Im brooke baldwin. Thank you for being with me. Lets get to Washington State. The ntsb, thats the National Transportation safety board, is sending 20 investigators to this scene of this deadly highspeed amtrak Train Derailment in Washington State. Investigators say the train somehow jumped the track during the peak rush hour this morning and this is south of tacoma, washington. You can imagine the train and all of the cars under the underpass during this busy rush hour morning and as you can see, some of these train cars toppling down below on i5, others dangling off this overpass. Multiple fatalities and specific numbers. We dont have those yet and we dont have specifics as far as injured, but we can tell you that those killed were all on the train which was on its inaugural run from seattle to portland. 77 victims, by the way, that is 77 out of 78 who were on the train have been taken to hospitals. There were five crew members onboard, as well and authorities have released this radio transmission of the moment the trains conductor called 911. Amtrak 501. Emergency. Emergency. Emergency. We are on the ground. Okay. We are on the bridge over i5 on the freeway. We are on the freeway. We need ems a sap, it looks like theyre already starting to show up. Dispatcher 501, come in. Amtrak 501. Answering centralia north. Over. Hi, guys. What happened . We were coming around the corn tore take the bridge over i5 there right north into nisqually and we went on the ground. Okay. Are you is everybody okay . Im still figuring that out. Weve got cars everywhere and down on to the highway. Okay. As soon as i know exactly where all my train is ill let you know. With me now remay marsh, government regulation correspondent and before i go to you, we know the governor of Washington State, jayencely left the capital just a little bit ago en route for the reunification center, do not go to the accident scene. Go to where the families are coming together and apparently the governor will head on to survey for himself, and you have been in touch with investigators and we mentioned the 20person go Team En Route to Washington State. What will they be lookinga the . That is a pretty large number when you talk about a go team because they consider this Major Incident and when they go there, brooke, theyll be focused on several things. First up, theyll start collecting the perishable evidence that is there, so they want to get to that very quickly. Of course, theyll want to do interviews with the crew. Theyll want to know a long list of a very long list of information. Everything from how much sleep they got the night before to what they ate this morning, any medications they may be on. Theyll also want to talk to the passengers who were onboard, and then there is a team that will be focused very closely on the track. Was there something wrong with this track, the mechanics of the train, was it operating properly and all of those things will come into play and they will want to get the black boxes on the train because the speed is going to be an important factor here. We do know that along that route it is rated for a maximum speed of 79 miles per hour. However, what we dont know is what was the speed limit at this point within that curve . So the maximum is 79 miles per hour, but it could have been a lot slower in that section of track that were looking at there where that derailment happened. So that is going to be another thing that theyre going to be paying close attention to. Was it going at an appropriate speed for that section of track . I do know based on just public records there in Washington State that this underwent two phases of testing before they opened. Most recently, this train was tested february 2017. They tested everything from the signals looking at the tracks, as well, but brooke, a lot of questions here as far as what is the cause . Was it something mechanical or did it have anything to do with human performance, namely any member of the crew that was onboard . Do we know, just quickly on the testing, did they actually test the train full or do we not know . We do know, and then im quoting from the Washington State department of transportation. They say that it underwent two phases of testing before opening day. Most recently in february, 2017, that is when the amtrak trains were expected to test both the tracks as well as the signals, at speeds of up to 79 miles per hour, and so that is the two phases that were talking about here and the tracks and in order to test the tracks you will need to run the train on there as well as the signals. So was there something that was missed . Did something go wrong with the track . Still lots of unanswered questions, but i can tell you one thing, the black box pt locomotive, it will give us plenty of answers. Just stunning still looking at these pictures and lookino os killed on the highway as they came careening down to the cars below. Well pop you back on tv as you get more on this respect russ quimby formerly with the National Transportation safety board. Some of your former colleagues, this 20person go Team En Route to the scene, but first to you, just big picture. Youve been looking at these pictures as we all have all day and you know, when you see the different train cars and you heard that, you know, radio apparently was about to round a curve, what are your initial thoughts just looking at these pictures . Well. The loenger i look at the pictures i had to get a satellite view of what i was looking at and it appears when you look at the pictures that the train was coming around the corner and entering on to the bridge and the overpass of the southbound i5 and this train looks like it had the locomotive on each end and it was a pushpull operation, and so the more conventional amtraklooking locomotive that you see on the track, that was a rear end, i believe, and if you look at some of the other pictures and another locomotive and that which youre looking at right now and it looks like that was a lead locomotive on the right outside of the curve. The locomotive on the right is what you were referencing and not the one on the ground. That looks like the lead locomotive. The one on the far right i believe that was on the end. And it looks like it didnt make the curve which would indicate over speed. Thats what the ntsb spokeswoman was question number one on the speed, and renee mentioned the black boxes and you know theyll be looking for those black boxes. What what secrets, what information lies in the black boxes of the train . It will have all kinds of information, but predominantly in this particular case, speed. It will have braking and all kinds of other factors going to train operations. And my question was about testing and there had been concerns and you look at recent newspaper articles, questions or concerns within communities about high speed and this is about making sure people can get between seattle and portland quicker than they ever have before, and even predicting a deadly crash and thats precisely when were talking about today. So when you test a train like this, can you test it fully with all of the weight onboard or not . Generally speaking, the amount of when you say all of the weight onboard, the amount as though you would have 78 people and five crew members. Yeah. 78 folks compared to the weight of the train is not significant. So they could test it empty and, and forgive me, let me jump in, i just got handed an urgent and this amtrak cascades train is owned by this is Washington State department of transportation and Oregon Department of transportation and om track operates, and it is the contract between the two states. After weeks of testing ws dot says this is the first public use of the track. First public use of the track. What does that tell you . Well, when they say the first public use that doesnt include testing, and thats the first time you had paying customers. Okay. So would have tested as they were runding the curve, and the ntsb folks, and the conductor and the blood tests from previous days and sleep and that kind of thing and would the conductor know at the time seconds before, realizing oh, my god, were going to crash. Youre mixing terminology and the locomotive engineer. The locomotive engineer. Youre the expert, you tell me, sir. And the train taking care of passengers. Im talking about the driver, the engineer. The driver, hes the one operating the train. If hes complying with the speed restrictions and this, i understand, was a 30 mile an hour curve, theyre going to know that. Theyre going to see that on the video in front of the locomotive and youll see it on the event recorder, and there are all kinds of reasons for engineers to overspeed. Weve had a number of accidents where the engineers on commuter trains have been falling asleep and ive been caught napping and the Chronic Fatigue and things like that. This was an inaugural run and i would not expect that, i would expect maybe there might be some kind of distraction and it was the First Time Since this was a maiden run. That could have been factored in here, too. Russ, i noticed some of the train cars and investigators are spray painting numbers and circles. Do you know the significance of that . Im sorry, say that again . Ive looked at some of us have noticed on some of these train cars, i dont know if you can notice the orange spray paint and i dont know if there were xs, circles and squares, do you know what that notifies . There is a standard code for bodies, people found injure order dead or that the car has been searched and thats what that is. Happened. Russ quimby, thank you so much. I appreciate your voice. Former ntsb. We will pivot on over to a Law Enforcement individual who is briefing the press. Lets listen. You are going to avoid rask and it will just impact the traffic that were diverting through the base and off the base. So if youre going northbound please do not leave northbound and stay northbound. Some of the other pertinent information you should know is we are securing the scene right now. Life safety is really our precedence right now. Weve got fire and Law Enforcement that we really need to make sure so we need to secure that scene and we need to make sure that those cars are safe before they can get on and check for more casualties and hazmat is a concern and we do have Hazardous Response Team on the way and our concern right now is fuel and batteries and Pierce County is on the way. Again, were working to secure those trains and all reunification. We do have a Family Reunification Center and were asking people, please dont come to the scene and thats where you can reunite with the families and the phone number for amtrak reunification is 18005239101. Thats all i have. Thank you, guys. Can you say the number affected if. There are 12 cars and two engines and 13 umpjumped the tracks. We cannot make those safe so we can check them out. Were working on that right now. 13 jumped the tracks. Is the portion of the track where the train derailed, is that the new track . I dont know. I dont know. Im sorry. Yes, sir . How long have you been doing this . . How long have i been a trooper . Since 2010 . Seven years. Have you ever seen anything like this . Ive never seen a trail derailment, no, but we see a lot in this job, yes. [ inaudible question ] i dont know. Were not doing rescue operations at this time. Weve been hearing that its possible that this stretch of i5 could be closed for days. Do you know that at this point . We dont know that at this time. Who makes that decision . Theyre waiting for ntsb and amtrak to come here so they can finish the investigation. Well just be assisting. Washdot, state patrol. It is safe to say that this will go well into the night at this point. Is fuel leaking . Not that i know of, but we have hazmat en route to make sure everything is safe. Im sorry. I cant speak on that. Request you repeat the numbers . We had a list there. 12 cars with two engines and 13 of them ump jed the track and multiple casualties and were not confirming numbers at the time and there were 77 pass thinkers onboard, five crew members and five Motor Vehicles involved and two systemis. Were still investigating and trying to find out whos who. There are a lot of working parts here and you have been wonderful and i appreciate that and were still evolving and trying to find out all of the members. Do you know if the what was the question . Are you aware of where the trains are on the track 13 jumpeded. Anything else, folks . Thank you, guys. Okay. Just a couple of top lines from the state trooper in Washington State. You did hear her say there was 13 of those cars jumped the tracks early this morning and this Train Derailment and hazmat is a concern and some of the different train cars and they want to work as a precaution, bringing out the hazmat crews and concerns in that area. Working to secure the trains and the big key is for families and families who are there in Washington State who are concerned about loved ones who could have been on the underpass or on the train and theyre saying please, please dont go to the accident scene. Go to the, theyre calling it a family reunification area and not a rescue operation at this point. 78 people onboard the train plus five crew members and 77 people have been taken to hospitals. Were getting more information. Youre watching cnn continuous coverage here. Back in a moment. Booking a flight at the last minute doesnt have to be expensive. Just go to priceline. Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights, go to priceline. The morning walk until. It. Wasnt. Dont let type 2 diabetes get between you and your heart. Even if you reach your a1c goal you are still at risk for heart attack or stroke. Talk to your Health Care Provider today about diabetic heart disease. And find out more at heartoftype2. Com. Your heart and type 2 diabetes. Make the connection. Let me begin by expressing our deepest sympathies and most heartfelt prayers for the victims of the Train Derailment in Washington State. We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities. It is all the more reason why we must start immediately fixing the infrastructure of the united states. That was President Trump just a short while ago addressing the deadly Train Derailment on his new National Security strategy and the president tweeting about the crash moments before his speech. That first tweet read, as follows. The train accident that just occurred dupont, washington, shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. 7 trillion spent in the middle east while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways and more crumble. Not for long. 11 minutes later included the families and my thoughts and prayers for everyone involved in the train accident in dupont, washington, thank you if all of our wonder of First Responders who are on the scene. We are currently monitoring here at the white house. Jamie, noticeably in the first tweet it was about his infrastructure plan and not initially about families. Yeah. Thats right. You saw the president his first instinct when he heard about this crash and sought to react to it on twitter was call for a policy proposal to push forward his infrastrucker plan, and we saw 11 minutes later the tweet about victims families and when the president made remarks later in the day we saw him once again address the victim this time first, but again called for infrastructure plans and this is a theme that weve seen with his president and weve seen when it is politically beneficial use certain tragedies for his political benefit. When there are terrorist attacks he runs on an immigration argument or calling for the travel ban once again, but when its a tragedy that doesnt necessarily serve his agenda, we dont see the same thing when it comes to, for example, Mass Shootings that have happened. The president and his administration have suggested that we should wait longer before talking about policy prescriptions, but clearly here, hes seeking to use this to push his infrastructure plan, but its not clear, exactly whether that would have made a difference here. Of course, it will take some days before this investigation concludes to figure out what exactly happened, but the Washington State department of transportation has said that some upgrades were just recently made to this track thanks to federal dollars, actually, and so and this was the first day of use of this new track. So unclear exactly what caused this, but clearly this was a section of track that had recently been refurbished so its not clear how the president calls for new infrastructure would apply here. First day, first route, right, on the highspeed rail from seattle to portland, so many questions and jamie, thank you from the white house. Lets hone in on the investigation piece of this and the Mechanical Engineering professor from the university of north dakota and author of train wreck the forensics of trail disasters and between the two of you, we have a wealth of information here. I appreciate both of you being on with me. Richard biel, just to you first. Put yourself in the shoes of these ntsb guys and gals who will be arriving at some point today and theyre heading straight for this derailment scene. Whats question number one for them. Question number one is going to be to find out where exactly that train left the track. Theyre going to go back to the point where the first track for the first well went to see where it went anything wrong and there was a broken rail to, and was there something wrong with the equipment itself, and finally seeing the aerials that ive seen from this appears to be the cr