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New Day Saturday

FBI to Join Amtrak Crash Investigation; What's Next for the Boston Bomber?; Clintons Earn $30M Since January 2014; NTSB: Object May Have Struck Derailed Train; Amtrak Crash Triggers D.C. Blame Game; Morsy Gets Death Sentence in Jailbreak Trial; ISIS Battles for Key Iraqi City. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 16, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you so much for sharing your company with us this morning. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

PAUL: New development this morning into the Amtrak crash investigation that we want to talk to you about. An FBI forensic team has now been called into help, and because of this -- this is the reason.

Take a look at your screen. That white circular mark, it's inside the red ring. The head of the NTSB now says that mark may have been the cause by some sort of projectile hitting the train prior to the derailment.

BLACKWELL: You know, we're also learning new details about the schedule for Brandon Bastion, the engineer. There were also delays earlier route in that day -- on that day rather that could have cut into his rest periods. We'll talk more about that in a moment.

But, first, let's go to Erin McLaughlin. She's live in Philadelphia, following this investigation.

Erin, what have you learned this morning?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, investigators trying to solve this mystery are pointing to two knew pieces of evidence that indicate Amtrak 188 may have been hit by some sort of projectile prior to crashing.

They interviewed the assistant conductor of Amtrak 188 who says that prior to the crash, she heard a radio transmission that took place between the Amtrak dispatcher and the engineer of a nearby SEPTA train. The engineer of that SEPTA train saying that his wind shield had been struck by some sort of projectile. She says what she then heard from 32-year-old Brandon Bostian tell the Amtrak dispatcher that Amtrak 188 had been hit as well.

They're also taking a look at that windshield -- a circular marking on the lower left-hand side that called in the FBI for forensic analysis. Now, adding to this mystery, we're hearing from passengers from a

third train that was in that area that night, at around the same time, we spoke to passenger Kam Desai who was on board an Amtrak Acela train. He says that prior to the Amtrak 188 derailment, about 15 minutes beforehand, he said that his train was hit by some sort of a projectile. It struck the window right in front of him and he said he was terrified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAM DESAI, PASSENGER ON STRUCK ACELA TRAIN: I think all of us were definitely alarmed. And we never heard that loud of a sound before on the train. We take the train pretty often between D.C. and New York. So, it was definitely frightening and we didn't know what was going on. As soon as we stood up and saw that there was this glass shatter that hadn't gone all the way through. And the conductor sounded like it wasn't too big of a deal, so we really didn't think anything of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Now, initially, authorities have discounted these reports of projectiles hitting other trains as unrelated. But clearly, this morning, investigators taking a look at this very seriously.

BLACKWELL: All right. Erin McLaughlin in Philadelphia for us, thank you so much.

Let's talk more with our CNN safety analyst, David Soucie, back on this with us.

David, I wonder how often are these trains hit by these projectiles and is it enough to see some relationship between a rock, a brick, maybe, and the increase in speed?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, to your first question, it happens a couple times a month, there's some reports of this happening. And what they've done to respond to that is over the years, the windshields that are on the front of trains have been improved and improved, where now it's a laminated windshield, it's really bulletproof. So you can see that that object, even though being hit at what could have been as much as 100 miles an hour, still didn't penetrate through the windshield. So, there's that.

As far as a distraction, the cause of the distraction, certainly, it would be distracting to have something hit at that speed and that -- something large enough to make that kind of a dent would be very distracting.

At the wrong time, it could have delayed his response in reducing the throttles. I think it's still a stretch to say that's a causal factor. It was certainly a part of what happened here, though.

BLACKWELL: So, David, I think for folks in the control room, if we had that map of this route, not the entire northeast corridor, but just the smaller section, in which we see that the last station that Brandon Bostian rest, and then headed to this turn and then headed north. According to the NTSB, he's been extremely cooperative, but he doesn't remember anything after ringing the bell after leaving that last station. We then head for a couple miles to the turn.

And we've learned that after that at least according to "The New York Times," typically, they speed up to maybe 100 miles per hour, after making that turn. Is it possible to think that this item that hit the windshield could have distracted him to the point that he thought he'd already made the turn and it was appropriate to get up to 100 miles per hour?

[07:05:00] SOUCIE: Well, to answer that question, you really have to look at the training that goes into being an engineer. It's not like you get a license to be an engineer and then they throw you on any track that you want to be.

The labor union behind the engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, what they assure, and Amtrak assures, before you take on a new track, you have to have training on that track. You have to memorize every turn. You have to memorize every speed limit. It's like saying you can't take a highway in a car until you memorize every aspect of that route.

So, you're certified for each route before you take it. Certainly, at this point, knowing that he had done his route for a long time -- well, not too long actually on this particular route, he'd been an engineer for four years. He would not have been given the go-ahead unless he had that memorized.

So, to think that a stone hitting or something would have distracted him and reverse all that memorization and suddenly just forgot and hit that forward, there's a lot of safe guards that go in place as far as the training goes in this -- although they can be improved, as we talk about with the positive train controls as well.

BLACKWELL: But where were they? Because we know he pulled brake just seconds before getting to that turn and then derailing. It took obviously some time to get up to the speed that it was unsafe before they got above 100 miles per hour?

SOUCIE: It did. There was obviously some kind of disconnect, whether it was in his mind, from the stone, from whatever happened, or if there was a literal mechanical disconnect between the throttles and what was going on with that engine. These are electric locomotives. So, we're talk about a rheostat. It controls the amount of current through a relay system, back to the engine, to apply that 8,600 horsepower engine, or motor actually, it's an electric motor, to thrust forward.

Electric motors are extremely responsive. It's not like a diesel engine in a truck or in a car. This is immediately responsive, applying that thrust and that much force directly to the train. So, accelerating from 70 to 100 miles an hour, those algebra problems that we used to do in the day. But how fast does it take a train to get from this point to that point, but when you have that kind of power, it doesn't take much and it happens very quickly to go that extra 30 miles an hour once that inertia is already in play. BLACKWELL: So, this morning, we spoke with the Washington branch of

the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. So, a union leader, I want you to listen to what he describes as Bostian's schedule. Let's talk about it after that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL EDLER, VETERAN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER (via telephone): In the course of that 61 minutes, he may well have had, as often with the case, especially in a situation like this, had to do paperwork, had to talk to officials about the trip down and other things that would have further eroded that time, in addition to the fact that there are distances that have to be walked.

So, he lost a third -- he lost roughly a third of his downtime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, the 61 minutes that Mr. Edler is referring to is after the trip south and before it getting on that train to head north. Sixty-one minutes, Mr. Edler said he lost a third of it.

Is that enough time between these trips?

SOUCIE: No, it's not enough time -- well, it is enough time if you really had that. But I don't think if you get that, but the BLET is working very hard to improve that and the working conditions and hours that these trainmen and engineers are having to face.

BLACKWELL: All right. David Soucie, CNN safety analyst, thank you so much for helping us understand it.

SOUCIE: Thank you.

PAUL: Now, the Amtrak crash is raising some new concerns, too, about how safe our rails transportation system is as a whole. The NTSB says if the safest system known as positive train control had been installed, Tuesday's Amtrak crash probably would not have happened.

The cost of that system, though, is not cheap, which is part of the problem here. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, it costs about $52,000 per mile of track. All of this pumping a major fight on Capitol Hill.

Let's bring in CNN's national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty at the White House.

Sunlen, there are a lot of congressmen are talking about this, this week. What about President Obama? What's he saying this morning?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right, Christi. There is a lot of finger-pointing going on on Capitol Hill, over big question is, does the federal spending levels, did that impact this derailment in any way? And President Obama himself did jump into the fray, repeating his calls for increased spending on infrastructure. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are a growing country with growing economy. We need to invest in the infrastructure that keeps us that way, and not just when something bad happens like a bridge collapse or train derailment, but all the time. That's what great nations do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:10:02] SERFATY: Now, Democrats argue that insufficient funding really led to this full installation of the safety system known as positive train control, which was not activated and could have potentially prevented this derailment.

Now, Republicans have been pushing back on this all week, pointing to technical issues with the Federal Communications Commission that delayed that activation of that safety system. Republicans say it's not about funding.

How Transportation Chairman Bill Schuster, he told CNN this week that it's shameless that the Democrats are trying to tie this issue of the derailment and funding together. He says that Democrats are exploiting a tragedy, Christi, to get more funding.

PAUL: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, we appreciate it. Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLACKWELL: The breaking news out of Egypt, former President Mohamed Morsy has been sentenced to death for his role in a 2011 prison break. Now Mr. Morsy's name and other defendants are going on to the highest legal authority in Egypt for confirmation of that sentence.

Let's bring in CNN correspondent Ian Lee.

Ian, good morning.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor.

A hundred and five people, including Mohamed Morsy will receive the death sentence today. I asked Mohamed Morsy's lawyer point blank if he thought he received a fair trial. He did not answer the question directly, only saying that the former president does not believe this is a legitimate court to begin with. That he shouldn't be charged in the first place.

Well, now, this case goes to Egypt's grant mufti. This is the highest legal authority to interpret Islam in the country. He will go over the evidence. He will offer his own legal opinion.

Then on June 2nd, this same judge will look at that opinion and look at the evidence again, whether to confirm or not Mohamed Morsy's death sentence.

But even if he does confirm this death sentence, there is still a lengthy appeals process. He still has two more appeals. So, this case isn't over.

BLACKWELL: All right, technical problem there with Ian Lee's live shot. But we got the gist of the story there. What happens next, it has to be confirmed, and there is still this lengthy, probably two- year appeals process for the former president of Egypt.

Our thanks to Ian Lee.

PAUL: Ian Lee, thank you.

So one of the other questions a lot of people are asking this morning, can the healing begin finally now in Boston? And what happened? Now that that jury sentenced the Boston marathon bomber to death, where would Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spend his time behind bars and what will that be like?

BLACKWELL: Plus, big money for Bill and Hillary Clinton, more than $30 million in speaking fees over 18 months. Could this financial windfall hurt the former secretary of state's winning the nomination and, of course, the White House?

PAUL: And some really shocking video here. A young girl, look at this, dragged by her school bus. You see it's caught on camera here. But there was a quick thinking motorist who was able to stop this before it got worse. We'll show you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:20] PAUL: Sixteen minutes past the hour right now.

Sentenced to death, the city of Boston is reacting this morning to the jury's decision in the trial of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, of course. Jurors unanimously convicted him for six of the 17 counts that carry the potential of the capital punishment. A date for the formal sentencing has not been set just yet. But we are seeing new responses from those affected by the attacks that killed three people and an MIT officer.

CNN national correspondent Deb Feyerick is live in Boston this morning.

And I'm wondering, Deb, what conversations are people having about this, this morning?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's very interesting, you have to keep in mind that this death sentence came down two years and one month after the actual marathon bombing. For some people, there's a sentence of relief that justice was served pipe want to show you some of the headlines in the papers today.

This is "The Boston Herald." It says, "Justice, his own words, 'an eye for an eye'." And then this one, "The Boston Globe", "Sentenced to Death", Tsarnaev gets the ultimate penalty for bombing the marathon.

The jurors looked at this and said this was a terror attack that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was the worst of the worst, and the only penalty was death. They sentenced him after 14 1/2 hours. Two deaths on six of the count, the counts specifically relating to the bomb that he himself dropped at the Forum Restaurant. The one that he placed behind the 8-year-old Martin Richard and the one that he placed behind Chinese student Lingzi Lu.

Now, the mood as I say, some really did feel that justice was served. Others are concerned that by dragging this appeals process out, that it's just going to be decades before anything happens in it. He'll just be sitting there with his name coming up every time there's an appeals process.

Some people didn't know quite what to feel, but here's some of the reactions yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURI SCHERM, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: I'm sure at one time in his life, he was a very lovely, caring young man. What he turned into, obviously, was -- we know what he turned into. He turned into a monster.

Why did that happen? We'll never know. I -- my feelings on him are nothing but -- what can I say?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And as for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, he left court yesterday under heavy guard. He was returned to the prison where he's been staying, it's unclear whether he'll go to Indiana and be sent to Florence, Colorado, to the supermax prison there. That's to be determined in the next couple months -- Christi.

PAUL: All right. Deb Feyerick, we appreciate it, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may be the first man to get the federal death penalty for terrorism since the September 11 attacks. But he will not be alone on federal death row.

Plus, why is there an automatic appeal? We'll ask our legal experts to weigh in just a moment.

But next, the fight for Ramadi, ISIS' big push to take over this key Iraqi city. How could it change the balance of power in that region?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:23:05] PAUL: Twenty-two minutes past the hour.

And this morning, ISIS is battling Iraqi forces in Ramadi. That is a key city in central Iraq, as it tries to expand its territory. You see it here on the map.

The terror group already has the police headquarters, we understand, the main mosque, the provincial government building is under its control. The U.S. is expediting, meanwhile, it's weapons shipments to the country to help Iraqis push ISIS back.

I want to bring in CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

General, so let's talk about the U.S. involvement here. This expediting of weapons, does this hurl even further into this battle?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, let's talk about what the weapons are, if we could, Christi, because I think it's critically important for your listeners to understand.

What we are shipping, what we are expediting are a weapons system called AT-4s. It's a small shoulder-fired anti-tank missile. And it's relatively inexpensive.

The reason they need that is because of increasing reliance by ISIS on using armored delivery means of BBIEDs or explosive devices. They have gone into the cities with Humvees, large trucks, and they've done it mostly under the cover of dust storms, where they really run perimeters, run through checkpoints. Those are very difficult to defend against. It's a suicide attack. Though these AT-4s will stop those attacks in this area. It's an adaptation to a tactic that the Iraqi forces need to have.

PAUL: And it's in addition, we should point out to, the eight new coalition airstrikes the coalition strikes that have happened in the last 24 hours, I believe. How effective are those airstrikes thus far and do you think ground forces are needed?

HERTLING: Yes, the air strikes in and of themselves are effective when they can get in. But I think they've been hindered by the weather. I experienced this when I was in northern Iraq.

[07:25:00] There are just periods of time where you can't rely on air. And I think ISIS is taking advantage of this during these high winds and dust storms. Once the sun comes out, there's all indications that today is going to be a sunny day.

But you can see this in the films, the red dust that's constantly going around.

PAUL: Yes.

HERTLING: But once the sun comes out, I think any movement by ISIS will come under attack by coalition air forces.

PAUL: General, U.S. officials described Ramadi as a 50/50 situation. Much of the city center is controlled by Iraqi forces, they say. ISIS is in the suburbs.

So, how do you help Iraqis who are surrounded by ISIS?

HERTLING: One of the things, Christi, is to tamp down the propaganda. You remember a few weeks ago, everyone was saying Ramadi was falling. In and of itself, that causes Iraqi security forces to run away, to desert. They're concerned about things that they've seen in other areas.

It also causes the huge humanitarian crisis, where people are leaving the city. This will be a continuous battle. It will be a give and take. There will be some exchanges of buildings, some exchanges of territory.

But I'm pretty confident quite truthfully that the Anbari tribes and some of the Iraqi security forces that are being reinforced now from Baghdad will take this tack. The Anbar operations center, which is in the middle of town is still in control, but truthfully, it's going to be a tough fight, and it's going to be contested.

PAUL: All right. General Mark Hertling, always appreciate your perspective. Thank you, sir.

HERTLING: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: And this Sunday, CNN is taking a unique look inside of ISIS. Who are they? What do they really want? Fareed Zakaria hosts "Blindsided: How ISIS Shook the World." That is tomorrow night, Sunday night, 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: All right. Looking ahead to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, how long will it be before a death sentence is carried out against the Boston marathon bomber? You know, these processes can go on for decades. Will he ever see the death penalty? And what's next in the short term? We'll get answers from our legal panel, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, mortgage rates ended the week mixed. Here's your look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:04] BLACKWELL: Bottom of the hour now. Good to have you with us on NEW DAY.

We're following new developments in this week's deadly Amtrak derailment. The FBI has been called in to investigate now. And the NTSB says it believes the train may have been struck by some sort of object before it flew off the tracks.

This is just one of three possible projectile incidents. Look at the screen. You'll see them in the red circles on three separate trains. The incidents took place of 30 minutes within each other Tuesday night. Six people were killed and two people died later at the hospital when train 188 derailed. More on this story throughout the morning.

Some victims of the Boston bombings say they feel they can move forward now that the bomber has been sentence. A jury unanimously agreed on the death penalty of 6 of 17 counts that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of. Six of those counts related to the second of two pressure cookers placed by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The formal sentencing date has not yet been set.

PAUL: But a lot of people are wondering what is next near this case.

We want to discuss this further with criminal defense attorney and HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson, and CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins. Thank you both for being with us.

Joey, I want to ask you, first and foremost -- why is there an automatic appeal setup for cases such as this?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Christi. Good morning, Mel.

You know, the death penalty is something that is so significant. It is the ultimate. And so, as the result of that, there's an appellate process. Even before you get there, what you're going to see is you're going to see a flurry of post-trial motions by the attorneys.

What does that mean? The first thing is inside baseball. There may be a number of technical things that went on in that courtroom that are not so much exposed to the public and to us.

But that the attorneys for him feel are problematic enough to race to the judge, to get the judge to perhaps vacate the sentence some way. Now, certainly, that's a Hail Mary, but it's something they're going to do.

Another thing they're going to do by way of appeals is, remember, they wanted, that is the defense, that case moved out of Boston. Felt it was too close to home. Couldn't get a fair trial there. And as a result of that, they expressed upon the judge. The judge moved this case, the judge said no, went to the appellate court, was confirmed, were having it here.

So, I think you'll see appeals predicated upon. So, you'll see appeals predicated upon the fact that we need more time, wanted the judge to have more time, the judge said, you know, be ready, we're starting it. The judge granted an initial delay of the trial.

So, there are a number of appellate things that will occur. But remember, in a death penalty case, the appellate process is very significant because we're talking about someone dying. And if they're going to die, you want to make sure that they're doing it, and that no stone is unturned, their rights have been protected, and that everyone has gotten it right.

PAUL: Rights have been protected, that they are truly guilty of what they are accused of doing. In this case, that isn't in question, even to the defense's argument, he was there. They know he did what he did.

But, Mel, I think part of what is so frustrating to people who do believe in the death penalty process is the length of time it takes for that process to carry out. If he can be in prison for decades, waiting this out -- why?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Yes, actually, Christi, he will be in prison for decades. We have not executed somebody at the federal level since 2003. And keep in mind, that Timothy McVeigh actually stopped the appeal process.

So, you know, that had a very significant impact on the fact that they could move forward with an execution. Joey did an excellent job summarizing many of the bases on which they're going to appeal this case -- the venue stuff, the fact that they wanted more time.

The first set of appeals, Christi, will all be about the motions and decisions that are were made about that trial. Now, that's one set of appeals that goes through the first -- that the first U.S. circuit of appeals court in Boston then to the Supreme Court.

[07:35:00] Once they exhaust those, guess what? They get a second bite of the apple, and they can appeal based on anything else, the fact that the death penalty is cruel, the fact that lethal injections should be halted.

So this could go on for years and years and year, Christi. And mark my words, it will.

PAUL: And now, you talked about last hour, the Supreme Court and the decision they have to make about some of these arguments that the death penalty is inhuman in a way that it is administered.

So, Joey, if the Supreme Court makes some sort of decision, could that take the death penalty off the table altogether here?

JACKSON: You know, it could. But here's why I think this is a little different, and Timothy McVeigh is mentioned did stop the appellate process. But we have to understand, it was relatively quick.

The Oklahoma City bombings happened in 1995. He was sentenced and convicted in 1997. And he died four years after that. So that was relatively brief.

Prior to him, there was actually in federal prison and it happened in eight years. So, you know, it could certainly go quicker than that. But remember, what's in front of the Supreme Court now deals with the mix of chemicals for which you are sentenced to die. Dying is by lethal injection, and there's a problem, based upon the drugs, based upon the availability of them. And the issue is whether it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

I certainly suspect that that issue will be resolved by the Supreme Court well before we're looking at his date of execution. So, it may not be an issue in terms of the availability of drugs, the nature of whether it's cruel and unusual, and how a person is put to death.

So, depending upon what he does in terms of stopping appeals. Not stopping appeals. Moving forward, the arguments he makes, it could be long or it could be relatively short.

PAUL: All righty. And lastly, a report says that the appeals process -- gosh, they cost $10 million? Mel, what's that about, $10 million?

ROBBINS: Well, you know, listen, one of the reasons so many people are against the death penalty is because it's going to cost more money to actually kill Tsarnaev than if we had locked him away. And the reason why is you have to house them in special facilities which cost more money, and you have to pay for the appeals process. There's going to be a brand-new team, Christi, of attorneys that will be assigned to this case because they want a fresh set of eyes.

As Joey has explained, there is issue after issue after issue, no stone will be, you know -- no stone will be left unturned. And they're just going to lawyer this thing until they can't lawyer it anymore. And that's going to cost a lot of money.

PAUL: All righty. Joey Jackson and Mel Robbins, appreciate your insight here. Thank you.

JACKSON: A pleasure. Have a great day, Christi and Mel.

PAUL: Yu too.

BLACKWELL: Look at this, a little girl dragged by her school bus. Look at the top of the screen. The first question is, how could this have happened? But why wasn't it stopped sooner? Witnesses say it went on for at least the length of a football field. We've got more on this disturbing incident.

Plus, the multimillionaire candidate, Hillary Clinton discusses how many millions of dollars she and her husband have made in the year past. We'll get into that and what it meant for her campaign next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:51] BLACKWELL: All right, time now, 7:41 here on the East Coast. We've got two unbelievable pieces of video here out of Atlanta and Louisville.

First up, this video from Atlanta. It shows the scary moment when a freight train hit a city bus. This was on Wednesday. Can you imagine?

One passenger was seriously injured. And according to transportation officials, six people were taken to the hospital, including that driver. Watch it again here. East Point police are looking for the driver of a red pickup who stopped in front of the bus before the crash. That incident is still under investigation.

PAUL: This is horrifying video out of Louisville, Kentucky, that's a little girl there being dragged for about 100 feet by that school bus. A car races alongside trying to get this bus to stop.

Theo Keith from affiliate WAVE has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THEO KEITH, WAVE REPORTER: Surveillance video shows a little girl dragged by her school bus down a residential Valley Station Street. Watch it in real time. And you'll see that red Chevy Camaro speeding up.

ESTHER KARSCHNER, WITNESS: We were just sitting in there, and I've seen this car go flying by.

KEITH: Neighbor Esther Karschner says at first, she thought the Camaro's driver was doing something wrong.

KARSCHNER: The reason why that car was racing was to stop the bus because they'd seen it.

KEITH: The Camaro's driver finally got the bus to stop. And neighbors went running to the girl described, described as being 5 or 6 years old.

KARSCHNER: They had her lying there on the ground and she was conscious.

KEITH: Aerial shows the other students on the bus got transferred to another bus. JPCS now says the incident is under investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just couldn't believe he dragged her from that corner down to here without knowing.

KEITH: Police say the little girl was getting off the school bus when her backpack got stuck in the door of the bus. Neighbors say the dragging went on for at least the length of a football field.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: A witness does say that the girl didn't appear to be badly hurt, thankfully.

BLACKWELL: Wow. A miracle that she's OK.

PAUL: She's OK, yes.

BLACKWELL: We're learning just how much Bill and Hillary Clinton have made in the past year and a half from paid speeches and the sales of Mrs. Clinton's book "Hard Choices." It's a lot. There's a hint for you.

We'll reveal just how much after the break. And what this could mean for Hillary Clinton's White House hopes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a new list of America's wheeziest sneeziest cities. And it takes into account not just pollen but also ozone, because both of those things can make it difficult for people to breathe.

Coming in at number 5, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Then, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Then Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Then, Memphis. And the number one sneeziest, wheeziest cities in the United States is Richmond, Virginia.

But there's sneezing and wheezing going on in more places than just those five cities. Take a look at this map. So, what you see in the green means high levels of rag weed. What you see is red means high levels of ozone and brown means relatively high levels of rag weed and ozone.

[07:45:03] Now, there are medicines to take when you're wheezing and sneezing, and there are also some tips that we can give you. You can put your air conditioner on recirculate. That can help keep the air cleaned. Also, keep your windows closed. Change clothes after being outdoors.

Also wash your hair. Your hair can become a collector of pollen. And do strenuous outdoor activities in the morning when the ozone levels generally tend to be lower.

And National Resources Defense Council says there's a pretty good chance that you live in one of these sneezy, wheezy areas. One in three Americans, they say, live in areas with high pollen counts and high ozone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right. Hillary and Bill Clinton have made more than $30 million since January of last year, $30 million. That's according to a financial disclosure form provided to CNN. And more than 25 million came from paid speeches by both Clintons. Mrs. Clinton has made more than $5 million from her book "Hard Choices."

Let's talk about the money. Let's get into it with CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Also with us, Republican strategist Lisa Boothe.

Maria, I want to start with you. Good morning to both of you.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Victor.

LISA BOOTHE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, I remember back to, oh, I don't know, 2012, and the argument that was made against Mitt Romney.

[07:50:02] Does Hillary Clinton have a Mitt Romney problem? Would this have been OK if we were talking about Mitt Romney then?

CARDONA: Oh, my goodness. No, Victor, and I'm glad you brought that up, because let's make one thing very clear here. Americans, including Democrats, have never begrudged other people making a lot of money.

I even said this when I was talking about Mitt Romney. It wasn't the fact that he made a lot of money, it was -- for him, it was two things. How he made the money by closing factories, breaking down companies and putting people out of work, and the second one is what were the policies that he was advocating if he were to become president?

That is still a huge problem for Republicans. You can't point to one single policy, Victor, today or frankly in the past that Republican nominees or people that have led the Republican party have advocated for that will level the playing field for struggling Americans, working class families and middle class families the same way that Democrats have, including Bill Clinton who frankly raised taxes on millionaires and billionaires and the biggest corporations in this country and that is how he balanced the budget when he was in office. And President Obama has advocated the same policies and Hillary Clinton will advocate the same policies.

Add to that, the fact that Republicans now want to talk about income inequality when they still can't even support minimum wage increases or equal pay for equal work for women. And it's laughable that this would even be an issue for Hillary Clinton, who is going to be the one that will be fighting for middle class and working class Americans.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, Lisa, let's talk about. Americans are aspirational. Everyone likes to plan for a future where they live better than at the moment. What's wrong with Mrs. Clinton living well?

BOOTHE: It's not the wealth that's problematic for Hillary Clinton, the hypocrisy on the issue that is the problem. You know, Hillary Clinton is someone who has called for toppling the 1 percent, but she's part of the 1 percent. She's criticized the pay disparity between CEOs and workers, but she has no problem taking their money or making over $300,000 per speech.

And frankly, it's no wonder that the top 1 percent like Hillary Clinton so much. According to CNBC poll, 53 percent of millionaires would vote for Hillary Clinton because they know she has their best interest at heart.

Look, she does have a Mitt Romney problem, but it's more on the line to the fact that she is seemingly very out of touch. This is someone who said we are dead broke despite an $8 million advance on a book deal leaving the White House. This is one who said she is not like the truly well off, despite amassing over $100 million fortune.

So, it's not the wealth that is problematic for Hillary Clinton, it's the hypocrisy.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let me get to Jeb Bush, because I want to talk about the obviously rough week he has had in answering the question if he would make the decision to go into Iraq. The question was initially asked as knowing what we know now.

But let's listen to the iterations of the answer over the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I would have. So would have Hillary Clinton just to remind everybody.

SEAN HANNITY: In 20/20 hindsight, you would make a different decision?

BUSH: Yes. I don't know what that decision would have been. That's a hypothetical. But the simple fact is, mistakes were made, as they always are in life.

Given the power of looking back and having that, of course, anybody would have made different decisions.

We're all supposed to answer hypothetical questions. Knowing what we know now, what would you have done? I would have not engaged and I would not have gone into Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BLACKWELL: Lisa, if the campaign had to anticipate one question going into this cycle, it would be that question. How could he not have an answer that was clear can concise and something that was understandable from the moment he said it?

BOOTHE: Well, Victor, you're absolutely right. This is the one policy question that he should have absolutely anticipated. And I think it's problematic that he didn't. I think that's why you also saw other candidates like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz quickly distance themselves from Jeb Bush's original answer.

But what I become increasingly frustrated is the fact that Hillary Clinton continues to get a free pass on the policy issues. She's refused to take big stances on trade, which is before Congress right now. She's also flip-flopped on issues like Iraq, immigration, gay marriage and criminal justice. And quite frankly what I think the media should be talking about and what people should be questioning her on her cheerleading and defense of Obama withdrawing troops in Iraq.

BLACKWELL: I know you would like ask to question Hillary Clinton about those items, and we will, but this segment was about Jeb Bush.

Maria, Jeb Bush, in stumbling over this answer -- is it opening the answer to Walker, Rubio and Cruz, or is it he so far ahead in fund- raising that this isn't going to be a big problem?

CARDONA: Of course it opens the door, victor, for all of those other opponents. And, frankly, this puts a new light on the notion of being between Iraq and a hard place.

[07:55:05] And I think -- I actually feel bad for him because he clearly said he doesn't want to criticize his brother or his father, but the fact of the matter is that, you know, this is the third time that we have seen him either waffle or tell us that he -- the first one was he had advisors that were the same ones as his brother has. The second one was when he said to a group of donors that he listens to his brother as his biggest adviser on the Middle East. Both of which are very problematic, not just for the majority of the American people that know going to Iraq was a complete and utter disaster.

BOOTHE: But Hillary voted for it.

CARDONA: Yes, and Hillary apologized for it, by the way. So that's why she hasn't been hit on it. But Jeb Bush has not been able to do that. So, again -- BLACKWELL: All right. We've got to wrap it up.

CARDONA: This is the third part of a foreign policy recipe disaster that the American people want no part of. It's going to be a huge problem for him.

BLACKWELL: Maria, thank you so much. Lisa, thank you, too.

BOOTHE: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: We've got required break before the top of the break. Good to speak with both of you.

Christi?

PAUL: All right. Coming up in the next hour, an update to the story that NEW DAY had been following very closely. This reunion of a mom and daughter that has led to dozens of women wondering if their babies that they were told died in child birth could actually be alive.

Officials in St. Louis are now investigating. It's taken a turn here. What they're doing now to get these moms some answers. That's next hour -- which starts right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: New this morning, the FBI now investigating the Amtrak crash in Philadelphia. Plus, new details regarding the engineer's schedule the day of that crash.