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Six Dead, 146 Hospitalized After Amtrak Crash; Christie on the Campaign Trail. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 13, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: All the Arab states are quite disturbed by the U.S. -- what they see the U.S. getting closer and closer to their traditional enemy which is Iran.

[06:30:04] King Salman hasn't even come up with a traditional excuse of not being well. He says he's not coming because he has to supervise the cease-fire in Yemen.

The king of Saudi Arabia is not supervising any cease-fires. He's not coming because he doesn't want to come. And he's sending a signal he's unhappy with the Obama administration.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: About Iran and about Yemen?

GHOSH: About Iran primarily. Yemen is a piece of that because the Houthis who have taken over much of the country are seen as a cat's paw for Iran. Iran is at the center of this discussion. And the Saudis are being a little petulant.

CAMEROTA: How big of a problem is this? We have a few seconds left.

GHOSH: Well, it shows there is a bridge that needs to be rebuilt with the Saudis, for all, they are the U.S.'s longest standing allies in that part of the world. And it is a problem not really at an operational level but at a political level.

CAMEROTA: All right. Peter Beinart, Bobby Ghosh, thanks so much for all the insight. Nice to see you this morning.

Alright. We want to go back to Chris who is, of course, at the scene of that train derailment -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Rene Marsh and I are here getting new details about the investigation. We're going to give you the latest developments on what happened when this train went off the tracks here in Philadelphia.

Stay with us because federal investigators are still working the scene very hard. There are hundreds of rescues out there still to be done. They still have accounted for anybody.

So, we're going to get you caught up on the investigation and the latest, Rene Marsh and I. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a level 3 mass casualty incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crawl forward, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:35] CUOMO: Alright. We're live in Philadelphia. I'm Chris Cuomo. This is Rene Marsh. We're going to give you the latest on investigations going on right now.

Let me get you just up to speed on this Amtrak crash. There are certainly five dead, 140 or more were taken to area hospitals. After this Amtrak train going from Washington, D.C. to New York City derailed.

There were about 243 people, passengers and crew, onboard. The pictures tell the story here. Just so many cars mangled. Seven cars in all. The FBI has been brought in, the NTSB is here, Federal Railroad Administration officials are going to have a team here. We'll be talking about the investigation more in just a moment.

But you have to know that there are hundreds working the scene right now. People are still unaccounted for. And they don't know why this happened. To be sure because the tracks are in ribbons, there will be a suspension of service indefinitely between Philadelphia and New York.

There's a special hotline set up for people who need information on friends and family that were onboard this train. That number is 1- 800-523-9101 -- 523-9101. That's the 1-800 number.

The big question here is of course why. But it's so early. And as I said the NTSB is deploying a go-team. They're going to come to the crash site this morning.

But let's bring in Rene Marsh because we know there have been hundreds, there are over 100 -- if we show you this is the scene right now from the air, on the ground there hard to pick out well over 100 firefighters and other first responders. There are dozens of rescue crews going through it. They haven't accounted for everybody.

My understanding is the nature of the wreckage is making it difficult for them to assess who else may be there, is that right?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. We just got here on the scene, Chris, I overheard some crime scene investigators talking about the fact that, you know, they were going to be tasked with flipping up some of these cars to document the scene. And they were giving fair warning that once you do that you could find bodies underneath.

So, we did hear the mayor say just that that he cannot say definitively this was as of 1:00 this morning, but he could not say definitively that everyone had been accounted for. They were still going through the manifest. We did get short time ago some details from the Department of Transportation that just really kind of illustrates the destruction that we're looking at here. Those live pictures. According to the Department of Transportation all seven cars as we know were derailed.

An engine, two of the cars were upright, three were on their side, one was nearly on the roof -- on its roof. And one was leaning very hard. So, that's what the scene looks like behind us.

CUOMO: One of the people working the scene relayed the idea that there's a whiplash effect to this and how the cars are configured and the type of damage on each actually tells the story to them about the translation of momentum off the tracks. You know, what we call the derailment. Obviously people are talking about speed. And there is a curve here.

But two important factors, the first one is even though the trains can travel in excess of 100 miles an hour in this northern corridor, that probably wasn't the case here because this is a commercial and residential area and that's relevant, right?

MARSH: Absolutely. As you mentioned it can go up to 100, 110 miles per hour. But when you're coming through an area like this, I mean, it's residential mixed with commercial, you're going to have a speed limit that is well below 100 miles per hour.

CUOMO: And they weren't at a dead run either, right? I mean, they hadn't left the station that long ago in terms of building up speed. That will be relevant also, right?

MARSH: Right. That will also be relevant. And what's going to be key when these investigators are able to pull out those event recorders, very similar to what we talk about the black boxes.

CUOMO: Just like planes.

MARSH: Exactly. It will be able to tell how fast was this train traveling, were brakes applied, at what point were the brakes applied, all that kind of detail will be on the event recorders.

CUOMO: And they weren't positive but early assessment was they had the conductor, the motor men, they had the driver there to be able to do those interviews.

Now, 1943, one of the deadliest crashes in this country's history, derailments, crashes, whatever you want to call it. It went off the tracks here, 79 people killed. But even in that one, it wasn't definitively about speed. There was something called a journal box that had overheated below a train.

[06:40:00] So, just because there's a curve doesn't mean it's all about speed.

MARSH: Absolutely. And when you talk to investigators, crash investigators specifically, they always say there's never just one incident that caused this accident. It's usually a series of events. Was there error on behalf of crew member onboard? We don't know. But that's why those interviews are going to be so critical. That's why in looking at the health of the track, the health of the train will be so critical to see what were the issues that played into whatever happened here at 9:30 last night.

CUOMO: One of the guys working the scene as Rene says it was the middle of the night when this happened. So they were going through the dark and all he could relay is this was bad, bad, bad, bad. He just kept repeating it. And the idea was because of the dark, they couldn't believe they weren't finding more dead as they went through. That's why they're continuing to comb right now, because for so many to have walked away from something like this, when you look at the cars, it's amazing.

But you'll stay up on the investigation. We'll get the developments to you as we learn and confirm them for ourselves.

But, Michaela, I have to tell you it's horrible there's been a loss of life. We may learn about more. There were people who were very badly injured. Over 100, 140 went to the hospital.

But when you look at these cars, Mick, you don't need to be an expert to understand how bad this could have been.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think a lot of those survivors right now are having a moment considering that that they were very, very fortunate to walk away.

Alright. Chris, thank you so much for that, and Rene.

Do stay with us here at CNN for all the breaking developments from the deadly train derailment in Philadelphia.

But, first for you, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie one-on- one with Jake Tapper. Why is he taking a swipe at Jew Bush? And why he -- what he now says about running for president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:37] PEREIRA: I want to update you now on our breaking news. And we're showing you some live aerial images from that scene in Philadelphia. At least five people are dead in the Amtrak derailment outside Philly. About 140 others were sent to the hospital. Fire officials say six of those injured are critical.

The Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York when it derailed in Philadelphia. The mayor of that city says that what caused the derailment is still unclear at this hour.

CAMEROTA: Well, a big blow for President Obama's Trans-Pacific trade deal. Senate Democrats lining up to block debate on a bill that would pave the way to a 12-nation partnership. The White House quickly convening a meeting with 10 Democrats to try to find a way to move that deal forward. The objections centered around concerns that past trade deals hurt the U.S. economy and led to jobs moving overseas.

PEREIRA: The author of the NFL's Deflategate report, Attorney Ted Wells saying he was not pressured by the league and his investigation was truly independent.

Patriots quarterback, meanwhile, Tom Brady, has until 5:00 p.m. Thursday to appeal his four-game suspension. According to fanatics.com sales of Tom Brady merchandise has spiked 100 percent since Deflategate suspension was announced.

CAMEROTA: Funny how that works.

We want to get right now to our meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at the latest forecast around the country, in particular Philadelphia.

Chad, how is it all looking?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it looks pretty good for Philadelphia. Cooler, that's good news obviously, you don't want to be out there trying to search in that 90-degree weather we had yesterday.

Big story though overnight was Houston. Severe flooding still occurring right now and it's dark. Be careful right now as you drive around Houston this morning. There's a lot of water in the streets. There's water across a lot of Texas, 6 to 10 inches of rainfall in the past 48 hours.

Now, the cool air has moved through the northeast, taking temperatures from where we were yesterday in the 80s, 89 in D.C., today only 73. Same story for Philadelphia about a 10-degree drop from where you were yesterday. New York City though cool day today, 68, 73, 72 a delightful looking weekend. Storms in the plains for the weekend. We'll update that as it gets closer, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chad, thanks so much for that forecast. Meanwhile, the breaking news: investigators are trying to figure out what caused this Amtrak train to derail.

So, we will go back out to Chris who is live in Philadelphia for us with the very latest.

PEREIRA: First though, one-on-one with Chris Christie. What the New Jersey governor told our CNN -- our Jake Tapper about a possible run for the White House and why he is not Jeb Bush.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:19] CAMEROTA: All right. We'll head back to our breaking coverage in Philadelphia in a moment.

But first, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in New Hampshire trying to generate some much-needed buzz for a potential White House run.

CNN's Jake Tapper sat down with Christie. In the interview, Christie tries to create separation from Jeb Bush who recently came out in support of his brother's decision to invade Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Knowing then what we know now, no WMD in Iraq, et cetera, was that the right decision to go to war?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: No, it wasn't. Now, I think President Bush made the best decision he could at the time given that his intelligence community was telling him there was WMD and there were other threats right there in Iraq. But I don't think you can honestly say that if we knew then that there was no WMD, that the country should have gone to war.

So, my answer would be no. But I think, you know, what we got to avoid is continuing to go backwards in this country. We need a forward looking foreign policy that talks about how to reassert American authority and influence around the world.

But I want to directly answer your question because that's what I do. If we knew then what we know now and I were the president of the United States, I wouldn't have gone to war. But, you know, we don't get to replay history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Jake also had a chance to talk to Governor Christie with his wife, Mary Pat, by his side. They talked about the troubles facing urban America, the supporters who turn their backs on them when times got tough and how their children feel about their father possibly running for the highest office in the land.

Alright.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, I know he hasn't announced anything, but theoretically, just play along with me here, theoretically, you also would have a job. You also would have a role of prominence. You would be first lady. Is that anything you've even thought about?

MARY PAT CHRISTIE, FIRST LADY OF NEW JERSEY: Oh, no. I really haven't. No. You know, I've worked my whole life, and just love being with Chris on what we're doing now. Just starting this conversation, and hearing people's reactions. So, I kind of roll with things.

TAPPER: One of the things that's emerged this past year or so has been a tremendous amount of unrest in urban environments. You're a former U.S. attorney, but by the same token, you have -- you have reached out to the African-American community. And there are a lot of people in the African-American community who look at law enforcement, especially police officers, with mistrust. And with the advent of cell phone cameras, we're seeing sometimes they have reason to have that mistrust.

GOV. CHRISTIE: Sure. Well, listen, we have a lot of work to do, Jake, on this issue. That's why I'm an advocate for body cameras for law enforcement. I think law enforcement should want to have what they do recorded for their own safety and protection and for the safety and protection of the people they serve.

[06:55:07] You know, in Camden, which you know for a long time was the most dangerous city in America. We've really had a renaissance there not only in terms of reduction of crime, the last two years murders are down 55 percent in Camden, but also a new approach to policing.

We're really doing community policing in Camden. We have more police officers on the street and on foot and on bicycle. They're interacting with the public in a much different way and we're seeing the police force and community, predominantly minority community in Camden, really working together to reduce crime.

I think Camden is a great example of what can be done across the country. But it's going to take work.

TAPPER: I know you haven't announced any decision yet when it comes to whether or not you're going to run for president, but you have said in the past this is the kind of thing you're going to sit down with your whole family and have a conversation. How do the kids feel about the possibility of you running?

GOV. CHRISTIE: It varies, depending on the kid, right. We've already had a lot of these conversations. Our oldest son, Andrew, is very positive and enthusiastic about it and it's been encouraging to me.

And, you know, our daughter Sara is more like, well, how is this going to affect me? And she's more concerned about how it's going to affect her day-to-day life at Notre Dame.

And our two younger children are just focused on one thing, are we not going to see you and mom?

And so, our job and I think part of Mary Pat's decision about leaving her full-time job as we consider this is to give a sense of reassurance to the kids, to let them know we're going to be there.

TAPPER: And one last question for you, you've been there when there were all these donors in 2011 begging him to run for president. Now, is it a little more difficult, little bumpier since the bridge thing? And I'm wondering if it's tough on you to see people that you -- that once were supportive of your husband --

M.P. CHRISTIE: Right.

TAPPER: -- not being supportive.

M.P. CHRISTIE: I mean, it certainly is disappointing when you had throngs of people encouraging you to do this. And maybe the enthusiasm isn't as crazy as it was.

But what I will tell you because I do make a lot of phone calls is that everyone always says that I know he'd be a great president. And when you have those conversations, it kind of -- it's reassuring. And you know that deep down, they know he can do the job. And certainly believe in his ability.

GOV. CHRISTIE: And I think, you know, part of this is, you know, it's going to be hard no matter what. So, I get lots of people that come to us say you should have done it four years ago. And I tell you one thing I know for sure, I wasn't ready to be president four years ago. And so, the worst thing wasn't not running. It was if I'd run --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: We do have some breaking news to bring you right now. These are officials at Temple University Hospital updating us on the injured that they are caring for there. Let's listen.

HERBERT CUSHING, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: -- treated them. One of the patients who arrived here died from their injuries. We're not able to release any additional information about that patient at this time. Twenty-five of those patients were treated and released. And 25 are still at the hospital.

The entire team responded wonderfully. Most of the injuries were muscular skeletal, so arms and legs and ribs. And I'm extremely proud of how all the folks at temple hospital did.

I'll take a few questions.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

CUSHING: No, it's an extra person.

REPORTER: It is now six?

CUSHING: That's a new person. Yes.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

CUSHING: I can't say. Next of kin doesn't know yet.

REPORTER: Well, can you tell us (INAUDIBLE)

CUSHING: Yes, a lot of the folks were from out of town. So we have special arrangements with our patient engagement folks to make sure the families are taken care of. And Amtrak I know helped out last night. They helped with transportation and housing.

REPORTER: How about the extent of the injuries?

CUSHING: Yes, most of the injuries were fractures. So rib fractures, leg and arm fractures.

REPORTER: How many remain in critical condition?

CUSHING: Yes, we have eight in critical condition still. Three went to the operating room last night, immediately.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

CUSHING: Yes, many folks came in on their own. And we called in extra surgeons and nurses to make sure we had a full team here. Lots of trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, everyone responded wonderfully. They really stepped up and did a great job. The nurses, radiologists, all the technicians and laboratory folks did a splendid job of stepping up and coming.

REPORTER: Can you give us a sense of what it was like inside the E.R. when it was a chaotic scene?

CUSHING: It was busy, but it was not chaotic. Folks were coming in and we triaged them as they came in and took care of the sickest folks first. We had a medical and surgical side. On the medical side, most of the folks did well. Most of the injuries were not medical in nature. There were some people with chest pain who did just fine. Most of the issues were in the surgical and trauma side.