the trash truck that you are seeing on the right side of your screen. we're going to hand over our coverage to our colleague, andrea mitchell. thank you so much. we have breaking news, obviously. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we begin with that breaking news. the train carrying house and senate republicans to a republican retreat in west virginia involved in an accident outside of charlottesville, russia. casey hunt joins us now with a full report and new information. casey? >> reporter: hi, andrea are en route to the area where we are told this train has collided with this garbage truck outside of a town. this focus right now is on the people who were in the truck, the driver and potentially a passenger. trying to find out what exactly their condition is and whether they may have been injured and how serious the injuries might be. the reports we are getting from

onboard the train seem to be of good news considering this accident. the house speaker is on the train but he is okay. i've spoken with members of congress who are onboard. they say there was a major jolt. things started flying. anything that wasn't secured, laptops, cell phones, one person who stood up had minor injuries and congressman curbelo had photos of first responders onboard the train. [ inaudible ]. >> and, kasie, with apologies, your cell phone is breaking up so i want to bring in

congressman bradley burn of alabama, a republican who was on the train. >> all focus here is on the people in the truck that was on the tracks when the train hit it. >> can you tell us what happened at the moment of impact? what were you doing? was anyone standing? give us a description. >> there were some people standing. they have received minor injuries. i personally was sitting and just felt a very strong jolt and the train came to a pretty quick stop. we realized we hit something and people in the back of the train were able to tell us it was a garbage truck. we learned from one of the doctors who is a member of congress went downstairs to help that we have at least one fatality and another person seriously injured. >> well, that is the first -- i

guess a second hand report of a fatality so that is obviously very concerning, to say the least. i know you have martha mcsally and others on that train with both past military experience. she was a former pilot and veteran as well as others who have medical training as well, cpr and the rest. >> we have several physicians who are members of congress and they were quick to get off the train and try to do what they could to help include dr. brad winthrop. of course he has great training. >> do you know how many cars there were on this train? we know it was specially chartered carrying members to a retreat, they were going to have dinner with mattis and

tillerson, secretary tillerson in the morning and others as well. >> i don't know how many cars we have but there are a lot of republican house and senate members on this train along with some other people part of our staff. >> about what time did you leave union station? >> about 8:30 this morning. >> you had a late night with the state of the union speech. were you having breakfast on the train? what was going on as you were traveling this route where the accident happened in charlottesville? >> some people were eating an early lunch, others taking care of business and others having a conversation. that's why you had some people standing or in other positions where a jolt like that would put them in a position to be hurt.

>> i know there are spouses on the train but children as well? can you tell us about children? >> they all appear to be okay. >> and these are children -- young children? tell me how many family members do you think? >> yes. >> and they all seem to be okay. we do have reports on social media from pat roberts who says he's fine. the senator says he's fine after the train accident. senator langford says he's fine. danes says he's fine as well. the speaker is fine. there's plenty of security as well, not just the speaker who obviously has security but others, capitol police would be on the train as well. >> yes, we have a number of members of leadership but security here.

the focus is not on the people on the train but the people in the truck and the family members of the man who died. >> tell me about the truck. what can you see or what do you know about the sanitation truck and how many people were involved in that besides the driver. >> the truck cab itself appears not to have been hit directly. it looks like the train hit it right where the truck cab connects to the dump truck trailer. the trailer is smashed on the ground with garbage everywhere. the cab still has its tires on it. so there was a direct hit to right where the back of the cab attaches to the trailer.

amtrak has just released a statement, an amtrak train came into contact with a vehicle that was on the tracks at 11:20 a.m. in crosette, virginia. local law enforcement is investigating the incident and crews are inspecting equipment for damage. the train originated in washington, d.c. obviously there's no information about the sanitation truck and the injuries there. and your information about the fatality came from a doctor who is a member of congress or a doctor traveling with you? can you be more precise about that? senator jeff flake says three

passengers were aboard the hit truck and senator flake is reporting one fatality, two injured. they helped carry one of the members with medical personnel. this is ed o'keefe who has been covering congress, as you know. what are they telling you about the rest of your travel? will they bring buses to get you down to west virginia? will you continue as planned? >> the focus continues to be on what's happening outside the train. it's unlikely this train will continue to our destination so they're almost certainly going to have to take us off the train, put us in alternative transportation to go back to washington or continue on with our trip. >> well, this is a terrible occurrence for all of you

members of congress, the senators. tell me about the retreat and what you were hoping to accomplish or still might be accomplish this week. >> we have a retreat at the beginning of each calendar year and not only our leadership to bring in people to talk about the agenda we want to pursue for the coming year. the secretary of defense, the secretary of state and other experts work with us on policy. it's a pretty serious, heavy scheduled event. if we don't do it now it would be hard to put it back together. you have to keep it in the forefront of your minds. the people in charge will make the right decision on the best interest of the safety of people on and off the train.

>> have you seep seen or spoken to the speaker of the house since the accident occurred? is he in the same car area or are you out and about? >> i have not spoken with him. there are a lot of people involved with issues that are important beyond the train. everybody as far as i've been told is safe and sound. security is doing their jobs appropriately. >> and we under steve scalise was not on the train. good news for that. steve scalise was not on the train. >> he does not need any more trauma in his life. >> that was a moment that was a bipartisan moment that was a salute to heroism the man the president of the united states called the legend from louisiana.

a twitter from ted cruz, thanks to all who have shown concern. i am just fine. keep in prayers any others involved in the collision who have been injured. so we know -- we know senator cruz is fine. have you seen other members -- members of your delegation who have had minor injuries, any broken bones, anything you have witnessed yourself? >> i have witnessed a few minor injuries. i have not seen anything as serious as a broken bone. at least one person hit the ground. everybody's injuries seem to be relatively minor. thank you so much congressman bradley byrne from alabama. we appreciate you taking the time during a very difficult time. we thank you so much for talking to us today. >> thank you for your concern for everybody on and off the

train. >> please convey that to all the other members, your colleagues there. the whole country is concerned about what happened to the republican members on their way to a retreat in white sulphur springs, west virginia. the collision occurring in charlottesville, virginia. tom costello covers transportation. what are you hearing from officials about how this could have occurred? the amtrak, no warning to the fact there was a sanitation truck apparently on the tracks. according to the congressman who described the scene and according to the pictures we're getting, the cab of the truck was not as damaged but obviously a report of a fatality, one of the passengers, one of the workers, one of the crew on that truck. >> reporter: let me quote senator jeff flake as saying there were three people onboard the truck, that one has passed away, two are injured.

again, that is senator flake saying that to "the washington post" that one of the people on the truck is dead on the scene, two injured, that he and other lawmakers helped carry one of the injured to an ambulance where local medical personnel were standing by and helping. i've been talking to the ntsb as well as the federal railroad administration. both are aware of what has happened but have not yet started a go team. i would suspect that would happen in very short order especially given the fact there are members of congress onboard this train. again, the federal railroad administration and the ntsb jointly investigate incidents involving trains. amtrak is only saying this happened at about 11:20 and the trash truck was on the tracks. we don't know if there was an intersection there, a crossing that failed to, in some way, failed to notice there was a

train coming. we simply don't have the facts there but i think, andrea, from the photograph it's pretty clear we're looking at a lot of trash that has been thrown about the area. the injuries and possible fatality are all associated with that truck. >> tom costello, let's talk about what they next have to do. typically in an accident like this, even assuming it wasn't involving members of congress and the speaker of the house of representatives and so many senators and members what would be the next steps for an investigation? >> reporter: unfortunately these incidents happen almost routinely where a train always has the right of way, where a train comes in contact with a vehicle that has failed to yield or is stuck on the trucks or whatever the case may be. assuming the train is, in fact, stable and upright and has not

derailed, and itch not yet seen any reporting to suggest the train derailed -- if it's, in fact, firmly on the tracks, then they would check for any damage on the tracks, ensure anybody injured is taken care of, and then they would try once they do a forensics investigation and a full analysis of what happened, they will try to get that track open as quickly as possible. passenger trains share the rails with freight trains in many cases. in fact, in most cases. so they do need to get the train tracks open for both passengers and commerce assuming that the train hasn't derailed. this will be the police investigation as well as a federal rail investigation. now we see the damage to the front of the train, so now that we see that, it would appear the train is, again, still firmly on the tracks, but they'll have to do a full exam to ensure the train is operable before they

can move that. >> and as we're seeing live pictures you can understand now they're going to have to bring cranes and other equipment in there. they're going to have to be organizing buses or some other way to remove -- to take the congressmen, the senators, off the train and get them to their next destination. here on set with me is congressman joe crowley, a democrat from new york. we talk about the partisanship but it doesn't really infect personal relationships. you've taken a train like this in the past. the democrats have done the same thing. >> it's a time many of my colleagues look forward to. their families are on the train. it's an opportunity for them to be with the senators, in many respects, talking about last night i'm sure as well. it's a tragedy for all involved. the driver of the truck and

their families and the members of the house and senate on that train and particularly the kids on the train as well, a very traumatic event, i'm sure. >> and, in fact, this is one of the aspects of washington life that is underreported outside of the capitol campus really. there aren't as many opportunities before air travel and commuting back and raising money as frequently as you all have to now. it used to be an encampment and families would be here as well and spouses had very close relationships through clubs, congressional wives clubs but now spouses clubs because there are women as well as male members. >> in this particular setting the kids are probably running around and having a great time. they have the train to themselves and it's a unique situation. but it's also, as you said, very

few opportunities for members to interact even amongst our own parties. this is one of those events they do have the opportunity. >> garrett haake is out in white sulphur springs at the greenbrier where they were heading, garrett. they have to be not only worrying about that but worrying about what to do next given the circumstances. >> reporter: a busy schedule delayed. the organization that puts on this conference, a nonpartisan organization that allows this to happen, they are saying they do believe the conference will continue but it's a question of when. how and when to move all of these members and their families and their staffs from this location. about a two-hour drive to get to west virginia. the spokesperson for the

congressional institute offered some additional update on the medical condition of the folks on the train. she was told one member and one staffer are being examined on the train. one member was taken to the hospital. which member that was on minor aid offered to others. she did also confirm what we've been hearing from folks on the scene. this coming from the spokesperson, the organization that puts on this event. still scheduled to begin some time today we think, andrea. >> as bradley byrne was telling us there were a number of doctors on the train and others who are lawmakers and doctors as well as first responders helping michael burgess of texas, phil roe of tennessee. i don't know if senator barosso

was on the train. there are veterans who have had military experience in terms of being a first responder. >> reporter: a combat surgeon in iraq, a physician, of some experience whose name will be familiar to a lot of people because he was on the field for the congressional baseball shooting and administered lifesaving first aid to folks in that scenario. he was on this train and one of the people there and able to help. he and other former physicians right away in administering aid to the people hurt in this collision. >> and joe crowley is here with us as well, garrett. >> even as a democrat on the floor last night, steve scalise

was not on the train but there was that moment. tell us about the moment the president gave a shout out to the incredible recovery of steve scalise. >> it was one of the rare moments of bipartisanship in terms of applauding what the president was saying. before coming on the show i texted steve to see how he was doing. i gave my phone a look and there was no response before that. that certainly was a great moment to see steve had recovered so fast and quickly and he was there last night. a great effort, i'm sure. >> and the fact he was there last night and seems to be doing so well, it was just an emotional lift. >> it was. and certainly this happens. when you have such a tragedy for these members and for all of us, i think and now the report human

life was lost. it certainly makes it even much more tragic event. our hope is no one else is in jeopardy of loss of life. steve was a symbol for all of us in terms of his recovery. this will be a tragic event that will affect many lives, unfortunately. >> kasie hunt, our chief congressional correspondent, as well is on the phone. kasie, i believe you have confirmed the fatality on the truck. >> reporter: hi, andrea, forgive me. i'm having a little bit of trouble hearing you. i think you were asking me and we can report nbc has two sources who confirmed there is one fatality associated with this garbage truck hit by the amtrak train carrying members of congress, so some very sad news to report on that front. there were serious injuries among others traveling on the garbage truck. we are working on looking into

the details of what happened. we are also receiving, and forgive me, this is just coming into our e-mails here, a spokeswoman for the congressional institute who sponsors the conference, they are giving us the following on the record report about what happened. one fatality in the truck, which we were just talking about. there is also one critical injury to somebody who was traveling in the truck. we also have some news about members of congress. one member of congress has been september to the hospital as a result of this. one member and one staff member are being examined by medical personnel in connection with injuries to this and there's also minor first aid being offered to others on the train. we heard reports from members we have spoken to about bumps, bruises, and injuries among those traveling on the train. they expect the conference to continue, this republican retreat in west virginia. it's a question, they say, of when that might happen and there

are buses being sent to the train site to continue the journey for these members of congress to attend. the information we have on the record from the sponsorship organization of this conference. one person has died involved with the garbage truck that was hit by this train. another person critically injured and one member of congress sent to the hospital for injuries, andrea. >> and we have a communication from dr. roger marshall who apparently was traveling on the train and reports he performed cpr on the train conductor and helped the two people on the garbage truck that are in the ambulance, they were injured badly, he reports. one may have been airlifted out and there was the one fatality so there are, i believe, four people on that truck, kasie, as you are en route as well to this conference which they have

reported will continue. it's just a question of the timing and it's a couple of hours even once they get buses there. clearly nothing will move along that track for quite a while. garrett haake -- go ahead, kasie. >> reporter: the number of people expected to address the conference, the vice president, the president himself, other vip speakers. clearly the schedule for many of these high-profile speakers may have to be adjusted as well as they change plans based on this tragic accident. >> and kristen welker joins us also from the white house. kristen, a lot of questions tom costello and his team are going to have to be answering when they are dealing with amtrak here and as well as local officials as to who had the right of way. presumably it's the amtrak and the truck should not have been at that crossing but there's a lot of questions that are going to have to be answered and this fatal accident according to all

reports we now have two sources to nbc, to kasie hunt as well. kristen, this does affect the white house officials heading down, the cabinet officials, heading down to join them including secretaries mattison and tillerson. >> reporter: as is so often the case when there is breaking news, andrea, the white house is watching this and processing this along with the rest of us. we do know the president was meeting with his national security team, that he has been made aware of this crash as they are monitoring it. he is obviously being kept up to date on all of the various details. now we just got this from sarah sanders, the president has been fully briefed on the situation in virginia and is receiving regular updates. there is one confirmed fatality and one serious injury, as you just said, andrea. there are no serious injuries among members of congress or their staff. senior administration officials are in contact with amtrak and state and local authorities.

our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affect the by this incident. now i can tell you that president trump today at 2:30 is going to be meeting with various business owners. he's going to be talking about his tax legislation that just passed. that will be an opportunity for reporters to potentially speak with him about everything that we are witnessing so that we can learn what he has specifically been briefed on, andrea, in terms of the president traveling to this retreat, as you said, he was supposed to attend tomorrow. they were obviously going to talk about the gop agenda for the year ahead which he mapped out in a state of the union address. obviously saw it today unfold very differently. this was supposed to be a day in which he began the process of starting to move his agenda forward. now the focus is on this crash. the lawmakers and the victims of this crash, andrea. >> and we don't know from the white house whether the president has spoken to the speaker. that would be the most logical communication next.

>> reporter: you would anticipate that would be happening in short order. that is one of the many questions we're trying to drill down on here whether the president has made any calls and who he will be reaching out to. we will update that as soon as we get any answers, andrea. >> and, kristen and congressman joe crowley is here with me as well joining us by phone from the scene of the accident senator jeff flake. senator, tell me what you experienced when the accident occurred, and i know you were involved in rescuing some of the injured on the truck. >> i was near the front of the train sitting with my wife at the time. we felt a big impact. and obviously everybody was thrown around a bit but i don't think anybody on the train is

seriously injured. but i worked my way back ten cars parallel to the accident. i looked out the window as we went by the truck that had been hit. and then there was one deceased they worked on for quite a while while i was there and we were tending to the other injured pers person, it was myself and senator cassidy and congressman woodstrip and a few others. and we put him on a stretcher and carried him to the ambulance eventually. >> senator, i should ask you, how old is your son and is your son okay and your wife? >> oh, yes, he's fine. he's 18. my wife was thrown around a bit, but nobody on the train that i know of was injured seriously. some were shaken up. but obviously a terrible scene outside of the train.

>> you said you were in one of the front cars but worked your way ten cars back to the point of impact, does that mean that the train hit the truck not with the front car -- maybe you can explain that to me. >> it hit with the front car and the front car is derailed actually. so we're going to have to unhook from the derailed car. that's my understanding. it took a while for the train to stop. i could see as we went by, i knew there were going to be bad injuries. so i worked my way back thinking they might need somebody to help carry people to an ambulance or whatever, and they did. >> and, senator, how fast can you estimate how fast the train was going at the point of impact? >> i don't.

we were probably at as high a speed as we go in this area. i don't know what that would be, 55, 60 miles an hour. i'm not sure. but we were going at a good clip and it was a hard impact. obviously smashed the truck pretty badly. i'm assuming there were three people in the truck or on the truck. i'm assuming the two that were ejected, the one we were working on and the deceased were, i'm assuming, on the back of the truck. and the person who was in the cab actually was able to walk with assistance to an ambulance, so that person fared the best. the other two it's pretty tough, the injuries are very serious to the one that we carried to the ambulance.

>> and from what you witnessed, at what point did the train hit the truck or was -- we're looking at the pictures now. it's hard to tell exactly what part of the truck -- >> i don't know exactly but i'm looking at the cab, at the truck right now. i'm assuming that it was hit behind the cab and the one that was less injured was in the cab. you could see how somebody could survive in the cab. the other two were on the back of the truck which typically is routine for a garbage truck like this, and they were ejected from it. they probably felt a lot of the full impact. >> from your observation was the person -- was the passenger on the truck who died, was that

person alive when you were there? >> no, no. i don't think. i got back pretty quickly and they were doing cpr by that point, but i don't think that he was ever conscious. that's my assumption. they work on him for quite a while, tried everything with the paddles, but he, i don't think, ever came to. >> i assume there were capitol police with the speaker being on the train that there were plenty of people there to take care of everyone. >> there were. there were a few doctors, asking for doctors, dr. cassidy, senator cassidy, got off quickly and so did brad. as we were working on the injured, i'm just remembering it was brad and i that were with steve scalise. >> i was going to ask you about that. >> similar thing.

brad was cutting away a coat so they could attach some of the equipment that is very similar to what we were doing cutting away the clothing so we could apply the tourniquet. too familiar. >> i was going to ask you about that because you had such a horrific incident on that baseball field, the softball field, and steve scalise, of course, was paid tribute to on the floor last night. it was quite a moment. i know you were there. >> yes. >> how are you doing? >> i'm fine. >> you've been through two traumas that we know of this year. >> i am very happy to be okay. i'm fine. i just hope that the two injured

survive. >> and are you planning, do you know, is there a plan to bus you all to white sulphur springs? it's a very important meeting. >> the last i heard we have to pull back from the derailed engine. we have an engine at the back of the train so we can do that and i believe they're taking us to some buses where we'll go the rest of the way. that's my understanding right now. >> but you're still on the train right now? >> yes. just climbing back on. >> we want to thank you for your patience and time in talking to us today and everything you did to try to rescue victims and wish you some rest and quiet with your family. this is a very tough time. thank you tofor being with us, jeff flake. >> garrett haake, down in white sulphur springs, this is quite a moment for the house members,

senators coming to a retreat. it has to be emotionally wrenching to have witnessed and experienced all of this. >> reporter: extraordinary moment and i can't help but think how much overlap there is between the folks who were at the center of this incident on the train and the folks who were involved in the shooting at the baseball field last summer. jeff flake was absolutely in the middle of that. he went through as much trauma from it as anyone who wasn't shot could have. the former combat physician saved lives that day. he's in his role as a congressman tending to people who are by all accounts critically injured in this train crash. a shattering start to what is a relaxing, pep rallyish weekend for members and their families at a family friendly resort.

it's a chance to get away, reset and bond for these folks. and it starts off with this tragic, jarring moment. not just for members but their families and in many cases their children who were on this train coming down here this afternoon. >> and, garrett, what we heard earlier from congressman byrnes is that there are young children as well. is not senator flake's son who is 18 but some of the younger children as well. there's trauma for them. joining us now is congressman dan donovan from staten island, new york member. first of all, congressman, thank you for calling in and how are you doing? >> i'm fine, andrea. thank you so much. everybody has been so concerned about us, most of the people on the train are fine. banged up a little bit, jolted out of their seats.

the personnel have been wonderful to us. the local medical core and certainly our own members, members of tmade sure they weree and went to attend to the injured people in the truck. heroics by these fine young americans. >> at the same time we're hearing from others. i am on the train but okay, but a lot of prayers are needed for those hurt. have you seen people on the train injured? >> they asked for medical attention for the engineer. i don't know if that's because he had some physical concerns or whether or not it was the tra a trauma, but most of the attention was given to the people in the truck that was struck by the train.

one of those people has already passed on and one person had to be medevaced out of here. >> did you have your family with you, congressman? >> i did not. i have a 2 1/2-year-old and they were scheduled to come. at the last minute we decided it probably wasn't a good idea. the trip is very short and they would have to come down from new york. we would have had to take the baby out of school. five minutes before the train hit the truck i was missing them and wishing they were with me. five minutes later i was grateful they weren't. >> i'm sure you've had a chance to talk to your wife since then. everybody reaching out to make sure we're all okay. give their attention and prayers to the people in the truck.

they have a lot of decisions to make. what are the instructions now for you and your colleagues? the deputy whip is with us, our conference chair is with us. was in charge of the entire trip. i've heard rumor they'll be taken out. i expect the ntsb had to send people to examine the scene. >> there is a go team en route. we're letting people do what they do best. >> we're told that a go team is being organized from the ntsb and they will obviously be investigating what happened.

was the train traveling at an unusual speed, was it a turn? what can you describe if you were conscious of that at the moment of impact? >> i'm on the train very often. we were on the straight away and it felt like we were going at normal speed. being a regular rail passenger it did not appear that we were going at any extraordinary speed at all. >> we're seeing live pictures. the engineer's ability to stop quickly, my recollection that's when we got jolted.

we all got tossed a bit. >> were you seated at the time? >> i was. hit the chair in front of me. no injuries and most of the people on the train checked by local personnel and our own medical team. >> we appreciate it, congressman. i wish the rest of your trip is uneventful and you get your work done. i'm glad your baby was not with you. a fortunate last-minute decision. an infant may not have been as easily secured. tom costello joins me now. what's the latest on a go team and how they will investigate this.

>> reporter: a couple of notes here, andrea, to begin with you may have heard senator flake say he had been told -- actually stop right there. take a look at the shot. there is a crossing light there. the question is if there's a crossing arm. there are flashing lights. among the priorities for the investigation will be were they working, was there an arm, a railroad arm that was supposed to come down, did it come down, did this trash truck try to beat the train or was it stuck on the tracks? but it does not appear this is a cattle grade crossing where you kind of take your chances when you go across. there should have been functioning lights so that will be part of the investigation. the ntsb and the railroad administration will be launching the investigation we expect rather quickly.

they pulled this train back. let me give you a sense on what it would take to stop a train traveling at 55 miles an hour. i can give you the analogy of a freight train because i've been on these trains and we've talked to the engineers. they need the length of 18 football fields. 18 football fields to stop if they are traveling at 55 miles an hour. you could assume it would be less than that but not a whole lot less. it is not a quick slam on the brakes kind of incident and lastly, you know, generally every year we see about 270 motorists killed. 270 motorists killed trying to beat the train and about 3,400 pedestrians on the tracks killed. so this is, unfortunately, an all too common occurrence across the country. andrea? >> thanks to tom costello. and breaking news and another

major story that house intelligence committee memo the president was overheard saying last night on his way out of the state of the union to congressman jeff duncan that it's 100% he would be releasing the memo. sarah sanders then confirmed he had not yet read it or seen the underlying information on it. we were told by john kelly earlier today that the release would be very quick so there's no question that it was going to be released. now there is an fbi statement again reiterating grave concerns. pete williams joins me from the newsroom. this is escalating the conflict between the fbi and the white house and the president. >> reporter: well, certainly making it more public, andrea, what the fbi says in an unusual statement in a case like this is the fbi was given a limited opportunity to look at this republican staff memo the day before the committee voted to release it. the statement says as expressed during our initial review we have grave concerns about

omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy. so making the same point the democrats have made on the committee that it's a selective picking of facts from the fisa application and doesn't reflect on the totality of what the fbi was going after here, andrea. >> and as well the fbi is also saying, as you know, that it takes its obligations to the fisa court, that's the special judge that reviews all of these confidential secret applications, and this was an extension of the eavesdropping order, that it takes them and its compliance overseen by career professionals in the department of justice and the fbi very seriously. we are committed to working with the appropriate oversight to ensure the continuing integrity of the fisa process. this is a very secret and important process. yes, pete? >> reporter: and if this memo does come out today, i don't think we'll hear much more than

this because talking to some folks at justice this morning their view is that the underlying facts here remain classified. they won't be able to really say much more than this. so this preemptive statement from the fbi is about all we're going to hear here, andrea. if i could say one other thing while all this has been unfolding another piece of news involving the congress, the justice department has decided that it will not put senator robert menendez on trial again. just last week the federal court of new jersey threw out some of the counts found him not guilty on after the first trial ended in a mistrial. the government said, that's all right. we'll go ahead and try on the remaining counts. now today the justice department says it will not do that so he and the doctor are off the hook, andrea. >> that is a big bit of news from the democratic side of the senate. joining us now, pete, is a

senior fellow at brookings, an msnbc legal analyst. we have the fbi statement now and your reaction to it because this is a pretty tough statement coming on the moments before we expect release that have memo from the white house. >> it's an extraordinary situation. you have the chairman of the house intelligence committee, and the president of the united states teaming up to release a memo the fbi describes as containing material omissions of fact that make it cumulatively inaccurate and that the justice department has formally stated the release of which would be an extraordinarily reckless act. and so, you know, we supposedly live in a society with a unitary executive. everybody in the executive branch works for the presidency. but here you're basically seeing

the fbi saying that the president and the house intelligence committee majority are getting ready to tell a lie about the fbi. they use nicer words than that and you have the justice department saying that what they're going to do is extraordinarily reckless. and i think they appear to be about to do it anyway. >> it is pretty incredible. thank you so much. pete williams, pete sessions, congressman sessions from texas is on the phone from the train. congressman, first of all, tell us how are you? >> andrea, both karen and i are fine. there were a number of people, not a lot, but a number of people onboard all receiving protocol for ankle injuries, probably protocol for concussion. we are, as of about one minute

ago towed back -- the train is being towed back to charlottesville, west virginia. we're the truck is smashed. it looks like a dump truck that was hit and it was still probably 80 yards off of the cab of the truck. so that's the tirs we got. the vehicle does contain a good bit of blood. so the cab of the truck is here

and 80 yards off is the remaining part of the trash, which was the part. i think what was the cab and then we hit probably what was the load. >> we're seeing live pictures of your train being towed back as you described. quite a scene. we're seeing trey gowdy that he's not running for reelection. by my count that would be the tenth chair since he's chairman of the house oversight deciding not to run for reelection. i don't know if you have that information as well there. >> i would find them last night. don't know about that.

what i know is is it was directly next to the cab of the truck. it was actually there are emergency personnel on here. emergency protocol that is related to this. >> i am told we're going to go back to charlesville. it wouldn't surprise me if we rethink this thing it. >> understood. kmab, thank you so much. dr. roger marshal who treated some of the injured is joining us now by phone as well. what can you tell us about the injuries and the situation with

those whom you treated at the scene? >> i walked on to the scene. there was obviously a handful of in congress got on to the scene. three people were injured and looked like one person was walking away. first person was down. dr. winstrip were trying to secure the airway and assess those injuries. they were working on another person trying to dpet an airway there. so i jumped in and helped dr. row. couldn't find a pulse. so we started cpr. and worked on that person for several minutes. we just could never get him resuscitated, i'm afraid.

we tried shocking him. could never get a good airway and at some point in time, we decided we needed to focus all of our attention on the other person who was at least had a pulse. >> dr. marshal, can you tell us what his fatal injuries were, what was your observation when you first saw this poor injured man? >> just major head trauma, internal trauma. it was too gruesome to even talk about. just really bad internal injuries. >> so i would assume from that that this was someone riding on the truck who got thrown off the truck in the collision and that was the cause of his fatal injuries. >> yes, i didn't see the train

hit them. just heard a huge bang. and i don't know how anybody could walk away. any members of congress you treated as ankle injuries, possible concussions? >> all i have seen is bumps and bruises type of thing. just minor bumps and bruises. >> and where were you when the collision took place? >> in the middle of the train in the train cars that are half way down. >> and can you describe the moment of impact and what was going on?

>> sure, my wife is sitting next to us. we were discussing our call r dar talk. and sending out this was austin scott and probably 2 or 3. we hit the bump and he got a little bump on the head. i was talking to the baseball team, so i immediately thought, gosh, what's happening here. and told the doctor to look everywhere, look up and down. so capital police were all over it. really very calm about it. there was no screaming. except for the kids that bumped their heads. just very calm. one of those times when time is is going in slow motion. just assessing the people around

us, assessing that we were safe, seeing the police respond, as they always do. and some of the police and doctors escorted them to the scene of the accident. >> is and forgive me for not knowing. were you at the softball game as well? >> no, it was a baseball practice. i had a bad premonition to not go that morning. i never felt safe about the facility we were practicing. my dad was a police officer. and never felt good about it. and did not go. that was one of two practices skipped. by that point in time, everyone that comes to this game is having practice going on. just as it turned out, when the shooter started, i was a pitcher so he would have been three feet

from me if i had been there that morning. >> wow, i mean, there's so many moments. jeff flake having been so intricately involved and the doctor members as well. and the tribute last night on the floor to skooteve scalise, was fortunately not on the train today. >> right. they were also there last night. it was there last night. so glad he's doing well. >> our producer is reporting that jason lewis, the congressman, has been taken to an area hospital possibly for a concussion. we do see in pictures from virginia one stretcher. someone is being removed this from the train, i believe.

not from the accident scene itself. so i don't know whether anyone else that you know of is being treated, sir? >> i don't know anybody being treated so that's news to me. >> this is from a leadership source on the train that jason b lewis of minnesota has been taken b to an area hospital for a reported concussion, but not a serious injury. again, we have more news. i want to thank you. >> passing along some reporting from the white house team as we're all just handing off news back and forth with each other. a white house official tells our colleague that as of right now, there are no changes planned to the vice president or the president's schedule as relates to this conference. the vice president was scheduled to have an event here in west virginia in the afternoon today is and then speak at the dinner portion of this conference tonight.

the president scheduled to speak at the lunch tomorrow and as of right now, that is still the plan. apparently the vice president was in the oval office with the president and a number of other cabinet officials as this news broke. so they were able to sort of take this in together in realtime. i have been reaching out to republican leadership aids and other sources to try to get a handle on what i think will be the question later this afternoon potentially. whether or not they ultimately decide to go through with this conference or not. which again, as of now, is the plan. >> garrett, thank you to the entire team. and chris jansing takes it over right now. >> thank you so much. it is a rough day. you have been talking about the folk who is are on that train and also had been at that baseball practice when shooting broke out. good afternoon, we are in washington, d.c. we're going to start once again getting you up to date on the breaking news. that crash of an amtrak train carrying republican members of congress colliding