it's thursday, may 14th. coming up on "early today," 106 in a 50 zone, twice the speed limit, a report that the engineer of the ill-fated amtrak train doesn't remember the crash. also, the people that lost their lives during the late night commute home. then do you know what it takes to get out of a train in an emergency? a rossen report you will want to see. a man hitting people with a hammer on the streets of new york city. he attacks a police officer who was saved by her partner. plus why is australia threatening to kill johnny depp's dogs? prince harry performs a haka in new zealand. and one indy driver has a little trouble on a turn. "early today" starts right now.

>> good morning. i'm dara brown. twice the speed limit. the train was traveling 106 miles per hour in a 50 zone. seven people are confirmed dead, hundreds are injured and some still unaccounted for. so who was behind the controls of that train? we are learning more about the engineer, brandon bostian. his attorney told "nightline" he has no recollection of the incident or anything unusual, he's handed over his cell phone and a blood sample to police. as for the why, let's go to nbc's chris pollone in philadelphia. >> reporter: it appears investigators have a pretty good sense of what happened when that train went off the tracks tuesday night. now, of course, the question is why did that happen? we're also learning more about seven people who died in tuesday's crash. after examining amtrak 188's event data recorder investigators know the train was going 106 miles per hour as it entered a curve in northeast philadelphia. that's more than double the posted speed limit. the engineer brandon bostian of

new york applied the brakes seconds before the cars left the tracks. >> the engineer induced braking. this means the engineer applied full emergency brake application. >> reporter: it was too late. the locomotive and seven cars violently shuddered and went screeching off the tracks. >> the entire northeast corridor, we have people on the tracks and a couple cars overturned. >> reporter: frantic passengers pushed out winnerdows and climbed the over seats. among the dead navy midshipman justin zemser. >> he was wonderful. absolutely wonderful. everybody looked up to my son. there's no other words i can say. >> reporter: others include jim gaines, a 48-year-old father of

two. federal investigators haven't interviewed bostian, but philadelphia police have spoke within him and he's turned over his cell phone and given him a blood sample. >> when he got off duty what he went to sleep, what he did off duty. >> reporter: so many questions, few answers in the deadliest amtrak accident in more than a decade. amtrak service between philadelphia and new york is still shut down as investigators collect evidence. they're also removing debris from the tracks. amtrak is going in and trying to repair the rails, but there's still no word on when this section might reopen. live in philadelphia i'm chris pollone. back to you. >> thank you, chris. and the city of brotherly love is showing its support for those injured in the derailment. eagles football players visited area hospitals in philly to deliver coffee and donuts. and last night a moment of silence was held before the phillies' game to honor the victims. the incident is putting

focus on a bill. edward lawrence is live in washington with us this morning. edward, good morning. house republicans want to reduce amtrak spending while some democrats are now demand ing aing an inreece. >> reporter: this is going to be a tough fight. it seems amtrak has to deal with deep cuts in its budget. the house panel for a appropriations voted to cut amtrak's budget. they allocated about half of what president obama has earmarked in his budget. the vote came down along party lines. republicans say that the infrastructure only needs to get the money available, and you cannot tie the derailment to the budget. democrats are saying infrastructure is important, and it needs to get the money it needs in order to survive. this vote lasted, you know a cup of minutes. however, the debate is going on

on this. if this passes if this passes congress as is that means amtrak will have to deal with a budget of $1 billion for the entire system. dara? >> thank you so much. and somewhere wrapped up in all of this a wake-up call. would you know what to do in a train disaster? jeff rossen has the life-saving tips. >> reporter: the images are frightening, desperate passengers struggling to escape from the mangled train. >> keep crawling, okay? >> reporter: yelling in the dark for help, frantically trying to pry open the doors. >> go, go, go. >> help me. >> reporter: if this were your train, would you know how to get out? >> in an emergency there are three ways to get out. >> reporter: scott sauer is the safety expert for septa, philadelphia's regional rail service. >> every train in the country has emergency signs. if you see the sign, you can open the main door of the train you came in on and follow the

instructions. >> reporter: even if the conductor or engineer are too chaotic to open the door you can open the door yourself? >> absolutely. >> reporter: can i try? >> yes. >> reporter: lift and pull open the ring and pull this down, and i can open it the rest of the way. this is a pretty big drop here, so you can't to be careful getting out. you can open the windows yourself, too. >> in every train car there's emergency exit windows. take the handle, pull it, pull all the rubber from around the window, discard it, grab the handle, pull the window toward you. remember, it's still a seven to eight-foot drop to the ground. >> reporter: in most train crashes there's fire and smoke. so how do you get out alive when you can't even see? recently we filled this car with simulated smoke to show you. >> it's going to be chaotic. get on the floor. this is where you can breathe. we have glow-in-the-dark striping on the floor that will take you where you need to go. >> reporter: with more than 2,000 train accidents last year alone, tips you may need to survive. jeff rossen, nbc news, philadelphia.

this morning, new details from inside earthquake-hit nepal. the number of dead from tuesday's quake is now at 96. on the streets of kathmandu growing scenes like this. people camping out in the open fearful of another quake. and the mystery deepening, what happened to a missing u.s. military helicopter? the hunt is expanding for u.s. aircraft and hundreds of nepalese troops are involved. aboard, six u.s. marines and two nepalese soldiers. the group is equipped with flares and satellite phone, but still nothing. >> the communications they possess require line of sight to satellites. they could be located in an area where the terrain is actually preventing them from broadcasting. >> searchers have also not seen any smoke indicating the aircraft crashed. a wild scene on the streets of new york city. police opening fire on a hammer wielding man yesterday. officers spotting the suspect

allegedly tied to four assaults but when confronted, he goes on the attack swinging a hammer hitting a female officer three times before being shot. >> male officer sees her struggling and fires his weapon four times at the individual striking him twice. >> this morning the officer lauren o'rourke is okay. the suspect is hospitalized in critical condition. florida, spring breakers with no alcohol. panama city beach to ban drinking on its beaches. it could happen during the month of march as soon as next year. city council's final vote on the ban will be at next week's meeting. it is expected to pass. the city says it's trying to clean up its image after negative publicity from past spring break festivities. britain's bachelor prince harry is going big down under, arriving in new zealand last week after spending a month with the australian army. at one point he watched the performance of a traditional war dance at the linton army camp. as you can see, the dansz can

get pretty intense. prince harry took part in the dance as well. it reportedly took him 20 minutes to learn the moves. he leaves new zealand at the end of the week. extreme flooding in parts of texas. 11 inches of rain is to blame and streets are submerged. some streets are five feet above flood stage. bill karins is here. folks in texas, boy, do they need a break. >> yeah they got a little one maybe today, and more rain the next couple days. it's all responsible for the storm system that's going to be moving into california. that's what's going to spur our severe weather outbreak friday saturday, and into sunday. right now a few showers are trying to drift towards the greater los angeles area. not a lot out there yet. through the next days it will get more active. this is our futurecast as we go throughout this morning. there are some spotty showers out there. the heaviest rains are expected tonight through friday morning. you could even get some thunderstorms with this as it kicks on through. here's some of the scattered little showers.

little more of an organized low is going to push in throughout early friday morning. a little more concentrated rain shield as it approaches los angeles, southwards down to oceanside and san diego. there are some winter storm watches still up near yosemite and central portions of the sierra. we don't expect a ton of snow but we could get 6 to 12 inches. further to the south is where we could pick up as much as 1 to 2 inches of localized rainfall especially in the hills. and that will be beneficial and tures will be much lower than normal in the low 60s. so a little beneficial rain from that system in california but that same storm will probably be responsible for tornadoes in the days ahead. >> thank you so much bill. and the clock is ticking on johnny depp's dog's life in

australia. >> plus, an endy car takes flight. details on this edition of "early today. " you know i think about money kind of a lot. money is freedom. money's always on my mind. car insurance. credit cards. preschool. mortgage. debt. it's tough. it's not easy. i'm not a good budgeter. unfortunately, i'm a spender. i would love to learn more about finances. savings. investments. retirement. man: the more educated i am, the better decisions i can make in the future. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer.

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you've got to try it! almay. simply american. the death toll is rising from a fire at a slipper factory in the philippines. police have now recovered 72 bodies. angry relatives say bars on the windows prevented workers from escaping. a terrifying moment during practice at the indianapolis motor speedway, the car flipping end over end. amazingly the driver walked away. he's hoping his crew can put the car back together for this weekend's qualifying round for the indy 500. australian authorities are threatening to euthanize depp's yorkies. he failed to put his two dogs into mandatory quarantine. now he's been warned. pistol and boo have two days to leave the country, or they'll be euthanized. you may think firefighters

or police have the deadliest jobs, but not so. according to the u.s. labor department the top five include fishermen, loggers, aircraft pilots, extraction workers including drillers, blasters and miners, and iron and steelworkers. cops came in at number 14 and firefighters at 26. doctors are warning of a new epidemic called text neck. they say children are especially vulnerable. text neck is the long-term side effect of looking down while texting or using other electronic gadgets. doctors say a ten-pound head leaning forward can cause up to 40 pounds of pain, stress, and tension on your neck. if not corrected, it can lead to pain, numbness, and trouble sleeping. >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by vagisil, the experts in intimate health. just ahead, surviving the amtrak disaster. how a former congressman escaped the twisted wreckage. bad news for the kentucky derby champ.

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this morning on "today," are natalie moraless is live in philly as investigators begin to piece together what happened in the deadly amtrak derailment and we learn more about the victims and heroes of the tragedy. and let's head to betty nguyen

for your sports headlines. >> good morning. let's start with the nhl. game seven, rangers and capitals in overtime. girardi with the slapper from the blue line. stepan with the rebound and knocks the puck in the goal. rangers rally from a 3-1 deficit to take the best of seven games. they'll host the tampa bay lightning monday night. in atlanta, series tied at two apiece. john wall returning after missing the last game with a fractured hand. he gets going early with a beautiful fake and then just lays it in. wall finished with 15 points 7 assists. fourth quarter, paul pierce gets the pass from bradley biehl. wiz up by one, but here come the hawks. >> six seconds. they drive to the rim. it's blocked. horford slides in.

washington has no time-outs. >> al horford knocks down the game winning shot. hawks take game five 82-81. second leg of the uefa semis, real madrid taking on juventus. real madrid gets the early goal off a penalty kick by cristiano rinaldo. he ties the aggregate score of two, but in the 57th minute alvaro marata sneaks one past the goalie to give juventus a 3-2 lead in the aggregate score. juventus completes the upset to advance to the uefa final, their first appearance in 12 years. the kentucky derby champion american pharaoh has arrived in baltimore for the second leg of the triple crown. his trainer bob baffert watched in disbelief wednesday as his horse drew the dreadful number one post position, a very difficult position as it creates a tactical disadvantage for the horse. no horse has won from the number one post position since 1986. american pharaoh is still the favorite to win the preakness listed at four to five. be sure to tune in to watch saturday on nbc.

that is going to be a good one. dara, back to you. >> thanks so much betty. just ahead, lindsay lohan in preschool. plus rebel wilson's bizarre snack. >> i actually brought you another australian delicacy. koala poop. >> oh, my gosh, thank you so much. >> did jimmy eat it? entertainment is up next. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems.

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news. lindsay lohan started community service at a brooklyn preschool yesterday after missing her start date on tuesday. she received the a sentence for reckless driving and lying to police in 2012 but has only done 10 of 125 hours of service in three years. she needs to complete the remaining hours before may 28th or prosecutors could ask for jail time for the star. it's a bird it's a plane, no, it's the new trailer for cbs' "super girl." ♪ "american idol" crowned nick -- >> are you going to watch? >> it will be exciting. >> we're not going to watch "american idol" much longer. the show was filled with performances from the judges. rebel wilson stopped by "the

tonight show" to bring jimmy fallon an australian delicacy. you got to love this. >> i heard you tried vegemite earlier in the week. >> i did try vegemite. >> i actually brought you another australian delicacy, koala poop. oh! >> oh, my gosh. >> it's really a twix bar. >> that's amazing. and julia roberts and david letterman looked back at some of their more intimate late-night moments before one final good-bye. >> whoa! >> i'm dara brown. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. join red nose day, a national event

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right after disaster struck in philadelphia, we started hearing from survivors on the ground. one of the first people to tell us what was going on, former pennsylvania congressman and msnbc host patrick murphy. he was on the amtrak 188 when it went off the tracks. he spoke with nbc's rehema ellis. >> it was a normal train ride from washington to new york. 7:10 i was trying to rush home to be home in time to see my two little kids. everything was fine until just heard very violent shaking, like vibrations. next thing you know we went left, were leaning left and we violently went over, turned over to the right. i was on the left side of the train cab and everyone on the left side just flew to the other side.

i went head first to the other end. a lot of debris, a lot of blood, a lot of people crying for help. i made sure i helped people get out. first i checked to make sure i saw my arms and legs. it was pretty violent. >> it was like that? you were checking to make certain you were still in one piece? >> yeah. because there was blood -- i was overseas twice with the army. so i was okay and the guy next to me was unconscious. i got him up, sat him up, patted his face and said get up, brother, get up. he got up, came to. i yanked him up. i had to pull myself up, the ceiling was the side window. i pulled myself up onto the bench area, reached the emergency exit, punched it out. people that were able to get out were getting out. i helped push them up and then i was just trying to help the folks that couldn't move and that were in really bad shape.

>> you are lucky. >> i was lucky. >> you talked to your family? >> hard to talk about, you know. it's emotional, to go home and be able to kiss them and tell them i love them. and i know i'm a very lucky man. mow it's time for a look ahead. patriots quarterback tom brady has until 5:00 p.m. to decide whether he'll appeal his four-game suspension. the investigation found he was at least generally aware that air was let out of footballs before the afc championship game. and happy birthday to facebook ceo mark zuckerberg who is 31. david byrne of the talking heads turns 63. and legendary "star wars" director george lucas turns 71 today. now, keep it here for more news, weather, and sports. i'm dara brown along with bill karins. we hope you're having a great week. thanks for watching "early today" and have a terrific thursday.

reckless speeding in that dead liam track train crash. charges are flying this morning as we learn more about what technology might have prevented the derailment. lives lost far too young. memorial takes shape for the south bay high school students killed in a crash. the search for a california-based marine helicopter still ongoing at this hour after an urgent mission to deliver aid in nepal. chl. here in the bay area live beautiful look. the bay bridge before some rain comes in. thursday, may 14th, this is "today in the bay." >> very good thursday