hello, i'm wolf blitzer. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we begin with the search for answers after that deadly amtrak train derailment in philadelphia. the city's mayor describing the initial scene as an absolute disastrous mess. in an interview with our chris cuomo he said authorities have not ruled out the possibility of more victims. >> search and rescue operation is continuing. the cars are torn in half. they're turned over. they're on their side. our rescue folks are still working through all of the cars and the debris out there. we need to try as best as possible to account for everyone we think may have been on the train. sometimes people buy tickets and don't make the train, and we just don't know. >> at the accident site first

responders pulled bloodied passengers from the wreckage. at least six people were killed more than 200 were injured. eight are still listed in critical condition. a team from the national transportation safety board is on the scene right now. the train's so-called black box recorder has been recovered and is being analyzed. amtrak suspended service between philadelphia and new york because of the accident. that has left some passengers scrambling to find alternate transportation. president obama spoke with philadelphia's mayor this morning. he also says the nation's thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. in a statement the president said, this is a tragedy that touches us all. as we work to determine exactly what happened i commend the fire police and medical personnel working tirelessly and professionally to save lives. the president adds philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love a city of neighborhoods and neighbors, and that spirit of loving kindness was reaffirmed last night.

crews are still searching the wreckage and going over passengers a lists and trying to make sure everyone is accounted for. investigators are looking for clues about the cause of the accident. kate bolduan is on the scene. give us a sense of what's happening right now? >> wolf you laid it out well but there's a ton of activity right here on the scene still. you can kind of see some of the activity behind me traffic obviously starting to flow here again in philadelphia. what's going on back there is they're just beginning really to kind of wrap their arms around the huge task in front of investigators. earlier just a couple hours ago when the ntsb came forward, they said they were just about to get their efforts under way because they were letting priority be where it should have been. search and rescue efforts as emergency crews were on the scene. they needed to clear out for ntsb investigators to get their teams in to start the arduous task of figuring out and mapping what really is almost like a

crime scene to get the forensics going and to find out what happened and what led to this horrific crash. that kind of goes together on two fronts wolf. one you already talked about, the black back. that has been recovered, being analyzed at their operations head quarters in delaware. that's going to provide information like speed, brake application, throttle application, the kind of things you can get from a black box. they say that is going to be very important that they may have some information for us later today. the other part of this investigation is they're going to be mobilizing their teams, teams looking at the tracks the signals, teams looking at as they describe it kind of ntsb speak, wolf the human performance, as well as mechanical conditions of the trains and the tracks. those teams are really just starting to mobilize, and they're getting all of that task under way with the big question still out there and we're waiting for an update wolf you're waiting to hear it as well is the fact that they still don't have any everyone accounted for that is a huge factor and a huge concern,

obviously, as they try to establish what happened and who all is hurt and injured. pardon. the emergency crews behind us. >> kate what are you learning about the victims and as you point out those still who may be un unaccounted for? >> they haven't been able to give us good information, wolf about how many people are unaccounted for. mayor nutter wasn't going to get into that. they have a discrepancy in their manfy nest and there could be a lot of factors that go into that. the manifest given to them from amtrak and the information from the folks in the hospital are not necessarily matching up. i should give you an important note we will be getting another press conference over my left shoulder holding another press briefing the mayor will be holding that at 2:00 eastern, and i am told that they are going to be in a position to give us some new information, though they wouldn't describe to me exactly what kind of updates we could be getting. some important and tragic information that we are getting more information about is some

of the identity dents tdentityies of the six people confirmed dead. one is justin zemser. i believe we have a photograph. hopefully we can be showing you that. he's 20 years, a sophomore, a midshipman, he was sophomore at the naval academy. he was on the train, according to the naval academy he was on leave on his way home. his family representative for the family spoke to cnn saying understandably so that they are absolutely beside themselves. they don't really know how to wrap their arms around the death and what they're facing right now. one person who has been identified among the dead. another person who has been identified is jim gaines a video software architect for the associated press, he's 48 years old, a father of two. he's among those who perished in this crash -- in this horrific horrific crash. wolf putting, if you can, a bit of a silver lining on it there are six people at least confirmed dead. when you sees those images and the mayor said it himself, it's amazing that so many people were able to walk off of that train

when you look at just how horrific and mangled that metals is to try to figure out how this happened wolf. >> have they been able to speak with the conductor, kate? >> that's a big question. the mayor said -- a i'm hoping to get an update on that as well at the 2:00 briefing. the mayor said the conductor, the engineer, was somewhat injured and was going to speak or has spoken with police investigators. that's clearly a big question and will be a big focus of the investigation, what the conductor knows and what happened happened in terms of the human performance as the ntsb says it so i don't know the extent of the conductor's injuries, though but we are getting some information from our rene marsh doing great reporting in terms of the focus of the investigation. they're not ruling anything out, wolf but at the moment a lot of focus is on speed. because of the way that the train went off the track, the angles that the train cars are

located and the damage that they see, speed is a big focus. we're at an important bend here and they're required to slow down how fast they're going to about 50 miles an hour and so speed is going to be something that they're looking into. that could be one of the key factors coming out of that black box, wolf. >> we're going to check back with you shortly, cate. thanks very much kate baldwin reporting from the scene. one of the survivors who managed to walk away from the wreckage jeremy is with us. jeremy i'm happy you're here. thanks very much for joining us. tell us where you were what you experienceed? >> i was on the last car, a about the middle of the last car, right side or the eastern side of the train, and i take the train every week for work. restaurants in d.c. and new york. i was just sitting there and i was doing some work. i had my tablet out talking to a colleague across the aisle and

the next thing we're just sitting there and you feel this really boom and you don't think that much except that the train doesn't bump and thens the next thing is a harder shake and then byes the third time you knew the train was derailing. >> so you had boarded the train in washington. >> yeah. >> you're opening up a new restaurant in silver spring maryland. you're going from washington. you just go to philadelphia. then all of a sudden this happens. you're on your way back to penn station here in new york right? >> yep. i take the train every week because we have fuel pizzas in d.c. and we also are building a kitchen in new york. >> so you're in the seat and you feel this and what -- are you thrust up? what happens? >> at first, you just -- you feel a bump and you don't really feel these type of bumps on a train. the second bump you kind of felt really a herky jerk reaction. by the third one you knew and felt the train was sliding, you

know it was going and you felt like it was going to go completely over. our particular car did not go over but things started flying like bags coats, purses shoes, laptops, cell phones. just flying until air. literally you could see and you're kind of ducking and bracing yourself and holding on and it all happened so fast. you remember and think like it took forever. even a couple bodies a couple women, were thrust into the overhead baggage compartments during this. you heard metal crushing. you heard, you know, brakes. you smelled rubber. as all this is going on wondering it if you're really -- what's going to happen and you're kind of wondering what's going to come out and bludgeon you or whatever. it is -- pine from what i felt and saw, i can't believe how many of us walked away. i mean i really feel like i'm luckiest guy in the world. >> how are you doing right now? were you bruised at all?

>> a little shaken a little bruised, a little headache a little tired. but in general, i'm pretty darn healthy. >> that cabin was pretty full, the car you were in? >> probably 30 or 40 people i guess, give or take a few either way. i had just taken a walk about give or take ten minutes before all the way through the train, which i do on my weekly trips to exercise kind of, and, you know, when i walked it felt shaky but they do frequently. >> you didn't get a sense the train was speeding going faster than normal? >> i thought about it but i thought about it other times, so i don't know, you know. the trains go pretty fast. >> yeah. >> and, you know, it was horrific thing and i'm so -- i feel so bad for the people that got much more hurt and those who didn't survive and their families. >> clearly you were very lucky. >> so lucky. >> other people jeremy thanks very much for coming in.

>> thank you. >> thank you for sharing your story. we're going to have much more coverage of the breaking news coming up including a deeper look at what may have caused the amtrak train to derail. we'll ask a former ntsb managing director how the investigation is playing out. the volkswagen golf was just named motor trend's 2015 car of the year. so was the 100% electric e-golf. and the 45 highway mpg tdi clean diesel. and last but not least the high performance gti.

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let's get back to our top story. the crash of an amtrak passenger train in philadelphia. leaves six people killed mo are than 200 injured. joining us is peter goelz our cnn aviation analyst, former

managing director of the national transportation safety board. what's your first reaction when you see the picture of the derailed train? >> you're going to look at overspeed. because in a derailment accident such as this, you look at the first car that derailed. in this case it was the engine that appears to have come off the tracks first, then followed by the remaining six cars. so you're going to look at the speed restriction on that turn was 50 miles per hour. they're going to take a look at this event recorder and they're going to see what the speed was. i think we're going to hear some pretty definitive statements at the ntsb press conference tonight. >> when -- give us a sense of what do you think we're going to hear? >> i'm afraid that this train might have been going too fast for this turn. i mean they'll also look at -- start to look at the track condition, was it crossing a switching area were the switches and is signalization direct

correct, but the first thing they're going to look at is how fast was this train going for the track it was on. >> if it was going too fast around that curve, is that a human error, conductor, the engineer or some other problem potentially? >> it could be any number of things, but you start with human performance. was the conductor, was the engineer operating the train appropriately leading up to the turn was he applying the brakes ape lately was there any kind of failure in the braking system that would have prevented him from entering the turn at the correct speed. those will, you know the event recorder will help explain that as will the interview with the engineer. but you start with the first car that exited the rails. >> the crash has, again, raised the issue of what's called a positive train control system. tell our viewers what that is because it's been seriously considered but hasn't been imme meanted. >> it is a it's a system that is

on the tracks, on of of the northeast corridor apparently to the on this section of the northeast corridor that would monitor the speeds of the train and would automatically break them if an unsafe condition occurred was going to be a collision, if it was an overspeed situation. it's enormously expensive and it's complex, but the ntsb has mandated it. the department of transportation has mandated it. and the congress has mandated it. industry is trying desperately to put it in place, but it's proven to be a challenge. in this case we want to ask, why wasn't it operative in this section of the northeast cory corridor corridor? >> as you say the coming hours we're going to learn a whole lot more. peter goelz thanks very much for joining us. up next the economics of rail safety. congress debating amtrak's budget improvements to the

nation's rail system. i'll talk about that and more with maryland senator ben cardin, he's next.

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just sign into my account to pay bills manage service appointments and find answers to your questions. you can even check your connection status on your phone. now it's easier than ever to manage your account. get started at xfinity.com/myaccount . we continue to follow the breaking news out of philadelphia. investigators looking closely at the speed as a possible factor in last night's deadly amtrak derailment based on the damage and the way the wreckage was thrown. the derailment has cast new light on amtrak operations and federal funding unrelated to the tragedy the house ap yags committee is debateingeing

transportation funding for 2016. members offered their condolences while new york congressman steve israel a democrat offered this rebuke to his colleagues. >> they expect us to watch over their safety when they get on trains when on planes on cars and highways. and last night we failed them. we failed to invest in their safety. we failed to make their safety a priority. what we should have been doing is subsidizing the safety of those passengers on that amtrak train yesterday. so this is just a matter of simple priorities. thoughts are wonderful. prayers are critically important. but priorities are important as well. >> already today the committee voted down an amendment that would have raised funding for amtrak improvements. joining us from capitol hill is maryland democrat senator ben cardin. he's the ranking member of the senate foreign relations committee, a key member of the senate transportation and infrastructure subcommittee. two of amtrak's busiest

stations senator, are in your state. what's your reaction when you saw the horrendous scene we all witnessed last night? >> wolf it's tragic. it's a train that many of us ride. it's a very popular route, the most popular route in our country, the northeast corridor. hundreds of thousand of people travel it ondaily to commute to work. this is -- we can all relate to what happened. any one of us could have been on those trains so our prayers and our thoughts do go out to the families of those who were killed or injured as a result of it. obviously we want to know what happened and make sure that we take steps so this never happens again. >> i know you take that train a lot between union station and washington and baltimore where you live and when you go to new york you take that train as well. republicans have been pushing for nearly 20 pr% cut in funding for amtrak. in march the house did pass a passenger rail and reform act

which raised amtrak funding over the next four years. still no vote, though in the senate. you're a senator. where does the bill stand? >> wolf let's be direct about it. we have not been investing in transportation infrastructure the at the level that we should in this country. when you look at what our industrial nations of the world are spending on their transportation systems, on the rail systems, they're putting a lot more investment than we're putting in. we got to invest and modernize our system. the amtrak system those rails go back over a hundred years. we have a bridge a tunnel that goes through baltimore that was built in the 19th century. it's time that we invest in modernizing our system. >> you know the u.s. a lot of people watching us around the world, we know the u.s. spends billions of dollars in infrastructure development in countries all over the world. but what a lot of members are saying senators representatives, not spending enough on infrastructure here in the united states how do you fix that? how do you get a proper balance? >> well you're exactly right.

first we don't know the cause of this particular incident so we don't know whether it was speed or something to do with the infrastructure itself but we do know that we haven't done enough on permanent financing for our infrastructure in this country. the first thing we need to do is pass a six year reauthorization service transporg act. it's got to be at a level to make the type of improvements in our system that the american public need and our economy needs. and then we have to make sure we have the rvevenues to pay for that so we don't go into debt. there's bipartisan support for this so we should bring it up let's vote on it. it's timely because the current transportation fund runs out of authorization at the end of this month. we've got to act this month. >> how do you reassure passengers especially in the northeast, that it's safe to get on a train right now? >> well, i'm going to tell you this. we're going to find out what happened we're going to make the investigation totally transparent so everyone knows exactly what happened. we're going to keep this investigation very public.

i can assure you that this senator and our congressional delegation are going to insist upon safety standards being adhered to and the public being informed as the status at every step. >> senator ben cardin of maryland thank you senator, very much. >> thank you. >> up next more on the breaking news this hour. we're going to get a live update of the scene from the deadly amtrak derailment in philadelphia. we'll be right back.

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welcome back it our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blit zer reporting today from new york. more on the breaking news, the deadly amtrak derailment started as a routine trip and amtrak performing train on its way from washington, d.c. to new york city all of a sudden chaos. passengers and luggage cat ta putted in the air as the entire train left the tracks and crashed. >> it is an absolute disastrous mess. >> a flashpoint of terror as surveillance video captures the deadly moments on board the amtrak northeast regional train 188. the train, traveling from washington to new york city at about 9:30 p.m., while passing through the port richmond neighborhood in philadelphia the train derailed sending all seven cars flying from the tracks. and the engine separating from

the rest of the train. the impact tore the train apart. dozens scrambling to safety by crawling through the overturned cars. >> keep crawling okay. >> where am i crawling to? >> just crawl. >> crawl forward, sir. >> more than 200 of the 243 passengers and crew on board were sent to area hospitals. at least six have died and eight others remain in critical condition. >> the human tragedy, the devastation, i can't imagine. >> let's get an update from the other crash site kate is joining us once again in philadelphia. the mayor of philadelphia expected to hold a news conference shortly. tell us about that. >> yeah. the mayor, he's been doing a very good job of keeping everyone updated and clearly he was here last night, he was here again this morning and he's going to be holding another press briefing with other officials that will be held around 2:00 or just after 2:00 here in the east. at that time i'm told they will

have new information, they will be in the position to bring us new information, though they would not go into details of what that is. with so many questions outstanding, you can't even speculate what some of that new information could be that they're going to be bringing to us. a lot of questions we can pose to the mayor. specifically, though here at the scene, wolf i think what's important in terms of the investigation, the investigation is really on two fronts. what's happening here on the ground behind me back there, obviously police are not letting us get any further than we are now, as well as the investigation here on the ground in terms of forensics and then the investigate shb the analysis of the black box that is under way, bus the black box has been recovered and taken to their main point of operations in delaware and that is being analyzed. here on the scene earlies this morning, investigators were seen walking the track, paying very close attention to the curve ors the bend in the track, wolf where the crash really occurred and that could be key. the curve and how the train entered that curve could be key

in the investigation and how and exactly what happened. why i say that my colleague rene marsh has good information from investigators that they are seriously in a preliminary sense, looking into the factor of speed and the role speed could have played in this crash. trains along the northeast corridor can go in excess of 100 miles per hour that's absolutely aloud, but when they're in a res dengal area or going around some of the curves they are required to reduce their speed. we're told the speed limit around this area is about 50 miles an hour. that should be an easy bit of information to come forward. that's one of the easy things to come from that black box that's being -- that's being analyzed right now. that is something that we hear from the ntsb the information in that black box, that could be readily available relatively soon and that could be a key factor at least preliminary that is one of their big focuses is right now. wolf that's happening here on the ground and the black box

being analyzed in delaware. a lot of outstanding questions. when we heard from the ntsb earlier, they said essentially the same thing we're doing, they said we've got a lot of questions, you've got a lot of questions, it's really just getting under way, they're just starting to mobilize their important teams that are all broken up to look at signals, to look at mechanical factors, to look at the train track. they break them up into teams to begin the forensic analysis of the scene here a priority of making sure everyone was taken off that train if there were still people in the train and that is another question we've got for the mayor when he speaks to us again at 2:15 wolf. >> all right. kate on the scene for us in philadelphia thanks. much more coverage of the philadelphia amtrak derailment coming up as kate mentioned. the mtional news. a north korean official the defense minister actually reportedly has been executed for treason. but the method of execution is raising a lot of eyebrows. wish your skin could bounce back like it used to?

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. live pictures from philadelphia. the mayor michael nutter expected shortly to be addressing the news media updating us on what happened when the amtrak regional passenger train with more than -- some 2 hun passengers and crew members on board crashed last night. we'll get a full update from the mayor soon. stay with us for live coverage of that. but there's other news we're following, including a north korea, has been accused of some extreme actions in the past but the way it chose to carry out the execution of the country's defense minister very high on that list. the minister was charged with treason. south korea's intelligence agency reportedly telling parliament the minister was killed by fire from anti-aircraft guns that reportedly happened as hundreds looked on at a pyongyang military school. our global affairs correspondent

is working the story for us. what are you finding out? why was the defense minister first of all accused of treason? >> well wolf we have to be clear that we have no way of confirming these reports that hyon yong chol was executed but reportedly what south korean intelligence officials are telling lawmakers in a closed door briefing last night was that he was disloyal to kim, that he was disobeying orders he was neglecting his duties. he dozed off some military events. the north koreans are not saying anything about this, but this is kind of a pattern that we've seen from this young north korean leader as he tries to consolidate his power, eliminate his rivals a and make nobody feel safe. this man was someone who was a kim family loyalist someone who worked for kim jong-un's father worked his way up the military ranks and seen as somebody when he reached the number two position of military in the country, that someone who would have been around for a long

time. so this is just a pattern of executions that we've seen by kim. we understand that he -- south koreans are saying he killed about 15 officials this year and who can forget the execution in 2013 of his uncle, someone in his inner circle someone who really the -- the regime thought someone very close to the kims. >> what are you hearing from u.s. officials? what's the reaction? >> well they also can't confirm these reports. they say they have no reason to doubt it but they say again, this is a pattern of this leader. he's very unstable. nobody knows what he'll do next. you have to wonder what's going to happen in this country. it's not very safe to be a member of the regime these days. there are, obviously, worried about further instability, would there be a coup would someone kill him. that seems a little unlikely considering the way that kim holds on to power, it's really concentrated in one man, but certainly there's a lot of

concern about instability as this young leader clearly is havi trying to continue to do that. wolf? >> reporting for us thanks very much. up next jeb bush's comments on the iraq war, drawing a lot of criticism after the break, republican contender senator rand paul joins usp. we'll talk about his responsible rival and the race for the white house. much more coming up. senator rand paul, he's next. [phone rings] [man] hello,totten designs. sales department? yes...i can put you right through.

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after injection. check your blood sugar levels. do not take novolog® if your blood sugar is too low or you're allergic to any of its ingredients. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medicines you take. ask your doctor about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. the most common side effect is low blood sugar. symptoms may include dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be life-threatening. other common side effects include low potassium in your blood and injection site reactions. get medical help right away if you experience trouble with breathing serious allergic reactions like swelling of your face tongue, or throat, sweating, extreme drowsiness dizziness, or confusion. now i know about novolog®. taken by millions since 2001. vo: ask your health care provider about adding novolog®. it can help provide the additional control you may need. we're following the breaking news out of philadelphia. the derailed amtrak train at

least six people are dead as a result of that derailment that crash, more than 200 injured. several of them still in critical condition. we're awaiting a news conference. the mayor of philadelphia michael nutter will be briefing reporters on the latest information. we're going to stand by as soon as the mayor starts speaking making his statement and answering reporter questions, we will have live questions here on cnn. other news we're following including jeb bush's controversial questions on the war in iraq. those comments drawing fire from both republicans and democrats. here's what he originally said in an interview with fox news earlier this week. >> on the subject of iraq obviously very controversial, knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? shoe i would have and so would have hillary clinton, just to remind everybody, and so would almost everybody confronted with the intelligence they got. >> you don't think it was a mistake? >> in retrospect the

intelligence that everybody saw, the world saw, not just the united states was faulty. >> but the former florida governor dialed back his comments when he called into sean hannity's radio show yesterday. >> i interpreted the question wrong i guess. i was talking about given what people knew then would you have done it rather than knowing what we know now. >> in other words, in 20/20 hindsight you would make a different decision. yeah i don't mow what that decision would have been that's a hypothetical but the fact is that mistakes were made. >> senator rand paul joining us live from capitol hill. i know he's a potential rival of yours for the republican nomination what's your reaction to what the former florida governor potential republican presidential candidate had so say about this brother and war knowing what he knows how. >> it's a really important question and i don't think it's just hypothetical.

we seem to have a recurring question in the middle east whether or not it's a good idea to topple a secular strong man or secular dictators and what happens after that. hillary clinton's war in libya was the same scenario. we toppled gadhafi but we got chaos and the rise of radicals islam and we're more threatened now. i think the same was true of saddam hussein. i think iran is stronger and emboldened and many ways iraq is sort of a vass sill state to iran. we worry about iran getting a nuclear weapon. i think we're a lot worse off with husain gone. a civil war going on there. we were making the mistake to try to degrade assad, isis grew. there's a consistent theme every candidate should be asked, is it a go ahead idea to go into the middle east, topple governments and hope something better rises out of the chaos because recent history seems to show that you know what we're not getting something better, we're getting

something worse. >> i guess the point that jeb bush was trying to make, you're president of the united states it's 2003 the vice president, the defense secretary, cia director secretary of state, all come to you and they say, mr. president, our intelligence shows us that iraq has stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. remember this is not that long after 9/11. what do you do in a situation like this? you're president. you want to be president. and your intelligence community gives you a dire assessment like that. we know now it was wrong, but at the time the president presumably believed that intelligence assessment? >> the thing is we could also say the same for assad until a about two years ago. he had stockpiles of chemical weapons. the question is their ability to use the weapons, their proclivity to use the weapons, and also what comes after. you know people have to ask this question the first george bush

bush you know jeb bush's dad, thought it would probably be a mistake, dix cheney thought it would be a mistake originally to topple husain that chaos would ensue afterwards and sure enough it did happen after husain was gone. the country's chaotic, more aligned with iran iran more of a threat so even at the time invading iraq was a mistake and i thought the war even at the time was a mistake given the intelligence but now, i think that people should learn their lesson after the war in libya. everybody needs to be asked all the republicans should be asked, did you and do you support hillary's war in libya. i think as these questions get asked, we really get to the answer of who republicans want to lead the country, who do americans want to lead the country. someone who will involved in foreign war over there when the result is not to america's best interest or someone who reluctant. i think that will be one of our big >> it certainly will be. as you know senator, some of your republican rivals for the presidential nomination they accuse you of being an

isolationist. you call yourself a noninterventionist. under what circumstances, though, would you order the u.s. military to intervene in a foreign country? >> i think the most important thing is you obey the constitution. that says the president doesn't unilaterally take the country to war. but i think right now isis is a threat to our embassy in baghdad as well as our consulate in erbil. i am for military action against them but it should be done by congress. i also think that ultimately the war, the end of the war, the defeat of isis comes with arab boots on the ground, not american boots on the ground. but i'm perfectly willing to have these debates because i think history is on my side. every time we've toppled a secular dictator, things have been worse and a less safe. it's not that i'm for no intervention i'm just for less intervention than my of the hawks in this country, including some on both sides of the aisle. >> this is going to be a huge

issue in the debates. you have very strong positions on this. a quick question heard them that the north korean leader kim jong-un has ordered the execution of the country's defense minister in front of hundreds of people with anti-aircraft fire if you will. what's going on over there? >> you the whole picture, but what we're hearing is horrific. i think there's every evidence that we need to work with our allies work with china to see what we can do to get stability in north korea. i think china still has a great deal of influence, more so than we have and more so than anybody else probably in the region has. but this is a good reason for us to be working with china to try to get a good outcome because i think it's not good to have, you know potentially mental instability in a leader running a country with nuclear weapons. >> how's your campaign coming along, senator? >> very good. the news i think we have is in purple states battleground states we're the only republican leading hillary clinton. i think that shows we can be a winnable candidate.

>> senator rand paul of kentucky thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. coming up we're going to have much more on what's going on in philadelphia. but we're also going to get analysis of what we just heard, the race for the white house. cnn political analyst maggie haberman is joining us. in fact she's joining us right now. give us your reaction to jeb bush had to say about the war in iraq his brother. was this a major gaffe, not so much of a gaffe? tell us what's going on. >> i think it was a pretty major gaffe. it was the one question -- and gaffe is not even the right word. this is the one question that was completely predictable that jeb bush was going to be asked in this race. he was asked it in a very clear way by a fox news interviewer, and his answer was absolutely i would reinvade iraq. the question was knowing what we now know. he then said the next day he misunderstood it but said i'm in the going to answer a hypothetical. his opponents in the republican field have basically all answered this hypothetical and have said they wouldn't do it. he's been criticized from the

left and the right for this. i think he saw an ability to drag hillary clinton into it in his answer because she did vote for the iraq war. that was obviously a huge problem for her in 2008. she has since said if i knew then what i know now, i would not have. so he's gotten himself into a difficult position. >> and yesterday we heard governor chris christie of new jersey another potential republican presidential candidate tell jake tapper the same thing. knowing what he knows now, he would not have gone to war against saddam hussein in 2003. i guess it raises the bigger question about jeb bush. a lot of mainstream republicans like him. he's raising a lot of money out there. is he going to have a big problem because his older brother was george w. bush? >> he's going to have a problem dealing with his brother. this was always going to be an issue in how closely to hold his brother to him, how not, how much the policy he wanted to own, how much not. he has said repeatedly throughout this campaign i am my own man.

he also said again today in nevada, you know i love my brother very much. i don't think anybody is questioning his family loyalty. i think that he is having trouble figuring out precisely how to answer this question. and george w. bush's numbers in a general election are not great. >> is he going to avoid iowa the iowa caucuses right now? doesn't look like he's going to go out there for that straw poll. is he going to put all his money, for example, into new hampshire, some of the other states? what's going on? >> the skipping of the iowa straw poll is very much in the model of what mitt romney did in 2012. the ames straw poll it was then. it's now called something different. but it's the same approach. what mitt romney did was he was very half in half out with iowa. jeb bush is not yet a candidate, so we're going to have to see what he is when he's a declared candidate, how frequently he is there. to your point about new hampshire, there's no question that is a state his folks see as much more potentially conducive to him. i think where you want to be looking in terms of jeb bush is south carolina and how he

performs there. florida is no longer going to be a firewall. there are other states that vote before it in the calendar. jeb bush needs to do well in south carolina. >> can he do well in south carolina? we know he can do well in florida. presumably he can do well in new hampshire. maybe not so well in iowa. what about south carolina? that's a tough state for him, isn't it? >> south carolina is a very tough state for him. it's a state his brother won. iowa is a state his brother won. new hampshire, ironically is the state his brother lost to john mccain. south carolina it is a very conservative state. it is a military focused state. and there are other options who could be more appealing there who are seen as more local, who are seen as fresher. you have ted cruz from texas. you have marco rubio from florida. there are going to be other candidates who voters are going to be looking at. and it can be an interesting state. remember newt gingrich won in 2012 as part of the stop romney movement. i think jeb bush's problem is his numbers are not moving. they're not getting better. we'll have to see how that happens when he gets into the

race in a real way. >> all right, maggie. thanks very much. remember we're standing by for a news conference. the mayor of philadelphia michael nutter getting ready to brief all of us on that amtrak train derailment. stand by for that. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for our international viewers, "eamon pour" is coming up next. for our viewers in north america, brooke baldwin continues our special coverage right after a quick break. if you struggle with type 2 diabetes you're certainly not alone. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. imagine what it would be like to love your numbers. discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed in the newest class of medicines that work with the kidneys to lower a1c. invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it's a once-daily pill that works around the clock. here's how:

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here we go. breaking news at this hour here on cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we're watching and waiting for a news conference that could happen any minute now. we'll be seeing the mayor of philadelphia michael nutter stepping up behind that podium briefing us on the latest of what has just been an absolute tragic past couple of hours here this deadl