airport chaos. al power outage at the world's busiest airport leads to travel trouble across the country. and now we know what caused the problem in the first place. it's al milder monday as temperatures rise above average today, but the colder weather will return. and a former "today" show staffer speaks out about what she says was a consensual relationship with matt lauer. what she's saying about the relationship now. and right now at 11:00, power restored. the lights are back on at the world's busiest airport, and now airlines are working to get back up to speed. good morning to you. i'm erin coleman. the chaos at atlanta's airport is impacting travelers across the country and rate here at home.

here's what's caused all of that trouble. georgia power released two photos of fire damage to the underground electrical system. passengers chee s cheered as th returned just before midnight. the first flights out of the airport didn't start taking off until 6:00 this morning. hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed. airport officials say they hope to be back to normal later this afternoon. now, the delays and cancellations are also happening at philadelphia international airport, part of the trickle-down effect. five flights arriving from or departing for atlanta have been canceled today. airport officials say, check with your carrier on the status of your flight. we caught up with one woman trying to get home to atlanta, who says she is beyond frustrated. >> it's just a mess. we had to find a hotel. the airlines aren't accommodating anything. it's super frustrating. we have a baby.

don't have a car seat. we had to walk over to the marriott, luckily, there's an airport hotel. if there hadn't have been, we would have been sleeping in the terminal. >> a live look right now at the airport. officials there tell us they have spent $7 million in the past two years to upgrade their electrical system to prevent something like this from happening here. you can check on the problems by heading to the nbc 10 app. we always send out breaking news alerts to keep you updates on any major holiday travel problems. well, with one week to go until christmas, the first alert weather and traffic teams are getting you ready. we begin with first alert meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz and the weather outlook from this week's christmas shopping and the start of that holiday travel. glenn? >> looks like we are in pretty good shape. not only in the philadelphia area, but across a good bit of the country. we have dry weather right now, no storminess, really, anywhere in the country. we are going to be seeing some rain develop toward the middle of the week down south, but it's

going to be too warm for anything but rain. then there's the arctic front that's going to be coming, and that's going to affect chicago, giving some snow there. but not a big storm. and later in the week, by friday and into saturday, we're going to be seeing much warmer air coming up the east coast. so all of that precipitation coming in on friday, friday night, and even into saturday. looks like it's going to be rain. so there could be some airport delays related to that. but as far as wintry weather, we're going to be pretty fortunate here, this week. we'll see how it's going to be over the weekend and into next week, coming up. >> well, if you're driving to your destination this holiday, it's going to cost you less to fill up your gas tank. aaa says gas prices in new jersey, philadelphia, and delaware are all lower since last sunday. you can expect the price drop to

continue. the regular price for regular unleaded is $2.67 a gallon. south jersey drivers are paying about $2.39. in delaware, the average is $2.31. let's get a check now on the roads with nbc 10 first alert traffic reporter, jessica boyington. what are you seeing out there? >> we're watching a few things. some construction to start. the schuylkill expressway is seeing a little bit of a delay headed eastbound, moving towards center city because of construction vehicles up ahead. you can see what this eastbound backup looks like right now. a 19-minute drive time from the blue raoute to the vine street expressway. not too bad. not too bad, considering what we saw earlier this morning on the schuylkill expressway. the p.a. turnpike has seen better days, as well. we're at 62 minutes right hour on the westbound side from route 1 to valley forge, with a 24-mile-per-hour average speed there. that's kind of funny, because there's a crash on the eastbound side. so maybe they have something crossed right here, but either way, the drive on the westbound side is pretty nasty.

typically about a 21-iminute trip. on the eastbound, the ramp to the bensalem interchange is blocked. and there's a accident too on new hannover. if you've waited until the last minute to do your online shopping, retailers say they can still get your package to you before the holiday. a number of online retailers say they can get you what you need by sunday. the catch, you have to order by tomorrow. walmart is even offering free pickup in store, right up until 6:00 p.m. christmas eve. and if you just happen to need a gift on christmas day, remember, you can buy egift cards and just print them out on your computer. you're running out of time to get your packages in the mail, as well. tomorrow is the deadline to send something in the mail, first class, to everywhere in the u.s., expect alaska and hawaii. you'll have to pay a little bit more for priority mail service. that deadline for that, that's wednesday, and your last and final option, priority mail express, the deadline on friday.

package thefts are a common problem this time of year, ahead at 11:30, we'll show you how to keep your packages safe from so-called porch pirates. to this now, governor tom wolffe is calling for pennsylvania democratic state senator dailien leech to resign immediately following a philadelphia enquirer and "daily news" investigation. the report includes 11 people who allege inappropriate sexual behavior towards coworkers by the montgomery county legislator. the report says that leach inappropriately touched female staffers and promoted an office culture that objectified women. governor wolfe said this disturbing behavior is absolutely unacceptable. here's part of the state senator's response. it is true that sometimes i touch people when i talk to them. a clasped forearm, a pat on the back, but never anything inappropriate or sexual. he goes on to say, i now know that some people subjectively find such touching unpleasant. that said, the two alleged

incidents that were described to me by the inquirer did not happen and i never, in any way, intentionally or unintentionally touched them inappropriately. it did not happen. end quote. nbc 10 has not verified the accuser's account of what happened. leach has been in office for 15 years. now, one of the women who says that matt lauer abused his power as host of the "today" show is speaking out about her experience. lauer was fired by nbc over allegations of sexual misconduct. addyi zanone appeared on the megyn kelly show this morning. she was a production assistant on the "today" show 17 years ago when she says that matt lauer messaged her about her appearance and then asked her to lunch. she says they began a consensual affair, but she also says she was just 24 years old and felt like he abused his power to get her to be with him. >> well, i'm coming forward, number one, because i've carried this for 17 years and almost

exclusively on my own. and media outlets have come toward me, come to me over those 17 years, because he's been in the tabloids, and i have consistently said, no comment, or not giving them anything. so i've pushed this away -- >> you have not been given money for your story, which you rejected? >> yes, i have been offered thousands of dollars for my story. >> nbc news is not commenting about zinone's allegations. neither is matt lauer. so take a look at a great event here at home, happening right now in delaware county. this is all honoring a little girl who lost her fight with brain cancer. you're looking live at the police procession is taking off from ridley township high school to deliver toys to two children's hospitals. this is all because of 5-year-old jilian matthew's dreams of brightening the holidays for cancer patients. >> now what are you doing? >> now we're giving people toys, now instead of giving me toys for me, i'm giving them toys!

>> oh, my goodness. we told you about little jilian massey from berks county. she lost her own battle with brain cancer a little earlier this month, but she has spearheaded a campaign that became known as the sassy massey toy drive. ♪ a pep rally just rapped up at wrigley township high school with jillian's supporters. the team of volunteers collected more than 24,000 toys. they'll head out with a big police escort, as you just saw there, to deliver the toys to children's hospital of philadelphia. jillian's dad told us his daughter would be very proud today. >> i think jillian wouldn't want it any other way. she's smiling down on us today, gave us a beautiful day toll deliver these toys. and this is what christmas is all about. >> it sure is. other trucks will bring toys to lehigh valley's health network

children's hospital and doylestown hospital. to the eagles now. the eagles beat the clients and locked up a first round buy for the playoffs. that means the birds will get a valuable week off to rest and prepare before the post-season begins. and they need one more win or a loss by the minnesota vikings to clinch home field throughout the playoffs. nick foles did the job yesterday taking over for the injured carson wentz. he threw four touchdown passes to lead the birds to a 43-29 win. >> i'm very excited about nick. all the way, nick. i believe in saint nick, baby. >> you got to respect nick foles coming through. i like it. i'm with him. >> here's what's next for the eagles before the playoffs. they'll have that first round buy to rest up. the birds are back home one week from tonight, christmas night, to host the oakland raiders. then it's a regular season

finale on new year's eve, an afternoon game at the linc, again, the dallas cowboys. it's been a tragic morning in new york city. a fast-moving fire tore through a home in brooklyn. who was trapped inside, that's coming up? plus, trouble for trapp palin, ahead, why police arrested sarah palin's son. well, when's the next cold blast going to arrive and when's our next chance of showers? i'll show you in the full forecast alert, coming up.

three young chirldren and their mother are dead after a fast-moving fire destroyed their home in brooklyn. an 11-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy were killed. the father and his teenage son and a 16-year-old cousin are critically hurt. seven others including five firefighter also hurt. the cause of this fire is currently under investigation. new york senator chuck schumer is calling on the government to put new screening devices that detect suicide bombers into use across the nation sooner, rather than later. the new york democrat wants the tsa to speed up testing of the technology. the devices look like small tv cameras on tripods. they scan for both metallic and non-metallic objects on a perp's body, triggering an alarm in a suicide vest is detected. they have tested the devices in l.a., washington, and a few other cities. schumer is hoping new york is

next, and soon. >> it has to be all hands on deck. and tsa, i think, has shown too lax an attitude. >> the tsa says the devices are not yet ready for a national roll out. a terror suspect in new york city injured himself on a subway platform last week, you'll remember, when he set off a crude pipe bomb that was strapped to his chest. a birthday party in south florida ended in tragedy this weekend. a pickup truck slammed into a group of partygoers riding horses saturday in northwest miami-dade. witnesses say the five riders were on a country road when they were hit by a speeding truck with its lights off. two of the horses were killed. three people went to the hospital, but they are expected to be okay. no word yet on whether the driver will face any criminal charges. sarah palin's oldest son is facing domestic violence charges in alaska. track palin went before a judge yesterday. police arrested him on charges of assault, burglary, and causing hundreds of dollars in property damage. track palin pleaded guilty to

similar charges last year. well, applications for many colleges and universities are due in less than two weeks. and for many low-income students, the process of applying to and enrolling in college, it can be difficult to navigate. that is where an organization called college possible comes in. and joining us to tell us a little bit more is jen weichert, the executive director of college possible philadelphia. he's joined also by a freshman at cabrini college -- or cabrini university, rather. thanks for being here. >> good morning. thanks for having us. >> so tell us about the program and how you came up with this. >> sure. so college possible helps students, especially low income, first generation students get into college and persist all the way to graduation. and for philadelphia, one of the poorest cities the in the nation, this kind of support for low-income students and first generation students is really important. so junior year, all the way through college graduation, we partner with students. >> so how do you make that happen? you go into the school district? >> we do. we work junior and senior year,

after school with high school students, and then in college, with students like charma, we connect with them using technology. we visit them on campus. and we work with them to make sure that they complete financial aid forms, that they register for classes, and just to be a friendly, sort of advocate for them as they deal with all the challenges that college can bring. >> now, charma, you were part of this program when you were a junior and senior. talk about how it prepared you and helped you get to where you are now. >> well, you know, college is just very overwhelming, especially for any high school student doing it on their own. so college possible basically was like my support and my backbone to make sure everything was done. i mean, i had both of mine coaches like, come on, charma, you can do this! come on, you can do this financial aid. >> cheering you on the whole way, right? >> sure. they were just so supportive and they made sure that everything was done and that i was completely set to go. >> you also said, you wouldn't be in college without college possible. is that right?

>> yeah, i don't think so. it's so overwhelming and so much to do. i wouldn't know where to start without college possible. >> wow. jen, what are some of the things that students really need to be keeping in mind, especially now? and we said earlier, there is an all-important deadline coming up. >> there is. there is always declines in this process, but completing your federal financial aid form is really key. it's called the fafsa. it's really important to do that as early as you can. at college possible, our coaches help families and students complete that form. there's a lot of tips how to do it and get it done quickly and effective live. as well as getting in as many applications as possible. we want our students to apply to at least five colleges so they have choices. and we want those students to find the right college for them, so they can afford it and so that they can thrive while they're on campus. >> so it's not one and done. you want to get as many out there as you can, to keep your options open. >> we do, we do, definitely. and i think in doing that way -- in doing it that way, we're helping students become savvy consumers in the college process in ways that many philadelphia

students don't have that kind of support. >> very quickly, in the current job market, why is it so important to have a college degree now? >> students who have a college degree, a four-year degree, will generate about $1 million more than their peers over their lifetime. so we want students to have a leg up, and you need that college degree to be competitive in this workforce. it's essential. >> wow. jen, charma, thank you so much for being here. if you would lake more information on college possible, just tap on the nbc 10 mobile app and search for "find it on 10." >> announcer: now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> well, despite a fair amount of clouds, 43 in philadelphia right now. it's still in the 30s in some of the lehigh valley, but it's really warming up in other parts of the area, like in delaware. it's 44 in wilmington. farther to the south, already 50 in lincoln.

51 in allendale. 50 in millsboro. 52 in long neck. and it's going to be in the 50s across much of the southern portion of our area, right now. > good day, everyone. we are following a developing situation in dupont, where a train has allegedly gone off the rails and some of the cars have fail fallen on an interstate. this is interstate 5 southbound. it is the major north/south route along the west coast. this train, we believe, was traveling between seattle and portland, part of a new service, the cascade service on that route. and you can see at least one of the passenger cars now is in the roadway. another dangling. it is not clear whether there was a collision that proceeded this.

people on the scene have reported a number of ambulances, as you might suspect, heading in the direction. these are some of the first images we're getting right now of some of these. there's the route, you can see, between seattle and portland. >> nbc's tom costello has been monitor smoing some of the pict coming across social media. >> so this was the inaugural day on the cascades high speed line, a 14-mile stretch, essentially from tacoma toe olympia. and the derailed, we believe, just after the 7:00 a.m. hour there on the west coast. 250 people onboard this train, we believe. one of the cars, as you can see from the pictures, hanging over a bridge, right down on to the highway, on the i-5, and another car, we believe, awfully close to a body of water there. they have doppler radar this a mass casualty incident. we've got multiple fire, rescue

personnel, and law enforcement responding to and already on the scene. the number of injuries, we simply don't know at this point. it is very much an active scene. in other words, people coming and going and trying to triage immediately those on the scene. but beyond that, we don't have a lot of details. again, this was the inaugural day for this brand-new 14 miles of track. >> and as you can imagine, it is difficult getting to the scene. we're told the weather is not conducive to helicopters, which would, of course, impact any air evactype flights there. the southbound lanes of the busy i-5 are closed in that direction. so ambulances and other rescue crews doing the best they can to get to this situation. these are still photos that people have posted from the scene. this amtrak train, you heard tom suggest, maybe as many as 250 people onboard. we have no word on injuries or any other casualties onboard that train, but you can see for yourself, this is very, very

serious. and the situation will take quite some time to unfold. we have been monitoring our nbc station out of seattle, king 5. let's let you hear some of their coverage right now. >> tweets from people onboard, really shocking, just minutes before this accident happened, people thought that was going to be a great commute, a great way to get to work. obviously, we hope everybody is okay and we will continue to follow this on social media. i'm also checking facebook, as well, where people are sharing this story across the region and national outlets now mentioning this, as well. so we're going to keep an eye on this. from here on the breaking news desk, but for now, back to you. >> we want to get to kim who's been following this from the traffic center. cam, you were the first one to spot this. what do you know at this point? >> well, what i'm seeing, besides emergency vehicles leaving the scene, surveillances and traffic being moved to the

right lanes so more emergency vehicles can get to the crash scene, taking a live look at the closest washington state department of transportation camera we can get a view soft, i'm seeing a lot of tweets from officials now referring to this in many different ways as massive, massive response, massive damage, they're not saying mass casualty. however, it is clearly being treated as a possible mass casualty incident, with so many emergency responders still heading to the scene. and this is the same camera view from right on the scene of the derailment that amity was looking at a few minutes ago, from chris carnes, the pierce county advisory board chair, who was actually on the train. so, we're just tracking the very latest as it comes in. and waiting to get confirmation and some kind of idea of how many people have been injured in this. >> all right, cam. >> all right. so, we're just now hearing from

some people who were either onboard the train -- >> all right, you're watching, as we dip into coverage from king 5 out of seattle on this tragedy on the tracks, what we presume is a tragedy, certainly, you see the cars of that high-speed train. there was a great deal of excitement there as this new service went into effect. these new challenger locomotives were initially going to be limited to no more than 79 miles per hour. we have no idea what speed it was going in this particular section when it jumped the tracks here. we don't know if it hit something, if there was some crossing there, but you can see the results here of the trains that have left the track and some of them spilling over that trestle on to the roadway. this is southbound interstate 5 of. obviously, very -- it's busy at any time of day there, but certainly in the morning rush hour. this is -- would be south of seattle. this would put it between probably tacoma and olympia,

washington. there are a number of crews on the scene. this is a mass casualty, as tom costello pointed out. and tom continues to monitor some of the information coming out of the region. what do you have, tom? >> reporter: well, again, to reiterate, this was train 501. it was the brand-new 14-maile stretch of track, we believe, from tacoma down to olympia. at this point, the information is sketchy. we don't have a number of people who may be injured or potential fatalities. we do know that they have multiple fire, rescue, and ambulances moving into that location and already on the scene. 250 people reportedly had been onboard this train. and it was such a big deal, this inaugural day, that the local station had been doing the coverage on their morning news, interviewing people who were excited about starting the day on this brand-new train line, on this express train line. so we'll have to see what the cause may be. you know, they don't open these brand new train lines without extensive testing and high-speed

testing. so exactly what the cause may be, we simply don't know. >> and some of what i've been reading, tom, they were equipped with this positive train control that you have discussed so many times in terms of an added safety feature on that area. i want to go back to king 5 in seattle. they're talking to a witness now. let's listen. >> very devastating. it looks like there's a lot of stuff going on. a devastating, traumatic scene down here. >> are you seeing first responders in the wreckage? what are they doing? >> they were just rushing down there and they just kind of backed everyone up, you couldn't really see too well. but before most of them got there, you could get somewhat close, to see what was going on, a little bit. but they were kind of -- the thing just nose-dived, kind of dangling off the ramp there, with off the track. >> there were people in that third car, obviously, it was an amtrak train. what exactly did you see,

specifically? >> the front of it looked like was hanging off and there was another one piled on top of what looks like third car was piled on top, sideways. and it was kind of on top of cars and cars running into it, once it was on the ground >> so does it look like the train fell on cars below, colter, on i-5? >> yeah, that's what it appears to look like it happened. >> did i hear you say, it appears that cars also ran into it? >> that's what it looks like happened. yeah, looks like cars crashed into the side of it. before they could stop. >> so from what you could tell, were the injuries on the train or in the cars or both, do you think? >> most likely -- looks like both. likes like it was coming from both sides there. >> this must be horrible for you to have seen something like this. i mean, you sound calm, but you can't be. >> yeah, i was just right in

front of it. really nerve-racking, kind of sick to your stomach after seeing this right now. >> oh, gosh. >> okay. >> i canwe can't imagine. >> have you seen anybody at all walking away from the train, colter, or anybody that appears -- >> no. they have everyone pretty far blocked off. pretty far backed up, kind of making people turn around and -- >> okay. >> not letting us get close. get some room for aid cars. >> is that what they're doing? they've turned the traffic around, or is the traffic still completely stopped there? they've shut down the department of transportation camera. >> yaeah, it's pretty backed upa ways. they're trying to get people to turn around, but mainly getting people off to the side so they can get some more help down there, is what the sheriffs were saying. >> is this an area that's home to you? do you live in this area? is this part of your daily commute? >> yeah, we go down to tacoma every day. and looks like they have every

sheriff from every county around here right now. >> yeah, they've said it's a mass response. is there anything that we didn't ask you that you could shed some light on about what you've seen down there today? >> i think that's about it. >> we really appreciate you taking the time and we hope that you're going to be okay after seeing something so horrible today, kolter, we really appreciate you sharing with us today. >> we're listening to king 5's coverage out of seattle of this train calamity that has occurred south of seattle in the area between tacoma and olympia, washington. i think dupont is the closest town we have there. this photo obviously taken right after the incident. you don't see any emergency vehicles there. what you see is cars that stopped where they could. according to that witness, some of those cars may have struck the wreckage. you can see with your own eyes here, how it calm down in the roadway itself. this is, obviously, a major

interstate, so cars would have been likely moving at a fairly good clip when this happened. as we noted, this was a new train service. in fact, king 5, the station we were just listening to a moment ago, one of their reporters was actually onboard that train and got off, obviously, prior to the impact and had described excitement on the train. people very excited about this new service between seattle and portland. a high-speed train that has been -- underwent significant testing over the last several months, was capable of much quicker routes between portland and seattle, but limited initially, we were told, to 79 miles an hour. again, we don't know the speed it was traveling. this was in pierce county. about 14 miles of track had been upgraded to accommodate this new service. again, whether that involves a track we're looking at the trestle, what we're looking at here, we simply don't know. we have seen another traffic cam shot a moment ago of cars being

directed off of i-5. this is the immediate back up that someone photographed right after the accident. so no way to go. vehicles simply pulled off and some of them may have actually impacted that wreckage. it appears, from what we can see, only one, maybe two cars actually off the trestle. but as you look up the track a little bit, some other cars -- there you go, you can see one is totally down there, another one dangling you haoff, another oned that appears to be upside down. ntsb is monitoring this and will determine shortly whether to send a go team. but it seems rather apparent from the photos we're getting right now that this will be a very serious accident and likely we will be hearing something with regard to injuries. but so far, nothing. jo ling kent is in our west coast newsroom in los angeles monitoring this. jolin ling, what do you have?

>> reporter: good morning. on the west coast, we're hearing this a massive accident, it happened near i-5 on mount road near this new route. this is a route that has 14 miles of new track. and it has been new and updated track over the past several months. what we know is we're seeing on social media reports of massive damage right now. law enforcement says people should avoid the area. and you can see why, that photo that you're seeing there shows the car hanging off on to the road. as you mentioned earlier, this is a route that is going from seattle to portland, a high-speed train. the ntsb right now gathering information, trying to figure out if they should be sending a team on to the scene. this is a new route that a lot of people in the seattle area were very excited about. this was the first service, reportedly, of this early route going in this particular direction. and you can see those pictures are just harrowing, with the train hanging off that bridge there, into the overpass. we're hearing from law

enforcement that there are reports of massive damage to that area, lester. >> all right, jo ling kent, who is monitoring reports coming in from washington state, pierce county, along mount road, is the most specific address we have for where this has occurred. this picture here appears to be taken from the track level, so above the interstate 5 that we had been looking at. >> we learned from our partners at king 5 that the weather is not suitable to be flying in so that may apply to first responders that might be flying in medical evacuation choppers. there were reports of a number of ambulances moving northbound toward the scene, but you can see getting on those southbound lanes, getting to the scene may be problematic because of the sheer volume of traffic. here's where the traffic appears to be -- they're moving cars off in advance of that scene, trying to open up some space. we don't have any estimates right now on injuries or other

casualties from this accident. you can see the locomotive, we believe, one of those new high-speed locomotives, still appears to be on the track, but the rest of the cars are twisted in various locations. this area, we were told, had positive train control. you may have heard that discussed in previous derailments. it has to do with the ability to do an emergency stop of the train itself. we're told this was equipped with that kind of equipment. jole jole ling kent, you have some more? >> we have some new information from the pierce county sheriff department, and they are saying now that the derailed amtrak passenger train which was going in a southbound direction has resulted in injuries and casualties. the numbers are to come, but law enforcement continues to gravitate towards the area to respond to this. but again, this derailed amtrak train has caused injuries and casualties. and again, this was a passenger

train w train, a new route going the southbound direction, one of amtrak's high-speed services. >> all right, that is sad to hear, but frankly expected given the enormity of what we're looking at and the condition of that wreckage. let's go back to tom costello right now. tom, you have covered a number of amtrak accidents and they have learned lessons from each of those accidents. i know it's far too early to talk about what happened here. but typically, what is going to happen now in terms of an investigation? >> well, i wanted expect the ntsb is going to launch a go team pretty quickly. they're monitoring the situation now. that's as expected. but they will very quickly launch a go team, probably from the west coast and then in addition to that, their railroad experts from washington, d.c. this is about 40 miles south of seattle, we believe. and at the moment, i-5 south is closed. positive train control, to remind you, is an automatic braking system. which essentially slams on the brakes if for any reason the train is exceeding the posted

speed limit or if there is any sort of obstruction or if there is a -- any sort of blockage on the tracks. so the fact that it comes with positive train control is very interesting, because that would, if it's working, would suggest that it should have had automatic braking. that doesn't account for if there was a problem with the tracks. we know this was a brand-new stretch of tracks, as we've been saying, 14 miles or so of new tra track, for a brand-new high speed train. and they clearly would have tested that. but it would have been very difficult to test a high-speed train fully loaded during the testing phase. so a lot of this is going to be part of the investigation, with not only the amtrak investigators and the ntsb and the federal railroad administration, as well, but at this exact moment, the focus, of course, is on the casualties, if there are, in fact, injuries, if there are fatalities, and then trying to remove all of this twisted the debris off the tracks and to reopen the interest rate. but at the moment, obviously, a

mass casualty situation unfolding. >> tom costello, thanks very much. and we are all seeing these pictures with a sense of shock and dread. and as we heard a moment ago from the sheriff's there in pierce county, washington, they are confirming there are injuries. no numbers, no word on the severity. but again, the pictures speak for themselves. this is a very serious accident. we want to update you again, if you're just joining us, train 501 between portland and seattle, jumping the rails on this overpass or trestle, some of the cars coming down on to the roadway. we don't know for sure whether cars were hit or cars may have struck the wreckage. the picture's not that clear. one witness thought maybe some of the cars had hit the wreckage, but right now, the urgency is to get first responders on the scene. this stretch of roadway between seattle and portland, anyone who's driven it, knows it is congested all the time. it's a very, very busy route and that's why there was such excitement over this new

high-speed rail that would cut the commute time and offer more opportunities for people to leave their cars behind. obviously, the christmas shopping season, many people in washington state will want to cross over into oregon to take advantage of a lack of sales tax there. so a lot of commuter shoppers, perhaps, caught up in this. let's go back to our nbc affiliate now, king 5, in seattle, as they continue to cover it. >> emergency crews still coming to the scene. that is an ambulance coming to the scene right now. not speeding, but presumably there are more injured people that still have to be treated there. working to bring you the very latest. guys? >> we do know that at least nbc news is reporting, so i'm going to say, that pierce county sheriff's office has confirmed injuries and casualties. and we also now have it confirmed that there are injuries in this and casualties. we just don't have numbers for you, but we do know that people very injured to this and rushed to the hospital.

so we're, again, waiting for more information about that. and also, alex is very close to the scene and we'll talk with him live and he was on that third car that went off the tracks and then transferred trains as he was reporting on these trains in the responded route of amtrak this morning. just incredible, eraerie to loo at these pictures. >> i want to get to the surface again. here's where we're piecing this together. this is a brand-new service from tacoma to portland. and here is, essentially, where this crash happened, okay? this is right here at that overpass, i-5 southbound. here's the straightaway, long straightaway all the way to this point. and as i zoom in here, you can see, this is the first curve that these tracks or this engineer would have encountered for several miles. so as it was traveling southbound here, this is what you're looking at. this very curve right here. so as we were presuming, there is actually a dip in the tracks there. we don't know the cause, again, but this is a large curve just

before that overpass. and last known speed, 81 miles per hour, according to the amtrak website, as joyce had mentioned, no word on the number of casualties. but cam has mentioned a lot of emergency vehicles traveling away from the scene, northbound, presumably, lights and sirens taking people to the hospital, joyce. >> some good information there from -- some useful information from king 5 there about the layout of the track with regard to the interstate there that may offer some texture, as we try to find out what happened. right now, the larger issue is getting help to those who need it and we are getting some da t updates now, not only from the local sheriff, but from amtrak. let's go back to jo ling kent in our los angeles newsroom. >> amtrak coming out with a statement in these early hours after this accident. amtrak says it is aware with an incident of train 504. the service is called the cascade service, from seattle to

portland. they are on the scene right now, they are responding. they confirm along with the pierce county sheriff's department that injuries are reported. so right now that service heading in the southbound direction is temporarily suspended, as you can expect. and that service from seattle goes north and then east and that is continuing to operate in those opposite directions. what you see now is a real reflection of the pictures on your screen. injuries are reported and the pierce county sheriff's department is also saying casualties are reported as well and those numbers are to come. lester? >> just to clarify, i think you said five before, 501 is the train? >> 501. >> all right. so we're on the same page. as we continue to tray to get new pictures from the scene. as you can imagine, those people who were there, hopefully some of the folks there have offered whatever assistance they can, but the first responders obviously trying to get to this scene. and as we've said, it is not conducive to flying helicopters right now. the ceiling was simply too low.

a lot of cars to get through. we know they have been diverting traffic off that southbound 5, you can see from the radar picture there, it continues to rain in that area. the area we're talking about, you see seattle on the map, if you come on down, would be between tacoma and olympia, roughly, so south of the seattle area. but it looks like the entire state getting a soaking today. we want to go back to tom costello right now. tom is also monitoring this. he's on the telephone. what else have you lepered? >> i think we're just very much dependent now on local authorities to give us an update. when you've got this kind of a mass casualty situation, all of the information is, in fact, going to come from the local fire department and the sheriff's department there. in the meantime, the ntsb is obviously is beginning to move. federal railroad administration will probably be responding. name there's a major incident involving loss of life, they

spopd, as we respond, as well, of course, as amtrak. so this is very early moments. and the federal response at this moment is very much dependent upon what the locals are saying. now, a state dot spokesperson is confirming that there were 75 people onboard the derailed portion of this train. our local affiliate was saying there were 250 people in total onboard this train. i'm not sure if that dot spokesperson is referring only to the cars involved. and we don't have a number of injuries or anything else of that nature. >> tom, we have an update. it just came across here. it's from the pierce county spokesman, ed troyer. he says there have been multiple casualties as a result of this derailment. the casualties include multiple injuries and fatalities. that's the first confirmation of loss of life on this derailment.

those trains jumping the tracks. some of the cars, as you can see, on to the roadway. and we're learning that there are deaths and injuries. that's the extent we have. we've got on the phone -- i'm sorry? alex rozier is a reporter with king 5 in seattle. alex, where are you and what can you tell us? >> lester, my scenario here is pretty interesting. we were on the train. we just got off the train about ten minutes before it derailed, just outside of tacoma, washington. so here's the thing. this morning, there was a blonde new rail service that started from seattle to portland. amtrak added to their service early in the day, so there was a brand-new 6:00 a.m. train that left seattle and we boarded that when it took off this morning at 6:00. we got off at -- right before, i mean, ten minutes before it derailed. and all of these people we were

speaking with are likely onboard. and looking at the images we're seeing, i'm waiting in traffic right now trying to get to the scene. but looking at the images we're seeing here, it very clearly appears that the car that we were on is the car that derailed here, for many of these people that were headed potentially to olympia, which is the capital of washington or to portland, oregon here on the train this morning. >> so there would have been several stops along the way. when you were on, did it appear that every seat was virtually filled? >> it picked up as the morning progressed. and yes, there was a wide variety of ages. and the thing about it is that along with the people who were making a commute to portland this morning, maybe potentially for business, there were also a number of rail enthusiasts, because this was a big day for amtrak. every single passenger got a little commemorative lanyard that they could wear announcing today as the first day for this new service. so there were many rail enthusiasts who just wanted to be a part of that historic

moment. so, essentially, they added a brand-new train station in tacoma, washington, which allowed them to expand their service and this morning was the debut of it. they had 14 miles of new upgraded track, as they call it. and we don't know if this portion where they derailed was of that 14 miles new track. but obviously, there was something that went wrong along the way to cause this morning. >> and alex as you're speaking, we just put up a photo. it's our first close-up shot of the wreckage, and we can see one car that appears to be upside down, totally on the roadway, another on top of it. so this is our first most graphic look at the scene of the devastation there. alex, did you get the sensation of speed? i know this is touted as a high-speed train. did you get a sense that this was different than any other train you'd been on, on that

route? >> well, you know, one of the things they had been talking about, all the amtrak officials, all the washington department of transportation officials that we spoke with had all said that this train cut down their time. it was going to be a 3 hour, 20 minute train ride to portland, which is the fastest that it has been since they started their service, i think it was a reduction of only about ten minutes, but it still was faster than their previous service. and just the fact that this happened on the first day, the very first train, is just quite shocking. and amtrak and both the washington state department of transportation have a lot of questions to answer in the days to come. >> and just to be clear, jouyou were onboard, you were doing a story for this news service. >> yeah, we were onboard, did live shots for our local broadcast here in seattle all morning long and concluded those live shots at 7:00 a.m. local time and we watched that train

leave the station. and minutes after we concluded that live shot, minutes after we got off that same exact train, it derailed. and now we're looking at what you're seeing right here. >> you're looking at it. and i know we're watching this tragedy unfold and there are fatalities. you're a reporter, but you're a person, too, who avoided this. can you just offer your personal thoughts for a moment, if you can? >> that's been the hardest thing. i'm shaking, still. the reality is that, yeah, i'm looking at the images. we were on car three, and that appears to be -- from the images that i'm seeing, potentially the car that derailed. and, you know, we met a wonderful man who was talking to me this morning, just heading to work. and he leaves seattle every morning for a town just outside of the state capital of washington, just outside of olympia, and he was onboard that train. he was so excited about this new early service. we saw what appeared to be two young people, you know, the end of the college semester and

maybe these were college students that were heading home for break. obviously, it's the week of christmas. i mean, these people, many of them potentially heading to see family and friends. so it's just -- it's heartbreaking and, you know, yeah, it without question could have been us. >> well, alex, we're happy that you and your crew are okay. we appreciate your reporting and we'll let you get back to your coverage. >> appreciate it, lester. >> that was alex rozier from king 5 in seattle, who you heard his story, he was covering this inaugural service on amtrak's cascade line and it exited the train about ten minutes before what you see on the left of the screen occurred. this derailment. one of the train cars completely off the trestle, on to the roadway bed of interstate 5. another nose down on top of it. and in one of the earlier shots, it appeared there may have been another one that many tumbled on the other side. but the official word we got from officials in pierce county is that there are injuries and

there are fatalities in this accident. we don't know how many. they've got to get, obviously, to the scene and assess it. and i'm sure they'll pass that information along. but, the pictures, as we have been looking at, did not speak to folks getting out of this unscathed. let's go to tom costello right now who continues to monitor other sources on this. tom? >> let's just remind everybody what positive train control is. that is the technology that is on all of these major fast lines, these express lines, like this one in the northwest. it essentially automatically allows for braking to avoid accidents, preventing train-to-train collisions or excessive speed or even misal n misaligned track. the fact that this train had positive train control really raises some questions, then. because supposedly, that should have significantly mitigated the risks of an accident, at least on a stretch of track where you

don't have much competition in terms of other trains. so this will clearly be of great concern to authorities as thy radio to discern what happened. again, this is about 40 miles or so south of seattle on this brand-new cascades line that goes from seattle to portland. we are told that this may have been traveling in the neighborhood of about 80 miles an hour or so at the time of the accident, right at a place where we believe that there is a straightaway, if you will, on the track. but all of that is very much premature -- very much preliminary information, as the ntsb and the federal railway administration and amtrak all respond and again, at this point, we do have a report of both injuries and fatalities, right there on i-5 with i-5 south closed. and as you would expect, all southbound amtrak traffic also closed at this hour. >> and tom, on the east coast, we have lived and experienced high-speed rail in the form of

the excela for some time, but that was limited by track condition. >> that's right. >> how critical is it that you have to replace the tracks before you can realize the full potential o of thef these locom? zpl >> absolutely. they are in some cases doubling or tripling the potential speed of a train. they have to be able to handle a train fully loaded with the passenger weight, if you will. and moving that fast, which can heat up the rails very quickly. in the case of the northeast corridor, they absolutely had to improve and upgrade those tracks. but on the northwest corridor, not every single a stretch of track is updprad graded. i don't have first hand knowledge as to how much of the track there in the seattle/tacoma area and portland was, in fact, upgraded.

but you have to believe they had to do some upgrades in order to handle a speed that was approaching 80 miles per hour. >> we can see in this picture he here, a first responder, perhaps a firefighter. there is a ladder there perched up against the wreckage. so obviously they have gotten to these cars right now and are likely going to triage right now. perhaps there are people who will need to be extricaticateex. one of the earlier shows appeared to show smoke in the background. that car on its bottom there sustained a lot of damage, hard to tell whether that is fire damage or not. but as you see that picture there, you can see what appears to be smoke in the left-hand portion of the screen. imagine this now. this train thundering along, derailing, the cars tumbling on to the roadway and you've got traffic there. that southbound traffic that was moving along. we don't know if any cars were hit or whether any of those cars hit the train wreckage.

but it is -- because we simply don't know how quickly traffic was moving, the weather, as we've been showing in the radar map, it's rainy, the conditions were not good, certainly for car travel. we don't know what effect that might have had on train travel. but nonetheless, the conditions are such that they can't fly there. they can't fly medical evacuation teams. so this is a mass casualty event with a lot of departments converging on the scene. they've got to secure the wreckage, they've got to get and attend to the wounded, extricate them and get them to hospitals. so what we know now is that there are injuries, there are fatalities, but beyond that, we have no specifics. jo ling kent continues to monitor her sources from our los angeles newsroom. what do you have? >> what we have right now is there have been multiple casualties as a result of this amtrak derailment near tacoma, washington, near dupont. this was recorded, according to authorities around 7:30 this morning. this train was going in the

southbound direction. there's no official numbers right now on how many injuries or casualties we're looking at, but we know that i-5 going in the southbound direction, the highway you see there is also being suspended and closed down by law enforcement. and law enforcement also saying to avoid the area due to this massive accident, but right now we don't have any specific numbers. we do know, though, that this was a new rail route leaving early this morning, for the first time, headed from seattle to portland. this is a cascades route. it's a commuter route as well as a scenic route for amtrak. and you able to see in some of the pictures we're showing you here, it's a special kind of train there that's got kind of a gold sheen on it, it says cascades on the side. a special route for amtrak. but right now we know that first responders are on the scene. there's no sense of what caused this particular accident and no numbers yet on casualtiies or injuries. lester. >> jo ling kent, thank you very much. if you were listening to a moment ago, we were talking to

alex rozier, a reporter for our affiliate in seattle. he was on that train and got off about ten minutes before it derailed. he described an atmosphere of excitement. you also had rail enthusiasts who wanted to be a part of this inaugural trip. there were souvenirs given out to people. it was a mixed crowd going along, enjoying this new service. it was promising to cut the commute between seattle and portland. i believe olympia would have been the next stop as it thundered its way south and then this happened. so you can imagine what it was lake for him to learn the news that the train that he was on had jumped the rails just a few minutes later. but there it is. that wreckage strepped out from on top of that trestle on to interstate 5 itself and the cars that are backed up with no place to go. many of those people witnessing this horror right in front of them. and i'm sure we'll be hearing

from them as time goes on. tom costello continues to join us on the telephone. tom? >> well, lester, unfortunately, at the moment, we're in a wait-and-see mode here as we wait to hear from local authorities the extent of the injuries and fatalities. and certainly, everyone is hoping that the number is low, but the pictures would certainly suggest that the injuries could be quite severe, given the fact that you've got several cars that are now off the tracks on this brand-new line. you will have multiple federal investigations, as what was the local investigation as well. and among the questions will be, could positive train control have in any way played a role, positively or negatively in this? that's that new technology that was in place on this high-speed train. if we are told that it was, in fact, in place on the train, and if so, did it function properly or not? and what might not have been a contributor here? i think that they're going to be

probably looking very closely at the condition of this brand-new set of tracks, this upgraded section of tracks that was carrying this high-speed train. >> all right, tom costello, thank you very much. let us quickly update you, if you're just yoijoining us. this happened about 7:40 pacific time this morning, 10:40 eastern above i-5, if you will. this train, the 501 amtrak, part of the new cascades service, 6:00 a.m. departure from seattle. derailing as it was crossing over interstate 5, coming off the trestle, at least one car, we have seen, of that train totally flat on the roadway, apparently upside down. another one nosedown on top of it. and there is further wreckage up on the track itself. officials there in pierce county tell us there are injuries, there are fatalities, there are no numbers right now. we'll continue to monitor this as we get more information and events warrant, we will come back on the air. for now, i'm lester holt, nbc

news, new york. have a good day. ester holt. nbc news, new york. have a good day. >> kate: what's going on here? >> steve: did you get all that? >> chad: yeah. yeah... i got every word. >> kate: yes. that's what i call it. and no one who loves theo can know about it, so you will keep your mouth shut, and you'll keep your wife and your son's mouths shut. and you will get the hell out of my house. >> chad: your house? huh? you think this is your house? >> kate: what i meant-- >> chad: do not speak! >> steve: all right. i'm gonna go tell kayla and tripp that she's been neutralized.