this is amtrak cascades 501 en route from seattle to portland. multiple fatales on the train and injuries down below. reporters are trying to get more information. wolf blitzer picks up our breaking news coverage right now. >> i'm wolf blitzer and it's 1:00 in washington and 9:00 p.m. in moscow. thanks very much for joining us. we begin with the breaking news. police say there have been multiple fatalities after a high speed amtrak train derailed near olympia and washington. between seattle and portland with 78 passengers and five crew members on board. at least one of the cars can be seen dangling off the overpass above the highway below. following this story for us, what exactly are police investigating at this point.

update our viewers? >> what they tell us is that 77 people have been transported for treatment at local hospitals. as you can tell by the picture, there were also people who have been treated on scene. they are using the term multiple fatalities that would have occurred on this high speed train. nobody was killed on the ground somehow miraculously when the train derailed and went on to busy interstate 5. as you pointed out, this was the inaugural run between seattle and portland. it didn't come without controversy. the mayor had been stinging in his criticism of the run and said he thought perhaps it was too dangerous and he thought someone might be kills and on the opening run, we have an accident and 77 people transp t transported to hospitals and

multiple fatalities. >> do we know how fast it was moving some. >> they were between 40 and 80 miles per hour. there are multiple fatalities even as we speak. >> that's correct. this is du pont, washington. a small city of 8,000 between tacoma and olympia. one thing they were worried about that they were talking about, what they are telling friends and family of those on the train who were clear survivors and do not need further treatment, do not go to the accident scene, they are telling people they need to go

to the did you -- du pont city hall. >> the correspondent, renee, you are working your sources. >> i can tell you that the ntsb are tracking this very closely and they will launch to the site there to start their investigation. obviously everyone wants to know how it happened. the train was designed to be a high speed train. and that uses gravity and helps it to tilt through the curves so it maintains that speed. the question is did something go wrong and looking at the images, something did. we don't know what. once they are on the ground, they will have a few priorities. the first is going to be getting the black boxes. we have all been talking about the speed of the train. we want to know how fast it was

going. with the people on board the train, they will be so critical as well as interviews with the engineer. we know from amtrak that there were 78 passengers on board. we know there were five crew on board as well. those accounts are going to be so critical to piecing this all together. then lastly they will be paying close attention to the tracks. was there anything wrong with the railroad tracks that caused the situation that you are looking at there? unfortunately so many questions that are unanswered, but the ntsb will be flying commercial. it will take time before they get on the ground out there. i do know that they are prepping to take off for seattle as we speak. >> stand by. the congressman from washington state is joining us. this is where the accident occurred. i know you are being briefed. what can you tell us? >> first of all, wolf, we all

have to send our thoughts and prayers to the victims of this horrific tragedy. i top the put this into context so people understand this. interstate 5 is the major arterial between mexico and canada. the fact of the matter is that this site is a few miles south of one of the most congested parts of i-5 in all of that distance. we are talking about something that is fundamentally important to people in the area having been impacted here. the truth of the matter is i drive this road every day, wolf. as a matter of fact there but for the grace of god statement, every monday of the year, my wife and i get up at 0 dark 30 for her to take me sea-tac airport and she will have dropped me off and been headed south back to olympia where i

live and been almost exactly at this point at exact low this time. i can't exaggerate to you how i'm thinking about the people who miraculously escaped injury who were on this freeway. people who got up in du pont, washington and maybe they go to work in olympia or pierce county and they were going to grandma and grandpa's for christmas. they will be dealing with the trauma of this for sometime in addition those who were talthsly injured and those injured. by the way, i think the fatality count is probably going to grow as we know it. >> i'm sure that there are a lot of serious injuries. the visual of the trains hanging over these cars. the cars over the interstate 5 and the major interstate on the west coast. it's awful indeed. 78 persons on board and five

crew members. what else are you hearing? >> what we have been told is that there is a minimum of three fatalities. i unfortunately think that number will probably grow. i don't know by how much. we know several people are being treated at st. peter's hospital to the south of the accident site. and several people to the north. this site is just south of the accord, one of the largest military installations in america. i'm confident they are getting the medical treatment they need. i think we should acknowledge that almost instantly our first responders sprung into action. they are on the site both in the florida state patrol and the county sheriff. amtrak has set up the friends

and family hotlines and they can call the city and literally a matter of a few thousand yards to set up the family reunion center at du pont city hall. everyone is putting their shoulder to the wheel to get the help to the people that need the help. >> thing that's curious, this is the inaugural run of the amtrak 501 service there operating from seattle and portland that der l derailed south of katoma, washington. what does it say to you that this was the inaugural run? >> something went very, very wrong and there are questions that we will demand be answered. i have confidence in the national transportation safety board that we will get clear answers in time. this is what it is that went wrong that resulted in this.

by the way, the pictures you have on screen that i'm looking at from my office in d.c., there is that one car that not only landed on i-5, but landed upside down. this is a nightmare itch image. . >> the sheriff told us a little while ago, they see that one car and we are showing it right now, dangling over interstate 5, but there are three or four more upside down where you can't see them. he said the department trains for these situations, but this is extraordinary. >> this is way, way, way outside the usual bounds even of accidents which by their very definition are random. the pokes person is on behalf of the sheriff. >> he is the spokesman and said

we can't see the cars that are upside down. that raises all sorts of fears with the 78 passengers on board. anything else you want to say before i let you go? >> thoughts and prayers with the families, wolf. >> the congressman from that district, wash state we are going to get back to you as we get more information. kaitlyn, i understand the president has been briefed on the derailment? >> that's right. the press secretary sarah sanders said that the president has been briefed and he is monitoring the situation going on in washington right now. we also know that the department of homeland security kirstin nelson has been brief and is monitoring the situation. the white house and multiple officials are watching what's going on and we expect to hear from the president in the next hour and supposed to out line

his national security strategy. there is a chance we could hear from the president directly on this derailment and we will keep you updated on anything we get on the front. >> we will be anxious to hear the updates you get. thanks very much. i want to bring in peter, our cnn analyst. managing director. you look at the imimages and you hear what the sheriff and other amtrak officials are saying. what goes through your mind? >> this is a very difficult accident, wolf. am strak one of those agencies that keeps struggling on the financial fronts. they never have the money to parade the way in which they want to. we are going to have to look seriously once we are past this at what resources are we as a nation willing to allocate for passenger rail service? the freight guys do very well on safety. passengers service whether it's

in the inner city or amtrak, they really have a problem with their budgets. >> i assume the ntsb officials who head out to washington state will be looking at this fact that today was the first day of this new run. the first day of amtrak 501. what they call cascade service from seattle to portland. what does that say to you that today was day one in. >> they have to go back and look very carefully at the work done upgrading the a rails to allow for this 79 mile an hour speed. you mead to make sure that the rails have been checked and the rail bed has been checked and the ties have been correct. we assume this was new service. they must have run a rail alignment and checking device over the rails in the last 48

hours. that's where they will be focused when they get the evened recorders out of the engines, that will give indication of whether there was braking applied and the speed. this is going to be a tough investigation. this will go on for a number of weeks. >> do they normally do a practice run without passengers before they start a new service like this and once again, today was day one of the new service. >> absolutely. common sense tells you if you are doing extensive track work and upgrading the speed to a more competitive level, you would of course do a practice run. you would check every inch of that track line to make sure that when service started, you are ready for it. this is a very difficult accident. there is a new leadership team that will have their hands full. >> they will be able to determine how fast this train was moving when it had this

derailment, right? >> absolutely. the event recorder will tell the speed of the train and identify whether braking was applied and give the ntsb the basic nuts and bolts to look at before they start doing the human factors to see what else was going on. there was likely a forward facing camera on the train. that may give us help. i don't think it was a rear facing camera, but there was likely a for the facing one. >> the ntsb experts will look at mechanical failure and human failure, right? >> they always look at the idea that an accident is a series of events. they will look at the mechanical side and were the rails and the engines in good shape and did

they have their wheels checked so there were no anomalies and the human factor side. was the engineer being attentive and driving at the correct speed? what was going on in the cabin prior and during this accident. >> i know in previous amtrak accidents along these lines, very often it is a human failure, right? >> we go back to the accident outside of philadelphia and right, the engineer lost situational awareness and entered into a serious turn at more than twice the posted speed. they look at human factors and they look to see that the engineer was following all the procedures for that portion of the route. >> towards new york city towards

upstate new york was human failure too, right? >> exactly. we rely a lot on the engineer at the front of the train to not only make sure the train is functioning correctly. they are obligated to know the route. to know where they are and know what the appropriate speed is. it's a challenging job and hopefully we will get to the bottom of this. >> we don't know whether it was human or mechanical failure and it's too early to make any such determination in this horrific derailment. if you say the speed limit was 79 miles per hour and if it was going 85 or 90, that would be a problem. it would be an issue. the highest speed is 79 miles an hour which is standard for

amtrak. i don't know if this location was a 79 mile an hour spot, but that would have been the max. most of the time, the engineers are dead-on. they're operating within the requirements. >>y i totally agree that the accidents don't happen that often, but the ntsb must do a thorough investigation and as you pointed out, you were involved in many of them when you worked at the ntsb. you have to learn from the mistakes whether human or mechanical. you have to learn from the mistakes to make sure it doesn't happen again. what i hear you saying is you believe there are serious problems with passenger trains as opposed to cargo? >> the freight rail industry made tremendous progress over

the last five years at increasing their safety record. they have invested a lot of money. the reality is on the passenger side whether we are talking about systems within cities like new york city subway or like metro or amtrak, they don't have the access to the resources that the freight guys have. the reports one after another indicated that maintenance has been deferred. in this case we know they upgraded the tracks to pick up the speed. we want to make sure we put all of the resources that should have been put there were put in place. >> stand by. i want you to join us. the cnn transportation analyst and former inspector general. give me your thoughtthoughts, m

the images we are seeing. >> peter said and he is spot on as always, the prior crash with the train was entering a curve. i had a chance to look at a map of this area. this train was about to entering or was entering a curve. while they had to modify and test the tracks and all of this work was done at the beginning of december, local officials in washington were highly critical of sending a train at this speed through this area because it had to route to an intercity train line. it sneaneeds to slow down at a e in the track. they undoubtedly test this data that they did earlier in the month. testing as opposed to running a full speed, fully loaded train

over the track changes the physics and the dynamics of the forces that you have in that curve. it's like racing a motorcycle. as you approach that curve, c t forces on the track. whether that train was entering a curve and like peter said, they will have that the black box. >> what you are saying is the difference of an empty train going into that curve as opposed to a train with 78 persons and crew members and presumably lots of luggage is a different environment, right? >> right. it's every kind of transportation accident, it's amazing how much a few pounds and a few changes in the forces on the vehicle can make. given there was so much criticism of starting this run

before today when it started and they were worried about the speeds as you are approaching curves, i would think unless the black box has the answer on it and it could with the cameras and the recordings and every touch to the controls being recorded on a modern train, they may know right away, but the next step is the testing that was done and what they ran over the tracks and really what speeds they tested the curves a. >> 78 passengers and five crew members and multiple fatalities we are being told. a lot of injuries as well. they are dealing with the passengers who were injured and many of them seriously. let's get back to seat peter. there were almost certainly cameras on board that will have

recorded not just what's going on forward looking, but inside the engine car as well? >> i'm not sure whether it's going to be rear facing, a cabin facing camera. certainly forward facing. it looks like the engine is still on the track. that will be a critical piece of information. that means whatever failed failed after the heaviest part of the train went over. that section. if there are forward looking cameras, we will have that. if we are lucky, there may be rear facing ones as well. >> if there were public warnings out there that maybe this was not a good idea to have the train going along this route, why would they decide to go ahead with it anyhow? >> i'm sure amtrak had their safety review personnel on the

route. they believe it was appropriate to go at that rate, but part of the pressure that amtrak faces is they have to be competitive. they have to sell tickets. if you are selling a high speed train from portland to seattle, it's got to make it in a certain amount of time or else it's not competitive. i think if this accident is going to raise that question on what decisions were made and whether they were made with the best information. >> we are getting radio transmission audio. we will take a quick break and resume our coverage. i want you to listen to this audio. we will assess what it suggests after this. that cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! why take 4-hour cough medicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours.

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herpecin l. >> welcome back. we are following the breaks news. a train derailment and train out in washington state. 78 passengers on board and five crew members and multiple fatalities and scores of injuries. we are also hearing for the first time from inside that derailed amtrak near olympia. immediately after the crash and after the train's conductor responds to dispatchers. listen to this. >> hey, guys, what happened? >> we were coming around the corner to take the bridge over i-5 there and we went on the ground. >> okay. are you -- is everybody okay? >> i'm still figuring that out. we have cars everywhere and it's down on to the highway. >> copy that. >> peter is with us and mary is

with us as well. peter, you are the former managing director of the national transportation safety board. that is a very, very telling audio from the conductor. >> it is. it indicates that whatever happened, the engine was past the point where things started to go south. the engine was still on the track. he was unaware of how serious the accident was or just beginning to know how serious it was. it was clearly shocked. >> is that extraordinary or unusual that the first car or the engine is still apparently on track, but the cars behind it are dangling off the track and upside down? >> not at all. sometimes the engine is probably 80,000 pounds.

it may innish nate a problem with the rail, but it is past it when the rail splits with the following car starts to have problems. or there may have been a problem with the wheels of one of the follow-up cars. i want to play the audio more time and we want to listen carefully and have your thoughts. >> what happened? >> we were coming around the corner to take the bridge over i-5 there and we went on the ground. >> okay. are you -- is everybody okay? >> i'm still figuring that out. we have got cars everywhere down on to the highway. >> okay. copy that. >> you heard him say they were going around the corner over the i-5. go ahead and give me your

thoughts. >> i'm still unclear about whether it was a pull engine or a push engine. it's difficult to tell for sure. his wording makes me think it was a pusher engine meaning the train was the engine doing the work was at the rear of the train. i don't know. i'm guessing basing on what i have heard. to me the operative language i heard is we were coming into a curve. there have been so many recent tragedies where that's when things go wrong. you are going into a curve and either don't slow or you haven't been provided the right information. whatever modifications were made to the tracks and whatever was done to allow this high speed train to run over this section of track that didn't have high speed service before, we don't know if they did the right analysis and told them the speed at which they should take the turn. if it was a pusher train, they will be pushing the cars ahead

of them at speeds that haven't been tested with that many cars before. again, i don't know the answer whether it was a pulling or a pushing train or maybe they had engines at both ends which would be unusual. they wouldn't both are working. the curve and his distribution make me think it was the speed on the curve. >> peter, i assume you can see video and the pictures we are showing. this derailment. the police spokesman that said earlier, several of them upside down. describe what you are seeing. >> this is really horrific and indicate that is the train was going at a high speed.

79 mile an hour limit. these cars -- >> there you see the front. i think that's the front of the train. still on the tracks and everything behind it looks like a disaster. go ahead. >> there is a lot of physics involved. this train was covering close to the 79 mile an hour limit. you can see these images we are showing the viewers as well. what jumps out at you? >> it looks like this was a very high rate of speed to have that

much inertia and force to literally fling that many cars off a track. if you have a train crash where it's a line or a rail out of alignment, you usually don't see that kind of a display of the cars. if it's an out of alignment rail, it's a different thing. it jumps the track, but you don't see this kind of car flung tragedy. i would have to agree that it looks to me that it was a pretty high rate of speed and let's hope they were not operating above the track speed limit, but going into a curve it looked like the train could not take the curve at that speed. it sounds simplistic and nothing is ever that easy, but that's what it looks like. >> the governor of washington state just declared a state of emergency with pierce count wre the derailment took place.

when a high speed train goes into a curve over an interstate as is the case right here, is it up to the conductor to slow it down or is it automatic? >> in this case i don't know if there is a positive train control. we don't know what the track was rated for. it's up to the engine to make sure he is operating within the quite lines and to make the correct decisions. how were people injured and how were they killed? were these cars designed correctly? did they perform the way they were supposed to?

that was the engineer saying there has been a problem. they will be referred at length. >> they obviously did blood testing and look at his activities and his and her activity in the days before. what's the sleep pattern and did they have problems? every time that hand touches any controls. the person is running that train and taken into consideration. they had the right data depending on who made up the crew as to what speed you should take that curve. what speed you should be going

a and with this many cars off the track and that far flung, i should add one thing about the survivability of the cars. if they were the newest most modern cars, they are kind of like sport playing. they can actually lean into the curves and you have this three-dimensional motion instead of two-dimensional motion. take the curves at a high rate of speed kind of like a racer on a motor bike. as they go into a corner, they lead. the modern cars do that and maintain and beat the force on the tracks. they are pretty cool. >> look at that. this is the first time that we have seen all those cars derailed on the ground. one of the cars hanging over interstate 5.

these are images that we don't often see. this looks like something how unusual is this? >> this one is extraordinary. in terms of the display of the cars. as mary indicated, these could be the newer cars that were designed to take the high speed turns at 79 miles an hour. we consider it high speed, but the reality is in the rail industry world, it is not a high speed. we have trains going upwards of 150 miles an hour. this is a very destructive accident. >> and just to give us

perspective, whether in japan or elsewhere, the trains are moving a lot more quickly than they are in the united states. >> absolutely. i had a chance to work at japan rail for a short period of time when i was inspector general. what's cool and interesting and different about japan and the bullet trains is in the lines, there is no place, for example, where the trains meet surface traffic. they have overpasses and that's eliminated. they legality the tracks for them and they don't have these -- they don't have sharp curves to take. they had different laws than we do and they were able to build it and then of course deal with the lawsuits later as to people who didn't want the train going here and there and they were able to build this long smooth straight rails without having to worry about gate crossings and trucks on the track. it was built for that.

this track is not owned by amtrak. it had to go off to an inner city line. this was a piece meal track. in terms of what track they had to use, we just don't have a track system in the united states. it's going to come down to what amtrak tested. did they do the right thing and could the track take it? this is not high speed. in japan some of the lines set speed records at 200 miles an hour. >> some of us have seen the trains and it's very outdated here in the united states what's going on. i have another expert standing

by. remind me and our viewers why there are still no seatbelts on the trains. >> that was interesting. i was going to mention that. they debaded that issue for 20 years. it would not have prevented the injuries that occur inside. they would look at that again. they will see whether the crash worthiness for the portions of the interior of the car. >> i was going to say the real question is, if we are going to have high speed rail service in the united states, inner city

rail service, we are going to commit the infrastructure improvements to be done safely for the public. >> does that make any sense at all. you are sitting on a train and there is a derailment. if you were seated, maybe you wouldn't be flying around inside the car and potentially getting very, very injured as opposed to being secure inside a seat. i never understood why -- it's not that much money to put seatbelts on the seats. >> no. it makes no sense at all, but it does come down to cost benefit analys analysis. they looked at the fact of the risk of being injured or dying in a train crash over the years. they look at the risk and the cost of those injuries or deaths as opposed to the cost requiring everyone to be in a seat. that would also for a lot of trains limit the capacity. everyone would have to be in a seat and buckled in.

the train are packed to capacity. this one was not. people are hanging from straps and people are standing up and moving about the train and getting a cup of coffee or whatever they want to do. it's a trade off and the government regulators make that trait off in congestion with investigations on what's the likelihood you will be killed or injury and what the costs are as opposed to the costs to amtrak and another train operator if everyone is in a seat and belted in. it makes no sense, but you can take that further up the line of safety. they discovered that a rear facing seat is safer than a for the facing seat, but people don't like that. they like to see where they are going. >> the five crew members, so many of them are now in the hospital, presumably almost all

of them. there multiple fatalities unfortunately. i'm sure they will be wondering and investigating and certainly the passengers and their families and their loved ones and friends are going to be wondering if they had been strapped in to good seatbelts, maybe they wouldn't be in the hospital right now. it's a sort of point of view and i heard every time i covered the crashes, why don't they put seatbelts in. everybody stand by. we have eyewitnesss who are on the scene. we will continue the special coverage after this. directv has been rated number one in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like wet grocery bags. getting a bad haircut. overcrowded trains.

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we are following the major breaking news with a train derailment in washington state. 78 passengers on board. five crew members. multiple fatalities we are now total and scores of injuries. president trump just tweeted this. i will put it up on the screen. the train accident that just occurred at du pont, washington are soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be submitted quickly. our roads and rail ways crumble. not for long! >> christopher is joining us on the train during the derailment and also the chair of the pierce

county transit advisory board. first of all, are you okay? >> yes, i am fine. thank you. >> where were you sitting? >> we were on the third or fourth car of the train. >> tell us, walk us through what happened. tell us, walk us through what happened. i assume you were sitting when all of a sutdden the car starte to derail. >> we were sitting -- the train was going between 70 and 80 miles an hour. we could tell that because we were passing up traffic on the freeway, and we heard -- we felt a little bit of a jolt and then at a certain point the -- we could hear crumpling of the -- of the train car and we were catapulted into the seats in front of us. >> and so people were flying around in the cars, is that what you're saying?

>> thankfully, the majority of people were seated, but there was one -- one elderly gentleman who -- who banged his head on one of the bulkheads. >> and the car that you were in, where did it wind up? >> yeah. so we -- we went down an embankment to the right of the tracks, but there were other cars -- the other cars all derailed. the only thing that was left that was on the track was the rear locomotive. >> did -- was your car upside down? because at least three of the four cars wound up upside down. >> no. mine was right side up, but after the accident we had to kick out the window, the emergency window and claimed down the embankment in order to get help for the injured passenger. >> you're on the pierce county

transit advisory board. tell us, was there concern about a high-speed train going along this route? today was day one of this new route, we're told. >> yes, that's correct. this was the inaugural run of this -- of this new segment. there was some initial -- there was some concern. it seemed to have been addressed during the environmental review process for this project which was lengthy. >> the environmental review is how it would affect the environment. this was the amtrak 501 cascade service. today was the first time it had passengers. >> correct. this is the first time it had passengers. >> and did they do a thorough practice run? did they do a thorough practice run to make sure that to go through these curves at high speeds it was going to be safe? >> yes. for the last -- i believe for the last six months there have been trials running along the

track. initially, they started out doing trials of only 30 to 45 miles an hour, and then amtrak continued -- continued testing up to 79 miles per hour. >> and when they did all these trial run, all this testing were there passengers and were there people in those cars? we're told that makes a significant difference. >> i'm not familiar with what the testing procedure is. >> they say it's one thing for empty cars to be going at high speed or going into a curve. it's very different when there are a lot of passengers and a lot of luggage in that same car, and unless you've tested that thoroughly you could have a problem. i wonder if you've heard that. >> believe that is true. i don't know how many passengers were onboard, and i had boarded at an intermediate station in seattle and when the derailment occurred tacoma, washington, and i don't know how many passengers

were onboard, and until the derailment, were there any other problems. how long had you been on the train? >> yeah, so the train arrived at my station at the tacoma station about a half hour late and after we departed, we seemed to pick up a pretty good pace. >> and were there any indications that there might be a problem before the derailment? >> it -- it -- i don't think so. >> you didn't have any suspicions? you felt comfortable? you felt at ease? >> yes. no -- i mean, yes, we had -- we felt like the train ride was very smooth and we had taken several -- we had taken several other curves that were of a harder angle at the same speed. >> and did they slow down?

did the train automatically slow down or did the engineer put the brakes on as he was going into those curves? >> no. i don't think there was time. i don't think there was time for any of that. >> so, in other words, the train was going at a steady -- at a steady speed whether straight ahead or into a curve. >> yes, into a curve. >> yeah. i wonder if that -- >> into a curve at an overpass above interstate 5. >> we're also getting -- mr. karnes, we are getting another tweet from the president. you were on that train. this is the president. my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the train accident in dupont, washington. thank you to all of our wonderful first responders who are on the scene. we are currently monitoring here at the white house. tell us what this advisory committee that you're a part of, what it does. >> yes. so we are just an advisory committee for the local transit agency. so i'm a -- i'm a transit

enthusiast. i like to encourage people to use public transportation for environmental reasons and to -- and to reduce congestion, but it's not in any way affiliated with amtrak or am track today. >> so you were not directly involved in the review process leading up to day one today of this new service? >> no. >> no. >> all right, mr. karns, it's been helpful for us getting your thoughts and fortunately, you are okay. that is good news, indeed, as well. we'll stay in close touch with you. thank you very much for your help. >> thank you. >> once again, very pleased that you're okay. unfortunately, a lot of the other passengers are not. multiple fatalities, we are told, and multiple injuries. mary schiavo is with us once again. mary, you're looking at the pictures, the live pictures we're showing and the engine.

it jumps out at you that there's something extraordinary there. >> well, yes, the positioning of the engine -- there are two, so one, we've been talking about the one that was still left on the track, but these pictures that you've just put up, you can clearly see that there is a second one on the ground and it was obviously traveling at a rate of speed and, again, the fellow that we just talked to, mr. karnes made a good point that the train had taken other turns that were sharper than this at the same rate of speed, and it felt like to him it didn't slow down at those curve, but by seeing the engine lying on the ground, the speed and the inertial forces, and it appears to have turned around at such a rate of speed that it's -- it's -- it's literally not even in the same lineup, and the same line as some of the other cars,

and so if it is not a speed issue then one would have to go back and once again consider is there something wrong with the track? because something sent this very heavy engine flying at a high rate of spate so that so it would turn around and now there are two engine, one in the front and one on the rear. >> the national transportation safety board is dispatching a team to begin this investigation which could continue for a long time. all right, guys. we are going to continue our special coverage. stay with us right here on cnn. we'll take a quick break. we'll resume the breaking news coverage right after this. hi, wolf. thank you so much. i'm brooke baldwin. we'll take it from here. this breaking story out of washington. we have two major stories on cnn. moments from now president trump will outline his new america first strategy on national security, so of course, we'll

bring that to you live with smart analysis before and after, but we want to stay on this breaking story here on the west coast. right now, rescue teams are on the scene of this deadly and grisly amtrak train derailment in washington state. investigators say the train jumped the track during the peak of morning rush hour. if you know the geography in this part of the country, this is south of tacoma. just when you look at these pictures, you think of the people who happen to be on the highway at the time, and that's i-5 and think, our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were on that train. several of those cars, either upside down on the highway or just still dangling off that overpass. we are expecting an update from officials in just a moment so we'll take that live when we hear from the ntsb. what we know right now, let me be transparent. not a lot and they're not putting a number on injuries or casualties and they're saying multiple fatalities at this

point. officials there say the deaths were contained to the train. miraculously, no one driving there on i-5 was killed, but i can tell you more than 70 people from the train cars have been taken to the hospital. just within the last hour we got this dramatic radio transmission of the moment the train's conductors called 911. here we go. >> amtrak 501. emergency. emergency. emergency. we are on the ground. we are on the bridge -- on the freeway. we are on the freeway. we need ems a sap. it looks like they're already starting to show up. >> 501, come in. >> amtrak 501. answering centralia north, over. >> hey, guys what happened? >> we were coming around the corn tore take the bridge over