>> you're watching cnn live special town hall. toxic train disaster, ohio residents speak out. in just minutes, right here on cnn, the ceo of norfolk southern will face questions live from east palestine residents, the people in the ohio town where one of his trains skidded off the tracks due to rosters results. nearly three weeks after the strained railed, anger is running high, so it's fear. many of the 47 people who live in this town worry that they're sick because of the crash. and they're worried about the

company's failure to contain its toxic fallout. but before we go to the ceo of norfolk southern, let's bring in the mayor of east palestine, trent conaway, who joins me now. mister mayor, thank you so much for joining me here. really appreciate it. we've heard from the state government. we've heard from the federal government. we're going to hear from norfolk southern this evening. what more do you need from all three of them that you're not currently getting? >> right now, i think we're currently getting everything we need, except answers. we need some answers as far as the health concerns. our residents safety is number one. and we need to get to the bottom of these health concerns. we're being told the water is safe. i believe that, our municipal water is safe. we're told our air is safe. i think it's safe. my family is here. they've been here the whole time. but there's definitely concern from some residents. and i have concerns as well, because paramount is our

citizens safety. >> yeah, so we've heard some those health concerns this evening, concerns, there's an individual who had to go to the emergency room because he was bleeding so much, his nose was bleeding so much. a worried mom whose son is having nosebleeds, we're hearing about rashes, we're hearing about all sorts of gastrointestinal issues. have you gotten any sort of satisfying answer as to what is going wrong? >> no, we have not. the health clinic, i'm hoping that can ease some concerns. i am hearing, you, know that people are going to the doctor, the doctors aren't going to know what to do. the hss needs to step up, and they need help to get some answers for this town. the ease these fears. there's a lot of fears in town, especially people, you, no closer to the tracks. there's definitely some fears. and you know, they're justified. and they need answers. and we'll get those answers. >> mayor conway, we've also heard concerns about the

livelihood of the town, in addition to the individual health and life of indian residents, the penalty to function, to have businesses, to make money. how do you long do you think it will take your town, east palestine, to bounce back from this? we'll ever bounce back? >> i'm cautiously optimistic that it will bounce back. but i don't know. it's going to depend on the cleanup efforts, how that goes. i have mr. shaw's word. i have the epa administrator's word. i have our governors where it, that, you know, there got to make things right. we're gonna hold on to that. we're going to hold them to their word. and that's the best thing we can do right now. this is going to be a very long process. and you know, eventually, hopefully it comes to an end. and hopefully it goes back to the way it was. and actually better than the way it was. that's our main goal. we have to stay together on this. but you know, i hear the residents, i hear their

concerns, those need to be addressed very soon. >> earlier we heard from one of our cameras and east palestine, we heard a train going through your town during this very special. are you comfortable with trains continuing to go through? and what changes, if any, do you think need to happen for east palestine to be safe in the future from anything like this ever happening again? >> you know, that's a federal government question. yes, it's a little unnerving hearing the trains go through after just what happened. but i attribute to being a safe as a car wreck. and you're cautious after a car wreck. but yes, it's a little unnerving hearing the trains come through. and yeah, maybe i think we need to look at some safety regulations and see if there's anything we can change to maybe slow them down a little bit. we did get some good word that they are going to take up all the dirt under the tracks, that was a big concern. we heard today they are going to start that process very soon. so, you know, like i said, i'm cautiously optimistic that, you,

know we could come back as a community. >> mayor trent conaway of east palestine, thank you so much for joining us this evening. we appreciate your time. and our best wishes to you during this difficult time you have. >> thank you, sir. >> back to sara sidner. >> we are here in east palestine and we are being joined now by the ceo of norfolk southern, alan shaw. mr. shaw, thank you for being here. we have heard several different things and there are a lot of residents sitting right in front of me that death we have something flood like to ask even say to you. but first, i want to give you a chance to speak to them. what would you like to tell them after this disaster, that frankly, has these folks afraid for their kids, afraid for their own health, and afraid for their economy? >> yeah, look, i appreciate giving me the opportunity to sit down with you today. and i think the residents of east palestine, who are watching virtually or on tv.

and also i think the first responders for rushing to the accident and what they've done for the community. i've been listening. i've been listening to you tonight. this is the fourth time i've been here. i've been listening to the community. i'm terribly sorry. i want you to know that norfolk southern is here, and we're going to stay here. we're gonna make this right. we're going to get the environmental cleanup right. we're going to support the citizens of this community. we're going to invest in the long term health of this community. and we're going to help this community thrive. and we want to make another -- who go to make norfolk southern a safer railroad. now before we do, i want to hear your questions and concerns. >> i'm gonna start with the first question, and i apologize, because you talked about being safer. and that is important. so, there is a history here. according to federal railroad administration data that we looked up, your company has reported the second highest accident rate nationally among

the seven major freight railroads each year since 2019. why is that? >> i've been thinking about this every day since this is occurred. going over my mind, and asking my team what we could've done differently. you know, it's clear that our safety culture and our investments in safety didn't work here to prevent this accident. so, we're going to look at the results of the ntsb investigation. we're going to use data. we're going to use science. and we're going to figure out what we could've done better. what we know is over time, accidents are down, hazardous releases are down, personal injuries are down. but there's always more that i can. do and i'm committed to making norfolk southern are safer railroad. >> all right, you all have heard this piece. don elder, you're a business owner here. you lived in east palestine for a decade or more now. what would you like to ask? you've got the ceo sitting here right in front of you.

and we do thank you for coming and facing these folks, because they've been through a lot. what would you like to ask? >> and we do thank you for coming. i've got two things. we hear a lot of mistrust. and at least in my mind, and a lot of people of minds i talk to, mistrust started because we didn't find out what was in the rail cars for two or three days after the crash. and then, we were evacuated. and before we were told we can come back to our house, the trains were running again. and at least the perception is is that we were told to come back because they want to run the train, it's not because we are safe. it's amazing that the trains could start up within minutes after the evacuation was lifted. and i think that causes a lot of mistrust here. >> don, as i've talked to the citizens here, i've heard that a couple of times. so, i understand that point. i can tell you that as we progress through this, our focus was on the safety of the community here.

you know, we immediately started environmental remediation. we set up our family assistance center. and when the evacuation order was lifted, we resumed train operations. and i'm sorry for the effect that is had on people. >> you should see how it looks from the people living here. >> oh, yes sir. >> we're still not back to our homes, and trains are running through town. and as the mayor said, it's unnerving hearing a train run through town now. there is what, 50 a day going through? so, it's not settling. and i've got a whole another question. we have several businesses in town. a couple of them are retail businesses. and i hear a lot about money coming, and money coming in financially. there's a perception that we've got to change. we've got customers not coming to our place now. we've got whole schools not coming to our schools. and i don't know how we address that to change it long term, to change the stigma of east

palestine. and i don't know the answer to this, i don't know monies the answer, but there has to be some long term marketing to change what people think of east palestine. >> yeah, i'm happy -- not happy with some of the misinformation out there. because that doesn't service the citizens of east palestine. and i've talked to the mayor about that quite a bit. we're committed to east palestine. so, we've done a couple of things. we committed a recovery fund, $1 million. and that's a down payment. i've talked to the mayor about pulling together some community leaders, where that can best be deployed to invest in the future of east palestine, and help thrive. i was talking to the mayor yesterday in the hallway, and mayor conway and mentioned that he had been up into the early hours of the morning, tuesday morning, with some community leaders about some ideas where

norfolk southern can support the long term health of this community. and we're going to sit down sometime next week, and talk through that. we're also looking to immediate action, where we can help. you know, it's heartbreaking to hear the story of folks canceling tournaments here. so, what i've done is i've hired a employee who is a resident of this community, he was one of our craft union employees. and i asked him to work directly for me. and i said, i'm going to give you $1 million. and i want you to work with the community and the citizens of east palestine, folks like you, and figure out how to put that best at work, to raise these issues that you're seeing right now. >> mr. shaw, can you promise money, marketing, whatever this community needs, that norfolk southern's accident has caused harm to this community? >> yes, we've so far committed $7 million.

and that's a down payment. we're going to continue. and we're going to be here today. we're going to be here tomorrow. we're going to be here a year from now. we're gonna be here five years from now. that's my commitment to this community. i want to see this through. and each and every day, i'm going to do the next right thing. >> katie rothman, you haven't had a chance to speak yet. and i would love for you to be able to ask your question. >> sure, thank you for being here. so, each day that passes, the chemicals are sinking deeper into our land and water and further poisoning our residents and environment. what is the timeline for cleanup and can we expect to see a sense of urgency in remediation efforts, like we saw in opening the tracks? >> yes, katie, thank you for the question. you know, as you heard earlier, there is been hundreds of tests. by our independent contractor, by the epa, by local health authorities. and they all come back and say the air quality is clean, water

quality is clean. we're going to continue to monitor that. we're setting up an array of groundwater testing in and around the site, that continue to test. we're going to continue the monitoring. and we are going to continue with the environmental cleanup. we've exited the emergency phase, as anne vogel has stated. we're cooperating with the epa on a long term remediation plan. you know, i felt like we had a good plan for the soil under the tracks, an environmentally sound plant based on engineering principles. but as i talk to the community here, individuals mean, you guys made it really clear you did not feel comfortable with that plan. and i listened. and i'm hearing your concerns. so, i told my team last night, i said, come up with another plan, rip up these tracks, and dig up that soil.

and they gave me a plan this morning. so, i call the governor, and i called mayor conway, and i called anne vogel, and i said we're going to rip up these tracks and take up that soil. we're going to do what's right for this community. >> kathy, i know that you have a question. please share with us. i know we are all, you, know having this opportunity is very rare, to be able to sit down and see someone face to face after this is happened. what's your question? >> well, i live in negley. and my property orders -- and i have well water. and my question is, i called over two weeks ago for them to come and check my well water, and i like the ground tested as well as the creek groundwater. and nothing yet. when and how often are they're going to be tracking once they do start? and is this going to go on for a couple years? i mean, -- >> we are going to be continued to test however long it takes. and i'm sorry for your specific issues.

if you don't, mind i would like to connect with you after and get your name and number. and we'll get that resolved. >> all right, we'll make that happen right after the show. i'm going to thank you both for your questions. we'll have more. i'm gonna go ahead and toss it back to jake. >> that's right, sarah. we're going to have more questions with my team here in east palestine, asking questions of the ceo of norfolk southern, when our special town hall continues right after this quick break. land. sea. air. the mercedes-benz three-pointed star was designed to symbolize the environments we travel. today we unite with the e elements that have alalways been at our core. as every action counts, we are c committed to building vehicles ththat contain an average of 40% recycled materials. repurposing waste, such as old fishing nets. and, going all electric by 2030. land. sea. air. join us on our journey to a more sustainable future.

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and we're back with more questions from concerned residents of east palestine in the surrounding area for the ceo. of the company at the center of the train disaster, alan shaw, of norfolk southern is still with us. mr. shaw, i want to start with a comment if you have the clip ready i asked for the administrator of michael regan if he had a question for you. and this is what he had to say. >> i don't have any questions for the ceo of norfolk southern. i have some orders for the company. and the orders are, the company will comply with our order, which compels them to take full responsibility. full accountability, for the trauma they've inflicted on this community and the damage that they've caused.

>> are you gonna follow that order, sir? >> jake, yes. the administrator regan and i are aligned on this. we have a responsibility, and i've made the commitment, we're going to get the environmental cleanup right. organizer port the citizens of east palestine. we are going to invest in the long term health of east palestine to help east palestine thrive. we're gonna make norfolk southern a safer railroad. absolutely. >> you heard some skeptical questions earlier from a gentleman there with you who noted that he felt that people were told it was clear to go back to their homes, just of the trains could be running again. you said earlier, it was a down payment, $7 million norfolk southern gonna give to make sure the citizens, the impacted residents of east palestine will be okay. $7 million. at the same time, we should note, norfolk southern spent to

-- 7.5 billion dollars in stock buyback benefiting shareholders, your company is also spent tens of millions of dollars in the last two decades lobbying congress and various administrations to loosen regulations so that you can increase your profits well decreasing the safety for individuals like those in the room you're with. so, how can you respond to those credibly who say, you value the bottom line, your profits, more than you value the lives of the citizens whose community your trains drive-through? >> we're actually focused on safety. we invest over a billion dollars a year in safety. through the form of maintenance, threw equipment through technology. clearly, this is a situation

where faith safety culture and our investments did not prevent this accident. every day, i've asked myself, what we have done differently? very much looking forward to the results of the ntsb investigation. we are cooperating fully with the ntsb and the foray to find out the root cause of this accident. and we're gonna take action, we're gonna learn from this. and we're going to invest, we're gonna make norfolk southern a safer railroad. there's always more we can do with, and i'm looking forward to hearing those results, and we're gonna sit and have an opportunity to sit down with the regulators, and our elected officials, all the key stakeholders, and design ways to make norfolk southern any industry safer. >> republican senator of ohio, j.d. vance, raised the issue that your 150 car train only had two employees and a trainee on it. is that true? and how is that responsible?

how is that putting safety first? >> jake, this investigation is being run by the ntsb. i'm prohibited from talking specifically about anything that caused this derailment. i'm very much looking forward to the preliminary results, which should be coming out very soon. >> i want to bring in some of the east palestine citizens here with me. -- is a former chemistry teacher, this week, the governor in the epa administrator in visited his house in drink tap water from his kitchen sink. before you ask mr. shaw question, did that reassure you at all? them drinking the water from your sink? >> absolutely. >> it did. >> that's good news. >> you have a question for mr. shaw? >> yes, i'd like to go back to that safety subject that you mentioned just a moment ago. in ohio, we have great rigorous inspection of highways. rigorous inspection of bridges, rigorous inspections of public

buildings. or their laws or legislation that regulate a rail line inspections and the equipment of that goes with it? >> yes. that's a great question. there's a lot of regulation around rail safety. we comply with that, and i'm looking forward to the opportunity to institute more rules, learn from this. and see what we could've done better. we will continue to invest in safety. >> thank you. >> jen is here and has a question for you. >> hi. i have a two part question. the first part of my question is, if you could walk us through that decision of not digging up the soil and just rebuilding the train tracks over it, and second, it's been roughly three weeks, what new safety measures do you have in place since then regardless of the investigation that's going

on, clearly, there are some things that need to change. and if you haven't come up with them yet, when can we expect to hear from them? because this isn't the first, this won't be the last. people need to see change and, in a big way, and yeah. those are my questions. >> yes, ma'am. we believe that we had an inventor environmentally sound mediation plan for the soil under the tracks. however, as i noted, as i continue to engage with members of east palestine, and one-on-one meetings in small groups. >> can i interrupt you, what made you believe that that was an okay resolution? that's what i'm looking for? what goes into that decision? >> yes. our independent environmental experts. >> when you dump hundred and thousand gallons of chemicals

and oil, you're not talking about oil. -- >> 60,000 gallons of oil, when you dump that into the ground, and you don't take that out of the ground before you put your tracks on and you run your train on it, you need to hire someone -- that's an okay decision? >> the oil is going to cause us the long term effects. everybody is talking about the chemicals. and while i do think that important, it's the oil that seeping into our ground that you chose not to dig up. and just put your tracks right over top of it. she's asking you specifically, what led you to that decision? >> ma'am, we've made a lot of progress on remediation.

we've dug up 4600 cubic yards of soil and collected 1.7 million gallons of water. we will continue with the environmental remediation. and in early march, we will start by tearing up the tracks and digging up the soil underneath the tracks. >> six weeks, -- >> until then we'll just have it keep going down. >> into our soil. >> jen, did you get all your questions answered? >> no, i did specifically ask what changes you've already made and i think these residents also are very valid and asking why the delay? why can't we do it tomorrow? >> thank you for that, -- >> it's chicken. >> my apologies. we're going to test and we're going to calibrate all of the

wayside detectors. all across our system. that's something that we stood up in the immediate aftermath of this. >> is that something that's visible for people to see? is it publicly available for us to see that that's being done? >> it's it's an internal component of norfolk southern. >> don't you think people want to see that happening? wouldn't that show that you're trying to do something different if you're actually showing people this? >> we can certainly take videos of that. and post it. >> then across your mind that will be possible thing to do? >> what we have done, based on feedback that we've gotten from the citizens, we've stood up a website and making it right .com. and we're providing updates every day on the environmental remediation, providing updates every day on the financial assistance for the community. >> mr. shaw, one of the

questions that jen asked that you didn't answer had to do with the fact that obviously, whatever norfolk southern is doing, almost three weeks ago, wasn't sufficient in terms of safety. and her question was basically, you don't need to wait for the federal government or governor dewine to tell you to improve things for example if it's true, as senator j.d. vance notes, having two staffers and a trainee on a 150 car train would not seem sufficient in the view of republican governor vance. her question is, senator vance, her question is, what are you asking your team to do now to change it before the government makes you change it. because you are in charge of the company, you can make those changes, and yes if you spend a billion dollars on safety that's great, of course, your profits are in the multi billion dollars every year.

>> we're also advancing technology on our locomotives to check the inspect the tracks as our trains run over the tracks. we are looking for the results of the ntsb to it the investigation to find the root cause of this, which is one of the many reasons that were cooperating fully with the ntsb and the foray. we'll learn from this. what we had in place did not work here. we're gonna figure this out. and we're going to make the investments to make norfolk southern safer. >> i want to bring in jim stewart was a question for you, sir? >> a lot of this but i have to ask was answered already. but i'm speaking on the inspection. the people of east palestine are being treated like dummies, we're not dummies. we're smart people. listen to these people and what they have found out about different things, and everything else. i'm angry. i'm angry about this.

i lived in east palestine for 65 years. that's my home. my grandmother came from germany, she believed in palestine, my dad grew up there, my families got up there now. it is disgusting that were just lost. i live in a house, it's probably closest of any of these, and it's a shame. it's probably the next closest one, and our house has been inspected it's been this, it's been that. i'm afraid to put my dog out just a pea. he's only the stall. i don't feel safe in this town now, you took it away from me. you took this away from us. you seem like a sincere man, i'm not calling you names if your company stinks. because we are not watching -- workers don't pay attention nowadays. supervisors make workers work. you've got to do something

about this, i lost a lot, i lost the value of my home, i'm only one block. i could throw a stone through that -- and what do we do now? i come back from chicago for four days, i came home the other day, at the garage door up, got out of the car, the garage door down as soon as we got out of the smell come back to us. right away. instant headache. i'm 65 years old, i'm diabetic. heart disease. everything. did you shorten my life now? i want to retire and enjoy it. how are we gonna enjoy it? you burned me. we were gonna sell or house. our value went -- do i mow the grass? do i plant tomatoes next summer? what can i do? i'm afraid to. when it's in the air, every day

i cough. little coffee or, little cough there. i've never had that. i got rashes on my cheeks, and all of my arms from the derailment. i don't call the derailment, i call it a disaster. it's a disaster not a train derailment. i assure from the hip, just like the governor. i tell you the truth. you see like a family man a great guy in all, but your company has to do something. >> how are gonna make it up to mr. shaw? how are you gonna make it up to jim stewart and all the other families? >> jim, thank you for this comments. i hear you. i'm terribly sorry that this has happened to this community. what i can do, and what i will do, is make it right. we're gonna get the cleanup right. we're going to reimburse the citizens.

we're going to invest in the long term health of this community. i'm going to see this through. and we are going to be here. we are gonna work with these community leaders to help it thrive. i think you heard the mayor talk about making this community even better. and that's what i'm picking up as i'm talking to community leaders and citizens. we are looking for ideas from the community. and where we can help. and things that we can do. >> why would you buy the molar houses in the property values so they jim can return? that's making it right. step up. >> -- you're good. >> jones to erussard. >> we're gonna do what's right for this community. >> your derailment, did it change me now? it made me an angry man.

i'm a christian, but you've made me angry. i don't to be like that. i want you to respect me like i respect you right now and you're saying, i lost everything here. i worked hard, i'm still working among 44th year at my job. i wanted to get out. now i'm stuck. >> mr. shaw, is it normal for trains to catch fire, for the wheels to catch fire? is that something that normally happens and not get caught for 20 miles? >> is that a normal occurrence? or a common occurrence would you say? >> no. >> when a 9-1-1 -- one of the first 9-1-1 call came in in sebring, ohio, which is about 15 minutes from east palestine, when that first 9-1-1 call came in, and more kept coming in, was your

railroad alerted that your train was on fire? did you then respond by letting the communities that you're just gonna run your fiery three in true? did you call salem or east palestine to let us know to get away from our tracks? because i didn't hear our sirens sounding. my sister was right next to the tracks, with her fiancée. she could've been killed, this could've devastated our home. and it could've been prevented and we could've been warned. and thank god that there were no casualties, no loss of life, no loss of buildings. but if this is not a normal occurrence for trains to be on fire, why did that happen? and why did it continue for another 40 miles? >> just people understand at home, what she's talking about, sparks from an apparent wheel bearing overheat were seen at

least 43 minutes and 21 miles before the train derailed. in a cnn analysis found that the train then slowed dramatically around the time that that overheating was first seen. so, why did the train slowed down so far ahead of the derailment? and why, as you're being asked by a resident of east palestine, were steps not taken to warn counties where this train were sparks were flying were headed? >> -- i love that through the night, did that train actually break down in illinois a couple times? >> what led him answer the question. >> we are fully cooperating with the national transportation safety board, and with the fia on this. until then, i am prohibited from making any statements

about the accident. what i am doing. >> you don't think we need answers? >> we do need answers. >> why was it on fire for so long? >> there is video footage of it on fire 20 miles away, people that lived almost an hour away called 9-1-1. why did it continue on the tracks, as far as it did? we deserve to know. investigation be. >> we deserve to be warned. >> right let mr. shot have the last word here, we know it's not easy taking these tough questions from people who are understandably righteously angry. mr. shaw, we will let you have the last word. >> i understand the anger. i've experienced it. as i've talked to the citizens of this community over the last two and a half weeks. it's important to me that i hear directly from the citizens. east palestine and what i can

do, what norfolk southern can do, to help the recovery of this community. i'm prohibited from talking about the ongoing investigation. what i can do, and what i am doing in the commitment that i'm making, is we're gonna get the environmental cleanup right. we're going to support the citizens and the family members here, we're going to invest in the long term growth of this community, and help east palestine thrive. >> thanks for taking their questions, mr. shaw, we appreciate it. coming up, how are these residents feeling? after speaking their truths to people in power? you'll hear from them, after the break.

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welcome back to our live cnn town hall, jake tapper with some residents of east palestine, more from them in a moment. back to ohio, and cnn's sara sidner. sarah. >> here we are here in east

palestine, we do have several folks who have stuck with us through this hour. thank you so much for sticking with us, and for asking you really honest and tough questions that need to be asked. a minister with you, courtney. you heard from the ceo, he apologized to your faces. he said he was gonna do the right thing. >> i hope i can believe him. honestly, it's hard to trust anybody right now for everything that we've been through. i know when a school district, what's gonna be done for our school? our schools been through so much. we have teams not coming here wanting to play us. we have students, parents taking students out of our school putting them in other districts. who's gonna help our school district? we put in a lot of hard work and we take pride in our school, in our students. we try to make them feel safe.

if we don't feel safe, how are they gonna feel safe? who's gonna protect our school district? who's gonna help us? >> and you have a son that's been suffering. >> i do have a son, he's in middle school. he's had a bloody nose he had on this morning. it's frustrating. >> i imagine, and scary. >> it is. it's overwhelming. we've dealt through covid. and now this. and a lot of people deal with anxiety, as soon as we pulled in from the hotel at home, he started throwing up. started having a panic attack. i know there's other students and staff who deal with that and other people, you know, it's a lot. it's very overwhelming. >> anxiety is a real thing. >> it is. >> josh, let me ask you what you saw and what you heard? not only from the ceo, but from the governor. in from the epa. all who are promising to do the right thing, to do the tests,

to help the community, to try to create a better economic situation. did you buy it? >> well, i think their present is going to be here. do i buy what they're selling? not necessarily. you know, basically, we're doing -- there promising things over the long term, and that's just an obvious, those things need to be done. they are just saying what's obviously needs to be said. but what are you gonna do right now? immediately? not six years from now, four years from now, three years from now. what are you going to do tomorrow? and what are you going to do next week? what are you gonna do next month? the people here are suffering, and essentially, they're not doing enough. what are you going to do immediately? not next week, next week next month, not next year. what are gonna do right now? are you going to offer to the people the renters and

homeowners that want to relocate. why make them wait years and years and years for this? if they want that, and they're gonna do what's right, why not do it tomorrow. >> you all feel that way? you want to see some results right now? >> i feel like it's almost been three weeks. >> i think we need things done today, and we need things done for the next ten years. >> yes. >> it can't stop, this is a major disaster. >> you heard the ceo and you heard the other officials, they're gonna do what's right for as long as it takes. now, we have to watch and wait and see if that comes true. >> i believe it when i see it. >> sarah, if i may, i have an issue with the governor as well as director vogel. they sit around and they say, they talk about the water, they didn't say anything was safe. they forced people back into this evacuation zone, that couldn't afford to be there. and due to that, these

individuals come out with these questionable toxic reactions. yet, the state of ohio has a ton of money, they could've put up temporary shelters. and house these people, and tested the water, tested the ground before they went back in. that failed to happen. >> that is fair enough, we're running out of time. i thank you all for sitting here with us and going through this. i know it's emotionally difficult and you are all tired after going to do this for so long. i appreciate your time, -- >> we are running out of time, i have to ask that you keep it to a sentence or two. how you feel. you got a chance to confront the governor and his administration, the epa administrator. you heard us talk to the mayor and then you've got to ask some very tough questions of the ceo of norfolk southern. do you feel any better today? do you feel worse? >> i think a lot of questions weren't answered. the ceo of norfolk southern, be a leader. make change. do it today, don't wait. >> potentially, we heard after

the politicians speak, we heard a lot of -- muddled words tonight. still, i'm hearing, especially from the governor, might be, will be, hopefully, we'll see. that kind of stuff. it doesn't ring true for safety for us. it doesn't bode well for confidence. >> let me go to the stewards. how do you feel? >> i got a lot of my chest. i hope i spoke for the people of east palestine. i love east palestine and been here all my life. and i hope we grow on and be strong, like we always are. but i can't say that everything is gonna happen like it is. they're gonna walk away or do something, something's gonna happen. >> you still feel worried about your future? >> yes i. do i worry about the future of east palestine, it should not be like this. and that soil in that dirt and that oil out there. >> i don't believe what they're

saying. i don't. i'll believe it maybe if they're doing a tomorrow. fix it tomorrow. we're all sick now. they better hurry up. because everybody is sick. >> your former chemistry teacher, you must have questions to that haven't been answered. >> yeah, but overall, i'm so impressed with my fellow panelists here about a did fantastic job, i was very encouraged everything was in the positive direction. i think good things are on the horizon. >> you are optimist. good for you. >> if you are given body, -- as a leader in the community, watching leaders across our state and federal. i feel confident about on our selves. that's what i took today, we have the one opportunity in our life to rewrite the greatest

comeback story in american history. and we have a pen. so for betting on us, i'm happy that if the east palestine residence. >> jessica? >> there's a lot of big promises that were made today. i think dj has it right, this isn't just a problem for east palestine. if you have a train near you or a waterway near you, this is a problem for you to. stand up, stand with us. we're gonna fight until the promises are kept. >> let me just say, on behalf of cnn, the story doesn't and for us either tonight. we're gonna stay in touch with your gonna keep covering the story, keep holding them accountable and allowing you more importantly, to hold them accountable. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> you are being here, thank you to our panelists in ohio as well, and thanks to the officials who came to answer some questions. some of them pretty tough. cnn tonight with alison camerota starts after this quick break.

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good evening, everyone. i'm alison camerota, this is cnn tonight. we're gonna continue the conversation from cnn's town hall on the toxic train disaster in east palestine, ohio. we just heard from key players trying to deal with the aftermath of this dangerous spill, including ohio governor, mike dewine, and michael regan, the head of the federal epa. we also heard from residents of east palestine who are still experiencing vomiting, bloody noses and other health issues. many are still afraid to go back to their homes. the ntsb will release its preliminary report on the derailment tomorrow. and the epa chief is turning up the pressure on norfolk southern, telling the railroad, it will be fully responsible for cleaning up the toxic mess

and footing the bill for the disaster. norfolk southern's chief executive was confronted by an angry president. >> i'm angry. i'm angry about this. i lived in east palestine for 65 years now. that's my home. my grandmother came from germany, she lived in palestine. my dad grew up there. my families grown up there now. and it is disgusting that were just lost in it. i live in a house, it's probably closest of any of these, and it's a shame. this is probably the next closest one. and our houses they've been inspected it's been this, it's been that. i'm afraid to put my dog out just to be. he's only this tall. i don't feel safe in this town no. you took it away for me. >> i wanna bring in cnn's chief climate correspondent, bill weir, cnn contributor gary

champion, political commentator -- former democratic congressman. and political commentator alyssa farah griffin, the former trump white house communications director. great to have all of you here. wow, what a heart wrenching statement from jimmy stewart is his name. could he have phrased it any better? this is his home. he doesn't feel safe anymore. it's been his home for i think he was staying generations. and now, you heard in the town hall, people don't know whether they can drink their water, they don't know whether they can breathe the air around them. what are they to do? >> i think you have done, first off, cnn kudos for this town hall. that's the first thing i want to say. i feel as if there is been such an apathy towards what's happening here in ohio. we simply are too caught up, whether it be on our phones, tiktok our own personal lives, this is a natural disaster. that is affected so many people -- >> on a natural disaster. >> men made. >> that has not -- it's more natural because people do it, they're ignoring what is happening. they know what's gonna go on,

then this would happen. i think the risk versus reward has been huge. and now we look and see these people who are simply devastated, and we have to put a name to the faces. now, when we see someone like jim, i think you said his name was, he said okay, this really does matter. these are lives. i'm sorry, i don't know about you, but if i go on tiktok, i don't want to look at rainbow water. i don't to see animals dying. as you have pointed out, a natural disaster, ignored perhaps prevented, when we have sat here for so long and ignored this. what are we a month in? >> close to. >> bill? you are steeped in these issues, what did you hear tonight. >> the oldest story there is. big polluter and the little folks. the folks who just want their dogs to go pieced safely. the ceo did his self a service by finally showing up, what you see is that what starts as a man made disaster only gets worse when there's no

transparency. what's interesting, that didn't come out today, is to date, so far, the only testing we have online is from the ohio epa. four groundwater reports. for whatever reason, the federal epa is not coming forward with the testing, of talking to so many scientists who just look at this full reports that are out, and say, there's testing flaws here. there's elevation here that only could end up in the groundwater or downstream. >> the epa is not, the federal epa is not doing any water and air testing are the? >> they are, but they're not putting the results out. they're not being specific about what exactly they're testing for, so the experts say, we don't know if their equipment is calibrated to enough sensitively to pick up the complex compounds that happen when these chemicals are burned together. and it creates stuff that we don't even truly know what it is. so, if you look at the state epa's water reports, they're testing for ddt which is a pesticide that wasn't on the train. so, what the experts say, that just tells me that they're just doing your basic --