Fast & Furious" star Paul Walker dead in a fiery crash. We'll take a look at the life and death of the Hollywood heavyweight and now the uncertain future of the film franchise.

And Washington says the ObamaCare website is fixed. But defined fixed. A look at the limitations of healthcare.gov.

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MARQUEZ: And we start in New York where investigators are trying to figure out why a train flipped off the tracks this morning.

Here's what we know: four people were killed when the Metro North train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in The Bronx, or at least -- and at least 67 other people are hurt. And official say 11 of those are seriously injured. There were about 150 people on the train according to the MTA investigators combed the scene for any other victims, even sending divers into the water.

But they believe everyone has been accounted for. We also now know that five off-duty police officers were on that train; three were taken to the hospital but they are all expected to be OK. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a go team to the scene; they will brief the media on the latest in the next hour and we will carry that live.

We are covering every angle of this story at the derailment site and at the hospital. Let's get out to the scene.

Alexandra Field has the latest from The Bronx. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What should have been a routine Sunday morning ride into New York City from Poughkeepsie turned deadly in an instant after the Metro North train lost control, coming loose from the tracks around a sharp curve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just heard like a screeching noise. I happened to be by the window. I'm on top of the Hill, but I still heard a screeching noise and then within seconds the ambulance and the fire truck started coming past my window and I knew something big happened.

FIELD (voice-over): Several cars flipped on their side, sending many passengers flying out of their seats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just sitting on the train and I wasn't paying attention to anything in particular. And then all of a sudden, the train just felt a little more sideways than it should be and by the time I looked up, there was completely going off its track and there was the rubble from under the tracks flying.

FIELD (voice-over): Emergency first responders, including divers, searched the crash scene as cadaver dogs combed the wreckage. Officials now believe all passengers have been accounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to stabilize the situation right now. New York is blessed with the best first responders I think anywhere in the country.

FIELD (voice-over): This is one of the busiest travel days of the Thanksgiving holiday and Metro North is incredibly popular, carrying about 83 million passengers a year, nearly 16 million on the Hudson line, where the crash happened. The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating what went wrong, sending a go team to the scene.

DEBORAH HERSMAN, CHAIRPERSON, NTSB: -- hit the ground running. They are experts in the work that they do. We have got folks who are focusing on operation, track, human factors, crashworthiness and survivability.

FIELD (voice-over): Officials tell CNN the operator says he applied the brakes but the train didn't slow down. At this point, there are more questions than answers, a deadly and tragic end to a holiday weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: So let's get to the investigation into this crash. Earlier I spoke with Debby (ph) Hersman. She's the chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board.

I asked her about the state of the investigation.

We are actually joined now by Alexandra Field, who is there at the crash scene; we know that the NTSB, Alexandra, is going to be speaking shortly. What can you tell us about the scene now?

Is it -- are they completely certain that they have accounted for everyone off that train?

FIELD: Well, Miguel, we are no longer seeing signs of a search. That's what we saw for much of the morning. Coast Guard boats in the water, divers in the water, cadaver dogs and a lot of people on foot circling the area of the train.

At this point we are not seeing that, so it appears the search is over and we're being told that there are 100-150 people on board those trains. And it seems that everyone is accounted for.

We have also been warned, though, that it is possible that more people could be found. But right now it appears that everyone is accounted for. So that is the news on this end.

We are also, though, seeing that the four victims, the four people who were killed, we have seen them being taken away from the scene within the last hour or two, the fire department chaplain has also been out here at the same time while these tracks remain closed and while this train is here waiting for investigators to come check it out.

We do have to note that this is a busy travel day. Amtrak has suspended its service between New York City and Albany. Those holiday travelers are just going to have to find a way to make other arrangements today.

The other consideration right now is the fact that this is a busy commuter rail line. Metro North says it's working to provide other options to its comers, who will be looking for a way to get into the city or out of the city during rush hour tomorrow morning. So they are right now working on bus service.

Those are some of the logistical plans that are being made, Miguel, while of course everyone continues to be focused on figuring out what caused this to happen.

MARQUEZ: Yes, so many people saying that speed seemed to play into this. I talked to Governor Cuomo a short time ago. He said that in the straight part, just before this curve, that the trains run normally around 70 mph, but they have to slow to about 30 before hitting that curve.

Looking at the pictures in that video it is very hard for us to tell because it looks flat. But it does seem that there's a little rise where the train went off the tracks, went over that rise and then down toward the water.

Describe what that is like there, that landscape, and what it had to do in order to get that far.

And how far is it actually from the place where it seemed to go off to the water's edge?

FIELD: Well, when you see where the train comes off the track, that is just north of the station that the train was headed for. What you can see from these pictures is that the train stopped literally just feet from the water. You have to imagine that for any passenger who was awake or aware of what was going on and could feel the train and see the river on one end, it had to be a terrifying experience.

Again, the train did stop short of the water. And the operator has apparently told investigators here that he did apply the brakes but that the train didn't seem to slow down.

Again, this train was headed for a station that is just a little bit beyond where that train ended up. People who are inside the train at the time have reported that they felt that the train was going too fast. That is inconclusive at this point. That's just according to what passengers are saying. And that is really going to take the NTSB to figure out if the train was in fact speeding or going too quickly.

MARQUEZ: Sure, a lot of those passengers, though, take that train regularly from some of the accounts I've read.

Also, have you confirmed out there whether or not this train was due to stop at Spuyten Duyvil station?

FIELD: No, we are not aware of whether or not it was going to make that stop. We know it started in Poughkeepsie and it was headed for Grand Central. So it is not clear if this would have been a stop on that route.

MARQUEZ: Yes, I understand it may not have been a stop along that route, but that was just another little piece of information to plug in.

Alexandra Field out there for us, thank you very much.

Now let's get back into the investigation into this crash. We're going to hear from the NTSB shortly. But a little while ago I had a chance to speak with Deborah Hersman. She's the chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HERSMAN: We have a go team that is in route right now to the accident scene. They left Washington late this morning, arrived in LaGuardia and they will hit the ground running.

They are experts in the work that they do. We have got folks who are focusing on operation, track, human factors, crashworthiness and survivability, recorders experts. And they're all going to be looking to focus on those particular areas. So for example our recorders experts are going to go look to see if we can identify any black box type recorders that might be on board the train.

We'll be looking at the signal system to see if there is any indication there that might tell us about what happened. And of course our operations team will be looking at the dispatchers, at the train operators and anyone who might have operated on these tracks immediately prior to this train coming through. So we've got a lot of work to do. We don't have a lot of daylight hours to do it. But we are going to do as much as we can certainly as we get on scene to try to find out what happened so we can prevent something from happening again.

MARQUEZ: It sounds like a lot of work for you guys in the days ahead.

Can you say, this is a push-pull train; there were seven cars plus an engine, so eight cars total.

Can you say -- and the engine was at the rear of the train.

Can you say anything about the safetyness (sic) or the ability of this sort of configuration of train to go around a curve that sharp?

HERSMAN: You know, certainly we will be looking at what was expected in this situation and if those expectations were actually met. And so we've got a lot to do before we can reach any conclusions. We've got to gather some facts. Our teams have got to get on the scene and they have got to understand what the environment is, what the equipment was doing and also how it was being operated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now just ahead, details on that fiery crash that killed "Fast & Furious" actor Paul Walker. Find out what his costar's saying and what the future of the film franchise just might be.

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MARQUEZ: The death of a Hollywood heavyweight, actor Paul Walker, dead at 40. We're learning more about the fiery car crash that killed him. CNN has obtained footage of the inferno taken by witnesses just after that crash. Police say that speed was, in fact, a factor.

Friends, family, coworkers and fans around the world are in mourning. Taking to Twitter with a frenzy of tweets in some cases, his costar, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweeted this, "All my strength, love and faith to the Walker family during this heartbreaking time. We find our strength in his light. Love you brother."

CNN's Paul Vercammen joins me now.

Paul, what are you hearing about Walker's reputation in Hollywood?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he had a reputation for being quite a good guy. And many people who saw him in and around his home in Santa Barbara said he was absolutely generous.

There is one story about an Iraq veteran who could not afford a ring for his fiancee. He wanted to be engaged before he shipped out again. Walker had overheard the conversation and apparently anonymously bought that ring. So genuinely a good guy.

Also a little bit more on that crash, Miguel. It was a Porsche Carrera GT 2005 that hit a light pole in the Santa Clarita area out there. This was an area near an office park where there were also a lot of skid marks. And nearby, Walker's friend, had a high- performance car shop, if you will. There was a 45-mile-an-hour speed limit sign posted on a light pole.

And there you can see figure 8 donuts and whatever the case may be, not sure if those were caused by the car that Walker was riding in.

A little more on the driver, according to KKEL (ph), his name was Roger Rhodus (ph) and he was the driver owner of all his evolving performance racing and that business as we said before is very near the crash scene.

Now Walker's grandfather was a racer. Walker liked to race. And he said about himself on his Twitter that he was an outdoorsman, an ocean addict. He was also an adrenalin junkie -- this is according to Walker -- and he did a little acting on the side. And about his acting, when asked about why he continually signed up for the "Fast & Furious" movies, he suggested he's a little bit of a perfectionist onset.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WALKER, ACTOR: I think the appreciation for the franchise, it fuels a lot of it for me. I'm such a critic. I beat myself up with stuff. It's like things are never good enough and even when they are good they could be better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And although again he sounds like he is a bit exacting right there, by reputation, just a nice, friendly guy who was often seen with his dogs or by himself. No big entourage, pretty unassuming, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: Very, very sad day, Tom O'Neill (ph) with goldderby.com also telling us that the gentlemen who died with him, the driver, was his financial manager as well, which is interesting. But I'm sure there will be an investigation to come.

Paul Vercammen, thank you very much.

Now in the days before this death Walker was helping out a charity event for the typhoon victims in the Philippines. Bradley Jacobs, senior editor at "Us Weekly" now joins me.

Bradley, Walker seems like a charitable guy. Everybody you talked to about this guy said he was just so wonderful. What sort of legacy does he leave behind?

BRADLEY JACOBS, SR. EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Yes, well, he had his own charity called Reach Out Worldwide, and that was the event that he was at yesterday before the crash. It was collecting toys, benefiting all sorts of charities.

He was an actor but he also had a lot of charities that he was very interested in and it was -- it's a sad thing to see him go.

MARQUEZ: Terribly sad. And the film is so associated with high octane car chases and craziness. And it's almost a joke now, there are so many of those films.

But he actually took all that on and enjoyed the role of being the out-there action hero type. And we should note -- and this is incredibly sad -- he leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter as well.

JACOBS: Yes, 15 years old I think.

MARQUEZ: Fifteen now?

JACOBS: Yes. That franchise, the "Fast & Furious," which has been around since 2001, is actually the most profitable movie franchise in history. The sixth one, which came out this year, surprised everyone and was a huge success, one of the biggest movie success stories of 2013, so much that they rushed "Fast & Furious 7" into production. It is supposed to come out next July. There have been reports now that it may be delayed.

Also, it is an interesting challenge to market this movie, which is of course about fast cars and explosions and how do you market a movie like that when one of the main characters in it died in a fiery explosion during the production?

MARQUEZ: Yes. I understand he was due to come back here to Atlanta to finish off part of that movie and then go to Dubai to finish it off completely.

Do you know how far they were through production and is there any way to save number 7?

JACOBS: There are reports that they had filmed a significant amount of it. The last tweet that Paul Walker actually tweeted was him with two of his co-stars -- I think it was Vin and Tyrese -- saying that the boys are back; are you ready?

You know, I think that it's -- like I said, it is an interesting challenge for Universal. But they have been -- studios have been down this road before, of course, with Heath Ledger, who passed away before "The Dark Knight" came out.

And Warner Brothers managed to navigate their way through marketing that. So there are ways to do it. It just takes some planning of course. And you want it to be tasteful.

MARQUEZ: Bradley Jacobs with "Us Weekly," thank you very much.

The White House says key fixes have been made to the ObamaCare website. But the damage to President Obama, it is already done. So what is the outlook for the rest of his term? That is ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

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MARQUEZ: Well, better late than never. That is the message from the White House. Officials say the difference between the ObamaCare site today and two months ago is night and day. And while that's wonderful for the president, it doesn't change the fact that his approval ratings are in the basement.

Joining us is Republican strategist Ron Bonjean and CNN political contributor Marc Lamont Hill.

Let's start with the ObamaCare fiasco. First, the Speaker of the House John Boehner saying that it's, OK, the website, fine, but it is the health care law itself that's broken. This is the guy who signed up for health care. He was also saying a month, month and a half ago, let's not go too hard on this because they'll eventually get it fixed and then we'll all look like idiots.

Ron Bonjean, it doesn't look like this one is going away anytime soon, does it? They're going to keep on this.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, everyone knew the website was going to get streamlined. It is starting to get fixed now. There are still glitches but it is starting to work. The problem is on the back end. The issue is over a number of things.

One is payment security. What do people have to worry about, the data that they're entering with that getting out, you know, there have been already stories about that, people's financial data being accidentally distributed on accident.

And then you are dealing with insurance companies that are getting -- already saying that they are getting bad data on the other end. So while you're going to the front of the store and thinking that you're signing up for quality health care, on the other side of it is still a lot of work to be done.

And I think that the administration is going to be putting out fires four months to come. There is no question about it.

MARQUEZ: Well, they are now saying that they are all going to sleep now and not going to be taking care of it. They still say that they have a lot to build out and a lot more to go.

But at the moment, it seems to be working.

Marc, is that what you're hearing? Is this thing, the dump of information they gave today, is this thing working? Can they go forward confidently? Can they build out that back end. And when I go to the doctor on January 2nd with my ObamaCare card, will I see a doctor and that be paid for? MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: You will see a doctor, sir, and your hollow force will be functional, as will the website. Last week the Obama team certainly had some close insiders and some friends in for a conference call and a conversation. And they said, look, it is not going to be perfect. They wanted to manage expectations.

But what we've seen and what my sources even tell me is that things are working well; 50,000 per day will be able to access the site, over 800,000 per week will be able to access -- or 800,000 per month will be able -- 800,000 people per month will be able to access the site. That is a great number. That's a huge leap from what we saw on October 1st. Obviously part of it is we've taken some people out of the line. For example, the shop insurance won't be there anymore because small businesses are delayed for a while, for a year.

So there are some differences here. To the other point, yes, there are some issues with security, but those issues are relatively minor; that we know now. We don't want to take one or two anecdotes and make that sound as if that is the dominant narrative for the ObamaCare website. They have plenty of their own problems to worry about. We don't need to add any fake ones.

MARQUEZ: So Ron, are they -- are Republicans going to continue to hammer away at this? Will they pick a fight over fiscal issues coming up in January and February, where they have to have another budget deal worked out?

Will immigration get done? Will tax reform, will anything move forward other than the back-and-forth over ObamaCare?

BONJEAN: I think the first test is to see if Democrats run away from ObamaCare like they have been in droves. Senate Democrats -- vulnerable Senate Democrats in red states have been signing up for -- on bills to delay this for at least a year.

That's the key test, if ObamaCare is actually working, you are going to see Democrats cheering. Right now you're not seeing that. They're holding their fire.

I think what you are also going to see is some outrage from people that realize that they're going to be paying more out of their pocket and they're going to get less access to the doctors that they want to see.

That is still to come. Beyond that, yes; I think the president, next year, in an election year, is going to have to fight tooth and nail over ObamaCare. And he's still going to also have to deal with the debt ceiling. I mean, he is -- every day that goes by, he is becoming more and more of a lame duck president with a lame duck ObamaCare policy.

MARQUEZ: Marc, it seems like the bigger problem in the 2014 elections is for Democrats, for those blue dog Democrats in red districts, perhaps, or conservative leaning districts. Are these the guys that are going to be in the crosshairs in 2014? HILL: There's no doubt that they have some issues they need to work out. I'm not convinced, though, that the story of -- I'm not convinced that the story of December 2013 is the same story that we'll see in November of 2014. If you had talked to any expert two months ago, they would have said, oh, Republicans are in the crosshairs because of this government shutdown. There is no way Republicans can overcome a government shutdown. And we're not talking about a shutdown right now. We're talking about ObamaCare website. And so in two or three months the pendulum could shift again. If ObamaCare is functional, if most of the problems are fixed, if the bugs are repaired and we see the economy continuing to recover, however slowly, don't be surprised if Senate Democrats are just fine, if blue dogs stop running and the issue goes right back to the fundamental question of who do we want to govern this country.

MARQUEZ: All right. The ever swinging pendulum. Thank you very much, gentlemen, Republican strategist Ron Bonjean and CNN political contribute Marc Lamont Hill, thank you very much.

BONJEAN: Thank you.

MARQUEZ: The investigation into a deadly train derailment in The Bronx is now in the hands of the NTSB. We will hear about the conditions of dozens of people who were hurt. That's just ahead in a live report from New York.

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MARQUEZ: Back now to our top story, that deadly train derailment in New York, four people were killed, 67 hurt.

Nic Robertson is live at one of the hospitals where victims were taken, St. Barnabas in The Bronx.

Nic, what are you hearing about the injured there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miguel, some of them are in surgery now. Twelve casualties were brought here, two of them in critical condition. One of the more fortunate, if you will, was a young 14-year-old boy. He just suffered minor cuts, bruises, abrasions. And the doctors say they have treated him and hopefully he'll be able to leave soon. They'll be able to discharge him. He was traveling with his father. His father still being treated inside the hospital. But (INAUDIBLE) here have been giving us an overview of those casualties. The most serious among them, somebody with a back injury and of course the injury's not just physical, emotional. This is what the doctors had to say.

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DR. DAVID LISTMAN, ST. BARNABUS HOSPITAL: I think the most critically ill patient is the patient with the spinal cord injury, then the patient with the open fracture of the leg. That's a woman, yes. Also a woman with open fracture of the elbow. We have had quite a few people with fractures of the collarbone, of the clavicle, which is really common from being tossed around. There are facial injuries, head lacerations. There's some minor head injury but no intracranial injury, nobody with bleeding inside their head.

DR. ERNEST PATTI, ST. BARNABUS HOSPITAL: In an accident like this, folks do come in and they're in shock. You know, emotionally they're in shock. Others may come in and be in physiologic shock.

But emotionally everybody is traumatized. This is -- and some of them are going to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after this. This will be a trying thing for them to get back on a train.

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ROBERTSON: Well, the doctors also told us that some of the family members coming in to see their loved ones in the hospital were also traumatized and in a state of shock. What we understand at the moment, of those 12 injuries, casualties brought here, nine of them will be admitted and staying in at least overnight. And some of them quite possibility much longer -- Miguel.

MARQUEZ: Looking at that train, though, Nic, it is amazing that more weren't injured or killed in this accident. Thank you very much for keeping up with it, Nic Robertson.

Also a little breaking news the Federal Railroad Administration, this from our producer in Washington, D.C., Mike Ollers (ph), they will send -- the FRA will send 10 additional individuals to assist the NTSB as it begins its investigation there. And we expect to hear from the NTSB in the next hour.

I'm joined now on the phone with -- by Rick Whitley. Rick is a former derailment investigator for Conrail.

Rick, I know we spoke a few hours ago when you were just sort of getting -- collecting information about this particular crash.

What can you tell us now? What jumps out at you as somebody who has investigated just these sorts of crashes in the past?

RICK WHITLEY, FORMER DERAILMENT INVESTIGATOR: Well, right now is the speed and the ability to clean that derailment up and open up the mains so they can run the other two tracks that you see there.

MARQUEZ: When you say speed, you mean that clearly the speed of the train was going, why is -- why do you pick out speed and not perhaps a broken track or a broken truss or something along those lines?

A broken rail, it would have derailed that car. This is the entire train. So it looks like it's just high speed the way the cars were stacked in there, accordion like. And in the case it's really going at it, he says the brakes failed. He has an emergency system, too, that he can hit also.

So, when they pull the box they will find out whether or not he went for the emergency setup. As it appears right now, he wasn't paying much attention.

MARQUEZ: Well, that is a lot to claim and that is something that we will certainly be looking at. The governor of New York, we spoke to earlier, said that the normal speed for those trains on the straight part before that curve is about 70 miles per hour; they're meant to slow down to about 30 miles an hour around that curve.

He also said that there is an automatic braking system -- you mentioned an emergency braking system. What is the difference between those two types of systems?

WHITLEY: Well, the automatic is the one that the engineers use them and he starts setting here, bringing the train down to speed, four or five miles in advance of coming to that curve. So he knows whether or not he has that train under control.

If he doesn't have it under control, he can go to that emergency, which slaps all the brakes on the entire train and it just starts sliding practically. He should have been slowing down way far in advance, and it doesn't appear that way. Of course, it is still under investigation. So nothing is permanent until they get the results in.

MARQUEZ: I take it this will be a very big and thorough investigation. Your first blush is that speed seems to be an issue in this train derailment.

Are you surprised at how far the train traveled actually toward the water and would the fact that this was a push-pull train with the engine in the back have any -- play anything into this accident?

WHITLEY: But the speed here just keeps shoving. That's the entire (INAUDIBLE) of the thing. And when they get a hold of the black box that should tell them. As you can see, those real dark marks that come off the track, they just head right straight towards the water.

So it derailed back there about three car lengths from that engine, the point of derailment. So for us, the track's in really good shape. They will be able to straighten that rail up and fix it up in a matter of hours once they remove the equipment.

MARQUEZ: All right; well, that may be a little consolation for folks in New York hoping to get back to some level of normality there.

Rick Whitley, thank you very much for joining us.

Next we go back to New York for the latest information on that train crash. We'll tell you what federal investigators will be looking for. That is coming up just after the break.

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MARQUEZ: And it is a big job ahead for the NTSB investigators in New York. They will trying to find out why a passenger train derailed this morning, killing four people. The NTSB is expected to give an update in about an hour and you will see it live right here on CNN.

Rene Marsh joins me now live in Washington.

Rene, there's been several Metro North incidents this year. There was a crash earlier in May.

What do we know about that one?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Miguel. I heard Chairman Hersman, she made that reference earlier, saying that there have been several accidents and that happened within the last eight months. So that's a concern.

Now one of those accidents happened this May when two Metro North trains going in separate directions collided in Bridgeport, Connecticut, injuring several people. Now in that investigation, the NTSB is still looking at Metro North's maintenance of the railroad tracks.

An Amtrak train that actually passed the accident site 48 minutes before captured a photo of broken railroad track joint bars. It captured that photo with forward-facing video cameras of that broken track joint. And you're looking at a phone of that right now on your screen.

That may have been the cause of the derailment; however, again, that is still under investigation. But what is really important to take from this today is it shows how the NTSB can collect information from a variety of sources to really get to the bottom of what went wrong.

Also worth noting, Miguel, also in May of this year a Metro North track foreman was struck and killed by a Metro North westbound passenger train in West Haven, Connecticut.. The situation there was the foreman had requested for a section of the track he was working on to be taken out of service for maintenance.

We know that two Metro rail traffic controllers, one who was a student controller, placed that section out of service with an electronic block, but the student controller then removed the electronic block a little more than an hour later and that foreman was unaware of that.

So those, just two incidents that happened in the month of May involving Metro North, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: Yes, and the Federal Railroad Administration is saying that Metro North has had three derailments last year, 2012, and three this year, 2013, which may be significant to this.

What will they -- how will they be collating all of this information, the NTSB, as it moves forward now with the Federal Railroad Administration as well?

MARSH: We know that board member Earl Weiner will be accompanying that go team that you spoke about. He was also onsite at the time of that accident in May there in Connecticut. So he is very familiar with the past Metro North investigation and that will be extremely helpful.

Now the teams on the ground, we know they include investigators who specialize in track, in signals, in mechanical systems. We know from past rail accidents that the NTSB will look at all safety aspects of the derailment. They will look at the maintenance and inspection records of the train and the tracks.

It will also document the damage and the condition of the train and the rails. It will also even study the survival factors including how well did this railcar and the structures, how did they perform?

Those are all things they're going to be looking at. I heard mentioned earlier, the event recorders or the black boxes that people commonly call them, they'll be looking for those as well because that will tell you things like the train speed, were brakes applied, that sort of thing.

So there is a lot of work to be done in addition to any other video or witness accounts that they may get on the ground.

So when they say they have a lot of work to do, they truly, truly do and that is matching up all of that against what they know from past accidents as well -- Miguel.

MARQUEZ: All right. Rene Marsh for us in Washington, D.C., thank you very much.

MARSH: Sure.

MARQUEZ: And is it an apology or propaganda? Merrill Newman's family just wants him home, but will North Korea keep the 85-year-old war vet until it can trade him back to the U.S.?

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MARQUEZ: But first, the holiday season has officially begun and tonight we are celebrating the Top 10 Heroes of the Year and their work helping others. It's our own Hollywood tradition right here on CNN, CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.

One of those being recognized is Dale Beatty, a disabled Iraq War veteran. When his community honored his sacrifice by helping him build a new home, he decided to pay it back. Now he helps injured vets of all generations get that welcome home they deserve. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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STAFF SGT. DALE BEATTY, VETERAN: All veterans have been taught to be responsible for the guy to your left and the guy to your right. And no matter what, you're going to bat for them, if they need you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last man, go.

BEATTY: We wouldn't leave one of our soldiers behind on the battlefield. But we do it so often here at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did three tours in Vietnam. My injuries included my right leg, left elbow and lower back. For 35 years no one cared.

BEATTY: Every war is forgotten when the next war starts. People welcome me home and say they love us and that I'm their hero. I knew after meeting other veterans that wasn't the case for all of us. And these other guys who struggle, they need a hand up. It's my mission to help other veterans get the support and the homes that they need from their communities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the young man why we're all here today.

BEATTY: It's just getting the community engaged around a couple of simple changes to someone's house or an entire house built from the ground up. We want to make their life easier, safer, just better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could not get my wheelchair in and out my front door because I had steps with no handrail. And it made me less of a social person.

BEATTY: We were able to build a deck and a ramp. There used to be a concrete sidewalk here and we busted all that up and got it out of here. It doesn't sound like a lot, but the impact that it made was tremendous, and their emotions are being rehabbed as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They made me realize the challenges that I've had to endure meant something.

It jump-started me back into life.

Purple Heart Homes said "welcome home." It's great to be home after 40 years.

BEATTY: Regardless of when you serve, where you serve, we're all the same. We're all veterans. They just need to know that somebody does care about them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: And a really great show this year. Do not miss the incredible act of generosity from the CNN Hero of the Year that brought the audience to its feet. "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" is tonight, 8:00 pm, right here on CNN.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARQUEZ: The White House is pushing North Korea to free an 85-year- old Korean War veteran who's been held for a month. Yesterday Pyongyang showed American Merrill Newman apologizing for killing civilians and soldiers during that war. Analysts saw the video as blatant propaganda. For now, Newman and another American may be in the pawns in a much bigger game.

Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul.

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KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "I'm well and the food is good," that's the message 85-year-old American Merrill Newman sent to his family from North Korea where he's under arrest and accused of war crimes.

Newman, who was arrested a month ago at the end of a package tour to the so-called Hermit State was visited by Swedish diplomats at the weekend.

The diplomats say he is now receiving medication for a heart condition and getting regular doctors' visits.

Also at the weekend North Korean authorities released what they said was a confession from Newman in which he apologized for training a highly secret anti-Communist force of guerrilla fighters. That unit operated deep behind enemy lines, engaging in espionage and sabotage activities.

The North Koreans say that when Newman returned to the country in October, he was trying to renew ties with old comrades. It's not clear whether Newman was forced to make this statement and whether any of the facts mentioned in it are accurate.

It is, of course, a sensitive issue for North Korea because, although the last shot was fired in that conflict more than 60 years ago, there's never been a formal peace treaty to end the war.

The question now, of course, is what is next for Newman and also, for Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary who has been held in North Korea for more than a year and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Some political analysts have suggested that the North Koreans may be satisfied with Newman's confession for propaganda purposes and may be now ready to release him to a high-level U.S. delegation.

Other analysts, heavier, suggest that the North Koreans may use Newman and Bae as bargaining chips to get some political and diplomatic concessions out of Washington. The White House is calling for the immediate release of both men -- Karl Penhaul, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARQUEZ: Now tonight Anderson Cooper brings us the fascinating stories of three people who came close to clinical death. Ben Breedlove is one of those people; his story is told here by Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN BREEDLOVE, SURVIVOR: We've reached 17,000 subscribers. That's insane.

RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: What was it about making videos your brother loved so much?

ALLY BREEDLOVE, BEN'S SISTER: His strong connection to people. That's the reason he gravitated toward giving advice to teens. He genuinely wanted to help them out. He became a little bit of a local celebrity, especially with the girls.

BEN BREEDLOVE: It doesn't matter how a person looks, if they have braces or acne or anything like that. What matters is their personality. I have a really big challenge in my life. I have a heart condition. It's called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And I have a pacemaker.

KAYE: Do you remember that day that you got the diagnosis, what you felt?

DEANNE BREEDLOVE, BEN'S MOTHER: Yes, I do, because it was very scary. The doctor just very clearly stated he has this condition; there's no cure. We'll have to be careful throughout his life.

KAYE: How nervous were you that he could die?

DEANNE BREEDLOVE: I was afraid every day that I'd go downstairs or go to his bedroom and he may have passed away in the middle of the night.

ALLY BREEDLOVE: I remember the paramedics gathering around Ben and measuring all types of vitals and that sort of thing. The ambulance arrived, and they put him into the back of the ambulance with my mom.

KAYE: There was a moment there where you just let go.

DEANNE BREEDLOVE: There was a point in there where I realized that the answer to my prayer maybe was going to be I'm going to take him home to heaven. Finally they were wheeling him from the E.R. to a regular room, and I was walking alongside the gurney holding Ben's hand, his warm little hand, which I was loving at the moment.

Ben was looking straight up and said, "Mom, do you see that light?"

"No, I don't see anything."

He said, "But it's there. Can you see it?" And he told me that it made him feel really good, and he thought it was an angel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MARQUEZ: "To Heaven and Back, An Anderson Cooper Special" report airs tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.