. >> norfolk southern ceo. >> we will be here today. we will be tomorrow. and we will be here five years from now. >> we will not leave this community behind. >> it is the first televised town hall where residents share their stories. >> all i know is our town needs help. >> and demand the truth. >>> good evening and welcome to our cnn town hall on the cnn train disaster. tonight we will facilitate a communication between a community demanding accountability and the leaders charged with keeping them safe. in studio with me here are some of the residents of east palestine, ohio, joined by their neighbors along the ohio-pennsylvania border. they have spent the last 19 days frightened and frustrated after a hazardous derailment. they have been told it is safe to breathe the air and breathe the water, but they have seen thousands of dead fish in local creeks. and many of them have felt and continue to feel ill. tonight for the first time since that disaster residents are going to have the chance to directly question the ceo of norfolk southern and the epa admin

we're going to hear from norfolk southern this evening. what more do you need from all three of them that you're not currently getting? >> right now, i think we're currently getting everything we need, except answers. we need some answers as far as the health concerns. our residents safety is number one. and we need to get to the bottom of these health concerns. we're being told the water is safe. i believe that, our municipal water is safe. we're told our air is safe. i think it's safe. my family is here. they've been here the whole time. but there's definitely concern from some residents. and i have concerns as well, because paramount is our citizens safety. >> yeah, so we've heard some those health concerns this evening, concerns, there's an individual who had to go to the emergency room because he was bleeding so much, his nose was bleeding so much. a worried mom whose son is having nosebleeds, we're hearing about rashes, we're hearing about all sorts of gastrointestinal issues. have you gotten any sort of satisfying answer as to what

ceo of norfolk southern momentarily.want to ask him? >> i don't have any questions for the ceo of norfolk southern. i have some orders for the company. and the orders are that the company will comply with our order, which compels them to take full responsibility, full accountability for the trauma they have inflicted on this community and the damage that they have caused. and the epa will use all of its authority to do so. so i am hopeful that the company will comply with our order in a very orderly fashion, timely fashion, be efficient for the information we are looking for. because we want to clean this mess up as quickly as possible. the people of east palestine deserve better. they deserve immediate action. and the epa is going to do its part to ensure that we stand by and stand with this community. >> administrator, regan thank you so much for your time this evening, you just heard from the man overseeing the federal clean up an east palestine. next, you are going to hear from the man the government ordered just now

it's norfolk's disaster. not a train derailment. know -- i shoot from the hip, just like the governor just spoke. i tell you the truth. you seem like a family man, a great guy and all. but you know what? your company has to do something. >> how are gonna make it up to mr. shaw? how are you gonna make it up to jim stewart and all the other families? >> jim, thank you for those comments. i hear you. i'm terribly sorry that this has happened to this community. what i can do, and what i will do, is make it right. we're gonna get the cleanup right. we're going to reimburse the citizens. we're going to invest in the long term health of this community. i'm going to see this through. and we are going to be here. we are gonna work with these community leaders to help it thrive. i think you heard the mayor talk about making this community even better. and that's what i'm picking up as i'm talking to community leaders and citizens. we are looking for ideas from the community. and where we can help. and things that we can do. >> would you be wi

neil: do we know michael, whether norfolk or representative from norfolk will be in attendance at thiseeting to night with residents? >> no idea if they're going to be there. i know that we are going to be down the street doing our own answer and question presentation with a nationwide law firm, motley rice. there it is, you got the flyer. we answer a bunch of folks questions. they reached out to us, make it clear to them we're here to help. that reimbursement agreement we put on the website, whether our clients or not, protect anybody that might be at risk. neil: how many clients, michael, who are residents, you lined up or are representing in this? >> i would say at last count we're up to somewhere 35, 45, we categorize them as family claims. some households have five or six people living in them and some of them are adults, some are kids. so it is hard to do the tally right now. neil: so another thing the company claimed at least the town claimed all the way up to the governor claimed they examined and studied air, the environment right around that one mile radios and that it's fine

>> we are demanding first that the norfolk southern corporation basicay pay.just pay for this, but change practices in every way like greg was just discussing. it is absolutely ridiculouthe staffing -- there's no need, it is a multibillion dollar corporation. amy: posting record profits this year. >> we are demanding policy change. we don't care a letter behind your name, we are demanding policy change now into many congressional move on this so we have lasting changes. amy: emily wright, thank you for being with us development , director for river valley organizing in ohio. gregory hynes is national legislative director at smart. and topher sanders, we will link to your pieces that pro pickup but just propublica as you continue covering railroad safety. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "the long march" by the palestinian band le trio joubran. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we go now to the occupied west bank, where palestinians held a general strike thursday after israeli forces killed 11 palestinians a

were going to make norfolk southern and the industry safer.ff: following the derailment, would norfolk southern support having more crewmembers on trains? if there had only been one crew member on board, i'm told that as bad as this was, it would have been even worse. >> i think it's really important that we let the ntsb continue with this process. there is a lot of speculation out there. it's a very unusual moment. the chair of the ntsb came out with a statement last thursday urging everyone not to speculate on the cause of this or what could have mitigated it. we are going to wait and see the results. we trust the ntsb, we trust the fra, and i'm looking forward to sitting down with our regulators and our elected officials after we get the results and working out solutions to make most -- make norfolk southern and the rail industry safer. geoff: what is your take on the new standards proposed by the secretary of transportation pete buttigieg? >> i've talked to secretary buttigieg about this a couple of times as you can imagine and he's been v

amy: talk about what norfolk southern faces. years ago, the crash in north carolina, i believe something like nine people died, many were injured. ultimately paid something like $4 million for fines? talk about what they face and lawsuits that are beginning right now and what they could be forced -- what did they promise, $1 million to the town right now? >> yeah. right now they said they already distributed over a million dollars to the town. they are facing class-action lawsuits. unfortunately, what we know is the department of transportation fines and federal railroad administration fines are limited. i think what alan shaw, the ceo of norfolk southern, i think he sees his core constituency as not the public but his shareholders. unfortunately, the way our society works is that it is just about the next quarterly earnings report, how much money you can extract out of the infrastructure you already own so that you can buy back more of your stock so that you can pay more dividends so that you can pay higher executive compensati

in november and december, norfolk summer -- norfolk southern pushed back on this rule that would haveraydaidso much money, millions upon millions of dollars, lobbying against it? alan:ha w based safety rules. and we're very focused onfollow. with respect to this accident, the national transportation safety board as you know, they are in charge of this investigation. and i'm very much looking forward to their results of their inveigation. once we have that, we are going to sit down and figure out what we could have done better. as you can imagine, every day since this occurred, i have been asking myself, what could we have done better? what could we have done to prevent this? we are fully cooperating with the ntsb, and the fra. aren't -- in finding out what happened here. we are going to make norfolk southern in the industry a safer railroad. geoff: following this derailment, with having more crewmembers on trains, and not more? if there had only been one crew member, and told as bad as this was, it would have been even worse. alan: i think it is important we let the ntsb continue with its pr

neil: we mentioned norfolk southern there.here have been reports that it was offering $1,000 checks to residents. were you offered anything like that? >> if i go over that resource center, yes, apparently i would be qualifying for that. i am within the one mile zone. we've not done that because i didn't want to wait yet for it, but that might be something we do in the beginning part of next week to go over and do that. i want to make sure i talk to legal counsel before i did that, sign anything or take any checks. neil: you're a smart man, eric. how are your kids holding up? >> they're okay. it's crazy, they're at home right now, so they're happy to be home. staying in a hotel outside of town, it was a cheap hotel we had to stay at. i mean, the first night we ran out of the house with the clothes we had on, i grabbed my wallet, kids, wife, the dog and we left. that was it. we didn't have a change of clothes, so luckily, we were able to come back into town the next day and we were able to get some more stuff, but we were still-

you know, i've been covering norfolk southern lobbying efforts and the broader lobbying group that norfolk southern is a member of and the specific point that that's wrote it was tweeting about. and sam alluded to, is that there was an effort in the mid 20 tends to more strictly regulate trains carrying high hazard flammable materials like potentially vinyl chloride. although, as sam pointed out, thanks to the lobbying efforts of both the rail industry and the chemical industry, the specific gas ended up not being covered by by the safety regulations. but there was sort of an effort. admittedly not, you know, the most expensive one by the obama administration to regulate these trains more strictly. railroads for the efforts, tooth and nail even fighting against safety technologies that they had previously bragged were very effective. and then some of the key parts of those regulations were repealed during the trumpet ministration. so, so there's a very recent history here of norfolk southern. it's interesting you bring up that statement, fighting against high profile efforts, make these tr

it could be norfolk southern, could be f.r.a. could be the pipeline and hazard owls material safety administration. could be rail car companies. we'll just have to see who that is. let me back up a little bit on this because i do want to highlight numbers. i've seen this 1096 number out there on derailments. that includes class ones, the commuter railroads, the amtrak and the shortline railroad. if you're just looking at the class 1 freight railroads and i looked at this myself the other night, confirmed it with f.r.a., if you're just looking at derailments, in 2021 for class one freight railroads. so it's the major railroads. norfolk southern. c.s.x. bnsf. u.p., c.n., c.p. so what we have is 868 derailments in 2021. 68 collisions, 330 that are designated as other. a lot of those are on instructions on rail track. and so, i raise that because, of course -- we can improve safety in the rail industry. and we have a number of our safety recommendations that are on our most wanted list of transportation safety improvements that we've

norfolk southern is committed to doing what is right. >> neil: well, the head of norfolk southern apologizing to the people of east palestine. but could it be too little too late? this as fema sends in a response team to deal with a cleanup that by in large is not a tornado or hurricane or a natural disaster for which they can offer that help. and pete buttigieg pushing for more regulations. we have you covered on all. garrett tenney on the ground where there's plenty of doubts and doubters. matt werner on how residents are holding up and bill johnson on how he's meeting with norfolk southern and the ceo and the details and how it went down. welcome. i'm neil cavuto. let's go to garrett tenney who has the latest from ohio. garrett? >> yeah, neil. norfolk southern came to town. his second visit. he met with officials and response teams and came to share this message with the people that live here. >> this has been devastating to this community. i want to make sure you understand, i'm terribly sorry that this happened to the community. norfolk southern is fully committed to doing what is right

the norfolk southern has been fighting safety regulations. they've been flashing their workforce is they've been spending all their money on my backs that points a finger at the administration as well to do something about it. right. and so i have to wonder if part of the silence was you know, a desire on the part of the administration not to be held accountable as well. i appreciate a good sound. i, sam, i know you were going to jump in there. i do want to share very quickly video comment that was sent to us from chris to avenue where we had asked our community essentially what could have or should have been done to prevent this. and this was, his response will come to you on the back of accidents like the trained u. realm and east palestine are absolutely preventable. rail companies, historically prioritized profit above workers and communities when it comes to safety and that must change. norfolk southern must stop fighting new regulatory requirements like updated electronic braking systems and wayside detectors. if accidents do occur, com

norfolk southern vows to help but critics know how much the company is giving victims versus company investors for stock buybacks. >>> plus after the speeches and fanfare, ukraine left with the realities of war. >> do you have any idea how many bodies you have taken back to their hometowns at this stage? >> cnn's clarissa ward is on the front lines for us with the somber work of returning bodies of fallen ukrainian soldiers to their families as russia's brutal invasion nears one year. >>> and a coast to coast winter storm. ice and snow and conditions not seen in some spots in 30 years. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper and we start in east palestine, ohio, where the fallout from that toxic train wreck starts to get messier by the hour and i don't just mean the cleanup under way right now and testing water, air and soil for dangerous chemical. the biden administration is now promising to make norfolk southern, the train operator, pay for every cent of the cleanup process and possibly even more. but the small town near the ohio pennsylvania border has also become a focal point of

let's look at norfolk southern.n the town. they set aside a million bucks to help. that may just be the beginning of things. that's not a lot of money. they have mixed grades cooperating with federal officials. josh sabir row said they don't have enough information from them. you have to restore the tracks to move trains that are backed up as a result. the other hand, they're being criticized by the feds for putting track down over contaminated soil. you're guest, aaron, is reflection of broader sentiment in the community, which is that you've got lots of examples of contamination, uncertainty about the water quality. 3, 500 fish dying. you don't show up in east palestine high school gym to meet the public? 80% of crisis management would seem is guest showing up and saying we're going to be here, for however long it takes. >> neil: well-put. we didn't have twitter in 1982. if johnson & johnson had it, they would have tweeted out a re-assurance to the public. they took a huge financial hit and rick. the difference is

so it would be in norfolk southern's best interests to do this. neil: got it.ongressman, thank you very, very much. bill johnson, the ohio congressman, sits on the committee on energy and commerce which of course is dead center in this whole battle here to see that this town gets back to what it was. someone who is hoping that happens sooner rather than later, ttoma rhodes, enchanted salon owner. how is business there? >> it is very slow. most of my client telecom from pennsylvania. today right now i have three people at your book. neil: you're at the border of pennsylvania, why pennsylvania's governor is involved in all of this as well. how do you think authorities are handling this? >> i just think everything is moving so slow and there is no answers for anyone, no real answers. neil: so you hear authorities from the governor on down who say the water's fine. think he draw the line at well water. maybe better part of valor there to continue getting bottled water. the water is fine. the list of contaminants are well below any danger level. you're through the w

. ♪ ♪ >> norah: the epa orders norfolk southern to clean up after that toxic train wreck in ohio, orfine. >> norfolk southern's corporate greed is absolutely unacceptable. >> norah: alex murdaugh's son takes the stand. the emotional testimony about the murders of his mom and brother. >> when you got there, did you see your dad? >> yes, sir. he was destroyed. he was heartbroken. ♪ ♪ >> norah: an explosion outside miami kills at least two people. ♪ ♪ the consumer alert for parents. >> reporter: 145,000 cans of baby formula are being voluntarily recalled over contamination fears. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: people in new orleans and beyond are celebrating mardi gras starting today. >> we are having a blast out here! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> norah: good evening to our viewers in the west, and thank you for joining us on this tuesdayhtig n. tonight, cbs news goes in-depth in part two of our series on americans being exposed to chemicals in our food, and what is being done about it. plus, how former president jimmy carter's hometown of plains, georgia, celebrates his life every day of the year. but first, presiden

our members in norfolk southern employees are the car inspectors.normally, we inspect the brake systems, safety apparatuses, make sure the hazardous cars are marked properly. and everything else. what a lot of the class ones have done over the years, back in 2017, was do a business model that's called -- scheduled railroading. the only thing that accomplished was furloughing in cutting many employees in the maintenance and in the operations department. it deferred maintenance on a lot of equipment, it caught employees so bed, that the remaining employees were forced into overtime another shifts. that is accomplished nothing but fatigue. the only thing that he is our model accomplished was increased revenue to these railroads. at a giant cost. >> yeah, we have i wanna put up this graphic, norfolk southern by the numbers, in 2022, 4.8 billion dollars they made in profit from the railway. operations went up. and they, however, in terms of what they had spent, in terms of, we have it since 2018 on tracks and equipment, 8.9 billion. in other words, they'

norfolk southern.he residents of east palestine too smart to buy into what they are saying. >> how has norfolk southern handled their disaster? >> i think absolutely terrible. i was told to evacuate my home. they told me they were going to do an air quality test. never got a call back three times, three different agents from that number said they were coming to do an air quality test. >> i don't think norfolk is owning up to what happened. >> probably about 10 minutes after the evacuation was lifted the first train went through. and so it was just kind of a slap in the face. we felt that all they were worried about was getting the trains running. >> i think they handled it really piss poor really. they are trying to hush, hush people now with all the $1,000 inconvenience. >> they better start getting the tablet out because they are going to be responsible for a lot. i hope that they are held to be responsible for tremendous amount. we don't know what's going to be down the road. >> jesse: so these peop

>> look, i can't verify what norfolk southern told everybody. i just know the process that they have agreed to because again, it's norfolk southern's responsibility to accommodate their customers. in this case, it's the people in the town and surrounding area where they spilled -- the derailment occurred, may have been affected by any of the air or water quality issues. they have a responsibility to provide them access to health care, a health -- a community health services site is available where they can see doctors, experts in these fields in this community, in the town of east palestine. so that service is available. if everybody in the surrounding community should be eligible to receive care and services there. >> neil: you know, a couple of days ago, when i talked to governor mike dewine, he was saying that things are looking better there. there was that famous testing of the water, everybody was drinking the tap water in a resident's home that was fine. i don't know whether that extends to well water. i suppose not yet. but a lot of resid

it was the cause of norfolk southern?> no we don't that's part of the issue was there a problem with the rails to suggest they were maintained that would be the problem of north folks other was there an instruction on the rails? that's impossible we will never know was a problem with the wheels it was cracked the lessons of the bp oil spill the ceo was late getting there and they do not take responsibility and they kept trying to blame partners. if you remember all of those companies trying to figure it out that went to the courts and that's a problem. maria: referred a number of times from this administration holding norfolk southern accountable. did you pay and cleanup. we don't have any evidence that is the fault of norfolk southern. now the mayor and the governor are trying to convince people that the water is safe and transportation secretary pete buttigieg says he'll visit east policy but he won't say when. there are some reports to say it could happen today but the epa chief mike dewine are not waiting around they

they're going to have support from us when it comes to holding norfolk southern accountable. they're going to have support from the epa when it comes to making sure they get accurate information about the safety of their air, water and soil and i think they can have support, they ought to have support from the whole country that has seen what they have been through above and beyond -- the point to make sure they're taken care of for the long run. >> reporter: in about an hour we expect to hear from the national transportation safety board. but they have already released a written report about their preliminary findings. frankly doesn't tell us a whole lot we didn't already know. one of the things we got from this preliminary report is a number of sensors, even civilian video detected that some of the wheel bearings on that train were getting hot leading up to the crash. at one point the mile post sensors picked up a dramatic increase in temperature. the report goes on to say that the train engineer stopped the train, looked out, saw the fires and reported that there had indee

we'll hold norfolk southern acc accountable.to design a specific work plan that is approved by the epa and we'll assure that every step is included and that no stone is left unturned. because the fact of the matter is they caused the trauma to the community and we'll make sure they pay for it. >> you and have i met up in mississippi and virginia on the water issue in this country, and the thing that comes up over and over again is trust. the communities in these places that have dealt with something like this and had contaminated water, with things like led or bacteria, they don't trust the state government or the local country. what will you do about the lack of trust, and they have reason for it, because sometimes they have been lied to? >> we talked about yesterday during the announcement. standing on the stage with republicans and democrats from two states at all levels of government, our sole goal is to win back and earn the trust of the community. we recognize that there is a trust deficit. i sat down and did a community r

have we heard from norfolk southern about this?ll, i think you have heard from no fork but again you haven't. it is very interesting. i start getting emails as soon as february 4th, this incident occurred on february 3rd. on the fourth and fifth, we were hemming and hawing about what to do. on february 6th, they decided to dig a hole next to the train cars and they took all of those chemicals out of the rail cars and dumped into this whole. and then they lit it on fire. so norfolk to train jerome and that is their fault and turned it into a way bigger disaster than it ever had to be here to pump those chemicals into a tanker truck and got another area. so no folk is still there, i understand the going door to door, they're offering $1,000 if you sign away your rights. they are saying they're going to be going to meetings. they are going to be giving people information. then they don't show up, they are involved but again, the same message is coming from no folk as it is from agencies to these people. evacuate, come back, it is safe

and i'd be very frustrated norfolk southern. they caused this accident. this accident was not caused by the state, not caused by the county, certain not caused by east palestine and wasn't caused by the federal government. it was caused by the railroad company and they have the responsibility for all of this. that is the cleanup, that's to pay for all of the services that are being provided or not being provided, and i would be very, very concerned about norfolk southern handing out thousand dollar checks. what are the citizens who get that check giving up. are they giving up their right to sue the railroad company? possibly. i would be very careful about that. but norfolk southern is responsible for this entire mess and for all of the costs associated with it. griff: that's a good point, coneman, and we know the ceo of the railroad on the ground there. we'll see if we get any more. i want to change gears, because the other news that we've had today. secretary of state blinken issuing a statement where he says that the administration has determined that c

southern to clean up after that toxic train wreck in ohio or ce. >> norfolk southern's corporate greednacceptable. >>> alex murdaugh's son takes the stand. the emotional testimony about the murders of his mom and brother. >> when you got there, did you see your dad? >> yes, sir. he was destroyed. he was heartbroken. >>> an explosion outside miami kills at least two people. >>> the consumer alert for parents. >> 145,000 cans of baby formula are being voluntarily recalled over contamination fears. ♪ >>> people in new orleans and beyond are celebrating mardi gras starting today. >> we are having a blast out here. >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >>> tonight, cbs news goes in depth in part two of our series on americans being exposed to chemicals in our food and what's being done about it. >>> plus, how former president jimmy carter's hometown of plains, georgia, celebrates his life every day of the year. >>> but first, president biden, in a remarkable speech, promising the united states' unwavering support for ukraine in a message to the world from the royal castle gardens

he could easily have come through norfolk. >> norfolk, virginia, has one of the highest per capita murder an international airport. you're kind of the hub for 95 and 85 areas where people are traveling north and south a lot. >> we have an extremely psychotic, taunting killer who's taking pleasure in the homicide, who is taunting the police, who writes in a vernacular, words that are more commonly used by an african american or someone else other than somebody in the family. both letters and envelopes were forensically checked. no dna on either of them. >> taunting the police is not a smart move. it tends to make them even more determined. the case is about to add another detective and the most bizarre twist yet. >> a man comes into the station. he says he knows who did it. he hands them a ceremonial knife and tells them he's a vampire. se to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. stand up to your symptoms with rinvoq. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that tackles pain, stiffness, swelling. for some,

is the hitch in all of this has been norfolk southern. they refuse to participate in that unified command. which created extra work. it added confusion. it made it harder for us to get the information out. it wasn't insurmountable but they were not good stewards, participants in this process. and they need to be accountable. not just now with this current situation in east palestine, ohio and the potential effects it could have on pennsylvania but they need to be held to a higher account when it comes to federal policy. they work with such arrogance, such disregard for local communities and local residents. that needs to change. and i hope it does change as a result of this. >> you did something interesting today that i haven't seen a lot of politicians do. you changed your mind on an issue. today you called on the pennsylvania general assembly to abolish the death penalty in pennsylvania. pennsylvania's last execution was carried out in 1999. in 2015 your predecessor, governor tom wolfe, announced a moratorium on executions. here's a cli

first your reaction norfolk southern not being at this town event last night.ink it should have been? >> absolutely. this company has resources if they're worried about security, let them bring security. to thumb their noses at people of this tiny town after what's happened was tone deaf at best. neil: there had been talk that you were looking at legal options here in regard to norfolk southern. can you update us what you're planning, what you're considering? >> there are of course a lot of federal preemption issues here. i've got a team of lawyers examining what the state's options would be in court. we also sent a letter, what is called a litigation hold letter, to norfolk & southern letting them know we were considering legal action and telling them to preserve their documents, their emails, their texts et cetera, things that might be evidence in a lawsuit. neil: now they have said, attorney general, that that they didn't have to notify or give a head's up to local authorities or anyone they passed along this train's route before it derailed on february 3rd.

., norfolk island in the next few hours. �* ,~ ., , hours.abrielle is also due to hit new— hours. and cyclone gabrielle is also due to hit new zealand, i also due to hit new zealand, many are still reeling from the recent floods that happened there. when is it expected to reach new zealand? ifiisriii reach new zealand? civil defence _ reach new zealand? civil defence officials - reach new zealand? civil defence officials in - reach new zealand? civil defence officials in new. defence officials in new zealand are extremely concerned, they are tracking very carefully cyclone gabrielle as it makes its way across the pacific ocean. it is expected to hit north land, this is the northern part of new zealand, on sunday, before moving south quite possibly to the biggest city, auckland, on monday. remember auckland has already suffered widespread flooding in recent weeks after record—breaking flooding. what we have seen in auckland is people understandably nervous, lots of panic buying, bottles, batteries and toilet rolls. once again, the people of th

president biden is adding his pressure on norfolk southern following his criticism of the crash. he wrote that the proposed payments and cleanup operations are common sense, because quote, this is their mess and they should clean it up. the company is reiterating their commitment to residents. >> from day one i made the commitment that norfolk southern will remediate the site. >> but still, it is facing accusations of mismanagement like this from pennsylvania's governor, josh shapiro. >> they chose not to participate in the unified command and gave us conflicting model data. >> i was at the unified command, and i can tell you that the governors of pennsylvania and ohio, the national guard and norfolk southern were aligned that the control burn, controlled release, was the safest course of action for the citizens. >> and the governor sent a referral after the crash and its fallout. and the governor says that his attorney general is reviewing possible legal against against norfolk southern. and the company says they have committed to helping them for the long haul. >> we'll give lo

it isn't for norfolk southern.hareholders last year. $4 billion in stock buybacks. norfolk southern passing alone its profits to investors. >>> asian markets ended down, europe is lower. on wall street, stock index futures basically flat trying to find their footing after a tough day yesterday. home depot and walmart forecasts raise concerns. and worse day on the dow and s&p since december 15, nasdaq down 2.5%. gas prices raiwere flootat over. and home prices nationally rose a bit. the housing market is where the fed rate hikes have been most notable. >>> and let's bring in our economic analyst. caleb, the housing market is cooling. mortgage rates have doubled. sales falling a lot. i guess what is your take on what is happening in housing? >> so good morning, thank you so much for having me back. you're right, we have the housing report for existing home sales out yesterday which really makes up the bigger part of the market. and while demand has come way down, it is down about 37% year over year, fell again in jan

neil: are you talking about norfolk southern? >> i appreciate you guys -- anything, anybody in this town. even the epa, he's like if you don't feel safe. give me a break. whatever. [laughter] thank you for having me on though. i appreciate -- all of our towns around here, bessimer, darlington the, they all need your help, sedgewater, send it to the volunteer fire department. we appreciate anything we can get because we don't know what else to do. neil: hang in there, tracy. that seems like a cliche but, man, oh, man, what you're going through. we're going to continue to talk to residents throughout the show to the give you their sort of ground's eye view of what's going on. in the meantime, congressman rick drawford of arkansas joins us -- crawford. an ideal gentleman to have on. congressman, you heard what tracy was saying. no one is getting, is talking or communicating with her, and it's the exasperating. >> it absolutely is. and the frustration, almost the desperation in her voice and the stories that she's telling is emblemat

norfolk southern too. for the thousand dollar checks, expenses paid by the railroad. others remain very angry. we spoke to a representative from norfolk southern who defended its response. >> norfolk southern has been here since the day after the derailment. we have many different departments here that are, that specialize in different aspects of community response and we are, have been here from the beginning. number two, we're here to help. >> reporter: the state of ohio and hhs set up a free medical clinic behind us, neil t just opened a few minutes ago. we're told all the appointments today are fully booked. neil? neil: i can believe that. lucas, great reporting on this, my friend. by the way lucas mentioned governor devine. he will be my special guest at 4:00 p.m. on "your world" how things are looking. he was in the video testing the water, that it is perfectly fine the drinking water, those with tapwater, those with wells are urging to drink bottled water but that could change as well. we'll monitor

>> you know, the question is was there any wrongdoing on norfolk southern's part.e have to evaluate that during our analysis. once we have all the facts we will look at the analysis. i think, or our own analysis. >> john: jump out of this, as the national transportation safety board releases a preliminary inquiry into the horrific train derailment on february 3rd, and looks like, jacqui, placing the blame on a defective bearing on the 23rd car on that 150 car long, almost two mile long train that finally failed and the axle seized up and probably broke off and the train came off the tracks. >> jacqui: i think a lot more questions on these track sensors, and the wayside detector and whether norfolk southern in fact has, we know they have a policy according to reports that allows the crews to ignore audible signs of problems there, don't know for what reason, and don't know if that was a piece of this here. we are obviously going to have to hear from the ntsb, they refused to answer that question, are they to claim. we have to figure that out in our analysis. a lot o

norfolk southern ceo returned here saturday.he railway is handing out 1000-dollar checks only people live in the east palestine area. others say they're being forgotten. others say community needs to press on. >> we need people feel safe coming to east palestine. we need to rely on results we get. that is what we basically go off of. we don't very in results to prove what they're wrong. i believe the epa results, i believe our water testing results and i feel safe. >> reporter: hhs and the state of ohio will be setting up a free medical clinic tomorrow here in town. neil, just before we joined you on air, salvation army is setting up to distribute more bottled water. a range of mixed emotions. we talked to another youth basketball coach said he lost $40,000 last weekend because of a canceled basketball tournament. he wants to see the town press on and communities come here to participate in other sports activities. neil: easier said than done in this environment. lucas, good reporting, appreciate it. i want to talk to bill mcgur

he wants norfolk southern to pay neil? neil: thank you very much and i do appreciate that, lucas tomlinson of course, the newly elected and sworn in republican senator from the state of ohio. want to go to misty allison right now, maybe because she knows what's really going on. she's a mom, lives in aerosols, and i don't know whether any of these developments have comfort ed her or the governor today saying that there's no detection of any contaminates or noteworthy contaminates. misty, good to have you. you've heard these reassurances from some all the way up to the governor and some others who were saying so far, it's not as bad as some had feared. what do you think when you hear that? >> yeah, so i was just listen ing to the press conference right before joining this interview, and i would say that it was good to hear from the governor and hear everything that is going on but i will say from the community perspective, the amount of skepticism is honestly to be expected and really warranted in my opinion. neil: no, i can

he said that he's going to make norfolk southern pay.y both want norfolk southern to pay, not the american taxpayer. >> we'll have them pay for the work without having to reimburse the epa. if they don't, we'll step in and do the work and charge them triple the amount. we want to incentivize them to do the work because that's what this community deserves. >> triple the amount? >> triple the amount. >> a similar message from mike dewine. you can hear the train going back in the background in east palestine. >> they need to pay for everything. they need to pay for people's medical bills, any kind of cost that is incurred. look, they have fought safety regulations in the past. >> the governor also wants to see congress step up and do more as well. cleanup efforts continue in this small town. more than two weeks after the massive train derailment, a wide range of emotions. some residents say they're still sick. some want to press on. the local youth basketball coach said if kids can be back in school, why can't they play sports? a new medica

in a rare interview yesterday with cnbc, we heard from the norfolk southern ceo.e's part of what he said. >> since this occurred every single day i've asked myself what could we have done better? what could we have done to prevent this? and you know, morgan, it's pretty clear that our safety culture and our investments in safety didn't prevent this accident. >> reporter: all this as the transportation department says that it is making a renewed push for reforms on rail safety. we now know new information, the ntsb says that its preliminary report on this derailment will be coming out tomorrow. we are expecting that announcement tomorrow morning. so that's something we're going to be watching for very closely. that's something the ceo of norfolk southern had said that he is watching for as well. obviously a lot of questions, a lot of concerns in this community as residents continue searching for answers. former president donald trump will be making a visit to this community. that's expected later today. lindsey. >> jesse kirsch, that you think. >>> thank you. >>> i

listen. >> norfolk southern is committed to the community and citizens of east palestine.e are going to be here today. we are going to be here tomorrow. we are going to be here a year from now and we are going to be here five years from now. ou'll . did you know t that liberty mutual custo— ♪ liberty mutual. ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ ♪ custom home insurance created for you all. ♪ ♪ now the song is done ♪ ♪ back to living in your wall. ♪ they're just gonna live in there? ♪ yes. ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts l when a personam or familiar face so you can listen in... sam. and evenpeak up. sophie's not here tonight. i can show her the video tomoow, and you cakeep playing. thank you. that would be great. ♪ this feels so right... ♪ when the most trusted name in home security adds the intelligence of google, you have a home with no worries. brought to you by adt. lactaid is 100

the norfolk southern ceo alan shah talked on a cnn town hall. >> we're going to be here a year from nownd five years from now. i want to see this through. and each and every day, i'm going to do the next right thing. >> it's been nearly three weeks since the derailment. many residents are worried whether it's safe to be there. h we look at how the disaster unfolded and what's happened since. >> friday, february 3rd, flames light up the night sky. a norfolk southern freight train with 100 cars partially detrailed, including cars with hazardous materials, including a cancer causing chemical. the blaze rages through the weekend. firefighters unable to get close, due to the toxic chemicals and the possibility of an explosion. >> we had to weigh different risk with no great choices. >> february 6th, the decision is made to do a controlled release. >> this would allow us to control the reaction. >> a large, black plume can be seen for miles. >> the detonation is perfect and the cars are safe. >> reporter: but residents are wondering when it's safe to be home. >> we're all worried, honestly. y

norfolk southern, i think i speak for everyone when i say, "norfolk you." we've got a great show for you tonight, my guests are reverend al sharpton and actress jessica williams. but when we come back, congressman george santos will be here answering my very tough questions. stick around. >> announcer: "the late show with stephen colbert," sponsored by liberty mutual insurance. only pay for what you need. - lifefe is uncertain. everyday pressures can feel overwhelming it's okay to feel stressed, anxious, worried, or frustrated. it's normal. with calhope's free and secure mental health resources, it's easy to get the help you and your loved ones need when you need it the most. call our warm line at (833) 317-4673 or live chat at calhope.org today. ♪ ♪ >> stephen: oh, hey. say hello to louis cato and the "the late show" band right th there. good to see you. louis. louis, as a quick reminder, quick reminder. i know i don't have to remind you because you talk about it all the time. my lovely wife evie was on the show little while ago for valentine's day and we

i do want to read norfolk southern's statement. said, we are working closely with ohio environmental and health agencies on the long-term plan to protect the environment and the community. we are going to do the work thoroughly, completely, and safely. do you believe them? >> no. it's little, too late. the damage is already done. we'll see the repercussions of this for the next 10, 20, 30 years. you know, our property values are plummeting. our health -- who knows what's going to happen. the two days of it just smoldering and letting off those gas into the environment before the controlled burn, before they evacuated anybody, i believe the damage is already done. and there's not much they can do about it at this point. >> kelly, i want to say to you, from us here on the show, we're really sorry what you're going through. i know it's got to be extremely stressful for you and the family. and i hope this all gets sorted out in a timely manner, because these are really concerns, and you know, americans are suffering, trying to deal wit