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CNN Live Today
Nine Declared Dead in L.A. Train Derailment; Senate Vote Begins on Condoleezza Rice Nomination; Europeans Willing to Work with Rice; Bush Address Iraq Elections, Rice Nomination in Press Conference
Aired January 26, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We go out.
CHIEF RANDY ADAMS, GLENDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT: ... public safety personnel from multiple jurisdictions to handle this incident.
KAGAN: Let's go live now to Glendale, California, the latest on the train derailment.
ADAMS: ... to determine exactly what happened leads us to believe that there was a vehicle on the tracks in the area of Chevy Chase and the railroad tracks. A southbound Metrolink train co- collided with that vehicle.
The train continued southbound, causing it to -- from the impact to derail and strike another northbound Metrolink train. Obviously, having two trains collide in that type of situation caused some serious damage and some serious injuries.
Unfortunately, we have a loss of life at the scene. We know that we have four confirmed dead. The number is growing, unfortunately. And we also have well over 100 that have been injured.
They've all been transported to nearby hospitals, and we've had a tremendous response, a joint-agency response by -- by the fire department and by the police departments.
We have a command post established here. And we're going to continue to provide you with additional updates as the investigation into this incident develops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ADAMS: No, we don't have any of the particulars right now on the specifics, and what we're -- what we're trying to do is give you just some preliminary information. The specifics about names and so forth, we don't have that information at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know who the people were in the car?
ADAMS: I can't tell you that for sure at this particular point. We should have a much more specific briefing for you probably in about 45 minutes.
At this time, I'd like to turn this over to chief -- fire chief Chris Gray from the Glendale Fire Department, who will talk to you a little bit about some of the rescue efforts that occurred here early this morning. And again, this happened a little bit after 6 a.m. this morning. Chris Gray, Chief Gray.
CHIEF CHRIS GRAY, GLENDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Chief.
Obviously, it's a very difficult morning for all of us. We're continuing with rescue efforts. This is a unified response with Los Angeles City. We're here over in Los Angeles City, and with the Glendale units, and we've transported about 100 patients at this time.
We have a total of about 200 people that we've been looking at. There's about 75 different rescue and fire response units.
We do not have a serious fire problem at the time, but I can tell you there's still an active rescue going on. We've made about three passes through the cars and vehicles, looking for patients and potential victims. Firefighters are actively engaged in that with emergency medical rescue workers. We've transported to about five of the local hospitals.
Everyone has just done an outstanding job of coming together this morning in this tragic situation. I'd like to introduce Fire Chief William Bamattre from Los Angeles City. He can give you some further details on Los Angeles City's assistance and coordination with this tragic incident -- Chief.
CHIEF WILLIAM BAMATTRE, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Chief Gray covered a good overview. I want to caution everybody. The numbers are all preliminary. We're actively doing recovery efforts in a number of separate areas on the site.
As Chief Gray mentioned, roughly 200 patients were treated. At this time, we're looking at approximately, again, I caution, nine fatalities that are at the site, nine fatalities that we're looking at.
There will be information given to you afterwards about where families and relatives can go for information. Again, recognize that this was a commuter train, two commuter trains involved. It's going to be very difficult getting an accurate count of who was on the train and identifying both the injured.
Excellent cooperation between the agencies involved: L.A. City Fire, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena. Basically, we had two separate incidents on each side of the track, dealing with approximately 100 patients on each side, involving multiple transports that went very well coordinated. And the patients are all taken care of now, and right now we're in a recovery effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, do you believe that everyone is off of the train and that you've done a sweep to get everybody out of the area? You've covered everyone?
BAMATTRE: The question is, how sure are we about the recovery? We've been through the cars about five separate times now. But the area that we're concerned about is that area that's severely damaged and have to do the heavy rescue operations to make those searches. That's the area that we're not certain that we've got everybody out or that we've recovered all the victims in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BAMATTRE: We're continuing to search. We had dogs go through. We did multi-agency search. So we're fairly confident now, both in our side and Glendale, that we've identified.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything about the driver who was driving the car?
BAMATTRE: We don't have any information about that. The Glendale Police Department will be handling that investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have nine people dead and four confirmed. Is that the way it is?
BAMATTRE: No, no. At this time, we believe we have nine fatalities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BAMATTRE: I don't have any information about any of the victims or who's involved and where they're originally from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the injured were taken. Which hospitals?
BAMATTRE: Multiple hospitals. I don't have information. On an incident like this, when you have that many patients, the medical alert center is activated, and they actually direct us where to take the patients here from the scene, and they access all the hospitals in the L.A. County area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That involves, how many, five, 10?
BAMATTRE: We transported over 100 patients, so we're looking at multiple hospitals that were involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, the USAR (ph) team, what are they doing to be doing to try to get into the wreckage that you say is too badly mangled to do anything else?
BAMATTRE: Part of the difficulty was, when they got on scene, they had to secure the cars that were leaning. They had to secure the area before they could go into the cars and be able to treat the victims.
Certainly, the initial action is to get the victims that could walk to a treatment area, and they were taken care of immediately. And then they had to physically extricate some of the other victims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of injuries are you seeing?
BAMATTRE: All that information we'll be able to give you in more detail at about 8:15. I'm going to turn this back over to Chief Adams from the Glendale Fire -- Police Department. He can answer questions on the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief, are federal investigators here yet? The National Transportation Safety Board?
KAGAN: We've been listening into a news conference from Glendale, California, southern California. Just after 6 a.m. local time today, we're now finding out that apparently there was a vehicle, some type of vehicle on the train track.
A Metrolink commuter train ran into that. That caused it to derail, following into another Metrolink train, and that fell into a Union Pacific train.
At this point, the newest numbers, we're learning from that news conference, nine people apparently dead, 100 or more injured. The rescue operation is still going on. Even though you heard the representative from the L.A. Fire Department say they've gone through this wreckage about five times, they still are going through to make sure they've gotten everybody out.
Our Ted Rowlands is on the scene there in Glendale and brings us more eyewitness accounts of people who were onboard those trains -- Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now we've heard from a lot of people that have been onboard that were -- were not seriously injured and able to talk to us. One of those folks her is David Morrison.
And I guess, David, you were not injured. But tell us -- tell us what happened in those moments before the derailment.
DAVID MORRISON, ACCIDENT SURVIVOR: Well, what I remember -- I was sleeping. I was at a chair, a seat with a table in between it. So I was stretched out.
I heard -- you hear -- I heard a crash. I heard something, and it sounded like the train was dragging something across the tracks in front of it.
And then, all of a sudden, the lights went out. The train jerked to a stop. I slid underneath the table and hit my sternum. My stuff went flying forward. And then it was -- then it stopped. There was no -- there was no emergency lighting or anything like that. The main lights had gone out. But there was still light.
Most people were just fine. We didn't know what was going on. We were just waiting for somebody to tell us what to do.
Then after about two or three minutes, we looked out the window, and we could see out front -- we could see something was on fire. And that's when we realized, OK, we need to get out. And some people came by and said, you know, "You need to get out."
So we went down, and it turned out my area, the top of the third car back was the only car that didn't tip over. And even the top there was no -- it was very damaged. One person had an eye cut from hitting the seat in front of it. But as I went down, I discovered that on both sides there were more people hurt, and when I was getting ready to go out, apparently a sheriff had been thrown against one of the emergency panels back at the fire extinguisher and was cut and there was blood.
When I got out, I looked around. I looked to my left and I could see that the front car had hit something. Because it was perpendicular to the track and the very front of it was on fire. The next car was jackknifed at about 45 degrees angles, and tilted about 30 degrees. And then our car was fine.
And we were just -- no one really knew what to do and realized that we need to move away from the fire. And that's what I did.
ROWLANDS: All right. David Morrison, one of the many folks on these trains that is OK. But as we heard, nine people dead, hundreds injured, and they're still actively looking for more inside these train cars after the derailment -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Ted Rowlands from Glendale, California. As we heard from the fire officials, those numbers could still grow as the day goes on. Thank you. We'll be back to you for more updates -- Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We have just received information that the voting has begun in the Senate on the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice.
Now this has been an ongoing debate in the Senate for several days now, which may have had less to do with Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state herself than it did for the Democrats taking the opportunity or taking the stage to, well, criticize the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.
Let's go straight now to Capitol Hill.
Our correspondent, congressional correspondent Joe Johns, has been following this for us.
Joe, set the scene.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, she is the first high profile nominee of the president's second term to be debated on the Senate floor. That debate has just ended. And the voting has now begun.
At the end of the day, of course, she is expected to be the next secretary of state. However, a lot of Republicans very upset about the prolonged debate. Among them, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who took to the floor earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I can only conclude that we're doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness at the outcome of the elections. We need to move on. The people of the United States made their choice last November, and they expect their elected officials to govern accordingly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now Democrats prolonged this debate, of course, because they said they wanted to make a point about the Iraq war, and they tied Condoleezza Rice to that.
Notably some other Democrats did speak out in favor of the nomination. Still this has been for the most part, a public relations war.
An example of that, Senator Barbara Boxer has really been hammered by the Republicans over the last news cycle, Republicans who accuse her of essentially taking this issue and turning it into an issue for political fundraising.
Meanwhile, some other confirmation battles do continue here on Capitol Hill, even though this one is ending. Of course, that means the confirmation battle over Alberto Gonzales for the attorney general of the United States.
A vote just a little while ago in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A straight party line vote. There had been some hopes that some Democrats might cross over. But a number said Gonzales hurt himself in answering written questions to -- coming from Democrats. They say, of course, he was evasive.
One of the latest senators to announce he would vote against was Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: So I'm going to vote against Judge Gonzales with great reluctance because, quite frankly, I think he's, even voting against him, he's a significant improvement over the attorney general that's leaving. So you know, we are getting better. But we ain't there yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: But the news of the hour, of course, the vote has begun on Condoleezza Rice. We do expect a number of Democrats to vote against her. Some have suggested eight might vote against her. Some who have said 12. Some have even said 15. We'll see how many Democrats do, in fact, vote against this nomination.
At the end of the day, she will be, of course, confirmed as secretary of state, Republicans say.
Back to you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: As -- Joe, as we've been watching this, it did seem to be more -- less about the vote and more about the debate. Is this a sign of things to come with the Democrats? And perhaps, a more terse reaction to many of the president's policies in the year to come? JOHNS: Well, as you know, excuse me, Rick, the Senate Democrats lost numbers in the last election. They've lost power in the Senate. So the question is how do they get their message out? How do they make sure that Democratic voices are heard?
And one of the ways we expect them to do that is by taking issues like this to the floor of the United States Senate and debating them. So in that way, you can expect to hear a lot more from Democrats, because they don't have enough power to control a lot of the agenda here on Capitol Hill, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Congressional correspondent Joe Johns is following things for us there. We certainly thank you, Joe, on this busy day for bringing us up to date on what's going on there on the Hill.
Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: Well, depending on which side of the aisle you fall, some people thinking this is taking too long to get to the confirmation. Some people saying not long enough.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid just a few minutes ago on the floor of the Senate saying most -- this is a quote from him, "Most Americans spend more time looking to buy a car than the Senate has in debating Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice," doing that confirmation.
Well, this is not just something that we're watching here in the U.S. The world is watching as well, as Condoleezza Rice will become the nation's top diplomat. Let's get some perspective on how she will likely be perceived on the world stage.
Our European political editor Robin Oakley joining us from London.
Robin, hello.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hello, Daryn.
Well, certainly, as far as Europe is concerned, their attitude to Condoleezza Rice is rather conditioned by the fact that they mostly had a great liking for Colin Powell. He was the member of the administration who they felt was most simpatico to the Europeans. They felt that he listened to them and that he occasionally represented their cause back home, even if he didn't always win against Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney.
But I think Condoleezza Rice, as far as the Europeans are concerned, comes with a bit of history. They associate her with the muscular foreign policy of the last four years, with talking about Saddam Hussein as a potential nuclear threat.
And they haven't forgotten the remark that was attributed to her after the fall of Baghdad, that the reaction to the way in which Europeans had failed to support the war, they -- that they should forgive Russia, ignore Germany and punish France. With that said, Daryn, I think they are -- they have in Europe a considerable respect for Condoleezza Rice's career achievements, and they will look at it as a new page turning now. They may fear that she will, in some ways, be her master's voice, that there won't be any variety of opinion at all between her and George Bush. But I think they're prepared to give her a fair win, particularly after the way in which they've studied the confirmation hearings in the Senate, Daryn.
KAGAN: With diplomacy, so much of it depends on personality. What about how Condoleezza Rice, the woman, is perceived there in Europe?
OAKLEY: Yes, I think she's seen as a very courteous woman. Jack Straw, the UK foreign secretary, said he gets on very well with her.
And I think in terms of the style that she adopted in those hearings at the Senate, that went down well in Europe. When she said there was time now for more diplomacy. That conversation was needed, not a monologue from America.
And I think there's also some recognition that maybe she can start to make a bit of a break through on the Middle East, a subject very dear to most of the European leaders. They believe that she stood up to Israel on the question of the wall.
And I think that is perhaps where she will be judged most of all, the kind of initiative and effort that she can put in, together with President George Bush, on the Middle East peace process. That's where Europeans are really going to judge her.
But basically, they regard her as a courteous figure, those who have had dealings with her, and certainly a very professional one with a strong knowledge, for example, of Russia -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Robin Oakley, joining us from London. Robin, thank you.
SANCHEZ: I'd say that if it was the Democrats who took the platform yesterday, opening up the heated debate over Iraq, it was the president then just this morning who may have attempted to grab it back. The president speaking to reporters today at the White House.
Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, was among those there checking on things for us on that.
Suzanne, over to you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, it was a press briefing that lasted 48 minutes in length. The first one for his second term, and the president really talking about a wide range of domestic, as well as foreign items on his agenda.
But also addressing the immediate concern, that is the confirmation of his nominee for secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. The White House has been quite frustrated with the process. They believe, of course, that the Democrats' extensive questioning really a way to excoriate his nominee. The president had hoped to, certainly, confirm her on inauguration day, but the president nevertheless saying that he believes that Dr. Rice would be able to work with members of Congress and that they would move forward on their agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Dr. Rice is an honorably, fine, public servant who needs to be confirmed. She will be a great secretary of state.
And Dr. Rice and I look forward to moving forward. We look forward to working to make sure the Iraqis have got a democracy. We look forward to continue to make sure Afghanistan is as secure as possible from potential Taliban resurgence. We look forward to spreading freedom around the world. And she is going to make a wonderful secretary of state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And of course, Rick, also the president clearly trying to focus on the positive here. He had offered his condolences to those who had lost their lives, the Marines in Iraq in that helicopter crash earlier today.
He also talked about the mere existence of Iraq elections just days away, that they would be successful because they are actually taking place. This is really all a part of the White House strategy to portray Iraq elections, as well as this whole notion of spreading democracy throughout the world, ending tyranny, and something that is a realistic goal, because so many people say that they believe that this lofty language puts the president's agenda in doubt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Democracy is a, you know, progress -- you'll see progress toward a goal. There won't be instant democracy. And I remind people that our own country is a work in progress. You know, we declared all people equal. And yet, all people weren't treated equally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president, of course, is referring to the history of slavery and segregation in this country. The president has not always really shared a very close relationship with African-American leaders here, at least for his first term, many of them disagreeing with his domestic policy.
The president, in an effort really to make amends there, the last couple of days there and today, meeting with prominent African- American leaders to try to bridge the gap there.
The president also making good on his word today, Rick. He is traveling and getting his message out when it comes to health care issues. The president says he will be crossing the country to try to spread forward his message, the need for Social Security reform, tax reform, as well as health care reform -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Suzanne Malveaux, following things there for us from the White House on what was a somewhat surprisingly lengthy news conference at the White House today. We thank you, Suzanne -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And as we said, the vote taking place on the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state. That's taking place right now on the floor of the U.S. Senate. We will check in with that after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Three major stories developing this morning that we are watching, all at the same time.
First, let's go live to the floor of the U.S. Senate, the vote taking place on whether to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state. About a dozen Democrats expected to vote against that confirmation, and yet she is expected to be approved and become the next U.S. secretary of state.
SANCHEZ: Also, this story that we're following for you this morning. Tragedy out in California. As many as three trains and a car end up in a collision. First, it was a commuter train that apparently hit a car and after that apparently had a problem on the rails and ended up in a collision with two other cars.
There you see one of them now, one of trains that we're talking about. It was a Union Pacific locomotive that also ended up on its side.
Here's the latest word that we've gotten from officials who held a news conference just moments ago. They're telling us there in Los Angeles, as they continue to investigate, that they can now confirm nine fatalities as a result of this crash. And they're also saying as many as 200 people were injured. Many of those have already been treated. Others have been sent to the hospital. Ongoing story. We're on top of it for you.
KAGAN: Also, the pictures coming out of western Iraq. We're just getting these pictures in to us from the western part of Iraq. This is the -- concerning the helicopter crash taking place earlier today, this crash taking place. Thirty-one Marines believed to have died with personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Just getting these pictures from the site, as they try to figure out what happened.
As we know, the helicopter was transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division. A search and rescue team is on the scene and is trying to bring in new pictures and information.
SANCHEZ: Let's go now over to David Haffenreffer. He's following the markets and seeing how things are going in business news for us.
David, what have you got?
(STOCK REPORT)
SANCHEZ: David, we thank you for bringing us up to date on that.
KAGAN: A lot going on this morning, a lot to stay tuned with Wolf Blitzer. He'll be with you after the break, but that's going to do it for us.
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez.
KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 26, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We go out.
CHIEF RANDY ADAMS, GLENDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT: ... public safety personnel from multiple jurisdictions to handle this incident.
KAGAN: Let's go live now to Glendale, California, the latest on the train derailment.
ADAMS: ... to determine exactly what happened leads us to believe that there was a vehicle on the tracks in the area of Chevy Chase and the railroad tracks. A southbound Metrolink train co- collided with that vehicle.
The train continued southbound, causing it to -- from the impact to derail and strike another northbound Metrolink train. Obviously, having two trains collide in that type of situation caused some serious damage and some serious injuries.
Unfortunately, we have a loss of life at the scene. We know that we have four confirmed dead. The number is growing, unfortunately. And we also have well over 100 that have been injured.
They've all been transported to nearby hospitals, and we've had a tremendous response, a joint-agency response by -- by the fire department and by the police departments.
We have a command post established here. And we're going to continue to provide you with additional updates as the investigation into this incident develops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ADAMS: No, we don't have any of the particulars right now on the specifics, and what we're -- what we're trying to do is give you just some preliminary information. The specifics about names and so forth, we don't have that information at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know who the people were in the car?
ADAMS: I can't tell you that for sure at this particular point. We should have a much more specific briefing for you probably in about 45 minutes.
At this time, I'd like to turn this over to chief -- fire chief Chris Gray from the Glendale Fire Department, who will talk to you a little bit about some of the rescue efforts that occurred here early this morning. And again, this happened a little bit after 6 a.m. this morning. Chris Gray, Chief Gray.
CHIEF CHRIS GRAY, GLENDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Chief.
Obviously, it's a very difficult morning for all of us. We're continuing with rescue efforts. This is a unified response with Los Angeles City. We're here over in Los Angeles City, and with the Glendale units, and we've transported about 100 patients at this time.
We have a total of about 200 people that we've been looking at. There's about 75 different rescue and fire response units.
We do not have a serious fire problem at the time, but I can tell you there's still an active rescue going on. We've made about three passes through the cars and vehicles, looking for patients and potential victims. Firefighters are actively engaged in that with emergency medical rescue workers. We've transported to about five of the local hospitals.
Everyone has just done an outstanding job of coming together this morning in this tragic situation. I'd like to introduce Fire Chief William Bamattre from Los Angeles City. He can give you some further details on Los Angeles City's assistance and coordination with this tragic incident -- Chief.
CHIEF WILLIAM BAMATTRE, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Chief Gray covered a good overview. I want to caution everybody. The numbers are all preliminary. We're actively doing recovery efforts in a number of separate areas on the site.
As Chief Gray mentioned, roughly 200 patients were treated. At this time, we're looking at approximately, again, I caution, nine fatalities that are at the site, nine fatalities that we're looking at.
There will be information given to you afterwards about where families and relatives can go for information. Again, recognize that this was a commuter train, two commuter trains involved. It's going to be very difficult getting an accurate count of who was on the train and identifying both the injured.
Excellent cooperation between the agencies involved: L.A. City Fire, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena. Basically, we had two separate incidents on each side of the track, dealing with approximately 100 patients on each side, involving multiple transports that went very well coordinated. And the patients are all taken care of now, and right now we're in a recovery effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, do you believe that everyone is off of the train and that you've done a sweep to get everybody out of the area? You've covered everyone?
BAMATTRE: The question is, how sure are we about the recovery? We've been through the cars about five separate times now. But the area that we're concerned about is that area that's severely damaged and have to do the heavy rescue operations to make those searches. That's the area that we're not certain that we've got everybody out or that we've recovered all the victims in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BAMATTRE: We're continuing to search. We had dogs go through. We did multi-agency search. So we're fairly confident now, both in our side and Glendale, that we've identified.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything about the driver who was driving the car?
BAMATTRE: We don't have any information about that. The Glendale Police Department will be handling that investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have nine people dead and four confirmed. Is that the way it is?
BAMATTRE: No, no. At this time, we believe we have nine fatalities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
BAMATTRE: I don't have any information about any of the victims or who's involved and where they're originally from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the injured were taken. Which hospitals?
BAMATTRE: Multiple hospitals. I don't have information. On an incident like this, when you have that many patients, the medical alert center is activated, and they actually direct us where to take the patients here from the scene, and they access all the hospitals in the L.A. County area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That involves, how many, five, 10?
BAMATTRE: We transported over 100 patients, so we're looking at multiple hospitals that were involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, the USAR (ph) team, what are they doing to be doing to try to get into the wreckage that you say is too badly mangled to do anything else?
BAMATTRE: Part of the difficulty was, when they got on scene, they had to secure the cars that were leaning. They had to secure the area before they could go into the cars and be able to treat the victims.
Certainly, the initial action is to get the victims that could walk to a treatment area, and they were taken care of immediately. And then they had to physically extricate some of the other victims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of injuries are you seeing?
BAMATTRE: All that information we'll be able to give you in more detail at about 8:15. I'm going to turn this back over to Chief Adams from the Glendale Fire -- Police Department. He can answer questions on the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief, are federal investigators here yet? The National Transportation Safety Board?
KAGAN: We've been listening into a news conference from Glendale, California, southern California. Just after 6 a.m. local time today, we're now finding out that apparently there was a vehicle, some type of vehicle on the train track.
A Metrolink commuter train ran into that. That caused it to derail, following into another Metrolink train, and that fell into a Union Pacific train.
At this point, the newest numbers, we're learning from that news conference, nine people apparently dead, 100 or more injured. The rescue operation is still going on. Even though you heard the representative from the L.A. Fire Department say they've gone through this wreckage about five times, they still are going through to make sure they've gotten everybody out.
Our Ted Rowlands is on the scene there in Glendale and brings us more eyewitness accounts of people who were onboard those trains -- Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now we've heard from a lot of people that have been onboard that were -- were not seriously injured and able to talk to us. One of those folks her is David Morrison.
And I guess, David, you were not injured. But tell us -- tell us what happened in those moments before the derailment.
DAVID MORRISON, ACCIDENT SURVIVOR: Well, what I remember -- I was sleeping. I was at a chair, a seat with a table in between it. So I was stretched out.
I heard -- you hear -- I heard a crash. I heard something, and it sounded like the train was dragging something across the tracks in front of it.
And then, all of a sudden, the lights went out. The train jerked to a stop. I slid underneath the table and hit my sternum. My stuff went flying forward. And then it was -- then it stopped. There was no -- there was no emergency lighting or anything like that. The main lights had gone out. But there was still light.
Most people were just fine. We didn't know what was going on. We were just waiting for somebody to tell us what to do.
Then after about two or three minutes, we looked out the window, and we could see out front -- we could see something was on fire. And that's when we realized, OK, we need to get out. And some people came by and said, you know, "You need to get out."
So we went down, and it turned out my area, the top of the third car back was the only car that didn't tip over. And even the top there was no -- it was very damaged. One person had an eye cut from hitting the seat in front of it. But as I went down, I discovered that on both sides there were more people hurt, and when I was getting ready to go out, apparently a sheriff had been thrown against one of the emergency panels back at the fire extinguisher and was cut and there was blood.
When I got out, I looked around. I looked to my left and I could see that the front car had hit something. Because it was perpendicular to the track and the very front of it was on fire. The next car was jackknifed at about 45 degrees angles, and tilted about 30 degrees. And then our car was fine.
And we were just -- no one really knew what to do and realized that we need to move away from the fire. And that's what I did.
ROWLANDS: All right. David Morrison, one of the many folks on these trains that is OK. But as we heard, nine people dead, hundreds injured, and they're still actively looking for more inside these train cars after the derailment -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Ted Rowlands from Glendale, California. As we heard from the fire officials, those numbers could still grow as the day goes on. Thank you. We'll be back to you for more updates -- Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We have just received information that the voting has begun in the Senate on the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice.
Now this has been an ongoing debate in the Senate for several days now, which may have had less to do with Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state herself than it did for the Democrats taking the opportunity or taking the stage to, well, criticize the Bush administration's policy on Iraq.
Let's go straight now to Capitol Hill.
Our correspondent, congressional correspondent Joe Johns, has been following this for us.
Joe, set the scene.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, she is the first high profile nominee of the president's second term to be debated on the Senate floor. That debate has just ended. And the voting has now begun.
At the end of the day, of course, she is expected to be the next secretary of state. However, a lot of Republicans very upset about the prolonged debate. Among them, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who took to the floor earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I can only conclude that we're doing this for no other reason than because of lingering bitterness at the outcome of the elections. We need to move on. The people of the United States made their choice last November, and they expect their elected officials to govern accordingly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now Democrats prolonged this debate, of course, because they said they wanted to make a point about the Iraq war, and they tied Condoleezza Rice to that.
Notably some other Democrats did speak out in favor of the nomination. Still this has been for the most part, a public relations war.
An example of that, Senator Barbara Boxer has really been hammered by the Republicans over the last news cycle, Republicans who accuse her of essentially taking this issue and turning it into an issue for political fundraising.
Meanwhile, some other confirmation battles do continue here on Capitol Hill, even though this one is ending. Of course, that means the confirmation battle over Alberto Gonzales for the attorney general of the United States.
A vote just a little while ago in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A straight party line vote. There had been some hopes that some Democrats might cross over. But a number said Gonzales hurt himself in answering written questions to -- coming from Democrats. They say, of course, he was evasive.
One of the latest senators to announce he would vote against was Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: So I'm going to vote against Judge Gonzales with great reluctance because, quite frankly, I think he's, even voting against him, he's a significant improvement over the attorney general that's leaving. So you know, we are getting better. But we ain't there yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: But the news of the hour, of course, the vote has begun on Condoleezza Rice. We do expect a number of Democrats to vote against her. Some have suggested eight might vote against her. Some who have said 12. Some have even said 15. We'll see how many Democrats do, in fact, vote against this nomination.
At the end of the day, she will be, of course, confirmed as secretary of state, Republicans say.
Back to you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: As -- Joe, as we've been watching this, it did seem to be more -- less about the vote and more about the debate. Is this a sign of things to come with the Democrats? And perhaps, a more terse reaction to many of the president's policies in the year to come? JOHNS: Well, as you know, excuse me, Rick, the Senate Democrats lost numbers in the last election. They've lost power in the Senate. So the question is how do they get their message out? How do they make sure that Democratic voices are heard?
And one of the ways we expect them to do that is by taking issues like this to the floor of the United States Senate and debating them. So in that way, you can expect to hear a lot more from Democrats, because they don't have enough power to control a lot of the agenda here on Capitol Hill, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Congressional correspondent Joe Johns is following things for us there. We certainly thank you, Joe, on this busy day for bringing us up to date on what's going on there on the Hill.
Daryn, over to you.
KAGAN: Well, depending on which side of the aisle you fall, some people thinking this is taking too long to get to the confirmation. Some people saying not long enough.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid just a few minutes ago on the floor of the Senate saying most -- this is a quote from him, "Most Americans spend more time looking to buy a car than the Senate has in debating Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice," doing that confirmation.
Well, this is not just something that we're watching here in the U.S. The world is watching as well, as Condoleezza Rice will become the nation's top diplomat. Let's get some perspective on how she will likely be perceived on the world stage.
Our European political editor Robin Oakley joining us from London.
Robin, hello.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hello, Daryn.
Well, certainly, as far as Europe is concerned, their attitude to Condoleezza Rice is rather conditioned by the fact that they mostly had a great liking for Colin Powell. He was the member of the administration who they felt was most simpatico to the Europeans. They felt that he listened to them and that he occasionally represented their cause back home, even if he didn't always win against Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney.
But I think Condoleezza Rice, as far as the Europeans are concerned, comes with a bit of history. They associate her with the muscular foreign policy of the last four years, with talking about Saddam Hussein as a potential nuclear threat.
And they haven't forgotten the remark that was attributed to her after the fall of Baghdad, that the reaction to the way in which Europeans had failed to support the war, they -- that they should forgive Russia, ignore Germany and punish France. With that said, Daryn, I think they are -- they have in Europe a considerable respect for Condoleezza Rice's career achievements, and they will look at it as a new page turning now. They may fear that she will, in some ways, be her master's voice, that there won't be any variety of opinion at all between her and George Bush. But I think they're prepared to give her a fair win, particularly after the way in which they've studied the confirmation hearings in the Senate, Daryn.
KAGAN: With diplomacy, so much of it depends on personality. What about how Condoleezza Rice, the woman, is perceived there in Europe?
OAKLEY: Yes, I think she's seen as a very courteous woman. Jack Straw, the UK foreign secretary, said he gets on very well with her.
And I think in terms of the style that she adopted in those hearings at the Senate, that went down well in Europe. When she said there was time now for more diplomacy. That conversation was needed, not a monologue from America.
And I think there's also some recognition that maybe she can start to make a bit of a break through on the Middle East, a subject very dear to most of the European leaders. They believe that she stood up to Israel on the question of the wall.
And I think that is perhaps where she will be judged most of all, the kind of initiative and effort that she can put in, together with President George Bush, on the Middle East peace process. That's where Europeans are really going to judge her.
But basically, they regard her as a courteous figure, those who have had dealings with her, and certainly a very professional one with a strong knowledge, for example, of Russia -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Robin Oakley, joining us from London. Robin, thank you.
SANCHEZ: I'd say that if it was the Democrats who took the platform yesterday, opening up the heated debate over Iraq, it was the president then just this morning who may have attempted to grab it back. The president speaking to reporters today at the White House.
Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, was among those there checking on things for us on that.
Suzanne, over to you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, it was a press briefing that lasted 48 minutes in length. The first one for his second term, and the president really talking about a wide range of domestic, as well as foreign items on his agenda.
But also addressing the immediate concern, that is the confirmation of his nominee for secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. The White House has been quite frustrated with the process. They believe, of course, that the Democrats' extensive questioning really a way to excoriate his nominee. The president had hoped to, certainly, confirm her on inauguration day, but the president nevertheless saying that he believes that Dr. Rice would be able to work with members of Congress and that they would move forward on their agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Dr. Rice is an honorably, fine, public servant who needs to be confirmed. She will be a great secretary of state.
And Dr. Rice and I look forward to moving forward. We look forward to working to make sure the Iraqis have got a democracy. We look forward to continue to make sure Afghanistan is as secure as possible from potential Taliban resurgence. We look forward to spreading freedom around the world. And she is going to make a wonderful secretary of state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And of course, Rick, also the president clearly trying to focus on the positive here. He had offered his condolences to those who had lost their lives, the Marines in Iraq in that helicopter crash earlier today.
He also talked about the mere existence of Iraq elections just days away, that they would be successful because they are actually taking place. This is really all a part of the White House strategy to portray Iraq elections, as well as this whole notion of spreading democracy throughout the world, ending tyranny, and something that is a realistic goal, because so many people say that they believe that this lofty language puts the president's agenda in doubt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Democracy is a, you know, progress -- you'll see progress toward a goal. There won't be instant democracy. And I remind people that our own country is a work in progress. You know, we declared all people equal. And yet, all people weren't treated equally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The president, of course, is referring to the history of slavery and segregation in this country. The president has not always really shared a very close relationship with African-American leaders here, at least for his first term, many of them disagreeing with his domestic policy.
The president, in an effort really to make amends there, the last couple of days there and today, meeting with prominent African- American leaders to try to bridge the gap there.
The president also making good on his word today, Rick. He is traveling and getting his message out when it comes to health care issues. The president says he will be crossing the country to try to spread forward his message, the need for Social Security reform, tax reform, as well as health care reform -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Suzanne Malveaux, following things there for us from the White House on what was a somewhat surprisingly lengthy news conference at the White House today. We thank you, Suzanne -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And as we said, the vote taking place on the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state. That's taking place right now on the floor of the U.S. Senate. We will check in with that after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Three major stories developing this morning that we are watching, all at the same time.
First, let's go live to the floor of the U.S. Senate, the vote taking place on whether to confirm Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state. About a dozen Democrats expected to vote against that confirmation, and yet she is expected to be approved and become the next U.S. secretary of state.
SANCHEZ: Also, this story that we're following for you this morning. Tragedy out in California. As many as three trains and a car end up in a collision. First, it was a commuter train that apparently hit a car and after that apparently had a problem on the rails and ended up in a collision with two other cars.
There you see one of them now, one of trains that we're talking about. It was a Union Pacific locomotive that also ended up on its side.
Here's the latest word that we've gotten from officials who held a news conference just moments ago. They're telling us there in Los Angeles, as they continue to investigate, that they can now confirm nine fatalities as a result of this crash. And they're also saying as many as 200 people were injured. Many of those have already been treated. Others have been sent to the hospital. Ongoing story. We're on top of it for you.
KAGAN: Also, the pictures coming out of western Iraq. We're just getting these pictures in to us from the western part of Iraq. This is the -- concerning the helicopter crash taking place earlier today, this crash taking place. Thirty-one Marines believed to have died with personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Just getting these pictures from the site, as they try to figure out what happened.
As we know, the helicopter was transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division. A search and rescue team is on the scene and is trying to bring in new pictures and information.
SANCHEZ: Let's go now over to David Haffenreffer. He's following the markets and seeing how things are going in business news for us.
David, what have you got?
(STOCK REPORT)
SANCHEZ: David, we thank you for bringing us up to date on that.
KAGAN: A lot going on this morning, a lot to stay tuned with Wolf Blitzer. He'll be with you after the break, but that's going to do it for us.
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez.
KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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